Bilbao!

Greetings loyal travelogue followers, from this very cosmopolitan city in the Basque region of northern Spain. We’ve had yet another amazing day seeing new horizons…

Before I dive in to tales and photos of our day here, I want to give one last shout out to Rafael and his Casa del Organista hotel in Santillana del Mar. Everything about the place impressed us, and we’d like to urge anyone who might be tempted to stay there some day!

We were met this morning by Simon from Iron Donkey, who picked up the bikes and very kindly drove us to Santander to catch our bus to Bilbao. He was a jolly Englishman, who even offered to go into the bus station with us to make sure we could get on the bus with only the email receipt on my phone (it was no problem).

Once on the bus, it was only a little more than an hour and a half to Bilbao, and Jorge & Meredith’s bus showed up about 15 minutes later. We walked to our hotel about three blocks away, dropped our bags and headed for the Guggenheim.

I’m sure most of you have already seen photos of Frank Gehry’s masterpiece, but if you haven’t, you’re about to! What a structure…

That one was taken near the entrance, and gives you a good sense of the contrast of glass and steel.

The above was taken from an upper patio where we had a quick bite to eat…

On the interior, stone and glass dominate. The elevators all ascend within those crazy glass-sheathed columns.

One of the major features of their collection is a huge multi-faceted (literally!) Richard Serra sculpture A Matter of Time.

Mal & I had a wonderful time walking beneath almost every inch of those incredible rusted steel monoliths. It’s truly an awe inspiring work of art…

After exploring the rest of the museum for a while, we headed back outside to investigate all the angles (!) of the building and its surroundings:

Then it was time to head for the old town center, and look for some good pintxos (tapas) bars for dinner!

I can’t seem to resist these extraordinarily unique and colorful streetscapes:

Jorge & Meredith enjoyed showing us some of their favorite sights, like this expansive art center with 43 individually commissioned pillars, each a original design. Here’s one of my favorites:

Nearby we definitely found the hot neighborhood for pintxos. Here we have a typical bowl of olives and a raciones of jamon iberico. Tasty!

And just to prove how hoppin’ the neighborhood was, check out the street scene as we headed for home!

I keep wondering how each day can top the last, but somehow they do. Tune in tomorrow for the report from San Sebastián!