Basque Country Live

After my Erasmus adventure last year, I knew I would someday go back to the Basque Country. The climate, the people, the food, the culture, the cities, the beach, … too many reasons not to come back. A training period at EiTB was the ideal solution to explore Euskal Herria some more.

Koen and I said Gipuzkoa goodbye and moved up north to the inner city of Bilbao (Bizkaia) in the Abando district. An opportunity to live the city life style to the fullest, while we are not restricted by long distances and bus lines (our last stay was in Bergara, approx. 50 km from Bilbao). Bilbao itself has enough to offer, as we knew already.

Tastebuds

Our apartment lies in Indautxu, one of the two neighbourhoods of Abando. It is ideally situated in the heart of the city with everything within walking distance.

Abando by night © Wiki

Culturally and gastronomically this is going to be a welcome break from the everyday life back home. My first bite in a pintxo yesterday was a delight for my tastebuds. Don’t get me wrong, Belgium has some great dishes, especially in winter, but the Basques simply take cooking food to another level.

Last time my cultural visits in Bilbao were limited to the unavoidable Guggenheim. This time I’m going look for some alternatives like the Museum of Fine Arts (with a great permanent collection)  or the beautiful Teatro Arriaga. A music concert (Santana 27, Kafé Antzokia) here and there would be nice as well.

The inside of Teatro Arriaga © Astenagusia

¿Que?

My Spanish language skills upgraded from ‘terrible’ to ‘understandable’ which eases social converse and brings with it the opportunity to connect a bit more with locals. But I have still a very long way to go until I can master the language.

Of course the climate is a positive change as well. Although there’s only a small difference of 5°C in comparison to Belgium you notice an immediate shift when you get of the plane. Not exactly Meditarianian but good enough for me.

We’ll see what this city has in store for me…

See you next time!

Agur!

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Being car-less blows! You’re bound to busconnections and time schedules, which can be very frustrating at times. Sanne was very excited about her Bilbao sleepover weekend last week so she convinced me to do the same. Read more…

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One of my favorite things to do is going to concerts and discover new music. Since I’ve been here I haven’t had the chance to do so, until last weekend! Read more…

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A summary of this weekend’s gains: the discovery of Kafe Antzokia – one of Bilbao’s coolest music venues, a fun and entertaining Teenagers-concert, an insane revelation named Crystal Fighters – electronic music combined with traditional Basque instruments, and the long-anticipated book The Death of Bunny Munro by Nick Cave. Read more…

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As I had predicted, I’m short on time this week. The last days I had to divide my spare time between schoolwork and my grandparents. They had arrived in Arrasate on Tuesday, so after school Niké and I went to visit them in Hotel Mondragón, where they had booked a room for a few nights. Read more…

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