Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain
Bilbao Guggenheim and the Red Arc of La Salve Bridge
A fabulous building of contemporary architecture, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is itself a work of art and a must-see sight in the Basque Country of Spain. But you can’t just see it from the outside, you have to see the marvelous spaces inside designed for exhibiting large-scale contemporary art.
Bilbao is over an hour from San Sebastian where we were spending the week in pintxo paradise. With an early enough start we had plenty of time to see the Guggenheim exhibits and take in the exterior of the building from the bridge and riverside terrace. Plenty of time for me that is, not being a huge fan of contemporary art. But I did enjoy walking through and around the amazing Ernesto Neto installations, installations designed to be interacted with, climbed on, even smelt. Thank goodness for the audioguide!
After 5 hours at the Guggenheim we hustled over to the terrific Bilbao Fine Arts Museum (Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilboa), only a couple of blocks from the Guggenheim. Another must see for art lovers, with an extensive collection from the old masters to the impressionists. Too bad we only had a couple of hours left to zoom through the collection in this day of marvelous museums.
Guggenheim Museum is one of those places you either hate it or love it. Sometimes it also depends on what new exhibition they have when you visit. I recommend to everyone to approach it with an open mind.
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I agree, keeping an open mind is the right approach – that and have fun with it, which you certainly can do climbing on, in, and around the Neto installations! The only thing I was disappointed in was not having any Picasso, Kandinsky or Braque on display when we visited. Too bad I won’t be in Bilbao to see the upcoming School of Paris exhibit – that’s something I’d LOVE to see.
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