Yay! A virgin port! This port alone was worth a repeat cruise after we missed it last year on the Regal crossing. We had the best day, but I’m telling you about it the next day, because there was not an ounce of energy left to do so last night.
G left the planning for today totally up to me, which was good, because I took one look at the Guggenheim Bilbao website and knew immediately what I wanted to do. And then I threw in something I knew he would enjoy and those two things provided a little structure for our day.
We started out in Sabatini’s for breakfast at 7am. It was still dark out but sunrise preceded the ship docking at 8am, and it was immediately evident from the surrounding hillsides that this was a beautiful port. The ship was cleared shortly after 8 am and we walked off right after that.
The port terminal was large and modern, with a visitor information desk manned by three staff. We left the terminal and looked for a free shuttle into the city center about which we had received a notice in our cabin the night before. It was easy to find.
It was about a 30 minute ride into Bilbao on highways, so I was especially thankful for the free transportation. Once at the Intermodal Station, we all wandered en masse up to another level where we found a counter where Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) bus tickets were being sold. This was a nice surprise because I had figured we’d have to walk to where I knew there was a nearby bus stop and buy a day pass there. Though their website states that the bus runs hourly after October 1, we were told it was more like every 20-30 minutes today because the Regal Princess was in port. That would definitely work for us. For €16pp, we would see the city, get an audio tour and have the transportation we needed for the day.
About 30 of us were escorted as a group (it’s nice to not be going alone when you’re in a new place) out of the station and down the street about a block and a half to Stop #2, is where I had intended we would have gone to buy a ticket and board the bus. We sat in the open top of the two level bus and it was bright and sunny but fairly chilly at that time of the morning. G had come prepared, and I had, kind of, with at least a jacket, but some were dressed for the forecasted afternoon temps (high 70s) in shorts and I suspected they were chillier than they let on.
Boarding at Stop #2, we made our way around most of the route, enjoying the exquisite architecture, many trees and flowers, fountains and abundant sunshine. It’s hard to visit a new city and not compare it in some ways to places already visited, and there were parts of the city that reminded me of Athens, but I think that, most of all, it resembled Malta. I expected more of a Barcelona feel, but it was much cleaner (pristine, really). It was immediately obvious that, although we were in Spain and the local language was primarily Spanish, signs, street names and places were in Basque, a language that is not a bit like Spanish (with lots of Xs), and words I couldn’t even begin to pronounce.
I loved the wide tree lined avenues
The Basque flag
Pedestrian bridge near the Guggenheim
An estuary runs through the central part of Bilbao, and the area on either side of it was beautifully developed with paths and sidewalks, with flowers everywhere and some interesting bridges crossing the water. The area around the Guggenheim Museum is particularly tourist friendly, and this was where HOHO Stop #1 was located and we disembarked the bus for the first time.
Now, I’ll confess that I am not at all interested in contemporary art, but I enjoy architecture, and the contrast between the city’s architecture and the museum was marked. Still, if we had made it to Bilbao last year, we had no intention of going inside the museum. Gazing at its architecture from the waterfront would have been adequate. But when I explored the website online this summer, I took note of a special exhibit that was ending tomorrow, and was instantly caught.
This exhibition combined movement, light, sound and technology, and I knew instantly that it had to be seen in person. I purchased our tickets online a day in advance (really inexpensive, €7,50pp for seniors) and had saved them in my Apple Wallet.
We wasted no time going directly to the exhibition hall, and, frankly, that one thing alone was worth taking this cruise. As with the D-Day beaches last year in Normandy, regardless of how much we enjoy the rest of the cruise, this may be equaled but won’t be topped.
I’m adding still shots that don’t even begin to convey the movement of the exhibit. The sensation it provided was that the floor was rising, falling, spinning and I almost choked when a very old man standing next to me remarked to his wife that it was a 60s acid trip all over again. I’m sorry I missed that experience!
Imagine being surrounded on four sides by this.
G felt we needed to see a few other things the museum offered, so we did, and some were quite interesting.
This was a vertically scrolling story and we all stood around for quite awhile watching the words go up and I couldn’t help wonder what the point was.
I called this one “6-year old’s bedroom”
Look in the middle to see spider sculpture Maman (1999) by Louise Bourgeois.
We re-boarded the HOHO bus and took it back around to Stop #10, about two blocks from the Funucular Artxanda, which was the G segment of the day. For €5pp round trip, we took a three minute funicular ride to the top of Mount Artxanda, where there were lots of views, walking paths and flower gardens to enjoy.
A gorgeous day in Bilbao
The Artxanda funicular
The Guggenheim is in the center right next to the estuary
Back at the bottom, we ended up waiting almost 45 minutes for the next HOHO and then two buses came back to back, which sometimes happens later in the day. We took advantage of the wait to pop into a cafe on the corner where G got a beer which could be enjoyed on the sidewalk. When I spotted the double decker bus coming, he finished it up and we were on our way back to Stop #2 near the Intermodal Station.
There were of plenty of Princess reps holding Regal Princess signs standing outside and inside the station, which was very welcome thing because we were all tired and a bit turned around, or at least it seemed more straightforward leaving the station in the morning than it did entering it almost eight hours later. Once back at the ship, we took a minute to wash up and then went directly to dinner with Berenice and Sebastian in the Symphony Dining Room. Along with breakfast in Sabatini’s, it’s the best part of the day!
It was my very favorite Italian night menu, perfectly timed, because we hadn’t had time for lunch today, and I was very hungry. I had two salads, shrimp and scallops, caponata and ratatouille from the vegan menu. Oh, and penne arabbiatta made by Roxanna. Pure joy!
G wanted to at least try the ventriloquist’s show in the Princess Theater but I couldn’t muster up any enthusiasm at all for that. Instead I decided to try to watch The Greatest Showman on MUTS, unsure of whether it would be warm enough to sit up on deck, but for Hugh Jacknan I was willing to try. It was, at first, especially after they brought around blankets, and I even enjoyed some popcorn, but I lasted only an hour and then retreated the warmth of the cabin. G wasn’t long behind me, and that was as exciting as our evening was. We had walked almost 13000 steps, and I’m tempted to add “only” before that, but the reality is that’s the most I’ve walked since surgery and I was hurting, but hopeful that a Tylenol and a good night’s sleep would have me feeling fine tomorrow morning.
