When we arrived in Bilbao (me hardly able to walk after my Gaztelugatxe experience 😂 ) we were met in the square above the car park by Fiona who had arrived a few hours earlier. She had been welcomed to our apartment by our lovely host and had already had a cup of tea and a stroll around the pedestrianised old town.
We had the perfect vantage point to watch the North African street sellers spread their wares on the pavement until the ‘lookout’ signalled incoming police and the groundsheet quickly swallowed up all trace of the knock off merchandise they are flogging. It’s quite a strategic game and was most entertaining.
Later on it became a good spot to people watch before we headed out to find a vegetarian dinner in a VERY meat focused town (even the vegetarian salad came topped with shredded Iberian ham 😉)
Unfortunately for Fi this proved to be a challenge throughout most of our Spanish adventure.
One of the main reasons I had allocated time to visit Bilbao was to visit the famous Guggenheim Museum.….
“Committed to innovation, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation collects, preserves, and interprets modern and contemporary art, and explores ideas across cultures through dynamic curatorial and educational initiatives and collaborations. With its constellation of architecturally and culturally distinct museums, exhibitions, publications, and digital platforms, the foundation engages both local and global audiences.“
…. and even more specifically, the iconic Puppy sculpture – on my Europe 2024 bucket list.
It was a pleasant kilometre stroll along the riverfront in ever increasing sunshine and we saw signage and bunting indicating an imminent footrace which subsequently took place along the river after we had reached the Museum.
For those of you that are familiar with the Guggenheim in Bilbao, you will know that aside from the spectacular architecture of Frank Gehry’s actual building there are a couple of iconic sculptures outside as well, notably Maman the spider and the Puppy.
After Fiona and Russell had long given up waiting, I managed to get my shot of Maman sans tourists (albeit would have been better from the other side but sun positioning forced this angle) and then hurried along to rejoin them at the entrance.
We had been super lucky that it was National Free Museum Day and our apartment host had secured the free tickets for us (which still had to be sourced online but save us many euros.)
The facade was stunning and photos were taken from every angle before we climbed the stairs toward the entrance and a distressing sight came into view….
The bloody Puppy was covered in scaffolding!
It was undergoing its spring re-planting, devastated I lamented long and loud to the others about how disappointed I was but at the end of the day even the Puppy needs re potting 😉
We had to be satisfied with photos of what might have been and what will be again…
Walking through the entrance Fiona confided that she’s not really a modern art museum type of person (neither am I really) to which I replied “the Guggenheim is not just any museum!”
We ended up spending a fascinating couple of hours in there, we split from Russell so that he could do his own thing and Fi and I surprisingly spent ages on the very first exhibition we came across, The Matter of Time.
The Matter of Time ( 1994–2005 ) allows the viewer to perceive the evolution of the artist’s sculptural forms, from the relative simplicity of a double ellipse to the complexity of a spiral. The last two pieces in this development are created from sections of tori and spheres that generate different effects on the viewer’s movement and perception. These transform in unexpected ways as the visitor walks through and around them, creating a dizzying and unforgettable sensation of space in motion. The entire room is part of the sculptural field: as in his other multi-piece sculptures, the artist purposefully arranges the works to move the viewer through them and the space around them. The distribution of the works throughout the gallery creates corridors of different proportions (wide, narrow, elongated, compressed, high, low) and always unexpected. There is also a progression of time in the installation. On the one hand, the chronological time it takes to travel through it and observe it from beginning to end; on the other, the time of the experience in which the fragments of the visual and physical memory remain, are combined and re-experienced.
It actually does do all of that and Fiona and I were suitably impressed!
We were a little more bemused by a prostrate Pinocchio and an eruption of toilet paper..
Rejoining Russell and all somewhat footsore by now, we strolled back along the vibrant waterfront and eventually made it to the frenetic Mercado de la Ribera , Bilbao’s largest covered market (allegedly Europe’s…) which was heaving with locals and tourist at lunchtime. Eventually securing a table, we chowed down on a selection of pinxtos and some delightful sangria.
On the way home we admired the local ingenuity, keeping the washing dry on a rainy day.
With our brief stop in Bilbao almost over, we spent the evening re sorting luggage and foodstuffs in preparation for moving on tomorrow.
The next day we largely followed the coast west for half a day and stopped in pretty Playa de la Arnia with its dramatic rock formations and amazing views for our lunch break.
At this point I would like to mention a great app that I came across before we left home called LocationScout – basically you set it to show a predefined (adjustable) radius from your location and it shows interesting sites/subjects that other people have photographed including best time of day for sun position, parking nearby etc.
We actually found lots of great spots that were not necessarily in the tourist guides and it was great to be able to click ‘directions’ and it would default to Google maps and get us there! Some places were obviously very well known but others were more off the beaten track and as well as being very photogenic were great spots for driving breaks or day trips.
Playa de la Arnia was one of those and came complete with a lively little restaurant on the cliff top but as luck would have it we had our own sandwiches so after Fiona and I checked out the beach we settled for a picnic in the grass.
Back on the road we continued west until we reached Ribadesella and then veered left and southward toward our next destination perched high in the Picos de Europa mountain range.
It was with some trepidation that I drove up a single lane, switch back, mountain road which eventually deteriorated into a veritable goat track which Google insisted was right… Fortunately we met no oncoming cars or goats and eventually with some relief we sighted the sign for Jascal Country Cottages, our home for the next five nights.
Barbara, (originally from California many years ago) and Carlos, her Spanish hubby, have created an absolute gem of a place and as we were shown into our two level ‘cottage’ the mountains loomed front and centre and literally took our breath away.
Listening to cowbells ringing in the distance and watching clouds scurrying across the valley, I think we all decided that the goat track had been worth it.
Next, Fi and I pull on the hiking boots 😎