Yesterday will be summed up in more photos than words (but a picture paints a thousand words though, right?!) and today's events as well as an overall (short!) summary of my entire summer follows at the bottom..
Laura gave me a brief but detailed tour of Bilbao in around 2 hours! I decided that if I would live anywhere in Spain (although of course I haven't been to every place in Spain) I would live in Bilbao. I loved it there! The atmosphere, the buildings, the river. Everything. We started our tour at what I think is the Old Square.
And walked round to the New Square (which didn't look that new to be fair, but was wonderful and was lined with cafés and bars and later on there was live music here!)
The library was rather modest and hidden, I felt. But had a grand door that was worth a snap.
A tiny little stage for the City Orchestra.
Live music in the street! This was on one of the main streets in the city, and had lots of shops and gorgeous little pastelerías (cake shops).
We reached the Guggenheim Museum! Selfie necessary.
A giant puppy made from flowers. Why not?
The Spider in the distance... Can you see the bride and groom in the distance having their wedding photos with said spider? Weird.
And the exterior of the museum was enough to look at without having to go in!
The spider...! Crazy. Weird. Bride and groom finished and moved on to some other unusual spot for the rest of their shoot.
View down the river.
Arty bridge.
We went for a quick bite to eat in a gorgeous little Tapas bar in the New Square.
There was sooo much to choose from!
Really, so much!! But the kind Spanish waiters helped us decide what to have and poured my mosto (grape juice) for me in a wine glass with ice, an orange slice and an olive on a stick. Wonderful.
Basketball World Cup fever - this year it is held in Bilbao!
There were loads of people milling around and taking part in all the activities in the streets.
We got free balloons :) yay!
And then, after a spot of lunch, and really all to quickly, I caught the bus to the airport.. Where my case was 26kg instead of 23kg and I had to get rid of some stuff and move some things around in a fluster as the queue for the Vueling desk was huge and out the door of the airport! After misunderstandings about hand luggage and being sad that my last proper Spanish conversation was a total muddle, all was well in the end and I reminded myself of my competent and lengthy conversation with Juanma the previous day, and my entire time with Laura which was almost totally in Spanish!! I landed back in London last night where mom and dad met me to take me home! Phew! (We did get lost in the countryside looking for a pub to eat dinner in, but alas gave up and ended up having pizza in Oxford services.) Home and bed. Yes.
Today, on my last official day of my Summer, I had a well-needed lie in, before heading to church at Zion. It didn't occur to me at the time, but thinking about it now, it was very nice to be sat in an English service, to be able to understand everything without my brain working on over time to try and translate. And how good to worship, and let God revive and refresh me. And don't get me wrong, I'm still tired and I'll be hitting the ground running as I start back at work tomorrow but I am so excited about what He is doing in my life at the moment and how clearly I can hear Him speaking to me, challenging me, encouraging and inspiring me. I hope and pray that in the busyness of this new season, I will still be able to hear Him and make time do so.
This afternoon, we celebrated with some close family friends of ours. Two birthdays and three wedding anniversaries in these past couple of weeks! How exciting to be able to celebrate 55, 52 and 25 years of marriage with those couples, in a world when so often marriages have broken down. What a blessing to share with them in their celebrations today :)
And finally tonight, a brief but detailed and very exciting meeting about the future plans at church and about where God is leading us as a community in terms of our building plans!!
Sadly no time for Grey's Anatomy tonight (soon I hope!) because the last 1.5 hours of this summer, I intend to be sleeping in order to be up for an early start tomorrow!
But what an incredible Summer it has been. Of adventure and challenge. Of learning and growing. Of new places, new people and new opportunities.
And what an incredible God I serve, who takes away, but who also gives in abundance. Who mends and restores what is broken and lost (and is continuing to do so). Who I don't always understand but who I am learning to trust more and more. Who makes my paths straight. Who sings over me and whispers words of love and truth to me at the times when I most need to hear them. Who is faithful to His promises. Who has said 'yes' to much more than He has said 'no'. Who has given me so much more than a great Summer. He has given me hope. He has given me Jesus. He is all I need.
#45daysofsummer #blessed
Now, what's next?!
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