The First Week in Bilbao, España

After a very painful twenty hours of airports, bad food, big and small planes, and more than my fair share of turbulence, I finally arrived! After getting over the jet leg, I did some sightseeting my first weekend. I went to the Guggenheim!!  It's located in one of the nicest areas of Bilbao, and one of the newest. Bilbao has transformed over the last few decades - it was once very industrial (produced the majority of Spain's steal and was well known for the building of ships) but has now transformed into a clean city full of art and culture. Also, the city is a very nice size and you can walk anywhere within a half hour. From my flat in Miribilla (the yellow section on the map labeled Monte de Miribilla) you can walk down the hill, then along the river to the Guggenheim. It's a beautiful walk! On the terrace of the Guggenheim (check out the picture in the slide show) you can see a colorful piece of art by Jeff Koons.  Once you walk inside, the atrium (which is three stories tall) is filled by cars with pyrotechnics hanging at all levels from the ceiling. Also, this month they are displaying the works of Murakami. You can view most of what is on display at this link: Murakami at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. It is all quite interesting, and was not what I had expected to see. When exiting 'El Goog' to return to the city, you get to see 'Puppy'. He's the giant dog covered in flowers in the slideshow below. Currently, he is quite green because they just re-planted all of his flowers. Apparently in a month or so when the flowers grow more, he will be much more colorful. The bridge in the slideshow (Puente Principles de España) is along the river in front of the Guggenheim. Across this bridge is the Universidad de Duesto.

I thought it was a funky bridge :)

After the Guggenheim, I went along Gran Via (a very main street with lots of high-end shopping) to Plaza Moyua.  These pictures are also below in a slide show. I love this city! The people here are a lot of fun, especially my roommates and classmates.  

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene