Basques around the world

Good day Basques,

Welcome once again to our blog, we love to have you!

Well our other blog writers have been busy bees lately; Pelota fans now have a total of 3 more posts to read about the latest on the Manomanista competition.

Meanwhile, our Basque Tourism blog contributor Mugalari has kindly made a list of not 10 but 11 “Must Sees” in the Basque Country.

We’ve got a really special item about a new short film entitled Artzainak: Shepherds and Sheep, by US Basque Javi Zubizarreta and his colleague Jacob Griswold, about the bygone age of the Basque shepherds who emigrated to Idaho and other areas of the west. Zubizarreta and Griswold look into the hardships suffered by men who left their country in pursuit of a better life.

We’ve got some updated news about the Basques chefs – Aduriz and Arzak – who made it into Restaurant magazine’s Top 10 best eateries in the world, and remember we told you yesterday about the San Prudencio celebrations in Vitoria-Gasteiz? Today you can see a video of yesterday’s opening ceremony.

Enjoy!

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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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Hello Basques!

We hope you are enjoying the weekend!

Tiffany has posted a new item on our Basque Pelota blog ‘Dos Paredes’. This time she tells us that Aimar Olaizola, one of the leading lights of the 2010 Manomanista Championship, last night suffered a serious knee injury in his opening match against Patxi Ruiz.

The eighth edition of the Collection Plant Fair has taken place in Gipuzkoa. Plants from the five continents colored the extraordinary Iturraran Botanic Gardens, in Pagoeta Natural Park (Aia), during the eighth Collection Plant Fair that took place on 24^th and 25^th of April.

And lastly, the best break dancers of Europe met in the pavilion of La Casilla in Bilbao on April 24th. For the ninth consecutive year, the capital of Biscay was the home of the Break on Stage encounter, a must for hip-hop lovers.

See you tomorrow with more!

Agur

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Good day to you from an overcast Basque Country, that promises sun, sun, sun tomorrow.

Many of you will not realize that this is an important date for the Basque Country. Today – April 23^rd – marks 30 years since the autonomous parliament was set up. Activities have been organized for the rest of the year.

We’ve got a weekend packed full of culture starting today in San Sebastian. Firstly, the Rompeolas festival has already started.This is an initiative organised to drive the city’s candidacy to be European Cultural Capital in 2016 and its 2 main ingredients are culture and citizen participation. The bells of the city were rung earlier to day, calling the people to come along and join in the fun!

Meanwhile, the 8^th Human Rights Film Festival also kicked off today, with a week of feature lengths and shorts about current social issues from all around the world.

Don’t forget to read our Dos Paredes blog as Olaizola II, twice a former winner of the Manomanista Championship is the red hot favourite as he goes up on Saturday against Patxi Ruiz.

And if you like baseball, do you remember Mark Kurlansky, who famously wrote about Basques in his book “Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World”?  In his latest book, Kurlansky traces the origins of the sport to the Dominican Republic.

And as spring is fully upon us, the Basque Country once again promises to be a great destination for a long weekend this May and into the summer – and also one of the safest!

Have a good weekend.

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Good afternoon to you Basques.

Well, summer is definitely on its way. Skies here are blue and sunny and the atmosphere is gearing up to a season of festival and frolics.

Talking of frolics, don’t forget AC/DC are playing Bilbao again soon. If you’re nearby and are thinking of going, tickets are on sale from tomorrow.

One of the next musical events in the calender is Donostia-San Sebastian’s Musicial Fortnight, taking place this year between August 7^th and September 3^rd.  Find out what it got in store this year and get a glimpse at the official programme.

In Pelota, Olaizola I beat Bengoetxea VI in the first match of the Pairs Championship, while it looks like our home-grown mountaineer Edurne Pasaban may actually be the first female to scale all fourteen 8000ers.

Not such good news for Osasuna, unfortunately, who now find themselves in the relegation zone.

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Kaixo Basques!

