From Spain with Love

Firenze, Italia (a.k.a. Florence, Italy)

2009-12-16T19:31:00.004+01:00

Mom and I went to Italy! A couple days after she arrived we jetted off to Florence, Italy. We had heard many good things about it and it was number 1 on Mom's list of places to go, so off we went. We had beautiful weather for December, hitting highs in the double digits the entire time we were there with sun every day. We couldn't believe it was December when everything was green, flowers were blooming, and the trees were still holding onto the last of their leaves.

Tuscany was more different from Spain than I had expected. It flourished during the Renaissance and all of it's sights boasted this. Moreover, the Tuscans seems to be very large fans of fresco. Instead of carving all sorts of stone for their magnificent churches like the Spanish, the Tuscans painted their cathedrals with arrays of white and green. We saw many churches in this design and it was quite interesting. But more than anything, those Tuscan's seem to have mastered that art which is food. I could have dined there everyday for the rest of my life. I was in a gastronomical heaven enjoying pizza, pasta, risotto, gelato, cannoli, and so much more.

In my opinion, Florence had many highlights. I thoroughly enjoyed how, like Bilbao, it is surrounded by rolling hills (My guess is they are the foothills from the Alps? While we were flying to Florence we had wonderful views of Lake Geneva and the Swiss Alps. It was a wonderful sight from above). Also, the Italian leather products made shopping delightful. You couldn't go more than a few feet without being tempted by purses, shoes, wallets, gloves... you name it. Of course, the food as mentioned above, and many sights. The ones that truly caught my attention were the view of the entire city from Piazzo Michelangelo, seeing Michelangelo's David in Academia, Piazza Duomo simply because I had never seen a church quite like the cathedral there, and Puente Vecchio. The old, old bridge looked like it was straight out of medieval times and was lined with little shops. From the next bridge over it looked as if people lived in shacks on the bridge, but once we were on the bridge it was a lively ambience and was very original. We didn't even realize we were on the bridge at first because it blended into the street shopping so well. Last but most certainly not the least notable were the christmas lights that lined almost every street. Although there was no snow, and the christmas ornaments only seemed to involved variations of the nativity, the lights on every street were beautiful.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Firenze, Italia (a.k.a. Florence, Italy)

2009-12-16T19:23:00.002+01:00

I'm getting excited to come home!!

2009-12-07T19:17:00.002+01:00

I'm starting to get really excited to come home to Canada. As much as I've enjoyed my time here, I miss all the things I consider normal... and pickles. And I can't wait to see all my friends and family! Also, I'm excited to feel the spirit of Christmas! With the weather being so balmy (+19 C today) and a complete lack of snow, it feels nothing like christmas here. Also, this extremely catholic country doesn't turn christmas into the commercial hullabaloo that North America does. Did you know there's no Santa Clause here?? There isn't! The Three Kings come in on their camels and distribute gifts to the children who leave out cookies for the Wise Men and hay for the camels. It just isn't right...I can't wait to sit under my tree and drink hot chocolate to warm up after being out in the snow. My Christmas tree here isn't quite the same...

My mom arrived today which means I only have 10 days left in Europe! We're going to enjoy some Bilbao and also make our way to Florence, Italy and Paris, France! Paris should be lovely at Chirstmas time.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Christmas

2009-12-07T19:14:00.002+01:00

Mi despedida soltera

2009-12-06T20:38:00.007+01:00

After my spanish friends, and especially Eva, heard that Stu and I were engaged, they insisted on throwing a bachelorette or 'despedida soltera' for me. It was a bit early for such a celebration, but my time left in Spain is limited and they didn't want to miss out on the fun. So, Eva got everyone together and we had a great time at possibly the first bachelorette party in history to have more guys in attendance than girls.

We all met at Uno Muno Square in Casco Viejo where they dressed me up in a strawberry costume. However, this was no ordinary strawberry. The 'stem' of the strawberry drew the most attention and what was written on the front of the costume implied dirty things. This wasn't all they did. They also printed many, many 'WANTED' posters with a terrible picture of me and posted them all over town. My face was as red as my strawberry costume for most of the evening, but it was all in good fun.

The fiesta started with a pubcrawl down Calle Somera and then migrated to a shot bar in the middle of Casco Viejo. This is where the evening took a turn for the worst. When I first arrived in Bilbao, I got the name 'pitxiflu' by doing a strange shot in this particular bar. Our entire group did many of these shots, and about five minutes after we left that bar, the picures show just how they affected us all. Nonetheless, we walked down to the river to some of the discos and along the way encountered many randoms. I received 'fresh cut flowers' from a guy who had ripped an entire plant out of a nearby garden (and carried them with me for quite some time). We also came across a famous Basque band who were dressed up in tradition gear (capes and all!) and sang a song for us.

It was an excellent bachelorette party and will be hard to top. I'm really going to miss my crazy Basque friends. But, man, those shots were a bad idea...

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Mi despedida soltera

2009-12-06T20:34:00.002+01:00

Stu's time in "El Pais Vasco"

2009-11-30T05:31:00.003+01:00

Well aside from our wonderful time traveling, we had some time in and around Bilbao. We spent some time exploring this beautiful city, but we also made our way to a couple of the smaller towns too.

We had a beautiful day for our day trip to San Sebastian. The bus takes about an hour and it's absolutely worth it. We had some of the best pintxos on the planet, followed by a pretty incredible walk around town. While walking around the old town, we saw a couple impressive churches, dozens of little bars (where the pintxos seem endless), and a group of Basque men playing music, marching down the street, and occasionally stopping to dance.

As much charm as the old town holds, it doesn't really compare to S S's main attraction: The Beach. This little city has an amazing crescent-shaped beach. It is protected by a mountain at either end, and a little turtle-shaped island between them. The wind surfers and sailboats were out in force and the waves attracted a good number of surfers and body-boarders too. We walked down the promenade, by some impressive real estate, and made our way to the funicular. This little contraption pulls a rail car up the side of the mountain. The one in San Sebastian happens to be the oldest in Spain.

Once at the top, we were treated to some gorgeous views and a surprisingly large variety of rides (pony rides too). It would seem that the top of this mountain was quite the tourist attraction. I insisted we take the log ride. It was a little anticlimactic, but an entertaining experience none the less. We got a good look out into the bay of Biscay, and down along the coast. After that, it was pretty much time to head back to the bus, so that's what we did.

Not too long after our trip to San Sebastian, I made my way out to the university to meet Kathlene for lunch. We took the afternoon to go explore Getxo and Potugalete. These towns are right across the river from each other and function as the gate between river and sea. Portugalete was old, but aside from the unique way to get there, didn't hold much character. There was however a very large marina, in which we saw a beautiful little house boat. The crazy thing about this house boat is that it's a duck-house boat. The uniqueness I mentioned has to do with crossing the river. The bridge between Getxo and Portugalete is kind of an anomaly. It's designed not to obstruct river traffic. This produced a bridge which acts as a crane, suspending a car, which is moved back and forth across the river. The picture might make it a little more clear.

Getxo is a beautiful town, with some amazing houses. The beach is quite nice, but my favorite element is the elevator. Since the land rises so quickly away from the water, it can be very tasking to get up to the town. The people of Getxo have built an elevator in the middle of nowhere, to facilitate that trip. It's seriously just on the side of a hill.

After a metro ride home, Ibai prepared a traditional Basque meal. An interesting take on an omelette, with a side of cheese-stuffed sausage and delicious bread. We ate it up and were happy to do so. It was delicious. The dessert may have been the best part. It was a blend of lemon ice cream and champagne. Possibly my new favorite.

With all of that done, I had only one more day in Europe. I did some packing and spent as much time with Kathlene as I could. I left the next morning (up at 4:30) and traveled for what seemed like an eternity. Now I can't wait to go again. If you get the chance, I suggest you go too.

Hasta la proxíma vez,

Stu

Stu's time in "El Pais Vasco"

2009-11-30T05:30:00.001+01:00

Berlin

2009-11-22T12:53:00.006+01:00

After weeks of travel and many stops, we arrived at our last destination, Berlin. This last city was like nothing else on our trip. It was even more international and diverse than Amsterdam and had something original around every corner. They say that Berlin is bigger than Paris, stays up later than New York, and is wilder than Amsterdam and we certainly wouldn't disagree with that statement.

We took the train from Amsterdam to Berlin which was quite the pleasant train ride aside from the snag we hit in our transfer in Amersfoort. We misunderstood our tickets and thought that the departure time on them was from Amsterdam, however, it was the departure time from Amersfoort and we missed the train we had bought tickets for. Nonetheless, we were able to get on the next train and travel through the countryside to Berlin. Once in Berline, we stayed in an amazing hostel called East Seven in East Berlin. It was in a great neighborhood, close to a metro, walking distance from sights, and may have been our favorite accommodations. We give it the Stu and Kathlene seal of approval.

Our first full day in Berlin was cold and wet. The precipitation went from rain to ice to snow. We went and wandered the area south of the Tiergarten enjoying the hollow tooth, the Berlin Zoo, some shopping, a christmas-theme festival and the Sony Center. The 'hollow tooth' is an old church that was damaged during the war and left standing as a reminder of the damage the city suffered. The Berlin Zoo is one of the world's largest and oldest zoos and was a lot of fun to see. They had quite the impressive aquarium with sharks, manta-rays, all sorts of tropical fish, starfish, coral, sea-horses, and puffer fish. The best exhibits were the lions, tigers, polar bears, and the panda! The panda was so very cute and named Bao Bao. When we arrived to his enclusore it was feeding time and he was munching away on his bamboo putting on a show. I don't think I had ever seen one before and may have gotten a little picture happy. Did I mention how cute he was?

The shopping around the zoo was quite impressive with giant department stores like the famous Ka De Wa. In our shopping wanderings, we also came across a christmas theme festival selling traditional ornaments and all sorts of beverages and confections beside a snow covered hill for tobogganing. It felt a bit like home and we thoroughly enjoyed getting a quick supper there and wandering through christmas. We ended the day by seeing Inglorious Bastards at the Sony Center where we were able to buy beer and popcorn and sit in the most comfortable movie-theatre seats to enjoy some fictional German history. It seemed fitting.

The next day we wandered down Unter den Linden to see most of the main sites. We crossed paths with the famous TV Tower of Berlin, the grandiose presbyterian church called the Berliner Dom, the University, the Brandenberger Tor, and the Reichstag. Unfortunately, we didn't get to enjoy the Brandenberger Tor or the Tiergarten as much as we hoped we would because U2 was playing there to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The U2 concert actually turned out to be a bit ironic. The concert was meant to be free, but they only gave out 10,000 free tickets and then put up a 2m wall all around the Brandenberger Tor. There was a lot of criticism for erecting a wall around a free concert commemorating the destruction of a wall.

Nonetheless, we learned quite a bit of history about the wall by visitting Checkpoint Charlie, an old checkpoint between east and west berlin where one of the only portions still stands. All around the checkpoint they had boards filled with information and photos of Kennedy, Truman, and Stalin, and the many other political figures who came to play in almost 30 years of cold war. I couldn't imagine what it must have been like for Berliners during the time of the wall, seperated from part of their country, their family, and loved ones. Berlin is quite a different European capital because of this piece of their history and it shows everywhere.

