The Dog Days of Summer aka August

 

August began by celebrating our friend Angela’s birthday. Her apartment is the perfect place to watch the sunset, an activity that is always better with friends and wine. She hosted a fabulous evening, and we had a beautiful sunset (which is not always guaranteed).

Angela is our stand-up paddleboard buddy and we’ve enjoyed some good times on boards this summer. Being out on the bay is always a perfect summer moment and a great way to beat the heat.

We had our second repeat visitor last week, our nephew David. His visit coincided with Semana Grande, a terrific time to be here. With the nightly fireworks, concerts, and other options, it was a fun visit.

We liked watching the volleyball tournament a lot. As usual, the fireworks were a highlight. One night, David and I went to watch them from the beach. That helped confirm that watching them from our apartment is optimal. While you may miss some of the beach level fireworks, you avoid the overwhelming crowds. You can decide – the photo on the left is the view from the beach, the one on the right is from our balcony:

We planned a day in San Jean de Luz, but David woke up not feeling well. We went and enjoyed the day, including a bit of shopping at the local food market, while he slept. We get local, kilometer zero produce here, yet somehow the produce in France is always superior. While walking along the boardwalk, we noticed this quintessential French beach picnic – note the fresh baguettes protected by the umbrella:

Thankfully David recovered quickly, and we continued with the fun, including a sunset and lots of card games:

What we enjoyed most was David’s company and his perspective on the world and politics, especially since he had spent the prior week in Italy at the Revolutionary Communist International World Congress. We also tried some different restaurants because David is vegan, which was easy enough to accommodate but took us off the beaten path.

Oddly, we didn’t post about David’s first visit in September of 2021. Upon reviewing our late summer/early fall posts from 2021, we think it’s because his visit was sandwiched between our epic August trip to Ireland, the film festival, and a trip to the US in September. So, he’s finally getting his due now.  

One final note: in our last post we featured the Bilbao bullfight artwork. San Sebastian’s was creative, but not as good. Here they are side by side:

I learned that supposedly the bullfights during Semana Grande in the Basque Country do not end with the bull’s death, rather they are more of a celebration of the art of bullfighting. But this does not make us any more likely to go see a bullfight as it is still a bloody affair.

We are now in prep mode for an upcoming trip to the US and then the Galapagos. Perhaps during our US visit we’ll remember to take a few photos – something we are often remiss in doing. You can be sure there will be plenty of photos from the islands!

Stay cool,

Shana & Jeff

A Tale of Two Music Festivals

This year, San Sebastian's Jazzaldia and the Bilbao Blues Festival partially overlapped. Fortunately, we were able to see music here during the week, before heading to Bilbao for the weekend.

For Jazzaldia, we had tickets to see The Beach Boys' Sound of Summer Tour. The concert was very fun as they played many of their hits (who knew they wrote that many songs about surfing?), along with covers of other songs mostly from the 60's. I wouldn't say they sounded great as Mike Love and Bruce Johnson are in their 80's, but it was definitely worth seeing. John Stamos appeared with the band, which was a bonus as he is a lively performer and a super fan of the group. The videos they showed demonstrated how central The Beach Boys have been to US culture for over 60 years. They also included a lovely tribute to the recently passed Brian Wilson.

Right after The Beach Boys, we went and saw Jaime Cullum perform a free concert on the beach, which was fabulous. There were lots of people on the sand, but we sat on the wall at the side of the beach where we could hear very well without having to deal with the crowd.

Finally, on Friday evening, we went to a free concert by a band from Romania (of all places) called JazzyBIT. There was a fairly large crowd, and for a band we had never heard of before, we really enjoyed their music.

On Saturday morning, we took the bus to Bilbao and headed out to watch Spanish Rockabilly star Al Dual. He was very good, and we were not surprised to learn that he is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in Nashville (although we were a bit surprised to learn that there is a Rockabilly Hall of Fame).

Afterwards, we went to lunch at a fantastic Asian fusion restaurant, Kimtxu. And, while we usually don't include photos of food, the duck and mushroom cannelloni was as impressive aesthetically, as it was to eat.

Saturday night, we saw Jimmie Vaughan, the brother of Stevie Ray Vaughan, perform. Unfortunately, we were less than impressed with his set, and left early, but it was a beautiful night, so it was great to just be outside.

Sunday morning, before the concerts, we went to the Guggenheim Museum to see exhibitions by two American artists: Barbara Kruger and Helen Frankenthaler. Kruger's work is very political and based on words. I am not sure how much I "like" the art, but the messages definitely resonated.

In many ways, Frankenthaler, whose exhibition is called "Painting Without Rules," is the opposite of Kruger -- abstract painting with no obvious political intent. The painting below is titled "Tutti Fruti," which was quite a contrast to Kruger's above piece about war.

While we were at the museum, we also got a couple of photos of art that we have previously seen. Clas Oldenberg and his wife Coosje van Bruggen's oversized soft shuttlecock (which we've now shown from multiple angles), and Jeff Koons' Puppy, probably the most popular permanent exhibit at the museum.

After the museum, we saw Delanie Pickering, a young American blues artist from the northeast. She was amazing! Definitely someone to watch. We also enjoyed Martin Burguez and His Rhythm Combo before heading to a Morrocan restaurant for lunch, which had a terrific menu and confirmed our desire to travel there in 2026.

As usual, we had a great time listening to the many variations of blue music performed (all for free), and enjoyed eating at the more diverse offerings of Bilbao. Shana also really appreciated the advertisments for the bull fights that will take place in Bilbao during their Semana Grande later this month, featuring a very creative use of the Bilbao metro's Norman Foster designed entrances.

 

More about our continuing summer adventures soon.

Jeff and Shana