Our night in the Parte Vieja started off at a cocktail bar, Arraun, where everyone else (I’m a beer and kalimotxo drinker) had some of the fanciest drinks I’ve seen in quite a while. It was cool to find such a non-traditional spot in the heart of all of these pintxo bars. But, really, those […]
After La Perla and our brief hike up Mount Urgull, we were ready for a night out, celebrating our trip and one of our party’s birthday. And what better place to celebrate than the Parte Vieja of Donostia? When I lived in Donostia, my friends and I spent quite a few nights wandering the bars, […]
My first stay in the Basque County began in the city of Donostia. I really didn’t know anything about the city and I ended up staying in a flat in the Egia neighborhood. I would walk, weather and time permitting, through the tunnel that connected Egia with the downtown, and along La Concha to classes […]
I ran across a few articles dealing with food and wine in the Basque Country that I thought were particularly interesting. First, in this article at Financial Times, Paul Richardson describes his adventures in San Sebastián’s Old Town, the Parte Vieja. The interesting spin here is a so-called pintxos passport. A company, San Sebastián Food, […]
It’s been a while since I’ve been able to do any updates. I hope to do a series of them over the next few weeks and get reasonably “caught up”. “We need to turn the page. But we should read it first.” –Gorka Landaburu. To understand the recent history and current reality of the Basque Country, […]
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 […]
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 […]
(I couldn’t resist the pun.) Some big news for the Basque Country’s biggest cities. First, Donostia has been chosen, along with Wroclaw, Poland, as one of the two European Capitals of Culture in 2016. EiTB has the news here. This means that for the year of 2016, Donostia will host events that highlight Europe’s cultural […]
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 […]
