Mundaka - 5 euros well spent

On Saturday, I went to Mundaka for the day. There's a bus that leaves from Plaza Zabalburu and goes out to Gernika and Burmeo, and stops in Mundaka. However, they name the bus stops randomly, and not after the towns they stop in, so know one could know where they're going. When you finally figure out which stop to get off at (by asking a helpful and nice old man) you find out that the bus stop is a normal bus stop... but is located at the side of the highway and is surrounded by NOTHING! After getting off the bus the only thing that crossed my mind was 'now what??' But, as it turned out, the town was actually very close. Phew.

Mundaka is a beautiful place, and has taken the spot for my favorite place seen thus far over Plentzia, but may be tied with San Sebastian. The town of Mundaka is world renowned for it's surfing (it's one of the 11 stops on the world surfing tour) but is a small place (pop. 1800) with the most incredibly friendly people. While I was there, I may have talked to everyone that lived in Mundaka. (This was easy to do as everyone who lived there was either in the main square or on one of the beaches.) I constantly got introduced as "Guapa Canadiense" which means pretty Canadian girl, or Katalin (the Basque version of my name which is pronounced Kataleen. I've only met three people who can pronounce the 'th' in my name so far - Eva, Rober and Ibai. Most people call me Katalin or Katie). 

There were a couple interesting sights to see such as Santa Katalin (I know what your thinking, and yes it was named after me) which is located on a pennisula of the same name. To get there you walk along paths lined with old rock walls - It's beautiful! Every couple hundred meters there's a small break in the rock wall where you can climb down the cliff on a black rock staircase down the to water level. Lots of people were reading or fishing on the black rocks, and the views from these places was breathtaking. There are also two beaches to enjoy in Mundaka, or you can take a small boat for less than a euro to Playa Laida across the water, which was the nicest beach in my opinion. 

On Saturday, there was a small festival in the main square with Basque dancers and musicians, and a small surfing competition with a concert. It was a good day to go and I will definitely go back! But I think I need stronger sunscreen, 30 apparently just doesn't cut it in the Spanish sun.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Mundaka!!

A beautiful day in Bilbao

It's officially summer here! I've been waking up to bright blue skies, and warm temperatures for the last week. Stepping on to my balcony has been a great way to start the day, and a great place to enjoy my morning cereal. Also this week, Eva and I started incorporating sun-tanning into our work routine. Around the university, there are a lot of nice fields, and in Eva's car we can make it to a few great beaches in 15 minutes. The great weather makes it increasingly difficult to get anything done in the lab and impossible to stay home.

Thursday, the roomies and I went down the Casco Viejo and created our own pub crawl with a few friends of theirs and went to our regular pizza place, Pizza Via, for the best pizza EVER!

After work on Friday, I took my first tram (I highly recommend this as it passes nearly every sight in Bilbao and goes along the river) from Miribilla along the river to Casilda Parque to meet Eva, Jontxu, and Evantxu. It's a beautiful park with amazing fountains, an outdoor bar, basketball courts, and ping-pong tables! After ping-ponging, we met up with Marta, enjoyed some supper, and then headed to Duesto to see a concert of 'Decima Avenida'. It was professionally set-up for a crowd of about 40 people. It was strange but cool to be part of such a small concert. Plus, Eva, Marta, and I were the only ones allowed 'backstage' to hang with the band and drink their beer - obviously increasing the coolness factor of the experience. The lead singer, Alvaro invited us to his place for a party next weekend haha. And a got a free autographed CD haha.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

A beautiful day!!

Vitoria-Gasteiz

On Saturday, I spent the day in Vitoria or Gasteiz (in Basque) with Caro from Ecaudor and José from Venezuela - both engineering masters students. Vitoria-Gasteiz is the capital of the province Alava and also the capital of the Basque Country.  Even though it was in a different province, it only took 45 minutes to get there are a plush and comfy bus. I love Europe!

