bilbao | Katts' Eyes On Our World

On our way to Barcelona, we made several fun stops, a major one being Bilbao, the industrial port city on the Bay of Biscay—think Pittsburgh with its steel mills. In fact, Pittsburg and Bilbao are sister cities! Both suffered economic downturn related to waning iron ore/steel industries. We learned how the construction of the Guggenheim museum there in 1997 magically transformed the city. Now Bilbao is known more for its burgeoning art scene and outstanding cuisine than for iron ore. Of note: Shakespeare alludes to swords of Bilbao origin in Hamlet and The Merry Wives of Windsor.

*Bilboa is very trendy and fashion forward*

People swimming over our heads in a former factory turned shopping mall!

*The beautiful exterior of the Guggenheim in Bilbao*

*Poppy, the flower dog points the way to the good restaurants outside the Guggenheim*

Street musician in Bilboa

We toured Bilbao’s medieval Old City, with its narrow cobblestone streets and inviting squares. We see the Catedral de Santiago (c. 1379), the monumental Plaza Nueva; and the busy La Ribera market by the river that runs through the town.

*The Nervion River runs through Bilbao’s Old Town*

*Our Basque guide Sergio, standing in the large Plaza de Nuevo, a former factory transformed into a shopping area*

Our knowledgeable local guide, Sergio, who identifies as Basque (don’t call him Spanish!), takes us on a tour of the Guggenheim and its contemporary art collection. Designed by award-winning architect Frank Gehry, the jaw-dropping structure of limestone, titanium, and glass lures many visitors to this revitalized city.

*The beautiful interior lobby of the Guggenheim in Bilbao*

*A gigantic “tapestry” made entirely of paper and other recycled materials*

*Richard Serra’s imposing metal maze creations made from same steel plate used for ships’ hulls*

*“Interior with Mirrored Wall”—oil and magna on canvas by artist Roy Lichtenstein (1991)*

An excursion takes us through countryside to where the Basque people of Spain’s Atlantic Coast and western Pyrenees have lived for centuries. Our first stop is the picturesque islet of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, with its 10th-century chapel perched atop the rocky crags. The chapel is only used now for weddings, some taking place under water (see below).

*The 10th century chapel on San Juan de Gaztelugatxe. No one attends mass there anymore, except for the occasional wedding*.

*Some weddings are performed, underwater, alongside the old chapel in front of a statue of Mother Mary*

*Group picture of our Smithsonian tour friends*

Our next stop is a poignant one: Gernika (Guernica), heart of the Basque region and the town razed by Nazi bombing in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War. The over-bombing of this small town killed mainly women and children, allegedly the first time civilians were targeted by aerial attacks. The barbarity of this act is immortalized by Pablo Picasso in his renowned painting titled Guernica (1937), so moving to see it, albeit a tile reproduction; the original is in Madrid.

*Aerial bombing by Nazi Germany during the Spanish Civil War decimated the small Basque town of Guernica, killing mainly women and children*

*Pablo Picasso’s famous depiction of the horror of that day. This tile reproduction is in the center of the town*.

We then visited revered symbols of democracy and self-governance for the Basque people—the Assembly House and the legendary Tree of Gernika, a descendant of the tree under which representatives from each Biscayan village met to formulate provincial laws.

*The Assembly House in Guernica, where the democratically elected council for the territory of Biscaya (1 of 7 Basque territories) meets*.

An artistic stained-glass rendering of the oak tree where long ago, representatives from each of the villages comprising the territory met to cast their votes using acorns. This tree is on the ceiling of one of the assembly house *buildings.*

We continued to a winery to sample the Basque coast’s unique Txakoli (pronounced chock-a-ly) wine, grown in vineyards overlooking the sea. Traditionally made only for local consumption, Txakoli gained wider recognition in the late 1980s. A tour of the facility reveals the unique process by which the wine is made. No chemicals are used to prevent oxidation of the wine, and filtration is done through natural means. The wine is kept cold and is bottled and shipped quickly per demand. Following our tasting, we enjoyed a lunch of pintxos, the Navarre region’s version of tapas (never order “tapas” in Basque Country!). https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XVeRl2qDxQk

*Grape vines growing on 750 hectares of vineyard*

*The complicated inner workings of the winery, where stainless steel reigns supreme*

*Our knowledgeable guide, who is part of the family that makes this refreshing wine, explains the operation to us. Look for Txakoli in your favorite wine shop!*

Basque Country is amazing. I love it here, maybe in part because three of my kids are one quarter Basque, Elcanos all, descended from Juan Sebastian d’Elcano who took over for Magellan when Magellan was killed on his journey ‘round the world. So many of the men here look like their Grandpa, Miguel (Mike Elcano). Click here for a bit more on Juan Sebastian.

Still in the Pyrenees, we journey on to the Bielsa region, stopping by fabled Pamplona, known for its annual Running of the Bulls—Encierro in Spanish and Basque. The tradition began in the 16th century when crazy people would run with the bulls for part of the half-mile from Pamplona’s corral to its bullfighting ring.

*A stretch of the half-mile path through town where the bulls run down to the bullring*

Bob and I standing at the entrance of the bullring in Pamplona, where bull fights are still held throughout the summer months. ☹️ The bulls run daily during the annual Festival of San Fermin from July 7-14.

Of the thousands of participants, only 15 have died since 1910.

We slept at our lovely parador in the Pyrenees, driving over scenic mountain roads to Bielsa. While there, we breathed some fresh mountain air during our visit to Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park, a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Within its more than 56,000 acres, we did some birdwatching to locate prehistoric–looking vultures known as “bone crushers,” because that’s what they do to the carrion they eat. We then toured the picturesque town of Gistaín.