My second favorite city in Spain (after Barcelona), Bilbao has a lot more to offer than the Guggenheim Museum, which, frankly, isn't one of the world's great art museums, anyway. We particularly enjoyed it because we'd had three weeks of incredibly hot weather until we got here, where it was overcast and cool and even rainy!
A very successful port city in the past, it's had its ups and downs, and many of its historic structures and neighborhoods are pretty much intact. The Casco Viejo, its old town center, is really charming.
A very successful port city in the past, it's had its ups and downs, and many of its historic structures and neighborhoods are pretty much intact. The Casco Viejo, its old town center, is really charming.
An old street fountain
Plaza Nueva, the "new" square, was built in 1821
Teatro Arriaga
Victor Montes pinxho bar, pinxhos being kind of like tapas
Mercado Ribera
Art Nouveau fountain
Alhondiga Bilbao was a wine warehouse originally and under consideration to become the site of the Guggenheim originally, but instead the city of Bilbao decided to redesign the interior as a culture and leisure center, handing the work over to Phillipe Starck, who did a very interesting job of converting it. It contains a cinema, fitness center, library, auditorium, shops and restaurant. I particularly love the whimsical colonnade with no two pillars remotely alike
The swimming pool overhead!
Santiago Cathedral, a 14th-15th Gothic Revival church dedicated to Saint James the Great
Stained glass, new and old
An assortment of chandeliers
And other charming and interesting buildings about town
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