Joe Guerricabeitia originally posted this on the Seattle Euskal Etxea website. I really enjoyed it and, with his permission, repost it here. America is a nation of democracy. The Founding Fathers designed it so; Alexis de Tocqueville praised it. During the last half century America solidified this democracy such that every American man, woman and […]
About 6 years ago, Egunkaria, then the only daily newspaper published fully in Basque, was shut down on suspicions of ties to terrorists. Between then and now, no trials had occurred and it was thought that essentially the matter had been dropped. However, now, 6 years later, those who worked at Egunkaria are indeed being […]
A couple of panoramas of Donosti, from Mount Igueldo. Incidentally, I made the panoramas with the software Hugin, which is awesome for stitching photos together.
During my last trip to Euskal Herria, I made a point of traveling from Munitibar, where my dad is from and where I was staying, to Donosti via the coast. It’s a trip I’ve made several times in the past and well worth the cost of a rental car, but this time I tried to […]
Jon Zuazo, a friend of mine in Munitibar, Bizkaia, just finished renovating his family’s ancestral baserri, Aixabide. He has taken pains to use as much of the original wood as possible, beams that are literally hundreds of years old. In showing me his house, he recounted some of the history, a history that I found […]
Euskal Musika, (Basque-language pop, rock and folk) has flourished for four decades, but the past 10 years have seen a musical and lyrical maturing. With the end of the era dominated by Negu Gorriak, Hertzainak and Itoiz, Basque music searched for a new touchstone identity and came up with a multitude of them. In this […]
Florence Destin wrote to tell me about the clothing company 64. 64 is the region number of the Atlantic Pyrenees department in southwest France. Their clothing features designs that emphasize those values traditionally associated with the Basques — food, sports, and more. The brand is well known within France, but the company is hoping to […]
Here are a few links I’ve run across that I thought were worth sharing. Pelota is immensely popular in Euskal Herria. Most evenings I was there, a match was being shown on the TVs of most bars. Even though cesta punta — jai alai to the rest of the world — is the most flashy […]
As I mentioned earlier, a couple of weeks ago, I spent a week in Munitibar, the town my dad grew up in and where his brother runs the Herriko Taberna. During that week, something like three people died, including the oldest resident of the town (who was 98). Of course, for each, there was a […]
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 […]
