Basque Country Live

The weather yesterday was very bad, but I dint want to sit at home and went with my fried to SPA. We went to San Sebastian’s SPA at the coast called La Perla. It is very old and luxurious, before there were relaxing only very important and rich people. Nowadays it is opened to the public.

It has a many jacuzzis, swimming pool, gym under the water, different saunas, rooms for relaxing and a very, very beautiful view on a sea. After I got very warm I decided to make something crazy. So, we run into we sea. The water was about 6 degrees and it was raining like cats and dogs.  But I’ve got amazing feelings.

I would like to visit La Perla once more and I strongly recommend you to do this as well!!

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Madrid at night is also gorgeous. Big city lights make you feel cosy. There are a lot of Christmas decorations as well and companies such as: Coffee with cinnamon and other spicy stuff and cream at Sturbucks café.

We went at San Miguel Market. Great place to eat and drink in the evening with friends. There are located different tants with food and drinks. For example, tant with cheese and special wine for that and so on.

It was also great morning in Madrid with nice breakfast. The most typical to eat in the morning is churros with hot chocolate. It is soo tasty, but very fatty, so, you can fulfill your stomach for the whole day.

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It was the first time in my live i went to surf. And it happened not just somewhere but in one of the most popular places in the world, where surfers are coming especially to catch the vawes in Zarautz, Basque Country, Spain.

We organized a two hours class with two great teatchers. At first, I was thinking that i wont go to the water, because it was rainig so strong and the wind was blowing like crazy. We put our suits took board and went to the beach.

At the begining, we were practising on the beach, making some funny but usuful exersices. After we went to the water which was 16 degrees. You dont feel any cold any more, you are just very exited and want to cach your first vawe, what is almost impossible…

We were in water two hours. I was trying to stand for some second on a bord hundrers of times but only 3 of 4 time I could do that. This is a great feeling then you are standing on a board and under it is running a strong vawe. I, actually, was thinking to wait and catch bigger  vawes because the bigger the vawe the better you can stand.

Now I can understand why people are doing this kind of sport. I wish I could do this one more time.

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My love to the nature became stronger and I decided to visit also a cost of  BC. In Estonia I live ten minutes to the sea, so I really miss it. But I can say, that you can not compare the sea in BC to the Baltic sea. There are different mountains and islands nearby.

There is a 2.8 km long beach in Zarauz – the largest beach in Gipuzkoa. It is a very romantic to walk through a promenade and watch how waves are moving and listen to the music of a sea. In this village there are a lot of bars and clubs just near the beach, so it is cool to party there in the summer.

There is even a special road which goes through mountains and cost, so, every year hundreds of people do that trip walking and exploring the nature for some weeks.

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Sometime ago, me and 4 other Erasmus students – Fleur, Viktoria and Wilco  went to explore Arrikrutz caves. It was a great experience. Because never in my life Ivisited such a big cave. In Estonia there are some caves, but they are very small.

We went there with Ander, Itziar and Nekane. Ander and Itziar were our guides and showed us most of the cave galleries and Itziar told us about cave historycal past. It was really nice experience. And something that  never stop to amaze me is that the beauty of the nature in the  Basque Country.

After our visit to the caves me, Viktoria and Fleur went with Ander to Arantzazu. That place is also very beautiful and fascinating . Especially the view of the valley. That day we were very amazed.

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I think that anyone who comes to visit BC can not stay indifferent to the nature. This is the first time in my live when i felt butterflies in my stomack because of a beauty of nature.

It was very spontanious when we decided to go to the mountains. We went by car to Oñati, in the way of Arrikrutz caves (I will write about these caves next week). The sightes around the Oñati are amazing. So, we parked our car beneath Orkatzategi mountain and began our trip.

It is not difficult to climb, especially with a nice weather and a good company. It took us for about an hour to get to the top, where the most beatiful thing was waiting for us. I speak about a cave, or, actually, the caves called Aitzulo. It is so beatiful, that you can hardly discribe it. I think it’s better to see the pictures. But, when you stay there you analyze that  humanbeing is nothing infront of a Nature.

I suggest anyone to visit this gorgeous place!!!

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On Monday we had our first day at school. I was really excited because now my life here  was really beginning. Meeting the other Erasmus students and see my new school. We took the bus to Eskoriatza, because that is the town where the University is located. When is saw the building I was astonished. The building was really old with an open square in the middle. It looked really beautiful. You can see the sky while you are in the building. 

In the classroom I saw all the other Erasmus students. A lot of the students are from Holland. I didn’t expected that at all. Because the info I got said that there were 2 students from every country. We are with 2 people from Estonia, 2 from Belgium, 1 from Finland and 8 from The Netherlands. But I think we are going to have a lot of fun.  So we  are with 12 Erasmus students. 4 in Media and 8 in Education. In the beginning of october there are coming more Erasmusstudents, from other countries as well. I am really excited about that.

After we introduced ourselves we watched each other’s houses. Just to know how and where everybody is living. After that we all took a siesta. In the afternoon we went for a drink together, to get to know each other a little bit more.  In the evening we went out for a pizza with the people that are living in Mondragon. It was a really nice pizzeria. After the pizza I went home. My roommate was home and we get along really well. So we talked a lot about the Bask country and the differences between here and The Netherlands. She told me about her hometown called Bermeo. And we decided that we are going there soon because it is a really authentic and beautiful town on the coast. After that i went to bed, beacause meeting a lot of new people is really fun but exhausted.

