A Return to Travelling

Since the beginning of the pandemic in Europe (basically March 2020), we have been "stuck" here in San Sebastian. With the exception of a two-night "stay-cation" at a local hotel by the beach in June 2020, five nights in Paris in July 2020 during a significant lull in Covid-19 cases, and a week hiking in the Pyrenees, we have not traveled at all. Given the break-neck pace of our travels during 2018 and 2019 (84 and 79 nights on the road, respectively), it has been a big change.

Now that we have been vaccinated, we hope to begin travelling again. We have planned trips to Ireland for two-and-a-half weeks in August, and California (and Hawaii!) for three weeks in September/October. But, first, we decided on a quick, two-night jaunt to Bilbao.

Bilbao is just a 75 minute bus ride away, so we donned our FFP2 masks (the European equivalent of an N-95) and hopped on the bus last Monday morning. The plan was to arrive in Bilbao in time to drop our stuff at the hotel and make it to our 2:30 lunch reservation. Our hotel, The Hotel Ercilla, was lovely, and we got upgraded to a large room with a sitting area and a giant shower. Lunch at El Informal was delicious and we decided to brave sitting outdoors even though there was a risk of rain, which fortunately did not materialize. Seven courses later (four appetizers, a fish course, meat course and dessert, plus wine) we were truly stuffed and decided to just relax at the hotel for the late afternoon/evening. As you can imagine, after that lunch, no dinner was needed.

The next day, we visited our old friend the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. The museum was surprisingly busy, especially since it was a Tuesday. While none of the current exhibits were super exciting, it was nice to be back there to see what is currently going on, and just to do something that feels "normal". There were some pandemic-induced changes in the museum, including the lack of a place to check your bags/coats, and an attempt to move foot traffic in one direction through the museum. But, for us, the worse part was that our favorite permanent exhibit The Matter of Time, which is a group of large sculptures by American artist Richard Serra that you can walk through and be part of the art, were only partially open. You could not, in fact, walk through all the sculptures. We hope this restriction will eventually be lifted as we enjoy experiencing this exhibit every time we are at the Guggenheim.

There was a cool, new suspended neon sculpture at the museum that presented an opportunity for some good pictures (notice especially the reflection of the sculpture in the outside wall of the museum in the second picture): 

And, once outside the museum, we became part of another of the permanent exhibits, Fujiko Nakaya's F.O.G. Sculpture #08025:

After the museum, of course, it was time for another Spanish lunch (that time being 2:30 p.m.). Although not as huge as the previous day, our lunch at Lar was very impressive, and we enjoyed trying a new-to-us white wine grape from Galicia called Godello. It was exactly the type of minerally white wine that we enjoy, and paired perfectly with our mostly-fish lunch.

Finally, on Wednesday morning, we visited Bilbao's other art museum, the Bellas Artes, which we had never done despite multiple visits to the city. Although the museum has a number of pieces by very famous artists (El Greco and Goya among others), we were somewhat underwhelmed by the overall offering. The most interesting part of the current offering is that they have organized the art in the permanent collection by theme, with each room representing a theme of one letter of the alphabet (with a little bit of cheating, since the rooms use words from Spanish, Basque and English as themes). This presentation often put art from very different time periods in the same room, which is not something you see often, and did present some interesting juxtapositions.

Finally, after two days of eating and art, we caught a bus back to San Sebastian. And, while it was good to get away, we were surprisingly tired after our brief trip. I guess we have to get our travel legs back before we venture to Ireland in August -- Covid willing.

Hasta luego,

Jeff and Shana

Reading Books in Spanish

Since starting this blog, we tend to give semi-regular updates on how our Spanish skills are progressing. I thought I’d take the opportunity to give another based on a recent achievement – I read my first book in Spanish. A real book bought from a real bookstore; not something you might read as part of your studies (i.e., a book with a particular skill level in mind – these exist, and I did read one a while back). Here’s how it happened.

We read the local paper, the Diario Vasco, about four times a week. Both to keep informed about local and national events and to keep our Spanish skills sharp. Overall, its level of writing is closer to USA Today than the NY Times. We can read it cover to cover but still have issues with articles about politics and the economy – more on a conceptual level than a linguistic one because there are significant differences between various aspects of the systems here and in the US. The editorial pages can be difficult, but we don’t focus on them much other than letters to the editor.

A few months back there was an article about a new book written by a Basque journalist, Mikel Ayestaran, who is a Middle East correspondent living in Jerusalem. I read the article and was intrigued to see if I could read and enjoy the book, Jerusalén, santa y cautiva – Desde el corazón de la Ciudad Vieja a la eternidad (Capitalization in Spanish has odd rules. “Jerusalem, Holy and Captivating – From the Heart of the Old City to Eternity”). Having lived in Jerusalem for a year (1989-1990) and visited many times, the topic is familiar territory, and I thought it would be interesting to get a totally different perspective on the city.

I downloaded a sample of the book on my Kindle to see if the writing was manageable and it was. I then went and bought a copy from a wonderful local bookshop. The book recounts the author’s experiences and focuses on each quarter of the Old City, its holy sites and history. It was broken up into brief chapters and sections. I gave myself two months to finish it. Lo and behold I finished sooner.

I enjoyed the book for many reasons. As expected, a Spanish, non-Jewish writer (who has not been indoctrinated about Israel in the manner that Jewish-American youth are) provided a distinct viewpoint that was edifying and candid. The writing was clean and easy to follow, an obvious benefit of a journalist author. His anecdotes were entertaining and the details intriguing. His experiences were both familiar and foreign. I had to use my dictionary plenty of times, but less often than I might have expected because the subject matter was known to me. I laughed at some of the Spanish vocabulary – he used “sequéles” for shekels, which confused me momentarily because I read it is sequels.

It was such a positive experience that I wanted to get another book; but how to choose? Non-fiction is the easier option due to a more direct writing style, yet I wasn’t sure in what direction I wanted to go. I went back to that charming bookstore to ask for a recommendation. My new friend, Santi, one of the managers, remembered me and was more than happy to help. He recommended Los senderos del mar, Un viaje a pie (Paths by the Sea, a Journey on Foot) by Maria Belmonte, about the author’s experience hiking the Basque coast and I thought it would be perfect. Once again, a familiar and interesting topic. I’m working my way through it now.

We can read certain books, we can watch some television without subtitles, and recently we have navigated some more complex medical appointments. After nearly four years here, our Spanish is getting there!

Hasta pronto,

Shana