Friday, November 27, 2009

CASCO VIEJO AGAIN

BILBAO - NOVEMBER 2008

The Medieval Citadel of Bilbao (Casco Viejo) always deserves a return...


"FALL COLOURS"


"DEUSTO UNIVERSITY - A privately-run university which belongs to the Society of Jesus"


"NUNS' RESIDENCE"


"INDIAN SUMMER - Enjoying..."



"ZUBIZURI - Calatrava's pedestrian bridge resembles a white sailboat on a crystal platform"


"SCULPTURE"


"AYUNTAMIENTO (CITY HALL)"



"NERVION RIVER and the Arriaga Theatre. Built by Joaquín Rucoba and Octavio de Toledo, it was opened on 31 May 1890 and named after the Bilbao-born composer Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga"


"RAILWAY STATION"




"FAÇADES"


"RIVER & RIVERSIDE MARKET"


"MARKET VITRAL"


"SAN ANTON - A Gothic church built over the ruins of the old city's fortress at the end of the 14th century"


"ST. JAMES CATHEDRAL - Built in Gothic style at the end of the 14th century, it became a cathedral in 1949. Its Neogothic tower and the main façade were finished in 1887"


"ST. JAMES SQUARE - It shows an elegant fountain designed by Luis Paret during Carlos III's reign"


"PLAZA NUEVA - The first square in Bilbao, designed by Antonio de Echevarría, and finished in 1849"

Click to play this Smilebox postcard: VARANDAS E MONTRASCreate your own postcard - Powered by Smilebox
"SIETE CALLES - Seven Streets (+2) with Verandas and a shop window; again with Smilebox... Probably a bit boring to see..."

56 comments:

Trotter said...

Hi Everybody! Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving, all who celebrated it!! The Old Town in Bilbao is back to Blogtrotter, and as you may see it comes in a very good shape. The renovation also covered this lovely part of town!! Enjoy and have an excellent weekend!!

diane b said...

I love the splash of red through your first shot. Thanks for the lovely tour around Bilbao and a trip down memory lane from when we visited there a few years ago. Great pictures.

SusuPetal said...

Those fall colors are beautiful, especially the red just delights the eye!

Thérèse said...

What a colorful town! Even the trees know how to participate...
Have a nice weekend.

Unknown said...

Such lovely capture of Bilbao ! Like SusuPatel, the red is simply gorgeous! have a good day.

S-V-H said...

The house facades are so colorful and the Calatrava bridge is very nice. Thanks for sharing your travel trip with us, Gil!

Susanne

PJ said...

It's a majestic city I especially like the trees with their red leaves and the shot on the curving bridge. Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Hi Gil
I enjoyed seeing Bilbao in autumn with all the beautiful colors of thebtrees. The cannals looked peacefully quiet.
Your video was charming!

[G@ttoGiallo] said...

Encore un beau tableau de chasse, hein ? A wonderful town.

Ron said...

Awesome pics and awesome post. I really love that bridge. That is amazing. Also digging the facade picture, truly awesome.

Unseen India Tours said...

Beautiful Series of Fantastic shots !! Loved the architecture !! I Would like to pass unseen Rajasthan Award to you.Go to my blog and collect the award from the left hand side bar of the blog.Great..Unseen Rajasthan

Bhushavali said...

I'm completely loving this first pic with that long row of trees with such a lovely flowering.. Its so pleasant...

My new blog on Fashion - FASHION PANACHE
Abhayapradha Ranganathar Koil at My Travelogue

Maria Verivaki said...

beautiful colours of the buildings - they brighten up the atmosphere

rochambeau said...

Fabulous photos of this beautiful old town! Esp. the Lined up tree's sporting their red leaves, and the shot of Mrs. Trotter!!

Don't forget your chocolate!
xox
Constance

Cloudia said...

Glorious Globetrotter!
So glad you found my Hawaii blog because it led me here to your gem.
I intend to return often, and you are always most welcome to visit the aloha!


Aloha, New Friend


Comfort Spiral

BLOGitse said...

Found your blog via Turquoise Diaries - nice to meet you!
Your pics around Bilbao are beautiful! Never visited there but maybe one day - looks like 'my city' :)
By the way: Siete Calles > Seven Streets... :)

Have a beautiful Sunday!
ps. I'll be back!

My Unfinished Life said...

a beautiful city!!!
u had ur second marriage anniversary in 1977...well, that was three years before i was born!!!

Oman said...

you never fail to make my jaw dropped. exceptional tour again my friend.

Jason said...

This is a great travel blog you have here. I'm a first-time visitor, but I'm very impressed. I have a travel blog myself which I hope to be a top resource for those looking for information and experiences on popular vacation destinations.

