Bilbao

The Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao
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Our next stop is for lunch in Bilbao. It’s a remarkably tatty looking town, perhaps because it’s a major port. It reminds me of Calais in that respect. However it is undergoing a considerable facelift. My guess is that in ten or twenty years time, it will be extremely beautiful.

Of course we are really only here for one reason – The Guggenheim Museum. This incredible building is leading the revival of Bilbao. It has to be one of the most spectacular modern structures in the world. It is a jewel on the river front and is having a knock on effect with the surroundings. Susan and Yee tell me that it was designed by a Canadian architect, who despite having such success internationally, hasn’t been quite so lucky back home. In fact he is due to start work on his first home-grown project shortly.

Another exhibit reminds me of “The Matrix”, where binary code seems to fall like rain on a computer screen. Here however the words fall from the ceiling.

The Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao
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In front of the Museum is a totally unexpected and contrasting sculpture. It’s a huge puppy completely covered in plants. I have seen a similar object in Maidstone, Kent – but that was a sheep. Somehow you expect things like this in Britain, but here it looks totally mad. The strange thing is that it really does work. In fact the locals seem to agree as it was only ever going to be temporary. However it has remained a permanent feature by popular demand. You can even buy postcards of it.

Strange installations outside the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao
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Susan, Yee and myself grab a quick lunch at the Museum’s rather beautiful café. The weather has stayed dry, so we manage to find a table outside to admire the building from. My lunch is simplicity itself – a slice of bread, drizzled in olive oil, rubbed with the juice of a tomato and covered in Serrano ham – yum!

The fabric of the building is quite amazing. The titanium panels, that form its undulating curves, seem to have a warm sandy glow that compliments the sandstone used in other areas. The walls look so silky you just have to stroke them – and that’s how they actually do feel. You also realise just how think the metal is. You could actually dent it if it wasn’t sacrilege!

The Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao
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We get a surprise when we buy our tickets. The top floor is currently closed whilst the displays are changed, so instead of charging €12 each, we only pay €9. As we are mainly interested in the building, we’re not too worried.

There are plenty of art installations that frankly don’t really do it for me – but I do find the technology behind them interesting. One consists of films shot at extraordinarily high speed, creating images that move incredibly slowly. It’s shown in a pitch black room, obviously health and safety isn’t a huge issue in Spain. Another exhibit reminds me of “The Matrix”, where binary code seems to fall like rain on a computer screen. Here however the words fall from the ceiling.

After a brief raid of the gift shop, I head outside to take more photographs of the outside. With a little effort I manage to take one of myself in front of it. I was hoping that the girls would join me in time to help, but a strange dishevelled man has just arrived and started haranguing anyone who looks at him. I decide to scarper whilst I can.

I briefly stop to admire two strange pearlescent cubes. We take a good look around the outside but don’t really have time to venture in. We think they are massive light instillations. As we watch, the colours seem to change. However it’s time to run and we make it back to the coach with just a minute to spare.