Bilbao & Guernica

Hola blog fans from the oldest backpackers in town!  Yes, we finally left Pamplona which was a great base for us but it was time for us to move on from the comfort and independence of our lovely apartment - thanks Isabel!  The north coast is beckoning but, with autumn in mind, we've arranged a whistlestop tour of northern Spain which will serve as a taster for our homeward trip next year.

Friday 18 October - Pamplona to Bilbao
We boarded the skylark and a couple of hours later arrived in our first port of call - Bilbao, all but acting capital city of the Basque country which is in the process of reinventing itself from a declining industrial port to an arts and culture city of note.  It hasn't gone all gentrified though and is still in touch with its roots.  Easy to forget, too, that Bilbao was badly bombed during the Civil War and served as a main exit point for refugees, not least hundreds of children (many were UK-bound) so the folk here are from the no-nonsense school of reality.

With only two nights here we wasted no time checking into our digs and starting the Lonely Planet City Walk - a 3km route which took us past all the main sights.  First up was a stroll along the river to the Casco Viejo (old town) and its infamous Las Siete Calles (seven streets) which were full of independent shops, fab pintxo bars and restaurants.  We found a lovely restaurant - Hatari - where we enjoyed a delicious menu del dia, after which we continued around the city to take in its park and shopping area.  Then it was onwards past the Guggenheim - nope - we didn't fancy a visit as we're not huge modern and contemporary art fans and didn't want to spend our limited time here in an art gallery when it was sunny outside (28 degrees).  Perhaps another time if an exhibition catches our eye.

Fliss @ the Guggenheim

Mick @ the 'Maman' sculpture, Guggenheim

Then back across Bilbao's version of the wobbly bridge to the funicular railway which took us to the top of the city for a birdseye view.  We could also see the sea not so faraway and remembered that this was once a thriving sea port.  Sadly, all gone now but huge mooring cleats still exist along the riverbank to serve as a reminder of its nautical past.

Birdseye view of Bilbao

The City of Bilbao with the river and Guggenheim

Saturday 19 October - Guernica
And now down to business.  A big reason for staying in Bilbao is its proximity to Guernica, a small Basque town and historic capital of the Basque country.  This was a mini-pilgrimage for me as, until fairly recently, I knew nothing about this tiny town until my brilliant Spanish teacher, Catherine, gave me an article on a piece of modern art by Picasso that I'd seen before but knew nothing about.  Resisting a Google search I began to look at it, and look at it some more, trying to make sense of it.  Gradually its message began to dawn on me  - one of war, death, suffering, destruction, brutality.  But I couldn't work out why it was called 'Guernica' so that's when I started my research and what I read about Franco's attack truly shocked me, not least as I'd studied 20thC world history and this wasn't hinted at, funnily enough, neither was the Spanish Civil War.  So, to cut a long story short, I promised myself I'd visit Guernica to pay my respects and, whatever you think of Picasso and/or modern art - for me, that's what his masterpiece has done for the world - opened its eyes to the pointlessness and horror of war, whichever war you choose.

Some factoids: Franco enlisted the help of Hitler and Mussolini to test their new weapon of mass destruction - air bombing sorties.  Guernica was chosen as it had been a constant thorn in Franco's Republican side for many years.  High time to teach it a lesson and afford himself the opportunity to rebuild and culturally re-form (oppress) the Basques.  The town is located in a lustrous green valley so an early warning system was almost impossible.  26 April 1937 - a Monday.  The town folk were going about their usual Monday business - that of market day where the town's women and children would buy provisions and catch-up with one another.  It took little more than 4 hours of constant bombing to completely raze Guernica to the ground and inflict mass fatalities and injuries (into the high hundreds) - mission accomplished.

First stop for us had to be Museo de la Paz de Guernica (Museum of Peace).  It is an interesting museum in that, unusually, it seeks to open a personal dialogue with visitors as to what peace means to the individual, how we might go about achieving that, as well as providing detailed account of the attack on Guernica and its aftermath.  It also provides a good history of Basque culture generally.  We would recommend it to anyone who would like to know more about the town that Picasso placed firmly on the world map and wonders why the world is always at war.

A short walk from the museum is a ceramic copy of Picasso's 'Guernica' (the original is in the Reina Sofia Gallery in Madrid) as well as the ancient Tree of Guernica (well, a stump actually as this is all that remains) which is now sheltered by a gazebo.  This is where the historic town's elders and parliament would meet to discuss all local matters.

Ceramic copy of Picasso's 'Guernica' in Guernica

After our thought-provoking trip it was time to head back to Bilbao and soon found ourselves in the merry throng that is Las Siete Calles for pintxos and wine.  Bilbao is said to be snapping at the heels of San Sebastian for its pintxos but, in our opinion, it's already on equal terms - it just doesn't shout about it so loudly.  We headed for the Plaza Nueva - where all the action is - and ate and drank at Zuga (specialising in Basque food and wine) and Bar Gure Toki - a regular award winner. As you've probably gathered I'm a hardened pintxo fan (Mick is enjoying the conversion process!) and, apart from the food itself, what we love is that the bars serve a pintxo-size glass of wine - about half a glass - just enough to accompany your pintxos before either topping up or moving on.  It's also a great - and reasonably priced way - of trying out different wines - genius!

We had a stroll back along the river and wondered why we'd seen so many runners.  We had no idea that it was the Bilbao Night Marathon - an annual half marathon which starts and finishes at the Guggenheim and is firmly on the Spanish events calendar.  The streets were lined with people cheering the runners on so, needless to say, we got involved. 

So, that was our quick trip to Bilbao.  We'd recommend it to anyone who fancies a cultural weekend away.  The Basques are very proud of their culture and independence and the landscape is beautiful: green hills and valleys, (clean) river, the Guggenheim and pintxos scene - need I say more?!

Well, that's it 'til the next post which will be from Santander which will be our first stop outside of the Basque Country so, until then, it's over & out from Pintxo & Tapa! xx