Sunday April 28, 2013 Bilbao, Spain
We sailed overnight last night with only a gentle rocking
motion, and we slept well. This morning
we had a lecture on Spanish Wars in Art with an emphasis on Goya and Picasso
which was just wonderful, and was a great prelude to the temporary exhibit at
the Bilbao Guggenhiem. At lunchtime we
docked in Santander, a town we had visited many years ago when we were able to
see the cave paintings at Altamira, something which is no longer open to the
public. We went by bus to Bilbao, about
an hour’s ride.
We are now in Basque country, along the northeast coast of
Spain, which incorporates three Spanish provinces as well as some part of
France. The Spaniards have recognized
the Basque language as a valid (and legal) part of Spain, and have granted the
three Basque provinces substantial autonomy.
We were told that 94% of the taxes collected here stay here and only 6%
go to Madrid. The aggressive (and
sometimes murderous) Basque separatist movement is now somewhat mollified by
the actions of the central government and have become somewhat quiescent. As a result of some pretty competent
planning, the old grimy town of Bilbao has been rebuilt over the last 20 years,
and a centerpiece of that rebuilding was the partnership with the Guggenheim
Museum which led to the creation of the Frank Gehry masterpiece building which
houses it. Currently Bilbao and the
Basques are doing quite well with an unemployment rate of “only” 15%, while all
of Spain is at 25%!
Bilbao is now a lovely city!
The streets of the old city have been turned into pedestrian only
walkways:
And valuable old buildings have been reconstructed or
rehabbed. Here is the train station:
The centerpiece for a tourist is, of course, the museum,
built on a river. Here’s a photo from
across the river:
The skin is titanium which has a silvery color of its own
and reflects colors around it:
There was a competition to incorporate the bridge over the
river into the view of the building, and it has been done very successfully
with a sort of sculpture over the bridge truss:
Some of the art is outdoor sculpture:
The interior is spectacular.
No words or photos can do it justice; it has to be experienced:
Photos are not allowed in the galleries, but they are
wonderful. The temporary exhibit is on
war, as depicted in painting, and on painting as influenced by being done in
wartime. It is wonderful, but we had
limited time to see it after gawking at the building on our tour.
We’re well, finally pretty well rested, overfed, and looking
forward to the visit tomorrow to Belle Ile, France.
Amazing pictures of the Gehry building--I can see why you lingered in the lobby.... I remember being at the Gehry concert hall in Los Angeles and wandering the corridors in fascination--and almost regretting that the intermission was over and a certain concerto by a certain J. Brahms was about to begin played by a certain J. Bell.
ReplyDeleteGlad the weather is permitting you all to sleep and eat again.
I looked up the Polish region also known as Galicia. The word has a totally different origin. But this could be easily confusing! (Sometimes in conversation here in upstate NY, I find I have to say: Rome--the one in Italy.)
Ralph