Pamplona (Iruña)

One of Spain's most famous cities (thanks to the likes of Ernest Hemingway and the festival of San Fermines) lived up to its hype on a dreary Saturday afternoon.  A mere 2 hours from the Bilbao Termibus, this wonderful Basque city was a glimpse into a more traditional Spain that we rarely see in this part of the Basque Country.  Upon our arrival to Pamplona, we exited the superbly located bus station and into the old town for a much needed coffee, and here's what we saw.

Main plaza in Pamplona. 

Pamplona is home to the original tortilla (Spanish Omelette).

One of Hemingway's many cafe's that he visited.

A store for the street performers and hippies alike. 

The shell welcomes pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela. 

Large church at the top of the hill.

Beautifully colored buildings throughout the city.

Column fun.

Senior pictures.

Happy to see the trees changing colors in Spain.

If you get lost easily, Pamplona will have you going in circles.

A church.

One of Pamplona's many parks in and around the old town.

A stroll along the wildlife refuge of Pamplona.

What's so important?

Awww. 

Thanksgiving dinner?

Senior pictures take two.

Beautifully colored bird of some sort.  Is it a pheasant?

Artist's rendition of something along the winding streets of Pamplona.

Huh?

Some nice fat chestnuts. Not quite as nice as the rest of the Basque country's chestnutters' digs. 

San Fermin!

Of course a trip to Pamplona wouldn't be complete without a trampling picture.  

The Basque point of view

I have admittedly been having a bit of fun with my students in class and asking them some pretty thought provoking questions while taking the piss out of them.  Now I believe that there is a difference between Basque and Spanish people, no matter how big or small they might be, but I wanted to get my students' views on the matter.  Therefore, I asked them kindly to list 5 differences between Basque and Spanish people and these were some of their best answers.

The first thing my students even begin to say before I finish my sentence is "We are better".  OK, but why?  Here's a list of reasons.

1. "Basque people speak another language."  
2. "We are different"
3. "We (meaning Basque people) are not so friendly."
4.  "They have big citys but we have citys and farms, too."
5.  "The basque we ae very inteligent."
6.  "In Basque country there are a lot of mountains which are green all the trees, but in other countries in Spain there aren't."
 7.  "The Spanish people are "fachas" (They are like "Franco")."
 8.  "The rest of Spain stole the money of basque country because we have got a lot of money.  The Basque people no."
9.  "Basque people haven't got cold, because are in the north."
10. "We are near the cost."
11. "We have got mountains and natural spaces."
12.  "The basque people shout a lot."


Basic Spanish
sellos - stamps

Advanced Spanish
No está horno para buyos - I'm not in the mood

Basque
Mendietan (men-dee-a-tan)- mountains

British
I can't be bothered - I'm not in the mood

Hacering Surf, take two

I'm a firm believer that people usually do better their second time around, unfortunately I cannot say the same for myself and surfing.  In my defense, the two times I went the waves were massive and I have been reassured that I might succeed if I surf smaller waves to start.  It also didn't help that the person I went surfing with managed ride the first wave he got with little difficulty, but I'm chalking that one up to luck.  Warning, the pictures below are not suitable for those with judgmental eyes or any surfing ability, however, comments to what I'm doing wrong are more than welcome (please be gentle).

Our wonderful photographer for the day, KC. 

Group photo of the participants.

Me getting a head start to catch the first wave.

Epic fail on my part, but good work Brent. 

Quick pause for a shoot.

Notice the smiles on the boogie-boarders faces here.

And here...

And here...

Even a nice thumbs up here.

Are you sure its safe to go in?

I even drew a bit of a cheer section to start.

Yes, my eyes are closed...yours would be too if you saw what I saw - two inches of water and the ground.

It's not as bad as it looks, is it?

Enter Brent.

Some quick surf lessons from the group pro.

At least I still have one fan.

Enter lizenespana and give her a camera, its photo shoot time.

At least I try to look the part.

Flippers are sexy, or at least it would seem that way.

 Fun's over, back to the water...

OK, maybe its still fun in the water.

Pure bliss.

Basic Spanish
Gafas - glasses

Advanced Spanish
arroba - @ (old spanish originally used as a measure of weight)

Basque
Ez horregotik (Ace-or-e-got-teek) - You're Welcome

British English
Rare - cool, awesome

Budget Bound France

On the fine financial line between surviving and broke, us "auxiliars" were in need of a fun, frugal vacation.  Now due to the fact that I'm a travel freak, I'd been especially vigilant of discount hotel and flight options via e-mail from booking.com and vueling.es.  Signing up to receive deal opportunities from these companies is free and easy, not to mention a good reminder that traveling is one of my biggest goals while I'm here in Europe.  As it was, I stumbled upon a wonderful little 8 person apartment for 135 euros for 4 nights with kitchenette in Pays Basque (French Basque country), just north of Biarritz.

Beach at Ondres

Next step was finding formidable transportation.  As of recently, I've also discovered the flexibility and affordability that renting a car through amigoautos.es or sixt.es offers to large groups of people, the only catch being that having a manual capable driver 25 years of age or older can save you nearly 30 euros a day on your rental.  As is was, our group of nine managed to rent two cars for 115 euros per car for four days.  A mere 25 odd euros per person!

Location was the key to this vacation.  We were stationed in Ondres, a small town near Bayonne, which allowed us for cheap accommodation, while allowing for visits to Biarritz (30 minutes south), Bordeaux (2 hours north) and various other quaint beach towns along the way.  Other notable towns in the Pays Basque include the quaint St. Jean de Luz and an adventurers paradise, Hendaye (information courtesy of (lizenespana's posts).

After all was said and done, the four day trip costs each of us a miniscule 54 euros a person for transportation, accommodation, and gas for four days.  Most of us keeping under 100 euros for the long, beautiful weekend.

Church in Biarritz

Chateaux in Biarritz

A nice lunch by the beach

Pure bliss

Kir - Basque Cider and Cherry Liqueur "mmm"

Creature hunting in Biarritz

The view from the ferris wheel of Bordeaux, France.

Our throng strolling along the river in Bordeaux.

Basic Spanish
Soy (nationality) (pronounced like soy in soy sauce) - I am (Nationality)

Advanced Spanish
Estás ganando la ostía - you're pissing me off

Basic Basque
Ekiatz (A-kites) - Storm - A typical basque name.

British English
I can't be bothered - I don't want to do it, I don't feel like it