a wonderful weekend exploring the Basque country...

BTW- IT'S COLD NOW... and that does not make me smile... haha. but for real, it's really cold here!

URDAIBAI y GERNIKA y SAN JUAN DE GAZTELUGATXE

So on Friday, CIDE took us to the places listed above, and we had a wonderful day. The weather was gorgeous which was perfect for our hike down to the peninsula of Gaztelugatxe.
Urdaibai is a biosphere located in the Basque Country of Spain. The area of land encompasses 22 pueblos and 45,000 inhabitants. The most famous town located in the biosphere is Gernika. Gernika is the historic capital of the Basque Country. The tree of Gernika represents the freedom of the Basque Country and anti-Franco sentiments. We watched a video (in English!) that explained the history and part of the video was definitely from the perspective of an acorn. On April 26, 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, the town of Gernika was bombed. Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica” depicts this tragic day in Spanish history. I had the opportunity to see the original painting while in Madrid at the Reina Sofia. I enjoyed learning the history behind Picasso’s historic work. Also in Gernika, we had the opportunity to visit the Museo de la Paz- Gernikako Bakearen Museoa- translation: the Peace Museum at Gernika. The museum was incredible! Everything was in Spanish, and for once, I felt like I understood most of what I read, a huge improvement from recent weeks. Words inspiring change for peace from Gandhi to Mother Theresa and Martin Luther King, Jr. to the Dalai Lama adorned the walls. After our trip to Gernika, we headed to a restaurant for a traditional Basque lunch: potato and carne soup, cod (tasted like a salt lick and definitely still had the scales on it), and a wonderful chocolate dessert. Daddy- I know you’re shocked, but yes, I tried the fish. Actually, I’ve tried everything here. I’m all about experiencing the culture to the fullest, which sometimes means eating stuff I wouldn’t touch in the states. Anyway, after lunch we boarded the bus for the short ride to Gaztelugatxe. On the peninsula of Gaztelugatxe sits the church of San Juan. The walk is not easy but definitely worth every step. The church is 74 meters in altitude and there are approximately 231 steps from the top to the bottom. The origins of the church can be traced back to the 10th century and it has been of great importance to the local fisherman. The church is beautiful and offers incredible views on all sides. The walk up to the church slightly resembles the Great Wall of China, only shorter. I loved the opportunity to get some real exercise. My body craves time away from the city, and I finally got it! The walk down was fun, and much to my surprise, I’m still in decent shape. Stations of the Cross line the walk from the bottom of the steps to the church. Like I said, the place was gorgeous! The weather was perfect- a nice breeze and plenty of sunshine. The walk up was definitely tougher- it reminded me oh so slightly of the hike up to the Top of the World. It was definitely not that hard but it was definitely steep. Anyway, we enjoyed a wonderful day on our last CIDE excursion.

VITORIA- the capital of the Basque country
On Saturday, I headed to Vitoria with some of the girls. We left Bilbao around 1:30 and arrived in Vitoria in the middle of siesta- yup, everything was closed. We walked around, saw a church, found the old town, the Basque government buildings, and a bunch of other stuff. Sadly, it was all closed. We sat in a park for a little bit, enjoying the sunshine and the ducks. We walked around for a little bit more and headed back to the bus station. On the way to the bus station, we found a Chinese store and I bought a pair of black flats for 10 Euros. They’re pretty cute, but they’re not quiet broken in yet. We headed back to Bilbao and met up with another friend at Casco Viejo, only to find out that on a Saturday night, everything closes at 9pm. We were left to find food elsewhere, so we headed to Zubiarte, the mall near Deusto, and grabbed a pizza. It was a nice way to end a good afternoon exploring the Basque country.

ART in the USA- celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Guggenheim Museum
On Sunday morning, I met up with the same group of girls and we ventured over to the Guggenheim Museum. The museum celebrated its 10th anniversary this weekend, and lucky for us, part of the festivities included free admission on Saturday and Sunday. We walked around for almost an hour. The current exhibit is a wide variety of art from the US, from the Revolutionary War to today. We saw works by Edward Hopper, Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, and Thomas Cole, just to name a few. I definitely enjoyed getting to see a bit of home in Europe. We also toured the Basque artist exhibit which was interesting to say the least. Let’s just say that I’m still learning how to appreciate modern art- haha.

Overall, it was a good weekend. My week went pretty smoothly. I feel like I got a lot done. The next two weeks are about to be crazy busy, as I’m traveling both weekends and I have a final in my grammar class and a debate in my conversation class and our Europe in the World professor was not happy with how little we all knew in class on Thursday. Anyway, this coming weekend I’ll be in Barcelona! I’ll be sure to write how that goes next Monday. I’m excited to say the least. I really enjoy the group of girls I’m going with, and the following week, Amanda and I are taking on the world again with a trip to Cinqueterre, Italy. I love all of you… girls, I miss y’all like crazy and hope that I can come see y’all in the spring! Mama and Daddy and Robbie- like I continue to say, I wish y’all could be here with me. Friends in Oxford- oh man, spring is going to be a blast! I only wish that all of you were going to be there when I get back. Anyway, have a great week!