Quote of the Week, Perhaps a Bit Longer

"The biological community is a vast and complicated system for sharing and distributing the energy of the sun among a diversity of life forms." ~Martson Bates

1/23/10

Euskadi; Art and a Little Misery

So, where did I leave off?

Oh-yeah--we just rode the tram back down from the hilltop park and stopped off for some pinxtos and beer. Later that day we headed over to the Guggenheim Museum to take in some works of art. The Guggenheim is amazing, the building itself is a work of art, absolutely breathtaking. My favorite exhibit was Richard Serra's "The Matter of Time," which is an installation made up of 8 giant rolled steel sculptures. The sculptures are huge, they are made of large steel panels that have been bent and twisted. The best part, people are encouraged to walk through the sculptures so they can really experience them. Each person who goes through them adds to the art, each persons experience is different and adds something new. We had so much fun in the installation it is very powerful and beautiful. There were several other neat exhibits, the feature exhibit being Frank Lloyd Wright, the famous architect who designed the New York Guggenheim Museum.

The Guggenheim

Dan playing at the Guggenheim

Fun angle of the Guggenheim

After the Museum we went back to the hotel and got ready for dinner. We ended up eating at a little spot in the Casco Viejo, not too far from the hotel. For the most part it was tasty, we had a mixed salad and white asparagus for starters and I had beef and Dan had lamb for our entrees. One thing I didn't like about my meal was that the beef was floating in a thick pepper oil. I could tell right away it was a bit too much for me, so I ate the parts that weren't quite as saturated and I let the oil drain off as much as possible before I ate it, it didn't seem to be too bad. The beef itself had a nice flavor, it was just the oil I didn't like.

Once we finished dinner, we were going to walk around for a bit and get a night cap, but I had to go to the bathroom so we went back to the hotel room. Back at the room I noticed my tummy was feeling somewhat upset, so I laid down. At first I thought the oil from the beef must have taken a bigger toll on my stomach than I had originally thought, but after awhile it seemed that it must have been more than just the oil that was upsetting my stomach. Let's just say I had a long, grueling night. By 12:30 am I had totally emptied my digestive tract of all it's contents--ugh.

With my rough night, I was pretty exhausted the next day. I was no longer emptying my digestive tract, but my stomach was still really tender. We were supposed to go on a tour with Cameron--Dan's coworker who lives in the Basque Country. I was not feeling up to it so Dan went with Cameron and I stayed in bed. I ended up sleeping pretty much all day, not the way I wanted to spend any of my days in Euskadi, but what can you do? That night Dan and I went for a walk so I could get some fresh air which felt really nice. I slept fitfully that night, but was able to sleep most of the night.

So, unfortunately my second day in Euskadi wasn't that interesting since I was stuck in bed, but at least the illness is over and it only gets better from here!!!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

pobrecita! I'm glad you're posting your entries though ~

Erin said...

i so wish i could have seen the Guggenheim! oh well...next time. and i'm glad your tummy problems only lasted a couple of days - what a bummer, though!