Bilbao, a port city, capital of Biscay province, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. It is the largest city in the Basque Country.
Bilbao Centre
The hotel gran Bilbao was visible from a distance as we approached town. It was a little outside town. The ten minute downhill walk to the old town was ok. Returning up the hill to the hotel was a more arduous climb. The lobby was like an art gallery with funky seating and art on the walls. We got an upgrade to a two room suite which was lovely.
The Nervión river runs through the town and has a nice promenade which allows tourists and locals to walk or run alongside. Forming the heart of Bilbao’s Casco Viejo or Old Town are seven streets known as the Siete Calles. The old town is located on the east side of the river and the new town, with the more affluent communities, on the other. The boys favourite spot was El Arenal, a playground near the river with some good climbing equipment.
The Guggenheim was was a thirty minute walk along the river bank from the hotel. It was cool spotting the iconic building as we approached. We had fun crossing the Zubizuri Bridge as a strong wind blew.
Entering the museum was interesting with all the outdoor art on display. We enjoyed walking past the giant spider, looking at the glass tulips and avoiding the mist that flew from the bridge. The giant dog made of growing flowers bade us farewell as we left an hour or two later.
He’s behind you!
The art work inside the museum played second fiddle to the impressive building. We took the lift to the third floor and worked our way down the stairs. The top floor housed the Masterpieces by famous artists, our favourite section. The second floor had a photography exhibit by Thomas Struth. We especially liked the photos of people enjoying art, looking at famous paintings in famous museums. An interesting exhibit for a museum that has a strict ban on photography in the galleries! The first floor had some pieces on the fourth dimension by Soto and one or two other crazy exhibits!
Next day we took a taxi to the town of guernica. It was about thirty minutes away. There were two museums, one of which was closed for the season. We went to the second, Euskal Herria Museum, to learn about Basque History and the bombing of the town during the Spanish Civil War. We saw the tree planted as a symbol of solidarity of the city. The site didn’t get hit by the bomb which killed a large population of the city who were mostly at he marketplace that day. There was a replica of Picasso’s Guernica painting made of ceramics in the town centre. We also saw sculptures by Henry Moore and Eduardo Chillida.
I took some time to walk along the river bank again and captured some nice Bilbao photos at dusk.
Next day we went to the Museum of Fine Arts.
We also went to the River Market, Oldest covered market in Europe. It had a section with stalls selling fresh produce and another area with little restaurants selling Pintxos and drinks.
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