We had a fantastic time in El Pais Basco. We visited Elizabeth’s family (her aunts, uncles, and cousins) in Forua, which is about 10 minutes North of Gernika, which is about 30 minutes East of Bilbao, all of which are in Vizcaya, the basque country. Actually, we stayed with her aunt and uncle who live in the hills just outside of Forua. Because we drove (by “we” I mean Gen) we were escorted around town by her cousins who were the nicest people you could ever meet, especially to two complete strangers like Gen and I. Our guide consisted of an escort in our car, a lead car ahead of us, and a chase car behind us, typically a van filled with cousins and some adorable babies. The only thing missing were an ambulance and secret service escort, though I’m pretty sure I saw that two-year-old talk into his rattle to call in back-up. It takes a entire village to guide the foreigners. We loved being the tourists and we spoke more spanish in a day and a half there than we did in a month here in Barcelona.
Gernika is a nice little town, very walkable. Made famous (infamous really) by the bombing in 1938 and Picasso’s subsequent painting, which now hangs in Madrid. Forua is a quaint, quiet town where we saw some traditional dancing at a wedding. Outside the church, a group of dancers (Elizabeth’s cousin was one) performed a traditional dance in front of the happy couple, the bridal party, and onlookers walking by such as us.
We made a visit to the church of San Juan de la Gaztelegatxe (if I spelled that correctly it’s only luck), which was built on an outcrop of rock off the spanish coast. I had visited this 10 years ago while I was in Bilbao and couldn’t wait to see it again. Also Bermeo, which we learned has a certain reputation for crazy people, kind of like Berkeley or the Lower East Side.