On our last night in Berlin, we chose to join a pubcrawl to get a taste of some of that infamous Berlin nightlife. The pubcrawl we went on explored East Berlin and started at a small soviet pub with red soviet flags and propaganda on the walls and ceiling. What made the pubcrawl really interesting was that it was oriented around Oranienburger Strasse, behind the Hackescher Markt which is an area that really must be experienced to believe. At first it appears to be an ordinary, quieter neighborhood, but then at a second glance you notice oddities and amazing pieces of architecture like the Jewish Centre, formerly the biggest Synagogue in Berlin. The oddity of the area appears once you notice your in the city's red light district and there are corset-clad ladies of the night on many corners. The entire area is filled with bars, pubs, and neat restaurants. But, the coolest thing on Oranienburger Strasse (and our pubcrawl) was the artist's squat. What the hell is an artist's squat? I hear you cry. Well, this one is a six story building quite like a block of warehouse style apartments. Every wall, every door on the stairwell, and through the corridors, is covered in grafitti art. Absolutely covered! In this graffiti-covered complex we discovered heavy metal concerts with fire-breathing dragons, a mellow bar, a clothing shop filled with goths, and a art gallery housing some very impressive modern art and a drum circle. It was really like nothing we'd ever experienced before and like nothing anywhere else in the world.

Berlin was a surreal and excellent way to end our adventure.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene and Stu

Berlin, Part 1

2009-11-22T12:50:00.002+01:00

Berlin, Part 2

2009-11-22T12:14:00.003+01:00

Amsterdam

2009-11-19T10:23:00.004+01:00

After Barcelona we jetted our way to Amsterdam. We arrived the evening of Halloween and the streets of Amsterdam were packed. Our hostel (correction, our horrible hostel) was in the old town not too far from the red light district. After getting settled, we went out for some supper and to explore. Every inch of the old town was packed and it was shocking. Around every corner were new surprises including large groups of leather-clad men, coffee shops, sex shops a plenty, and the girls in the windows under the neon-red lights either chewing gum or talking on their cellphones. The most hilarious sight was a grand presbyterian church completely encompassed by sin. On all sides its surrounded by brothels, bars, and coffee shops. But, what truly made it overwhelming was the sheer number of people on the streets for All Hallow's Eve. Half the people were costumed up and almost all had drinks in their hands as they made there way through the streets. No matter where you turned you would encounter hordes of people.

The next day we made our way through the old town again and it was a completely different experience. Everything was still neon, but it was calm and much easier to handle. We walked along the canals until we found De Waag which is the oldest building in Amsterdam and incidentally a great place to have lunch. We enjoyed some amazing eggs benedict 'In De Waag'. Next to De Waag, we found a very cute market and spent some time wandering through some Dutch antiques and other items. Unfortunately, it started to pour rain and it didn't let up for the rest of the afternoon. So, we opted to experience some of the what Amsterdam had to offer indoors. We made our way to the Heineken Experience located in their old brewery and it was quite the experience indeed. We learned some history, saw how they make that delectable beer (even explored some of the chemical engineering aspects!), became beer for a 4-D theme-park type experience, and of course enjoyed some wonderful beer.

After the beer, we went exploring for Amsterdam's finest munchies and came across nothing but deliciousness. They had everything from wok boxes, to crazy flavored chips (for example, bolognese and, my favorite, cool american. Those gnarly American's did taste good), to hot dogs topped like pizzas, to waffles topped like extravegant cakes. I have to say, I do miss those waffles. They were delicious and always came with a little plastic knork (that's right, knork. The half knife half fork concoction that every other place in the world would think is too dangerous to eat with). We also made our way to the sex museum which was simply ridiculous, but fairly tasteful. Just another one of those experiences.

The next day we got some fairly good weather (even though we thought it was quite cold after wearing shorts through Spain for a couple weeks) so we rented some city bikes. I truly want a city bike now, but I don't think Stu does... he managed to fall off of his within 5 minutes of renting it. He claims a pedestrian cut him off, but I didn't see said pedestrian :)

On our bikes we went to a famous pancake house where we enjoyed the best pancakes of all time. These weren't your standard pancakes, they were entire meals filled with anything you could think of. I had a pancake with bacon in it and Stu tried the bacon and apple. The syrup wasn't your standard syrup either, they had an incredibly thick, dark syrup that was a bit more molasses-y and still delicious.

We also saw the Anne Frank Haus which was an despressing but great experience. Reading and learning about doesn't compare to actually walking around the house/attic where they lived. Seeing the pictures Anne had posted on the wall and watching a video of her dad speak about publishing her diary after the war puts you in the situation. It makes you think when such monstrosities can occur in a peaceful country like Holland which isn't that different from Canada. At least there are places like the Anne Frank Haus, to keep history from repeating itself.

We spent the rest of the day biking the canals and discovering all sorts of wonders around Amsterdam which were so quaint and different from the red light district. Leidseplein and Leidsestraat were must sees, with beautiful buildings and great shopping. Leidseplein is the main square with restaurants galore and Leidsestraat is a large pedestrian street to wander and shop. (I love the concept of the pedestrian street. That's something I'll truly miss about Europe.) However, the best things we found were in random and quiet places along the canals. We found great cheese shops, cute shopping centers, a giant chess set in Maxeuweplein, and ducks in Vondelpark. The skinny buildings stacked on top of each other all along the many canals give the city such a charm. It amazes me that the houses are so skinny. The staircases inside are ridiculous. You know the stairs in old houses that go down the the small basements in those houses? The stairs in the houses in Amsterdam are steeper and less wide! It was not pleasant to have to hall our luggage up 3 flights of those stairs which spiraled in our hostel to our tiny room. Stu's theory is that the stairs in Holland are directly responsible for how tall those inhabitants who climb those stairs are. They are a workout!

Neat fact: The reason the houses are so skinny is the government enforced a law that stated that houses could only be 3m wide, otherwise they were largely taxed. I guess it makes sense when there is a limited amount of space on a city built on tiny islands.

All and all, outside of the tourist-swarms in the red-light district, Amsterdam truly is a beautiful city. It has such charm.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Amsterdam

2009-11-19T10:11:00.002+01:00

Barcelona

2009-11-15T18:05:00.005+01:00

Barcelona definitely makes the top of our list of places we saw. It would be impossible to turn down an opportunity to see it all over again. It's a magical city where every single building and neighborhood is beautiful. It also served as the parting point between us and our new friend Ralph. Shortly after arriving at our cute hotel, we had to return our little VW. It was a little sad, but Stu seemed pretty relieved.

It didn't take us long to get out into the city and start seeing its sights. We made our way down to La Rambla, which is a popular street, full of shops, restaurants, hotels, and landmarks. The plaza at the top of the street is capped with gorgeous twin fountains (although only one was operational during our visit). Side streets along La Rambla open up into quaint little plazas, or show impressive or unique buildings. One of these streets was home to a wax museum, which was protected by Superman and C-3PO.

We waited until morning to continue our adventure, and we started exactly where we left off. La Rambla is an entirely different sight during the day. The boulevard is filled with kiosks. Some sell flowers, some sell books. They have souvenirs and pets (birds and rabbits and other such things). The local talent come out to make a living. There is an abundance of buskers and living statues (and the occasional drug dealer, who is surprisingly forward). Also, La Boqueria (the market in the middle of La Rambla) is packed with people picking up groceries, or just a snack.

We headed out of La Rambla into the old town, originally referred to as Barcelo. The cathedral was first on the list. It was not the most impressive we've seen, but it still held an awe-inspiring quality. Mostly, I think, in the attention to detail. We strolled around the old town, seeing the government building (of the Catalan), which was scarred from shell blasts of the civil war. We climbed to the highest point in Barcelo, Mont Taber, not more than 17m above sea level. Of course, Barcelona has many higher points inside the new city limits.

We made our way out to the Palace of Music, which was an amazingly colorful theatre. It's used mainly for a theatre, but it has an addition which serves as an educational institute for the performing arts. From there we walked over to the "Arc de Triomf" which was quite impressive with it's gorgeous surrounding promenade. The next stop before the beach was the chocolate museum. It was an informative and delicious look at the history of chocolate. There were some amazing chocolate sculptures as well. But, nothing was as amazing as how wonderful that museum smelt. It was a good thing the entry tickets were made of chocolate, otherwise the sculptures would have gone missing.

Off to the beach, where, on the boardwalk, Stu tried authentic Spanish Sangria for the first time. We drank a jug of it, then walked along the beach. The sand was soft and white and the beach was surprisingly busy for late october. Understandable though, since it was 24 C. Our original plan was to take the cable car up to Montjuic and see the view of the city as well as see the olympic stadium and wander around. Unfortunately, we were just a few moments late to take the cable car, we didn't know it held such ridiculously short hours closing before 6pm! So we took a cab over to Plaza de Espana. We enjoyed some drinks, watched the fountains for a while and admired the view before making our way home.

The next day was filled with the works of Gaudi. He was a visionary architect who made his home in Barcelona. He's responsible for what are known as the "modernist" styles seen all over this beautiful city. His works are unique and inspired, and I would recommend visiting them if you get the chance. We saw Casa Mila, which is hard to describe, but definitely unique. The defining quality that stuck with me was it's rooftop and how the chimneys resembled ice cream. Next on the Gaudi tour was the infamous unfinished church, La Sagrada Familia. It was Gaudi's last work and is expected to be finished by 2026. It's an amazing sight, and in our opinion one of the most interesting buildings in the world. It's truly an intricate and insane design with an incredible attention to detail. We can't wait to see it when it's complete. (It will be a good excuse to get back to Barcelona!)

Our last stop before jetting off to Amsterdam for the evening of Halloween was Gaudi's Park Guell. It was originally designed to be an enclosed living community, but was an idea before its time and flopped as a living community. However, Gaudi built his pink house there and it became an awe-inspiring park. There was tile and rock structures galore including a glamourous main entrance with tiled walls, small houses and towers, a grand staircase and cute dragon fountain. At the top of the grand staircase there was a hall of columns with amazing tile patterns on the roof. In the summer, this is generally where a large market could be found. Also at the top, there was a large meandering wall that functioned as an ergonomic bench covered from top to bottom in all sorts of tile. All over the park were musicians, awesome rock structures, and plants of all varieties. It was well worth the adventure up the LARGE hill to get there.

All and all, Barcelona is one amazing place!

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene and Stu

Barcelona 1

2009-11-15T18:05:00.002+01:00

Barcelona 2

2009-11-15T17:25:00.002+01:00

Granada and Alicante

2009-11-13T13:10:00.012+01:00

The next stop along our wonderous journey was Granada. It was yet again a very different side of Spain, as it was once the home of the Moorish empire when the Moors had conquered Spain. This can be seen all over the city with it's tile covered buildings, key-shaped doorways, and at its best in the Alhambra.

The Alhambra was our first stop. We chose to see this Moorish palace (the only one left in Spain; it's existence today is remarkable since the catholic monarchy reclaimed Granada in their attempt to spread Catholicism and destroy everything non-catholic in the process) in the evening. It made the palace more majestic to see it at night, but also made our pictures less majestic. The intricacies of the moorish designs are apparent at every turn. Every doorway, ceiling and wall are adorned with molded/sculpted plaster or tiles in amazing geometric patterns or beautiful paint (although after many hundreds of years, the paint is pretty faded). One of many impressive attributes about the palace was the courtyard at the center of the palace, referred to as the "Court of Lions". The fountain at the center of the court is encircled by twelve lions (hence the name). It is said that the lions would once have operated as a clock with each lion spurting water for each hour. However, the christians disassembled the fountain after their conquering and the fountain never functioned again. Damn christians...

