* Pictures noted are bottom to top - Since Bilbao wasn't far from San Sebastian, we decided to take our time getting there by avoiding downtown and driving instead along back country roads. This allowed us to enjoy the picturesque views of the sea, farms, berry-pickers, walkers, and cyclists. After a while the road extended along the coast, beautiful and very reminiscent of Highway 1 in California. We passed through and into some of the quaint coastal towns including Zarautz, Getaria, Debra (picture 1), and Ondarroa.
Our route brought us inland as restaurants became less available and we were getting more hungry. Just when we were about to stop to pull together some kind of snack from our left-over supply of food, we came upon this nice, upscale, Restaurante de Josu Mendizabal, about 5km outside of the last small town. At first when we entered it looked like it might be a biker hang out, but then we were led to a lovely back room with linen-set tables, wine glasses and a delicious full menu of local fish and meat specialties. With the chef's limited English and our very limited Spanish we were encouraged to order the fresh clams, a salad, a bottle of Txakoli Rose from the region, and fried milk for dessert. We had a wonderful time and to our delight everything tasted great.
After returning to the car we drove directly on to Bilbao where we could see our hotel along the river, but couldn't find a connecting bridge to get to it. After at least another half hour of frustrating girations through town we finally arrived. We then miraculously found a free parking space for the weekend on the street, saving $18 euros per day (now a $1.46 US per Euro), and settled into our new space at The Hesperia Bilbao conveniently located within walking distance to Old Town, downtown, and the Guggenheim Museum. Our room was modern, sleek, and most importantly, quiet - no roosters - assuring a wonderful night sleep.
Next day, being our only day in Bilbao, was a full one. We started early in the morning with a walk on the promonade along the River de Bilbao (picture 2). The sun was shining and the temperature was very comfortable. We walked pass the flower market (picture 3), watched rowers on the river (picture 4), and then wandered into Old Town. Once there we had breakfast and people watched at a cafe for a short while before visiting the busy Saturday market in the Plaza Berria (picture 5). Unlike other markets we have been to this one had a large number of vendors selling books, trading cards, and small live creatures like birds, fish, and gerbils.
After watching various groups of people of all ages intensely negotiate for desired trading cards from long, scratched lists of requests (picture 6), we walked through parts of downtown to our final destination, the amazing Guggenheim Museum.
From the drama of the titanium 'fish scale' facade of the building, the adjacent bright red highway bridge (picture 7), and it's exterior art installations including the large, menacing bronze Spider ('Maman') by Louise Bourgeois, periodic fog 'sculpture' by Fujiko Nakaya generated from under the bridge and cross walk to the entrance (picture 8), and of course, Jeff Koon's huge flowered 'Puppy' (picture 9) - it was an incredible experience even before we entered.
With the help of the audio guide we took a short orientation tour of the atrium and outside terrace where we enjoyed seeing another fun installation by Jeff Koons, a colorful bouquet of 'Tulips' (picture 10). From here we walked through Richard Serra's large 'The Matter of Time' interior installation before going to the Gastronomic Restaurant for our reserved lunch. We were delighted to find our table was placed in the center of the restaurant's only large glass window giving us a wonderful view the front walkway and River. The food was simple and elegantly presented (grilled monk fish and open range chicken breast). After lunch we spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying all the exhibits from the Guggenheim's permanent collection to the temporary installations by exciting Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang.
To finish our wonderful day we took a lovely, slow stroll along the promanade and over the walking bridge back to our hotel (picture 11). Once there we caught up with computer work, read, and relaxed as our last night in Bilbao came to an end.
Next morning we checked out, loaded up our car, and found our way to the highway taking us to the small town of Ribadesella, Spain.
Our route brought us inland as restaurants became less available and we were getting more hungry. Just when we were about to stop to pull together some kind of snack from our left-over supply of food, we came upon this nice, upscale, Restaurante de Josu Mendizabal, about 5km outside of the last small town. At first when we entered it looked like it might be a biker hang out, but then we were led to a lovely back room with linen-set tables, wine glasses and a delicious full menu of local fish and meat specialties. With the chef's limited English and our very limited Spanish we were encouraged to order the fresh clams, a salad, a bottle of Txakoli Rose from the region, and fried milk for dessert. We had a wonderful time and to our delight everything tasted great.
After returning to the car we drove directly on to Bilbao where we could see our hotel along the river, but couldn't find a connecting bridge to get to it. After at least another half hour of frustrating girations through town we finally arrived. We then miraculously found a free parking space for the weekend on the street, saving $18 euros per day (now a $1.46 US per Euro), and settled into our new space at The Hesperia Bilbao conveniently located within walking distance to Old Town, downtown, and the Guggenheim Museum. Our room was modern, sleek, and most importantly, quiet - no roosters - assuring a wonderful night sleep.
Next day, being our only day in Bilbao, was a full one. We started early in the morning with a walk on the promonade along the River de Bilbao (picture 2). The sun was shining and the temperature was very comfortable. We walked pass the flower market (picture 3), watched rowers on the river (picture 4), and then wandered into Old Town. Once there we had breakfast and people watched at a cafe for a short while before visiting the busy Saturday market in the Plaza Berria (picture 5). Unlike other markets we have been to this one had a large number of vendors selling books, trading cards, and small live creatures like birds, fish, and gerbils.
After watching various groups of people of all ages intensely negotiate for desired trading cards from long, scratched lists of requests (picture 6), we walked through parts of downtown to our final destination, the amazing Guggenheim Museum.
From the drama of the titanium 'fish scale' facade of the building, the adjacent bright red highway bridge (picture 7), and it's exterior art installations including the large, menacing bronze Spider ('Maman') by Louise Bourgeois, periodic fog 'sculpture' by Fujiko Nakaya generated from under the bridge and cross walk to the entrance (picture 8), and of course, Jeff Koon's huge flowered 'Puppy' (picture 9) - it was an incredible experience even before we entered.
With the help of the audio guide we took a short orientation tour of the atrium and outside terrace where we enjoyed seeing another fun installation by Jeff Koons, a colorful bouquet of 'Tulips' (picture 10). From here we walked through Richard Serra's large 'The Matter of Time' interior installation before going to the Gastronomic Restaurant for our reserved lunch. We were delighted to find our table was placed in the center of the restaurant's only large glass window giving us a wonderful view the front walkway and River. The food was simple and elegantly presented (grilled monk fish and open range chicken breast). After lunch we spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying all the exhibits from the Guggenheim's permanent collection to the temporary installations by exciting Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang.
To finish our wonderful day we took a lovely, slow stroll along the promanade and over the walking bridge back to our hotel (picture 11). Once there we caught up with computer work, read, and relaxed as our last night in Bilbao came to an end.
Next morning we checked out, loaded up our car, and found our way to the highway taking us to the small town of Ribadesella, Spain.
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