Bilbao is a weekend destination

Previous Next

Bilbao poured. From beginning to end, it rained. For three days I had soaked shoes and soaked feet. It brought about the realisation that winter is fast approaching and its gonna be cold Time to invest in some good boots. Every cloud has a silver lining though. And that was the company. My first trip away with Dan and Lydia was fun. We visited the market, walked the Old Town, saw the Cathedral, shopped the Grand Vie, and ate (repeatedly) at Panko. The rain cleared on Saturday night and we got to make the most of it. As the capital of Basque country, Bilbao is famous for its pintxos. These small snacks, are the northern Spain equivalent of tapas. During the day the streets of old town are empty narrow laneways. But night time reveals them to be full of tiny little bars. People crowd to each to sample their pintxos and have a drink. Each place is unique, in appearance, ambience and their offering. We worked our way down the street, sampling the various wares. Along the way, discovered kalimotxo, which is red wine and cola with ice. Good combination =)

Sunday was a visit to the Guggenheim. It's exterior is impressive, a seemingly random combination of curved shapes which sit together on the edge of the Nervión River. The visual display is more impressive inside. The audio guide tells us how the atrium is built to be the heart of the building, with people being pumped around to all the connecting galleries. There were some great artist on show. Richard Serra's The Matter of Time of steel structures challenged your physical spatial awareness. Loved the work abstract expressionist artist on show, all of whom were influenced by Helen Frankenthaler's technique of staining canvas rather painting. Morris Louis in particular.