Bilbao

We are starting our route in Bilbao. The first thing I noticed about Bilbao as the plane as lands is how green is this countryside. So very different from the south of Spain. The second thing is that Spanish is the second language on the sign. The first is Basque which is the only pre-Indo European language still spoken today. About 660,000 people know the language in this region. Bilbao is known for the Guggenheim museum, a multi block long set of buildings designed by Frank Geary and is the star in the star urban renewal project that is from where Bilbao gets it's international reputation. The museum sits along the Nervion river and is every bit as impressive as its photos. It is made of glass, titanium and limestone. After checking into the hotel also along the river, the first walk was down to see the museum. The architecture is more impressive than the exhibits it houses and the walk along the river promenade was breathtaking. There are a number of footbridges across the river so you can criss- cross it to get the best angles. Bilbao is the 10th largest city in Spain and known as the starting place for the Spanish Revolution as a Republican stronghold which means it suffered in the early years of Franco.

Walking along the amazing waterfront it is hard to believe that Bilbao was a mess in the 1970s and now is as clean and beautiful as it is. When the industries along the river faltered and the city started to die, planning and work was undertaken to rebuild the waterfront into an ideal example of the renewal of an urban landscape.

Later, there was time to walk into the old part of town which is now largely a pedestrian shopping area with lovely older architecture. Churches were closed for siesta which was frustrating.

Met the group-it will be a great week and we toured the city. Bilbao was a mess in the 1970's and has been rebuilt as a planned urban renewal. So much of this is younger than I am which is so unusual for a European city. We learned a bit about how the Basque are now independent in lots of ways, collecting their own taxes and paying the federals. Although Bilbao is out the capital of the Basque region it is the financial and commercial center.
We learned that the Basques have a lunch break, not a siesta as they utterly reject Spanish concepts like siesta and flamingo. They do make the Spanish ham and we had a dinner of small tapas, fish, veggies, a burger with a beet role and Basque beef and the Spanish ham. Dessert was cheesecake. We also had Basque wine. Now early to bed before the Camino starts tomorrow.