Friday, 12 February 2016
Plaza Nueva
Plaza Nueva
We start, once again, with a quick flashback.
Last Saturday saw us celebrating Carnival hopping from bar to bar, but only one of them had not been featured yet on our list: MORGA TABERNA in Calle Somera. Our outfits were reflections of our innest selves: cheesy couple matching masks for Ivan and Bea, hand painted with love (and low skills that caused major skin discoloration)...
The rest of that night, fun and goofy as it was, does not belong in this blog...thus obliging the writer to jump immediately to yesterday evening!
Last Saturday saw us celebrating Carnival hopping from bar to bar, but only one of them had not been featured yet on our list: MORGA TABERNA in Calle Somera. Our outfits were reflections of our innest selves: cheesy couple matching masks for Ivan and Bea, hand painted with love (and low skills that caused major skin discoloration)...
...and an historical ensemble for Alex Torbjørn, our 50% Welsh, 50% Danish, 100% Viking BBQuest knight! You can spot, in the background, the tap of Mahou that we enjoyed together with other friends and their costumes.
Umbrellas open, we begin with a pit stop at Las Fritas, where the guys, tired from the work week, regain some strenght and warmth with a cucurucho of fries topped with Roquefort cheese (Ivan) and soft boiled eggs (Alex). We are soon joined by Jonathan and Marta, and with them we quickly hide from the rain under the arches of Plaza Nueva.
We open with no less than CAFE BAR BILBAO, an unmissable place in town since 1911. Its blue-and-white ceramic tiles, electric blue sign and stucco ceilings are certainly a nice sight. There's luckily a free table where we can sit down and sip our glasses of Amstel.
Our second beer is again an Amstel drank outside of EREKA bar (Crianza red wine for the girls). It looks like an ok place which also offers pintxos for 1 euro, though we barely step foot inside.
We soon move to URDIÑA, on the same side of Plaza Nueva, where for a change we find Mahou draft. Please forgive our shaky hands while taking the pic... we really miss our official photographer Jon!
And after these quick glasses, it's time for another traditional spot in Bilbao. The restaurant bar VICTOR MONTES stands out with its black and gold facade. Inside, the barman explains us that their San Miguel beer is poured from a tap designed by sculptor Lorenzo Quinn, son of actor Anthony Quinn. Well, our quest can be informative as well!
The arm-shaped tap by L. Quinn. Cool touch!
"Alcohol poisons you slowly" - a caveat for us beer drinkers, spot by Ivan on Victor Montes' walls...
To close the night, we walk out of Plaza Nueva and choose a place with a completely different flavour. ERRONDABIDE bar - club, in Calle Ronda, is an extremely Independentist cultural centre, its walls lined with political posters and the like. On Saturdays it can be very full, loud and smoky, but tonight we find it to be quite the opposite, and are happy to enjoy a moment of tranquility and chatting with a glass of Mahou.
And that's it for this episode! We take leave with a shot of Hameed and his (borrowed) moustache umbrella - it looks like a classy enough picture, don't you agree?
So long, farewell!