I'd like to exchange links with you to help spread some traffic around. Please let me know if this is possible.

Jason
ThatVACATIONfeeling.com

Anonymous said...

always fun to come for a visit Gil and see where I am traveling to this week. I may never get there physically but I can enjoy it thru your eyes. :)

Pietro Brosio said...

Hi Gil! Another wonderful trip in this post! All very fine pictures! I like so much the fall colors among the houses, those colored façades and the beautiful geometric image of the Zubizuri bridge, and all the others.
Happy new week! :-)

Jason said...

Going to add you right now. Take care.

Jason
ThatVACATIONfeeling.com

Rhonda Hartis Smith said...

Love the colorful buildings, a wonderful trip as usual!

yyam said...

Great photos! I especially love the first shot! Thanks for sharing these spectacular photos! :)

Have a beautiful week ahead!

hpy said...

Un post très complet, comme d'habitude, et dont j'ai surtout retenu le rouge. Celui des arbres, et celui des certaines façades.
Sur hpy il continue de pleuvoir encore aujourd'hui.

Rajesh said...

Excellent, loved the architecture of city hall, churches. The colors facade are beautiful.

Daniel Chérouvrier said...

Quelles belles couleurs dans les arbres et les monuments.

eye in the sky said...

the trees look like watercolor paintings superimposed on the buildings. beautiful.

Urmi said...

Very beautiful and colourful town. As always you have taken wonderful photos and I liked the first one very much because you have taken the shot in a perfect angle by which the building and the trees looked spectacular. One of the best blog. Whenever I visit your blog, I feel refreshed seeing all the lovely pictures.

Neva said...

As usual you have done a fabulous job with your photos....really...they are amazing. They seem to bright and crisp. I really like the fall colors and the facades. Hope all is well with you!

juka14 said...

Beautiful red colour of the leaves on the trees. I like the photo of the pedestrian bridge also. Great post!

PeterParis said...

Certainly a much nicer place today than when I visited (before Guggenheim). The railway station struck me ... and still does on your photo! :-)

Shionge said...

Wow, the colours of the trees plus different shades of colours of the buildings is fantastic :D

magiceye said...

beautiful indeed!

Indrani said...

Beautiful shots all.
Interesting perspective of the shots.

Jen Laceda | Milk Guides said...

I love all the colourful facades lining the river. And also St. James Square. I also attended a University ran by the Society of Jesus (SJ). Do we still call them Jesuits?

MedaM said...

I literally enjoyed both this post and the previous one. All the photos are amazing as always. Bilbao is so lovely place. I like its colourful buildings as well as lovely colors of autumn, interesting arts, structures and architecture, sculptures....Thanks for the wonderful tour around Bilbao.

Emery Roth said...

This looks like my kind of place. I had no idea there was a hall dedicated to Arriaga who died when he was 19 and left very little music. I've heard his quartets, and they are amazing. The steeple on San Anton has to bea much later addition from perhaps the 1600s? BEautiful addition to your blog. I want to go there.

bindu said...

This city is so colorful! I do love the first picture of the pedestrian bridge.

Cergie said...

Bonjour Gil, je suis déjà passée l'autre jour et n'ai pu commenter : ta page est si lourde à charger / le nombre important d'images et de plus mon ordi a alors boggué.

Cergie said...

La cité médievalle .? Comme c'est surprenat. Une grande impression de modernité se dégage de la photo du dessus. Il semblerait que l'avenue ait enfilé son collier de corail, c'est très joli et féminin...
:)
J'aime bien l'impression de désiquilibre qui se dégage de ce message, notamment / les câbles de la psserelle.
La statue aussi se penche du coté où elle va tomber. Les immeubles modernes contrastent avec les anciens. Seul le fleuve est imperturbable...

april said...

What an interesting town it must be, modern and old at the same time. I like the different colours of the old hoouse. - and what a pretty photo of your wife.

Trotter said...

Hi Folks! It’s amazing, but did you notice that there is no single comment on all my Bilbao posts by a «Bilbaíno» or even a Spaniard? I wonder why and found that most probably the reason is that the posts are written in English... Anyhow, comments are accepted in Spanish too; or French, Italian, German, Portuguese... ;)
December 1st was a holiday in Portugal; not because of the entering into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, but because on December 1st, 1640, the Portuguese put an end to the sixty year personal union with Spain and sent King Philip (IV of Spain, III of Portugal) away for good… Great vision, as the holiday provides people with some free time to surf the Net!! ;))

Diane,
I noticed that I had already replied to someone on the red tree show; it was Tinsie who commented on the last post when this was already posted... But that’s true that that picture came out quite well; as the one Mrs. Trotter chose to her Facebook profile a bit further up the River Nervion... ;). Happy to bring back your good memories of the trip to Bilbao!!

