Euskal Herria 2000

We'd been to the Guggenheim in New York and both liked it: it works both as architecture and a practical gallery (don't believe people who say you have to traverse the galleries while bending slightly to the side).

The Bilbao museum however, I felt was different. Where the New York building is a bold foil to the skyscapers around it, Frank Gehry's Bilbao building says "in-your-face", "take-it-or-leave-it", "screw-the-local-architecture".

But the proof of the pudding, as they say, is in how much it sticks in your throat when you actually see it for real. So I booked flights and accommodation and whisked Elaine away as a surprise to see what the place was really like.

First point: you'll read that the North Coast of Spain and the Basque Country is wet. We took this with a pinch of salt. We live in Ireland, where it is wet. I thought "Wet in comparison with Southern Spain? Of course. Only to be expected. But wet? Hah!" However, note that in July, it rained hard for five out of eight days. The landscape is green. Some places you might almost believe you are in Ireland. (I understand that Galicia even has the whitewashed cottages.)
 

Jeff Koons' sculpture "Puppy" outside the Guggenheim. Note that this is not kitsch touristy decoration. This is Art. Really. The locals called him Pedro.

What was our conclusion? I still hate the building. I have to admit it's impressive, but it looks to me as though Gehry sketched an extreme shape and then tried to fit a gallery/museum into it. Whatever happend to "form follows function"? I also stick by my opinion that architecture which arrogantly ignores its environment is a Bad Thing.

And the unrustable titanium is growing brown stains all over it, while the rainwater guttering seems to have been designed for parched California, not drenched Bilbao.

Elaine still likes it.

Bilbao itself is a nineteenth-Century industrial town trying to drag itself into the Twenty-First Century. A bit like Belfast, but being rather more successful at it. However, I think that though Belfast wins on pubs, clubs and fine restaurants, Bilbao's new architectureand public spaces are definitely superior. Our hotel was near the 'Zubizuri' footbridge across the river, which just has to impress. On the practical front, one great advantage of Bilbao is that you can go to the beach on the Metro! (Several choices of stopping point, including Getxo, which also has a Jazz festival.)

Further up the coast, in the Easterly direction (i.e. towards France), is the grand old seaside resort of Donostia (San Sebastian), further still and you will find the quaint village of Hondarribia. This is my version of the photo in all the tourist guides. A little further still and you cross the French border (the Central French government doesn't care much for "autonomy") and can visit Biarriz.

The coast has loads of great beaches, and, as you can see, sometimes the sun even shines.

Note: my use of Euskadi words denotes a respect for the language and culture. I have no repect for the arseholes who murder people and blow things up. I've had enough of that in Ireland.