Day #26 - Bilbao, Spain

Guggenheim Bilbao

Back View

Side view

Front view

Fine Art

Friday, April 9th

I got up mid-morning today in San Sebastian, Spain. I did some more walking around the city. This really is a cool place. It has a canal that runs down the middle of the city leading out to the ocean. It appears to have some great restaurants and bars. Specifically, the area where I stayed was loaded with people until late.

San Sebastian is home base to the well-known San Sebastian Film Festival, held in late September. During the festival, the Hotel Maria Cristina, serves as the headquarters for the film world royalty. I was talking with a guy at the train station and he mentioned this is a favorite spot for Tom Cruise and family. This guy was from Algeria (Africa) and had moved to Spain about 10 years ago. He spoke a little English - enough to give me a few facts about the town.

I made my way to the bus stop and took a 1 hour trip to Bilbao, Spain. I went to the Guggenheim Museum. This museum is owned and managed by the Guggenheim Foundation in New York City. The Bilbao Museum is almost twice as large as its New York sibling. It has 3 levels and 18 different galleries.

Now, going into today, I was well aware that this was stretching it a little as far as my interests. Part of this trip for me is to keep an open-mind - see new things and expand the brain. I told myself no matter what, I can do 2 hours.

It's safe to say that an engineering mind and an artistic mind are about as opposite as one can get. I did enjoy myself (not because of the great art), but because of the experiences. The building was remarkable (see pictures). I did find a few of the exhibits interesting and was impressed. Many others, however, were just straight-up amusing.

This was an abstract art museum. I went into this room - all white walls. There was a cannon there which would shoot red wax against the wall. Seriously. I've made jokes before that I could take tennis balls - put them in paint - throw them against the wall - and be deemed a genius. That's basically the premise of this exhibit. So, every 30 minutes, a guy comes in and loads up the cannon. He uses a plunger to push this red block of wax down the barrel, and then shoots the block against the wall. The red slowly smears down the wall creating an "artistic" image.

This guy, probably a college kid, comes in. There were over 100 people gathered for this spectacle. He's stone-faced - very serious. He walks in, shoots the cannon, and then everybody applauds. Are you kidding me? This is probably the least artistic thing I have ever seen in my life. It was cool - for sure. But, not because of art, but because we just got to see a cannon shoot a wax ball across the room. The guy should have at least waived to the crowd, gave us the tip of the cap, or maybe even the "the beach is that way" move. If he had just finished brain surgery, he couldn't have been more serious.

The other memorable thing about the museum. One room just had all these canvases painted entirely in 1 color, and then they would have a dot or line in a different color. That's it. I actually got a photo (illegally - I didn't know at the time - see above). Now that is incredible art. I am completely convinced that abstract art is all about the story. If you sell it - it becomes a classic. I'm thinking of going home, painting a bedroom wall all blue, and then put 2 yellow dots - 1 in the right corner and 1 in the lower left. I'll write up an explanation of how the location of the dots shows my passion and unique insite into the spirit of the sun. The angle I would have approached the dots shows the future, but yet not giving way to the past. The positioning of the dots in the upper right and lower left show the difference of today and closely symbolize anger, love, and friendship - the great emotions of tomorrow ---------------------.

I guess the true artist is someone who has the vision and then puts it to paper. Everyone else would just scribble things on paper, and then make up a story. In order for me to be a believer, I need to talk with that artist before he starts. Because - many of the things I saw today could have passed for 3rd grade art - with a deeper meaning.

2nd day in Spain. Some observations. Smoking is allowed in bars/restaurants. It was not in Ireland or France. I hadn't been around this is a while - I can't believe we lived in that time. Many bars/restaurants have what they call "tapas" food. This is basically finger sandwiches that are laid out on top of the bar. People walk in and grab what they want and move on. Supposedly, people do "tapas crawls" and work their way to dinner.

I'm currently on a 5-hr train ride to Madrid. I'll get in at 10:10pm. I already have a hotel and plan to take a cab to my location. Should be OK tonight. Before I got on the train, I purchased an English-Spanish phrase book. It's getting bad - and I need to be fluent in Spanish - quickly. I'm tired of doing sherades all day (getting pretty good). I don't talk - I just act out something. This is good - I want to fit in and will try to armor myself with enough words to be dangerous.

Pop Quiz - what's the 6th most visited city in Europe? Answer: Madrid. I was surprised. London, Paris, and Rome are the top 3 - not unexpectedly. Barcelona is #4, and Dublin is #5. I would never have thought Spain would have 2 cities in the top 6. Let's see why.

Buenas noches. Hasta manana!