This is the late 20th century opus of American architect Frank Gehry…read more As an architect, i am always amazed at what some architects can get build. Thus, this always perplexed me. However in situ, it makes total sense. At a human scale its underpinnings line up with the surrounding buildings and the river it sits upon. The curvilinear forms are symbolic of the ships once built on this ground in the early 20th century. As an icon and symbol of basque pride. Interestingly, it also plays homage to Frank Lloyd Wright's opus the original Guggenheim in NYC. The Art? The building is the art. I will let others comment on its success as a gallery. However, it is perhaps the one of the greatest pieces of architecture of our time. Post Modern deconstructionist Master Work

This museum was the main reason why I chose to visit Bilbao during my recent trip to Spain. It had…read morebeen on my bucket list for years! I've visited the Guggenheim museums in NYC and Venice and I have to say that this building had the most unique architecture of them all so far. Designed by Frank Gehry, the museum is a deconstructionist building with over 33,000 titanium plates. Located along the Nervion River, the industrial backdrop of Bilbao blends in with the metallic look of the museum. The interior seems a bit jumbled, which is a contrast to the sleekness of the exterior. Stairwells jut here and there, it didn't seem like there was a real flow. In terms of the collection, while I was here there was an exhibition of Jasper Johns, and while I'm not a huge fan but know his work, it was interesting. I found that the exhibits were on the niche side, albeit very comprehensive with retrospectives of their work. I really liked viewing the installation piece by Richard Serra, The Matter of Time. Also being a fan of Jeff Koons, the live Puppy outdoor sculpture is amazing to view. Honestly, I was more impressed with the architecture rather than the art here.

If you are fortunate enough to find yourself in the lovely city of Santander then you really should…read morenot pass up on the opportunity to visit this first class museum. Covering just about every imaginable topic in the area of marine studies, a wander through the museum will take you past a video and some brilliant exhibits about how the coast of Cantabria and northern Spain in general was formed, the importance of the sea in the original settling and continued inhabitance of this area, the state of the maritime industry today and how conservation is managed by the government. If this were not enough, it has a huge variety of marine biology on show, the highlights being a full-sized whale skeleton in the main hall and a pickled two-headed fish! It is not only the contents of this museum which deserve comment. The building itself is fantastically designed, being an instantly recognisable landmark. It is centred around a main hall, with galleries leading off from this on all floors. At the top of the building there is a restaurant and, even better, the roof is open to the public, so that you can go and admire the views across the bay and out to sea. They have also constructed an outdoor lecture theatre up on the roof if only all my school and university classes had been given in a setting like this! Adult tickets are EUR6, while concessions (including students) will pay EUR4. This is an absolutely top rate museum, and not to be missed.

I'm sometimes fortunate enough to be traveling with my art historian daughter. She had the Museo…read moreBellas Artes on our itinerary before doing anything else in the city on our most recent visit. For about half of the museum, they had a small amount of art in each room. Mostly it would represent 2 different artists, of different time periods, and one or two works by each. I found it to be a thought provoking experience, wondering what common themes or influences I could find. Sometimes, similarities were obvious, other times not. Being allowed to draw our own conclusions was nice, but I would have also appreciated commentary from their curatorial staff, telling us how and why the pairings were made. The major artists represented were wonderful to see. FYI - admission was free when we visited (June 2023), but we did have to stop at the ticket office and claim our physical proof of entry. They do not allow backpacks (very sensibly), and have free lockers in the basement to check your bags.

I am extremely disappointed. The permanent collection is not on display during renovation and…read morethat's why I came to this city and decided on it over other cities in Spain. THERE IS NO INFORMATION ONLINE THAT THE PERMANENT COLLECTION IS CLOSED. The staff confirmed this and they receive this complaint everyday. THIS IS EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING. The new building is scheduled to reopen in October. For a major museum, this lack of communication is very bad.

The Altamira Caves are located only 2km from Santillana del Mar and it's worth the trip to see the…read moreMuseum and the replication of the original cave (which is closed to the public). The Neocueva is a impressive reconstruction, the explanations are good, and the recreated and prone-painted bison-related art is enjoyable to look at and ponder prehistoric history. Gayle and I also enjoyed wandering through the attached Museum that puts this cave and many of the others in Europe into historical perspective. The paintings were first discovered in 1879 by Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola and was the first discovery of Paleolithic cave art. In 1973, 174,000 people visited the caves and it became evident that the visitor numbers was having a grave effect on the caves. A black mold started to cover the paintings caused by increased humidity due to the breath of visitors . In 1977 the caves were closed to the general public to protect the paintings. In 1982 it was decided to build an exact replica of the caves, this was opened in 2001. A small number of visitors are allowed to the original caves each year but the waiting list is very long. Gayle and I saw what we think was the old entrance as we walked along the spacious grounds. There's also a separate building that supports continuing research at this UNESCO Heritage Site.

From the owner: Altamira, la más bella Prehistoriaread more

Photos etc coming soon…read more Very interesting small museum Next door to the Archeology Museum Free on Thursday

Sweet little museum of the archaeological finds in the Basque region of Spain and France. They had…read morea virtual tour of the cave paintings from the area. I really liked it and is well worth the stop to check it out.