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I went to San Sebastian with my “Laguna”. A Laguna is a buddy from the University that helps you with everything you would like to know. We took the bus and from Mondragon to San Sebastian. It took us about one hour to get there.  I wasn’t feeling very well because of the wobbling of the bus.

When we arrived in Donostia (San Sebastian in Bask) the weather was really nice.That made me feel better in a second. Cause in Holland the weather already sucks so I was really glad with the 32 degrees and full sun!!

We had to walk twenty minutes to arrive on the beach. When we got closer I already smelt the salt air that was coming from the sea. I loved it. When we arrived at the beach I was amazed. It was so pretty!! It was a bay with a little island called ´Santa Clara´ in the middle. The beach was surrounded by mountains and the sea was really blue. The first thing I did was take off my flip-flops and walk in the sand with bare feet. We walked the whole coastline with my feet in the water. Oh I was so happy that moment! My nausea disappeared like snow in the sun and the only thing I was hearing was the sound of the ocean.

After the walk we went for a bite to eat. We went to a beach tent. We ate a bocadillo. You really get a big one so it was way too much for me. Well better to much than to little. After lunch we walked to the other side of the beach where we saw a few tourist shops. And afcourse I am a real tourist so I loved the shops.

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My roommate took me shopping in Vitoria. it’s about 35 minutes driving with the car. The shoppingmall was a really big building in the outer ring of Vitoria. They a lot of stores. Also a lot of the same stores we have in Holland, like the H&M and The Zara.

When we got home we ate a sandwich in bar Taupa. It is across my house. The owner of the bar is my roommates boyfriend. I was really hungry because it was allready ten. That is a normal time to eat here. You have lunch around three or four and dinner around nine or ten. I have to get used to that.

A lot of times they eat sandwiches or tortillas in the evening.  The sandwiches are called bocadillo’s, and you get half of a baguette. A lot of times people eat meat on theyre sandwich like pork or chicken. I had a sandwich with chicken and cheese. They also put big sweet peppers on the sandwiches.

After I had a little siesta we went out in Mondragon. Together with my roommates and Wilco we went to different bars. It is very normal here to go to a lot of different bars, have a drink in one and then go another. They call this “Txikiteo” what literally means, from bar to bar.

 The bars are very different than in Holland. A lot of them are not really nice to look at( in my opinion). No nice tables or lights . Just a room with a lot of people drinking and bright light. The music is also different. The play a lot of punk. This is the music where a lot of people listen to around here. Also a lot of people have their own band or play in one. I drunk my first Kalimotxo, this is cheap red wine with coca cola and a lot of ice and a lemon in it. It doesn’t sound that nice, i agree. But it is a really bask drink and i actually like it!!

When we got home we ate a sandwich in bar Taupa. The owner of the bar is Leire’s boyfriend.

 I was really hungry cause we had dinner at ten. That is a normal time to eat here. You have lunch around 3 or 4 and dinner around 9 or 10. I have to get used to that.

 After I had a little siesta we went out in Mondragon. Together with Leire, Oihana and Wilco we went to a view different bars. It is very normal here to go to  view bars. Have a drink in one and then go another. They call this “Txikiteo”. The bars are different than in Holland. A lot of them are not really nice to look at. No nice tables or lights . Just a room with a lot of people drinking and bright light. The music is also different. The play a lot of punk. This is the music were a lot of people listen to around here. Also a lot of people have their own band or play in one. I drank my first Kalimotxo, this is cheap red wine with coca cola and a lot of ice. I like it very much

A funny thing is that they all drink utch beer here. In every bar they have Heineken and Amstel. They also are familiar with shots. At least my roommates are:P Tequila, Wodka y lima (witch i like the most) and Wodka Negro. From the last one it is better to drink just one shot because your tong and mouth are turning black….

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We did so much things this weeks that I feel like I am already here for one month instead of one week.  So where do I start? Ah yes, at the beginning…

I arrived in Santander on Saturday morning . Together with Wilco, the other Erasmus student from Windesheim, We took a flight from airport Weeze(Dusseldorf) to Santander. I thought I was going to cry a lot saying goodbye to my mom and boyfriend, but I kept it dry! When we arrived in Santander, we had to take the bus to Bilbao. The bus took about an hour and a half to get there. The view was so beautiful. Mountains everywhere,  with a lot of green and deep valleys. In Holland everything is flat so  I was fascinated by all the pretty nature here. When we arrived in Bilbao my two new roommaes picked us up . They took us by car to Mondragon. At the way over we talked in the car. They are so funny and crazy, I think I am going to like them both very much. My house looks real Spanish with a lot of wooden closets and hooked curtains. My room is nice as well, with a big wooden closet and a desk in it. The view from of my balcony is really pretty.

You can see a couple of real Bask houses and behind that the green mountains. The first thing i did when i arrived was eating pasta and sit on the balkony! The sun was really warm(In Holland it is allready cold) and the view incredible. I think I am going to have a lot of fun here!!

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