Monday, July 05, 2004
Sunday evening--the day went back way too fast, most of the time in the computer lab with not a lot accomplished towards my project, but oh well. I was so tired, takes a day to get back to normal after trips. Like I don't get distracted easily anyway.
So spent 3 days in the Basque country. Ended up leaving Wednesday at 7:15 am since I got up early anyway. Hopped on a bus at Sants-Estacio, McDs still closed so no bfast. Almost 8 hours to Bilbao. Entering city, a lot of signs in people's windows saying "No Ruido, Carretera no" and stuff like that in Spanish in Basque. Guess the locals have trouble sleeping with the highway noise. A little disorientation originally since no tourist office at bus station but after a roundabout turn (passing Chinese rest. and little boy blowing bubbles with straw) found bus and made it to hostel. Luckily had made reservation and ended up sharing 4 bed room with just one person for 16 euros. Roommate was Korean woman in her 40s who was hiking the path to Santiago de Compostela. She actually lives in Germany now, hadn't been back to Korea in 30 yrs.
So once got things sorted out, headed for centro to find tourist office, get maps and hopefully go to Guggenheim. Sight of Fluffy very amusing--huge multi-colored dog in front of Guggenheim. Tourism office pointed out that Museo de Bellas Artes was free that day so went there instead and glad I did. A lot of impressionists, Basque artists. Side of museum glass, looking out to park which was its own museum in a sense. Bought bookmark and poster--a little unsure of latter but felt obligated since clerk went out of way to get it and immediately took it back with her to cash register.
Called Elsa from locutorio and she invited me to dance thing in Donostia the next evening. Wandered casco viejo, and came out to street where bus to hostel stopped. Was debating whether to see funicular, but luckily didn't since wasn't sure if was still running. The daylight made me lose track of time--it was almost 10 pm and it turns out the buses stopped running around 10:20 so I went back. Several backpackers got on a few stops afterward. It was pretty obvious they were headed for hostel as well. They had just arrived and were worried after hearing something about a rail strike and being stranded until July 6. I had seen signs about the strike at the local rail station but didn't know. Patches on their backpacks made it clear they were Canadian. Asked Basque guy about hostel stop and rail stop, even a few Basque words. Overall didn't hear much Basque spoken. Talked to older woman on bus who had lived there for 30 or 40 years from Aragon and didn't speak any Basque. Came down to lounge, talked a bit with girl writing in Chinese in her journal who turned out to be from Taiwan.
So Thursday after more generous breakfast at hostel than was expecting and bumping into the Canadians who had decided to check out and continue to Donostia, went to Guggeheim, with rolling backpack and all. Ended up spending more than 2 hours there. Wasn't quite as big as was expecting with respect to art actually displayed. There were several rooms with installations and projections and the central atrium made the interior considerably more spacious. Audio guide was helpful. Expensive--even with student card was 7 euros (~9 dollars) and adult rate was 12 euros. Several Lichensteins and Warhols but otherwise didn't recognize any artists. Giant red Swiss army knife with oars on the side, paintings with slivers cut in front of woman's face and stars or flowers taking up much of picture. When left was pouring and didn't have umbrella so got wet walking to tram. Stopped into clothes stores to try on some warmer clothing but ended up not splurging:(.
Wandered by Basque museum, so-so but then it was free day so couldn't complain. Workers directed me to metro, a lot faster than tram so was able to make it in time for 3 o' clock bus to Elorio, a small town a little under an hour away. As it turns out I came at a bad time--I was hungry but turned away at two places in a row whose kitchens had closed but came across a third place--Restaurante Guria--which were supposedly closed for lunch as well but offered 1/2 chicken for 3 euros--ended up including bread and potatoes as well. Yummy--didn't think I could eat that much but was starving. Workers very friendly, wife of owner came out just as was leaving and asked where I was from, what I was doing in Elorio. Walked around, quaint stone houses, old church with plaza, kids playing. Wouldn't have minded spending some time there but had to meet Elsa in Donosti around 7 so took bus from there. Wasn't exactly sure where bus stop was and driver was right on time--luckily I was able to flag him down as I was walking in that direction. Scenic route, stopping in every town, going through lush, green, mountains. Sat next to old man, wearing beret typical of old Basque men. Turns out he spent several years in U.S. as sea captain.
