We landed in Vienna, Austria, at 5:30 am after a 10.5 hour flight from Bangkok. We both got some sleep on the plane and that helped make the time go quicker. We opted for Premium Economy seats so we had two seats next to each other on the outside of the aisle and more legroom than normal. Was a good flight.

We quickly moved through passport control and security and went to our gate. We had about 30 minutes at the gate to charge phones, get a drink, and go to the bathroom. We then boarded our flight to Bilbao and with a short 2.5 hour flight we landed in the rain in Bilbao. The airline asked for volunteers to check rolling carry-on bags since it was a full flight and Tari gate checked her bag there. We would regret that later.

We had to walk off the plane in Bilbao down stairs and into a shuttle bus in the rain. We entered the baggage area and waited for our bags. Our big checked bags were in the first group of bags and we were ready to see Inaki who was waiting to pick us up. Then the waiting began for Tari’s gate checked bag (which there was plenty of room on the flight for her bag, so we shouldn’t have checked it). We waited, and waited, and waited until there was only one other couple and us there. They, too, had gate checked their carry-ons. We asked at the luggage counter and they figured out that the three gate-checked bags were still sitting on the tarmac. We got the bag a few minutes later…wet but undamaged. Could have been on the road 20 minutes earlier.

The drive from Bilbao to Irache went quickly and we arrived at Inaki’s house where he and Paula (his wife) made us an excellent lunch of steak, zucchini, bread, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, and wine. We then unpacked, swam in the pool, showered, and rested a bit. We then decided to go into Estella that evening.

Estella is having their festival right now see we went into town to watch the running of the bulls that evening. We met Carmen (Inaki’s mother) at her house and walked downtown. We were a little early and sat and had a drink (beer/wine). We then found a place to watch the running (video posted below….not as excited as the running in Pamplona during San Fermin).

We then went back to Inaki’s where Paula had prepared Tortilla de patatas (Spanish omelette), pineapple, peppers, and tomatoes for dinner. We had a nice dinner on their back patio in the cool evening breeze and then went to bed. It had been a long day that started in Bangkok and ended in Irache, Spain.

Spain!

Here are two videos from the running of the bulls in Estella last night. They run the bulls one direction, turn them around, and run the other direction. The first video is the first run. The second video is the second run. We moved to a different vantage point for the second run.

Running of the bulls video one

Running of the bulls video two