Basque Country, the other Spain

It is a territory that unfolds between the Bay of Biscay, France, Navarre, Cantabria and Castile. It is the Basque Country, a territory where one breathes a unique charm, in an intermittence between roots and future, tradition and innovation, nostalgic echoes and avant-garde thrusts, in language as in art and gastronomy, one of its most appreciated expressions. We ideally set off on an on-the-road trip between San Sebastian and Bilbao. The latter is also called 'the city of the Guggenheim', after the museum that literally transformed the city, an international benchmark of modernity. Here, the distinctive element is the combination of the avant-garde with the traditional flavour of the old town, characterised by charming streets and bars with counters full of pintxos, which show how passionately gastronomy is lived here. A visit to the northern Spanish city can only begin with the Guggenheim Museum, which, inside, shares with New York and Venice the most important private collection of modern and contemporary art in the world. A special mention also goes to the Museum of Fine Arts, one of the best art galleries in Spain. The Euskalduna Palace, Norman Foster's metro stations, Isozaki and Pelli's towers, Calatrava's Zubizuri bridge and new cultural centres such as Philippe Starck's Alhóndiga, built from an old wine warehouse, also contribute to the city's innovative and creative image. Another unmissable stop is San Sebastian,

capital of the province of Guipuzcoa. All around stretches a hundred kilometres of coastline, a sequence of bays, picturesque seaside villages and seaside resorts. In San Sebastian one is greeted by a beautiful bay: la Concha, which has welcomed much of Iberia's elite tourism in the last century. From the small fishing port, you enter the Casco Viejo with its 19th-century architecture. Strolling along the boulevard overlooking the sea, one immediately feels a cosmopolitan energy among trendy clubs, skateboards and surfboards. The rest of the modern city grew up in the mid-19th century and the transalpine influence is noticeable as you walk among the tree-lined paseos and bridges over the Urumea. Worthy of note are the many top chefs who populate San Sebastian's restaurants, a fortunate legacy of the old Gastronomic Societies, i.e. men's clubs where gentlemen took turns cooking (there are still a hundred or so societies active).