Frankly, I'm not impressed with Gehry. Bilbao, Spain.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Bilbao, Spain

Here we are along the coast of northern Spain.  In this region I was introduced to a people group that I had never looked into before: the Basque.  What I find interesting about this group is the fact that they're kind of an Island of people in the middle of the rest of us.  You know how most races and languages are usually closely related to others?  Well, the Basque people are the Basque and their language is their own.  Don't try to draw connections because they won't acknowledge them.  And despite all this, they're actually really nice.  Just don't tell that to a non Basque Spanish person.  They don't really like each other all that much.

Oh yeah, something else I noticed when I traveled: the rest of the world is racist.  Always was, always will be.  Get used to it or stay in the states.

Eiffel Bridge

This bridge above was designed by Gustav Eiffel.  I know, it doesn't look very practical.  First of all, you don't walk across the top.  See the wires hanging down in the middle?  This bridge is suspending a platform, and it carries it's contents to the other side and then unloads.  Why do all this?  Why not just build a regular bridge?  This passage of water is used too often by ships, and this was an alternative to raising the bridge every time a boat wanted to pass.

And next is a fingerprint.  Bilbao might as well be synonymous with toilet bowl of modern art.

This fingerprint is up on a ledge over looking the city.  Let's take a look at that city.

Ooooh, pretty.

 You might notice a few things if you look long enough, but let's speed things up, and have me just point them out.  First of all, do you see how most of the buildings are the same height?  If a building would like to be taller than seven stories, the building pays a tax.  That's one way to keep things level.

I don't even want to guess how much that tower is paying in taxes.

Another thing you might notice is the Walt Disney Concert Hall.  Wait, what?  Oh?  That's not the Walt Disney Concert Hall?  But it looks just like it.  It's the Guggenheim, Bilbao?   @#$% Well, I guess this is the one case I can think of where Frank Gehry's style is appropriate.  One of my next stops on this trip is going to be that cesspool of modern art down below.

 But before that, here's the old opera house!

 And a church.

 Now this a house with a coat of arms above the door.  You know, much of what we think of when we think of knights, horses, and their suits of armor and all of that comes from Spain.  But for some reason we attach British accents to those thoughts.  Anyway, not only is this a coat of arms, it's the biggest coat of arms in the city.  (Probably the world too.  I mean, who does this anymore)

A signature is a lot easier.

 This building, or at least this side of the building (because you're enclosed on all four sides here) is the national Basque library.  This is the building that is devoted to preserving and maintaining the history, language, and culture of the Basque people.  In this region of Spain, Basque is one of the official languages.

 Break time!  Time to eat some awesome food.  You know, Spain is really good for snacks.  As long as snacks are all you want, you are going to to well in Spain.  If you're hungry for more, you have to order more snacks.  They call them tapas, and they're all you're pretty much going to find, everywhere, period.

Tapas

 This lady was our tour guide while we were inside (and immediately outside) the Guggenheim.  She's standing in front of a piece of "art."  I learned that the Guggenheim family was looking to expand and build another museum, when the city of Bilbao approached them and offered them a sweet deal if they would build in their city.  Since the presence of the Guggenheim, Bilbao has seen the increase in tourism that it had hoped for in order to crawl out of a its previously dire economic situation.

She also told us about how Gehry won the bid to be the architect.  The architect was challenged to best in corporate the ginormous ugly bridge that the Guggenheim was build next to.  Here's what he did.

Bridge on the left, Gehry on the bottom and right.

There is an artist out there somewhere getting credit for this piece of "art."  You know what I call it?  Mist machines under a walk way.  I am this close to taking a dump in a box and labeling it "art."

@#$%ing "art"

 Let's take another look at Disney Hall-- The Guggenheim

Really, Gehry?  Really?

 And now, brace yourself, we're going inside.

Is this a tiny moldy piece of wood, or is it a giant canvas on the wall?  I'll let you decide.

Taking the above picture caught the attention of a museum employee who kindly asked me to not take any pictures while inside the Guggenheim.  I could have kissed her!


 But I still took this one.

What happens when you make your "art" in a shipyard.

 And now, ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to my favorite thing about Bilbao!  Poopy!

Yes, this is a giant dog made out of flowers, and his name is poopy.  In Spanish, that is how they pronounce the english word "puppy" when they see it.  And the name stuck.

Me and Poopy.

 Now this is art!  Check out this incredible hillside:

The hills are alive...

 After the Guggenheim, the tour was over.  Some guests ended up getting lost, and I had to go looking for them, and we were half an hour late.  I know that information is somewhat mundane to you, reader, but it was such a big to do, and since this blog is half so that I remember all that happened, that little sentence is enough for me to remember what all went down without boring you with every intricate little detail.  As a gift for putting up with this paragraph, here are some street performers!  The first I saw on this day outside the Guggenheim.  The second I saw a week later about a mile north on a main street in town.

I was happy to meet Vince and Marcy back at the ship.  We had made plans to meet, eat, and then go to the beach.  This one one of the first beaches we had the opportunity to go on this journey, so we wanted to make the most of it.

And by eat, I guess I meant snacks.  :-/

 We get tanner.