It was a beautiful sunny day and I wore sandals and short sleeves from 9 am until 11 pm!! It's summer here! We spent the morning and the afternoon seeing every point of interest there was to see from churches to plazas to parks. Also, coincidentally we saw four weddings. Vitoria is quite beautiful! In my opinion, some of the best sights we saw included Plaza de España (where two of the weddings were), all of the churches (San Miguel, San Vicente, and San Pedro), the new cathedral, Parque de la Florida, and the old city walls. It was interesting to see castle-like walls holding in a tiny portion of the city and imagine how sentinels would have sat watch to protect the town back in the day.  The most disappointing, but hilarious point of interest was Plaza de Machete.  You think that a plaza with a name like machete would be filled with machetes, people fighting to the death with machetes, or at least have a statue wielding machetes.  But alas, there was only a tiny machete all caged up in a wall.

Amid the sight-seeing , I had my first Paella! It was paella mariscos, which has all sorts of seafood in it - even octopus! It was delicious. I think I'll have to go Valencia now to experience real paella from it's place of origin! Then, after many hours of touring, we made our way to the big mall and did some shopping to finish off the evening.  I found a store called 'Mega Calzado".  It was amazing! But really, almost anything that translate to 'Mega Shoe' has to be great.  I bought two pairs...

We got back to Bilbao at about 11pm and I was exhausted! I managed to meet the girls for supper at a chinese food restaurant, and then went home to fall asleep ridiculous quickly.  It was a good day.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Victoria - Gasteiz

Bilbao Basket, Galician food, and Mount Artxanda

Yesterday, I got a phone call from Ibai in the middle of the afternoon asking me if I wanted to go to a basketball game that night. I said, 'sure, why not? I don't have anything else to do on a Tuesday night'. He wasn't sure if we had tickets or not, but I was supposed to meet him at home by 6:45 pm. I got home at 6:30 and we still weren't sure if we had tickets. Friends of Jon from work had memberships, and were trying to get us reduced price tickets (15€ instead of 40€). We didn't know we had tickets until we were already on our way to the BEC in Barakaldo for the game. They also managed to get a ticket for Eva at the last minute, so I didn't have to be the only girl. (After I had mentioned that I thought I was going to a basketball game, everyone in the lab suddenly was very jealous and wanted to go as well. I didn't know what kind of game I was going to. I had just assumed that Bilbao's basketball team couldn't be a big deal in any way)

When we arrived to the BEC, it was quite impressive, and Eva and I found out that we had stellar court-side seats! Also, it turned out that Vitoria was one of the best teams in the European League, and the game I was watching was a playoff game. Best completely random basketball game I've ever been to. The stadium was packed, and the fans were crazy about their team, of course - this is the Basque Country. But, Bilbao lost.

After the game, the seven of us (Ibai, Jon, 3 work friends of Jon's, Eva, and I) went to a Galician (Galicia is the province above Portugal) restaurant in Barakaldo. We had delicious white wine typical of Galicia, octopus, boiled ham (that was the translation, but to me it was fantastic roast beef), and potatoes done Galician style.  It was delicious. Who would have guessed that octopus would become part of my diet?

After dinner, we sepearted; Eva went in her car, Alex went in his, and I went with the other four guys in Jon's car. We ended up going through Artxanda to drop off the one guy who didn't live in Miribilla. Since I had never seen the view from Mount Artxanda, they boys took me to check it out. There is a place to park your car and gaze out at all of Bilbao so, naturally, the top of Mount Artxanda has become the token make-out place. It was a big joke that I was at 'make-out point' with four guys... what a lucky girl. Also, since Jon's work friends had heard the story of the black kitchen, I also got teased a lot for not knowing the emergency number here. Now, I don't think I'll forget 112 for as long as I live. 

The night was completely random, and an incredibly good time.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

PS.  The kitchen is being repaired by the company who makes the fan. Their technician came and inspected the situation, and it was found that there was indeed some strange short circuit with the light in the fan that started the whole thing. Since the fan was under warranty, they are taking responsibility for a new fan, and hopefully new paint.  Should be back to new soon!

