guggenheim bilbao

on wednesday sam and i took a trip to the famous guggenheim in Bilbao. now.. the both of us aren't very big on museums.. but we were excited to see what it was all about. we took the bus from Leioa to Bilbao, it was a very cloudy and rainy wet day outside....and of course we both wore our toms (shoes). needless to say our feet were wet and cold pretty much the whole day! 

these are steps to enter

the view from behind the gugg

the building is giant! we couldn't believe how much space there is inside. the building is known for the curvy and twisted lines, made of titanium and glass... the building is truly amazing! we had such a good time! some of the art was a little different but it was a great experience.

sunday funday!

it has been nice to spend time with Enrique's family. last sunday he invited sam and i to have dinner with his family again.. at a polleria. this restaurant is famous having amazing chicken! and it was so good! we had such a good time visiting while eating great food!

Enrique's little family!

all 3 brothers!

the children!

after we had a great lunch with the family... we went to look at another wonderful beach. the water is so pretty here. and we almost ran out of gas on our way back... we coasted into to get gasolina! Enrique is still getting use to the lights on the dash in his new FORD car... don't see many of those around here.

we played in Madrid last thursday... and we lost. it was close and then after halftime the just slipped right out of our hands. the team we were playing was one of the most physical teams we have played here. it was kind of nice...reminded me of college ball. so because of the holiday all last week.. we had friday, saturday and sunday OFF from basketball, crazy considering we are right in the middle of season. but oh well... 

so sam and i booked a rental car for the long weekend. and there are a lot of manual cars here, so we made sure to ask for an automatic. after walking around downtown Bilbao for about 45 min we finally found the car rental place and did all the paper work... then we double checked to make sure that its not a stick and well it was. so no rental car for us.... we had to adjust our weekend plans a little but we still enjoyed ourselves. 

we did some holiday shopping in Bilbao and really enjoyed ourselves. i have been planning on buying Louis Vuitton purse for a while now.. so i gave myself an Christmas gift early! i am so excited :)

3 months have gone by...

aug 28th when i arrived in spain seems so long ago...but on the other hand i can't believe i get to be home for Christmas in just 17 days! i have missed my family so much. and i am so thankful that they have been there for me every step of the way. 

on the basketball side, we won the last 2 games that we played. a couple weeks ago we played home and last week we played in barcelona. i wish we stayed there so i could see the city more but... we left bilbao at 7:30am and drove a wonderful 8 hours on a bus. then we played and got right back on the bus for another 8 hours back. and i thought that travel days we long at suu :). sam didn't travel to barcelona because she hurt her ankle at the beginning of the week. it was pretty bad the first 2 days she couldn't walk on it. but she has recovered and is now practicing. without her on the bus was awful... i love basketball but the basketball here is so different, i just try to play and not think about how the rotation on our 2-3 zone isn't correct lol! off the court the girls on the team really are a joy to be around.

thanksgiving was just about a week ago... it was hard to not be around my family. but sam and i put together our own little thanksgiving. we didn't eat until like 10 because we had practice at 6:30. but it turned out very nice, as nice as it could be in spain & away from family. we had chicken... turkey is hard to find plus it would be too big for just the 2 of us!.. i will let the pictures tell the rest...

we are both very excited to see our families and to get some wins in the next 3 games before the Christmas breaks begins! :)

black & white partyyyy!

last weekend we didn't play until sunday... so we did some team bonding friday night. in Bilbao there was a black & white party, that was suppose to have a lot of basketball players there from the area. so before the party... because it started at 12:30 am! we had dinner at my apartment, we ate pizzas, and then had a few snacky items like chips and olives. earlier that week we had to buy tickets for 12 euros.. the money went a a basketball team that couldn't pay for their travel. well we did have a good time with the girls from our team, but as for the other people at the party they were all so young! its is always fun to get ready and go out even if the party wasn't exactly what we thought it was going to be. here are some pictures from the night. 

p.s. we didn't get home until 5:30 am!

the team eating dinner

me, carla, and sam

the team @ rock start, the party

sam and i before going into the party

getting ready! estefi and me

last couple of games with irlandesas..

the last 3 games we have played, 2 have been at home and one on the road. last sunday we played at home and we lost... but it was a very win-able game. then with just a day in between we traveled to Huelva which is at the bottom of Spain. this is one out of the 3 road games that we will fly. so on monday night we we fly into a town near to Huelva called Sevilla. while we boarding the plane i saw a younger group of  people with navy blue passports.. ding ding ding.. AMERICANS! i told sam to look and we both ended up just enjoying them speaking english, i know sounds kinda creepy, but it wasn't. we ended up chatting with them a bit, and they all 4 are students in Sevilla. once on the plane sam and i were very excited to enjoy a soft drink during the short 1 hr and 5 min flight to Sevilla... soon to find out you have to pay for a soda or juice...seriously in Europe they don't give you a complimentary drink or snack... pretty disappointed about that. finally to the hotel in Sevilla they had dinner waiting for us at yes 11pm.

teammates sitting across from us on the plane.

on the bus to the hotel in Sevilla

checking into the hotel

hotel lobby

the room: gotta love those beds... 

the next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then got on our short bus and took the 1 hr ride to Huelva to play an 11:30 am game. we lost, another game that we could have won. 

the gym 

where we played in Huelva

after the game we headed to the airport we had a flight that evening. well the whole team was very excited about going to eat at McDonalds! let me just say the menu is very different than the ones we have in the states, not that i go that often... plus they serve beer lol. 

the team eating

salad.. not that great

only 2 sizes of drinks..no large or extra large

once we got to the airport... we thought we only had to wait and a couple hours until we would board the plane..wrong! the flight was delayed like 6 hours! the reason: NO PLANE. I'm not sure how that works but in Spain it can happen i guess. finally got home at a nice & early 1:30am.

the game tonight we won finally! we really needed a win it has been a while... the team we played wasn't awful but not a good 3 point shooting team. we play again next sunday.. so another long week of practice!

i love mail! :)

Challis Pascucci
Avd. Iparraguirre N°36 4°C
Leioa Bizkaia C.P. 48940 
SPAIN

the beautiful San Sebastian!

last weekend we didn't have a game or practice, but most importantly it was sam's birthday weekend ...so we took a little trip to a near city called San Sebastain. it is a really popular tourist city, many people from all over go to visit. at the first of the week we booked the bus ticket, and booked the room at the hostel. yes i know you hear the hostel and it sounds scary but it wasn't too bad! hostels are really popular for travelers that are traveling all over europe. we took the bus saturday mid morning to start our adventurer! 

on the bus. we didn't fit very well, our knees were hitting the seat in front of us. and sam had a little old lady that would look back when sam made an adjustment lol. and... the roof window  would open and close off and on, then finally it just stayed open but it was freezing, it took 40 min of the 60 min bus ride for someone who speaks spanish to ask the bus driver to close the window... everyone was sooooo cold...it was pretty funny. 

view from the bus.

we got our map of the area from here.

trying to find the hostel.. i needed to get IN the map so we could find our way! lol (friends) 

we finally found the hostel after having a nice man help us out a little... he help in spanish but we some what understood what he was saying. :) the hostel was right in the middle of the area, very close to the restaurants and of course the beautiful water!

in front of the hostel sign... in the lobby 

sam and i getting the keys to the room

the very simple room we slept in for saturday night... with a nice view

the only picture hanging in the room..lol

the common area

more places to hang out and with a tv

free wifi! with about 6 new net books

after we got checked into the hostel and dropped our bags off. we went to find a place for lunch, some ice cream and to see the wonderful beach! we also went to many of the shops, and went to all the churches, which are amazing buildings!

lunch on saturday, it was very good and basically like a grilled cheese but super fresh!

in the center of the town

sooo blue! :)

on top of the world!... or something like that

view from the top of the mountain that we hiked.. i can't get over how blue and clear the water is!

view from the mountain again... the is the surfing beach

surfing beach up close! so many surfers but not very many waves that day

sunset on the beach

one of the churches

the water was pretty cold!

love love this church.. it was my favorite