Got to Donosti around 7:30, called Elsa who was already there and was worried that I had gotten lost or hadn't been able to reach her cell phone. She was with boyfriend and ended up meeting up with several of her friends and some Hungarians who were playing several gigs. One at cafe next to beach which turned out to be next to youth hostel so popped in to get a map and ask about reservations. Elsa offered to let me spend the night at her place in Hendaye, right across the border in France. Went with them to Irish pub in small nearby town, where Hungarians played suspiciously Irish sounding music, dancing in tiny space filled with people. Fun.
Tired, left at almost 1. On drive back talked to Elsa and bf, a little excited about crossing border to France but of course Basques don't consider it border at all. Thought it was easier since EU didn't have formal border controls anymore and of course Franco, the dictator that wanted to obliterate Basque as well as Catalan culture has been dead since 1975 but apparently the Basques still encounter quite a bit of harassment. Apparently there are a lot more police and armed guards in that area than any other part of Spain and both Elsa and bf had had experiences of being stopped, searched and interrogated as to why they had Basque flag decals and materials in Basque in the car.
A little slow to wake up next day. Had been pointed to bus stop to Irun (turns out Elsa lives closer to border than to port with boat to Hondiarribi or train station) but Elsa ended up getting up shortly afterwards. Chatted over breakfast, turns out Elsa is "adopted" Basque, born in Bordeaux, educated in Paris, and had been living in Basque country for 15 years. And now she actually is a Basque teacher and theater/singing performer, passing on the traditional culture.
Elsa has joint custody of daughter, who was coming that weekend so couldn't spend another night with her. So she offered to give me lift all the way to youth hostel in Hondiarribia. Turns out that only members can stay at this hostel and they wouldn't let me buy a card since I wasn't Spanish and hadn't been a resident for a year. Elsa tried to talk her into it and she ended up calling 3 or 4 people but still got veto. So we went to Irun, driving in circles to find hostels there. Found alburgue de pelegrinos, closed, but obviously just for Santiago hike pilgrims. Found another hostel after another half an hour. By that point it was raining, I was hungry and Elsa had to leave since she had to pick up her daughter and pack for her vacation the next day. Rooms were about 12 bunk beds with no windows and buses/trains to elsewhere stopped around 10 so decided to keep on going to Hondarribia and Donostia to try to find something there. A little cumbersome with all my bags and tourism office told me nowhere to leave bags since people were scared of terrorists. Stopped at palace hotel which was full (like I could have afforded it) but counter girl let me keep stuff there while I went to check out camping that was near Sanctuario de Guadalupe, apparently the original virgin which Mexico's was named after. Turns out dormitorio would be 45 euros--wasn't clear if that was for a room or bungalow or what but definitely didn't sound worth it! Cheerfully told by restaurant guy that weren't serving anymmore--thought he was joking. Wanted to charge 4 euros for a small sandwich so just got water and bread from reception person instead.
Quite a long walk, sun was out, and guess I was on wrong path since no sidewalk and overgrown grass. Got lift from passing family from France who dropped me off at church at top of mountain. Beautiful view from top though church itself was pretty simple--most of inside seemed to have been cleared out, maybe in museum. Tour bus full of old French people to whom was able to ask questions in French. Ride back from another woman visiting church from Irun. Wandered old part a little more, got a T-shirt with Basque symbol, postal with escudo of Euskera and pin with Basque flag from friendly owner who pointed me towards kid sizes even though was cheaper since shirts ran large. Old castle converted into hotel and old church which was closed. Found pension at 35 euros which was nice(even Purina certified so let people bring dogs), but at that point felt Hondiarribia was just touristy and not conducive to hanging out so decided to go on to Donostia. Bus took almost an hour, passing through Irun so was glad decided not to stay there.
Bus dropped off in nice plaza, next to cartoon store with Warner Brothers and Pucca in the window. Girl from bus walked me to tourist office where I got maps and lists of pensiones. Hostel was supposedly full according to Irun hostel and wanted something nearby anyway so just started walking and buzzing different pensiones to see if they had spaces. Turned down at least 5 which were full, didn't have singles or didn't want someone for just one night. Asked one where I was turned down if he knew of anywhere that had space and he told me to come up. No elevators there and didn't want to drag all of stuff up so buzzed him again after a minute or so. Told me pension across from him had space in double free. 25 euros for a one star place didn't seem bad, especially since it was central. So set down my stuff to start exploring.
