Tag Archives: architecture

Day 46 – Bilbao architecture

We had most of today to explore Bilbao. However, it was a two hour drive to our next camp ground in the Rioja valley. So we’d aim for a departure around 4pm. That’s fine, Number 3 can’t explore forever so it’s around the time we’d head to a camp ground anyway.

Nevertheless, we tried to be early. It didn’t really happen but it was made worse by the camp site. We still had to pay for the night but reception was closed and you had to press a button to talk to them and then they actually had to come over….it just took time.

But even the architecture is quite sculptural

Finally, we were in Bilbao again. We picked the same parking garage as yesterday as it was right in town. The Lonely Planet suggests an “Architecture and river views walking tour” through the newer part of Bilbao and we followed their suggestion. It started pretty much right where we’d parked. Very convenient.

We passed some of the old houses including the town hall and then went over the Puente Zubizuri. It’s a modern bridge, formed a bit like a wave. Now, on the other side of the river, it was but a brief stroll to the Guggenheim Museum by Frank Gehry. It’s funny how one building (okay, Flo stated that it is more a sculpture itself) can inspire so many artists to leave a sculpture or installation of their own in the vicinity. Yesterday we were lucky enough to see Fujiko Nakaya’s mist installation in action. Today we looked at all the other art around the Guggenheim, most notably Louise Bourgeois’ Maman and Jeff Koon’s Puppy.

Leaving the Guggenheim museum behind, we went through Parque de Dona Casilda de Iturrizar and past the museum of Fine Arts. It was getting towards our lunch time now but our selected restaurant opened at 1.30pm. That was still a while away so we bought some sweet treats to get through the wait.

Continuing through the Plaza de Frederico Moyua, we came to the inner city again.

we were both reminded of south east asia in this bit

We were too hungry though. Instead, we decided to split lunch into two again and have some pintxos now and then some pintxos later. Our first lunch place was Ledesma No 5. Again, no vegetarian pintxos were available but the lovely waiter only took a minute to come up with a vegetarian tapa topped with cheese that was especially prepared for me in the kitchen. 🙂

Our second lunch spot was the vegan restaurant La Camilla. Already half full, we decided to share a plate of sushi and I took an extra chickpea salad while Flo had a tempeh sandwich. Hm. We both had to wonder afterwards what it is with vegan restaurants to let us down so many times. Even vegan food in vegetarian places is usually better tasting that orthodox vegan stuff. Ah well …

It was 3 o’clock by now and we’re pretty down and tired. With the prospect of another 2 hours in the car, we left Bilbao and waved goodbye. Definitely well worth a city holiday if anyone is looking for recommendations. One more stop in a hypermarket to stock up groceries and we were on the drive to Rioja. Everyone except Flo fell asleep. Poor Flo. Always having to drive.

He managed to get us safe and sound to Haro, the capital of the Rioja region where we will stay for two nights. Tomorrow, it’s wine tasting time!

  • Back to where we started yesterday
  • but in a different direction this time
  • loads of sculptures along the way
  • But even the architecture is quite sculptural
  • What is sculpture, what defines space?
  • oh yes, and Koons …
  • we did not go in … no patience for it today
  • that guy again
  • this time, local artists
  • some has questional artistic value
  • nature always helps
  • we were both reminded of south east asia in this bit
  • one of the main axis of the newtown
  • lots of brick, or brick coloured buildings. And steel

Day 186 – Battambang

This was an easy riding day today. Only 175 km on a mostly deserted highway from Siem Reap to Battambang. The reason to stop so soon was two fold. For one, so that we have a good launching point for the remainder to Phnom Penh, but secondly to stop early enough to have some time to explore Battambang.

We found some colonial architecture but were mostly impressed by the chillaxed atmosphere of the town

We found some colonial architecture but were mostly impressed by the chillaxed atmosphere of the town

The city is the capital of the province by the same name. In recent history, it was occupied a couple of times by the Thai. It has some cool French colonial architecture left standing and is a way to experience a little bit of what “normal” Cambodian cities would look like.

We took our time, started after a late breakfast and made good progress. The road is smooth, the traffic manageable – with the exception of the overtaking by some of the cars. There is a clear but annoying hierarchy in Cambodia: Cars don’t see oncoming motorbikes as a valid reason not to overtake. After all, they can always move to the shoulder. Unfortunately, this extends to us – but I will surely not go off the tarmac into sand at 80 km/h, so it takes a bit of focus and liberal use of the horn to explain the error of their ways to the kamikaze cars every 10 km or so. Overall, it is still quite manageable though.

Our first lunch outside the tourist area of Siem Reap: BBQ Chicken and Papaya salad for US$2.75

Our first lunch outside the tourist area of Siem Reap: BBQ Chicken and Papaya salad for US$2.75

Lunch was taken at a roadside BBQ joint that stood out by its spotless seating area. It has become harder to find passable places to eat – Indonesia was a highlight in that regard. This time we were lucky though – and even got a veggie salad for Nina. The owners were charming, the BBQ chicken delicious and all of it ridiculously cheap at $2.75 US.

Sadly, the recommended cute little backpacker place would only take two day plus reservations, so by the time we arrived, they were booked out. We went with Agoda once more and found this comparatively luxurious hotel, just a little bit out but still within walking distance for $8 US per night. Once more we unloaded, got a shower and got ready to hit the town. The afternoon was just right for it. It had cooled down a little and the light was gorgeous again.

Flo found a "trimm dich pfad" (workout stations) at the riverside and had to try it

Flo found a “trimm dich pfad” (workout stations) at the riverside and had to try it

After a loop to take in the river and architecture (and some fooling around at the monkey bars) it was time to feed Nina’s inner chocolate monster. What better place than the Choco L’Art – a gallery / cafe run by a French / Khmer couple.

Since we were keen to get to bed and ready for a long day of riding tomorrow, we decided to go straight from tea to dinner. Once more picking a “dining for a cause” restaurant, we treated ourselves to delicious Khmer food in the most cozy of places. We are still blown away by the harsh contrasts between the Cambodian reality outside, especially during the dusty dry months, and the spic and span places set for westerners to leave their hard dollars.