Why Bilbao is the perfect getaway for foodies...
 

...I was born on the Old Town (Casco Viejo) of Bilbao and it truly is a great place to eat and to have pintxos, as is the rest of this small and walkable town. But it´s not me who says it, it´s a UK widely read newspaper. Not very detailed, but gives you some good ideas to enjoy food in one of the world´s meccas for gourmets, the Basque Country.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/ar...t-fish-is.html

Interesting, but hopefully it will not attract too many...

Hahaha, well, yes, it´s true that present authenticity (the best thing about the Basque Country, the almost complete absence of tourist traps) may disappear if we get massive tourism.

Wow, Mikelg. I'm going to go to Bilbao to see that extraordinary Vizcaya Bridge !! Just amazing. To hell with the Guggenheim.

Gora Bilbo!

Bedar...I live just 5´away from the Vizcaya bridge...totally for locals and almost unvisited by tourism. Just amazing, and so unknown!!

Many years ago I was moving from the UK to Almeria and got stuck in Bilbao for a week with a van chock-full of my stuff and an entourage of my child, my mother, and a dog and cat. My great travel insurance paid for the van repairs, the 5* hotel ( don't remember the name) and all food. For the most part, we ate at the hotel. All I remember of the town was that it was very industrial and had five banks on every block ! But, that was a long time ago. A friend visited recently and told us how enchanting it now is, beyond Gehry's museum. And now, you've brought this fantastic bridge to our attention. We've got to visit - my husband says that would be best during feria ( in August ??) because of the big bulls used then.

Thanks again for sharing, mikelg.

Mikelg - I've been passing on info and links to the Vizcaya Bridge. No one knows about it, and everyone wants to go see it !! You should go along to the Tourist Office to make sure they include it in tourist literature. What a forgotten curiosity !

The Vizcaya Bridge / Puente Colgante is a World Heritage Site, isn't it? I'm surprised that few people know about it!

I look forward to seeing it....

Thanks Bedar...I love it, it´s part of my life. My mom lived on the other side of the river and crossed on the Bridge (funny, you can´t say "crossed the Bridge" on this case) 4 times a day. I´ve seen it carrying 9 cars (6 now), with open windows that could not hold the rain, without safety barriers...now it´s modern, efficient, silent, cheap, beautiful...And yes, a World Heritage Site, if it was, say, in NY, it´d be a major tourist site. But, fortunately, it´s in Portugalete and Getxo, far from massive tourism.

Bookmarking, will be there in Sept. I rode a Transporteur bridge in France last year so..

"Widely read" is a nice way to describe the Daily Mail.

It is possible that the stormy and rainy nature of the Basque sea coast is your best protection against mass tourism, especially of the cruise ship sort. That -- and I hate to say it -- a completely out of date but lingering association of "Basque country" with separatist terrorism. I think the newest "generation" of mass tourists -- from Asia, Russia Brazil or India -- is less interested in food tourism than they are in iconic European sights and maybe wine tourism. I'm not sure Spanish food has the same cachet as French and Italian food among the non-American nouveau riche. Are you seeing more touritsts from the East or Latin America?

Also:

http://www.londonconfidential.co.uk/...ao-For-Foodies

http://www.foodswinesfromspain.com/s...s/4446043.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/...o-2355941.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/th...ect-break.html

This is interesting too, although I am curios if any women are succeeding in Bilbao:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB100014...03010494659344

Bilboburgler, the first one was the Puente Vizcaya, and in fact the system is patented. There are some posters outside of it showing some "competitors", but they are nothing like this one, it´s a huge difference.

Sandralist, well, last year we had 54 cruises (not many, I know, but doubling previous year), and by my experience most of them were interested in food and architecture (affluent people...). I´ve had some visitors from Hong Kong and China, interested almost exclusively on food (Michelin starred restaurants, basically), and this year I´m receiving visitors from Costa Rica, Mexico, Chile and Argentina, also interested on this foodie´s paradise.

Interesting articles...

Where do the cruises dock -- right in San Sebastian? Or are they excursions being bussed in from other places?

There is definitely a Chinese globe-trotting Michelin-star seeking crowd. But the "foodie" crowd that zeros in on Italy seems to me to have a noticeable absence of Asians other than some Japanese, and I sometimes wonder if it is because of Italy's reputation for an overload of diary products and olive oil. But noodles are popular! There are lots of Brazilians now who go to Rome. Surely many visit Portugal. I wonder if they will show up in the Basque country.

Do you know the TV show "Iron Chef"?

No, San Sebastian has no capacity for cruises...they arrive in Getxo, (I live just a couple of miles away), near Bilbao and very, very close to the Hanging Bridge (but it´s funny...people on cruises never visit it).

There´s a lot of interest in the gourmet possibilities of the Basque Country in Hong Kong, China...but most foodies come from the USA, interested in our pintxos culture and quality of farm products.

By the way, Spain is the biggest producer in the world of olive oil (I think that Italy produces just a fourth of Spain´s capacity, but they buy bulk from us and bottle is as Italian, in many cases), but this goes mostly unknown...sadly.

No, never heard of Iron Chef...not a TV person, sorry!!

In fact, as per the chart in http://www.elcaptor.com/2014/03/rank...-de-oliva.html, it´s 5 times more and almost 50% of world´s production!!