That said, I did have one major issue, and that was an unexpected one. The weather was in theory beautiful - highs in the low 80s, lows in the high 60s. Like that seems perfect. But it was very, very humid (though rarely rained), and because it never gets too hot, no one has AC, or the few that do didn't turn it on. My AirBNB didn't have AC, but has three good fans set-up. That was fine, but so many times I went to pintxo bars and places where inside it was becoming a sauna, but outside it was lovely. I mean this in a literal sense - I preferred the weather in Toledo and Zaragoza - way hotter, but far less humid and everything is air conditioned. Anyway, fancy American AC-boy talk over.
The sights were great, from the couple I re-did from last time (mostly the Guggenheim Museum) to all the new ones. Let's start with the Guggenheim - it is funnny how much more interesting this one is structurally (the museum itself, I mean) than the New York version. The building is beautiful, and outside itself you have things like the iconic Puppy flower sculpture in front, and myriad other sculptures (including one Mind Flayer looking thing) out back. Inside also has some excellent stuff. One exhibit remains the same, this weird one of various arcs and circles of iron that you can walk through - somehow this is a big hit. I don't get it, to be honest. No matter, because the rest of the museum was fabulous. The biggest current exhibit was this Japanese American artist who makes just stunning floating sculptures out of wrought iron and thread and stuff. Then there was of course thier own collection, from multiple Basquiat's to Warhols to much more. The Guggenheim is always a great time - there is a reason why it is so iconic in Bilbao.
The only sad aspect, sites wise, was the other famous museum in Bilbao, the Museum of Fine Arts, is undergoing heavy, heavy renovations and construction, so like 80% of it is closed. They have left one wing untouched, whicih is mostly modern art. It is still lovely (though one of the exhibits was way too "modern" for me), and left entry free for the time being, but giving who knows if I will make another trip to Bilbao again, it was sad not to see the museum properly.
There were a bunch of new sites though, from two really nice churches, the more famous being the Cathedral of St. Nicholas, which had some amazing alter work, and some really gorgeous squares, or more commonly in Bilbao - circles, so well dressed, flowered, manicured. The city really is just gorgeous in every area. The final indoor site was an audible, when on Saturday morning there was a rain that was expected to last until around 12:15, so I went to the closest museum to me, right down the steps from my AirBNB to the old town (steps meaning a few hundered of them), which was the Euskal Museum, which is something like a Basque heritage museum. The Basque Country is famously a quasi-country - a place which would prefer to be independent (similar to Catalunya). They have their own language (which is like impossible to describe), and very much a unique culture, so this really well kept museum was a nice way to learn more about it.
I clarified indoor sites, because there were some nice outdoor ones, particularly a nice hike down from the Artxandako Park, which you can reach by either hiking up (I didn't do this) or taking the Artxandako Funnikular. The funicular itself is easy, short and quite lovely, and the views from the top are splendid. There is a nice path extending about 30 minutes to the West from the top that takes you past three or four other viewpoints, all with just beautiful views of Bilbao, from the Guggenheim, to the one actual skyscraper (which isn't really tall in reality, but still stands out a ton), to the glistening San Mames (the satdium where Atletic Bilbao - more known as Atletic Club) plays. Bilbao is a larger city than you think, even if it quite walkable, and the city being in this little valley of Bilbao is quite stark. It becomse quickly clear from this vantage point that it isn't surrounded by hills, but it is a canyon.
If this felt like a short summation of Bilbao in terms of the sites, that is true, but only because Bilbao, as any place in Basque country, is still food and lifestyle first. While Bilbao isn't San Sebastian in terms of quality of pintxos, it is like only 10% worse, adn has some of the best restaurants in teh world in its metro area. The nightlife is quite good, if less crazy as the rest of Spain - they like their beer here in a way that the rest of Spain doesn't. As you will see, from a gastronomic perspective, Bilbao is very much a city after my heart.
