The day Diana became a doctor

Kafe Antzokia

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

Beachin in Sopelana

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

Ibilaldia Festival in Galdakao

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