Bilbao

So we didnt have this part of the trip really planned out, but since we were near Bilbao and the Guggenheim, why not make a stop. This was also reinforced by the fact that trains dont really run along the coast up here and all bus trips to other places we were thinking about going were upwards of 6 hours. Spain is big. Bigger than either of us realized and getting around is a bit of a hassle. Buses are just more practical for everyone it seems.
I was expecting Bilbao to be a pretty crummy industrial city so when it turned out to be a relatively nice mid sized town we were pleasantly surprised. The Guggenheim is closed on Mondays, so we spent the afternoon just walking around.
. Not a bad place, but just not much interesting going on.

Now the Gug is something special. Just a crazy building that may seem out of place, but Ghery made sure to integrate it into the landscape and the surrounding buildings.

Surrounding the Gug is a spider statue complete with eggs

and the beloved local mascot, a terrier made out of flowers nicknamed 'El Poop'.

Inside are cavernous open spaces that house some really avant-garde art. It is mostly installations that dont make much sense, but there is a free tour and the guide made an attempt to explain some of the pieces. We cant say we loved all of it but some pieces were designed specifically for this place and they seem to all fit with the futuristic cutting edge design of the building.