This month my husband James surprised me with a 4 night stay in Bilbao, Spain. Can I just say what an amazing city it is! I felt as if I was either walking down the main shopping streets in New York or walking through the romantic streets of Rome. It wasn’t what I had envisioned, but TBH I am not sure what I was expecting! Non the less I had an fabulous trip and I would definitely recommend Bilbao to anyone looking for a beautiful European city break. On a side not, there are not many tourists there, so if you like to drink red wine – which starts as cheap as 1 euro 90 a glass – then you must master ‘Dos Vinos Tintos Por Favor’ before you go and make sure you try lots of their famous Pintxos that you will find in every bar you pass!
Whilst away I was a bad blogger and didn’t take many photos to do a round up of what I got up to. But I did – of course – take photos of my outfits for my Instagram page @charlottebuttrick. So I will be sharing these in today’s post with links to what I am wearing and what we got up to whilst I was wearing them. So let’s begin with the first night…
My First Night Exploring Bilbao
I wore this first look for a night wandering the busy streets of Casco Viejo (the Old Town) which is where we were conveniently staying. When the sun went down on the Friday night the many cobbled streets were alive with people drinking, chatting and dancing in the streets. It was an atmosphere that I have never witnessed before and had an electric vibe about it. This is where James and I learned the language barrier (being typical Brits and assuming everywhere speaks English) and had to Google how to order two glasses of red wine in Spanish. Bilbao also have their own language, similar to Catalonian so not quite the same. I am not sure anyone really understood what we were saying and vice versa lol.
For our 4 night stay I had just a flight bag, so I had to carefully pick my outfits before flying to make sure I could transport them in my mini suitcase with makeup and hair straighteners too. I had to make sure I could pack my Mint Velvet chocolate silk skirt, which I would recommend sizing down in BTW. I am going to definitely be getting lots of wear from this skirt over the autumn/winter months and certainly would suggest everyone has a silk midi skirt in their wardrobe too!
OUTFIT DETAILS
Mint Velvet Skirt
Superga trainers
Mango Blazer – now on sale!
YSL Bag
Day 1: Sightseeing Bilbao in a Boilersuit
On our first day we decided to try and fit in a fair bit of walking and sightseeing, so I was super prepared for this in my Missguided boilersuit (which is now on sale here) and my Yeezy Boost 350V2 that I have surprisingly managed to keep white since I got them a month or so ago and have worn constantly since. I cannot recommend a boilersuit that has a belt to emphasise your waist enough. Not only is this one of the comfiest things I own in my wardrobe, it is also one of the most stylish things too. For a night out just swap our trainers (that give an off duty look) for a killer pair of heels.
On the Saturday we fitted in the markets, the Guggenheim museum (where the 2nd picture was taken) a walk across the river and a mooch in the old town again. So not only is this boilersuit super comfortable, my Yeezy’s are too! I have become a little bit obsessed TBH and now want to try and also get the Yeezy Boost 700 and the 500 trainers when they are released in November and December this year – sorry bank balance!
OUTFIT DETAILS
Missguided Boilersuit
Yeezy 350 V2 Boost
Chloe Sunglasses
YSL Bag
Day 2: The Flower-market & More Vinos Tintos
Could this skirt be any more amazing? And guess what…it was only £25! Before heading off to Bilbao I popped into the local H&M near my office for a last minute holiday outfit where I stumbled upon this t-shirt and skirt combo, which I bloody love! Every woman should have a cheeky band tee in their wardrobe, especially when it is a subtle yet cool logo – shop my Metallica tee here. It seems that I have grown a liking to tying my t-shirts in a knot to emphasise my waist, even more so since I had my boob job back in July as I feel a loose hanging t-shirt can make me look a bit top heavy. I now know why they call smaller boobs ‘fashion boobs’ as they look good in anything!
For our second day in Bilbao the sun came out full force with temperatures hitting as high as 29 degrees! We browsed the flower-market and thrift markets by the water and then basked in the sunshine through the busy streets. Seems Sunday is a big family day in Bilbao, with everyone out in full force through the busy streets having food, enjoying wine and playing games in the streets. I can’t put into words how warming the atmosphere was, it is definitely something to experience in person!
OUTFIT DETAILS
H&M Skirt
H&M T-Shirt
Topshop Western Boots
Chloe Sunglasses
YSL Bag
Sunday Night Food, Music & Expensive Whiskey
You can’t go to Spain without a stop in Zara! Although, due to the current exchange rate it was pretty much like for like on prices. However, I walked past the window and was drawn in by this snake print maxi skirt. I can’t resist a bit of snake print at the moment so I dashed in and headed straight to the tills with this piece. James hates me dragging him around shopping, so I think I am a courteous wife to not have browsed the rails…
On the Sunday night we went out for some food and to hunt down some live music. This is one of our favourite things to do on a night out, kick back with a large whiskey or Old Fashioned (my favourite cocktail), whilst listening to a live singer or band. One thing we weren’t too great at in Bilbao was getting dinner timings right! They don’t tend to eat until 9pm at night and most restaurants close after lunch and re-open at 8pm. The restaurant we wanted to visit (restaurant Bilbao as recommended by a lovely follower on my Instagram) was closed 🙁 Instead we ended up in a Chinese restaurant and then found ourselves back in the Old Town near the food markets listening to some live Jazz. Now I said wine was dirt cheap but oh boy are the spirits expensive! James ordered two whiskeys that came to 30 euro! He was so drunk by this point he didn’t even drink all of his lol.
OUTFIT DETAILS
Zara Skirt
Mango Blazer
Topshop Western Boots
YSL Bag
Day 4: A Trip Up Mount Artxanda
I didn’t take a snap of day three’s outfit in the day or evening as we took bikes out for a ride to the coast (and got lost) and in the evening I think we ended up staying in! But on our fourth and final day, before heading to the airport we got up early in the morning so that we could take a trip up to Mount Artxanda for some beautiful views over Bilbao. Of course, me being me, I was cold when we were on our bikes the day previous, I dragged James to Zara one last time to pick up a hoody. I had originally been after a black one, but stumbled across this khaki one that I thought would match my Zara silk slip dress perfectly, which is how I pre-planned this outfit in my head!
On my ankle I am wearing a shell bracelet that I managed to pick up at the markets, as I have been after one of these for a while. James laughed at me when he saw me trying to strangle my foot with it to get it on, but I have been wanting to jump on this ‘insta trend’ for a while now lol. This outfit was SO comfortable and I thought it was the perfect way to dress down an evening slip dress, especially since it meant I could wear my comfortable Yeezy’s again!
OUTFIT DETAILS
Zara Dress (old)
Zara Hoody
Yeezy 350 V2
Choe Sunglasses
YSL Bag
Which Bilbao Outfit Was your favourite?
So there we have all of my outfits from Bilbao! Hopefully you enjoyed this style of round up post and if you are looking to book a European trip to somewhere that you have not been to before, I would definitely recommend a long weekend in Bilbao!