Went back to square just as stores all closing. Wandering streets, passing by many plazas, stopped at McDonalds in old former mercado but at least tried something new, Happy meal with fish sticks. Was jammed pack with locals, mostly teenagers it seemed.Walking back found Mexican restaurant, which it turned out wasn't open yet, but the owner was there, from DF and talked about her plans for the new restaurants, Decorated with pictures and ads from different parts of Mexico, picture of Pancho Villa and a Frida Kahlo painting. She had been in Spain for 3 yrs, 2 in Aragon or Asturias and one in Donostia, which she thought was beautiful.
So took meal to empty square where little kids and mom playing. In front of Monte Urgell, as usual lost track of time since it was so light but even though it said it closed at 21h, a lot of people seemed to be there so wandered up. Trees, wandering paths up mountain to statue of Jesus, small closed "castle", cannons, gazelle, mirador with beautiful views of coastline and mountains as well as a Basque flag. A little rushed since was afraid I was going to get run out since it was getting late.
Bumped into 3 women also taking pictures and looking out over city. Turns out 2 from Venenzuela, one a local, all taking intensive classes to be Spanish teachers. Local woman, Merche, explained things, pointing out English cemetery and was able to pipe in a few times to her surprise since I had learned so much from Elsa and tourist brochures. Assured me that park was open until dusk and that even if doors were closed at least one was possible to jump quite easily. It was still open so we walked out onto square again, wandered casco viejo so Venenzuelan woman could see it , August 31 street which was only surviving street after fire destroyed city post-Napoleon. M pointed out details in Baroque church with Donosti's patron San Sebastian, apparently also the patron saint of homosexuals since he got killed after rejecting a centurion's advances (bizarre logic to be a patron for not doing the act but anyway) as well as a neo-Gothic church, constructed in late 19th century. Also pointed out signs splattered with red and yellow,which she said was an insult since it represented Spain and of course you wouldn't tell a Basque person that they were Spanish. She herself had learned Basque as an adult, as part of the lost generation during Franco's regime when Basque was officially prohibited. Her students have no knowledge of who Franco was though--she said I knew more about it then they did and I speculated that maybe the parents just wanted to forget. Ended up walking along mostly empty beach with Merche, chatting about travels and asking about different things visible from beach.
After parting did a little more wandering and decided to turn in early. Found one roommate and that room had been converted into triple with missing third roommate "pobrecita que estaba cansada despues de buscar en muchos sitios" who didn't show up until 4:30 am! Ended up being irrelevant since couldn't get to sleep with all the yelling from drunks from bars downstairs. Windows and earplugs no help. Tried sleeping on floor of bathroom and hallway but that wasn't any better. Finally nodded on for an hour or so around 6 so was more than a little grouchy. Looking at guidebooks afterwards had warned about all the noise so definitely something I should have payed attention to. Had been thinking of extending ticket until 23:40 so I could have full day to explore city but didn't want to lose another night of sleep so decided to pass. Roommate (math teacher from Philly) told me about glass breaking noise had heard during night, found out from store owner tearing out fracturing glass from window that his place had been vandalized and that it wasn't an uncommon occurrence. He didn't seem to be too upset--of course the regular storefront which had quite a bit of merchandise in the window was unharmed so I guess it could have been much worse.
So off past Ayuntamiento and plazas again, sight of yet another parent guiding little boy to tree for him to pee. Walked along beach to other side to place where had hung out with Elsa, to open air sculpture and funicular to top of Monte Igueldo with some more good views of city, tower with photographs of Basque culture, amusement park, though was too old for all of rides it seemed ( <20 for tobogan). Palace Mirador and park, walking path above now extremely crowded beach. Wandering commerical district, stop to eat spinach-cheese pasta with fresh orange juice, rush to pick up bags from hostel by 2:30 then rush to bus station to get 3:30 bus back to Barcelona. Was helped along by tourist office and several other people catching bus so got there with enough time to spare to get gelato. More scenic green landscapes with deep valleys and little villages just a little ways out of the city. Stop in Pamplona, gearing up for running of Bulls next weekend. Locals starting to escape already.
So spent 3 days in the Basque country. Ended up leaving Wednesday at 7:15 am since I got up early anyway. Hopped on a bus at Sants-Estacio, McDs still closed so no bfast. Almost 8 hours to Bilbao. Entering city, a lot of signs in people's windows saying "No Ruido, Carretera no" and stuff like that in Spanish in Basque. Guess the locals have trouble sleeping with the highway noise. A little disorientation originally since no tourist office at bus station but after a roundabout turn (passing Chinese rest. and little boy blowing bubbles with straw) found bus and made it to hostel. Luckily had made reservation and ended up sharing 4 bed room with just one person for 16 euros. Roommate was Korean woman in her 40s who was hiking the path to Santiago de Compostela. She actually lives in Germany now, hadn't been back to Korea in 30 yrs.
So once got things sorted out, headed for centro to find tourist office, get maps and hopefully go to Guggenheim. Sight of Fluffy very amusing--huge multi-colored dog in front of Guggenheim. Tourism office pointed out that Museo de Bellas Artes was free that day so went there instead and glad I did. A lot of impressionists, Basque artists. Side of museum glass, looking out to park which was its own museum in a sense. Bought bookmark and poster--a little unsure of latter but felt obligated since clerk went out of way to get it and immediately took it back with her to cash register.
Called Elsa from locutorio and she invited me to dance thing in Donostia the next evening. Wandered casco viejo, and came out to street where bus to hostel stopped. Was debating whether to see funicular, but luckily didn't since wasn't sure if was still running. The daylight made me lose track of time--it was almost 10 pm and it turns out the buses stopped running around 10:20 so I went back. Several backpackers got on a few stops afterward. It was pretty obvious they were headed for hostel as well. They had just arrived and were worried after hearing something about a rail strike and being stranded until July 6. I had seen signs about the strike at the local rail station but didn't know. Patches on their backpacks made it clear they were Canadian. Asked Basque guy about hostel stop and rail stop, even a few Basque words. Overall didn't hear much Basque spoken. Talked to older woman on bus who had lived there for 30 or 40 years from Aragon and didn't speak any Basque. Came down to lounge, talked a bit with girl writing in Chinese in her journal who turned out to be from Taiwan.
So Thursday after more generous breakfast at hostel than was expecting and bumping into the Canadians who had decided to check out and continue to Donostia, went to Guggeheim, with rolling backpack and all. Ended up spending more than 2 hours there. Wasn't quite as big as was expecting with respect to art actually displayed. There were several rooms with installations and projections and the central atrium made the interior considerably more spacious. Audio guide was helpful. Expensive--even with student card was 7 euros (~9 dollars) and adult rate was 12 euros. Several Lichensteins and Warhols but otherwise didn't recognize any artists. Giant red Swiss army knife with oars on the side, paintings with slivers cut in front of woman's face and stars or flowers taking up much of picture. When left was pouring and didn't have umbrella so got wet walking to tram. Stopped into clothes stores to try on some warmer clothing but ended up not splurging:(.
Wandered by Basque museum, so-so but then it was free day so couldn't complain. Workers directed me to metro, a lot faster than tram so was able to make it in time for 3 o' clock bus to Elorio, a small town a little under an hour away. As it turns out I came at a bad time--I was hungry but turned away at two places in a row whose kitchens had closed but came across a third place--Restaurante Guria--which were supposedly closed for lunch as well but offered 1/2 chicken for 3 euros--ended up including bread and potatoes as well. Yummy--didn't think I could eat that much but was starving. Workers very friendly, wife of owner came out just as was leaving and asked where I was from, what I was doing in Elorio. Walked around, quaint stone houses, old church with plaza, kids playing. Wouldn't have minded spending some time there but had to meet Elsa in Donosti around 7 so took bus from there. Wasn't exactly sure where bus stop was and driver was right on time--luckily I was able to flag him down as I was walking in that direction. Scenic route, stopping in every town, going through lush, green, mountains. Sat next to old man, wearing beret typical of old Basque men. Turns out he spent several years in U.S. as sea captain.
Got to Donosti around 7:30, called Elsa who was already there and was worried that I had gotten lost or hadn't been able to reach her cell phone. She was with boyfriend and ended up meeting up with several of her friends and some Hungarians who were playing several gigs. One at cafe next to beach which turned out to be next to youth hostel so popped in to get a map and ask about reservations. Elsa offered to let me spend the night at her place in Hendaye, right across the border in France. Went with them to Irish pub in small nearby town, where Hungarians played suspiciously Irish sounding music, dancing in tiny space filled with people. Fun.
Tired, left at almost 1. On drive back talked to Elsa and bf, a little excited about crossing border to France but of course Basques don't consider it border at all. Thought it was easier since EU didn't have formal border controls anymore and of course Franco, the dictator that wanted to obliterate Basque as well as Catalan culture has been dead since 1975 but apparently the Basques still encounter quite a bit of harassment. Apparently there are a lot more police and armed guards in that area than any other part of Spain and both Elsa and bf had had experiences of being stopped, searched and interrogated as to why they had Basque flag decals and materials in Basque in the car.
A little slow to wake up next day. Had been pointed to bus stop to Irun (turns out Elsa lives closer to border than to port with boat to Hondiarribi or train station) but Elsa ended up getting up shortly afterwards. Chatted over breakfast, turns out Elsa is "adopted" Basque, born in Bordeaux, educated in Paris, and had been living in Basque country for 15 years. And now she actually is a Basque teacher and theater/singing performer, passing on the traditional culture.
Elsa has joint custody of daughter, who was coming that weekend so couldn't spend another night with her. So she offered to give me lift all the way to youth hostel in Hondiarribia. Turns out that only members can stay at this hostel and they wouldn't let me buy a card since I wasn't Spanish and hadn't been a resident for a year. Elsa tried to talk her into it and she ended up calling 3 or 4 people but still got veto. So we went to Irun, driving in circles to find hostels there. Found alburgue de pelegrinos, closed, but obviously just for Santiago hike pilgrims. Found another hostel after another half an hour. By that point it was raining, I was hungry and Elsa had to leave since she had to pick up her daughter and pack for her vacation the next day. Rooms were about 12 bunk beds with no windows and buses/trains to elsewhere stopped around 10 so decided to keep on going to Hondarribia and Donostia to try to find something there. A little cumbersome with all my bags and tourism office told me nowhere to leave bags since people were scared of terrorists. Stopped at palace hotel which was full (like I could have afforded it) but counter girl let me keep stuff there while I went to check out camping that was near Sanctuario de Guadalupe, apparently the original virgin which Mexico's was named after. Turns out dormitorio would be 45 euros--wasn't clear if that was for a room or bungalow or what but definitely didn't sound worth it! Cheerfully told by restaurant guy that weren't serving anymmore--thought he was joking. Wanted to charge 4 euros for a small sandwich so just got water and bread from reception person instead.
Quite a long walk, sun was out, and guess I was on wrong path since no sidewalk and overgrown grass. Got lift from passing family from France who dropped me off at church at top of mountain. Beautiful view from top though church itself was pretty simple--most of inside seemed to have been cleared out, maybe in museum. Tour bus full of old French people to whom was able to ask questions in French. Ride back from another woman visiting church from Irun. Wandered old part a little more, got a T-shirt with Basque symbol, postal with escudo of Euskera and pin with Basque flag from friendly owner who pointed me towards kid sizes even though was cheaper since shirts ran large. Old castle converted into hotel and old church which was closed. Found pension at 35 euros which was nice(even Purina certified so let people bring dogs), but at that point felt Hondiarribia was just touristy and not conducive to hanging out so decided to go on to Donostia. Bus took almost an hour, passing through Irun so was glad decided not to stay there.
Bus dropped off in nice plaza, next to cartoon store with Warner Brothers and Pucca in the window. Girl from bus walked me to tourist office where I got maps and lists of pensiones. Hostel was supposedly full according to Irun hostel and wanted something nearby anyway so just started walking and buzzing different pensiones to see if they had spaces. Turned down at least 5 which were full, didn't have singles or didn't want someone for just one night. Asked one where I was turned down if he knew of anywhere that had space and he told me to come up. No elevators there and didn't want to drag all of stuff up so buzzed him again after a minute or so. Told me pension across from him had space in double free. 25 euros for a one star place didn't seem bad, especially since it was central. So set down my stuff to start exploring.
