Bilbao, Spain

The Puppy

A visit to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain drove most of our travel itinerary. We were ticketed to fly into Barcelona because we had never been to Spain and had heard Barcelona was a top travel destination (Said our daughter, who had seen most of Europe.)  Plus, U.S. Airways flies to Barcelona direct from Charlotte. We would be flying home from Edinburgh, Scotland because Abe surprised me with tickets to the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, Scotland. The two weeks in between was open for exploring.
Once upon a time I saw photos of the Guggenheim modern art museum which opened in 1997. I was fascinated by the building designed by Frank Gehry and always thought that if I ever made my way to Spain, I HAD to see that building. Since it was MY sabbatical trip, my family insisted that I decide where we would go "in between".  Not quite sure what I was getting into, and with our Rick Steve's guide to Spain in tow, I decided that Bilbao and the museum would be part of our adventure.

Bilbao was a 5 hour train ride from Madrid. It is located in northern Spain, near the French border, in what is known as Basque country. We enjoyed the train ride since our second class coach was clean and comfortable. We saw some spectacular rock formations along the way and as we got closer to Bilbao the scenery reminded me of the Laurel Highlands back home with the green hillsides and rocky stream.
I read that Bilbao was built on an industrial wasteland and that some compared the city to Pittsburgh. It has the hills, tunnels, bridges and the river, but downtown Bilbao has so much more to offer than our golden triangle.

We arrived in Bilbao late afternoon and went directly to the museum since it remains open until 8:00 p.m. Our first glimpse of the museum was not of Gehry designed sculpture, but was a view of "The Puppy". An enormous puppy made entirely of live plants like something from the Rose Bowl parade greets visitors as they approach the museum.
Beyond the puppy sits the enormous limestone and steel structure that hugs the river like a ship ready to sail. Inside the towering atrium you can see up to the third floor and the glass elevators that transport visitors through the building.

The first floor houses the Matter of Time large metal coils. You are encouraged to walk through the spheres which, unfortunately, left me feeling dizzy. The wide open galleries housed numerous other exhibits of modern art. As we went from one floor to the next my family kept saying that exhibit was "crazy".  I suggested they find another adjective to use, but they were right, each work was crazier than the last.

It was Saturday night in Bilbao so after we left the Guggenheim we did the tapas or pintxos crawl for a few hours. (Every bar serves them, you just walk up to the counter and point to what you want.). We saw lots of families out for a Saturday night stroll and groups of young people in the square. This city is a great community with definitely more families living in the city than in Pittsburgh.
I am so glad I made the trip to Bilbao to see the museum and we were all happy to experience a little of the city life that night. We got a good night's sleep and after visiting Bilbao's iconic church Sunday morning, we headed to the bus station for our next adventure.