We first visited Bilbao last year and returned yesterday for a brief stopover before catching our ferry back to the UK. Prior to that first visit, we had no plans, other than to visit the Guggenheim Museum, and no pre-conceived ideas as to what the city would be like. We were pleasantly surprised! Spain’s tenth largest city is vibrant, friendly and fabulously walkable – a definite plus-point for us when rating a city.
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A Basque City
Bilbao is the largest city in the Basque region of Spain and one of the first things that strike you about the place is that all the street signs, advertising boards and shop names are displayed in the Basque language first and then in Spanish. As you walk around, it certainly feels like you’re in a country other than Spain. The Basque flag is proudly flown on every public building, as well as many private houses and apartments.
Bilbao’s buildings showcase a variety of architectural styles, making a walk through the largely-pedestrianised Old Town a pleasure and a delight.
Guggenheim Museum
Of course, the main tourist attraction in Bilbao is the Guggenheim Museum. Indeed, there was very little tourism in the city at all before the museum opened in 1997. The building itself, rather than the contemporary arts housed within it, is what most visitors come to see. It’s undoubtedly striking. Designed by Canadian architect Frank Gehry, the building is one of the most admired works of modern architecture. It has been hailed as a ‘signal moment in architectural culture’ because it represents ‘one of those rare moments when critics, academics and the general public were all completely united about something’ (Vanity Fair, 2010). As we walked around the outside of the museum, we were struck by the apparent randomness of the curves. Used as we are to conventional shapes, our brains had difficulty making sense of Gehry’s design. I found that it challenged my ideas about the type of architecture I like and I came away with a new appreciation of the modern style.
Pintxos
One of the joys of a stay in Bilbao is the opportunity to sample a selection of pintxos, the Basque version of tapas. A profusion of bars offer tempting displays of these delicious bite-sized snacks which are perfect when washed down with a drop of the local red. On the recommendation of a friend, we ate in the middle of the food market in the Old Town and enjoyed some fabulous flavours including chicken curry with lime and smoked garlic prawns with chilli.
Bilbao has plenty to see and do for a weekend break and enough reasons for us to return for a third visit before too long.
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