Our weekend kicked off with a tour of the Arriaga theater. My roommate woke up at around 8:30 to get a quick breakfast at Café Arenal, however I stayed in bed to take advantage of our late start. At around 10:30, our group walked over to the theater, excited to  know more history about this Basque gem. Arriaga theater was named after Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga,a Bilbaon composer with skills comparable to Mozart’s. Unfortunately, he died before his 20th birthday, and the theater was named in honor of his legacy. Built in 1890, the theater lives up to its name, with a grand staircase wrapping around the first floor , which is covered in red, white and black marble flooring. The theater pays homage to its Bilbao roots by sourcing much of its materials, such columns and marble from the Basque region. It even has special seating dedicated to the widows and widowers of its staff.

Teatro Arriaga has a troubled history, with problems beginning as early as 1915, when the theater burned down due to a fire created in one of its dressing rooms. From the 1930s to the 1970s, during the Spanish Civil War and authoritarian regime, the theater fell into disarray once again, a reflection of this turbulent, dark time in Spain. Eventually, the local city council of Bilbao regained possession of the theater and restored it to its former glory. 

The tour highlighted several hidden gems of the theater. For instance, in the costume room, we saw an elaborate dress that weighed 40 pounds, due to the jewels sewn into the silk. As a reversible dress, actresses could wrap the dress in multiple ways to signify different points in the story. The seats of the theater was another spectacle;  the theater could sit 1600, yet was limited to selling 1200 tickets for every show, as several seats were unable to see the stage. Our group actually got to visit the best seat available, the “royal box”, which was only available to Spanish royalty or government officials.  The theater also featured a small,ornate room behind the royal box, a room created to enable officials to take breaks during the show. By the time the tour wrapped, I was fascinated by the theater’s long, complicated history. I loved learning Spanish history through the lense of the theater’s story.

After visiting the theater, we had the rest of the day to explore the city. A group of friends and I took the chance to visit downtown Bilbao, shopping and buying items such as specialty candy and books to commemorate our trip. At the end of the day, we stopped by Casa Leotta- a restaurant known for its pizza and pasta that a member of our group had recommended.It was delicious, tasting specialty European dishes such as pinsa and lasagna arancione.  After our dinner, we visited the Artxanda Funicular,traveling up the mountain to watch the sunset.