Bilbao - breakfast at McDonalds - would you like a beer with that?

Bilbao sits on the Bilbao Estuary

Well, Kate had lots of hissy fits between Valladolid and Bilbao, and added lots of extra time to our trip.  But we got there in the end.  We stayed at the Novotel Bilbao Exhibition Centre, way out of town in a densely populated residential area.  Not a pretty area, but the price was right.  The hotel itself was OK, but the entry needed a bit of a makeover - all done in turquoise walls, and very dark inside.

This shop sells wool - and
advertises it colourfully

It was overcast with intermittent rain when we arrived, so we had a quick swim then looked around the area for potential eating spots.  We had a drink at a local tapas bar, then walked up to the Exhibition Centre to locate the metro station for a trip into town the next day.  It was quite a walk, but we're all so fit now after averaging 6-7 km per day, that it wasn't a problem.  The Exhibition Centre is a huge monolith with over 150,000m2 of exhibition space.  It apparently has heaps of restaurants, a hotel and a shopping centre inside, but these must only be open when there is a major event on.  And we were there when nothing was happening, so it was a bit dull and boring.


On the way back to the hotel we walked past a McDonald's and said that if all else failed we could always get breakfast there.   We decided to have dinner in our hotel, as it was raining and we didn't feel like going out again. The food was good, and we had a couple of bottles of wine to wash it down.

Next morning, yes, we headed to McDonald's for breakfast. We ordered a bacon and egg McMuffin and were asked "Would you like juice, coffee or BEER with that?" Seriously, for breakfast!?!  The boys were tempted, but declined.  That's a first - for both the offer and the 'no, thanks'.

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao

The weather was a bit miserable but we headed into town on the metro.  Bilbao is a well-known art centre and boasts the Guggenheim Museum designed by American architect Frank O. Gehry in 1997.  He also designed the Seattle EMP Museum, which is in a similar style to this building in 2000.  In front of the museum is a living artwork, a huge puppy (I think it looks more like a cat) which consists entirely of multi-coloured flowers.  It's about 4 storeys high, and looks amazing.  We thought about going into the museum, then looked at the queue waiting outside, and had a rethink.  We could either stand outside in the hot Spanish sun or go somewhere to have a cool drink - the cool drink won, surprisingly.  

Trev walked past a shop with a gorgeous limegreen Mankini, and he was desperate to buy it, but common sense prevailed (me) and he decided against it. Whew!  

The town was full of sculptures and arty stuff, as well as the obligatory 900 churches, on the banks of an estuary, so it had a nice feel to it.  We walked past the sculpture on the right (there were several in the series) and Lorraine commented that it looked like a crumpled up bit of paper that someone had thrown away - I think she may have had something there!


We headed back to our hotel on the metro after a lovely dinner in town.  Next stop, Zaragoza via Pamplona.

Click here for a link to my Bilbao Picasa album.