Day 8 -Town Halls, Boat Trip and Guggenheim Museum

Erin and Julianne

Today we started the day early, and got to the school at 8:00 am. After a week of beautiful weather, the rain finally came and the temperature dropped to around 50 degrees Celsius. We rushed to the town hall from the school bundled up in our rain jackets and umbrellas, and sat in a huge conference room with what we thought was the mayor. I felt accomplished while listening to her speak to us about Getxo and its history, because I realized that I have definitely improved in understanding what is said by a native Spanish speaker.

After, we took the Metro to the town hall of Bilbao, which was much more elaborate. We walked around the different rooms, and it amazed me how detailed every piece of art and architecture was throughout the building. The whole time I was wondering how long it must've taken to think of and create such intricate designs. Seeing the town halls of both Getxo and Bilbao was very interesting, especially because we had a new obstacle in our way. Watching Chris getting wheeled around in a wheelchair after dislocating his toe was by far the main thing that caught my attention throughout the tours. It started pouring rain halfway through the day, but thankfully our next activity was inside. We got a guided tour on the river in a boat, and saw all around the city. It was extremely relaxing and really fun to enjoy the beautiful scenery while learning more about Bilbao.

After the boat ride, we got to go to the Guggenheim. We explored a lot of abstract pieces, and got to learn a lot about each artist, and the history and importance of the museum itself, as well as the other 2 Guggenheim museums. It was an amazing experience. Our tour guide made us feel very connected, and look deeper into artwork that may not be immediately striking, but encouraged us to look beyond the initial viewing. The art was also very interactive, and really made me feel more in touch with what the artists were trying to convey, which can be lost in

older art pieces.

Afterwards, we took the metro back to Getxo to spend time with our families, and decided to go to what they described as a very small mall with the entire group. From the outside, it did look very small. However, on the inside, I realized that it was bigger than most malls I've been to at home in the United States. It was interesting to experience shopping in an atmosphere that is both similar and different to what I've experienced before. In this mall, there were a lot less places to eat, and also no stores in the middle of the mall. Instead, it had even more shops, ones that were pretty high end that I wouldn't expect to see in a mall. and even a grocery store! It was very different than I expected going in, but it was very cool to see and get to experience.

We finally returned home around 9 pm, and my host mom started cooking dinner while we watched TV and were able to relax and unwind. It's nice to spend so much time together as a family, especially in one that is much bigger than my own family at home, and very fun with the amount of conversation and playfulness. Overall, although very long, the day gave a lot of very new fun experiences and allowed for us to connect with parts of the Spanish culture that aren't obvious at first.