A couple of links I’ve been sent or found in wanderings of the web.

First, Louis Arriaga Jr has a fascinating story of misunderstandings and miscarriage of justice (even one of the sentencing judges felt this way, but couldn’t do anything about it).  Clearly, Arriaga is of Basque descent, though his connections to Spain are somewhat distant.  He has a site devoted to his story, but a summary of it can be found in this Phoenix New Times article.

Mugalari means “someone who crosses boarders”, a reference to the smugglers who work across the French-Spanish border.  Mugalari is also the name of a new blog, a blog devoted to showing you “other” aspects of the Basque Country, not necessarily those that would show up in a guide book.  Mugalari has traveled himself extensively and this blog is his attempt to do for the Basque Country what would have been nice for him in other parts of the world.

And speaking of visiting the Basque Country, the region of Debagoiena, which includes the famous University of Onati as well as the shrine Arantzazu, has a website devoted to tourism in the area. This includes guides, photos, and information about hotels and more to help you in your visit to the heart of Gipuzkoa.

I ran into this next site just searching for Basque images on Google.  It is amazing what you find sometimes.  I’ve often been asked, especially by adherents of the Society for Creative Anachronism, what the Basque dress of the Middle Ages was.  It’s hard to find much about that in English, though I guess I would think there is quite a bit in Spanish and Basque.  In any case, this site has quite a few images devoted to the dress of Basques from that era.  Some very interesting images.

Finally, the Basque Country, like the UK and other parts of Europe, was recently hit by some winter weather, and this blog of EiTB captures some of the resulting spectacular scenery, including this image of a snow-covered La Concha.  The Basque Country looks very different in white than it does in the typical green we are more familiar with, though just as striking and beautiful.

Anyone who has visited the Basque Country, or even attended a Basque celebration in the US, knows the central role that food occupies in the culture.  Today, the Basque Country is famous for its “new Basque cuisine,” which I did have an opportunity to try at a restaurant in Donosti (and, it was very good).  However, for the average person, what really stands out are the pintxos!

Enter any bar, in any town, and you will be confronted with a bevy of food just sitting on the bar.  Usually something delectable pinned to a piece of bread by a toothpick, pintxos are uniquely Basque.  In the rest of Spain you can find tapas, small dishes that are prepared to order and are what most tapas places in the US serve (this was how a woman from Valencia described it to me).  Pintxos are defined by the bread and the toothpick — the word pintxo means spike in Spanish.  And they are central to the bar-going experience in the Basque Country.  As you wander La Parte Vieja of Donosti, the Casco Viejo of Bilbo, or even the plaza of any small town, you stop at each bar, having a small glass of wine or beer, and maybe a pintxo.  They are part of the social txikiteo of Euskal Herria.

When I was visiting just a few weeks ago, a good friend of mine who I met in Seattle and who now lives in Donosti, Gonzalo Aranguren, took me to a couple of the best pintxo bars in La Parte Vieja (though, I’m sure, this being the Basque Country, there is a lot of debate over which pintxo bars are the best).  We stopped first at Gandarias. This place was full of people, even on a Thursday night, both tourists and locals.  In fact, we ran into one of the men who used to be the head of the Basque governments relations with the diaspora.  We had one of their signature pintxos, solomillo.  It was awesome!  We then headed to another bar, Goiz Argi, one that Gontzal’s uncle always demands to go to whenever he visits. There we had a skewer of shrimp, not the wimpy shrimp you find on salads in the US, but prawns, grilled to order and served again on bread.  I’m not a huge seafood fan, but the prawns found in Euskal Herria are near the top of my list of favorite foods (though, certainly below jamon serrano!).  Combined with some zuritos — small glasses of beer — or kalimotxos, this is a great lead-up to dinner or even a substitute for a regular meal.

Donosti is well known for their pintxo bars, but even the smallest of towns has great food.  The Herriko Taberna of Munitibar, which is run by my aunt and uncle, is a great example.  As they prepared for a busy day of people coming to town for an anniversary mass, they went all out and filled the bar with pintxos.  They had the standard tortilla, both with and without chorizo, and jamon serrano with white asparagus, mayo, and hard-boiled egg, but also more exotic varieties including beef tongue with green pepper, breaded zucchini on a bed of, if I recall correctly, scrambled eggs and mushrooms, and baby eels with garlic and red peppers.  I didn’t get to try all of them, especially considering that they were meant for the paying customers, but it was an awesome display.  My dad’s two sisters, helping their brother and sister-in-law on busy days, along with that sister-in-law were mad women, preparing food that served, along with the drink, as the center around which the entire social interactions of the afternoon revolved.  The food and drink, which facilitate the social life of the Basque Country, are such an integral part of that life that it is impossible to imagine a Basque Country without it.

