Bilbao
The center of the Basque industry, Spain's leading port and the largest Basque city.
It is the tenth largest city in Spain, with a population of 353,187 in 2010.
The official name of the city is Bilbao, as known in most languages of the world. Euskaltzaindia, the official regulatory institution of the Basque language, agreed that between the two possible names existing in Basque, Bilbao and Bilbo, that the historical name in Basque is Bilbo, while keeping the officially of the first one.
Despite the many wars, the city prospered during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when it rose as the economic center of the Basque Country.
The Spanish Civil War started in Bilbao with small uprisings suppressed by the Republican forces. On 31 August 1936, the city suffered the first bombing. On the next month, further bombings by German planes occurred, in coordination with Franco's forces.
After the fall of Francoist Spain and the establishment of a constitutional monarchy, in a process known in Spain as "The Transition", Bilbao could hold democratic elections again.
Since the mid-1990s, Bilbao has been in a process of de-industrialisation and transition to a service city, supported by investment in infrastructure and urban renewal
Basque Culture
The Basque may be Europe's oldest race. Anthropologists think they could be descended from Cro-Magnon people who lived in the Pyrenees mountain ranges 40,000 years ago.
La Semana Grande
Semana Grande (Spanish for Big Week, Aste Nagusia
in Basque) is Bilbao's main festival attracting over 100,000 people. It
begins on the Saturday of the 3rd week of August each year, lasting 9
days and has been celebrated since 1978. People from around Spain, and
increasingly from abroad, attend the celebrations.
The celebrations include the strongman games, free music performances, street entertainment, bullfighting and nightly firework displays. The best views of the display are from the city's bridges.
We attended the fireworks (grand finale can be viewed above) followed by a concert which was a major tribute to Mecano - a Spanish pop band which became one of the most successful Spanish pop bands of all time.
Story Time
For those on my Facebook I promised a story to this strange looking photo, so here it is.
This is my grandmother, in her younger days she used to buy big 14kg tuna caught from the northern seas and then bottle and sell them. The knife she is holding in her right hand is what she would use to dismember the tuna. One day my aunty's boyfriend had come to see her and was waiting downstairs for her. My father and his brother noticed this and alerted my grandmother who was not at the time dismembering the fish but setting up to do so.
The two mischievous boys got the massive knife and put it in her hand without her realizing what they had done. My grandmother had not yet met this new suitor of her daughter and went to the balcony to see him. As are her mannerisms she waved her hands around saying "you!, are you my daughter's boy friend", the boy was so startled by the loud woman waving the giant knife and a bottle at him that he bolted down the street! Or so the story goes...
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The Images below are of the Guggenheim Museum(a museum of modern and contemporary art), and a Puppy.
Guggenheim Museum
The museum was inaugurated on October 18, 1997.
In 1991, the Basque government suggested to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation that it would fund a Guggenheim museum to be built in Bilbao's decrepit port area, once the city's main source of income.
The Basque government agreed to cover the US$100 million construction cost, to create a US$50 million acquisitions fund, to pay a one-time US$20 million fee to the Guggenheim and to subsidize the museum's US$12 million annual budget.
In exchange, the Foundation agreed to manage the institution, rotate parts of its permanent collection through the Bilbao museum and organize temporary exhibitions.
The museum was built by Ferrovial, at a cost of US$89 million.
For friends of Kyran on Facebook this was his mystery photo for the week!
Puppy is a 13m tall topiary sculpture of a West Highland White Terrier puppy, made in a variety of flowers (including Marigolds, Begonias, Impatiens, Petunias, and Lobelias) on a transparent colour-coated chrome stainless steel substructure.
In 1995, the sculpture was actually at the Museum of Contemporary Art on Sydney Harbour in Australia, with stainless steel armature and an internal irrigation system. While the Arolsen Puppy had 20,000 plants, the Sydney version held around 60,000.
The piece was purchased in 1997 by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and installed on the terrace outside the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.
Fun Fact
Before the dedication at the museum, an Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA - Basque terrorist) trio disguised as gardeners attempted to plant explosive-filled flowerpots near the sculpture, but was foiled by Basque police officer Jose María Aguirre, who then was shot dead by ETA members.
AND
In the summer of 2000, the statue traveled to New York City for a temporary exhibition at Rockefeller Center.
With a list of areas that we should see, we set off to see the Hanging Bridge and Portugalete as well as two beaches. As it turned out it was are cold rainy day and so we only opted to go to one beach, much to Kyran's relief as the other beach was a nudist beach.
The panorama above was taken from Portugalete looking on to the Hanging bridge and the town of Las Arenas in the background.
"The only gay in the village"
...
But seriously though
The only people at the beach!
- Plentzia -
The Hanging BridgePeople in the area, and even the official website, commonly call it the Puente Colgante (literally "hanging bridge")
It is the world's oldest transporter bridge and was built in 1893.
On July 13, 2006, the Vizcaya Bridge was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It is the only Basque monument on the list. Also, in Spain, it is the only monument in the Industrial Heritage category.
Furthermore, it is considered to be one of the most outstanding constructions of the European Industrial Revolution and without doubt, one of the greatest engineering achievements of the 19th century.
The bridge, still in use, is 164 meters long, and its gondola can transport six cars and several dozen passengers in one and a half minutes.
Portugalete
In 1300 Portugalete became the main competitor port for Bilbao, but it lost its predominant position in 1511 when the trade privileges were granted to the Port of Bilbao instead of Portugalete
Plentzia
Plentzia is a resort town with a large beach beside the Plentzia River estuary, in the round, shell-shaped Bay of Plentzia, shared with neighbouring Gorliz and Barrika.
The beach is very popular as it is clean and the sea is calm due to the shelter of the bay and the town has a lot of amenities for visitors.
We
spent the greater part of the afternoon in Plentzia after having a
lovely lunch at one of the local restaurants we walked along the wall
(left) that encloses the large beach area and fell asleep near the buoy at the end of the wall.
As
the rains started to come in again and the temperature started to cool
we decided that it was time to call it a day and head back to Bilbao.
On
the walk back the the train station we stopped and fed various schools
of fish that were swimming around in the clear blue water.
Both
upstream and downstream from us there were children with grandparents
and parents trying to catch fish with a hook tied to a piece of string.
This seemed like some sort of tradition or past time, as there were many families along the river doing the same thing.
Overall we found Plentzia to be a quiet, family filled beautiful little town.
Some Photos in and around Bilbao
Left: Kyran with Sangria that he purchased for 1.75 Euros at 7% alcohol.
He was now ready to face the cold as he forgot to take his jumper that day.
Well that's it for this installment of traveling with the Findlaters stay tuned for the next installation that should be posted by Monday every week.
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