Richard & Rhonda in Europe: Bilbo

Days 43 to 51 - 26 to 04 July
Bilbo (that's the Basque spelling, the Spanish spell it Bilbao) should not be confused with Bilbo Baggins (sorry for the gratuitous Lord of the Rings allusion). We flew in from Heathrow, and Rhonda noticed a Spanish girl on the plane putting on nail varnish.

She just had to varnish her nails

Bilbao is a pretty city with a lot of very interesting buildings. We'll show you some of those before covering Rhonda's two excursions.

View from our hotel room

Nice reflection in the glass cladding on this building

A nice church in the foreground and Bilbao's tallest building in the background

Another impressive building, just up the road from our hotel

Theatre in the old part of the city

A square in the old part of the city - shops around the quadrangle and apartments above

Another quadrangle

The centre of the old city

Rhonda was unimpressed that they couldn't spell her name properly

Another narrow street in the old city

An old wine warehouse in the new part of the city - they preserved the exterior and built brick cubes inside

Inside the old wine warehouse - the brick cubes stand on pillars, each of which is unique

Better view of a couple of the pillars

Close up of another pillar

We didn't notice at first, but there was a glass-bottomed swimming pool between two of the cubes - if the glass cracks they'll fall about 50 feet

Interesting building, only a few years old, which included examples of most architectural styles found throughout Bilbao

Could almost be a Parisian sidewalk

Interesting butcher

We looked in the river one day and couldn't believe how many fish were just swimming lazily along. They look like carp and were quite big

An outdoor music venue in the old city

The front of the Guggenheim - simply awesome

The back of the Guggenheim - an amazing site up close

Some art outside the Guggenheim

A large dog, covered with flowers, at the front of the Guggenheim. It's sniffing the tall building

Funny how the dog just seems to keep growing

Interior shot in the Guggenheim

Another interior shot

Me standing in one of the very few places inside the Guggenheim where visitors are allowed to take photographs

Indicates a spot from which you can take a photograph, but only of the artwork directly in front of the spot

Indicates a spot beside an artwork on which you can stand to have your photograph taken

Michael Jackson and Bubbles - are we the only people who find this really creepy

I attended the International Conference on Thinking from Monday afternoon to Friday, and Rhonda took the opportunity to do some extra sightseeing around Bilbao, as well as going on a couple of day-tours into the surrounding countryside. The first visit was to the Sanctuary of Loyola, Getaria, Zarauz and San Sebastian. The second trip was to Ellorio, Onati and Sanctuary of Arantzazu. The photographs below show some of the highlights.

Sanctuary of Loyola

Floor plan of the Sanctuary

Inside Loyola

Sanctuary of Loyola - front steps

Street scene of Getaria

Home of Cristobal Balenciaga (a Spanish Basque fashion designer and the founder of the Balenciaga fashion house. He had a reputation as a couturier of uncompromising standards and was referred to as "the master of us all" by Christian Dior and as "the only couturier in the truest sense of the word" by Coco Channel, who continued "The others are simply fashion designers")

Close up of the wall plaque

Could use some restoration

San Sebastian

Great weather for drying clothes, 38C plus

Too hot for a boat trip

The Tour de France came here once

San Sebastian Beach. A nice day for a swim

Modern Church. Santuary of Arantzazu

Outside view of the stained glass windows

Another outside view

Oldest university of the Basque country

Inside courtyard of the university

Street scene

A Michelin Starred Restaurant

The tasting Menu for the restaurant - not cheap

Beautiful coloured building

While Rhonda was busy being a tourist I enjoyed a very stimulating week at the conference. The conference venue was the Euskalduna Conference Centre and Concert Hall.

This is a photograph (taken off the internet) of the conference centre in Bilbao

About the conference centre, Wikipedia states:

"It was designed by architects Federico Soriano and Dolores Palacios and work started in 1994. It was opened in February 1999 and contains a variety of spaces, functioning as a conference center, opera house and concert hall. In 2003 it was declared by the International Congress Palace Association as the world's best congress center."

I can only assume that the judging panel never tried to find their way around inside the centre. While the facilities were excellent, it was perversely difficult to get from one room to the next during the conference. There were staircases everywhere, but they didn't all go to every floor. It wasn't uncommon to find yourself walking up to the next floor, where there was a landing, so you could take another staircase to go down a level. One conference attendee described the staircases as being like the moving staircases from Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series.

There were also lifts in the centre, but some only went from level -2 to level 0, some went from level 0 to level 4, while a few went to all floors. The signposting was pretty average and I had difficulty navigating my way around.