Travelogue: Guggenheim Bilboa

Travel

Jan 16

This popped up on my Facebook feed the other day as part of an ad:

Doesn’t that just hit the nail on the head? I know this is such a first-world problem, but I just miss the kind of travel days that make you forget what day of the week it is but remember vividly everything you ate.

I’ve tried to ignore this pull and just embrace the small gifts of this season, but lately, I’ve not been doing so well. I’ve decided to not ignore this sadness but instead shift my perspective and focus on places I’ve been that have inspired me and remember fondly.

Yesterday I decided to revisit my memories of Bilbao, Spain. For years I’d wanted to visit the Northern city to get a glimpse of the bafflingly curving, glistening landmark that is the magnificent Guggenheim Museum which put the city on the world map when it was built in the late 90s. I finally made it a few years ago, on a sweet trip with a friend who passed away not long afterward. One of the things I love most about travel is how the memories of trips can shift and become more precious over time as your life moves on. They become markers of not just those specific experiences but of seasons of our lives.

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I hope you can make your own pilgrimage to the mesmerizing building someday, but in the meantime, why not explore the exhibits virtually?

The kind souls over at Google Arts & Culture have created a full 360-degree virtual tour of the incredible building, as well as some really neat ways to zoom in and appreciate all of the textured pieces on display. It’s really a treat to take a few minutes to poke around. They’ve also filmed a visually STUNNING mini-doc (and cool making-of accompaniment) of a free runner and a photographer working their way through the space.