I had a lot of other great culinary experiences during my week visit besides the pintxos.  As I mentioned, I got to try a great restaurant specializing in new Basque cuisine in Donosti, very near the University on Avenida de Zumalacerregui (I wish I could remember the name).  I don’t remember many of the dishes now, but there was one that was on a bed of rice, almost a risotto, and it was great.  One night for dinner, when my cousin and her boyfriend came over as well, my aunt made octopus galician-style.  I’m not a big fan of octopus, especially the texture, but it was very tasty and not at all rubbery.  And the desserts!  I have to admit, I have a huge sweet tooth and gain 5-10 pounds every time I visit, probably because I cannot resist the desserts.  Natillas, arroz con leche, cuajada (mamia in Euskara) — all are simply awesome.

If you are interested in trying your own hand at pintxos, a great site that includes lots of recipies is Todo Pintxos.

My first visit to Euskal Herria was a year spent in Donosti, trying to learn Euskara Batua and Spanish.  Since then, however, as my dad’s family lives in Bizkaia, my visits have taken me more to Bilbo.

I got a chance to visit both again last week, and both are wonderful cities to visit.  I spent a day in Bilbo, wandering the streets especially of the Casco Viejo, but also along the Nervion from the Teatro Arriaga to the Guggenheim.  Bilbo has definitely changed dramatically over the last few decades.  Once an industrial city, Bilbo has worked hard to clean up the river, the streets, and reinvent itself as a tourist destination.  Of course, the Guggenheim is the pearl in that renovation, though it continues with new apartment buildings, a new metro system, a light rail system, and, just announced, a new stadium for Athletic Bilbao.  The charm, however, remains in the Casco Viejo, with the Siete Calles and all of the shops and bars that line the streets.  It is a maze of winding streets, and I found myself going in circles more than once.  Even though it is the biggest city of Euskal Herria, it is still very walkable.  I parked in the center of the city and walked to the Casco Viejo, back to the Guggenheim along the river walk of the Nervion, and back to the Teatro Arriaga to meet a friend within a half a day.  When I was there, it was very hot, so that damped the experience just a little, but still, it was a great visit to a wonderful, and increasingly beautiful, city.

Later in the week, I spent a couple of days in Donosti, visiting the Donosti International Physics Center.  So, during the days, I was working with the great people at the DIPC.  However, in the evenings, I was able to meet with some old friends from my days in Seattle, Gonzalo and Aitor, and we spent our time wandering Donosti.  My first impression was that, despite all the great improvements Bilbo has made, there is something magical about Donosti, something incomparable.  We wandered along La Concha, just taking in the atmosphere of the place, including a great band that had just set up on the walk.  After a beer, we ended up in La Parte Vieja, which has an incredible number of bars and thus “marcha”.  The second night, we further wandered to Gros.  When I lived there, Gros was the beach that was the most polluted and only surfers tended to go there.  Since then, it has been cleaned up and is now one of the more expensive areas of Donosti.  Of course, there aren’t the tremendous changes that Bilbo has experienced (though, the area around the Cathedral has been made a pedestrian friendly center since the time I was there).  I left via Mount Igueldo, as I had never been up there before, and the vistas are definitely stunning.

To me, these two cities are two sides of a coin.  Donosti is steeped in majesty, a resort by the sea that has been host to royalty.  It’s beauty is timeless.  It represents the grandeur of Euskal Herria.  Bilbo, on the other hand, is a city that is redefining itself and, as such, represents the metamorphosis that is occurring in the entire country.  A city that was once a steel powerhouse is reinventing itself to be modern business center and a tourist destination rivaling Donosti.  It thus has a foot in both the industrial past and the technological future.  Euskal Herria is not one or the other, it is both of these cities and all that they represent.  (The Basque countryside is also an integral aspect of the Basque experience.)  A trip to Euskal Herria would be incomplete without a visit to both of these glorious cities.

Though, I have to admit, for me, there is something special about Donosti.

I just saw this on Google Alerts and thought it was great.  Whiskey Daredevils, a band out of Cleveland, I think, just toured Europe and their last show was opening for Berri Txarrak in Bilbao.  They posted about their last show in Bilbao, which was a while ago in May, on the Cleveland Scene website and their experiences with the crowd and opening for what is a huge band in the Basque Country.  This is a great read!  Sounds like they had a blast, but at the same time the expectations were so big that the guy who did the post, Greg Miller (who I think is the lead singer), describes how he had butterflies for the first time in years and how pumped everyone was.  Like I said, well worth the read.  Not much specifically about the Basque Country, but it is does describe the experiences of a smaller US band touring in Europe and Euskal Herria, which is pretty neat.  And their music is pretty cool too.

I’ve been meaning to share this set of links for a while and just thought I’d “dump” them on you before I either forget or they get outdated.

Last.fm, an online music station of sorts, has a channel dedicated to Kortatu and similar artists. I haven’t spent a lot of time with it yet, but if you are looking for some classic Basque rock, tune in here.