Bilbao Basket, Galician food, and Mount Artxanda

Bilbao at night from Mount Artxanda

Balmaseda and the medival market

Yesterday, I went to Balmaseda for the medieval festival with Eva, Carolina, and some of the international students who live in residence with Carolina (a girl from Ecuador who's doing her master in chemical engineering as well). It was really interesting, and Balmaseda was a nice little town. We took a train to get there and it took about 45 minutes. It was a beautiful day  at about +25 and a bright blue sky until about 3pm when it quickly clouded over, and cooled off...then rained all night long. I always thought that the weather was unpredictable and changed quickly in Saskatchewan, but it's nothing compared with here. You never know what to leave the house with. If it's only 15 and raining in the morning, it can easily be +28 and sunny in the afternoon, and vice versa.  Sometimes it even changes 4 times in one day.

The medieval market was really quite amazing. They had such a plethora of things for sale. There was also an Arab portion of the market, as during medieval times, there were many arabs present in Spain, and even an Arab king trying to take over Spain. There were all sorts of things to see; people making horse shoes, baking bread, blowing glass, spinning wool, little shows in the plazas, and even belly dancing. There were also copious amount of delicious foods from deserts of any kind, to turkish foods, to sangria stands, to octopus. Eva and I had turkish tea, I tried octopus for the first time (it was actually quite good), ate home made gummies, drank sangria and bought delicious cake. Also, we did a little bit of touring around Balmaseda and saw the church of San Juan and the old bridge which was built in medieval times.

When we were leaving the festival, Eva decided to buy her mom a very large clay vase. When I say very large, I mean approximately half the size of Eva. We had to carry it through the streets packed full with large crowds, across the old bridge, and then about a kilometer to the train station. Then we had to get it onto the very crowded train, off the train, to the metro station and on the metro. It ended up being quite hilarious.  Thank goodness we didn't break it right at the end!

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Balmaseda and the medival market

Final Copa del Rey: Bilbao vs. Barcelona

So...Bilbao lost 4-1 but what an experience!! Eva, Leire and I arrived in Bilbao at about 6pm, and the streets were packed with people covered in red and white! It reminded me a lot of Whyte Ave in Edmonton when the Oilers made it to the Stanley Cup final (not the red and white part, but the atmosphere and lots of fanatic people part). Except here, there were several streets jam packed with people, and it's legal to drink on the street, so the crowd was a bit wilder. I've never witnessed so many flares set off. By the end of the night, the entire city was COVERED in garbage. Bottles, wine boxes (wine comes in 1L tetra packs for less than 1€. This is what you mix with coke to make Kalimotxo. This is what thousands of people were doing on the streets), plastic bags, foam fingers, and many other things covered the entire city.

After making it to San Mames, we saw a couple of concerts by Basque bands, some men that could do amazing things with a soccer ball, and the release of many red and white balloons. Then, the game which started at 10pm. The first half was amazing! Bilbao scored the first goal and the stadium went insane! The Spanish have perfected the art of 'GGGGOOOOOOOAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL'. Then, Barça scored one and the first half ended at a 1-1 tie. In the second half, Barça scored again, and again, and again... but every time Bilbao even touched the ball, the crowd insisted on going crazy. My favorite part of the second half, was that everytime Barça scored, more and more police enforcement filled the stadium for riot control. Oh, futbol fans - they're just a bit crazy and I would venture to say, even more so in the Basque Country.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Final Copa Del Rey Madness

Athletic Club Bilbao

Tonight is the final game in the King's Cup (La Copa del Rey - Spain's most prestigious soccer tournament). Bilbao has made it to the final for the first time in 25 years and will be playing Barcelona (Barça). The entire city has become coated in red and white, and everyone is exited about tonights game (even including me). Eva, Leire and I have tickets to see the game from San Mames (Bilbao's stadium) even though the game will be played in Valencia. They have an incredibly large screen set up, and the tickets have been sold out for over a month. So I will be painted with red and white, wearing my 'Bilbao Athletic' scarf singing the Athletic's anthem in basque drinking kalimotxo this evening!!

