So I finally got to experience couchsurfing! For those of you who do not know what this is, here is a little discription from the website:
“CouchSurfing is an international non-profit network that connects travelers with locals in over 230 countries and territories around the world. Since 2004, members have been using our system to come together for cultural exchange, friendship, and learning experiences. Today, over a million people who might otherwise never meet are able to share hospitality and cultural understanding. Our mission as an organization is to create inspiring experiences: cross-cultural encounters that are fun, engaging, and illuminating…. CouchSurfing members share hospitality with one another. These exchanges are a uniquely rich form of cultural interaction. Hosts have the opportunity to meet people from all over the world without leaving home. “Surfers,” or travelers, are able to participate in the local life of the places they visit… and “surfing” lowers the financial cost of exploration…”
So all of that is really just to help you understand WHY I went couchsurfing. Many people find it uncomfortable to stay with a stranger… but the way the website is designed makes it easy to read references and kind of get a feel for the person you request to stay with. The main reason Lauren (my roommate) and I decided to go couchsurfing was to save money. But in the end, it ended up being SUCH a great experience. We spent four days in Bilbao, which is a little city in Basque Country (northern Spain). It had SUCH a different feel than Sevilla. Several of the people we met had never met an American!! Since we were staying with a local, we got to go to shown around the city by a local… which was great. It is such a gorgeous place. Lots of old churches, a beautiful park, the Guggenheim Museum, and even a gorgeous scenic view from the top of a mountain. We also got to experience a few nights on the town with some locals. We went out for pintxos (kinda like tapas) in El Casco Viejo… they were SO good. I tried octopus for the first time by accident too… haha. I really enjoyed the people we spent time with! It is such an interesting culture. They are definitely proud of their Basque roots. They all speak Euskera… which is much different than English and Spanish… it isn’t even Indo-European, and I think it may be one of the oldest languages. Our last night in Bilbao, our new Basque friends took us out for chocolate smoothies on the beach. Even though it was cold and rainy, it was really great… quaint.
Bilbao
The Guggenheim
Out for pintxos (Koldo, me, Mikel, Asier, Mikel, and Lauren)
The next day, Lauren and I took a bus to San Sebastian. The hostel we stayed in was really cute and we met some cool people. We went out for some more pinxos… I have never had such good food!! The beaches in San Sebastian are so beautiful. I felt that we experienced the culture of Bilbao more than San Sebastian because of our couchsurfing experience… but San Sebastian was beautiful and relaxing. I really enjoyed our trip!!
San Sebastian
Peine De Los Vientos (Wind Comb)
Here are some more pictures from my trip. 
