Bilbao
The city of Bilbao is now synonymous with urban renewal, visionary town planning and avant-garde contemporary architecture. These are all of a piece. As the twentieth century drew to a close, the heavy industries that had driven the local economy in this part of the Basque country were in terminal decline. The thought of Bilbao with its extensive quayside industrial dereliction as a tourist destination was risible yet visionary local politicians conceived of just such a plan.
In what must have seemed a colossal gamble, the architect Frank O. Gehry was commissioned to design an art gallery for the Guggenheim Foundation that would point the way to a new style of public architecture for the third millennium. The result is dazzling, literally so when the sun glints off the titanium façade. Orthogonal blocks of limestone and glass curtain walls provide contrast; the interior is spacious and naturally lit. With this single sensational building the reputation of both Gehry and Bilbao soared. Other celebrated architects - Norman Foster, Arata Isozaki and Santiago Calatrava among them - were commissioned to provide other buildings and Bilbao became a model within Europe and beyond for successful urban renewal.
Our early morning tour was a private visit giving us a full hour inside the Guggenheim before it opened to the public. There was much to see and admire both inside - Richard Serra’s steel snake - and out – Jeff Koons’ now emblematic floral puppy.
As we sailed along the Cantabrian coast, in beautiful afternoon sunshine, we were introduced to the delightful Spanish tradition of wine and tapas. On the aft deck, our head chef was carving pata negra from the bone, as the hotel manager served such local specialties as pickled peppers and fresh anchovies. Red and white wines and several sherries completed the traditional scene and provided a perfect introduction for our day of pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella for which we had been prepared with a presentation in the Lounge earlier in the afternoon. The cathedral church at Santiago houses the relics of St James, known throughout Spain as Santiago Matamoros, the slayer of the Moors. It was a vision of St James that inspired the Reconquista, which beginning in northwestern Spain was to see Spain restored to the Catholic faith and both the Jews and the Muslims expelled in 1492, an event that ushered in the Spanish Inquisition. Tapas and wine are culinary survivals of that time. By serving pork and wine at the start of a meal in Spain, one ensures that no Muslim or Jew is present at the table. As we seen elsewhere on this voyage, Europe continues to live in the long shadows of its conflicted history.
