Thursday, July 16, 2009

Familia

Today´s phrase of the day is "Garagardoa nahi nuke" : Can I have a beer?

My family arrived the 3rd and we have been running around ever since. Mark´s hair is poofier than when I last saw it and Laura´s about 12 inches shorter.

Saturday we went to Burgos which is know for its cathedral. There is a medieval clock with a sort of marionette-looking man on top. For every time the bell rings on the hour he opens his mouth as though he had just had dental work, very slowly and only barely. He is nicknamed “papamoscas” or “fly eater.”

Sunday we went to San Sebastian. In the morning we walked around the house and museum of Eduardo Chillida, a basque sculpture, who did massive abstract works usually out of steel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Elpeine.jpg. In the afternoon we walked along the crescent shaped beach called La Concha.

Monday we had a nice lunch in the Casco Viejo, the old city. Then we took the metro up to the only UNESCO World Heritage site, a suspension bridge.

Tuesday we went to the wine country, La Rioja. We had an awesome winery tour and then went to the over-and-above wine museum with the world´s largest collection of cork screws. Through the day we bought 12 bottles of wine.

Wednesday we went to Gernika, the town from the famous Picasso painting. There is a peace museum and the seat of government next to what remains of the ancient tree under which the Basque lords held council http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gernikako_Arbola.

Thursday the other four went to the Guggenheim. Then with hair blowing in our faces we took Christmas card pictures. Okay, gang, look for someone who is too slow to run away and ask them to take a picture. The girl with the bike would have been perfect. That one is moving too fast. You ask, no you ask. Stop nagging. Uh, perdona, excuse me, would you mind? Click. Click.

Friday we set out for France. I was the map reader. We made it, but no one is very fond of IrĂșn as a result. 1 Km to France. I don´t want to go to France yet. Traffic Circle. I think that was our turn. Is this going to put me back on the autopista? City Center this way. N1 that way. We´ll just turn around and go back and see if that was the turn. Trafic Circle. We can´t still be 1 Km to France. I don´t think you can go that way. I guess you can go that way.

Friday afternoon was the tour d´graveyards. Basque graveyards are highly cared for. Flowers, momentos, nicnaks. The churches have wooden balconies and ships hanging from the ceiling. We saw 3 graveyards in the course of the afternoon.

Saturday we went to markets in St. Jean-de-Luz and Biarritz. Yummy strawberries and pasteries. In Bayonne we bought chocolate at a store that looked like a pretty, pretty, princess perfume store. Then we had a picnic in a park. It was nice to have the whole family sitting in the grass in France eating bread and cheese.

Sunday we went to the coast and then returned to Bilbao. Laura went back to Memphis Monday. Yesterday we went to Vitoria, which has a cool art museum. One piece is photos of 100 pairs of underware with the names of 100 important artist superimposed. Dega´s underware was a tutu. There was another exhibit with a room filled with 3 inch tall clay statues of people. Then we went on a tour of the cathedral under going a 300 million euro renovation.

One week left in Bilbao then on to Paris and London. Crazy.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Cubierto y Caido

Today´s word of the day is "komunak" : toilets