Inside the walls of the Alhambra (the name given to the entire structure which encloses the Moorish palace), there is another palace. The palace of Charles the 5th, last ruler of the Spanish Christian royalty to rule from Granada (the moorish palace wasn't good enough, apparently). What was truly neat about his palace was it's perfectly circular courtyard. When standing at the center, the acoustics were astounding, a simple whisper would be heard from the upper balconies.

We spent the next day wandering around the city of Granada enjoying the large promenades filled with shopping, the tributes to Christopher Columbus (Granada was the site of his proposal to Queen Isabel to finance his journey to discover 'India'), and the old moorish quarter referred to as the Albaicin. In the Albaicin, we enjoyed old and impressive architecture, a beautiful view of the entire city and surrounding mountains, and some interesting food. We found a small restaurant near a fountain in the Albaicin and ordered 'la barca' (the boat) which consisted of fried fish. However, this was not your typical fried fish, this 'boat' basically consisted of a bit of every fish or crustacean they could find. Stu was very skeptical to try octopus for the first time.

After Granada, we drove our awesome VW Polo (Ralph) to Alicante along the beautiful Mediterranean highway. Alicante is a smaller and more modern city than any that we had seen and boasted nothing but the finest paella (Alicante is in the province of Valencia, which is the home of paella) and beautiful beaches which was perfect for our small stop along the way to Barcelona. We found a nice hotel right on the beach with a restaurant that specialized in paella and did nothing but enjoy the hotel, wine, paella, and beach. All of which were fantastic!

The beach was especially fantastic, and it will forever hold a special place in our memories. After our wonderful paella dinner, we made our way out onto the beach. We felt like taking in some fresh ocean air and going for a bit of a stroll. Not too far down the beach, we found a nice little outcropping, which looked ideal for a place to sit and dangle our legs above the Mediterranean. So we headed out onto the rock. I was trying to decide where to sit, so I turned to ask Stu what he thought, and to my surprise he was on a knee and holding a ring. He proposed then and there in the most romantic way. I said yes (of course), and we are now engaged!

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene and Stu

Granada and Alicante

2009-11-13T13:08:00.002+01:00

Tarifa and Nerja

2009-11-08T22:48:00.002+01:00

After our wild day in Morocco, it was off to Granada, but not without experiencing the town we stayed in. Tarifa was a cute little town right on the southern tip of Spain. It had beautiful beaches and plenty of wind (probably a necessity for the wind/kite surfing capital of the world). The old town was white washed and had a cozy feel. The newer parts of town had streets lined with surf shops. All in all the town had a relaxed feel and I would gladly spend some lazy days there.

On our way to Granada, we stopped off in a little resort city called Nerja. The Canadians we met in Morocco spend a lot of time in the south of Spain. They suggested that we stop by Nerja on way through the Costa del Sol. We're quite glad that we did. Nerja is home to the Balcony of Europe, a peninsula that is surrounded by beaches and beautiful, blue water.

We checked out the Balcony and spent some time on one of the beaches. We managed to find a little beach, which we got all to ourselves. Our own little private beach. The beach was pebbly and very warm. The water was a little cool and very salty. Stu actually managed to float (which apparently has never really happened before). It was 28 degrees on the 27th of October, so we spent some time just basking in the sun. When we started to lose our heat, we headed on out.

Our last stop before Granada was the Nerja caves. These caves house the largest stalactite-stalagmite column in the world. It has a couple of gigantic underground caverns. Seriously, these caverns could be compared to stadiums. In point of fact, one of the caverns is used as a venue for concerts and flamenco shows. For the second time this trip, we proved our worth (at least to ourselves) as spelunkers.

After the caves, we drove off to Granada, with a beautiful sunset to keep us company.

Hasta la proxíma vez,

Kathlene y Stu

Tarifa and Nerja

2009-11-08T22:42:00.002+01:00

Crossing the Gibraltar Strait to go to Tangier, Morocco, Africa

2009-11-03T23:18:00.003+01:00

So we were set on seeing Morocco. We wanted to be able to set foot on another continent and add to our "worldliness". That was an interesting decision. Morocco doesn't really fit in with its surrounding territories. It is definitely not European. It is however, just as far from being African. The city of Tangier is the richest in Africa, yet every single person we know is exponentially wealthier than so many of the people there. Just to set the mood, consider you earned $2/hr. That's more than most of the people we saw in and around the old town of Tangier.

We headed over on the ferry around 11:00 AM. After about 40 minutes we pulled into the dock at Tangier. We had the good fortune to run into a couple of Canadians at the security checkpoint. They were kind enough to help us through the first slough of "guides." Many of these men are in fact guides who know much of the city's history and will provide you with a good mix of information and navigation. They also help keep away the other guys. Many other people can and will approach, offering help with direction or even just to keep others like themselves at bay. People of this sort will harass you for the first km or so (I guess the police have been required on a number of occasions to put an end to the harassment). Once you're into the town, it's not so bad. The first ten minutes we spent in Morocco was surprisingly overwhelming and I'm not sure how we would've made out had we not met that couple.

We made it into the town fairly easily, and no sooner than we had, did we realize we were not anywhere like home. Children everywhere, except for in school. Markets were teeming with people buying fresh fruit, vegetables, breads, and goat heads (skinned or not). The markets were filled with shops hanging chickens to show that they were killed properly (according to Islam, the hal lal requires that the chicken be facing Mecca with it's throat slit to drain it's blood). We saw a metal working shop with a blacksmith. Firing the metal and pounding it with a hammer on an anvil. So many things seemed so unusual that I'm sure we stood out based entirely on our facial expressions (if the clothes and skin color hadn't already given it away).

We made our way up the hill toward the Kasbah. So many of the roads that wind between the tightly packed houses come to a dead end, so we ended up backtracking a few times. After a couple of failed attempts, we picked up a "guide". Not by choice. He followed us and then lead us, then followed again if we chose another path. Repeatedly. This can prove to be fairly upsetting. We finally managed to lose the creepy guy with the help of a boy. He showed us the way (without the creepy talking and name calling) and we tipped him quite gladly. Once we reached the Kasbah, we spent the €1 each to tour the museum and gawked at thousands of years of history. The building itself is over 1000 years old. Many of the artifacts within it are older still. It seems as though there is much work to be done to complete (renovate) the museum. I'm not sure how soon that will happen when they charge less than a coke to view one of the oldest standing structures on the face of this earth.

After our trying times in the old town, we made our way down to the beach, to enjoy some much needed relaxation. The beach was almost as shocking as the old town. Children begged us for money for food. That was a little upsetting. There were camels on the beach. A man riding a horse and a woman walking her monkey. To top it all off, they post signs that indicate "No Dogs."

So as it turns out, we're both quite glad to have visited Morocco, but on that same note, we're quite glad to be back.

Hasta la proxíma vez,

Kathlene and Stu

Crossing the Gibraltar to go to Tangier, Morocco, Africa

2009-11-03T23:16:00.002+01:00

Sevilla, España

2009-10-29T00:16:00.002+01:00

So after the trip around Portugal, we made our way into Seville (Sevilla to the Spaniards). A little while later we were in our hostel and quickly to bed. The next day was full of sites to see and marvelous weather. With the average high while we were there at 30º C, we hoped everyone back home would be jealous.

The first site on our agenda was the Cathedral of Seville. Like many other touristic churches, the visitors to this church are plagued by gypsies. Unfortunately we were taken by surprise and swindled out of a couple Euros. Not a big deal, but I think Stu took it personal and is planning to go back to even the score. Gypsies aside, the cathedral is an amazing structure. It is the largest gothic church in the world. It is also the third largest cathedral. It houses an amazing amount of intricately carved, stamped, and moulded pieces, each of which could easily have been someone's life work. Whoever says the church has no money, should pay there €8 and see what's on display. Among all the artwork and beautiful craftsmanship is the tomb of Christopher Columbus. It is held off the ground by statues of the kings of the 4 kingdoms of Spain. DNA tests have been performed to prove that the remains inside are indeed those of Christopher Columbus. (Side note: apparently he died thinking he had discovered India, not the "new world").

Another great site seen in Seville, was the Alcazar. This palace was built by christians shortly after the Reconquista (the retaking of Spain from the Moors by the Catholics). It was built in the Moorish style. There is so much attention to detail in the Alcazar, that even close up pictures wouldn't do it justice. Moulded plaster and carved wood take shape into such an impressive building. It truly left us in awe.

We saw many cute buildings, beautiful gardens, and ornate fountains. Many of which were in or around intricately tiled plazas. The general mood of this city is relaxed and it does indeed have a romantic air about it. If I was asked if I would return to Sevilla, I wouldn't even blink. Of course I would.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene and Stu

Sevilla, España

2009-10-29T00:15:00.002+01:00

Portugal and lots of it!

2009-10-26T02:13:00.003+01:00

Well, Madrid is behind us, and now Portugal is too, but not without leaving their marks.

We rented a car in Madrid, and just getting to the rental office was a big enough adventure. Misdirection to blame. The car we rented is a nice, new VW Polo, quite similar to the Golf of N. America. It handles nicely in even the most hectic of traffic. I can not say the same for Stu. The trip out of Madrid was riddled with traffic circles four lanes wide, and buses threatening to run us off the road. We managed to get out unscathed and make our way onto the highway. The drive was quite nice, with a few very interesting sights. It's quite a thing to drive from one country's capital to that of another in just 6 hours. This drive showed us the equivalent variety of landscapes one could expect to see while driving across all of Canada. Quite impressive.

Lisbon was surprisingly clean and wet. We arrived during the middle of a heavy, heavy rain. However, the remainder of our time spent there was sunny and warm. Our hostel was an adorable set up, just steps from the main plaza. The hostel supplied us breakfast, which was cooked by a sweet old Portuguese lady. Her crepes were fantastic. The most notable characteristics of Lisbon were the sidewalks (tile mosaics) and the buildings sided with tiles. Often, the tiles would illustrate an event or scene, and many times they were simply beautiful patterns. Aside from that, Lisbon offered up a plethora of fantastic sights. Our favorites included the neighborhood of Belém, where we saw the tower of Belém, the monument of Lisboa, and the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos. We also really enjoyed the castle of Saó Jorge, and the Sé Cathedral, and the various plazas. The people were also a highlight. They were friendly, welcoming, and very helpful.

After our time in Lisbon, we were off to Sevilla, but not without a stop at the quiet, little, mountain town of Sintra and a beautiful drive along the coast. The town of Sintra is situated nicely below a collection of mansions, castles, palaces, and monasteries/convents. Really there were only multiples of the palaces, but that's still pretty good for such a little town (Pop. approx 33 000). The two sites we put on our must-do list were Quinta da Regaleira and the Palace of Pena. Quinta was a mansion, formerly royal palace, bought by an eccentric millionaire in the 19th century. With his millions and eccentricity, he turned the gardens/backyard into an adventuring fantasy land. The result was something better than most theme-parks. We were able to go through caves, underground tunnels, climb towers, see mystical grottoes and fountains and much more. The entire property was impressive. He even commissioned a tiny chapel with cathedral-like detail for his own personal use next to the mansion. It was an all-around fantastic stop on our tour.

