Pre-Tour: Bilbao
I first saw Frank Gehry's architecture when my husband and I attended the LA Philharmonic's chamber music series in the newly opened Walt Disney Concert Hall. As first season subscribers we were given a tour of the building and gardens. The outside design was wave-like, soaring, spectacular but the acoustics and beautiful wood of the ark-like interior were simply gifts.
A few years ago I had the chance to see another Frank Gehry design, the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, Washington. It was also wave-like, colorful, bold and resembled a Star Wars storm trooper helmet I thought!
As I approached the Guggenheim Bilbao from the La Salve bridge, it was obviously a Gehry design - wave-like, scaled, circular and beautifully positioned next to the Nervion River.
Itinerary: Barcelona to Bilbao
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Airport storage at Barcelona
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Flight Barcelona to Bilbao
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Bus from airport to Guggenheim
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Outside artwork and La Salve Bridge
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Tram from Guggenheim to B & B
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Lunch/Dinner
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Bilbao Cathedral
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Overnight at Basque Boutique
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Bilbao Market
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Guggenheim
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Lunch at Guggenheim
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Bilbao Art Museum
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Overnight at Basque Boutique
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Taxi to airport
The B & B in Bilbao e-mailed that no one was available at the check-in desk until 2, so to lighten my load, I left my weekender-size suitcase in storage at the Barcelona airport and traveled to Bilbao with only a tote.
The bus was cheap (6 euros vs 20 for a taxi) and a direct route from the airport to the Guggenheim, where I could wander the La Salve Bridge, then photo the outdoor sculptures. A great opportunity to see Mamen - Louise Bourgeois, Tall Tree and The Eye - Anish Kapour, Tulips - Jeff Koons and Fog - Fujiko Nakaya.
Several staircases and an elevator led from the bridge to the footpath, which crossed over the Nervion River,and connected La Salve to the Guggenheim. (The same footpath Professor Langdon crossed!)
Mamen is a wonderfully imposing piece. On her underbelly is an egg sac nearly bursting with baby spiders-to-be.
The sculpture "Fog" surprises intermittently and irregularly while walking along the museum's periphery.
Tall Tree and the Eye (?- I don't see it myself, unless each of the balls is supposed to be an eyeball ?)
Walking to the front entrance of the Guggenheim, it was a little disappointing to learn that I had timed my Bilbao trip to one of the two times per year (May and October) that Jeff Koons' Puppy is replanted. The replanting takes 20 people about two weeks. Still - it was a great time to see how huge an undertaking this is, and to glimpse all the colorful flowers waiting to be put into place.
This version of "Puppy" was in the Bilbao airport.
Because rain was in the forecast for tomorrow, I took one last look at Mamen with a blue sky background before leaving.
Wondering if Mamen has her eye on that baby carriage (far left) for her little ones.....
Like most great cities, Bilbao has a superior transportation system - the bus from the airport to town was on-time, easy to find and the drivers spoke English. Once in Bilbao, there's a tram that connects old town (my B&B) to new town (Guggenheim). I hopped the tram, checked into my B&B - the Basque Boutique (Eating/Sleeping) and headed off to explore the old town.
The Bilbao-Abando railway station is a real eye-catcher on the route to old town.
The Catedral de Santiago/St. James' Cathedral - I was one of those who mistakenly thought this was the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
The church was built in the 14th-15th century and designated a cathedral in 1950, although its origins probably date from much earlier, perhaps the 1300's.
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This is a different cathedral from the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, though they both are dedicated to St. James. This cathedral is a transit point for pilgrims who follow the northern branch of the Way of Saint James (which begins in Portugal).
The scallop shell has come to represent pilgrimage - here on the hat/headdress of St. James.
Bilbao has some great sights. As is usual, my only regret is that I wish I had planned one more day here (at least).
The next morning I got up early and headed to the tram station. The Ribera Market was just opposite the tram stop, so I took a quick peek inside.
The Ribera Market is the largest indoor market in Europe.
The tram was exceptionally reliable - so said RS in his guidebook and Rick is nearly (!) always right. Sure enough the tram on this morning ran every 15 minutes and took me directly to the Guggenheim.
