i usually book flights at the beginning of january and then i start researching and planning. the upcoming trip is to spain, in the second part of march: madrid – bilbao – barcelona. i’m jumping up and down just thinking about what’s to come!
i will only cover bilbao today, as i’ve been busy researching it lately. i decided to take a two-day trip to bilbao because i’ve been meaning to see the guggenheim museum really badly! and, to make my decision easier, i discovered that the museum has a current brancusi show. among the other exhibitions, there will be a selection of egon schieles from vienna’s albertina. i love it when i get to see the same art i’ve seen before but in different settings.
although there has been a lot of controversy regarding the building, in a recent interview, gehry said that the undertaking was a real success: apparently, they recovered the entire cost in the first seven years. and i guess i’m living proof that people do go to bilbao lured by the titanium structure.
another futuristic structure houses the health department – el departamento de sanidad y osakidetza. what’s odd is that i found it by chance, as none of the tourism sites promotes it… anyway i think it’s unbelievable!
also, i found another gehry building nearby: the marques de riscal hotel (it includes a vinotherapy spa, a restaurant, a congress center and all the other trimmings expected from a high-class hotel) located in the middle of one of the oldest wineries in the rioja region.
in the neighbourhood, there’s also a cute little gastronomic hotel (the only one in the rioja region with a michelin star) with a wide range of food/accommodation combinations.
so many possibilities, so little time! and, coincidentally, i’m expecting a basque guest to surf my couch. it’s small world getting smaller by the minute!
3 comments
Rango says:
Feb 15, 2012
I`d like you to write a post on visiting the Nile, the jungle, the glacier, the…. something not man-made.
I`m starting not to be so interested in man-made stuff.
Try taking the cable car that runs just below Mont Blanc in France and tell me if you don`t get a greater buzz than man-made buildings.
little-aesthete says:
Feb 15, 2012
i totally get what you’re saying. the blog is mostly about inspiring things, and, although nature is the most inspiring, i try to give credit to special, creative people who could inspire the rest of us to do great things :)
VOGUE ESPANA MAY 2014 - little aesthete's blog says:
May 13, 2014
[…] starchitect frank gehry decided to spend his 85th birthday in bilbao. he flew in with his family and celebrated with his friend, the director of the guggenheim museum. […]