Guggenheim Explored

Bilbao Spain
August 4th and 5th


Better late than never, we were finally heading toward Spain. Due to our extended stay in Paris and Tours our anticipated arrival time in Spain was about a week late. No worries though we have become speed demons and have learned to cover quite a bit of ground in no time. We had 6 days to make it from the northern tip of Spain to the southern tip and had three stops along the way. We almost did not even make our first stop in Bilbao due to some logistical problems with the train in Tours. A group of us entered the train marked for Bourdeaux unbeknownst to any of us that the car we sat in was going to disconnect from the rest of the train along the way and head in a different direction. Of course the conductor made an announcement but none of us spoke any French. Thankfully the young ticket taker came through and in his broken and best English explained to us we needed to move up four cars or we were not going to make it to Bourdeaux. It was funny seeing the mass exodus at the next step. The train even gave us an extra few minutes due to so many of us needing to change. We were a bit concerned because in France you have about 2 minutes to disembark/embark or you get left behind. With the security of knowing we were in the correct train we enjoyed the 4 hour journey from Tours to Bourdeaux watching the beautiful wine country pass by. Once in Bourdeaux we had to change trains to Biarritz which was the final destination for the French train before we entered Spain. This area is a “beach town” for all the Parisians to head in the summer so it was a bit crowded and you found quite a few more backpackers in this area. Feeling confident we got off the train expecting to see the bus station nearby to catch our bus to Bilbao. Well we did find a bus but it was only a local bus and no one at the train station had any idea what I was referring to when I asked for the bus to Bilbao. That is what I get for trusting that internet site!! The train attendant told us we had to take another train to Irun which is literally the border and that is where we could pick up the bus, and of course the only type of train that goes there is the high speed train. Taking our precious euros from us we caught the train which turned out to be better because we would be getting to Bilbao earlier but I still think he was trying to scam us for our money since he could tell we were Americans. Nevertheless we made it to Bilbao unscathed. Even better we had exact directions on how to take the Metro to our hostal and then explicit instructions on how to get to our hostal which turned out to be very much appreciated. Our friend John Newell’s sister Charlene and her husband Manuel lived in Bilbao and they helped get us our hotel room and provided us with the wonderful directions. It was relaxing not to have to worry about how to get to our destination.

Having arrived three hours earlier in Bilbao we had plenty of time to check out the area. We were staying in the City Center in the old section of town. It is the last section of the Middle Ages and is known as the 7 streets. A very unique urban plan with windy cobblestoned streets intersecting at 45 and 65 degree angles. Although not a large area you could easily get lost for hours if not days trying to find your way out. I am very thankful I have Roby because he can even find his way out of a paper bag!!! It does not seem to matter how many old sections we go through they each have their own identity and impress us more and more. Bilbao was going to be our first experience of Tapa eating. Each bar or restaurant has a bar area with trays and shelves loaded down with appetizer style food or smaller portions called raciones of their full meals and you just go up and order whatever you want. Some of the establishments will give it away when you buy alcohol or at reduced prices. All the Spaniards stand at these Tapas bars and eat, drink and smoke, many with a Tapa or fork in one hand and cigarette in the other. Spain still allows bars and restaurants to decide whether they want to be smoke-free. None of them have taken them up on banning smoking so each one is just filled with this wonderful layer of grey smoke as you enter. A wonderful ingredient in their food. We also realized that in Bilbao especially the people just party out on the streets outside the restaurants. They do not all have tables and seating available so they sit on curbs, corners of store windows, or just stand in the middle of the street. The night was beautiful so we got our tapas and drinks and “when in Spain”. . .

The next morning was the big day. Roby was going to the Guggenheim. After watching a documentary on it almost 10 years ago he has been wanting to go and we were finally here. It is almost like when we saw the Statue of David in Florence or the Eiffel Tower in Paris, we were finally in Spain. After a quick pastry (which was not nearly as good as in Paris) we met up with Charlene and she took us on a tour of Bilbao and to the Guggenheim. We walked along the Bilbao River and suddenly upon us was this pronounced structure.

Everything about the Guggenheim was fascinating - the structure, the site, the surrounding park and sculptures and the interior exhibits. This immense fluid piece of polished aluminum was like an exotic sculpture in and of itself and just seemed to rise up from the banks of the Bilbao river where industrial steel factories use to be. It was truly hard for us to take our eyes off of it. A photograph could not do it justice but we tried with dozens of attempts from every angle. Aside from the building we enjoyed seeing the huge metal spider sculpture and the 3 story whimsical floral puppy dog in the common areas around the building. On the inside the first major exhibit was the dozen or so full size matching white sedan cars hanging from the foyer ceiling and exploding with light in protest to the overwhelming way that cars have shaped the world and society. Our favorite exhibit was by the same artist that produced the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. He and a small team of artist produced several dozen life size clay sculptures of Chinese pre-industrial laborers at work. The exhibit depicted the process of creating the sculptures and the exhibit itself. Some subjects were just wire and wood frames, others had some clay roughed in others appeared to be freshly completed with and amazing level of detail to facial expressions, tools, and clothing. But what was amazing is that most of the clay subjects were being allowed to simply and naturally dry out, crack, chip, fall apart and disintegrate back into dry clay dust on the floor of the exhibit. It was amazing to see how the work of art evolved and at the same time how the laborers aged throughout their lives and symbolically became part of the earth again.

After our tour we met up with Manuel Charlene’s husband and went to have our first Spanish lunch. (El menu del dia) This is a pre-fixed menu including salad, meal, dessert and beverage (water, coffee or wine). Now I know why they need a siesta in the middle of the afternoon. Manuel told us that the siesta is Spains yoga. We were stuffed and a bit tipsy. Apparently these drinking lunches are the norm-I guess that is why Spain was not very good at ruling the world. I think we might be able to get used to it though. (twist our arm!). We decided to get out of the city and took the metro out to the suburbs where they lived. A great little section of town overlooking the ocean on high sea cliffs. Before Roby fell asleep they pumped him full of tea and sugar and we headed out for a walk which turned into a three hour interpreted tour of this old fishing village and several waterfront beach areas with many Spanish female topless sun bathers to Roby’s delight. Lifes simple pleasures. The weather was a perfect 80 degrees with a nice breeze and they had such wonderful views. Before we knew it the time was 10:00 pm so we headed back into town had a quick Spanish dinner (tapas again) and went to sleep. The afternoon with Charlene and Manuel was priceless. It is so much more meaningful when you have people who know and live the experience and can give you the insight and history. We will be forever grateful to them for such a lovely day. A special time in our journey.