The Palace of Pena was on the top of the mountain above Quinta da Regaleira and while we were there, it was also located in a cloud filled with a thick mist. This was rather unfortunate as it was difficult to see the entire castle from the outside. However, we were still able to notice it's true fairy-tale like qualities, arab influences, and ridiculous color scheme. Sections of the castle were colored by red, yellow, and blue at random (where the blue was all tile work). The inside was interesting, as it was all decorated in elaborate 19th century fashion by the last royals to live there. For a better look at the palace when it's not in a cloud, look at thiswebsite.

After leaving Sintra, we headed down the coast of Portugal as a scenic route to Sevilla. We made our way down the coast on some beautiful, twisting, country roads. We drove by a few very small villages and a few frighteningly large trucks before coming up to Olemira. Olemira is a quaint little white-washed town. It gives a real authentic feeling of southern Portugal. The roads are all cobbled and the buildings, all white. Terra-cotta roofs covered every structure. It all came together to show us how quiet and simple life could be in the back roads of coastal Portugal. After Olemira, we raced towards the southern peninsula, rushing to beat the sunset, and boy are we glad we did. We reached Cabo Saó Vicente just minutes before the sun disappeared and we were treated to a wonderful sight. This place could have easily been mistaken for the end of the Earth. With nothing but shear cliffs and endless ocean in sight, facing due west, the sun glowing red over it all, time stopped for a few moments. If we could choose which sunset to see everyday, it would be the one at Cabo Saó Vicente. At least, until we find a better one. We spent a few minutes after the sunset to eat our pre-purchased picnic. I had a ham and cheese pastry and Stu had some sort of . . . "Meat-Cake" . . . Yum, I guess. Well, he seemed to enjoy it. For dessert, we enjoyed a Portuguese specialty made only for the Christmas season. I could have eaten hundreds of them. If we ever return to Portugal, these desserts will heavily weigh on which time of year we go.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Stu and Kathlene

Lisboa, Portugal

2009-10-26T01:47:00.002+01:00

Sintra, Portugal

2009-10-26T01:46:00.005+01:00

Driving along the Atlantic coast in Portugal

2009-10-26T01:46:00.004+01:00

Cabo Saõ Vicente

2009-10-26T01:45:00.002+01:00

Madrid

2009-10-20T19:36:00.002+02:00

So this time around, and for the next few reports, I will have a Stuey along for the blog. This Monday, the two of us began our whirlwind tour of Spain, which we will finish off with a quick stop off in both Amsterdam and Berlin. We had a few difficulties getting going, nothing serious, but it did almost result with us missing our bus from Bilbao to Madrid. We did make it on the bus, and got to Madrid. After a session of intense luggage lugging, we got checked in and headed back out on the town.

Since we had nice weather, we decided to do as much of the outdoor sightseeing as we could (which turned out to be an excellent decision). Our first stop was the Parque del Buen Retiro, which is a 300+ acre paradise at the center of the city. The park was beautiful, for lack of a better description. There were fountains and statues and creeks and all sorts of trees. There was a lake in the center of the park, at which you could rent a row boat for a quaint little ride. At one end of the park, there was the Queen's rose garden, with most of the roses in full bloom.

After touring the park, it was definitely late enough for us to be hungry. So we fed ourselves on a walking tapas pubcrawl. We ventured through the old town center, finding interesting pubs and restaurants. At each establishment, we would order tapas and drinks, take in the atmosphere and the wonderful food, and move on to the next. This is a fairly popular way to do supper in Spain, and a great experience. We found a great little pastry shop, called Lhardy, where the desserts were unbelievable and the sherry was strong. This was our favorite stop. Admirable mention goes out to "Museo de Jamon", because Stu thinks it's hilarious that there's a chain of restaurants called "Ham Museum."

The second day began with a full tour of old Madrid beginning with Puerta del Sol (a main hub of Madrid). We ventured through cobbled streets to see old churches (some with proportional bell towers, others without), historical markets, convents that sell cookies, stores that sell amazing pastries, and, of course, plazas. Plaza Mayor was the standard old-town Spanish plaza in Madrid. However, this plaza is unique in the fact that it was painted burgundy (apparently a color that was elected democratically by the citizens at the time) and was also used for getting rid of those pesky heretics during the Spanish Inquisition.

Our old-town tour ended with the Catedral de la Almudena and the Royal Palace (Palacio Real). The Cathedral was very modern (construction from the 19th century until 1993) and GIGANTIC! You literally could not look at the entire church from the outside without turning your head. It didn't matter where you stood. The most significant thing about the inside was how colorful the ceilings were and how high they were! However, the Royal Palace was far more awe-inspiring than the Cathedral. The vast building alone is impressive, but it's nothing compared to the elaborate decor inside the 24 rooms we were able to tour. Unfortunately, we were unable to take pictures of the inside of the palace to share. But try to imagine what you think an elaborate Spanish palace would look like and then double the amount of amazing chandeliers, velvet on the walls, Ming vases, and incredible ornate vaulted ceilings. Then add a lot more gold tables and mirrors.

Day 2 of Madrid unfortunately featured a bit of rain. It started in the afternoon and didn't hinder our seeing of Temple de Debod (an Egyptian Temple given to King Franco from the President of Egypt in the sixties for helping save monuments from a rising Nile), Gran Via, and Plaza Cibeles (including the GIANT Bank of Spain and Palace of Communication). However, after going to get some delicious Paella for supper at another Museum of Ham it really started to pour. This is when we discovered that you really need to watch out for taxis and buses as they drive through the rivers that build up on the side of the streets.

Tomorrow we're off to Portugal!

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene and Stu

Madrid - Day 1

2009-10-20T19:33:00.002+02:00

Madrid - Day 2

2009-10-20T19:32:00.002+02:00

Eva turns 24!

2009-10-11T18:59:00.003+02:00

Last night we celebrated Eva's 24th birthday in the same fashion that we celebrated mine. Our friends and people from her basketball team got together and we enjoyed a giant supper and drinks at Eva's house and then went out to Sopelana to enjoy the clubs along the beaches. It was a very enjoyable evening although it rained all day and night yesterday and I ended up completely soaked by the end of the night. I have to say cold and wet and so much worse than just cold. I don't know how well I would fair if I was going to be here for the entire rainy winter. Snow and colder may be better.

On an entirely different note, Stu arrives in less than 4 days! We'll be leaving on our grand euro-adventure a week tomorrow (October 19)! We'll be traveling to Madrid, Lisbon, Seville, Tarifa, Tangier (Morocco), Granada, Alicante, Barcelona, Amsterdam, and Berlin. So the blog will become much more interesting soon. In the last while the blog dwindled, but now it will be back and better than ever! Look forward to some travel pictures!

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Eva turns 24!

2009-10-11T18:52:00.002+02:00

My Birthday, spanish style

2009-09-20T16:32:00.003+02:00

Last night, I celebrated my 24th birthday with most of my friends from the Basque Country. Some key people were missing such as Marta, Javi, and Sandra, but luckily Ibai (one of my awesome roommates) could make it back from Pamplona after his soccer match for the festivities!

The evening started in Eva's house where she planned a very delicious dinner for all. We stayed there for quite awhile enjoying some drinks and plenty of good food and dessert. The girls got together with Aitor and got me a wonderful spa-themed present, which was very nice of them. Then, around 1:30am we headed to Sopelana to enjoy my favorite clubs that line the beach. They're my favorite because the landscape is beautiful, the music is always good, and it's a more relaxed environment. It really was a great night, and I was so happy I got to celebrate my birthday with most of my Basque friends. I'm going to miss them next year.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

My Birthday, spanish style

2009-09-20T16:24:00.002+02:00

Algorta and Bilbao

2009-08-18T14:00:00.002+02:00

For the last couple of weeks, the Basque Country has been all a twitter with festivals - even more than usual - because most people have the month of August for vacations. The first week after Greece the festivals had moved to Getxo in the 'barrios' of Algorta and Puerto Viejo.

Algorta held a competition for cuadrillas (groups of friends) with varying competitions on each day. My favorite of these competitions was 'la bajada' which was a parade of the different groups all having different themes. These ranged from firefighters, to slip n' sliders in the street, to Willie Wonky and the Chocolate Factory, to guys ballerinas, to a group imitating a Spanish game show that involves filling a small car with various items. This time: How many Basques can you fit in a tiny car? As it turns out, eight, and one in the trunk. Friday was the jaiak in Puerto Viejo which is the old port in Getxo. The location was amazing as it was right on the sea and the weather couldn't have been better.

Saturday marked the beginning of Aste Nagusia (Bilbao's festival) so Ibai and I hosted a lunch with our good friends at our place to kick off the festivities. After the lunch we headed down into Bilbao for the txupinazo where a rocket is launched and Marijaia (the festival's saint) appears. She makes her way from txosna to txosna to open each one and then the alcohol flows for the next 8 days. The plaza in front of Arriaga Theatre was absolutely packed with people dancing and singing the Marijaia song (click here to see). The entire city of Bilbao packed with people partying well into the wee hours of the morning. Then during the day there's everything from 'food of the world', rides, street performances, a giant circus, and more. Also, my personal favorite inclusion of the festivities; the world fireworks competition with a different country competing each night. The best part - the park two minutes from my flat is the best place to view the fireworks from.

Hasta la proximá vez or when I'm in CANADA in two days!!

Kathlene

Algorta and Bilbao

2009-08-18T13:49:00.002+02:00

Athens, Greece

2009-08-09T19:09:00.005+02:00

We finished our Greek adventure by seeing the ancient city of Athens. My impression of the city was that is was an ancient and giant inferno. Most days it was 40+ C without a breeze and you could feel the sun cooking your skin. It was practically unbearable most of the time. But, is was also awesome (in the true sense of the word) to be able to be amongst 5000 years of history where everything from politics to plumbing was invented.

We stayed in a great hostel (Athens Backpackers/Studios) which was located right in the middle of the city and all the sights. The hostel had a rooftop bar from which you could see the Acropolis (highest point of the city which houses the Parthenon, Temple of Athena Nike, etc.) and enjoy very cheap 'Bonsi Specials' (Bonsi was the bartender from Scotland who claimed the drink was more or less 'sex on the roof'. We agreed.) during the evening, and free breakfast in the morning. Also, the neighborhood had many adorable open-air restaurants along the cobble stone streets for enjoying some Greek cuisine. We only had 2 days to see everything and this set up made it incredibly easy to do so, even allowing for air-conditioning breaks in our room.

The first morning we got up and went to the Acropolis for it's 8am opening hoping to beat the heat (but it was still scorching at 8:30am) to see the Theatre of Dionysus, the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the Temple of Athena Nike, the Parthenon, and the Erechtheum. In my opinion, the Erechtheum was the most impressive of them all, but it was also pretty neat to stand in front of the Parthenon. After the Acropolis we made our way to the Ancient Agora (old market place) which really just seemed like a bunch of rocks that were supposed to have been a little city (our imaginations weren't good enough to see it) and a really well preserved temple belonging to Hephaistos. We also saw the Roman Agora which was more of the same... but roman... At this point we had both gone through 6 Litres of water and couldn't believe we didn't have to pee. We had literally sweat all of it out. This is when we caved and bought little Japanese parasols like all the other tourists just to help us bear the heat a little bit better. Upside of extremely colorful parasol: keeping the hellish heat off your head. Downside of extremely colorful parasol: having even more creepy Greek guys take notice of your presence. And we thought Spanish boys were direct... pfft... I'm telling you, there's something in that Mediterranean water.

