San Sebastian farewelled us with another wonderful day as we made our way at a relaxed pace through the clean and smart city streets pausing to engage with people fishing off the bridge, arriving at the bus station with plenty of time to get tickets and our bus to Bilbao at 9am. Our plan was to put our luggage in storage at the Bilbao bus station and make our way to the Guggenheim Museum and have some lunch in old town before transiting to the airport for our 5pm KLM flight to Amsterdam.
The Bilbao bus station is undergoing some renovations and it took us some time to find the luggage storage which had been relocated to a separate side office in the building combined with an information office. We were able to get information on trams to the Guiggenheim, and where and how to get the airport bus later in the afternoon. Luggage storage was pretty cheap at a total of 8 euro for the day.
Whilst San Sebastian had put on a cracker day suited for the beach of around 29 degrees cooled by gentle sea breezes – Bilbao being further inland and only having a river was embracing us with a somewhat humid 36 degree day. Accordingly we walked the short distance to the nice modern tram line and got a 2 euro ticket to the museum. Bonus was the tram has great air-conditioning which was preferable to a 2.5km walk in the hot house.
When we were planning our holiday and we saw that the museum was near San Sebastian and highly recommended. Of interest to us was the unique building and the 17m high flower filled ‘Puppy’ sculpture outside. As we got closer to the time of going and confirming our plans doing a bit of research we found that there was a Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec collection in house and we were excited by that as we love his work. I am pleased that we did go, as initially it was a ‘maybe’ itinerary item and it turned out to be another highlight experience.
The Guggenheim museum (building) is as spectacular in real life as the photos indicate, and an enjoyable piece of art which houses more art. USA architect Frank Gehry was commissioned to design the building which he did in a freeform style, beginning with a concept and then feeling and allowing the building to take shape as he went along. It is constructed of limestone, glass and titanium and based around a central atrium. Some say it looks like the petals of a flower opening, which we got – albeit in a very futuristic way. The cost of construction was around 85 million USD and it was completed in 1997.
The inside design is as clever, unconventional and as interesting as the outside. The art collections were really captivating, and we enjoyed a wider range than we had expected. Some key highlights were Monet’s ‘Water Lily Pond’, various works by Andy Warhol, some huge wall sized paintings but various artists, the big 17m high floral ‘Puppy’ statue outside, and of course the Henri and his contemporaries collections of poster style French art. There was also various displays of ‘moving’ art – rooms with movie displays or slide shows with music. One in particular was surprisingly (again) and weirdly intriguing. You entered a room where there was a huge suspended screen that rotated slowly whilst displaying random (but carefully constructed) movie clips. Overlaid was a monotone voice chanting statements and at the same time a blend of very techno music and a separate bass synthesised beat. As the movie screen which was transparent rotated it gave off light and shadows on the walls in the darkened strobing room. I have never taken serious drugs but imagine a ‘trip’ or hallucinogenic experience could be like this. Regardless we both found it way cool!
There were lots of other fascinating contemporary art dating from around the 60’s onwards from artists we have not heard of (as mentioned we really are not knowledgeable art people). There was one very clever piece called ‘Advice to Space’ by Eduardo Chillida that took up a whole wing that required or invited you to walk around and through the big sheets of steel to get the full meaning. It was quite ‘trippy’ walking through the pieces as it narrowed, leaned and curved round and round making you at times dizzy and confused as to what was upright or not, how the pieces did not fall over, and when you would exit or reach a middle point!
We had limited time there – only two hours before we needed to move on, grab a last tappa in old town, and get to the airport on time. One could easily have spent half a day enjoying the building and the art it displayed. As we left the lovely cool building we could really feel the force of the heat again, and Vernon waited in the shade of a building while I quickly got some pictures of ‘Puppy’ before we got a tram to old town.
The old town was fairly quiet but we managed to find a small neighbourhood hole in the wall cafe style place which has some simple tapa on the bar. They were nice and tasty, albeit nothing like San Sebastian, nor was the old town as pretty. Bilbao old town has narrow streets, 4 storey high apartment style buildings and a few churches. It looks inhabited by a mixed class of local people – but gave the feel of being not as affluent as other old towns or spruced up. To be fair we didn’t have much time to explore it, before heading back to get our bags and the bus to the airport. We have become quite firm with ourselves with regards to our timings – given our two hiccups.
We arrived at the airport on time and even had time to grab a couple of food items from a shop (to share with the kids) before our short comfortable flight to Amsterdam. It was scheduled to be 2 hrs long but we made it in a little over 1.5hrs – thats some catch up. Flying into Amsterdam I got the same feeling I did when we headed due north last time we were over – kind of like a coming home excitement to be around Northern Europeans. Its weird as I love the Southern European countries too – but I guess I just feel more amongst kin in the North – must be my DNA. The Netherlands is particularly pretty; being green and flat with zillions of canals and water ways instead of fences dividing the fields. Of course with the E.U. the arrival was speedy and smooth at the airport and we soon had a ticket for the train to the city with less than 5 minutes wait time.
Schipol is a very nice airport, I have probably mentioned that before – but it seems to have gotten bigger than when we were there in 2013. The amount of shops exceeds those in our home town of Whakatane – seriously. In town we purchased a reload chip card for transport and caught a tram to Leidesplan, texting Lili to come and meet us. She didn’t respond by the time we got there, but it was easy enough to google the apartment which was a mere 4 minute walk from the tram stop – if that. We buzzed the button and were soon met by an excited Lili hanging out the first floor window and Hugo opening the door to let us in.
I dont quite know how to describe again the surreal but fun feeling of meeting up with family on the other side of the world. Its just a laugh and totally weird, but good weird. The apartment is very well situated just far enough away from the night life with a leafy framed view of a canal. Its really well equipt from washing machine to dishwasher and the bed is nice and comfy. The only downside is that the bedroom which we are in, has no windows and to get and give privacy requires the door to be shut – which is somewhat claustrophobic for us who are used to wide open spaces, lots of light and fresh air. Not to worry – comfort is there and there is a mini fan to give some impression of air flow.
After a settle in and catch up we agreed to go out for dinner at a vegan place Lili had selected from some goggle research. She assured us it was not too far away – perhaps a 15 minute walk or so, so off we set through the lovely streets and along canals in the direction of Central Station. What transpired – with a lot of jibing and fun was that we ended up walking about 40 minutes nearly back to Central, and getting to the tiny Jamaican-Carribean style cafe just in time before closing. One of their best dishes was a burger which unfortunately was sold out, so we shared some other plates and their highly rated fries which were great.
It was late by the time we got home, but we are on holiday so what the heck? I seem to be repeating myself but things like the wander home in the summer evening with the lights reflecting in canals, wafts of marijuana amongst happy laughter of people enjoying the evening – eating, drinking and socialising in a city that does not seem to sleep – is an experience for us that creates part of the tapestry of wonderful memories being woven together on this holiday. To share it with family adds a bit of glitter to this piece. A big day planned for tomorrow – more adventures and smorgasbord for our senses.
Travels with Valrock 