After a short (almost too short) and bumpy flight, we arrived in Madrid. An hour or so later, we were in our trusty Nissan Micro 5-speed and on our way.
The car was almost completely out of gas the minute we got on the road, so we stopped to fill up and learned that apparently buying 30 € worth of gas earns you....a Free Mug! 
We decided to break up the drive and make our first stop in Segovia, known for the Roman aqueducts that line the city.
We poked around a few of the side streets and found a restaurant for lunch where we ordered the Menu del Día, a three course meal: Sopa De Castillo (a thick broth-based soup filled with pork of all kinds and a poached egg), Lomos De Cerdo (tender and smoky pork chops), and dessert (flan for me and postre de helado/ice cream cake for Jason).
view from the terrace above the tourist office:
View from our parking spot:
cash cow:
We arrived in Bilbao tired and hungry. After freshening up at the hotel, we walked across the river to the Casca Viejo in search of food.
The pinxtos (basque for tapas) bars were all packed with people spilling out into the streets with their drinks and food. It was truly a festive scene, but actually quite intimidating for a couple of first-timers. As soon as you get within earshot of the bar, the bartenders were ready to take your order as quickly as possible--a problem if your not sure how to say what you want, or even what is available. Cold pinxtos are laid out all across the bars, so we did a bit of pointing and ended up with a few different types of ham, fish, and eggplant all on small pieces of crusty bread and small cups of beer. Tasty, but overall not the most relaxing dining experience for the jet-lagged traveler.
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