Wednesday, September 18 2024
This morning, after our buffet breakfast in the Parador restaurant, the tour group met in Arma Plaza and walked (or took the elevator) down the hill to board the bus for an 8:30 am departure.
Mustering for Departure
Once we disembarked from the 1.5-hour ride to Bilboa, we had a short walk to the Guggenheim Musum. This museum is one of four museums associated with the Guggenheim Foundation. The Basque Government convinced the foundation to build this one in Bilboa (as opposed to other well-know cities) by agreeing to pay for the project and acquiring its artwork. It was a proposal that Guggenheim couldn’t refuse and the museum which opened in 1997 has transformed Bilboa from a swampy industrial city to a popular international tourist destination with the associated economic benefits.
The museum building, located along the Nervion River, is a work of contemporary art in and of itself. The exterior is composed of glass, titanium and limestone. There are no straight lines in the building’s design, instead its curves seem random and were designed by architect Frank Gehry to “catch the light”. Several sculptures decorate the outside of the museum including a giant spider, a stack of metal balls, and a puppy composed of flowers. The randomly curvy structure continues in the interior with its large light-filled atrium.
—— Guggenheim Museum – Exterior ——
—— Guggenheim Museum – Interior ——
Once inside the museum, most of our tour group joined a local guide using the “whisperers” but our group of four plus two others were guided through the museum more intimately by Susana, a museum employee. She led us through the three floors of the museum with exhibits of modern and contemporary works by Spanish and international artists. The artwork was variable, some used LED lights, some were of very unusual materials, some were sculptures, and some were framed paintings. The trip went rather hurriedly with Susana stopping at selected works for a detailed explanation. We, at least, walked through all the exhibition galleries to gain a quick impression of the works housed in each before eventually merging back into our larger tour group.
—— Guggenheim – Examples of Artwork ——
After our Guggenheim visit, we boarded the bus which took a bridge across the Nervion River, drove by the entrance of the University of Deutsu, traveled along the river with nice views of Guggenheim and Bilbao, then crossed another bridge to deposit us in town at our restaurant, Cafe Iruna. In this Moorish-styled cafe, we were served tomato carpaccio, fried hake, and a delicious cream-filled pastry for dessert. Then we napped while riding the bus on the 1.5-hour long trip back to the Parador in Hondarribia.
—— Lunch at Cafe Iruna ——
After relaxing awhile in our Parador room, we went to the Social Salon to listen to another lecture by Dr. Cameron Watson about the Basque language, “A Stone Age Tongue in the New Millennium”. Afterwards, Jane, Nancy, John, and I had cheese, crackers, chocolates and wine on the outdoor veranda with its wonderful view before retiring.