Here is your summary of goings on for today, Saturday, April 17th:

The Basque climber Edurne Pasaban reached the summit of Annapurna in the Himalayas. This is her 13th 8,000 peak, which was 8,091-meters high. Congratulations Edurne!

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo will be performing at Arriaga Theatre in Bilbao, Biscay (Basque Country) until Sunday, April 18th. Since their beginnings, the Trocks have established themselves as a major dance phenomenon throughout the world.

Lastly, Tiffany has posted a new item on our Basque Pelota blog ‘Dos Paredes’. This time she tells us that Pairs Champion Aitor Zubieta will not be able to start the Second Tier Manomanista Championship  as the 26 year old finished the Pairs final with severe pain in his right hand.

This is all for today.

Enjoy Saturday!

Agur

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Hello everybody!

National High Court head Javier Gomez Bermudez acquitted this afternoon the five defendants -Iñaki Uria, Juan Mari Torrealdai, Jose Maria Auzmendi, Xabier Oleaga and Martxelo Otamendi- seven years after the order given by the then-leading PP government in 2003 to close of the Basque newspaper Egunkaria.

Basque rider Efren Vazquez took second place in the Qatar Grand Prix in the 125(cc) category on Sunday evening securing the first podium of his career.

Don’t forget to check our Basque pelota blog. Yves Salaberry and Aitor Zubieta wrapped up their fine competition by clinching the prize over Sebastien Gonzalez and Aritz Laskurain.

See you tomorrow

Cheers!

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Hello Basques-

As you will know, Easter is a special time in the Basque Country. Whether you believe or not, there is no denying the impressiveness of the processions and actuations that go on around much of the territory. The most famous of all takes place in the Biscay town of Balmaseda and there is an article and video about this for you to enjoy today.

If you’re thinking of visiting over the weekend, there’s a report about this Easter’s weather as well as a gallery of photos to accompany it.

Important sports news today is that Bizkaia Bilbao Basket have made it through to the Final Four of the Eurocup, despite a 6-point loss to CEZ Nymburk.

Tiffany has sent us her latest update, reminding us about tomorrow’s Pairs Championship Final. Unfortunately she’ll be away and unable to keep us updated, but she has given us some important information on how to keep abreast of developments.

Happy Aste Santua

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Hi Basques,

Good news if you’re planning a trip to the Basque Country this Easter, as the weather promises to be settled with mostly blue skies. Maybe while you’re here you’d like to visit the Chillida works on show at the Ysios bodegas in Laguardia, or see the ‘Pamplona Encounters 72 Exhibition’, which recalls an amazing artistic movement that took place in the Navarre capital in 1972.

If you’re coming in May you’ll be in time for the 5^th ‘Basques and Dance’ Gala, which this year will be headed up local ballerina Lucia Lucarra, and feature two other Basque dancers from Biscay.

American travel company and group members Fresco Tours have written on our wall to tell us about a talk being given today in Florida by Professor Leonard Bloom entitled ‘The Mysterious Basque People of the American West, Spain and France’. If any of you make it, we’d love to hear about it.

Sports news from our English Pelota specialist Tiffany is about Saturday’s final of the Campeonato Parejas Promotion.

Meanwhile, yesterday wasn’t such a great day for Basque football or basketball as Athletic lost to Atletico Madrid and CSKA Moscow thrashed Caja Laboral.

That’s the news for today.

Ondo pasa!

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Kaixo Basques all around the world!

How is the day going? We have just a few things to tell you today:

For Basque Pelota lovers, Asegarce have announced an extension to the contract of Ruben Beloki, which will keep him in the employ of the Bilbao based company until March 2012. You can read all the information in our Basque Pelota Blog.

From March 18th to 21 Arriaga Theatre in Bilbao hosts the premiere of Nebbia (Niebla) in Spain. Nebbia is presented by Cirque Éloize and Teatro Sunil, written and directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca.

In addition to this, the theatre adaptation of Patxi Gallego’s comic, ‘Xabinaitor’ arrives to Arriaga Theatre in Bilbao on March 22 and 23.

See you tomorrow with more!

Agur

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