Sunday 1st June 2014
Our return bus trip from Azpeitia took longer than the trip there. We reached back at around 445pm and Vero offered to take the group for a tapas dinner at the Old Quarter at 745 pm. With free time to kill we decided to go and visit the Vizkaya Bridge which is a Unesco Heritage site. We had wanted to take the Nervion River cruise to go to the mouth of the river where the bridge is but as there were less than 10 passengers the cruise had to be cancelled. We were advised of an alternative way which was to take the Metro to Arreta and from its metro station it would be just a short walk to the bridge.
The Viscaya Bridge ( Bizkaiko Zubia in basque or Puente de Vizcaya in Spanish) is a transporter bridge linking the towns of Portugalete and Las Arenas at the mouth of the Nervion River where the port of Bilbao is located. Designed by Alberto Palacio ( a disciple of Gustave Eiffel of the Eiffel Tower fame in Paris, it is the oldest transporter bridge in the world - built in 1893. Palacio wanted a bridge that could transport cargo and passengers without disrupting the maritime vessels of the Port of Bilbao which could go through the bridge.
The bridge is still very much in use today - the gondola can carry 6 cars and a dozen of passengers in 90 seconds to across the river. It operates every 8 minutes during the day and hourly at night. Lift shafts have been added to enable people to go to the top and walk across the river and get a panoramic view of the port and the surrounding towns.
the Metro of Bilbao
the scenes along the metro ride were mostly of industrial warehouses
disembarked the train at Arreta into this new and modern suburban township
Portugalete - the town across the Nervion river
The Vizcaya Bridge that links Portugalete to Las Arenas
steel towers on the banks supporting beams across the river
a gondola hangs over water and moves on wheels along the overhead beam
Port of Bilbao
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