Bilbao

Biscay is the Anglicized version of Vizcaya, which is one of the Basque provinces of Spain. Bilbao is its capital, and a truly remarkable city it is. I always enjoy visiting cities which have trams or streetcars, more than those that only have subways. Some European cities have both (Vienna and Bilbao are examples). The Euskotran, bright green, lowslung, and very modern, glides delightfully through Bilbao's streets, and lends a flash of color to a city that is generally more overcast and rainy than bright and sunny.

EuskoTran

The only signs of the Metro from street level are the futuristic covered subway entrances, looking for all the world like giant translucent prawn shells. Since our time in Bilbao was limited, we did not get to ride in either form of public transport.

Bilbao is well laid out with neat public parks and civic monuments. The public art is everywhere, including various incarnations of Robert Indiana's ubiquitous LOVE sculptures (also rendered in Spanish).

But of course the reason tourists flock to Bilbao is to visit the Bilbao Guggenheim, a fabulous showpiece of modern architecture designed by Canadian Frank Gehry.

Click here to link to the Museum

Inside are San Franciscan Richard Serra's "Snake" and "Eight Torqued Ellipses", and Berliner Anselm Kiefer's installations.

No pictures or videos are permitted inside the museum, so I had to rely on some images from the Internet to give an idea of these art works (which, unfortunately, can't effectively be done because of their monumental size; they have to be experienced in the flesh, as it were).

Richard Serra sculptures

Anselm Kiefer painting