Bilbao in 3 days

Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao (Museo Plaza 2 — the museum that is often overshadowed by the Guggenheim but is in many ways the more rewarding of the two: the permanent collection of Basque and Spanish art from the 12th to the 21st century: the El Greco (the Saint Francis (c. 1580) and the Annunciation (c. 1596)), the Zurbarán, the Murillo, the Ribera and the Velázquez alongside the Basque artists (the Basque sculptors: Jorge Oteiza (the most important Basque artist of the 20th century — his geometric abstract sculptures are the basis for the formal language of Basque contemporary art) and Eduardo Chillida (the master of forged iron sculpture, whose Peine del Viento series in San Sebastián is the most visited public sculpture in the Basque Country). Free admission every Wednesday.

Azkuna Zentroa (Plaza Arriquibar 4 — the former 1909 wine warehouse (Alhóndiga de Bilbao), renovated in 2010 by Zaha Hadid Architects (with Philippe Starck interior design for the public spaces): the 43 different-style columns supporting the glass floor of the indoor swimming pool above the ground-floor bar and restaurant (the columns include a full Greek temple portico, a classical bust column and an abstract expressionist form — no two columns are the same) — the most spectacular interior public space in Bilbao, with the swimming pool visible through the glass floor from the bar below. Cultural center: cinema, sports facilities, restaurant and exhibition spaces in the same building.

San Sebastián (Donostia in Basque — 90 min by train from Bilbao: the city with the highest concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants per capita in the world (3 restaurants with 3 stars within a 30km radius), the most beautiful beach in Spain (La Concha — the crescent bay with the fine sand and the Art Nouveau Casino building), the Old Town (Parte Vieja — the most intense pintxos bar scene in the world (Bar Txepetxa: the anchovy specialist; La Cuchara de San Telmo: the innovative haute-cuisine pintxos; A Fuego Negro: the experimental, playful pintxos)), and the Bay of Biscay seafood (the kokotxas — the cheeks of the hake or cod, in the pil-pil sauce (the gelatin of the fish emulsified with olive oil into a thick, silky sauce)).

Mercado de la Ribera (Erribera Kalea — the largest covered food market in Europe by floor area (10,000 sq m) on the bank of the Nervión River, in the 1929 Art Deco building (the facade with the large rose window of stained glass): the three floors of the market contain the fresh fish stalls (the Bay of Biscay fish market — the bonito del Norte (the albacore tuna, the specific tuna of the Basque Country, the basis of the finest canned tuna in Spain), the hake (merluza), the turbot (rodaballo) and the percebes (goose barnacles — the most prized and expensive shellfish of Galicia and the Basque Country, clinging to the Atlantic rocks and harvested at great personal risk)), the Basque cheese stalls, the fresh pintxos bar on the ground floor and the Basque produce market.

Sidreria (the Basque cider house — the sagardotegia): the Basque cider season (January–April, when the new cider is ready) involves the communal table (the txotx: the moment when the cider house master opens the cider barrel with the txotx (the skewer that plugs the barrel hole) and all diners rush to the barrel with their glass, holding it at 45° to catch the stream of cider from the 2m height (the distance aerates the cider and adds the characteristic prickle)). The fixed menu at a sagardotegia: the bacalao (salt cod omelette), the bacalao in tomato sauce, the chuleta (the enormous Basque bone-in rib-eye steak, 1kg, grilled over charcoal: the most important meat dish of the Basque Country — the txuletón, from old milk cows (the "vaca vieja") that have been pastured for 8–10 years and have developed an extraordinary depth of fat and flavor), and the Idiazabal cheese (the smoked sheep's milk cheese of the Basque Country) with quince.

Bilbao Metro (the Norman Foster-designed metro system (1995) — the metro that won the 1998 RIBA Award and numerous other prizes: the "Fosterito" (the affectionate Basque nickname for the glass and steel elliptical canopy that covers the metro entrances — the canopies are glass bubbles emerging from the pavement, looking like the glass carapaces of subterranean creatures surfacing). The stations (all designed by Foster with the same curved, barrel-vaulted concrete structure): the platforms are identical in profile throughout the network — the pale concrete, the industrial metal details and the integrated signage system make the Bilbao Metro the most design-consistent transit system in the world. Ride the line 1 from Casco Viejo to Etxebarri and back for the full tunnel experience.

The txuletón (the Basque T-bone or rib-eye steak from "vaca vieja" (old dairy cows, 8–10 years old): the most important Basque meat dish — the fat marbling of an old cow that has lived and grazed is incomparable to the veal or young beef cuts used elsewhere. The steaks are cooked on a charcoal grill (the parrilla) at a high temperature to create the char on the outside while leaving the center rare-to-medium. Served with nothing but coarse sea salt. Asador Etxanobe or Mina restaurant in Bilbao are the finest references.