Basque Country

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Today I drove through Basque Country from San Sebastián to Bilbao, Spain. The Basques are an ethnic minority population that have lived in the Pyrenees for thousands of years. They have their own culture and language (which is not related to other European languages) and are more or less integrated into the two big countries in which they find themselves - Spain and France. I had heard about the scenic back roads of this very hilly area, but I stuck to the freeway and it was plenty scenic (and hilly!). Bilbao is famous for many things, but the one that interested me was the Guggenheim Museum of Art. The building was designed by Frank Gehry (who is also the one who did the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles). The building is extraordinary to look at (see photo) and the interior looks good, too, but IMO it is not very practical because the exhibits are spread out and it is sometimes difficult to get from one to another. Jeff Koons's giant flower-dog sculpture out front is a favorite (see photo). After the Guggenheim, I drove deeper into the Basque heartland and visited Guernica. This town has been the traditional center of Basque culture (see photo of town center with statue of Basque patriot). This is undoubtedly the reason that Francisco Franco invited the Nazi air force to attack Guernica in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War. Franco won that battle, and eventually he won the war, but another result was Picasso's famous painting (see photo of reproduction on a wall in the town - the original is in the Reina Sophia Museum in Madrid). Another result is that the town has become a center of peace activism and actually has a Peace Museum. Tonight for dinner I plan to return to the same restaurant where I ate last night. It is (mostly) vegetarian and is the #2 restaurant in all of San Sebastián. I made a reservation last night for 8:30 pm and was quite pleased to find my table waiting for me when I arrived (see photo).

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