We also managed to squeeze in visits to Hadrian's Arch, The Temple of Zeus (the largest temple ever built in Greece) and the first modern Olympic stadium (1896) which was built completely out of marble but was suprisingly small. The olympics has most definitely come a long way in 113 years. Then we ended our day with a visit to the national gardens and night on the roof/around Athens. It seemed that everyone in the hostel gathered on the roof that night - People from Canada, Switzerland, Australia, Scotland, England, Brazil, USA, Uraguay, and of course Eva from Spain. I was SO excited to meet the two girls from Calgary. I hadn't seen Canadians in such a long time! Also, I was very happy to make a friend from Switzerland who promised to send me chocolate in exchange for any maple product. I'm definitely keeping that arrangement. The best conversation that came out of that night was about Ruffle Chips. Did you know that all countries have 2-3 standard flavours? For example Spain has ham and ham and cheese flavored Ruffles, Greece has oregano and paprika flavors, where Switzerland doesn't have any of these flavors. Strange isn't it? Also, North America may be the only place on the planet where you don't have to pay for water, ketchup or mayonnaise at a restaurant. Apparently we lived a pretty charmed life in Canada. (Maybe saying it was the most interesting conversation is a little sad after you read about the conversation - but it was interesting to learn about the small differences about the countries.)

Athens was a very interesting city. It may be large, heavily polluted, so hot and desert like that it resembles hell at times, but it was truly awesome (the true sense of the world) to see everything we did and be part of such an international ambient for our short stay there.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Athens - Part 1

2009-08-09T19:07:00.002+02:00

Athens - Part 2

2009-08-09T19:06:00.002+02:00

Back for some more Santorini

2009-08-09T16:43:00.003+02:00

After we left the boys in Ios, Eva and I went back to Santorini to soak up some more paradise. We went back to Anny Studios as we thoroughly enjoyed being less than 50m from Perissa's black sand beach and Steve's (the owner's) homecooked breakfast and the 'good morning, girls' that greeted us every morning. Not to mention that they hooked us up with cheaper quad rentals (from a very cute and surprisingly nice Greek guy) with free gas and snorkel equipment and also were always ready to give us directions to the best sights to see.

We rented a quad for two days and saw Perissa's black sand beach which was right in front of our hotel. Valhala beach, another black sand beach that was smaller and quieter than Perissa and had amazing rock formations that seemed like lava all around it. We also saw the lighthouse on one end of the island which had the most amazing views of the volcano and the endless dark blue water. Next, we made our way to Fira (or Thira as it was sometimes spelt) which was the capital of the island. It was another village consisting of many white houses all crowded together at the top of the cliff. It was a bit different that Oia as it seemed more commercial and busy and not quite as beautiful and serene. But the views were still spectacular and the sunset amazing. In Fira, we also hiked out to see Skaros and the 'castle'. Skaros was an neat rock formation and according to my guide book there was supposedly a castle on it. Eva and I climbed all the way out to the rock which consisted of at least 300 stairs and quite some distance not to find a castle anywhere. When we asked a couple from Germany where the f@$king castle was and we were informed that it was destroyed by an earthquake hundreds of years ago and the rocks on the ground were the castle... we were not impressed. We didn't understand the Greeks love of old rocks (aren't the rocks in Spain and Canada just as old?). We could have seen Skaros and the old rocks without hiking up and down stairs in the hot afternoon sun! After that, we badly wanted to borrow one of the many private pools with the amazing views that we had to walk past to get back into Fira village. We ended up settling for cold fruity drinks in a restaurant with a beautiful view.

The next day, we hopped back on the quad to make our way to Amoudi Bay which was simply amazing! The water was perfectly clear and blue and most of the rocks that surrounded the bay were red. We hopped into the perfect temperature water and did some snorkling where we saw all sorts of fish including a main street of silver colored fish that didn't stray from the line in which they were swimming in both directions. Also in the bay, was a little island you would swim out to that had a tiny little white and blue church on it and a ledge (about 8m?) to jump off back into the bay. I climbed up to see the church thinking jumping would be no big deal, but, once I was up there I didn't want to jump... However, climbing back down seemed even worse (I had already cut my knee climbing up the slippery rocks). So, I decided to jump. Then, some kid said 'make sure you jump far enough out that you don't hit the rocks at the bottom' to which I replied, 'rocks!?!?! WHAT ROCKS!?!?! How far is far enough!??!'. I guess my running and jumping technique was good form, because I made it into the water fairly unscathed. That experience definitely falls into the category of 'I tried it once and now I'm never going to do it again'. I had salt water coming out of my sinuses for the rest of the day.

In the miniscule village of Amoudi Bay, Eva and I went to a very Greek seafood restaurant where we ordered octopus and calamari. We were, however, very suprised when our plates came with a whole bbq octupus and whole bbq squid on them - head, tentacles, and everything. Apparently you can eat the whole thing. And we did. It was actually very delicious. I think I preferred the grilled octopus to the boiled octopus of Spain. However, not seeing the WHOLE octopus in Spain is a bit more preferred. After lunch we toured the vinyards along the quiet back of the island where we got to sample some delicious wine (our favorite being an amazing sweet desert wine) and try the infamous white eggplant that is only found in Santorini.

The last thing we saw was the trendy and crowded party beach of Kamari, which had a boulevard behind it that made me think of pictures of Miami. It was amazing how areas of the island could be so different even though it was such a small place. The differences from Oia to Kamari to Perissa made you think you were in a completely different place than you were 20 minutes earlier. Oia was what we expected the whole island to be like but then we also got to experience places reminiscent of Miami and Mexico too. Santorini was an amazing experience and I would go back there in a heartbeat.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Back for some more Santorini

2009-08-09T16:29:00.002+02:00

Ios - Island of debauchery

2009-08-08T18:49:00.003+02:00

After spending a couple days in Santorini with the boys, we all hopped on a ferry to Ios for a night of debauchery. Ios is a smaller island half way between Santorini and Naxos and consists only of beautiful beaches, beach parties, and discos. We arrived early afternoon and went straight to the main beach of Mylopatos where hundreds of young people had already gathered for a beach party straight out of an MTV Spring Break special. There were people around a pool, in the sand, and an amazing DJ pumping out the beats all day.

Once the sun went down, everyone moved to the small village filled with bars and discos. The tiny streets got jammed packed with people as everyone moves from one drinking establishment to the next while everything stays open all night long. Then, when the sun comes up people move back to the beach and it starts all over again. It truly is a 24 hour party and an island filled only with young people. I fully understand why people call Ios 'the Ibiza of Greece'.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Ios - Island of debauchery

2009-08-08T18:46:00.002+02:00

Meeting up with the boys in Santorini

2009-08-07T15:55:00.003+02:00

The island of Santorini in Greece is truly paradise. Eva and I started our Greek adventure by joining up with the Basque boys (Jontxu, Ivan, Josu, Flo, and David) in Santorini for some good times. However, we had to endure the nightmare of getting to the island before we could live the dream. We arrived in the Athens airport late and discovered that the metro to our hostel was under construction, so we had to take a bus to Syntagma Square and then take a short metro ride to our hostel. But, by the time we got to the metro, it had closed for the night, so we hoofed it with our luggage and managed to find the hostel after going the wrong way and seeing the Temple of Zeus. Once we found our hostel, we were informed that our room was in another building and we got lost...again... with all of our luggage. When we finally got to our room, it was approaching 2am and we discovered there we two boys already in it. Apparently it was a 4-person-mixed-dorm room. Luckily, they turned out to be quite nice. Well, one was American so he didn't count, but the other was Australian and we made fun of the American together which is always an enjoyable pass-time. We managed to get 2 hours of sleep before we had to get up to be at the port at 6am (our ferry was leaving at 7am). We managed to make it to the port on time, but couldn't find our gate since the port in Athens is GIGANTIC and no one knew anything. We eventually found our port with 10 minutes to spare only to find out they had cancelled our ferry and there were hundreds of other angry passengers already filling the empty seats on other boats. However, Eva and I got lucky and were able to find tickets for 8am. At least we thought we were lucky until we discovered we were on a smaller boat which meant it rocked like no other for 7 hours. The other bigger boats were much smoother and only took 5 hours. Moral of the story: never book with SeaJets.

We turned a horrific shade of green along with all other passengers. When we finally made it to paradise where the boys were waiting for us. So we showered, and headed out to rent some quads to go the Red Beach. But... our quad (the blue one which we requested because we thought the blue one was cooler than the yellow ones) broke down after we got half way to the red beach. At this point, Eva and I were thinking Greece was a bad idea... But, we eventually made it to the Red Beach and began to realize how beautiful Santorini really is and stopped running into so many problems.

The next day we went on the popular Volcano Boat Tour which I would recommend to anyone going to Santorini. We set sail at 11am and made our first stop at Nea Kameni (the Volcano) and climbed to the top. The neat part about the volcano is that it's still active! While hiking up the volcano we discovered a hole about a foot deep that was emitting an impressive amount of heat! (Really Jontxu discovered the hole by almost falling into it, and then almost falling into the large crater behind him. The tour guide kept very close eyes on him after that.)

The next stop was the hot springs on the other side of the volcano where the water was red. To get to the hot springs, we had to jump off the side of the boat (definitely a few meters drop) and swim a bit to get into the sulfur and iron water. It was strange to jump into cold water and them swim into warm water just a few meters closer to shore. After the hot springs, we stopped on the small island of Thirassia to have lunch in the village of Corfos. It was a change from the other villages because it was completely void of anything tourist-y. Just a small and quaint place with nice local people. Then, we got on the boat once more to go to our last stop of Oia, which, in my opinion, is the nicest part of Santorini. If you've even seen a picture of Santorini you were more than likely looking at a picture of Oia. It's the village that is completely full of the little white cave houses with blue doors and is home of the famous sunset. To get there we had to take a donkey up the steep-steep cliff. Riding a donkey was an interesting experience to say the least. The view from the donkey was quite amazing at times (unless your donkey stops to let all the other donkeys pass in front) but you had to feel sorry for the poor donkeys that had to carry us up there. I just wanted to give them water. However, being in Oia was truly breathtaking. One day when I no longer want to be an engineer, I plan on moving there and opening up a small shop along the street where you can see the amazing sea view out the open door.

Meeting up with the boys in Santorini - Part 1

2009-08-07T15:47:00.002+02:00

Meeting up with the boys in Santorini - Part 2

2009-08-07T15:46:00.002+02:00

Paella festival in Getxo

2009-07-26T15:11:00.005+02:00

Saturday was another BIG DAY consisting of the Paella festival in Getxo, midnight beaching, and another jaiak (festival) in Gorliz. It was an amazingly good time. The paella festival is based solely around the making and eating of Paellas. There's an official Paella contest, where people (who are actually good at making paella) compete and then sell plates of their paella for €1. However, there were many (MANY) people like us (Eva, Marta, Leire, Cecilia, Aitor, Javi, Josu, Emanual, Iker, me and many more) who set up a tent, prepared sangria and a not-so-professional paella, and kept it just for ourselves.

