Bilbao Part 2.
The following taken with: Olympus Pen E-PL3 and Panasonic Lumix 20mm f/1.7 ASPH.
The guy on the left is a total Addams Family rip off. And yes, they actually made a point of putting that phallic skyscraper right between two smaller buildings. This is actually umbrella censorship.
There were some very weird umbrellas being carried by very weird fur balls.
“Goodbye my love”
Playground next to the Guggenheim Museum.
The mist was part of an art installation I think.
One thing I noticed in Bilbao was a bigger number of seagulls. In San Sebastian there are hardly any. After living in Brighton for a few years I actually approve of this. Everyone who lived in Brighton has at least one or two reasons to hate these vicious beasts.
An edition of Louise Bourgeois’ Maman outside the Guggenheim Museum. There are other versions in front of the Tate Modern in the UK, The National Gallery of Canada, the Mori Art Museum in Japan and the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art in South Korea.
The following taken with: Olympus Pen E-PL3 and Panasonic Lumix 14mm f/2.5 ASPH.
Postcard shot before we went inside.
After coming out (utterly disappointed one might add) the sun came out for a little while and gave me the opportunity to get another postcard shot from the other side.
Recharging his super powers.
The following taken with: Olympus Pen E-PL3 and Panasonic Lumix 20mm f/1.7 ASPH.
The woman walking past got curious.
Begging next to an ATM gets rid of the “no money” excuse. And yes, she was begging loudly with the most annoying whining voice ever.
Rain makes people look funny.
Perfect opportunity to poke someone’s eye out.
Looks like he’s grabbing for his gun.
Pow!
Individualism is overrated. Can’t see it? Look at the boots!
Ah, fur ball with porn glasses. Do rich people actually notice how stereotypical they look?
Bilbao has the weirdest architecture ever. Old buildings next to new ones, some nice, some horrific.
And some just get you all confused.
We went into a cultural centre that was modernised in a rather interesting way. If you looked up you realised that you were beneath a pool. I think I would be very aware of the gaping abyss beneath me if I was swimming there.
The elevator going up to the public library.
Very interesting architecture. And sitting at the window doesn’t mean you’re looking out of the building.
Round/square window. They’re probably building another horrific architectural monstrosity outside.
When you look out of that window this is what you see. I love the tones!
Boy on the right having a WTF moment.
Gestures, also in the background.
Stereotypical Basque facial expressions.
We had a look at the train station. I’ve actually never taken a train in Spain.
So weird …
Apparently the garbage trucks are allowed to pass and every other vehicle isn’t. The girl with the umbrella had a bit of a confused moment waiting for the red light to change.
Our holiday flat had one of those very tiny inner patios. I love the dripping water everywhere and of course the tones.
On the next day we were leaving to go back to San Sebastian. Bilbao gave me a nice going away present: hardcore dumpster diving.
At the bus terminal. The sun came out to mock us.
A cute dog was making the rounds and getting a pat from everyone. I think he was hoping for food though.
“Are you guys nice?”
“Oh, yes you are!!!”
Eating your sandwich right next to the bins is also a statement.
Waiting for the bus driver to return.
Waiting for the bus in San Sebastian to take us home. Almost there now!
Tomorrow I’ll start posting some older pictures from those cold days I’ve spent in Chemnitz. For now I will focus on the street pictures, because the digital pictures taken for my Memory project were actually just backups. At least one roll might need those backups badly, because the film wasn’t forwarding properly due to a combination of the cold and my thick mittens. I’m now down to 13 days worth of digital shooting and 14 rolls worth of scans in the editing queue. I also shouldn’t forget the 3 rolls of film that I still have to develop and the 4 rolls that need scanning. I obviously need an assistant/editing monkey. Since I’m neither rich nor famous though I’ll just have to do it myself it seems …! Despite these numbers, the end is in sight though. It used to be two months worth of digital stuff and maybe about 20 rolls of film.
Other than all this editing nothing much is happening at the moment. We’re having another awfully rainy day and the forecast is promising another 7 days of the same. It has been promising that since Wednesday. Tomorrow it will probably say the same and the day after and the day after that …! The only sunny day since last Saturday was Tuesday and that day we mostly spent travelling.
Enjoyed this just as much as the last edition…thanks ! Some of the faces are so Indian !
And you’re right – the 20mm does indeed have a slight edge over the 14mm.
Thanks Subroto! Interesting that you find the faces Indian looking! Maybe a clue that they’re human after all. If you’d judge the Basques from their language they might as well be aliens!
I’ve heard and read all sorts of negative remarks about the Basques, but as one living in a distant land I can’t quite figure it out. We too have our Neanderthals, so I guess I’ll extrapolate from there.
Ah, don’t get me wrong. Basques can be real nice when you get to know them, but since they are a very closed (maybe even xenophobic) people, it’s very hard to get to know them. They also have a reputation for being rather grumpy and unfriendly. It’s rather obvious on the streets and in shops where you see a lot of frowns and are often treated rather badly. That’s something I don’t like about living in San Sebastian. Especially as a foreigner it’s very hard to find friends here. The Basque language is also one of the strangest languages on this planet. It’s not related to any other language as far as I know and it’s very very difficult to learn, because the grammar is so different. It really sounds very alien too. I think Hungarian has some structural similarities, but that’s it. Luckily they speak mostly Spanish here (although they seem to murder the language a bit as well from the perspective of someone who is more used to Argentinian). A lot of kids speak Basque on the street though, because school education is in Basque. I usually remark “Aww, little aliens …” when I hear children speaking Basque on the street. Incidentally there are also a lot of rich people in San Sebastian and in the Basque country in general. They are better off in economic matters than the rest of Spain and they like to show that off. And rich people are really strange everywhere. So, I don’t have anything against the Basques, it’s just that they sometimes make it difficult for me. In such situations I like to poke a little fun at their ways. It’s a coping mechanism for living in a very strange foreign culture.
As far as I can recollect, my first encounter (way back in the sixties) with Basques was in a romantic-adventure novel called ‘Queen’s Blade’, where an agent of QE1 goes to the Basque country to offer the friendship and aid of Her Majesty’s forces, both parties being sworn enemies of the Spanish monarch. I seem to remember that this gay buccaneer had to physically defeat the Basque leader before he could win his admiration, friendship and alliance. It was a tough fight, and our chum almost didn’t make it. He had to win, however, because his head was on the block: he’d played serious nooky with the Leader’s. The Basques came out of it exactly as per your eloquent description — surly, uncouth (to one from another culture), conversing in a tongue one couldn’t get one’s tongue around, and highly insular in their general predisposition.
You are as good a writer as you are a photographer… :-))
“he’d played serious nooky with the Leader’s woman”. Sorry for the typo – I belong to the age of mechanical typewriters !