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Bilbao 2025
  • Gina Steiner
  • Gina Steiner

Bilbao 2025

A short but fine adventure by Gina Read more
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  • Trip start
    June 16, 2025
    Gina SteinerBilbao 2025Traveler

    Looking forward to Monday

    June 14, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    I was sick for a really long time and really badly, but that's another story and should be told another time.

    Thankfully, I'm healthy again now and looking forward to going back to work – it was pretty annoying not being able to do anything.

    Coincidentally, my first week of work is also the week I'm going to the conference. It's not a bad idea to start the first week after such a long illness a bit more slowly.

    So, Monday morning is the start; this weekend I'll have some recovery time: that means swimming in the lake, and I'm really looking forward to northern Spain.    Read more

  • Gina SteinerBilbao 2025Traveler

    Finally on the road again

    June 16, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Now it's starting ❤️ and I notice that I'm still a bit weak. Specifically I sweat quickly and have a somewhat queasy feeling in my stomach.

    This is because the intestinal bacteria are still not fully rebuilt, I had to take antibiotics for too long.

    Otherwise, however, I'm doing very well and I'm looking forward to finally getting "among people" again 😍.    Read more

  • Gina SteinerBilbao 2025Traveler

    Hello Bilbao

    June 16, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    After I landed, I first took a walking tour of Bilbao.

    I started at the Guggenheim Museum, but as usual I didn't go in. I've been to Bilbao many times and have never seen the museum from the inside; I've always had other destinations in Bilbao or the surrounding area. So I know the city and the surrounding area very well by now - time to spend an afternoon in the museum.

    I chose Thursday because it's supposed to be hot and I assume the museum will be refreshing cool.

    After strolling around the museum and the river for a bit, I took the tram along the Nervion River to the Mercado de la Ribera, the old market hall.

    After that I looked around Casco Viejo, the old town, and the cathedral for a bit and, of course, stopped for a Manchego cheesecake or a coffee here and there. All at a leisurely pace - taking it easy, so to speak.

    My feet are sore now, though, and now it's off to the hotel, which is outside the city.    Read more

  • Gina SteinerBilbao 2025Traveler

    Hotel Palacio Urgoiti

    June 16, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    This is my hotel and this is also where the conference is taking place. The Kanban Leadership Retreat 2025.

    The retreat has an interesting concept because there is a long lunch break right when it's hottest. This means that the sessions take place after breakfast in the morning and go on until lunch, and after lunch there is free time until dinner. After dinner the sessions continue until 10 p.m.

    So all in all you get a completely normal conference time, but you have some free time in the afternoon to explore the area and you don't have to sit around in the conference rooms in the heat. I think it's a wonderful concept.

    Last time the retreat was near Lisbon, this time in Bilbao and each time they have chosen a really nice hotel.    Read more

  • Gina SteinerBilbao 2025Traveler

    Gaztelugatxe

    June 17, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Today, during the extended lunch break, I was in Gaztelugatxe.

    Gaztelugatxe is an islet on the coast of the Bay of Biscay. It is connected to the mainland by a man-made bridge. On top of the island stands a hermitage named Gaztelugatxeko Doniene in Basque (or San Juan de Gaztelugatxe in Spanish), dedicated to John the Baptist, that late discoveries indicate might date back to the 9th century. With another small neighboring island, Aketx, they form a protected biotope that extends from the town of Bakio to Cape Matxitxako, on the Bay of Biscay.

    The Basque coast is rough in this area. The sea ceaselessly erodes the rocky coast creating tunnels, arches, and caves. The island of Gaztelugatxe is in the center of this section of the coast next to the small Aketx island, a sanctuary for marine birds.

    Next to the hermitage, there is a small shelter with sea views that is used for picnicking and for refuge from the wind.

    The hermitage is accessed by a narrow path, crossing the solid stone bridge, and going up 241 steps. According to legend, after the slightly strenuous climb to the top of the crag one should ring the bell three times and make a wish.

    You have to pay entrance fee at the very beginning and there are only allowed a specific amount of people per time. So it's a touristic spot but an amazing landscape.    Read more

  • Gina SteinerBilbao 2025Traveler

    Pintxos

    June 18, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Finally, before I went to the Guggenheim museum, I had time to eat some pintxos - I love pintxos.

    A pincho (Spanish, literally "thorn" or "spike"), pintxo (Basque) or pinchu (Asturian) is a small snack, typically eaten in bars, traditional in northern Spain and especially popular in the Basque country, Navarre, La Rioja, Cantabria, and Asturias.

    They are usually eaten in bars or taverns as a small snack, in the company of friends or relatives; thus, they have a strong socializing component, and, in the Basque country and Navarre, they are usually regarded as a cornerstone of local culture and society.

    They are related to tapas, the main difference being that pinchos are usually 'spiked' with a skewer or toothpick, often to a piece of bread. They are served in individual portions and always ordered and paid for independently from the drinks.

    So for me today: pintxo de bacalao, pintxo de jamon, pintxo des aceitunas con anchoas, pintxo de queso de cabra and white wine 😋.    Read more

  • Gina SteinerBilbao 2025Traveler

    Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

    June 18, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    The Guggenheim Museum is a museum of modern and contemporary art in Bilbao. It is one of several museums affiliated to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and features permanent and visiting exhibits of works by Spanish and international artists. It was inaugurated on 18 October 1997 by King Juan Carlos I of Spain, with an exhibition of 250 contemporary works of art. It is one of the largest museums in Spain.

    The building, designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, was built alongside the Nervion River, which runs through the city to the Cantabrian Sea. A work of contemporary architecture, it has been hailed as a "signal moment in the architectural culture", because it represents "one of those rare moments when critics, academics, and the general public were all completely united about something", according to architectural critic Paul Goldberger.

    The museum was the building most frequently named as one of the most important works completed since 1980 in the 2010 World Architecture Survey among architecture experts.

    If you ever visit Bilbao, try to have a look, at least 2, better 3 hours. For me it was the perfect match today since it was very hot outside and I was definitely impressed by the video installation by Refik Anadol. 😍😍😍    Read more

  • Gina SteinerBilbao 2025Traveler

    Bye bye Bilbao

    June 19, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    This morning was once again a beautiful morning and I sat outside on the terrace for breakfast with a mild breeze.

    So today it's over and I enjoyed the Kanban community once again, nice to meet all the long-time companions again and I'm going back with a bag of new ideas. I hope to be there again next year.

    Now I'm sitting at the airport, fully packed, waiting for the plane. For sure I have so nice things in my suitcase for Rainer and Evelynn 😉.

    Unfortunately there was no direct flight to Hamburg, so I have to fly via Frankfurt. But that doesn't matter, since I'm not in a hurry...    Read more

  • Gina SteinerBilbao 2025Traveler

    Layover in Frankfurt

    June 19, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    I'm almost at home and I'm really looking forward to the garden, the hammock, the lake and I definitely want to know how the duck 🦆 and her eggs 🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚 are doing.

  • Gina SteinerBilbao 2025Traveler

    Home sweet home

    June 19, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Evelynn picked me up at the airport and we went for dinner - what nice welcome ❤️❤️❤️. I'm such a lucky mum...

    So see you at my next travel, im September I will go to Switzerland 🇨🇭.

    Trip end
    June 19, 2025
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