Where to visit??

I lived in Spain for 12 years and passed through Bilbao on many occasions, coming home to the UK and going back to Spain.

Guess what ? I never really saw it!!!

The town its self is massive and full of historical buildings,  and new designs. The New city as it is referred too, houses lots of restaurants to try the fabulous Spanish cuisine or maybe a coffee and cake. If your a sports fan the magnificent ‘Athletico de Bilbao’s football ground (well, that was what the guide said, although not quite on the scale of the ‘New Camp’ in Barcelona !)

Then of course the famous (wait for it need to spell correctly!)

‘The Guggenheim  Museum’.

Built at a cost of $100 million. It opened on the 18th October 1997.The design was by world famous architecture, Canadian born Frank O Gehry.

There are 19 different rooms inside that fer-nominal piece of architecture. Housing very different artists work from graffiti pictures to wrought iron pieces that stand 15 ft high and are the length of the room (acoustics or something , I think!).

There are 4 guided tours a day ( no always English speaking , check first if not multilingual.), and you can always grab a handset to listen to the interesting facts on the rooms and pieces of art as you traverse the 19 rooms. The Guggenheim museum houses one of the largest privately owner art collections in the world. But and there is a definite  ‘BUT’ for me. I found some of the works my grandson could probably do better. Maybe I am just not comfortable with a rubber dingy filled with logs and suspending from the ceiling , being called art. Or a page with scribblings on it being called a master piece. I suppose its all about taste.

 Now I have several different opinions all together of the Outside. The outside is so beautiful , all curves and waves.  Built on the site of the old ship building yard and built out of titanium and stone , with huge glass panels its simply stunning. There are masterpieces to be seen in the grounds too, from various artists including a smoke machine and wave maker . Not forgetting the 20 foot spider not for the faint hearted.

Then you have the stunning views of the river and lovely walk way to lead you back into the bustling city.

After all that walking there is a lovely cafeteria with a gift shop to buy souvenirs.

Oh must remind you if you do go inside you are not allowed to take pictures or video.

Opening hours are Tuesday to Sunday.

It is extreemly easy to visit when you dock in Bilbao and make use of the courtesy bus into town. The guide on board will show you.

I almost forgot to mention ‘PUPPY’ , yes you heard me correctly, Puppy stands at the front of the museum was designed by Jeff Koons. He used both computor graffics and designs from 18th century gardens to design a 1247cm high, west highland terrier, decorated in flowers. It was placed in Bilbao in 1992 and is still growing.

Now that is Art !!!

Photos by me and Hubby taken whilst visiting Bilbao on Britannia Sept 2015.

Hope this inspires you to see a bit more of Europe its right on our door step and so cheap to visit. check out offers on our website on link below.

http://www.cruise.co.uk/?affref=josephinew