Our first full day in Bilbao started at 8 AM after a much needed long night of sleep. We met up with Professor Saioa, and took a trek through the pouring rain to the Bilbao School of Engineering. From there we went through a couple presentations and got to learn a little bit about the history of the city as well as the Oreka-Balance project. This was a machine that was made of four sensors and platform that has different types of rotation to test the balance and track the center of gravity of patients. Following this was a delicious three course meal at the cafeteria, where I had amazing pasta, chicken, and fruit! After our presentations finished we went on a beautiful walking tour of the city with Mangel! We saw a ton of sights and definitely got our steps in! Some notable ones include, the canal with the boats, the Guggenheim with the flower sculpture “Puppy” in front of it, the football stadium called the “Cathedral,” and the old town. We learned a lot of history and got to see a lot of the architecture throughout the city. While on this tour we were able to stop for our first and definitely not last pinxtos, which were so good! Once the walking tour ended we got dinner and were able to enjoy it for three whole hours!

Overall, I learned a lot about the city in just one day. Some highlights of the day were learning about Oreka-Balance which I found very fascinating and advanced, seeing the flower “Puppy,” talking to Saioa at lunch about the Basque language/culture, and of course trying all the pintxos! It was a great introduction to the city and I can’t wait to explore it even more!