Immediately the first thing we both noticed was the temperature…. It was cool. Pleasantly cool, a refreshing change from the almost unbearable heat of Barcelona. The Abando station (the main train station in Bilbao) has a spectacular stained glass window visible from all platforms. A little different I thought for a train station.
Immediately we started for the hotel to dump our bags. We got some dodgy information from the ticket booth and headed onto the local metro to a station somewhere up on the hill. We got off at the advised station, and upon looking at the local map on the wall (which looked almost nothing like the one we had printed off google maps) we jumped back on the train and headed to the next station. We were heading blind, as we had no map, only the fact that I had spotted on the way into the train station our hotel, as it had a huge green sign on the top. So this was all we had to go on really. After around 30 minutes of feeling our way around the suburbs of Bilbao, we found the hotel. We then headed straight for the city, I couldn’t wait any longer, I had to at least see the Guggenheim, even if we weren’t going in it until the following day. As we were heading into the main township, we could hear lots of people, lots of drunk people??? As we got closer to town we found that the City had a festival going called the Aste Nagusia. I believe this translates to "the big week" and is supposed to be one of the most vibrant festivals in Spain, as Bilbao celebrates its Basque heritage. Over 100,000 locals take part in the party, which includes the Strongman games, nightly firework displays, live music and lots of eating and drinking. Events are held all over the city in plazas, parks and churches over nine long days in August. This is all fantastic, If you speak Spanish. Everything was closed, all the restaurants, shops etc. Everyone was out partying. This was going to be a slight problem, as the food that was being served at the makeshift tent kitchens did not look all that crash hot, and the smell that was around town smelt like stale vomit. (maybe that was why they were spraying the roads and footpaths with a lemon scented water??)
We wandered down the main street and it was a similar story here also….
Everything was closed. Not a single shop open. God I thought, I hope the Guggenheim is going to be open??. We turned down a street that lead to the museum and low and behold there it was. It stands out as a shining beacon in the city. It really is magnificent. The titanium sheeting which covers the majority of the building reflects in the sunlight. A flower covered bear stands at the main entryway.
The building is extremely complex in its geometry, with twists and curves, some clad in limestone, some in titanium and some in glass, Its is a complex series of spaces with a huge atrium space in the middle. The main entryway is at the foot of an enourmaous glass atrium space.
We walked around the building finding more pieces of artwork scattered around. A huge spider on massive legs sits between the building and the Bilbao River.
We walked along the river back to the hotel through part of the festival. There were thousands of kids all having their faces painted, riding on different attractions and just generally either screaming with joy or screaming with discontent….. We were out of there!! We headed back to the hotel (which was very comfy) and had an early night. Fireworks woke us up at around 11pm and lasted for a good 30 minutes. No expense spared here in Bilbao, they were magnificent! I think we may have had the best view from out Hotel room window!
The next day we headed back into the city… It was much quiter this time. Most people were moving very very slowly….. clearly hanging onto a hangover! We headed down the main street expecting to see the shops open and again nothing, So we heade back to the Guggenheim to visit the artwork. Unfortunately photos are not allowed inside the museum, but you should check out the museum works. These can be seen at: http://www.guggenheim.org/bilbao
Clearly for me, the most outstanding work is the permanent collection from Richard Serra. Here, he uses a complex series of shapes to create sculpture pieces that you walk through and around, sensing the space as it changes…. Very cool!!
For me, the Guggenheim is a very interesting building, but I do find the complex series of shapes confusing at times. It seems like an over complicated answer to a fairly simple problem. But having said that. Its is a truly amazing building.
The next day we headed up the hill from the hotel to check out hte city from above.
Not far from here we sore the tops of what looked like huge umbrellas. Upon closer inspection, it was a petrol station. Very cool!!
Not sure who the architect is here, but I believe there is a similar one in Barcelona too.
We also took a walk past the still under construction basketball arena in Bilbao. Again, cant find the architect for this one at first glance, Will get back to you on that one.
We jumped onto the metro again to head out to the Bilbao Exhibition centre, just outside of town. Designed by Norman Forster, each matro station is quite similar, with precast concrete elements and feature structural stainless steel elements. The stations were clean and easy to use, although left you feeling a little dull. Some colour was needed fo me??
Still very nicely detailed!
The bilbao exhibition centre by ACXT was our next destination. This is a huge building, containing 150,000 m2 of exhibition space distributed between 6 halls, all without columns.
The 18,000 m2 congress centre is the perfect venue for conventions, seminars,presentations, celebrations, gala dinners, etc. Unfortunately the centre was closed and I was only able to walk around the building (which took around 30 minutes) It truly is massive.
Formore info on this building, check out: http://www.bilbaoexhibitioncentre.com/portal/page/portal/GRP_BEC/P_BEC_PRINCIPALRECINTO
Our last day in Bilbao saw the end of the festival. This meant the shops were open, So we indulged in a little retail therapy before heading to the airport.
The Bilbao Airport is another remarkable building by Calatrava. I have blabbed on enough about Calatrava in a previous post so I need not say any more.... here are some pics.
We head from here to Venice via Munich. Here we will see the Biennale.
Cheers,
Mick.
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