A Day Off in Bilbao

The Guggenheim museum is the highlight of Bilbao,  Even if you're not into modern art and abstraction there is no way that you could not enjoy this place.  From the kinetic sculpture, architecture, sound art, and everything else, it is worth a long day (or three).

As you approach the museum along the riverfront the first thing you see is Mama, a huge spider that stands over the walkway.  She has a sac full of eggs beneath her body as you walk under her and around her legs.

Mama as seen approaching the museum entrance

Mama's brood

Next, the path goes over a pond that mimics the flow of the river and clouds blow out from under the pathway - fog art.  The fog is shaped by the wind and takes on all sorts of shape.

Fog over the river

Even the bridge supports are part of the art...

Tulips on the left

The tulips

An engagement ring made of car wheels and whiskey glasses

Entering the museum is a bit overwhelming.  First, it is huge.  Next, there is no real set way to go through it -- you simply wander from exhibit to exhibit.  You can take photos only in a few spots, so I can offer only a few, but here's a sampling

Phrases in LED rise up the columns; the blue side represents one side of life, the red side the other

One of the featured expositions is a Portuguese artist who transforms everyday objects into other forms with tons of allegory and contradiction.  We surreptitiously took this photo:

High heel shoes made from cooking pots and their lids

By far, my favorite exposition is by artist Richard Serra called the matter of time.  It occupies a hall roughly the size of a soccer pitch and is made of enormous, bend and curved panels of 2 inch thick steel.  You walk through and between the panels and it is mesmerizing, enchanting and somewhat disorienting.  We have one photo but you can find lots of them online

An overview of Richard Serra's The Matter of Time

We spent 5 hours in the museum and saw only a small part of what is on offer.  If you're in Bilbao, set aside a day to visit.  You will not be disappointed.

Foot tired and mentally burnt out we walked across town and rode up the funicular to the vantage point to see the rest of the city.  It is actually a huge city and we saw only a small fraction of it.

The artist left her fingerprint atop the hill

I guess the view from the, top so to speak, is a good way to see the parts of the city that we can't see on this trip.

We topped the evening off with a few pintxos and a glass of Txakoli (aka Txakolina if in reference to an appellation), the local wine.  There are both sweet and dry varieties and it is very good.

Pintxos -- sardine on fresh bread with olive oil

Tomorrow we're heading back to the north coast, then west toward with our stop planned for a campground just outside of Santander.

Hasta mañana (if we have WiFi)