Place to see: Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain

About this place:

Gehry's building saved the city of Bilbao. To most of us, the Guggenheim Museum is located in Spain, in Bilbao, a shipping city fallen on hard times. For some locals, the town is called Bilbo, and it is not in Spain at all, but in Euskadi as they claim, but no nation named that way was actually found. As the steel and ships of Bilbo fell out of favor compared to the Korean and Asian models, the town deteriorated, and the Guggenheim Art Museum seemed an unlikely savior. But the Guggenheims wanted to make a statement as well as show art, and now you come into Bilbo and see a metal fish rising from the city, glistening, and realize the power of the imagination. The city bristles with pride. Every interaction from the above mentioned locals with a foreigner is a chance to say, "No, I am not Spanish, I am Basque, and let me explain the big difference . . ."