Before my 10 o'clock Guggenheim reservation, I took a few minutes to explore the Zubizuri (Calatrava) Bridge. To me this bridge is emblematic of Bilbao; everything about it is artistic and congruent - the curved handrails leading up the stairways, the shapes of the concrete holdings that mirror the shape of the bridge.
This bridge feels like music to me - the interaction of the siding, the handrails, the cables of the "harp" - it sings!
Fortunately the rain held off until I was inside the Guggenheim. "Fog" was much more dramatic seen from the inside-out, through the windows.
Inside, the Guggenheim is an exhibit in itself, with its interaction of glass, beams and stairways - a complicated and somewhat cavernous space.
Black umbrellas in the rain at
Guggenheim, Bilbao
The Guggenheim is rather quirky in its policies. It declares that there's no photography allowed inside - except in those areas inside where it is allowed.(?)
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After some exploration, here's my take on this policy - you can take pictures inside of the large, interactive exhibits and you can take pictures of the outdoor sculptures through the windows or on the porticos.
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You may not take pictures of paintings, sculptures, artwork that is held in specific rooms within the museum.
What I know about art, I learned in Mr. De Grassi's "Art Appreciation" class in community college, when I was 18 (a long, long time ago). But I have been treated to two times in my life when I felt the artist and the exhibit space were made for each other. The first was in about 1987 when the LA County Art Museum held an exhibit of David Hockney's work. They had redone one entire wing, installed a milky skylight which diffused the streaming sun from above and flooded the whole area with light. All of Hockney's swimming pool pictures were hung there. I stepped onto the light maple floors of that rectangular room and felt that I had entered the deep end of the pool. It was luscious. At the Guggenheim, Bilbao, Richard Serra's work "The Matter of Time" seemed made for the space. I spent most of the morning photographing it from above, and meandering along the curves and corridors within it. I have seen his work at LA County Museum of Art and the space was not as successful.
Competing with the Serra sculpture as a "wow" attention-getter, was an installation by New York-based artist Jenny Holzer called "Proyecto para Bilbao."
Holzer's digital neon signboard spanned three stories (40 feet high) and transmitted phrases in Basque, Spanish and English.The piece, which was first developed for an AIDS event, flashes phrases that are tender and poignant - "I say your name" and "I save your clothes."
I saw the project from the first floor entry and went up four flights of stairs to get a better view of the thing in its entirety. It was only from above that I realized people were walking through the light curtain of words and standing inside the shower of light.
From three stories up, looking down
1st floor level of installation
Seen from above, a visitor passes through the light curtain.
Another visitor enters, iPad in hand
I came back downstairs and entered the light installation. As I looked out, I saw the Guggenheim in shades of pink and red, and the people alongside me intense with color.
It's the darnedest thing - no matter where I go, I seem to time my arrival to someone's cleaning schedule. At Giverny, there was some guy out in a boat and net, cleaning up Monet's lily padded lake. While trying to inhabit the spiritual vibes of Stonehenge, it was hard to ignore the caretaker guy who was hosing off the stones. And here, guess I scored the trifecta!
Got a few, nice, up-close views of Jeff Koons' "Tulips." (I thought they were pipes - but no - they're tulips!)
This is called "Short-armed photographer takes a selfie!"
The Bilbao Museum of Fine Arts was just a 5-minute walk from the Guggenheim.
Located in a quiet shaded square, this is a lovely museum that is arranged, like most things Basque, in a unique style, all its own.
Instead of being grouped by country or period or style, the artwork is arranged by theme. So each of its 33 rooms is a discovery, inviting the viewer to peruse both themes and artwork; to make up their own minds as to whether the piece fits the theme and why/why not.
The rooms/themes progress alphabetically, a=arte, b=bilbao, c=citoyen, i.e., rain = lluvia in Spanish.
The flight from Bilbao to Barcelona took off at 9 am; I had to be at the airport at 8, so I left the B & B at 6:10, knowing that the tram came every 15 minutes. At 6:15, there was no tram. At 6:30, there was no tram. At 6:45, there was no tram. At 7, I decided I had better take a taxi to the airport. Fortunately, a taxi was parked up the street and the airport only about a 30 minute ride. Turns out the tram had an electrical failure.
