First few days of spain .....

We have now been in Spain over a week and I had been hoping to post through Steve's laptop so that I could use better quality images but having tried last night I found that it took sooooo long to upload each image as they are so large, it would take forever. So - back to iPad blogging.

We have been struggling a little in Spain with a lack of language, rotten weather and ongoing ill health which has been disappointing but we have seen many beautiful things that literally take your breath away.

Our journey began in San Sebastian and the headed west along the north of Spain. In this post i am just sharing some photographs of some glorious artwork in San Sebastian, the Ibarrola forest and Bilbao.

Thanks to Ersi who sent me a list of things to look out for I was able to see some magnificent rusted sculpture on the edge of the ocean by Chillida and a modern interpretation of a Pieta by Jorge Oteiza. I will be seeking out more work by these sculptors in Barcelona - in fact I think I have seen a couple more Chillida sculptures as we have driven around. There is a whole garden near SanSebastian dedicated to his work but unfortunately it was only open on a Tuesday.

Ersi also told me about the Painted Forest by one of their famous painters, Ibarolla (not sure I have the correct spelling!) I did my research and realised it would be hard to find - and it was! It took about three hours to find and then another hour to Bilbao which was only an hour from San Sebastian! These times however, are the moments one remembers and for me, it was absolutely worth it. What I saw as something remarkable was something Steve saw as vandalism. How different we all are. Steve certainly is not alone in his thinking - apparently the painting of the forest was/is very controversial.

For many many years I have wanted to see the Guggenheim in Bilbao and it was everything I had hoped. A juxtaposition of hard titanium in soft billowing forms. Just exquisite. Even more wonderful than this building,or equally wonderful, was the installation in the largest of the galleries by Richard Serra. Just think about walking inside a huge rusty structure, very like pages of a book, about thirty meters long and three or four high ....... Steve left me for an hour and a half to wander and I spent an hour enraptured with this installation. I was also able to enjoy an exhibition of work by Cy Twombly - what a treat.

More of Spain in the next post!