We enjoyed the mountain views while breakfasting on our balcony this morning, and then headed back through the Picos de Europa and north toward the coast. As we rode our through the narrow gorge, we encountered quite a few large tour buses, probably headed to the cable car at Fuente De; in several places, we had to suck in our breath, and Tom had to drive pretty close to the rock canyon wall so that we could pass.
Coastal
fog was rolling in again today, and the sky was generally cloudy. We'd
originally planned to head for Bilbao, but because tomorrow's forecast calls
for rain, we decided to put off our visit to the Guggenheim Museum there until
then, and to see what we could of the coast today, despite the gray
skies. Since we were passing Bilbao anyway, and our plans for tomorrow
are always subject to change, we wanted to make sure that we at least had a
chance to see the exterior of Frank Gehry's fabulous museum -- just in case we
don't return there tomorrow.
By all accounts, the presence of the Guggenheim in Bilbao has completely changed the city, sparking an explosion of innovative construction and design. The former steel and shipbuilding city, the largest in Spain's Basque Country, has become a center of architecture, art and culture in the years since the museum opened in 1997. Extraordinary as the building appears, it's hard to imagine that its presence had such ripple effects; that's power! We spent a very short time, just enough for a quick look and a few photos, and a desire to return again tomorrow.
By all accounts, the presence of the Guggenheim in Bilbao has completely changed the city, sparking an explosion of innovative construction and design. The former steel and shipbuilding city, the largest in Spain's Basque Country, has become a center of architecture, art and culture in the years since the museum opened in 1997. Extraordinary as the building appears, it's hard to imagine that its presence had such ripple effects; that's power! We spent a very short time, just enough for a quick look and a few photos, and a desire to return again tomorrow.
We took back roads north to the
Atlantic coast, and then east toward San Sebastian, stopping along the way to
walk around the harbor at Lekeitio. Along with other towns along that
line the coast in the Basque Country of both Spain and France, it fills with
summer vacationers during high season. All along the coast, we passed
through small, sleepy towns that had an enormous number of condos; evidently
during July and August, the beaches, piers, and streets are jammed, and prices
resemble those in Nice and Monte Carlo; that was hard to imagine on this May
day.
A little bit about the Basque Country: It extends into two nations, Spain and France, and has geographically, historically and culturally been isolated from its respective "parent" countries. Both the French Pays Basque and Spanish Pais Vasco have been home to independence movements, and in Spain, Basque separatists have been responsible for terrorist acts occurring into the first decade of this century. To the casual visitor, the most striking feature of this region is the language; Euskara is unlike any other language and may be the oldest European tongue. Signs in the region are written in Euskara and either Spanish or French, and most Basques are bilingual. We have found much less familiarity with English here than elsewhere in Spain. (Speaking of languages, this afternoon, we saw destination signs for Algeciras in Arabic on the freeway; Algeciras, in far-south Spain, is a ferry port of entry from Morocco.)
Our interest in winding roads gave out before we reached San Sebastian, so we headed to Vitoria, our base for two nights. After some grocery shopping, we checked in to our apartment -- two bedrooms, balcony, lots of room -- and got down to happy hour, and planning for tomorrow.
A little bit about the Basque Country: It extends into two nations, Spain and France, and has geographically, historically and culturally been isolated from its respective "parent" countries. Both the French Pays Basque and Spanish Pais Vasco have been home to independence movements, and in Spain, Basque separatists have been responsible for terrorist acts occurring into the first decade of this century. To the casual visitor, the most striking feature of this region is the language; Euskara is unlike any other language and may be the oldest European tongue. Signs in the region are written in Euskara and either Spanish or French, and most Basques are bilingual. We have found much less familiarity with English here than elsewhere in Spain. (Speaking of languages, this afternoon, we saw destination signs for Algeciras in Arabic on the freeway; Algeciras, in far-south Spain, is a ferry port of entry from Morocco.)
Our interest in winding roads gave out before we reached San Sebastian, so we headed to Vitoria, our base for two nights. After some grocery shopping, we checked in to our apartment -- two bedrooms, balcony, lots of room -- and got down to happy hour, and planning for tomorrow.
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