January 20. The day that the entire populace of the city of Donostia-San Sebastian stop what they are doing and have a massive street party that lasts until dawn. Donostia, the most beautiful city that I’ve had the fortune and pleasure to visit. January 20, the day that the city of Donostia stops and celebrates […]
Aitor Delgado recently wrote me describing his tour company, Aitor Delgado Tours, with the tag line Get a Real Basque Experience with your Personal Tour Guide. Aitor describes his goals better than I ever could: My name is Aitor Delgado. I love my country and I have been showing it enthusiastically around for more than […]
It seems like we are in a special time for Basque films. A number of projects are either in production or just wrapping up for release that promise to highlight numerous aspects of Basque culture. Here are a few that have caught my eye. The first is Basque Hotel, by Josu Venero: Basque Hotel is a […]
At a recent conference, I met a student, Ane Lasa, from the Basque Country, who mentioned she had taken her Finnish colleagues on a pintxos tour through Donosti. The tour consisted of the best pintxos at the best bars, as determined by Ane’s ama. Ane graciously shared the list with me, and I’m sharing it […]
Munitibar, the town in the heart of Bizkaia that my dad is from, is small, maybe 500 people or so. It has 3 — soon to be 4 — bars and 2 churches, an anachronism from starting off as two separate barrios that eventually merged. I often think that they have it right, a bar/church […]
I’ve decided on a new resolution, not for New Year’s, but regarding my visits to Euskal Herria. The thing is, I visit, I spend a lot of time with my dad’s family which I of course greatly enjoy, I see some friends (though not nearly all of them), and I come home. I don’t end […]
Of course, during my visit to Euskal Herria in early April, one of the topics that came up was the crisis. Spain is in particularly bad shape, with unemployment over 20% in the general populace and much higher for young men. The Basque Country is in reasonably good shape, with unemployment hovering in the 8-9% […]
TWO YOUNG COOKS WIN IV SAMMIC SCHOLARSHIP TO COOK WITH BASQUE CHEFS Earlier, I posted about the previous BasqueStage contest for young cooks to work with world-renown chefs in the Basque Country. Well, the 4th edition of the contest has just been decided and two new young men will be joining Chef Berasategui. The following […]
I first met Gontzal Aranguren maybe 15 years ago as part of what became the Seattle Euskal Etxea — the Basque Club of Seattle. Gontzal was one of several transplants from the Basque Country living in Seattle and who became an important part of the fledging club. Gontzal is an interesting twist on the Basque-American […]
I just got back from Europe, a trip that took me to both Germany and Spain. While in Spain, I visited two research centers. Both centers were very impressive, primarily because of the vision they represent. When one considers how government funded science research, even in a country like the US, is subject to the […]
