Basques around the world

Hi Basques,

Day three of Jaialdi promises Basque sports galore including some of the biggest names in the world of Herri Kirolak and the NABO Pelota tournament.

Wednesday night, meanwhile, traditionally a big night, was apparently rocked harder than ever thanks to the likes of Amuma Says No and the Oinkaris. Basques All Around the World group members Katie D’Angelo (remember her?) and Jose Antonio Alcayaga III were there to soak up the atmosphere and give their take on the  events of the evening.

Meanwhile Kepa Junkera, who was in Boise earlier this year and went down a storm, has been busy playing gigs in Catalonia, Caceres… you name it. He’s also been busy on his blog, with two new posts: One is an interview he gave to Biscay newspaper Deia on July 8^th. Another one is further news about his and Xabier Amuriza’s latest combined work BETI BIZI.

More news soon.

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Hi there –

Loads of Blog news today Basques.

Firstly, we’ve got a brand new blog written by English San Sebastian based chef Jon Warren. Jon runs a company called San Sebastián Food, a world-class bespoke food and wine travel company. You might remember we told you about him teaming up with Paddy Woodworth, to offer small group visits around the whole Basque area. Jon’s blog – entitled Discover the Basque Country – will take you behind the scenes on a series of these tours.

Our other (Basque) food lover Tamar Marino’s latest post on our Basque Fed blog takes her into the heart of the Basque Country and its food as she tells us about her trip inland.

Our Pelota-loving Londoner Tiffany has written two important posts about the latest happenings in the Manomanista. After favourite Aimar Olaizola’s serious injury at the weekend, it looks as though Arretxe will be stepping into his shoes.

Tomorrow is an important day for Alava – San Prudencio is their saint’s day and they celebrate it with style and gusto. Find out why mushrooms and cooked snails will be so important to the province tomorrow.

As we’re talking about food, you might know that El Bulli is no longer officially the world’s best restaurant – it’s been taken over by a Dane. Two Basque restaurants – Mugaritz and Arzak – are still in the top ten.

That’s all for now.

Agur.

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Good afternoon Basques!

How are you feeling today? Any plans for Easter? If you are planning to visit the Basque Country, there are many places you can visit and we are sure you will love all of them! Besides, according to weather forecast we will have settled weather mostly cloudless in the Basque Country this Easter.

In addition, if you like Basque cuisine, American Tamar Marino provides us the second part of her latest installment on the Basque Fed blog. She tells us about the importance of peppers in Basque cuisine (part 2) and if you like this blog, have a look at the rest of our blogs about the Basque Country we have.

And to finish with, according to a study made by Eustat, Basque average income rose by 27% between 2003 and 2006.

Have a nice day and see you tomorrow.

Agur!

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Good evening Basques –

We’ve more than 2,200 members in our Basques Around the World Group and we’re still going strong. We really enjoy receiving your comments and contributions and look forward to receiving many more.

So let us know what you think of three interesting news items we’ve had today:

Firstly, Basque cookery once again enjoyed international fame, this time at the hands of none other than the BBC! But rather than Michelin-star restaurants or pintxos, this report looked at another important part of our tradition: the ‘txoko’, or gastronomic societies.

You will no doubt remember the 47 tense days reported here by eitb.com when the Basque fishing vessel the ‘Alakrana’ was hijacked by Somali pirates? Now those seven weeks are to become the subject of a brand new film entitled ‘Alakrana’ from the pen of Basque screen writer Jorge Guerricaechevarría, who wrote the multi Goya Award-winning Cell 211.

Another Basque branching out into international waters is Bilbao-born surfer Kepa Acero, who’ll be heading off in May around the 5 continents of the globe to face whatever nature has to throw at him, as well as 5 world-class waves. You’ll be able to follow his journey – entitled 5 Waves, 5 Continents – on his website.

That’s all for today – let us know what you think!

Bihar arte.

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Good day to you Basques from a beautiful sunny day in the Basque Country,

Some important news from the basketball court today, three matches to be precise. The good news is that Bizkaia BB managed a nail-bitingly close win over Murcia, though the same could not be said for Caja Laboral in their match against Asefa Estudiantes or Lagun Aro GBC against Xacobeo Blu:Sens.

An exciting new exhibition comes to Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum, which is displaying the work of Anish Kapoor, one of the most influential sculptors alive today. Read about the exhibition and see images of some of his works here.

And if you’re feeling peckish, American Tamar Marino provides her latest installment on the Basque Fed blog. This time she tells us about the importance of peppers in Basque cuisine.

Lastly, a couple of items we forgot to mention yesterday: Firstly, Athletic Bilbao’s draw against Sporting Gijon and the Basque tuna boat ‘Txori-Argi’, which escaped a pirate attack in the Indian Ocean.

That’s all for now. See you Tuesday – Asteartera arte!

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Welcome to the week Basques.

We’ve now got a total of 2,053 members in our Facebook group, “Basques Around the World”, which we created as a place where all Basques, wherever you are, could meet on-line and share news about the Basque Country.

Some better news than yesterday on the sports front as both Caja Laboral and Bizkaia Bilbao Basket managed wins in the ACB Cup.

And talking of sport, Londoner Tiffany posted her latest Pelota installment on our blog ‘Dos Paredes’; this time about a match between Gonzalez and Laskurain in Urretxu.  In other news, a short film about the same sport has received an important award.

On the subject of awards, Spain’s ‘Oscars’, the Goyas, presented 8 prizes to Spanish film ‘Cell 211’ on Sunday, including one for Basque actress Marta Etura (see photo), not the only Basque competing on the night.

Our other adopted Basque, Tamar Moreno, has written a long and interesting explanation about one of the Basque Country’s most typical food items served at one of its most iconic buildings.

And other gastronomic news is that the kitchen of one of the Basque Country and the world’s most prestigious restaurants – run by world-class chef Andoni Luis Anduriz – has been badly burned in a fire.  Let’s hope it’s up and running again soon.

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Hello Basques around the world and welcome to our new blog!

Due to the centenary of the iconic balustrade of La Concha beach in Donostia-San Sebastian the Caldereros association paid tribute to its creator Juan Rafael Alday last week. It is the absolute emblem of the city.

Tamar Marino, a native girl of New Jersey (USA) who is now living in Donostia-San Sebastian leaves a new post entitled “A different kind of bubbly” in her blog Basque Fed and talks about Basque ’sagardotegi’, the Basque word for ‘cider house’ (in Spanish it’s ’sidrería’).

You can also enjoy this video about a parody between the city and the countryside in Donostia-San Sebastian.

As the Guggenheim Bilbao is hosting an exhibition on the North American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, the Navarre Basque Association of Architects offers guided visits to constructions influenced by his work.

Basque PM Patxi Lopez defended at the Informal Meeting of Ministers for Competitiveness dinner that is being held in Donostia-San Sebastian “the other Basque Country that deserves to be recognized”, apart from the news related to “the tragic chronicle of ETA that has been behind us for over the past years”.

The Jazz cycle kicks off with Hindi Trilok Gurtu, who has collaborated with John McLaughlin in whose trio he flourished as the featured soloist for 4 years. Joe Zawinul, Bill Evans, Dave Holland were all attracted to Trilok’s burning sense of rhythm, deeply rooted in the Indian tradition.

That’s all for today, thanks for being there!

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