First day in Bilbao

Perfect start to the day by reading together on the couch (oof! he’s getting heavy).

The big yellow bowl fountain in the courtyard.

Lots of roundabouts, the first being right outside our building. Coming out of the parking garage, this is our exit. Left into town or right to head out of town.

There’s a beautiful long path along the Estuary of Bilbao.

The Carola crane, located outside Itsasmuseum (a maritime museum), was once used in shipbuilding at a shipyard. Back in 1957, it was the most powerful crane in Spain.

And lots of playgrounds. Bilbao, as we were soon to discover, has lots of playgrounds, bridges, and sculptures.

This Tiger sculpture was placed on top of the building in 1942.

They speak more Basque than Spanish in Bilbao. This sign says “fill the bladder and before you go out again, come back here”.

Outdoor exhibit at the Maritime Museum.

There were numerous fishing and cargo boats on display.

This was the 60-foot monohull used by José Luis de Ugarte in the Vendee Globe race in 1993. The race is a solo non-stop race around the world without any assistance, and occurs every four years. It took Ugarte 134 days and 5 hours to complete the race – he came in sixth out of fourteen boats.

Funky finger art.

The Euskalduna Conference Centre and Concert Hall replaced the Astilleros Euskalduna shipyard that built ships for close to a century.

The Deusto Bridge is a bascule bridge (drawbridge), road bridge and steel bridge that was completed in 1936.

The Bilbao Tram 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.

Glimpse of the Guggenheim Museum.

This sculpture of a Westie dog is called “Puppy” and is made of flowers.

There’s a huge playground at the Guggenheim.

Their favourite was the climbing ropes.

Street performers (still at the Guggenheim).

La Salve Bridge is made of green concrete, and was the first cable-stayed bridge built in Spain. The Arcos Rojos (Red Arch) was added to mark the 10th anniversary of the Guggenheim Museum.

This bronze sculpture is called “Mamá” (kinda scary looking one).

Bilbao’s City Hall with the sculpture “The Alternative Ovoid” in front.

The Zubizuri Bridge is a tied arch footbridge.

And of course, a playground,

where they have to try all the pieces, even if they’re too big for them.

Bilbao is surrounded by small mountain ranges that you can see on a clear day in the background.

Bilbao’s nickname is “el Botxo”, meaning “the hole”. Bilbao cannot expand due to the mountain ranges around it, thus, there’s lots of revitalization projects.

Lara (purple shirt) exploring this new playground.

Fresh milk? We don’t know why the cows are upside down.

La Fuente del Perro (the Dog Fountain) is a drinking trough built to resemble a paleo-Christian sarcophagus. The year inscribed above the fountain is Año de MDCCC (Year of 1800). The plaque on the left shows the level the water reached when the Bilbao Estuary flooded in 1983.

Next exploration was in the Parque de Doña Casilda de Iturrizar, the largest green space in Bilbao, also known as Bilbao’s “green lung”. We’re in La Pergola, a huge oval-shaped plaza,