basque-ing in pintxos!

Instead of tapas, they have “pintxos” in the Basque Country, which are essentially the same thing (most have toothpicks in them, so that bartenders can count how many you’ve eaten by how many toothpicks are left sitting on your plate).  In the afternoons, many people go for drinks and pintxos at multiple bars instead of sitting down and having a three course meal like they do in Barcelona.  This is known as the “pintxo crawl”, and I had to see what it was all about.  On Saturday afternoon, we were given free time to explore the city of Bilbao and have lunch, so we went to a few bars for pintxos and drinks.  I don’t recall the name of the first one, but we grabbed a big plate of pintxos and some wine, and they were delicious!  My favorite had grilled zucchini, topped with goat cheese and smoked salmon.

Round One!

The second place we went to was Victor Monte’s, and happens to be one of the most famous places in Bilbao for pintxos.  Between the awesome atmosphere and the INCREDIBLE pintxos, this was definitely my favorite place.  The inside almost reminded me of a See’s Candy store, with black and white tiles, and perfect trays of colorful pintxos.  I had one with some sort of sweet, smokey cod in a tangy orange sauce (on the right)… and of course a glass of Cava.

Round Two!

Round Three (Sangria… we were stuffed)!

After our second round of pintxos, we were too full for more food, but decided to stop in to the bar next door for a drink.  I saw a pitcher of Sangria sitting on the bar, pointed to it, and said “I want that.”  Other than Kelsey’s sangria (she adds peaches and nectarines, and skips the sugar), this may have been the best I’ve ever had.  It was the perfect mix between fruity and wine-y, and was ever-so-slightly effervescent.  We had to drag ourselves out of the bar before we ordered another pitcher.