Chasing the Sun - Bilbao
By our standards, at least, this holiday had been in the diary for a long time. We booked flights, hotels and a car back in November, so it’s been sitting on the calendar for close to nine months. It’s unusual for us to be this organised this far ahead of time, but the trip was less about Bilbao and more about both of us seeing our first total eclipse. More of that later…
Bilbao
I will confess that prior to organising this trip Bilbao hadn’t been high on our list of target destinations, despite the renowned beauty of the Basque country. I think it’s just that it’s a little less obvious and, more prosaically, it’s not the easiest place to fly into from where we stay. Unless you like giving Michael O’Leary money. Which I don’t. We ended up flying out of Manchester to avoid that trap…
Nueva Plaza, Casco Viejo
Sony A7R V | 40mm f/4.0 1/640s ISO 100
However, when we arrived in Bilbao we were very taken with the city. It felt relaxed, well-loved and easy to navigate. We had enough time to explore some of the old town, along the riverside and out towards the Artxanda Park which overlooks the city. It’s not a spectacular city, but it does have a certain elegance.
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Guggenheim
From a tourist perspective, the main attraction is the Guggenheim Museum. The Frank Gehry designed building is instantly recognisable and even more spectacular when seen in all of its titanium, sandstone and glass glory. The interior space is also fabulous; much of the content, however, was not really my taste.
Guggenheim Museum and Puente de la Salve
Sony A7R V | 28mm f/8.0 1/800s ISO 125
I found much of the conceptual art quite self-indulgent (although some of the exhibition text is comedy gold). I like to be able to see a connection between intent and execution or solid evidence of the skill and craft that went into a work’s creation. I struggled to see either in much of what was on display; instead it felt like the art world exhibiting to the art world and taking itself all very seriously in the process. That said, I’m clearly not the intended audience and there seemed to be enough self-serious punters deriving solemn satisfaction from the exhibits.
The exceptions were the Ruth Asawa wire structures and Igshaan Adams textile installations; both were superbly done. I also like art that’s fun and there’s probably no better example than Jeff Koons’ Puppy, a 40-foot floral West Highland Terrier that Koons himself suggests was designed to make people happy. Any art that makes me laugh is good art in my book.
Totality
The main reason for the trip, though, was the total solar eclipse on August 12th. I first started looking at the location options back in October. I looked at the position of the sun (ruling out locations further east as the sun would be too close to the horizon) and historical patterns of cloud cover (ruling out Iceland). I’d picked out northern Spain as giving us the best chance of seeing the eclipse. I’d also hired a car on the basis that if cloud cover came in we could move. Happily, the research paid off and the weather gods smiled…
Eclipse Progression
Sony A7R V | 280mm f/8.0 1/250s ISO 100
For the event itself we worked out that finding a suitable spot in the city would be tough. (We later heard that it was pretty much shoulder to shoulder in one of the best locations). I’d picked a lighthouse near Ajo, about two thirds of the way to Santander, which would give a clear view over the sea. From where we parked it was about 3km to walk to the lighthouse. In the event we never got there; part way up the road we found a small eclipse festival happening in a field and we joined in the fun. It really was lovely and incredibly civilised.
Those who have witnessed a total solar eclipse will say that it can’t be described. They’re probably right, so I won’t try. All I will say is that it was much more dynamic than I’d anticipated and that Helen cried. I feel incredibly lucky to have been there and delighted that the cloud stayed away for the event itself. You can see from the photographs that it wasn’t a given.
Conclusions / Photography Bit
The best piece of advice that I was given ahead of the trip was to not photograph the eclipse, but to experience the event. It was good advice, although I obviously took the camera along on the evening. I took a shorter lens than I would if I’d gone with the aim of shooting the sun, but I did have time to mess around a little as the moon started its progression across the face of the sun. I also managed one pretty ropey shot of totality at the end - I was so wrapped up in the experience that I simply forgot to press the shutter!
For the rest of the trip, Bilbao itself is very photogenic, especially in the harsh, bright light, while I could probably have spent far more time exploring the exterior shapes, curves and textures of the Guggenheim. Reason enough, perhaps, for a return trip.
