Bilbao was our base for 3 weeks. We stayed in the Deusto neighbourhood, a friendly family-oriented area. It’s in close proximity to all the neat things to see and do in Bilbao.
Ride on Bilbao’s Tram, which replaced the “blood tram”, an animal-drawn tram operating since 1872, in 1964. It’s a short route of only six stops: Old Bilbao, Atxuri, Basurto Hospital, Abandoibarra, Guggenheim Museum and the Euskalduna Conference Centre. Lara streaking up the stairs on the left after our subway ride. We didn’t ride the subway often as nothing was super far away from home.Bilbao has amazing riverside walkways and bridges.Crossing one of the numerous bridges.From the elevator, there are views of the rolling green hills in the distance. We visited the Guggenheim Museum with our friends. Interestingly, no one was enthralled with the exhibits and we only stayed a couple of hours. The Matter of Time by sculptor Richard Serra. Being in these metal sculptures was disorienting – I guess that’s what the artist intended.Outside the Guggenheim Museum, looking at the Arcos Rojos (Red Arch) on the La Salve Bridge. Both sides of the bridge is accessible from the museum. Hanging out with our friends, James and his two boys, means playing Ultimate in any green space (and beaches) we can find. James two frisbees around everywhere. Great way to work off excess energy.This used to be an old wine and oil warehouse and is now a conference / cultural centre.There are 43 unique pillars that hold up three buildings.The material of the columns reflect raw materials through history, from the oldest (marble, brick, wood, and bronze), to the modern (cement and steel), to the rare (Lecce stone and glazed terracotta).Wavy building.The building behind is the Mercado de la Ribera, supposedly the largest covered market in Europe.Stained glass at one of the entrances to the Mercado de la Ribera.Cools shadows while waiting for the tram just outside the Mercado.Someone hitched a ride on his big brother!Fun Bus at the park.
Happy kidsStill working on their travel journals. There were a fun read a year later!More columns.Background is the Frank Gehry–designed Guggenheim Museum with the spider sculpture ‘Maman’
