Vandrelysten – Aching for the Distance
Spain
Spanish Bull-Boards
Pamplona, Spain – November 14th, 2010 Since arriving in Spain, I’ve seen the simple but striking outline of a black bull emblazoned on t-shirts, keychains, and bumper stickers. It seems to be every bit as strong a national symbol as the Spanish flag itself – in fact, the two are often combined, especially for sporting … Continue reading
Fresh Bull Eggs and Googly Eyes
Bilbao, País Vasco, Spain – September 12th, 2010 Just steps from Bilbao’s old town, we visited El Mercado de la Ribera, which claims to be the world’s largest covered market. It’s hard to find independent confirmation of this claim, but the Guinness Book of World Records did list it in 1990 as the biggest covered … Continue reading
Vitoria of the Bean Eaters
Vitoria-Gasteiz, País Vasco, Spain – September 11th, 2010 This weekend, I visited Vitoria (Gasteiz in Euskera), the capital of the Basque Country. Like other parts of the region I’ve visited thus far, Vitoria charmed me with its duality – the medieval alongside the strikingly modern, the way children laugh and play in the fountains as … Continue reading
Basque Church
Where: Zumaia, Spain When: November 2010 Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T1i ——————————————- I took this photo on a stormy November day, when a Basque friend had offered to show me some of the small villages that dot her region. Despite the weather, and although her car broke down the day before we’d planned to leave, … Continue reading
Cumbres Borrascosas
Where: Irati Forest, Spain When: October 2010 Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T1i ——————————————- I took this picture while hiking and picking mushrooms in the Irati forest. The fog was so thick that day that for a long time all we could see was the path at our feet and the occasional feral pony. The cold, … Continue reading
The Witch Caves of Navarre
Zugarramurdi, Navarra, Spain – December 7th, 2010 In the extreme north of Navarre (a state in Northern Spain) is a little town called Zugarramurdi, home to 218 people and, four hundred years ago, one of the biggest and bloodiest witch hunts of the Spanish Inquisition. Ultimately, forty suspected witches were found guilty and sent south … Continue reading
The Castle of Olite
Where: Olite, Spain When: November 2010 Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T1i ——————————————- One morning at dawn, I climbed all the way up to the highest tower of the Castle of Olite for this view of the palace, the sleepy village below, and the wide agricultural fields that are just becoming visible on the horizon. According … Continue reading
In Ochagavía
Ochagavía, Navarra, Spain – December 8th, 2010 For lunch on the second day of our road trip, Marketa and I stopped in Ochagavía, the most prominent village in Navarra’s Salazar Valley. We walked alongside the river, admiring the traditional architecture and taking pictures like crazy. Then we found a reasonably priced sidrería (Cider-house) to eat … Continue reading
Sea, Sky, and Sculpture in San Sebastian
San Sebastian, País Vasco, Spain – August 31st, 2010 San Sebastian seems to be famous for a dizzying number of things: blue waters, stunning vistas, a calm beach here, a surfing beach there, amazing seafood, delicious pintxos, an international film festival, lovely sculptures… and from what I could tell from a single day trip, its … Continue reading
Bilbao – Bigger, Brighter, Better
Bilbao, País Vasco, Spain – September 12th, 2010 To think I’d heard such nasty things about Bilbao. In our geography of Spain unit Junior Year, we’d been told nothing more of it than that it was Basque, northern, industrial. Lacking in charm. Even Ana, my landlady, had said, “Go to the Guggenheim. The Guggenheim is … Continue reading
