This Last weekend included DOS (2) day-trips in the Basque country. And for that I say Gora Euskal Herria! Go Basque Country! Fun fact: The words for Basque stem from the Basque word for sun, eguzki. [I reeeeally hope to learn more Euskera next semester!] Visited the following cities, Basque name in capitals, Spanish name in lowercase.
GERNIKA/Guernica
Considered a sort of capital of Euskadi. Basque Country was probably the first to govern with democracy. Back in the day, town's had a representative in the
fueros, which were hosted in Gernika. They'd meet yearly (or more? no sé) in an oak forest to discuss problems affecting the Basque Country (PV from now on). So to the Basques, the oak tree is a symbol of these
fueros, and their democratic tradition.Officers swear in under the official oak tree. While in Gernika, we saw the 300+ year-old oak tree. It's now dead, but has it's own pavilion for display purposes. It's "grandson" is the current Oak Tree of Gernika. It's 21 years old, and was officially planted 3 or 4 years ago. They grow a few saplings from the acorns at all times in case anything happens to the current tree.
Gernika is also very important to the Basques because of its bombing by Franco. Not going to go into too much detail, because I'll just end up cursing in Spanish, but he was a total jerk and thousands were killed on the day they bombed. It was market day. It was also the first civilian-town attack. Pablo Picasso has a very famous painting based on the bombing of Gernika. (We saw it in Madrid at the Reina Sofia Museum I believe)
BILBO/ Bilbao
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| Aghh spider! |
We took a boatride to Bilbao. People waved to us from the shore. Because WE WERE ON A BOAT. The highlight of Bilbao was the Guggenheim. Actually I'm quite sure the only thing we did in Bilbao was eat and visit the Guggenheim. Oh and enroute, there were 2 girls walking around with 'abrazos gratis' signs, so I jumped right on that. Who doesn't appreciate an international free hug? We had a guided tour in Spanish which was convenient because without that insight it would've been boring. One section I did like was giant sculptures which wound around, and you walked through. It was a desorienting experience, but that is what the artist wanted, I suppose.
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| The Gug |
IRUÑA/ Pamplona
On Saturday Gianna, Janelle, and I took a bus to Pamplona. Well funny thing, I was a bit lost, but in the general area of the bus station when I ran into one of my professors. Aupa! Well anyways, he took me where I needed to go and turns out he and his brother were on the same bus as us. What are the odds? Anyways, Pamplona is a cool city. It's very tranquila...except of course, for that week every July where bursts with people there for the
encierro, running of the bulls. Enfin, I can imagine myself living there some fine day. Not that Donostia isn't magnificent. Well, maybe it's because Iruña has a lot of older charm whereas Donostia doesn't due to a fire long ago. And it seems to have more parks, which I enjoy.
Our main activity there was looking at architecture, most notably the main bullring (which unfortunately had some food festival in it, so you couldn't just walk around inside). For lunch we had pintxos at the Ernest Hemingway Bar. Got my picture taken with a statue of Papa. That delighted me most, that I was in the city he loved so much and central to one of my favorite novels.
Enfin, seems like we got a good dose of Basque Country
Considered a sort of capital of Euskadi. Basque Country was probably the first to govern with democracy. Back in the day, town's had a representative in the fueros, which were hosted in Gernika. They'd meet yearly (or more? no sé) in an oak forest to discuss problems affecting the Basque Country (PV from now on). So to the Basques, the oak tree is a symbol of these fueros, and their democratic tradition.Officers swear in under the official oak tree. While in Gernika, we saw the 300+ year-old oak tree. It's now dead, but has it's own pavilion for display purposes. It's "grandson" is the current Oak Tree of Gernika. It's 21 years old, and was officially planted 3 or 4 years ago. They grow a few saplings from the acorns at all times in case anything happens to the current tree.
On Saturday Gianna, Janelle, and I took a bus to Pamplona. Well funny thing, I was a bit lost, but in the general area of the bus station when I ran into one of my professors. Aupa! Well anyways, he took me where I needed to go and turns out he and his brother were on the same bus as us. What are the odds? Anyways, Pamplona is a cool city. It's very tranquila...except of course, for that week every July where bursts with people there for the encierro, running of the bulls. Enfin, I can imagine myself living there some fine day. Not that Donostia isn't magnificent. Well, maybe it's because Iruña has a lot of older charm whereas Donostia doesn't due to a fire long ago. And it seems to have more parks, which I enjoy.
