Friday afternoon in Berango

On Friday (March 13), I went with a bunch of the other grad students in Chemical Engineering to Berango for lunch. There were fourteen of us in total who loaded into little european cars and went forth into the country. Berango is a small town just outside the metropolis (Bilbao is a small city of about 300,000 people but there are many towns connecting to it. This conglomeration is considered the metropolis and consists of just over 1,000,000 people). The Universidad del Pais Vasco is in Leioa which is near the edge of the metropolis and is only 15 minutes by car from Berango.  

Once in Berango, we went to a Cervecera for lunch. A cervecera is typical in Berango, and consists of a casual outdoor patio and great bbq-type food. It seems that no matter how casual the dining is, a table cloth is a must here. The restaurant had stacks of disposable table cloths, plates, etc., and we set our own big table for fourteen. Then we had a feast of BBQ chicken, french fries, croquettes, morchillas (a sausage type thing), tortillas española (more or less an omelette with potatoes and cheese inside - this was one of my favorites), and salad. Like every other meal here, is was eaten like a Thanksgiving dinner. Plus there was plenty of beer and clara. Clara is a half and half mixture of beer and lemonade or a lemon soda (such as Fanta). Clara is surprisingly tasty. They do strange things with their alcohol here. If the beer isn't of great quality, they add lemonade and call it clara. If the red wine is cheap, they add coke and call it calimocho. Calimocho is a popular drink at festivals and creates a terrible hangover, but doesn't taste as bad as it sounds.

The afternoon we spent in Berango was beautiful. It was +24 and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. A few of us got sunburns! In March! Not even just me, the pasty Canadian! 

Below, there is a picture of all of us. Eva, Monica (taking the picture), Diana, Maria, Katalina, Gorka (George), Itxaso, Itxaber, and Aingeru are the only names out of the people in the picture I have learned well enough to spell correctly. I find Basque names to be very difficult. But I'm learning!

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene