Basque Country Live

The previous update is already a couple of weeks behind us, so it was about time to update the Basque Country Live blog with a new post.

Already more than three months in the Basque Country, but for some vague reason Bilbao didn’t got much of my attention. Now, I know that I should be ashamed of myself, because Bilbao, it has a lot more positive points then it has disadvantages.

Music

To be really honest, I’m not the biggest music fan in the world. Radio, parties and from time to time a festival, but there it stops. I’m always up for trying new things and when Niké (and to a lesser extent Sanne) got whole excited over two bands that would be performing at the Heineken Greenspace V edición in Bilbao, I decided to give it a try as well. For one time, a more cultural event, nothing wrong with that.

After work we headed for Akalarre, the hostel were we would spend the – short – night. We were at a very tight schedule, but thanks to Bilbao’s good and fast subway system, we didn’t have to walk to whole way. Even though it is one of the tidiest subways I’ve ever seen, I still got a bit cramped, but that’s totally to blame to the feeling of being underground.

Concert

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart © SaJeh

The search for the Heineken music hall didn’t really went according to plan, but after walking in a circle for 15 minutes, we arrived at Santana 27 just in time.

The first band that preformed was Atlas Sound. Band? It was only one guy with his guitar. But he did an okay job. You have to like his indie / little bit of emo genre, because it’s not something you’ll hear on the radio every day. A typical example of the more you listen to it, the more you’ll start to appreciate it.

The next band is called The Pains of Being Pure At Heart. I would classify them as an ordinarily indie band. For me, it seemed that every song was the same and okay, if you play indie that’s probably normal, but it’s not normal anymore if the first song resembles to the second one, and the third one bears resemblance to song four, six and maybe eight as well.

Casco Viejo

Drinking in Casco Viejo © SaJeh

The famous night club Fever was just down the same street as the concert hall, but we decided to go to the old part of the town Casco Viejo. Everybody of who were planning to go to Fever, was drinking outside. At the time it seemed a bit trashy, young adults with Eroski bags filled with beers, bottles of wine and other liquors. That image combined with tuned cars and – bad – house music. No, I was glad that we decided to go downtown.

Of course by these temperatures, everybody in Casco Viejo was also drinking outside the bars, but it was a totally different atmosphere. Maybe a bit hypocrite to say it, but at Casco Viejo it is more natural to see it happen.

To make a long and tiring evening short: a lot of bars, ridiculous cheap drinks and good company. The classic example of a night well spend.

The day after

The morning after the night before – I’ve never used this phrase in a pleasant way – was a different story. Sharing a room with seven other people, it maybe was not the best idea ever. Plus the fact that the mattress felt like stone, lead to the fact that sleeping was not a genuine option.

But the clock ticks and life goes on as well, so no need to complain about it. After a quick lunch, it was time to explore the city. A lot of nice shops and they were actually open, beat that damn siesta! Next week my parents are coming over, hint hint mum and dad!

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