A TRAVEL RECOMMENDATION

 THE CHARM OF BILBAO

The wind behind my wings is picking up, lifting me up and carrying my imagination to places we've been and memories we've made. Even if Florida isn't encouraging vaccination passports I'm ready for mine and ready to shoehorn myself into a cheap seat on a flight back across the pond. Europe's magnetism is the positive to our negative. There's the adventure and danger of submersing yourself into a different culture, a place where the language may sound like your goldfish blowing bubbles, where you might be served goldfish with an olive oil drizzle on a bed of squid pasta, or sleep in a bed under the sea where you're the attraction and the gold fish are the spectators. 

We have a set of travel rules when we head toward Europe. Near the top of our list is each venture abroad must contain a stop somewhere we've never been before. That's why on our last trip we added Bilbao to our itenary. We're in the design fields. We decorate. We try to make our world a little more beautiful, a little more organized, a little less stressful. Rick had never been to Spain and I'd never been to Bilbao.

The Guggenheim is a mecca, a must visit for anyone who has an interest in architecture and design, but the surprise was Bilbao went way beyond the Guggenheim. 

As our plane touched down at the airport our narrow focus quickly expanded.  Unannounced to our meager architectural book of knowledge was the airport wasn't just any airport. The terminal bore a striking resemblance to the designs by Santiago Calatrava. It's obvious similarity to New York's Oculus and the Art Museum in Milwaukee gave us pause that perhaps Bilbao had more to offer than just the Guggenheim. The airport was an unexpected wing of flight indeed designed by Calatrava and it made our anticipation of what might be in store for us soar. 

GRAN HOTEL DOMINE

We've become very adept at selecting legitimately awe-inspiring hotels and then getting them at a reasonable rate. Don't ask me how. It's a gift. We do spend a great deal of time prior to leaving sitting in bed with our computers on our laps scrolling through lists of possible hotels prior to getting to our departure gate and arriving at our destination. For Bilbao we struck gold. We made arrangements to stay at the Gran Hotel Domine.

It sits directly across from the Guggenheim. If you're lucky and can wrangle it ask for a room on the front of the hotel. We scored one with a direct view of the museum's gleaming façade.

The room spared no detail. It was made for a designer by a designer from its sleek sophistication to its ample baths with its slatted stonewalls and vessel sinks. 

A huge sculpture of river stones encased in wire dominated the central lobby descending from the top floor and hovering just above a black pool of water.  

Each stone has a message written on it, thousands upon thousands of short hopes and dreams all stacked and confined by wire.

There's a lounge off the lobby we found to be the perfect place to relax in the middle of the day when after we'd reached maximum visual overload and needed a place to recharge we could sit down and plug in for an energy boost. 

All through the trip I feigned an intense neck pain so at some point Rick would find the sympathy necessary to grant me the indulgence of a full body message. This hotel's spa is the place where I collected on my guilt free charade.

But by far the best perk of this hotel was its breakfasts, served in the canopy covered rooftop terrace with a view that would be hard to surpass.

The menu was varied and rich in regional dishes but their Eggs Benedict was something we never passed up on each and every morning between seven and eleven.

Our favorite waitress was always at the ready with a cappuccino for me and a black tea with an extra glass of ice and a wedge of lemon for Rick.

THE CITY

Bilbao is so much more than the Guggenheim. Exploring it's old town and wandering along the river bank are just as important and better done on foot where you can stop every twenty feet to take in the architectural history so wonderfully intact in Bilbao. 

At times the dichotomy of old and new is prepared and served like an appetizer and a main course brought to the table at the same time.

It can present itself in the form of carved figures supporting the entablature as on the façade of its concert hall where a production of Westside Story" was in performance,

or it can be the subway station in the old part of town, a glorious example of the art nouveau period.

The influence of art nouveau movement came at a period of growth for the city and it's a style that repeats and repeats itself in amazing details throughout the city.

We went so far as to stop at several real estate agencies and do a little wish shopping for new apartment. A prominent feature of many of the apartment buildings is this sunroom extending out four to five feet at the front of each apartment. If we were only rich instead of so darn good looking we would have easily added another residence to our home portfolio

In contrast to its historic architectural heritage the renaissance of quality contemporary architecture has been integrated into the city in ways not many other cities have been able to duplicate.

New towers soar into the skyline in a way that doesn't diminish the rest of the city but lights it up at night giving us visitors landmarks like a bread crumb trail leading us back to wherever we needed to go; making sure we never got lost.

It's not only the beauty of Bilbao but the pristine quality of life that impressed us. There's a clean and comfortable quality to life in this Basque city on the estuary of the Nervion and Ibaizabal rivers

All of this and I haven't even mentioned the food. Outdoor restaurants dot almost every corner with a nightlife that is relaxed, warm and comfortable The specialty of the area is pinchos, small tastings similar to tapas.

We obviously had to try and try we did from Iberian pork with onions and chimichurri on toast points to egg yolks served with creamed mushrooms, potato crumbs and bits of ham. Who could go wrong?   

Even if it weren't true, Bilbao certainly made us feel as if we were Mr. Marvelous

THE GUGGENHEIM

Bilboa's main act is still the Guggenheim. On that first night after we had been escorted to our room, before the lights were turned on, we opened the heavy blackout drapes of the floor to ceiling window. It was pure theater.  It was like opening night for us when the curtain rises. The klieg lights popped on mixing with the amber gels of a descending sun and then the main actor walked on stage. The Guggenheim was the star of the show and we stood in awe without even going inside. We left the drapes open and fell asleep to the moon light glinting off the Guggenheim's beautiful silver skin.

The following day it was the sun that turned the Guggenheim into a lighthouse shooting a beam of reflected light back into our room. 

We'd purchased tickets for early that morning. Jeff Koons' flower encrusted Puppy was the sentinel standing as welcome rather than guard dog to the entry into the museum.

It's the exterior image that is most associated with Frank Gehry's masterpiece but the inside is no less impressive and certainly no disappointment. Hallways and staircases are not mere traffic generators but art in themselves not needing works on paper or canvas or pieces carved from marble to make them anymore intriguing.

But the collection is as impressive as its home. The works of Richard Serra command a space the size of a football field and filling every inch with mesmerizing awe and tactile sensation.

Everywhere Gehry directed our eyes was a picture in itself. 

Now that the pandemic seems to be leaving the door to travel open just a crack pencil in a trip to Bilbao. For us it was to be a one-time tick on our bucket list. It's now back on for a return visit.

THE GALLERY

Red Cross Volunteers during 1918 Spanish Influenza, Getty Images