Bilbao, Spain

This was taken in the city of Bilbao in the Basque country of Northern Spain. Bilbao is today probably better known for its showpiece museum, the modern Guggenheim Bilbao, designed by Canadian-born architect Frank Gehry. The older part of the city, where the cathedral is, still possesses the charm of an earlier period.

The storefront's marble façade has been cleaned of graffiti, though some vestiges remain visible. The store sells things like microscopes, telescopes, and other devices of an optical nature, and accepts VISA and American Express as well as Eurocards.

The young woman employee busily wielding a mop at the entrance has begun her workday early, having just opened the glass doors. The man with a folded newspaper in his right hand appears to be waiting for someone or something. Or perhaps he is just standing there because he has nothing else to do.

The building is a modern one, but the wood panels on the second floor are badly weathered, displaying an underlay of shabby plywood. The second floor appears to be occupied by a business office of some kind. Reflected in the windowpanes are the buildings across the street, of which one is the cathedral, whose enormous Gothic rose window can be seen.