We left Lekeitio for Bilbao yesterday, driving first to Gernika (Guernica) specifically to visit the Museum of Peace (http://www.museodelapaz.org/) there. This small but excellent thematic museum was inspired by the ghastly bombing of the town in 1936. The permanent exhibition examines the concept of peace, reviews what happened in Gernika “in the absence of peace”, and examines organized international efforts toward peace today. It was a very moving experience to be directly engaged with the issue in a dramatic and graphic way. A smaller reproduction of Picasso’s famous painting hangs in the stairwell.
In Bilbao, we returned our little Fiat to the rental agency, and came back to the Silken Indautzu hotel. Since it was already mid-afternoon, we went off to the restaurant where we ate on our first day here, two weeks ago, and were again treated to an excellent meal (I know you are probably tired of hearing me say this, but the fact is that we have wonderful food all through the trip!). We wandered through the city some more, enjoying the lively streets of the commercial center, with many tree-lined avenues and round traffic plazas with flowers and fountains. Two rivers converge here and form a large estuary into the Bay of Biscay; the river winds through the city and there are many bridges, some pedestrian-only, that cross it and link the various districts together. Several of the bridges are design statements, including one by Santiago Calatrava. After supper at an Italian/Japanese restaurant (yes, with a split menu of sushi and pasta!), we came back to the hotel to watch a soccer game on the big screen in the lobby bar.
Speaking of soccer, the local team, Athletic Bilbao, is playing tonight against Real Betis from Sevilla, and the latter team is being housed here at the Silken Indautzu. Players have been coming and going all day, eating several times down in the breakfast buffet room, and this afternoon an increasing number of fans, friends, and family also have gathered. As I write this (we are in the lobby, where Internet access is better),the team has just departed on their green bus for the stadium, to the applause and encouraging cheers of the people here. We think we will have to watch the game!
Today’s main activity was a visit to Bilbao’s Museo de las Bellas Artes, which turned out not only to have a top-notch cubist exhibit on display (several Juan Gris, along with a dozen or so other major cubist pieces) but also to have an excellent permanent collection of contemporary Spanish art, including pieces by Antoni Tapies, Miquel Barcelo, and Antonio Saura. There was also a current exhibit of Joaquin Sorolla’s work, and we saw a Gauguin’s “Laundresses in Arles.” The museum is set in a lovely park, and combines a new building with an old in an interesting way.
We found another good place for lunch, with a delicious winter squash soup, and this afternoon have repacked our suitcases for our early departures tomorrow. We thought of going to the stadium for the game, but our 4:30 a.m. wake-up call has us watching it here in the hotel instead. Tomorrow Jerome will fly westward while I take the train east. My residency at the Centre d’Art i Natura is going to be three weeks of hard work, but I am my own teacher and student both, and am really looking forward to the opportunity for dedicated work in a beautiful place. If any of you want more information about CAN or what I am going to do there, please let me know. Otherwise I will sign off with the hope that you have enjoyed these travelogues. I have a few more photos to send, but the Internet here is so slow that I can’t get the images off the camera. I’ll try to send them along this weekend.
