LOCATION:
Bilbao and San Sebastián, Spain
I can't remember if I first leaned about the Guggenheim Bilbao in an art class or in an architecture class, but visiting the museum has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember. After hearing from Erin how wonderful the nearby seaside town of San Sebastián was, I decided to combine my visit into a 36-hour getaway from Barcelona. After landing in Bilbao, I took a bus to the museum and could hardly contain my giddiness as the silver curvaceous Ghery building came into view. Walking up to the museum, I was excited to see the famous flowering "Puppy" by Jeff Koons greet me at the museum entrance.
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| Puppy. |
After entering the museum I promptly went right out the back door, and found more Koons work (Tulips, my favorite), a tall silver ball sculpture by Anish Kapoor, and a bronze spider by Louise Bourgeois. I did go inside for a few minutes (where I managed to sneak a picture of one of the few Warhol's I have ever seen in real life!) but to be honest the biggest draw to the Guggenheim Bilbao - for me at least - is the structure, rather than the art it contains. I don't know what it is about Frank Gehry's mix of curves and angles, but I could have spent hours looking at it. I have seen some of his other structures, the Experience Music Project in Seattle, and the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, but none made my jaw drop the way this one did.
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| Koons' Tulips outside. |
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| Kapoor's Tall Tree and the Eye. |
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| Bourgeois' Spider. |
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| One of Warhol's Marilyn's. |
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| Striking from every angle. |
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| Bucket list item - successful check. |
San Sebastián was about an hour away by bus, and it's a good thing I worked up an appetite at the Guggenheim because San Sebastián is know for its culinary expertise - the city has more Michelin starred restaurants per capita than anywhere else. Based on a recommendation, I headed straight for A Fuego Negro for the Kobe Beef slider. The most common thing in any restaurant here were pintxos (Basque-style tapas) and are essentially little bites of heaven.
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| Kobe beef pintxo. |
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| This one is from Barcelona, but the same concept. Small bites of yumminess. |
San Sebastián, more than anything else, was just a charming beach town. It was sunny and perfect the first day of my trip, so I enjoyed walking along the boardwalk and people watching. It has a bit of an upscale air to it, but also a calm and relaxing vibe which I really liked.
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| The cove, and beautiful beaches. |
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| I also enjoyed watching the surfers, though the water was pretty cold! |
The next day was a bit overcast, but I got up early and went for an awesome run on the beach. I didn't have my camera with me on my run, but found a cool sculpture at the end of the bay which I went back to check out later in the afternoon. It is called The Wind Comb, and is a collaboration between two Basque sculptors. The vision was to have a space where "sea, wind, iron and rocks could communicate" according to the artists. The wind and cloudy skies actually made for some cool pictures!
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| The sculpture was anchored on two rocks. |
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| Loved the sound of crashing waves. |
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| Really cool patterns in the rocks. |
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San Sebastián and Bilbao were both wonderful, and I wish I had the time to stay longer. Alas, my time in Spain is limited, so back to Barcelona I go!
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