Bilbao

We transferred to Bilbao on a full bus, the summer holiday season is in full swing here. Our hotel has a nice setting between a park and the river and we are on the top floor with lovely views. Bilbao is an attractive city surrounded by green hills. 

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao of modern and contemporary art is the main attraction in town, and it does not disappoint. In order to rejuvenate the city's decrepit port area, in 1991 the Basque government suggested to the Guggenheim foundation that they would fund a Guggunheim museum. They would pay all the costs and the Guggenheim foundation would run the museum. The architect Frank Gehry was commissioned to design something daring and innovative. The spectacular building was opened in 1997 and attracts tourists from all over the globe. The economic activity generated by tourism paid for the building costs within the first four years. The whole city appears to have had a lift from this project, as other ultra modern buildings are built. It is very pleasant to walk along the Bilbao River and admire the architecture. 

On the city side of the museum is a large structure called "Puppy". It is a 12m high West Highland Terrier covered in flowers. It was only meant to be temporary, but the people of Bilbao liked it so much, they bought it.

Bilbao is well served by public transport with a tram that links the tourist attractions and also a metro. We caught the metro up to the entrance to the port to see the Puente Colgante, the world's first transporter bridge, built in 1893, which links the towns of Getxo and Portugalete. A platform, suspended from the bridge high up above, is loaded with up to six cars and foot passengers and then glides across the river. Getxo has an extensive marina and some nice beaches, also several old mansions overlooking the ocean, reminiscent of Newport. The big old houses are an unusual sight in a country that is full of high density apartments. 

Bilbao is a good base for exploring the Basque region.