Woke up from a deep sleep to the sound of the doorbell ringing - our breakfast had arrived. Our shore excursion had an early start. We first went to a lookout that overlooked the city of Bilbao. We were supposed to be there only 15 minutes but because of our guide's lack of time management, were there about 45 minutes. From there we were dropped off to explore the Casco Viejo also called Las Siete Calles (the seven streets) a colourful medieval neighbourhood with hundreds of shops, markets and dining places. Some of the people on the bus decided to tour on their own and were told to be back at the bus at 11:25. We went with the guide first to the Teatro Arriago modeled after the Paris Opera House. It was closed so we didn't have a chance to go in. From there we visited the Catedral de Santiago a 14th century church in the Gothic and New-Gothic style. We were allowed 5 minutes to explore the church. We then ran through several of the Seven Streets stopping briefly to take pictures arriving back at the bus at 11:45. Ask me how pleased those who had been waiting on the bus since 11:25 were.
From there, we drove to the Guggenheim Museum designed by Frank Gehry. This massive structure designed to fit into its surroundings is clad in shimmering titanium. At the Museum we were divided into two groups - we opted to go with the museum's guide and what a wonderful decision that was. She was excellent and only 8 opted to go with her which meant that we did not have to wait to enter the various galleries since we were such a small group. She gave us an overview of the magnificent architecture, before pointing out the outdoor sculptures. There is even a Mamam similar to the sculpture outside our National Gallery - more of a bronzy shade. She led us to the first gallery and the permanent installation entitled The Matter of Time by artist Richard Serra and explained that the museum was built around the sculptures as they would have been too massive to bring into the building after it was built. The sculptor wanted to give viewers the idea that they were inside the sculptures. They gave us both a feeling of vertigo and weightlessness as we walked into them. To quote from the guidebook "these sculptures create a dizzying, unforgettable sensation of space in motion" . We were totally blown away. The second floor was closed so we proceeded to the third floor to an exhibit of Jean-Michel Basquiat's work. It was very very different from anything I had seen before but our guide gave us a very good explanation of his works. Not quite my style. In my opinion, this artist was most likely high on some sort of drug while he was working on his art. We were told that the museum visit was to have been cut by 1/2 hour, but we all insisted we were to have two hours. This gave Norma and I time to go back and further explore the sculptures in The Matter of Time.
We met the rest of the group at the exit to be greeted by pouring rain. There was no way around it, we had to get to the bus. We were soaked to the skin as rain had not been predicted and we didn't bring our rain gear.
Back at the ship, we dried off, went to lunch, went to trivia and met with the two Scots and managed to tie for first place. We each have three points whatever that means. Back to dress for dinner, meet with the other STs and then to dinner.
No comments:
Post a Comment