Went back to square just as stores all closing. Wandering streets, passing by many plazas, stopped at McDonalds in old former mercado but at least tried something new, Happy meal with fish sticks. Was jammed pack with locals, mostly teenagers it seemed.Walking back found Mexican restaurant, which it turned out wasn't open yet, but the owner was there, from DF and talked about her plans for the new restaurants, Decorated with pictures and ads from different parts of Mexico, picture of Pancho Villa and a Frida Kahlo painting. She had been in Spain for 3 yrs, 2 in Aragon or Asturias and one in Donostia, which she thought was beautiful.
So took meal to empty square where little kids and mom playing. In front of Monte Urgell, as usual lost track of time since it was so light but even though it said it closed at 21h, a lot of people seemed to be there so wandered up. Trees, wandering paths up mountain to statue of Jesus, small closed "castle", cannons, gazelle, mirador with beautiful views of coastline and mountains as well as a Basque flag. A little rushed since was afraid I was going to get run out since it was getting late.
Bumped into 3 women also taking pictures and looking out over city. Turns out 2 from Venenzuela, one a local, all taking intensive classes to be Spanish teachers. Local woman, Merche, explained things, pointing out English cemetery and was able to pipe in a few times to her surprise since I had learned so much from Elsa and tourist brochures. Assured me that park was open until dusk and that even if doors were closed at least one was possible to jump quite easily. It was still open so we walked out onto square again, wandered casco viejo so Venenzuelan woman could see it , August 31 street which was only surviving street after fire destroyed city post-Napoleon. M pointed out details in Baroque church with Donosti's patron San Sebastian, apparently also the patron saint of homosexuals since he got killed after rejecting a centurion's advances (bizarre logic to be a patron for not doing the act but anyway) as well as a neo-Gothic church, constructed in late 19th century. Also pointed out signs splattered with red and yellow,which she said was an insult since it represented Spain and of course you wouldn't tell a Basque person that they were Spanish. She herself had learned Basque as an adult, as part of the lost generation during Franco's regime when Basque was officially prohibited. Her students have no knowledge of who Franco was though--she said I knew more about it then they did and I speculated that maybe the parents just wanted to forget. Ended up walking along mostly empty beach with Merche, chatting about travels and asking about different things visible from beach.
After parting did a little more wandering and decided to turn in early. Found one roommate and that room had been converted into triple with missing third roommate "pobrecita que estaba cansada despues de buscar en muchos sitios" who didn't show up until 4:30 am! Ended up being irrelevant since couldn't get to sleep with all the yelling from drunks from bars downstairs. Windows and earplugs no help. Tried sleeping on floor of bathroom and hallway but that wasn't any better. Finally nodded on for an hour or so around 6 so was more than a little grouchy. Looking at guidebooks afterwards had warned about all the noise so definitely something I should have payed attention to. Had been thinking of extending ticket until 23:40 so I could have full day to explore city but didn't want to lose another night of sleep so decided to pass. Roommate (math teacher from Philly) told me about glass breaking noise had heard during night, found out from store owner tearing out fracturing glass from window that his place had been vandalized and that it wasn't an uncommon occurrence. He didn't seem to be too upset--of course the regular storefront which had quite a bit of merchandise in the window was unharmed so I guess it could have been much worse.
So off past Ayuntamiento and plazas again, sight of yet another parent guiding little boy to tree for him to pee. Walked along beach to other side to place where had hung out with Elsa, to open air sculpture and funicular to top of Monte Igueldo with some more good views of city, tower with photographs of Basque culture, amusement park, though was too old for all of rides it seemed ( <20 for tobogan). Palace Mirador and park, walking path above now extremely crowded beach. Wandering commerical district, stop to eat spinach-cheese pasta with fresh orange juice, rush to pick up bags from hostel by 2:30 then rush to bus station to get 3:30 bus back to Barcelona. Was helped along by tourist office and several other people catching bus so got there with enough time to spare to get gelato. More scenic green landscapes with deep valleys and little villages just a little ways out of the city. Stop in Pamplona, gearing up for running of Bulls next weekend. Locals starting to escape already.
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