LIVING IN THE LAP OF LUXURY. What a treat to stay in modern hotels, and be a regular person, not stared at and automatically assumed to be French! After a night in Madrid, we took a great train north to Bilbao. The train is fast speed and called Renfe, and is much nicer that Amtrac, in that it has lots of leg room, comfortable seats with tray tables, headsets are passed out for movies-music, and it was quiet and smooth riding. Here is the view that greeted us as we arrived at the Bilbao train station.

The scenery was very pretty: hills, mountains, lots of trees, fat sheep. This is Basque country, and I am reminded of how many of these people settled in eastern Montana and were sheepherders there years ago. Some of my good friends from Miles City (and Glasgow) have a direct heritage to this gorgeous land.

Our hotel in Bilbao is right in the heart of the old city area and everything is so clean; one of the beautiful sights here is the absence of trash. Another is seeing so many women walking by themselves here and there, all ages, wearing all sorts of clothing, and seeing some women working in the park areas mowing lawns with ear protectors on, or handling the weed eaters. These are unusual sights for my eyes accustomed to the Moroccan culture. Our room here is very small, but modern and even includes free internet along with a computer. The mouse is old and needs replacing and is frustrating to try to use, but hey, it´s free! Good thing as everything else is pretty expensive. Hotel is about $120 night, restaurants are also pricey; of course, compared to Morocco, it is very costly to travel here. Here is a look at Bilbao from the top of the funicular.

Another wonderful structure is this pedestrian

bridge located mid-way between our hotel and the Museum.