Feelings of the Day: Food, when traveling, is important. You could get something quick so that you can carry on seeing things, but tasting the flavours of a place is more important. It is the experience of traveling, made up of a multitude of moments, that makes memories. Choose your food wisely.
Full Day’s Events: Waking up early, I went to the Mercado to see what I could get for breakfast. They had everything here like fish, meat, vegetables, cheese, olives, and more, but only one bakery. Three items called to me from that bakery: fish pie, beef pie, and Basque cheesecake. The two pies I consumed once I got back to my place and the cheesecake I would save for tomorrow morning.
For late morning and early afternoon, we split into groups. Myself and G&M walked around the old town while R went on a long power walk and J wandered on her own. I had a handy map, from my accommodations, so we started up the pedestrian outdoor escalator, just to try it out, then looked out over the old town on a lookout point.
Then we started wandering around to see places of note: an old monument/fountain, Plaza Nueva, Three Dogs Fountain, Cathedral of Santiago, Arriaga Antzokia Theatre, Church of Saint Nicholas, Kloskoa Bandstand in Arenal park, and the wonderful buildings on the streets of old town. We never went inside any of the structures we passed by, but it was a good way to see what the city had to offer.
After the group got back together, we stopped at several places to eat but they were lackluster. Finally, we stopped at Gerri Taberna where we ordered a combination of things that were all tasty and filling.
Now we were to take fuel of a different sort ,as we took the tram to…the Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao! One of the largest museums of Spain, it was opened in 1997 and designed by Frank Gehry. The structure itself is regarded as one of the most important buildings made since 1980. With 260,000 square feet of indoor space, of which 120,000 is for exhibitions, it was built on time and on budget, displays many hundreds of art works at any one time, generated a half billion euros in taxes for the city and state from out of town visitors in its first three years, and had 1.3 million visitors in 2024. It is for sure a place to visit when in the area.
I liked the big flower covered puppy in front of the museum, the undulating structure, and outdoor works.
I liked early Helen Frankenthaler’s experimentation with dropped mashed wet paint (much more soulful than what I saw of Jackson Pollock’s work in Venice), and the Richard Serra’s Matter of Time large metal art that was as interactive as it was contemplative.
I also liked early Tarsila do Amaral made with bold blocky colours and youthful daring, Pablo Palazuelo’s creative joined shapes that make the eye follow a meditative journey, African artist El Anatsui whose humongous tableau “Rising Sun” made with cast off items made me think of waste in different ways, Yayoi Kusama’s “Infinity Mirrored Room - A Wish for Human Happiness Calling from Beyond the Universe” brought childlike smiles to my face during the fifteen seconds we were permitted inside her art box, and the playful art work outside the museum itself.
I was also glad I could get a photo of myself in front of a work by an unknown artist, I called “Blank Wall”. Very glad I could experience this interesting and thought-provoking art during the three and a half hours I was inside. The art I saw made me remember the lively street art that was around this city, in particular the old town area.
With a couple hours of rest, it was time for a good supper, which we ate at 945pm. However, like previous days and the barriers we encountered, we started the quest for a place to eat at 845pm. The first place, which everyone said sounded great, was 100 meters from RJGM’s place but the chef didn’t show up for work. Next place was in Plaza Nueva, but was full up, and the second option in the square had a snarky server. We ended up eating in the same place we had lunch that day, Gerri Taberna. The food was better than lunch, which was hard to beat, as we ordered multiple platters of Basque specialities. Everyone was happy with the choices made.
Got back to my place ~1130 and was in bed by midnight. 12.8km and 34 flights walked.
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