We had a terrific first Tuesday here in Spain! Our day began with a bus ride out to the Gorliz hospital, which is located right along a gorgeous sandy beach right next to the sea. After our 45 minute drive, we attended presentations from the head of nurses and the hospital, where they explained what methods of care they provide, and what systems are in place to make sure patients receive the best quality care and that nurses are well equipped to deliver it. Next, we got an in-depth tour of the hospital, all the way from the rehabilitation section where patients are guided through exercises, to a behind the scenes tour of the nurses central office. We also got to walk out on the balcony and boy was it windy! It was interesting to visit the hospital in person and gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the hospital and its history. The care and passion of the nurses and other hospital staff was incredibly evident based on how they spoke of their profession, and we could see how the hospital is more of a community and family because of how staff greeted each other in the hallway and said hi to patients as we walked passed.
Later in the day, we ate lunch at a local restaurant in the same town before hoping onto the metro to head back to Bilbao. There, I bought a tiny coffee and a chocolate croissant to enjoy while taking a splendid walk. My walk took me all around town before I returned to meet the whole group for our program welcome dinner at a restaurant called Zaka.
My main entry at Zaka was delicious, and all was going smoothly… until the desserts came along. We had ordered cheesecake, hoping that it would amount to the one we had eaten the day before. They began bringing out our cheesecake and the plating was just too good to pass up the chance for a picture (find it at the end of this blog). We were sitting and waiting for everyone else’s desserts to be ready, when all of the sudden, they began taking away our cheesecake! I hadn’t even gotten to try a bite yet! We assumed there had been a mix up, but as we peeked around the corner into the kitchen, our cheesecakes remained in the same spot. Some many minutes later they brought us cheesecake again, but it was the same ones because the decorative gelato on the plate was mostly melted already! Nonetheless, not a second was wasted, and we quickly dove in to indulge on our sweet treat before anything else could occur. While the cheesecake was good, my favorite part was the passionfruit sauce it came with, an absolute 10/10. Once we wrapped up our program dinner, we all make the trek back to the hotel. Overall, a beautiful day in Bilbao!
