I've never heard of Bilbao, Spain. That is until two friends told me about it when I asked for ideas of side trips from Barcelona. (It is hardly a side trip, for it is a 6 hour train ride away...). They told me I should check out the Basque Country of Spain, which I have also never heard of. It's unique, they say. It got its own culture, its own language, its own cuisine. Apparently, it is also part of the route of the popular pilgrimage tour Camino del Norte, yet another thing I have never heard of, until this dude from the hostel interrupted my conversation with a very nice Canadian girl to tell us he's been walking this route. I guess he wanted us to be impressed by it. But I digress...
The Basque Country is indeed special as an autonomous region in Spain. In fact, there is also a French section at the southern border of France. Interestingly, both this part of Spain and the Catalonia region at Barcelona and two of the riches part of country. The Basque is likely known for its natural beauty. It has stunning costal cliff sides and rolling mountains. I will likely see none of this, for I picked the two rainiest days of my trip to spend here somehow. But the Basque is also known for it's amazing cuisine, something that the rain cannot deter me from. In fact, those Pintxos that I mentioned before are essentially the Basque's versions of the Spanish Tapa. More on this later, however, as there'll likely be an entire blog just on food. But today, it was sight seeing in the rain.
Bilbao is the largest city of the Basque region. By large I mean it is really just quite small. I took me probably around just an hour to walk it. It is totally doable in a day. In fact, any extra days here should be used to explore the nearby region. Like San Sebastián, about an hour away by bus, which I am going tomorrow. Or the stunning seaside cliff point San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, which I sadly will have to miss, but sits only about an our away by car if the weather were to be favourable enough for me to consider renting a car and going. It is also a popular wine region. And, if it serves your palette, historically also makes this sour cloudy natural cider (Sidra Naural) that I am drinking now. It's not the sweet cider that I'm fond of. As I offered it to others around the hostel, we all agreed, "it's different".
But perhaps what Bilbao is most known for, is the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Deigned by CANADIAN (sorry, did I cap locked that? My bad...) Frank Gehry and completed in 1997, it is a stunning, in your face piece of architecture likely not unlike the impact Gaudi had back in his days. In fact, I think I see amazing similarities in the two geniuses (their devoted followers would likely barf at this remark, but I don't know any better...). Large curvy panels of titanium fish scales forming soft lines, blending in with effective use of window walls and limestone, this building seems more symbolic of a Gehry design than any others. In fact, I think he went on and designed many similar looking buildings after this one. Many felt that the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao had a lasting effect on the way a creatively designed iconic building can jumpstart the revitalization of a neighbourhood. In fact, they called this the "Bilbao Effect". Interestingly, this is one museum where the museum design itself was actually more interesting than its exhibits. Instead of paying the 13 Euros to see pieces of art work from artists I've never heard of, I decided to take a quick nap on one if its indoor benches. And it was wonderful.
I spent the rest of the days getting lost in the streets of Bilbao. Bilbao is a beautiful city, but of course it's buildings would come alive much better had it not been pouring. I eventually gave up on walking and tucked into a busy looking place to grab me a handful of Pintxos at 1 Euro a piece. I think I ended up trying every single one they had there, washing the down with some sweet vermouth. It as a nice quiet day in a sleepy little city, but Bilbao has its charm.
(On coming to Bilbao from Barcelona via train. Spain has a pretty good train network, and the process of getting a ticket turned out much more modern than my experience last year in Poland. The national network is run by a company called Renfe. It even has a handy app that you can download and search for train tickets. Unfortunately, my Canadian Visa card wouldn't authorize on the app, so I had to use a desktop computer to get it instead. But once purchased, like a plane ticket, you get an email version of it which is simply scanned at the station. The trains were mostly comfortable, although I got stuck in one of these "table for 4" and had to keep my legs from kicking over to the family of three sitting surrounding me. The trip took about 6 hours each way, and the stations were relatively central so most of the hostels in Bilbao should be within walking distance. And you even get to watch a Hollywood film in Spanish. :) )
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