Queue up: Beatles’ “Good Day Sunshine”

Yep, a sunny day. But darn, that wind was cold. I’m wondering if I will ever get to break out my short -sleeved shirts on this trip.

Today we saw a city revitalized by a government with a vision, and perfect timing. The Solomon Guggenheim Foundation realized it needed more space to display its art, apparently the museums in Venice and New York were not big enough. When it approached Vienna, they said “no thanks”, and then the Basque Government walked right through the opening and said, “come to our city, we’ll make you a deal you can’t refuse”.

I have never been to a Guggenheim museum, and was awestruck by not only the art collection, but the architecture. Many museums I’ve been to can feel claustrophobic with square walls, and low-ish ceilings. This museum was as much about the architecture as the art and it was amazing to see how they worked together.

I won’t bore you with all the details about what we saw, but I will say…..I can’t believe this guy bought all these super large art pieces with no place to hang them. For example, an entire wall of the building was used to display Andy Warhol’s “150 Multicolored Marilyns”.

Afterward, Vicky took us to the old part of the city for pinxtos. Saturday afternoon, on a sunny day…..the entire main square was packed, and loud…..and it got even louder when a group of 30 drummers slowly walked around the perimeter banging on everything they could find. I felt a little less old and cranky about it when the bartenders started complaining about them too.

I’ll leave you with this….we were approached by a bachelorette party to ask what is the secret to a long marriage. Apparently we really do look that old to young people. I think we all looked a bit like deer in the headlights. Peter finally said “I do her laundry”. Yep….I choose him. He’s all mine.

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