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. 

Out again to the fuegos artificiales.

Last night I was underneath the Zubizuri bridge but didn't quite have the right shot I wanted for two reasons.

1. I didn't have the right lens (rare)
2. One of the lens I was using was playing up. Serves me right for not getting it fixed.

Anyway knowing I had the right spot this evening I went down again with the right lens and got some very good stuff. Photo on here later.

While waiting for the fireworks to being i was pondering the fact that this time last year I was doing almost the exact same thing - waiting for the firework display to start watching the river flow by - but by the Guggenheim.

I really should try and be in another city next year. But it's so hard not to be here!

Anyway after setting up my tripod I passed the time watching the people pass by, occasionally saying Hola to people. As one woman walked passed she slowed and looked at me and i said Hola. Her face looked familiar. Her and her boyfriend stopped. And they said I had photographed them at the fiesta in Vitoria last year!  

So we had a good chat, at first in Castiliano and then in English (their English MUCH better than my Castiliano!). One reason I recognised them was because they were kind enough to wait to open / spray their bottle of Cava in just the right direction for a photograph. I got some good shots so hopefully if they email me I can send them some.

They were off to see Stomp and I turned to the task in hand.

Walking back everyone and their dog (literally) seemed to be out. Today has been the first dry day and, being a Friday, people were making up for lost time. 

Tens of thousands of people were wandering to and from the fiesta, talking and just enjoying themselves in an ordinary normal way, families and boyfriends and girlfriends and groups of friends just enjoying themselves and not causing any harm to anyone else.

Lots of people - well, pretty much everyone - drinking of course but just for enjoyment, not in a rush to down as many pints of beer as possible then fall over.

As I said to my friends from Vitoria, and I have said here before, I feel safer here at night out on the streets than I do in England in broad daylight.

Whinge about England over. I have photos to look at :) 

Off to Mungia today to see California Chica (CC) and the mysterious Ursula aka Mungia Chica (MC) for paella!

I got the autobus from Plaza Moyua and for the ridiculously cheap price of around a euro was there in about 25 minutes if that.

It was of course raining so we left the main sight seeing until later.  However pictured below are two of the more well known sights of Mungia.

Why there should be a big M in the middle of Mungia is fairly obvious...

And the big E is of course for Euskara and Euskal Herria. This photo doesn't really do it justice.

Once inside CC's flat she immediately set to work making paella (after making me some tea) and I immediately set to work just loitering in the kitchen and just getting in the way.

However after an hour or so the paella was done and served up - and very good it was too!

Sarah has bought some cider which we had with our lunch. Basque cider has to be poured properly, basically you need to get the bottle as far away from the glass as possible so it creates lots of foam. Then you have to drink it quickly. In bars it is not unknown for your cider to be taken away from you if you just loiter with it - i am not making this up!

As you can see CC is doing the sensible thing of pouring the cider over the sink. I also had a go. The last time i played this game was last year at a party with Lise (aka Kalimotxo Chica now in Switzerland on a Harley apparently) and the cider was poured in the living room.

This is the real reason people don't have carpets here - so you can mop up the cider afterwards!

To finish off our meal Mungia Chica had made some tiramisu :) This was really good too, i do like some chocolate after paella. Or even before it.

Mungia Chica dishing out dessert.

I should say that I promised both CC and MC that I would not take their photographs. Er... i think this may have slipped my mind.

Anyway eskirrik asko CC eta MC!

After lunch we had a conversation about Basque woman - my theory that they are the most complex women on the planet was reinforced yet again - and then after a brief bit of sightseeing with CC I was back on the bus to Bilbo.

Does not know where she lives.

Cos if she did she would tell me.

Then I could send her some tea.

But she doesn't.

So I can't.

So there. 

This morning at 10 I hopped onto the metro and headed off to meet Maider and Janire at Etxebarri station just on the southern outskirts of Bilbao. In Brighton I used to meet them outside Boots but there is no Boots here in Euskadi so we thought the station was a better bet.

They turned up in Janire's car and we were off for a whirlwind guided tour of first Gadalkao where Maider and her family lives and then to Lemoa where Janire and her family live. 

While I have lived in Bilbao and have visited many other places in the Basque Country such as Donostia-San Sebastian and Vitoria-Gasteiz it's not often I have had the chance to have a guided tour round the sort of town where the majority of Basque's live and I had an interesting hour whizzing around while Maider pointed out places of interest.

At first the weather was really cold with freezing fog but then later on the sun began to burn the fog away and it turned into a lovely day. Then it was decided that we would go up one of the mountains that overlook Lemoa. Which is when life became even more interesting! 

Just as we neared the top of the mountain, where there was still thick snow either side of the road, the car came to a stop. Myself and Maider jumped out  which we thought might help and Maider gave instructions to Janire (photo left) while I stood and enjoyed the view over the valley :)

Despite Janire's excellent driving skills and Maider's expert advice and me not doing anything at all the only way the car was going was backwards and downhill.

I am not sure if by accident or design but eventually Janire ended up turning the car round in a 15 point turn and managed to get it pointing the other way where she parked and we walked the short distance up to the top of the mountain.

Fortunately I had worn my boots and so the going was not too bad but Maider had a really lovely pair of shoes on which were probably not ideal for walking up mountains in snow...

At the top of the mountain is a hermitage and spectacular views over the valley below.

After spending a little while on the summit we walked (well, slipped) back down to the car and drove back down to the valley below. We quickly popped into Basauri and then it was back to Galdakao to have a drink and pintxos Maider's local cafe.

Doh! 

Este martes (23 enero) estoy en Bilbao otra vez, a la residencia Blas de Otero en Calle Cortes por ocho dias (mas o menos)!

Y tambien tengo mi cumpleanos 24 enero - fiesta claro! (miercoles o fin de semana o las dos, no mi importa!)

Amigas - mensaje mi martes!

Estoy un poco entusiasmado! jejejejeje

Sheesh! :)

If you ever wonder where you are you are here! 

See you soon! 

Tarynita rang me from Bilbao which made me feel a LOT happier! Muchas gracias T3! :)

But T3 confirmed what CC told me earlier in the week that the weather in Bilbao has been hot! 84 F!

And here it is just grey and miserable. And boring.

So the longer I stay here the more I want to be there.

But maybe permanently.

So if you keep on peeking at this blog but haven't got in touch maybe you should do so sooner rather than later?

You know who you are. 

You might even be able to convince me to stay here.