Life is Everywhere: Basque Country - Bilbao Extravaganza!

Guggenheim Bilbao: The inspired architectural design of Frank Gehry

Bilbao has modernized, but still maintains some of its old beautiful architecture

After a whirlwind 1 day tour of Lisbon, we ventured to Spanish Basque country. Without much knowledge of Bilbao we had scheduled 2 1/2 days. There really isn't much to see in this little town, so it gave us a nice rest from the Lisbon craziness. We stayed in a really cool little apartment with an induction range, and close to the old city!

Our little Bilbao apartment

There's honestly not much to do in this city. But, of course, lots of beautiful buildings to saunter past, great pintxos to eat (pinxtos are kind of like tapas, but in Basque country they have them displayed on the bar), and a nice riverwalk - and a festival to be described later.

The back side of the Guggenheim

Bilbao's greatest claim to fame is the Guggenheim it hosts prominently on its riverbank. It is a truly beautiful building. Or at least, I think it is. Micah says that "Beautiful" isn't how he would describe it. "Impressive and memorable, but not beautiful. I attribute beauty to have more warmth. Like a sunset." Well, I would beg to differ as the sun glances off the "cold steel" and illumines the entire structure.

Giant flower dog in front of the Guggenheim. Actually made of real flowers.

However, we were of the same opinion when viewing the art housed within: not the best. But then again, I don't think I have the capacity to appreciate modern art. I can appreciate the type of art housed in the Louvre or the Uffizi, but modern art just doesn't do it for me. I will admit that listening to the audio descriptions was helpful as it gave context to the pieces. I might think the work grotesque, but then again it's supposed to be. The artists of that period were being oppressed by the "moralist censors" and fought back with gusto. I can appreciate the history and background and thereby palate the art.

This work of art scrolled the same phrase up its digital spires

This was actually really cool: huge coils of metal intertwining in a mini labyrinth.

One thing we didn't realize about the week we decided to travel to Bilbao was that they were celebrating Semana Grande, their version of "independence day." Although Basque country is not independent, they are very nationalist and take a 9 day hiatus from work (well, many of them) to celebrate themselves (or so I gathered). It attracts over 100,000 people. There are fireworks pretty much every night and hoards of people in the streets of the old city.

In Xukela Bar rubbing elbows with locals

Line of pintxos in Xukela bar. SO good!

It got pretty crazy in the street with impromptu singing and parading with miniature Gondor horns. Street performers out en masse, and pop up bars lining the river walk.

Over packed Xukela. People wandered into the alley to drink their beer and wine!

After spending the night in the superb apartment we realized we'd somehow misbooked ourselves by one day. We had only one night left in the induction apartment but two more nights before training to Barcelona, leaving an extra day in Bilbao with no place to stay. We had to scramble for a place before we lost internet capability. We booked a hotel (unfortunately), but hey, we had a roof over our heads.

I did not choose this picture. Micah wanted it in.

Beautiful buildings lining the river

Just as it is in most European cities, the city is speckled with beautiful old churches.

The best part of this trip was wandering around, trying the pintxos and wine, reveling in the crazy festival fever, and seeing random vestiges of Basque culture.

These giant puppets were first used in 1509 and have since then been a traditional part of Basque festivals.

We felt like boring old people as the rest of the city was partying well into the morning. So on our final night we went out on the town and stayed out until...well only like 12, but it was more than can be said for the other nights. We started off the night with cocktails at Sir Winston Churchill's bar then hopped to 4 different pinxto bars across the city to culminate in a firework show.