Vivo en Bizkaia (y otros sitios tambien)

I am back in Bilbao, not in el resi this time but the Hotel Barcelo Nervion.

And it's raining - hard!

The weather for tomorror is an 'orange alert' which i think means it will be very bad or it will rain oranges all the way from Valencia.

Last night met up with TC and CC in CV and over to Mungia today for lunch - curri, claro!

Semana Santa is in full swing and it can be a little unnerving to bump into a group of penitents wandering along the street in full regalia and trademark pointy hats on their way to or from a procession. 

I was confused by a recent email from CC who said that she was flying to Gatwick from Bilbao later this year for fish and chips on the pier.

I was confused because as far as I know (and I should know) the only cheap way to fly direct from Bilbao is to Stansted.

Then I checked out the new Clickair site. 

And from 30th March they will be starting a London Gatwick - Bilbao service. And back of course!

Which is just WONDERFUL because Gatwick is a mere 30 minutes by train from Brighton compared to over two hours by car or God knows how long by train, tube, train to London Stansted.

Handy for anyone thinking of living in Bilbao and sometimes working in England.

Oh that would be me! :) 

Just for a change I am moving again.

This time to just around the corner.

But still with the intention of moving much further away soon... 

Why does this country have to be so grey all the time?

Hmm. Big. And in America. What else can I say?

Tee hee. Working. Three months. Going soon. Will find out what the deal is tomorrow.

See what I mean about meeting me before I wander off somewhere else? You thought I was joking didn't you? 

Here are some Basque words for storms. Anyone who has lived in Euskadi will know why these words are very handy!

Ortzantz - 'thunder'

Hortzgorri - 'a red cloud'

Ortzi - 'sky' or 'rain cloud'

Ortizkara - 'time when a storm is brewing'

Orzoski - 'calm air'

I cannot claim to have diligently researched these words of Euskara myself but found them in a very interesting book called "Mother Tongues, travels through tribal Europe" [Amazon link] by Helena Drysdale.

The book covers many of the more interesting languages in Europe and I found the chapter about Euskal Herria very interesting.

There is also a mention of zirrimirri (aka sirrimirri) which has been mentioned in this blog before. Although looking back 'milli chilli' was quite a good one too!

I did not get on a plane!

My route was:

Walk to Brighton station at 6 am.

Get the 6.24 to London Victoria.

Get the Circle Line from Victoria to South Kensington.

Get the Piccadilly Line to Heathrow Terminal 1,2,3

Get the A10 bus from just next to the tube (yes you can pay by Oyster, 90p!) to Stockley Park.

Did some work.

Came back. Three and a half hours there, three hours back. 

If I have another weekend as boring and humdrum and tedious as this one then.... I don't know! The monotony was only broken by a wander over to Hove Actually to see Yoga Chica for a coffee.

The trouble is whenever I have a coffee here, even with a mate I have not seen for a while, I always compare it to the experience of having a coffee in Bilbo. And it just isn't the same.

Of course the reality is that you could substitute Bilbo in the previous sentence with a lot of other places in Europe. Or just generally not here.

I know for the moment I need to be here to earn pennies, but I seriously wonder how long I can stand it before something interesting / different / fundamental happens which will make life more fun!

All of this is not made any better by the idea of a super commute to Heathrow tomorrow.

Anyone who wants to flee the tedium and general lack of energy in this country please apply within.

And no I am not apologising anymore. 

PS If you do not / can not flee the country but still want to explore a better way to live then get in touch too!