We arrived Saturday morning to claim the site we rented and set things up. By noon we had multiple buckets of sangria and the fields were packed full of people doing the same things. There were also many txosnas that had been set up so as you walked around the fields you could stop and listen to music and dance in the outdoor bars. Also, the fields were located along the river bank and the views and walks from along the bank were beautiful.

After dark the paella festival started to thin out a bit and everyone that was left moved to the txosnas. We packed up our site and headed down to the beach in Algorta (one of the neighborhoods in Getxo) for a midnight swim. The water suprisingly wasn't that cold (by my Canadian standards anyway) and then went to the mellow bar on the beach for some hot cider before we went all the way to Gorliz (close to Plentzia) for the jaiak (festival) there. It was a great day filled with ridculous amount of sun, food, and sangria.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Paella festival in Getxo

2009-07-26T14:56:00.002+02:00

More concerts and Santurtzi

2009-07-19T19:42:00.005+02:00

The last week was filled with concerts and jaiaks in Santurtzi. After spending a very windy late afternoon at the beach with Eva recovering from the night before and having to get up for school, we went for delicious Vietnamese food and then to see her Mother (who used to be the lead singer of Mocedades) perform in Santurtzi. She really has a beautiful voice. She performed some songs from Mocedades and some great classics translated into Spanish. I enjoyed seeing the concert with Eva.

On Saturday, I went to see Mago de Oz, a Spanish Rock/Folk band that was a mix between 80s hard rock and folk music consisting of rock fiddle and rock flute, in Baralkado with Jontxu (my roomie, not Eva's boyfriend), Sandra, Javi, Santi, David, Gorka, and Patri. One of the songs was reminiscent of The Final Countdown with interludes of rock flute and fiddle. The singers were big guys with big hair that could truly belt out a rock scream and head bang like there was no tomorrow. It was pretty awesome! You can see one of their singles here.

After the crazy concert in Baralkado, we went to the jaiaks in Santurtzi where there were SO many people. Unlike Wednesday, it was impossible to dance at the outdoor bars, or even move. But Sandra and I ran into her friend Pedro from Columbia so we went with his friend to practice my salsa skills...I'm still terrible. I may be a hopeless case when it comes to latin dance. Gora Santurtzi!

Hasta la proximá,

Kathlene

More concerts and Santurtzi

2009-07-19T19:34:00.002+02:00

Conciertos de Santurtzi

2009-07-16T20:45:00.004+02:00

This week marked the beginning of the jaiaks in Santurtzi. Santurtzi has one of the bigger jaiaks in The Basque Country with rides, games, txosnas, and free concerts during the week. On Tuesday, Eva, Marta, Carolina and I went to see Carlos Baute (see his latest single here) in Santurtzi. It was my first Spanish concert and it was interesting. It was typical Spanish-romantic pop complete with a lot of fan fair and dancing. However, Carlos Baute seemed to think that he was God's gift to music. I've never seen someone shaking their hips in skinny jeans be more full of themselves. It was pretty hilarious.

On Wednesday, Eva, Leire, Sandra, Patricia, Javi, Jontxu, Ivan, and I went to see The Village People!! That's right, The Village People are actually still around and are performing again. Though they may be old, they still have an amazing stage presence! It was a much better concert! I had such a good time even though I may have been the only one who understood the band when they addressed the audience. But, I translated for my friends so I wasn't the only one cheering at the appropriate moments. After the hilarious and thoroughly entertaining concert, we went for drinks and to dance at the txosnas. I attempted to learn how to salsa, but I'm really not a talented dancer. However, at a truly Basque txosna there was a basque band playing and I was able to teach Ivan how to polka (traditional basque music consists of a lot of accordion), so maybe I have some talent haha.

Of course, because this is Spain, the festival/jaiak continues 24 a day for the 10 days it's in Santurtzi, so even at 4am we were able to ride the rides or dance the polka on a Wednesday. Summer in The Basque Country is most certainly not filled with sleep and rest, but is absolutely filled with activity and fun.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Conciertos de Santurtzi

2009-07-16T20:42:00.002+02:00

Pamplona for San Fermin a.k.a the running of the bulls

2009-07-13T11:55:00.006+02:00

I went to Pamplona for San Fermin a.k.a. the running of the bulls this weekend. Very unfortunately, Eva couldn't make it. But Sandra, Javi, Ivan, Santi, Patricia, David and I went without her. And what an experience it was! The amount of people there alone was quite the spectacle. Thousands upon thousands of people pack every street and plaza of the small city. San Fermin (who is the saint that is celebrated during the outrageous week) starts every year on July 7th with the lighting of a rocket. After the rocket is launched, there's the tradition of 'fuenting' which is jumping off of the fountain in the main plaza. This tradition started because of an American who jumped off the fountain and died. So now, people jump off the fountain every year (I don't understand). Then the chaos begins and doesn't stop for anything until the 14th rolls around. The bulls run at 8am every day, the city is littered with seven giant stages that pump out the tunes 24h, and all of the bars and the pubs stay open 24h. You can't escape the party. And you don't sleep. We arrived at about 4pm and kept going until we made it to our bus home at 11am the next day. Some people just pass out in the field and wait for the next night, but there's no way I could've handled two nights of insanity.

Also, there are people from all over the world. Everyone comes to see the running of the bulls, even though it's next to impossible to actually see the bulls run. Most people watch the run from a bar at 8am. However, if you're determined enough, you can camp out all night along the street and try to hold your place for the morning (my friend Marek did this and I stole some pictures from him and put them in the slideshow below). But, you have to keep in mind that bulls have hopped the fence and these spectators have been horribly injured. So... maybe the bar isn't so bad. I find it amazing that every year, people die (this year one died from a horn injury to the neck) or suffer terrible injuries, but it just keeps on going. I guess the Spanish like to live life dangerously.

But... wow... San Fermin.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Pamplona for San Fermin a.k.a the running of the bulls

2009-07-13T11:52:00.002+02:00

Mungia Jaiak

2009-07-05T15:52:00.003+02:00

This weekend the Jaiak (which is Basque for festival, roughly) was in Mungia, so the girls and I went to Mungia for an evening to celebrated both the Jaiak (whichever saint was being celebrated this time) and CANADA DAY!!! We caught a bus from Plaza Moyua after having GIANT food for dinner at Deluxe. The bus was completely packed with only twenty-something people, all carrying makings for kalimotxo (which, if you forget, is Coca-cola and red wine). It was an interesting ride to say the least.

Mungia was a cute town with some interesting architecture and a GIANT M that we got our picture taken in front of. The jaiak was in a large field in the middle of the town, filled with people, a concert stage, txosnas (outdoor bars complete with dance floors) all around the outside of the field, and some occasional sad fireworks in the sky. It was nice to be able to enjoy the ambience of multiple discos outside where the smoke of the Europeans doesn't hover around and stick to your clothes, and you don't get so warm being surrounded by so many people in a closed space. Although, it didn't get below 24 C that entire night.

The beginning of the jaiaks has most certainly changed the atmosphere in the Basque country, with festivals up and down the coast. Next weekend is San Fermin!! On Friday, I'm off to Pamplona in Navarra to witness the running of the bulls!! The week after that, the festivals continue in Santurtzi with The Village People performing on July 15th haha. Can't wait for either!!

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Mungia Jaiak

2009-07-05T15:43:00.002+02:00

Dr. Dalai and his family in come to Bilbao

2009-07-04T21:57:00.004+02:00

I had a VERY busy week. Dr. Dalai and his family arrived Monday morning after spending a week in Italy and a couple days in Barcelona. We all spent the rest of the week seeing Bilbao and some of the surrounding coast. On Monday, I took them to Getxo to see Puente Colgante, enjoy some of the beaches, and have some delicious ice cream from the new port. Tuesday was spent at the University where Dr. Dalai gave a presentation and got to know the lab, faculty, and Eva who may be his future visiting student. After the university, we went to the Guggenheim and enjoyed the new exhibit by Cai Guo-Qiang who does all of his art with gun powder, and was responsible for the amazing opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. It was really quite interesting, especially for modern art. We saw everything in Bilbao from Gran Via, to El Corte Ingles, to the ribera, to Casco Viejo and made a day trip to Mundaka to enjoy some of the coast and a typical Basque village. They also got to see my flat and meet my roomies over dinner at Bilbao's only Indian restaurant. It was Jon and Ibai's first experience with Indian food. Dr. Dalai and his family seemed to enjoy their stay in Bilbao quite a bit. Also, after translating for an entire family for a week, I think I can officially say that I speak Spanish. My communication skills seem to have improved a lot.

Being a tourist in Bilbao again was interesting. The city has changed a lot now that it's summer. In the slideshow below, I included the first picture I took of 'Puppy' by the Guggenheim, and you can see how much he's changed in the four months I've been here.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Some Bilbao in the summertime

2009-07-04T21:46:00.002+02:00

The perfect day

2009-06-28T15:50:00.006+02:00

Yesterday (and part of today) was a perfect day! By day, I literally mean 24 hours, where 22 of those hours elapsed from the time I left the flat shortly after 8am Saturday morning until I returned to the flat shortly after 6am Sunday morning. It was a day that was packed full of adventures and fun! After I left the flat on Saturday morning, I headed to the metro for the commute to Plentzia to meet up with 11 other people from the lab. Once we were all together, we rented some kayaks for the morning. The adventure company provided us with everything we needed and made us look very professional, then, drove us close to Butron Castle in what we thought were Jurassic Park vehicles. I only got a glimpse of Butron Castle but what I did see was breath taking and I will go back there just to see the castle in the near future.

After a quick lesson, our guide got us all in the water and we headed down the river back to the sea by Plentzia's beach where we started. Eva and I shared a boat, which was a bit of a gong show. Eva sat in the front and was terrible at looking out for rocks and sand bars, so we hit a few things and got stuck on two sandbars. I sat in the back and wasn't very good at maneuvering us through the harbour of boats that we had to go through. But we laughed the whole time and had a lot of fun, nonetheless.

When we had de-saltified after the kayaking, we made our way to Eva's to have a BBQ in her backyard. Koke and Rober BBQed all sorts of meats, sausages, and vegetables and it was all delicious! Then, Eva and I surprised Carolina with cake for her birthday and she got serenaded in three languages - Basque, Spanish, and English. After digesting the huge meal, some of us enjoyed the sun and the pool while others enjoyed a siesta on the lawn.

Eventually, Leire, Naiara, Jon, Ivan, and other friends started to show up, and some of the people from the lab went home. Eva, Sandra, and I ventured to make a large batch of Sangria despite that none of us knew how to, but it turned out to be delicious!! With plenty of beer and Sangria to enjoy, the pool party continued well into the night. Eva's backyard is on top of a hill over Sopelana in Urduliz, so we could hear the concerts from the Sopelana festival and at midnight we had an excellent view of the fireworks from the pool.

Around 2am we decided to pack up our large group of people and head to the festival down in Sopelana. Here the streets were packed with people, crazy-loud music, and SO many bars - outdoor bars, indoor bars, and a variety of bars that were both indoor and outdoor. It was the first official festival of the summer; San Juan starts it all, and then they continue in different places around the metropolitan all summer long! I love living in a place where there are fireworks at least 3 nights of the week, everyweek, all summer long!!

We finally decided to call it a night around 5am and managed to get back to Miribilla around 6am. Wow, was I TIRED!! What a day! We couldn't have asked for better weather and everything from kayaking to fireworks to great people really made the day absolutely perfect!