Susu,
The trees are lovely, but my favourite is always the blue; and the several blues around... ;) Enjoy your week!
xoxo

Thérèse,
Did you see the colours of those façades in the Old Town? Amazing! You say the trees found a way to participate, but it seems that the trees were a bit ashamed with the competition... ;)

Keats,
The red trees are nice, but there is no colour like blue; and there are no football teams like the ones wearing blue: F.C.Porto, Chelsea, Internazionale Milano. Hope that the Special One - José Mourinho - doesn’t go to any team with a different colour... ;))

Sue,
I wonder whether Santiago Calatrava raises the same controversy among architects as Frank Gehry does, but the bridge in Bilbao is quiet charming!! As for the façades, it’s certainly an excellent example of urban renewal what they suffered!!

Paula,
It’s my pleasure to drop by your blog. Lovely! It seems that the red leaves of the trees by the river and Santiago Calatrava’s bridge are making the unanimity on this post!!

Pat,
There are cities where autumn is a great season. Bilbao, with all the green hills around and the new trees around the «Paseo de la Memoria», has all the possibilities to make it a great Fall Show!! And the river by the Arriaga Theatre is an excellent spot for shooting... Thanks for playing my Smilebox feature!

G@tto,
J’essaye d’ajouter quelques proies à mon tableau de chasse… Entreprise pas facile… ;))

Ron,
Glad that you keep enjoying these posts after so many of them!! The Bridge by Santiago Calatrava is amazing and the façades are a show within the Smilebox show!!

Bharat,
Thanks for passing me the Unseen Rajasthan Award. I’m thrilled and truly thankful!! Your website is a wonderful place to prepare a trip to Rajasthan and your blog is absolutely stunning. One day I’ll get back to Rajasthan, to see what I still have to see, and your advice will be highly appreciated!!

Friend,
It seems that everybody loves that picture with the trees in autumn colours... Or the other explanation is that visitors to my blog just see the first picture and rush to the comment box to get away asap... ;)) Well, let me think is the merit of that picture that keeps the interest on the top... ;))

Maria,
Long time no see. Great to read you back here!! It’s amazing how they recovered the buildings and painted them with such fresh and lively colours... A true gem, the Old Town in Bilbao!!

Constance,
I also like that tree row in red and Guida has chosen that picture for her profile at Facebook. I think it was a lovely shot!! As for the chocolate, it’s all gone now; so, I’ll try to refill the stock tomorrow when Claudio Corallo’s shop re-opens for business... ;))
xoxo

Mariposa said...

it looks beautiful..

Trotter said...

Mariposa,
And it truly is...

Trotter said...

Part Two, after the Mariposa intermezzo!! ;)

Cloudia,
Thanks for your visit and first time comment here at Blogtrotter! You’re certainly most welcome to comment here as often as you wish!!
Loved to see your blog!! It remembered me my 1996 and 1998 trips to Hawaii!! Great place, indeed!

BLOGitse,
Thanks for your visit and first time comment here at Blogtrotter! I’m glad that you liked my pictures of Bilbao (hope you’ll visit it one day) and happy to see that you’re also fluent in the Spanish language: calle = arteria, camino, carrera, corredera, paseo, paso, travesía, vía... ;)

Anupama,
Truly beautiful that city, though already old... The difficulty is exactly to keep some beauty after so many years... 1980? Interesting year: I visited a country that no longer exists… See how time passes… ;))

Norman,
Thanks! Your words, coming from an expert traveller and blogger are a great incentive to keep this blog running!!

Jason,
Thanks for your visit and first time comment here at Blogtrotter. This post saw comments from three first time visitors and that’s a great achievement!! This is rather a memories’ blog than a travel one; you won’t find here useful information on what to see, where to stay or when to go... but the expression of experiences lived in the cities and countries I’ve visited! As far as links are concerned, I’m happy to exchange them and you’re already under the cap «Links to other Trotters»!!

Lynn,
My pleasure to make you sofa travel this way around the world; that’s more or less what’s happening to me these days: sofa travel... ;). But I don’t resign; one day I’ll be back on the road!! ;))

Pietro,
It’s true that the trees in the Old Town add some fabulous tones to the lively colours of the renewed buildings!! And the hills on background also show a marvellous display of fall colours!! Calatrava’s bridge a terrific work of art, isn’t it?

Rhonda,
I knew you would love the bright colours of those buildings; perfect for your paintings!!

Yvonne,
It seems that the first shot is making the unanimity on this post!! My pleasure to show you all this...

