The paths I take to finding these facts of the week can be a bit tortuous, winding here and there, but they lead in the most interesting of directions. A few weeks ago, I posted about Inguma, the bringer of nightmares. One way to protect against Inguma is to say a short prayer to Santa […]
Rising out of the heart of the oldest parts of Donostia, Mount Urgull commands an amazing view of the city. Lisa and I had gone up part of it before, but we’d never made it to the top where the Castle lies. We did this time. It is a wonderful escape from the bustle of […]
The military conflicts that surrounded the Basque Country in the early 1800s changed the fortunes of many. Comrades in one war fought against each other in the next. Heroes were exiled only to be called upon again when the politics of Spain shifted. Gaspar de Jauregui saw it all. Starting as a guerrilla fighter, he […]
There are times when someone does something so singular that their name becomes associated with the act, that their name becomes an eponym. In the United States, we sign our John Hancock. A Benedict Arnold is a traitor. And McCarthyism has taken on meaning beyond McCarthy’s original campaign against communists. Eponyms exist in other languages […]
When people one or two hundred years from now look back, what will they remember us for? Out of all of our achievements and accomplishments, which will stand out? Tomas Zumalakarregi is remembered for being a preeminent Carlist general. At the same time, he is thought to be the inventor of Spanish tortilla (though there […]
1746: Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes is born in Fuendetodos, Aragón. His grandparents were from Zerain, Gipuzkoa. Goya goes on to be one of the most important romantic painters. Besides being named First Court Painter by Charles IV, Goya chronicled the Peninsular War through his art in the series The Disasters of War. After […]
