February Highlights: Many, Many Mountains

Julia Barclay

Mar 11, 2023

6 min read

Updated: Dec 13, 2023

Hello again,

I recently reached the halfway point of my time here in the Basque Country. It is so surreal to have been here for nearly 6 months, the longest I've ever been away from home. Despite all the ups and downs, I feel incredibly grateful for this experience and am looking forward to learning more about this beautiful country in the coming months.

Throughout February, I spent a lot of time in the mountains, my absolute favorite place to be. Basque Country is known for its mountainous landscape, and hiking and climbing are fairly common pastimes. I knew this when I arrived, but I still find myself pleasantly surprised when I stumble upon snowy peaks or vast overlooks. Growing up in Kentucky, I don't know if I'll ever get used to it!

Navarra: My Conversion to the Pueblo Life

When I applied to my program over a year ago, my greatest fear was being placed in a pueblo, the term commonly coined for teeny-tiny Spanish towns. For expats, this is an understandable fear. No subway. No airport. Definitely no English, sometimes not even Spanish. My prayers were answered with a placement near Bilbao and a very convenient commuter train. But after a weekend spent in the Navarrese village of Betelu, I think my fears were rather misplaced. Small towns like this one have definitely moved up on my list of travel destinations. They have a unique charm, or at least character, that big cities can't maintain in the same way. When I travel, I sometimes fear that a city is "putting on a show" for tourists, or worse, that I'm the sucker pouring money into these traps. With the pueblos, there's certainly a show (check out my pictures below from their Carnival celebration), but it's purely for them. It's a full immersion into someone else's life and culture. The locals in Betelu were very welcoming and eager to share with us their little corner of the world.

Navarra is the autonomous community (U.S .state equivalent - more or less) that borders Basque Country to the east and shares a northern border with France. While technically separate from Basque Country, the area is linguistically and culturally very Basque. So Basque in fact, that speaking Spanish seems to label you a tourist. I was thrilled to explore a greater immersion into Basque culture, which included great pintxos, tons of kalimotxo (red wine + coca cola: a typical party drink), and the loss of my Carnival virginity. All this in the most gorgeous setting, surrounded by the Aralar mountain range and a short road trip from the infamous Pyrenees. My lovely hosts also took me to the Cuevas de Zugarramurdi, witches caves that haunt the border between Navarre and France. Thanks to Google Maps, we even took a bit of a detour into France, so I guess that's one country I can mark off the bucket list?

Sending many thanks to my dad's cousin Laura and her husband for generously hosting me at their mountain oasis.

Carnival

It was purely by accident that we stumbled upon Betelu's Carnival celebration, complete with traditional Basque dances, a costume parade, and several bands. Historically, Carnival is the time leading up to Lent. It's a big party before a period of fasting and serious prayer. For context, Mardi Gras is technically the last day of Carnival. While the religious aspects of this festival have faded with time, the party remains and is typically celebrated by dressing up in costumes and going out with friends and family. It was a party that started in the morning and lasted well into the night with unprecedented energy. My conclusion: people on this side of the ocean are just built differently. They have an endurance for partying and social drinking that is simply unrivaled. Unfortunately, there was also an unrivaled amount of political incorrectness, so I don't have many pictures.

Back in Bilbao, Carnival continued to rage. It wasn't the community-based get-together I'd experienced in the pueblo, but it was still a lot of music, a lot of good food, and a lot of fun. Here I also witnessed the traditional "Burial of the Sardine" (before and after images below). An effigy of a sardine is set aflame to represent the symbolic burial of the past and the regeneration of life. A quite literal interpretation of "out with the old, in with the new".

Vitoria-Gasteiz: Umbra Festival

In the spirit of local festivals, I took the bus to Vitoria-Gasteiz, the capital of Basque Country, to check out Umbra Light Festival, a display of visual and digital art that occurs on the shortest, darkest days of the year. It features both national and international artists and chooses different social themes each year. I'm simply not an art-minded person, but apparently 2023's displays focused on empathy.

Best Hiking in Vasco

As the weather gradually started to warm up, I took to the hills to spend more time in the countryside. You don't have to travel far to reach fantastic hiking trails. There are plenty of great options within the city, or rather above it, and the the metro reaches those further out. I've covered a lot of ground and still haven't hit all the great trails. Below: hiking Mount Serrantes and Arboleda, which has views overlooking my school!

Granada & Sierra Nevada

In my opinion, the best part of Carnival isn't the costumes or the music. It's the time off of work. I took advantage of this time to fly to Granada, a destination city in southern Spain. Granada was the last city to be conquered by the Catholic monarchs, so it maintains a lot of Arabic identity. This can be seen especially in its food and architecture, including its crown jewel, the Alhambra, an iconic historical Islamic fortress. Climbing up to overlooks like Mirador de San Nicolas and Mirador San Miguel Alto through the medieval Albaicín neighborhood is the best way to appreciate the palace in addition to the rest of the city. Granada is located in the autonomous community of Andalucía, which is what we westerners generally think of when we think of Spain. Its reputation is well-known and for good reason. Andalucía is the land of flamenco, tapas, and siestas!

Perhaps I've been lucky, but I've never had a bad meal in Granada. Maybe food tastes better when it's free? That's right, any time you order a drink, this magical city rewards you with a tapa, zero charge added. And in Spain, alcohol isn't nearly expensive as back home. All this to say, you get a lot of bang for your buck. Below: some of the meals I'm still dreaming about! A falafel and hummus bowl from Papas Elvira, an enormous hot platter from Bar Castañedas, assorted tapas from Bar Poë, and of course, churros with chocolate. (Churros here are very different from Mexican churros, usually served without cinnamon and with little to no sugar, hence the need for sinfully dark chocolate.

Full disclosure, the pictures below are from my study abroad trip to Granada back in 2020, but Granada is a city worth sharing more than once. These are shots from around the city, the cathedral, and inside the Alhambra and Generalife, its attached summer palace. To this day, the Alhambra is probably the most spectacular place I've ever visited. Islamic constructions like this one tend to be more glamorous on the inside, so while the outside views hint at its grandeur, it's nearly shocking to witness the detail and enormity of the Alhambra's interior. From ornate water features to stucco carvings, it would take a lifetime to appreciate each unique facet of the Alhambra's beauty.

Why go a city I'd already visited once before? This time, I made it to the slopes! The Sierra Nevada mountain range is just a bus ride away from the city, and it's great for beginners. This was my first time ever skiing, so I left this trip with a completely exhausted mind and body, but still with a smile. There were plenty of wipeouts involved, some crossing the line into humiliating. My only goal was to be able to go down a green hill at least once without falling, which I can happily report achieving. It's no exaggeration to say that I completely fell in love with skiing. I loved the physical challenge and thrill of it, and I love any excuse to spend time 10,000 feet in the air.