Donde Esta La Biblioteca? Otra Vez

After our tearful goodbye to Andrew in Madrid, Lauren and I climbed into a bus that whisked us of to the north of Spain. The poignant yellow and red leaves covering the Spanish countryside mirrored our austere state of consciousness following the dismantling of the Tricycle. We would have to suffer a few days without the bountiful spring of situational comedy that is Andrew Vickers.

Waiting for us in Bilboa was a beautiful piece of architecture by Frank Gehry housing the Guggenheim Museum. Its stunningly original form and the outstanding exhibits on display were the main reason we stopped by for a couple days before flying to France.

We showed up at the Guggenheim thinking we would tour it for two or three hours and then have time to walk over to the historic district of Bilboa. To our surprise, the woman at the ticket counter offered us free audio guides (something we have been refusing to pay for ever since some broken earpieces and useless commentary back in Florence.) Not only was the commentary free this time, it was rich in quality and quantity. The artists themselves even chimed in on many of the modern installments. We spent the entire day scouring the museum and listening to every last word of the guide. Along with explaining everything about the art, it offered tons of interesting information about the building itself. All in all, the visit lasted 5 hours.

It was ironic because I’ve been complaining to Lauren that art ought to be more accessible to the general public. We’ve been jealous of the private tour groups getting pertinent background information while all us penniless travelers have for supplement is a small plaque with the name, date, and artist to inspire our unreliable art history memories. Art is nothing but an eccentric combination of materials without the story behind it. It would be nice if all museums followed the Guggenheim Bilboa’s lead and provided easy to understand educational information alongside their masterpieces.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 12th, 2007 at 6:19 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.