Hélène,
C’est vrai que, surtout en automne, il y a du rouge partout, car les arbres aident aussi à la symphonie de couleur. Mais il faut retenir que le bleu du ciel n’est pas certain à Bilbao; dans les photos, c’est sûrement l’effet du «soleil de poche» qui m’accompagne normalement (sauf in Islande…). ;))

Rajesh,
Diversity is wonderful!!! From all the buildings in these pictures from Bilbao, I wouldn’t probably pick the City Hall as an example of my favourite architecture expression; but now that you drew the attention to it I can see there are many reasons to include that building in the top twenty...

Daniel,
Il semble que l’automne est la saison des couleurs ardentes et passionnées... ;). J’aime plutôt le printemps et, surtout, l’été, mais il faut faire justice à l’automne aussi…

Eye,
That is a quite beautiful image to describe the show of the trees in the streets of Old Town Bilbao!!

Babli,
It’s always much more merit of the model than of the photographer... ;)). Bilbao has truly a lot to show nowadays and, with a little help of my pocket sun ;)), it contributes for some spectacular pictures!! Thanks for your support and keep commenting!!

Neva,
Wow! So good to see you back here!! Things have been are running on a regular basis, with the noticeable problem of the difficulty to find time and a way to travel a bit... ;)). I fully agree with you on the amazing beauty of the façades of Old Town Bilbao (Siete Calles)!!

Juka,
You’re much more acquainted with those fall colours than I am here in Lisbon, I presume; but it’s true that, not being New England Fall, Bilbao shows a lovely display of colours... Santiago Calatrava’s pedestrian bridge is an excellent work of art!!

BLOGitse said...

oooops, not fluent but I know basics...We lived in Madrid for 2 yrs...too many yrs ago! :)
I'll be back! :)

Trotter said...

Part Three!

Peter,
It’s actually completely different: there is a Bilbao before the Guggen and another after the Guggen!! It’s for you start considering picking the car and driving through the Landes to the Basque country... ;)

Betty,
That was an amazing combination of Nature with man-made architecture; and it’s true the colours came out in a lovely way!!

Magic,
Another happy return to celebrate here at Blogtrotter!! Indeed! I’m also glad that you found it beautiful!!

Indrani,
I’m delighted that you found that the perspective was interesting as I learned from your pictures the care you always put exactly on perspective!! Thanks for the continuous support!!

Jen,
Once Jesuits, always Jesuits... ;)). I thought that the façades of the Siete Calles district deserved a special attention; that’s why even SmileBox made a successfull entrance here... ;)

Medam,
It’s my great pleasure to take you around on this «chaise longue» tour of Bilbao... ;)). It’s great to see that you enjoyed. Seeing your blog, I could anticipate you would be stricken by the lovely colours of the façades of the Old Town in Bilbao!!

Ted,
Juan Crisóstomo Jacobo Antonio de Arriaga y Balzola (January 27, 1806 – January 17, 1826), the «Spanish Mozart», was born in Bilbao and that’s the reason why the Theatre is named after him!! He wrote an opera at the age of thirteen and you may find the complete catalog of his twenty six works here. It’s a lovely site and you hear the music… Enjoy!!

Bindu,
I do see that Calatrava is getting more fans every day around the world; or is it the photographer who deserves the credits? ;))

Lucie,
Excuse-moi; c’est vrai qu’avec une bande large qui fonctionne on ne trouve pas des problèmes à charger la page ; j’ai déjà réduit à trois posts seulement, mais elle est encore trop lourde, c’est vrai…
L’idée d’un collier de corail autour de l’avenue marginale est très charmante et féminine… ;)). Déséquilibre peut-être, mais le fleuve était parfait. J’aime surtout la première photo du théâtre!!

Ingrid,
It’s a rather well achieved mix of old and modern in Bilbao!! It seems you and Guida have the same taste, as she has chosen that picture for her profile at Facebook… ;))

Trotter said...

BloGitse,
Welcome back!!
OK! Then we'll try to make some exchanges in Portuguese also!! ;)

RNSANE said...

Bilbao is such a beautiful place. I marveled at your previous photos of the bridge and these are even more spectacular. The railway station is incredible as are all the other photos. I am so sorry I never visited there in all my trips to Spain!

Trotter said...

Rnsane.
Thanks! It's never late to make a trip back to Spain and visit Bilbao...

A Lady's Life said...

man is truly an amazing invention
Just look at all he's created. There is so much to see.:)

Trotter said...

Lady,
And when one starts thinking, he has created much more than anticipated... ;))

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Trotter said...

Sash Windows,
Exterior refurbishments? What the hell has this to do with travel blogs? ;))

Coach Hire,
What for? I travelled once in Galleon to Scotland in 1980...

Spam is attacking hard on this blog... ;))