Bilbao Athletic Anthem:

Original version

My attempt at an english translation

Athletic, Athletic, Athletic eup!  Athletic, gorri ta zuria  danontzat zara zu geuria  Erritik sortu ziñalako  maite zaitu erriak  Gaztedi gorri-zuria zelai orlegian Euskalerriaren erakusgarria. Zabaldu daigun guztiok Irrintzi alaia: Athletic, Athletic zu zara nagusia Altza Gaztiak Athletic, Athletic, gogoaren Indarra. Aritz zarraren enborrak loratu dau orbel barria.  Aupa mutilak! aurrera gure gaztiak! Bilbo ta Bizkai guztia goratu bedi munduan Aupa mutilak! gora beti Euskalerria! Athletic gorri-zuria geuria. Bilbo ta Bizkai guztiak gora!  Euskaldun zintzoak aurrera!

Athletic, Athletic, Athletic eup!  Athletic Red and White  for all, you are ours  because you were born for the people the people you love.  Youth red and white  green field  example of Basque Country  We propagate  the exultant cry  Athletic, Athletic  you're the best,  Top young!  Athletic, Athletic  strength of spirit  The trunk of the old Oak  has sprouted new leaves  Top boys!  Forward our youth!  And Bilbao Bizkaia  Exalted throughout the world.  Top boys!  Top Basque Country always!  Athletic red and white  ours.  Top young and Bilbao Bizkaia!  Nobles Basques ahead!

An interesting fact about Athletic Bilbao: They are the only team in the Europe that only contracts players from the region they represent: The Basque country. Only players from the seven official Basque provinces can be contracted to play for Bilbao. So, with Bilbao in such a prestigious final it evokes much pride in the people of the Basque Country.

Stay tuned!

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Hair, Birthdays, Capoeira, and a night after a burnt kitchen

So, I didn't end up going to Madrid. Eli's father got ill and she went home to Rome, and the trip got postponed. I hope he gets well soon. However, the week was very interesting nonetheless. After school one day, I went to get my first Basque haircut with Eva in Getxo. I was very excited to get a haircut because I wanted to see again, but when I left I was not the least bit excited. The hairdresser had a completely different idea of "the same but just a bit shorter" than I did. Apparently to her, the "same but just a bit shorter" meant completely different and a lot shorter. I was none too impressed. But, after some moping and vodka, it's growing on me. But, I am extremely hesitant to get my hair cut here again.

On Thursday, I went with everyone from my lab for lunch in a cute restaurant not too far from the uni.  It was both Koke and Vea's birthday this week, so we all went to celebrate. The food was absolutely delicious, as always. There was spaghetti with shrimp in oil olive, eggplant stuffed with meat and cheese, fish, and steak. SO good, and not that expensive. Then, Friday was a holiday (their labour day, I believe) and I went to a capoeira performance with Diana as well as her boyfriend and parents.  Capoeira is an Afro-Brazlian art form that incorporates movements from both martial arts and dance. It was created in Brazil by the slaves brought from Africa. Diana's brother was one of the performers. It was really interesting and impressive. There are pictures below which are a little dark, and also a short video from the performance.

Then on Saturday, my apartment almost burned down. After making a grilled cheese sandwich to cure my homesickness, a piece of plastic from the exhaust fan above the stove fell on the hot burner after I had turned it off and left it. As I was eating my GC I smelled smoke, and went to the kitchen to find it filled with black smoke. I had no idea what to do! I got the plastic into a frying pan, and got it onto the balcony, and then opened all the doors and windows and waited for the smoke to clear. I contemplated calling the fire department, but realized I didn't know the number. 911 doesn't apply here and I now know that it's 112 for all emergencies in Spain (good to know). However, the kitchen was covered in black. I called Eva since the roomies were in Budapest, and her and Leire showed up shortly ready to clean. They managed to calm me down and together we cleaned all the soot off the cupboards, the walls, the table, inside the cupboards, the fridge, the windows, etc. Then...we went out. After chilling with the girls, I started feeling better and learned how to tell people "today, I burned my kitchen" in spanish. We went to Leire's in Algorta (which is absolutely gorgeous) for supper and then met up with Naiara and her friend Ana (the only blonde Basque girl I've met) and we went back to Bilbao to go to The LOFT and then meet up with Eva's friends from Urduliz at The Galeon. 

All I have to say is I have no idea how I would survive here without my awesome new friends. When I told my friends this, they responded, "I don't know, your going to need us around for when the living room turns black".  That better not EVER happen.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Capoeira

Hair, Capoeira, and a night after a burnt kitchen