OK, this one I’m not sure what to make of… the concept looks intriguing, but I don’t think I understand it well enough.  Baskinbox seems to be a Basque gift box, with information about food, hotels, recreation, etc.  But, I’m not quite sure what is actually included in the box.  Can anyone help me out?

Aimee Eiguren, a very distant cousin of mine on my mom’s side, has a blog of her own, Bowl of Soul.  In her most recent post, she describes her first trip to Euskadi to visit the homes of her ancestors and shares a great recipe for Basque Omelette.

NABO, the North American Basque Organization, tries to help the various Basque clubs in efforts that are too big for any individual club.  This includes organizing summer camps for kids, hosting the national Mus championship, and much more.  On this page, they describe the ongoing effort to create a Basque Studies Consortium, the goal of which is to create a clearing house, of sorts, for Basque Studies, a place people can go and see what the most recent research in areas related to the Basques has uncovered.

The Nevada State Museum recently installed a 1902 Sheepherders Wagon, built for the Campbell Ranch.  According to the site, the first-ever sheepherders wagon was built by James Candlish of Wyoming in 1884, and it soon was adopted by sheepherders all over the American West.

Continuing the historical theme, this article in the Idaho Statesman describes the early history of the Basques in Boise, Idaho.  It focuses on their involvement in the restaurant and hotel businesses.  In particular, they quote an 1893 Stateman article that reported that “Yturraspe & Uberuaga will on Monday, January 1st, take charge of the City Restaurant and lodging house, which they have purchased from Russ Luark.”

This site, which gives a number of images on bordering of different styles, also has a page dedicated to Basque bordering.  I’m not sure how useful these images or these pages would be for one doing this kind of work, but maybe in the least these patterns will inspire.

An interesting little diversion, using a pattern you can download for free from this site, you can create a simple three-dimensional dodecahedron calendar in a number of languages, including Euskara.

The Taller de Artesania Lorratz has a great gallery of images, including paintings, drawings and mosaics.  The drawings, in particular, are of Basque buildings, with baserriak, churches, castles, and even a windmill.  The images are accompanied by the name and location of the building.  There are also some children’s arts and crafts images.

And, finally, for this update at least, NABO recently welcomed a new member to its fold.  Euskaldunak: Association des Basques du Quebec is the latest club to both become part of NABO and put a presence on the web.  The page, in both French and Euskara, seems to be still a work in progress, but there are photos and announcements regarding the group’s recent events.  Zorionak!

Finding nice overviews of the Basque Country — its history, culture, traditions, and language — is rare in English.  There are, of course, The Basque History of the World by Mark Kurlansky and The Basque Country: A Cultural History by Paddy Woodworth.  But, both of those are rather lengthy and certainly have their authors’ respective biases.

The Basque government has released a “handbook” about the Basque Country.  Entitled The Basque Country: Insight into its culture, history, society and institutions, the stated goal of this publication is to introduce the Basque Country to immigrants, the diaspora, and tourists, to give them all some insight into the place they may live, their ancestors were from, or they are visiting.

I haven’t taken a close look yet, but it seems pretty comprehensive and, furthermore, as opposed to the two books mentioned above, is from a Basque perspective.  I definitely look forward to delving into it in more depth.

A PDF of this handbook can be downloaded from the site above or a hardcopy can be requested directly by writing to an email address supplied on that site.

Thanks to John Ysursa of NABO for pointing this out!

Fresco Tours, based in Spain, is a tour company that offers tours of Spain. One of their tours, Basque in the Glory Tour, is centered on that part of the Camino de Santiago that passes through the Basque Country.  Going from Hondarribia, through San Sebastian, Orio, Zumaia, and Deba to end at Bilbao and the Guggenheim, the tour focuses on the lesser known sites along the Camino.

Fresco Tours has offered a special deal — a 200 euro discount — for all readers of Buber’s Basque Page for the September 12, 2009 Basque in the Glory Tour.  To receive the discount, just enter the code BUBERBASQUE in the Special Instructions section of the Reseveration Form.

Some photos from previous tours can be found on Flickr.

Eskerrik asko, Fresco Tours!

Chloe Freslon, the online marketing director for Hotel des Academies et des Arts Paris, wrote to tell me about the Hotel. Why, do you ask? Well, the owners, Charlotte and her husband Laurent Inchauspe, are Basque and would love to welcome more Basques to Paris. The hotel, as the name implies, is focused on art and has been decorated by several French artists. The rooms look amazing.

Details about the hotel:
Hotel des Académies et des Arts
15 rue de la Grande Chaumière
75006 Paris – FRANCE
Tel. : +33 1 43 26 66 44
Contact : Laurent Inchauspé ou Henry Mona
information@hoteldesacademies.com
www.hoteldesacademies.com

Click on the photos for a larger view.