Culture vultures 2

Our friend Alvero had told us to go and look at the Guggenheim from the outside as there was nothing worth seeing inside, and then go to the Museum of fine arts to see some great art..........

I am tempted to agree, the following day we were again on the rather wonderful Metro into Bilbao. We got of at the nearest station and walked to the museum. On first sight it's certainly not as imposing as the Guggenheim.

This isn't even the entrance anymore, the building has been extended several times and the entrance is around the side.

Thankfully no queues this time, obviously not as big a tick, also as a real bonus , because our visit was on a Wednesday it was free!

After inexplicably getting two tickets and having them checked, I had elected to pay my two euros for an audio guide. This proved to be very informative and nowhere near as pretentious and inadvertently hilarious as the Guggenheim one yesterday.

We made our way into the various exhibition rooms and galleries following the recommended tour in the little brochure ( in English ) we had been given. We began a journey through art from Greek and Roman times with sculptures and ceramics and quickly found ourselves in the 12th and 13th centuries with some exquisite and very colourful religious art. Triptiches and alter pieces all respectfully and expertly restored and beautifully lit in the various exhibition spaces. The audio guide was proving very useful and I was so wrapped up in wandering from one room to the next and discovering yet more breathtaking treasures I neglected to attempt to take some photos, strictly forbidden anyway. We continued to move gently forward in time, the mediaeval times, the Renaissance, all flew by in a glorious riot of colour and form. The skill of these painters and artists was exceptional. Around the 18th century we needed a comfort break and as the cafe was very near we had a coffee and Pintxos ( tacos) and very reasonably priced it was too as well as being delicious.

After lunch we dived back in to some contemporary art in the fittingly more modern extension to the original building. After our overdose of the previous day we should have felt quite jaded but far from it some of the works on display were of exceptional quality.

The very high standard of display continued with lovely flat lighting showing off every work to best advantage, there were Picassos, Hockneys etc. with a fair sprinkling of lesser known artists.

There was a slight but noticeable bias towards Spanish and particularly Basque artists which was understandable and very interesting from our point of view not having had the chance to see examples of their work before, in the flesh so to speak.

Lynne found the above piece particularly interesting!

It was a long and tiring day but very worthwhile, I can honestly say I would choose the Museum over the

 Guggenheim and can heartily recommend a visit if you ever get the chance, don't forget Wednesday is free....

We had planned on visiting the old quarter and it seemed easiest to walk through the Park Republica de abando and continue along the river.

This gave us the opportunity to see a little more of the city and in contrast to the previous day it wasn't raining!

There is art and architecture everywhere in Bilbao.

It's a sometimes very disconcerting but never boring encounter of periods and styles.

We strolled past the Guggenheim again aiming to cross the river at the puenta Pedro Arrupe, which gave us a good view of the "Red Arches" on the next bridge further upriver.

After a couple of miles we arrived at the old quarter of the city, this is an area of small streets and alleys.its a compact but sizeable cluster of commerce and clutter. Fascinating.

In contrast to the wide open space and modernism of most of Bilbao this was unquestionably old and as we headed for the Cathedral of Santiago the atmosphere was very different.

The Cathedral itself is squeezed in by buildings on all sides and in some instances shops are built in to the fabric of the building. It's a very strange, the inside of the buding however is all light and space.

We actually visited three churches that afternoon and on each occasion a non too promising exterior surprised us with an astonishingly rich interior.

This is the altarpiece of the church of St John the Baptist.

The old town is full of bars and shops, hustle and bustle and is about as close as you are likely to get to experiencing the flavour of a medieval city.

This is the Plaza Nueva, and the smells at this point were making us very hungry! The Plaza is surrounded by bars all selling Pintxos ( tapas) tasty morsels of snacks, it's usual to order one or two with every drink.

After a final walk around the Plaza cloisters we had to take our weary selves to the Metro and home. Lovely if very tiring day.