While waiting for the tram, I happened to look up and discovered this amazing mural, up and down the sidewalk ceiling of the Ribera tram stop.
POST TOUR: MONTSERRAT
Why go to Montserrat? In my mid-50's, I decided to return to college and pursue a Master's in Theology. Even though I'm a United Methodist, the best college that met my needs was a Catholic university, Loyola-Marymount in Los Angeles. LMU was founded by the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits and the founder of the Jesuits was Ignatius of Loyola. Read on.
Iñigo was born in the Basque village of Loyola, the youngest of thirteen children. As a young man he became a soldier and a "servant of the court." On the battlefield of Pamplona, however, a cannonball shattered his leg. During an extended convalescence that involved multiple surgeries and recuperations, he began reading a book on the lives of saints. He found that reading books about knights and battles brought him only temporary satisfaction. But reading about the lives of saints gave him an overwhelming sense of peace. He made a pilgrimage to the monastery of Montserrat and there left his clothes and sword on the altar of the Virgin, to take up a life of poverty and reflection. He journeyed to Manresa, lived in a cave for a year and developed the Spiritual Exercises.
Montserrat was the most unplanned part of my trip. I had left my final day, Sunday, open - in case I wanted to see more of Gaudi or Picasso. The guidebooks said Sunday was the worst day to visit Montserrat because of the crowds - but - whaddayagonnado? It was the only day left!
I went to the tourist help station at Plaza Catalunya and they booked a "tour." There was no real tour, the booking was for a bus ride up to the monastery where they dropped you off, you were free to do anything you wanted, just be back at the bus by 3 for the ride to Barcelona.
Once you get off the bus, and if you are at all afraid of heights, your first question is "Why on earth did I want to do this?" Then you look around - up - down - to the side - while trying to breathe in, breathe out - that's it. Maybe all the crosses around were supposed to be reassuring - they weren't.
Most of the faithful make the pilgrimage to Montserrat to touch La Moreneta (the dark one), the Black Madonna, the Virgin of Montserrat.
This was the line on Sunday to touch the Madonna. It was a 2-hour wait.
One option for the day was to take the funicular even higher up the mountain, where you could, not me, but one could do some climbing. Or follow a trail to the cross that was suspended on an incredibly narrow ledge on the other side of the canyon.
We had been told, and the website confirmed that a boy's choir would be singing at the mass; the choir sang every Sunday at 1 o'clock. The line for mass wasn't as long as the line to touch the Madonna - but it was packed. I stayed at the mass til 1:30 - no choir but I did get a glimpse of the Madonna.
People were entering and leaving the mass constantly so - and being that I was Methodist anyway - I left the mass at 1:30 and discovered there was an art museum on site - what a discovery!!
The museum at Montserrat was unexpected and fabulous - really a wonderful museum that I wish I'd had more time to wander..
From top: The Tapestry Merchant by Maria Fortuny, Old Woman by Camille Pissarro, Fountain by Joaquin Sorolla, Repentant Saint Magdalena by El Greco.
Most of the artists were from Spain - but there was a wonderful variety of style and period. I was surprised there was such a representation of Picasso and Dali.
Pablo Picasso - The Altarboy (what beautiful technique on the boy's white vestment)
Salvador Dali - Composition with three figures. Trying to figure out Dali, I usually need to sit down and think about it a while too.
Pablo Picasso - The Old Fisherman
Clockwise:
An entire room in the museum was dedicated to depictions of the Black Madonna.
I didn't get the artists names for any of these works - but they were my favorites in the museum. Of these, my favorite favorite is this one - it is so Frida Kahlo-esque.
There's so much anticipation when visiting a site such as this - you think somehow what Iñigo of Loyola experienced here is going to transcend time and speak to you just as meaningfully That never happens with me - but I always hope! Truly though, those moments of grace happen unexpectedly, authentically unexpectedly. I remember vividly while touring the Montmartre, a moment "set apart," an indescribable feeling of time-stopping as I looked through a ruined archway. The guide was talking but I wasn't listening or seeing, then as we were leaving, she said these were the ruins of the chapel of St. Peter, where Ignatius, Xavier, Faber and the others met in Paris.
