Meet Basque Country, the largest FAM trip held so far in the Basque Country by Basque Tour, the Basque Government Tourism Agency was held successfully last week, 13th – 18th October.
Basque Experiences was there guiding with the MICE Group for four of the days! Granted the opportunity to guide and accompany 5 of the invited guests alongside a Basque Tour representative, we undertook an intensive but fantastically varied and detailed tour of the principal venues, conference centres and some of the super sights we have in the beautiful corner of the world.
Staying three nights in some of the best hotels we have, we inspected the brand -new Tabakalera International Centre for Contemporary Culture in Donostia/San Sebastián, a former Tobacco and cigarette warehouse in the centre of the city. In the city we also visited the amazing beach-front Kursaal Conference Centre and the Miramar Palace, a former summer residence for the Spanish Royal Family built in the late 19th Century. Our time in San Sebastián also gave us the chance to visit the Aquarium for the reception, we also tried our hand at rowing a ‘Trainera’ – Basque Whaling rowing boat with Unai from Arrauning before a splendid lunch at Abeletxe, a converted farm house soon to be used for small receptions and weddings.
Heading south into Araba/Alava gave us the chance to visit the breathtaking Santa Maria Cathedral which is open even though restoration work is in progress. Thursday morning saw a very complete and fascinating visit to the Europa Conference Centre in Vitoria/Gasteiz. Vitoria also saw us have a fantastic lunch in the Portalon Restaurant, a Vitoria culinary institution! After an entertaining couple of hours team-building with Inguruabentura
Onto Bilbao and a visit to the now world-famous Guggenheim Bilbao Museum, with a wine tasting at La Bodega Urbana before heading off into the old-town for some of our delicious Pintxos!
Friday,and the end of Basque Experiences direct involvement, saw the FAM Trip get serious! The Basque Tour Agency had organised a supremely efficient workshop, enabling all the parties, guests and locals to meet in on the 24th floor of the stunning Iberdrola Tower in the heart of the regenerated riverside district of Bilbao.
All in all an amazing experience for us and a super FAM Trip for those invited, those working and hopefully for tourism here in the Basque Country. See you next year for Meet Basque 2016!