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

The perfect day

2009-06-28T15:33:00.002+02:00

San Juan - June 23, 2009

2009-06-24T20:49:00.002+02:00

Yesterday, June 23, 2009, was the longest day of the year a.k.a. San Juan and it was an excellent day! In the afternoon, Ibai picked me up from the university and we went to Sopelana to enjoy some sunbathing on the beach (not the nudist beach, thank goodness), some swimming in the salty water, some beers in our favorite bars, and supper in an Aussie-surfer restaurant (but the food was really quite Spanish as were the people working there... we weren't really sure why they claimed it was Australian). Then, the girls came to Sopelana for the festivities of San Juan!

San Juan is the celebration of the longest day of the year. Large bonfires are lit to represent the sun so that night never has to come, and you can enjoy light for the entire longest day of the year. As soon as the sun started to set, the sky started to fill with smoke. Every couple hundred meters, there was a bonfire from the coast to the center of Bilbao, and I'm sure much farther than that. By the end of the night, when we were taking the highway back home to Bilbao, the visibility was horribly reduced and the smell of bonfire wafted into the car through the vents. It was really quite remarkable. I imagine that the entire metropolis burning to the ground would have had a similar effect.

Now, I know what your thinking - if there are so many bonfires, how do you choose which one to go to? Well, that's a good question. It involves a lot of careful thought and a bit of strategy. I had stated that I wanted to enjoy my first San Juan bonfire along the coast, which was widely accepted amongst my friends, and then we discovered that one of the bonfires offered FREE hot chocolate! So, clearly our search for the perfect bonfire was over. I should note that hot chocolate in Spain is not some crappy powder mixed into hot water or milk. Oh no!! Here, hot chocolate means HOT chocolate. Real, delicious chocolate heated up until it's liquid. It truly is an inspiration for attending a bonfire. Not to mention I had forgotten my coat at home that morning, and only had my beach towel (conveniently a Canadian flag that allowed me to 'represent the homeland ') from the earlier beach going and was a little bit chilly before the fire really got going.

This is a tradition that I'm bringing home. Next year, San Juan in Saskatoon and you're all invited!!

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

San Juan - June 23, 2009

2009-06-24T20:37:00.002+02:00

Freaky Party in Portugalete

2009-06-21T00:29:00.004+02:00

I went to a 'freaky party' with Eva, Leire and Naiarra on Friday night in Portugalete. It was a birthday party at a bar called DINK (yes, that was seriously the name of the bar) that was closed for the party. The birthday girl was a girl that Eva plays basketball with and a 'freaky party' meant that everyone was to dress up as a celebrity that was notorious in the press for their issues. There were some Paris Hiltons, Amy Winehouses, Pete Dohertys, a Georgie Dann, and many others. I went as Courtney Love and Eva as Shakira. It was awesome to have a bar to ourselves, with some hilarious and great people. I had a crazy fun night.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Freaky Party in Portugalete

2009-06-20T20:24:00.002+02:00

Lekeitio, Bizkaia, España

2009-06-15T12:07:00.003+02:00

On Saturday, Marta and I left the land of 'muchas gracias' and entered the land of 'eskerrik asko' in Lekeitio. Lekeitio is a small fishing village on the coast about an hour from Bilbao and is truly Basque. Basque separatism was very noticeable here and 'non da Jon?' was written all over the place which means 'where is Jon?' in Basque. I'm not sure, but I think this has to do with the protest from families that have ETA sons in jail in France and southern Spain. The Spanish government has placed offenders from the ETA in jail far from their families even though the law clearly states they are to be in the jail closest to their families. Basques strongly disagree with this as it should be the offenders that should be punished in jail, not the families of the offenders who wish to visit them (not to mention that offenders from other parts of Spain who have committed the same crimes aren't subjected to this same banishment). Another possibility is it could have to do with the recent overthrow of the basque political party by the 'puta españoles' or the 'fucking spanish'. In a recent election, the basque political party won the seat of president of the Basque Country (of course), but then, the liberal and conservative Spanish parties that were also running for the seat, conglomerated into one party after losing the election as seperate entities to claim a higher percentage of the votes (by a very small margin) and create a spanish government in the Basque Country. So now, my neighbor, Francisco Lopez is the president of the Autonomous Basque country. This is very negative to the Basque's as it threatens the future of the Basque language. Recent (well not that recent) spanish government in the Basque country (Franco) implemented genocide and that's the reason spanish is so widely spoken in this region today. And now the new government threatens Basque schools claiming that introducing spanish into these schools is to 'live in harmony' as Franco's government had said in its time. The interesting part, is the liberal and conservatice parties that have joined as one in the Basque country are at each others throats in Madrid and the rest of Spain. But enough with the political rant, and back to Lekeitio.

Marta and I arrived late after having many problems with our transportation. First, we tried to catch the bus from Abando, but realized the internet had led us astray and the bus didn't leave from Abando station, so we made our way to Zabalburu to catch the next bus an hour later. Once on that bus, we got delayed as there was a large accident in one of the highway tunnels. The police told the bus driver to go another way, but it wouldn't have got us to Lekeitio or to the other stop we were suppose to make, so the bus driver gets out of the bus (leaving it on the edge of the scariest cliff) to argue with the police. Finally, we got to pass, but only after the bus driver did some crazy 8 point turn on this narrow road with a 500ft drop beside it. Marta and I thought we would never make it to Lekeitio, and said it better be worth it! But, as it turned out it was! The beaches were beautiful, the island was interesting, and the water was a great temperature! I also got to see 'the most impressive church in the Basque Country' - The Assumption of Santa Maria of Lekeitio which had flying buttresses.

We had lunch in an ETA restaurant called Batzokia which was delicious. We had lasagna, Dorata (a typical Basque fish), and selva negra (delicious chocolate-type cake) for desert. Also, in the evening we discovered an amazing open-air bar on the top of a cliff surrounding by nothing but beautiful views. The bartender and owner of the shack-bar was crazy but truly hilarious. He had pictures of Charlie Chaplin and Humphrey Bogart on his wall, and we got into a long discussion (in spanish) about whether or not one of them was better. In the end we agreed that if both were books, reading Charlie Chaplin would be preferable, but Humphrey Bogart was still Humphrey Bogart. During this conversation he made us the world's best mojitos! So Marta and I enjoyed the views with a couple mojitos and could've stayed there forever.

When we got back to Bilbao, I discovered that I had locked myself out my flat, and both of my roomies were two hours away. So, I spent the night with Marta and her hilarious family. They were kind enough to lend me some pajamas and give me a toothbrush, and feed me a delicious lunch the next day. However, the experience was surreal. I haven't lived with parents in five years, so when Marta's mom barged into Marta's room to get us out of out tiny twin beds in the morning even though we didn't get home until 4:30 am, I was quickly reminded of being a teenager all over again. So strange. Lekeitio was fabulous but everything that surrounded it was what Marta and I referred to as 'Que disastre!' But Marta and I had fun through all of the mishaps, nonetheless.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Lekeitio, Bizkaia, España

2009-06-15T11:31:00.002+02:00

Friday evening in Bakio

2009-06-14T20:38:00.003+02:00

Friday after work, I went to Bakio with my roommate, Jontxu, and two of his friends from work, Igor and Nerea. Bakio is close to Mundaka, but is a more commercialized version. The town of Mundaka is nicer, but the actual beach in Bakio is nicer and much larger. The first thing we did was go to the beach, enjoy some sun on the +30 day and also some of the water. Afterwards, we went to the outskirts of the town to Bar 01, which boasted beautiful views of the mountains while we enjoyed some drinks and pintxos and then went to dinner at the most amazing restaurant on the coast. The atmosphere and views were incredible. Close to the restuarant was San Juan de Gaztelugatxe which, in my opinion, was by far the highlight of Bakio (although, I believe Gaztelugatze may be considered part of Bermeo which is the next municipality). It's a church, well actually a hermitage, situated on top of a island connected to the mainland with rock stairs (almost 300 of them). It's believed to date back to the 11th century and be connected to the Knights Templar. Here is a youtube to give you a better look at it. But be warned, the accompanying music is lame.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3oHTZDAONk.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Friday evening in Bakio

2009-06-14T20:33:00.002+02:00

The day Diana became a doctor

2009-06-11T16:45:00.006+02:00

On Tuesday, Diana presented and defended her thesis in the afternoon and became a doctor! Everyone from the lab and some of her friends we there to see her presentation and celebrate afterwards. The thesis defense is a bit different here than at the U of S, and I think perhaps a bit easier. Here, instead of limiting the time you have to present, they let you talk and talk and talk for as long as your want, then the panel of advisors comment on your thesis and presentation and ask only a couple questions. In Canada you only have a 1/2 hour to present, and then the panel of advisors attacks you with what seems like thousands of questions to determine whether or not you truly know the work your presenting. However, Diana did very well during her presentation and we were all very proud of her.

After the presentation we all went out to lunch to our usual restaurant for celebrations which always has delicious basque food. Then we met some more of Diana's friends in the new port in Getxo for some drinks (and some of the best ice cream I've ever had while we waited for people to show up). We went to a pub called 'Silver's' which was completely nautically themed. It was such a cool pub.

On a completely unrealated note, I want to point out that, as you can see from the pictures below, the lab where I work (lab 2) is obviously the 'cool lab' with all of the 'cool scientists'. (Introducing the word 'cool' to this lab has been hilarious - everything has become the 'cool (insert object)' and better than the (insert object) in lab 3, 4 and especially lab 1. I love the way spaniards say cool - it's more like CUUUel.) I'm not looking forward to returning to the lab at the U of S. The lab that is dark, dingy, filthy, and has less english speaking people than here. But, I am looking forward to seeing Dragan and Richard again. I do miss the conveniences of lab techs and chem stores. Can't have your cake and eat it too, I guess. I still disapprove of this saying. Why would anyone want cake they can't eat?? Wouldn't it just get moldy and gross and eventually you'd have to throw it out? What's the point of this cake??

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

The day Diana became a doctor

2009-06-11T16:01:00.002+02:00

Kafe Antzokia

2009-06-09T23:14:00.003+02:00

Last weekend, I went out for a girls night with Eva and Leire. First, we met for dinner and then we made our way to Kafe Antzokia where we met up with Naiara and Ana. Kafe Antzokia is an old theatre that has been turned into an amazing disco. There have been many great bands play there and it holds a Studio 54 feel. It was an awesome place to spend a Saturday night! When we were there, there was this Awesome-crazy-dancing-guy up on the stage who just danced and danced and danced all night long. He had at least 20 years on everyone else in the club, and became almost a mascot throughout the night. He pulled me up on stage, and I ended up dancing with Awesome-crazy-dancing-guy. So strange.

Kafe Antzokia was an awesome experience I would recommend it to anyone going to Bilbao, and it is somewhere I will definitely go again. But, not with heels. Dancing all night in heels was a bad idea. I could barely walk to the taxi stand when morning came.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Kafe Antzokia

2009-06-09T23:10:00.002+02:00

Beachin in Sopelana

2009-06-04T12:15:00.004+02:00

Yesterday, Eva and I went to Sopelana for the afternoon. We wanted to go one of the beaches there (there are 5) that had been recommended by our friend Andrea. We found a beautiful beach completely surrounded by cliffs with nice water, so we settled down for the afternoon. After suntanning, swimming, and walking along the beach, we ended up having a siesta on our towels. When we woke up, there was an old man who had put down his towel right beside us, and... was naked. Then, all of a sudden we noticed that we were surrounded by quite a few naked people. Apparently, we were at a nude beach. I think there's a moral to this story: you have to be careful which beach you fall asleep on, otherwise you may wake up to a naked old man, spread-eagle next to you, and will have nightmares about it for a long time. Eva and I decided that next time someone recommends a beach for us, we'll check a map to make sure we're at the right one!!

