Bilbao and the Guggenheim

More immersion in art scheduled for today, and of course more food.  But first, some history.  Bilbao, roughly an hour drive west from San Sebastian, is a city definately grown out of industry.  It does have cultural roots dating from the 14th century, and there is an old town section, but it feels much more contemporary than other similar sized cities we visited.  Being this far north, there isn't the religious waves of influence we'd become familiar with in Andalusia, but instead a complicated and repeating history of regional disputes, clashes of governments, riots, and civil wars. In relatively recent history, Bilbao was stomped on by the Napoleanic and Carlist wars, and later again suffered severe destruction by Franco.  Known for being the birthplace of the ETA (somewhat the Basque equivalent of the IRA), separatist conflicts continued until 2018.  Throughtout this tumultuous history, Bilbao kept regrowing itself, waning and waxing in economic cycles of industry and politics.  An historical port and commerce center centuries ago, exporting wool and iron ore, it is now second only to Barcelona in industrial growth.  

'Nuf history.  We're here because of the most recent influence on economic regrowth, the Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao. I will NOT discuss the Guggenheims, their vast wealth and why there is a museum here, but focus instead on some of the iconic and stunning art we saw today. 

Yet another sleek, black limovan whisked us and our guide for today, Vicky, from our hotel for the mostly motorway trip to Bilbao. Vicky poured knowledge into us along the way.  Again, my brain chose to shed a lot of important stuff but retain odd facts like Vicky is not a fan of football.  

However, the brain will not forget walking up to the museum for the first time.

Approaching the Guggenheim in Bilbao

"Poopy"

Hard to believe anything could distract the eye from that gorgeous chunk of architecture in the background, but meet "Puppy" (or Poopy" as pronounced in Bilbao).  A 12 meter high flowerpot of a dog.  Created as a temporary installation by Jeff Koons, it was loved so much by most people in the city that it is now maintained permanently.  

Front of the museum

You've earned a pass from much more reading, so the rest of this post is devoted to mostly imagery.  Be aware we love Richard Serra and I love photograhing the element of line I find in his work, so be prepared for "contemporary" and "abstract".

"Tall Tree and the Eye" by Anish Kapoor

Close up

Louise Bourgeois, "Maman"

Below is the Richard Serra gallery and following are partial views of his sculptures against the gallery walls.

All seven sculptures 

Just a photo of the gallery wall

Jeff Koons below...  "Tulips"

A view inside the Guggenheim...

Inside the museum

And now it's time for a pintxos lunch!  We're in the old town at the Plaza Nuevo, ringed with restaurants and with most seating outside.  While there is an influx of foreign tourists in summer, at this time of year Vicky informed us the Plaza is filled with about 95% locals.  

One of the six or seven pintxos ('pin-choz) we ate.. pork meatballs in a gravy with béchamel sauce.  

After sharing a few plates at one bar/restaurant, Vicky led us to another one, this time inside.  Our experience is what the locals do -- not combat eating, combat getting to the bar to order!

And the third bar... dessert.  Sorry, the carrot cake got eaten before I got the shot.  

Fully sated gastronomically from food and beer, and mentally from all the visual art and ambient noise, Vicky bat-signaled our driver (Carlos?) to pick us up for the journey back home.

The motorway between Bilbao and San Sebastian passes through some lovely country.  I'm sure there is flysch in there somewhere.  (Ah-ha!  My spellchecker has finally learned the word!)

"Gau on maitia" ("Good night my love" in Euskera).