Orad on the Road: Bilbao, Spain

Remember this?

Since my original Madrid posting, I’ve ended up in Madrid a few times – like I mentioned, all connections go through Madrid, which is right at the center of Spain. Having to get from Granada (in the southwest) to Bilbao (in the northeast), I decided to stop for a night and get a good night’s sleep in Madrid. And I couldn’t help but go visit the creepy baby head again. (Odd thing, if you google “creepy baby head”, you get images of this statue.)

So I asked the friendly lady at the ticketbooth where I could find it, and she told me (clearly very proud of the sculpture) that there are in fact two such creepy baby heads, and that the sculpture who made them (Antonio López García) modeled them after his granddaughter. She said one symbolised day, and the other, night. Naturally, the prospect of a second giant-creepy-baby head got me excited, so I ventured out to find it. I wasn’t allowed into the area that was holding it (I didn’t have a train ticket for that part of the train) but I snatched a photo of it through the window. Enjoy:

Anyway (… wow, how irrelevant), here’s Bilbao:

This picture, taken on a bridge at sunset, makes Bilbao look way more beautiful than it really is. I dunno, coming from Granada… the city is much more industrial and less grand and majestic. Even the “old quarter” of Bilbao isn’t so pretty, in my opinion.

Bilbao is well known for being the home of the Guggenheim in Spain. The first thing I did in Bilbao was go see it:

The museum was designed by Canadian architect Frank Gehry. Beside this is this wicked bridge. Also, here’s an image of the museum during the daylight, with Sarah and Neto:

Sarah, Neto and I went to the beach, too. What a day!

Bilbisms

-First off, everything here is labelled “Bilbo-something.” Bilbo-bus, Bilbo-bank…

-Metro:

-The language people speak in Bilabo is Basque. It really sounds nothing like Spanish to my ears. It’s like… German or something. Really strange.

-Giant dog:

-Coach buses in Spain are odd in that the seats on them are actually numbered, like on a train. This

-In Bilbao (and the Basque country) they serve food with drinks, like the tapas mentioned in Granada. Here, though, they’re called pintxos (pronounced pinchos) instead. They’re like tapas, except they’re slightly more extravagant, you have to pay for each one (unlike tapas, which come for free with the drink) and they’re displayed on the counter in the bar like at a buffet!

-Speaking of food, I wanted to mention Europe’s infatuation with kebab (which is, basically, Schwarma). They serve it everywhere, but in Spain it’s been absolutely delicious. DSCN1505