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Beachin in Sopelana and kickin it in Bilbao

2009-06-04T11:59:00.003+02:00

Ibilaldia Festival in Galdakao

2009-06-01T10:49:00.003+02:00

Sunday was the annual Ibilaldia festival in the province of Biscay (the province I live in). Ibiladi means 'walk' in Basque, and the Ibilaldia festival is to celebrate Basque culture and raise money to help preserve the basque language (the money goes to the basque foundations and schools in the basque country). Every year all four of the provinces in the Basque country have a festival equivalent to Ibilalbia in a different town. This year, Biscay's festival was in Galdakoa. When we (Eva, Marta, Cecilia, Itxaso, Iker, Emmanuel, Javi and I) arrived in Galdakoa we were given a map that directs you on the walk around the town. (I'm not sure how long the walk is...10 or 12 km I would guess.) As you walk, there are places to stop, enjoy food, booze, concerts, and small parades - all in Basque fashion. At Ibilaldia everything is Basque. The bands sing in Basque, the food is only traditional Basque food, the booze everyone is drinking is kalimotxo (a coke and red wine mix), and all the signs are in Basque. I learnt an important new Basque phrase "eskerrik asko" which means thank you very much.

In the afternoon, our group of eight met up with Andrea, Bizbal, Iker, and Ricardo and later Jontxu and his friends. We enjoyed some really good music - even though I couldn't understand any of the lyrics, I enjoyed the music itself. One stage was playing 'popular' english music translated into basque which was horrible. If you thought listening to 'achy breaky heart' in english is bad, you should hear it in Basque! I tried taloak for the first time (basque chorizo in a basque flat bread), and drank kalimotxo like a true Basca! The strangest thing about the festival is that you couldn't buy or find water - only booze. But, walking around in +28 and drinking coke with wine made me want water. I had to walk up a giant hill to find a garden hose to get water! Maybe water isn't traditionally Basque.

It was an excellent weekend! And it has been confirmed, I need stronger sunscreen here.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Ibiladia

2009-06-01T10:46:00.002+02:00

Mundaka - 5 euros well spent

2009-05-31T01:50:00.002+02:00

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!!

2009-05-31T01:41:00.002+02:00

A beautiful day in Bilbao

2009-05-31T00:36:00.004+02:00

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!!

2009-05-31T00:31:00.002+02:00

Vitoria-Gasteiz

2009-05-24T18:45:00.002+02:00

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

2009-05-24T18:40:00.002+02:00

Bilbao Basket, Galician food, and Mount Artxanda

2009-05-20T20:27:00.004+02:00

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

2009-05-20T15:15:00.002+02:00

Bilbao at night from Mount Artxanda

2009-05-20T15:11:00.002+02:00

Balmaseda and the medival market

2009-05-17T13:57:00.004+02:00

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

2009-05-17T13:53:00.002+02:00

Final Copa del Rey: Bilbao vs. Barcelona

2009-05-14T19:08:00.007+02:00

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

2009-05-14T19:07:00.002+02:00

Athletic Club Bilbao

2009-05-13T11:32:00.011+02:00

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

2009-05-03T21:05:00.010+02:00

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

2009-05-03T21:01:00.002+02:00

Hair, Capoeira, and a night after a burnt kitchen

2009-05-03T18:31:00.003+02:00

Weekend with the girls

2009-04-27T09:52:00.006+02:00

I spent the last weekend out and about with the girls. On Thursday, I attended my first ERASMUS party with Leire and Naiara which was 80s themed and at The LOFT. ERASMUS is the European Union's exchange program for all international students, so the party was littered with people from all over the world, however, I was still the only Canadian. Though, I did find a group of Americans from El Paso and Chicago. They were easy to find, as there were the only other people who cheered when 'The Safety Dance' or 'Tainted Love' played. It was a good night, in which I concluded that American's who study internationally are good people, and confirmed my suspicion that French men are CREEPY! There was one who insisted on following me around and kissing my hand repeatedly. No one understood why, but it was kind of funny, because he would randomly show up and interrupt all conversion to kiss my hand. So strange. On the way home from the night of 80s music, I discovered what I believe is to the Spanish version of 7/11. As the convenience store doesn't exist in Bilbao, they compensate with a 24 hour vending machine that have an address on the street and is encased in cement. Also strange.

On Saturday, I went to Eva's basktelball game with Leire in Sopelana. Then Eva and I went for dinner and met up with Marta. We were planning on having a low-key evening, but we ended up meeting up with some of the people Eva, Leire, and Marta went to school with. So, we went to Casco Viejo with them to a place where there are large tables to sit around, drink kalimocho (a mixture of cheap red wine and coke - it sounds disgusting but is actually really good and very very cheap), watch football, and play cards. Then, we went to some bars in Casco Viejo. We discovered one that served Pitxiflu, and since I had never tried it before, everyone insisted that we all have one. Pitxiflu reminds me of Mexico. You put your head on the bar while they poor liquor into your mouth. Then, the bartender puts his hand over your mouth and shakes your head until you swallow. This is when Eva and I knew we had failed in our attempt to have a low-key evening. Pitxiflu was a bad idea. After that we ended up going to a couple bars in Casco Viejo, and then continued on to Abando. It was absolutely pouring rain and we all got completely soaked!

In the bars in Abando, Andréa (a cool girl in the group who recently became a dentist) and I ended up being Samantha and Angela from Canada later in the evening. This started because everytime we went somewhere new, some guys we didn't really want to talk to would come up to us to ask where I was from. Eventually, Andrea started to say that she was also from Canada and would only speak english while I would speak the 'better' spanish haha. It was a fun group of people to be in, and even though we planned on having a mellow evening, it turned out to be a lot of fun.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

PS. Next weekend is a long weekend, and I'm off to Madrid!!

Weekend with the girls

2009-04-27T09:48:00.002+02:00

Zorionak Zuri/Feliz Cumpleaños/Happy Birthday

2009-04-21T21:30:00.006+02:00

On the last Saturday of Easter holidays, I went to the surprise birthday party of Jon a.k.a. Eva's Boyfriend a.k.a. Jontxu (the Basque equivalent of Jonny) a.k.a Pedro Picapiedra (in España The Flintstones are Los Picapiedras and Fred Flintstone is Pedro Picapiedra). The party started at Eva's house, where we all gathered to wait for Jon and Eva to show up after the Bilbao Athletica soccer match. When the car pulled up we all waited in the dark and waited to sing Happy Birthday in Basque (zorionak zuri, zorionak zuri...). After Jon got over the initial shock, all 16 guests enjoyed a big dinner of tortilla española, bocadillos, homemade pintxos, bruschetta (which no one had tried before) and two birthday cakes. Eva made a rice cake (typical here) and I made a chocolate cake (very exotic here). Both were great successes even though we were both terrified that we had made horrid cakes. There are no cake mixes here, of course, that would be convenient.

After dinner, the party continued at Eva's for awhile, and even included 'Singing Star'... karaoke for Playstation. It got just terrible haha. Then we headed to Sopelana to party on the beach. There are several clubs and bars that line the beach in Sopelana and all had a more laid back feel then the larger clubs or those in Bilbao. The second bar we went to was one called Cafe Americano and there was hockey on the tv! I couldn't believe that I could watch a Flames game at 5am, but what was more unbelievable was that I ended up explaining hockey to several sports fans!

I had a great time, as I do everytime I'm with mi cuadrilla (my group of friends). I got home at the latest hour yet after going to breakfast with Jon, Eva, and Pive. But, I have to say, I'm getting used to the schedule here! I have come to except that Sunday afternoons just don't exist, and that Saturday is a double day.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Zorionak Jontxu

2009-04-21T21:23:00.002+02:00

Mountain climbing in the Basque Country

2009-04-17T21:40:00.006+02:00

Today, I went mountain climbing for the first time. It was an interesting experience. What I saw was absolutely amazing, but as I sit here writing this, I'm not 100% sure my legs won't just fall off. I am absolutely exhausted.

Eva, Diana, Aingeru, Aitziber, Alex, Roberto, Aimera, and myself started our journey to the mountain at 9 this morning, and made it to the national park by 10. Then, it was up to the top! First, we trekked through what I not-so-fondly like to call the "Terrible Forest of Mud" which was just like it sounds. It was a steep incline that consisted only of mud and rocks since there had been a lot of rain over Easter and the trees in the forest didn't admit sunshine. It was treacherous and next to impossible to find a safe place to step. I was the first to both end up ankles+ deep in mud and fall, but fortunately (for me) not the only one to do so.

After the Terrible Forest of Mud, we entered a clearing or pasture that had the beginning of some magnificent views. Also, the sun wasn't hidden by trees, so the earth was nice and dry. This clearing took us to a steep slope of rocks for the final ascent to the first peek. The rocks were a bit scary from time to time as they weren't always stable, but we all made it to the top of the first peek! Here, there was a stone archway to walk through, and the views were, of course, spectacular.

Next, we headed down the backside of the mountain a little ways, until we started to head across and up the mountain to go see a cave. Most of this journey was very rocky and quite difficult. I'm not sure which is worse, slick mud or wobbly rocks...call me crazy, but I like the ground under my feet to be stable. However, the cave was cool. We camped out there for a few minutes to have a snack, drink some water, and do some spelunking. There were no bears living in the cave, but there were some drawings on the walls which were obviously the first signs of Basque civilization... but I'm not sure what reindeer type creatures had to do with the Basques.

Next, we had to do some more climbing down, and up and around the mountain. We encountered all sorts of crazy things like a hole that literally seemed infinite and a tiny stone house that was actually in a state of livability. Apparently, there are tiny houses of all sorts scattered around the mountains for people to stay in case they get lost and have to spend the night on the mountain. Good to know.

Eventually we came over a ridge that opened up into a grassy valley between two peaks. We went down into this valley and found another little house, this one with some tables outside, so we sat down for a lunch of bokatas (sandwiches made with a loaf of french bread. Eva and I bought some delicious cured meat and cheddar ("Canadian") cheese for our bokatas the night before after having a drink with Leire in Algorta). During lunch, there were all sorts of horses and sheep kicking around in the valley and all the horses had cowbells around their necks. So, all you could hear all throughout lunch was cowbells, and all I could think about was "I gotta have more cowbell!" Unfortunately, my Spanish-speaking friends have never watched the American-version of SNL. They, of course, have their own Spanish SNL.

After lunch, we started heading back to the vehicles. It was quite a hike, but it was the easiest part. Here is where we saw the most beautiful views in my opinion (see pictures in the slideshow of the can-can and what not). Also, here is where you could view the mountain that is said to look like 'Mari' the dominant women in Basque mythology and was supposedly the goddess of the Basques. See the picture below (sorry for mispelling mythology in the photo edit).

All and all, a very interesting and cool experience. I'm glad that I can now say that I have climbed a mountain in the Basque country. But... I think it would be very difficult to persuade me to do it all over again.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene