Bilbao, San Sebastian

Saturday, 2 August:
After missing my train and then wandering around the correct train station for a while trying to figure out what to do, I went and used internet for an extended time, sat in the Plaza Espana, wandered around looking for food, panicked I was going to miss my train again, and then ended up getting to the train station an hour and three quarters early. I slept a little while I was waiting, but ot enough, because I couldn´t keep myself from falling asleep on the train, even though the scenery was beautiful. At one point I woke up just in time to see a breathtaking canyon. The whole way was mountains or plateaus or rocky outcroppings or huge wheat fields with monastaries or little villages. The weird thing was that I kept catching sight of things and then the train would dip or go around a slight bend and when we got back to a point where it seemed like they should be visible again, they appeared to have vanished.
In any case, now I´m in Bilbao in a massively huge hostel. I assume there are lots of people, but I think the problem I´m going to have staying in HI hostels in general is that people aren´t that friendly. I´ll guess I´ll have to come up with other ways to meet people.

Sunday, 3 August:
This is my first Sunday not on the Costa del Sol and I forgot how dead it would be. Bilbao was basically silent--I felt like I was the only person on the street. Of course, this also means that there is absolutely nowhere for me to buy food other than in a restaurant. I´m a little stressed about where I´m going to sleep tomorrow so I´m being extra strict on my bdget. On the other hand, I now have a reservation for somewhere through the 11th, after which I can go visit Sara, so now I can take a little more time to figure out how I want to see the pyrenees.
Bilbao is so beautiful. I wonder what it was like before the guggenheim was here. The museum is amazing and architecturally stunning, but really the city itself, and its location (among rolling green hills) is what catches me. The views out of the hostel this morning were great. On the other hand, this has really reminded me how much better I feel all around if I arrive in cities during daylight--things are just more appealing, and I feel so much more oriented.
Today was the first day in over a month that I actually felt chilly at all (with the exception of a few of the times when I was up from 4am-7am) and I forgot how nice a fresh summer morning chill can be. I guess I might end up using some of my layers sooner than I expected.

Today:
I´m in San Sebastian, and have a place to stay! Woo! I got to the hostel (thanks to a very nice bus driver) just in time to get one of the last free beds. Its pretty overcast today, though, so I´m not exactly sure what I´m going to do.