Trips

Wed., 10/19/16 – Bilbao and Guernica

        The four provinces inhabited by Basque people in Spain (three more provinces are across the border in France) have their own civil laws but must obey Spanish rule and criminal law. Basque Laws were signed into effect under an oak tree in 1152. The Lord of Basque must swear his oath under an oak tree in Guernica. 

        Guernica is very small and was bombed to near total destruction during the Spanish Civil War.  We walked into a square where there is now a Peace Museum and admired the three murals entitled “Peace in the Eyes of Children.”  We also looked at a reproduction of Picasso’s 1937 “Guernica”  (see the link below for the history of this painting). We walked up to the 1400’s Church of Santa Maria, which was not bombed in the war, and then into a pleasant Park of the People of Europe.  We were able to see the “Grandfather Oak Tree” and the present young oak tree through an iron fence. 

 

Gernika or Guernica	Decorated building
	Statue of Jose Maria Iparragirre
Children’s “Peace in the Eyes of Children” pictures	Oak leaf - Symbol of Gernika
Reproduction of Picasso’s Guernica
Church of Santa Maria	Church of Santa Maria
Grandfather Oak	The Oak Tree
Basque sign	Public school
Floral clock	After viewing the oak trees, we walked down to the coffee shop and senior center for a cup of hot vegetable broth (a Basque welcome drink) with a hunk of bread and spoke with a young Basque woman about their culture and how they relate with Spain. We used the restrooms in one of the four bomb bunkers next to the center - interesting.         Driving along the coast toward Bermeo,  we stopped for photos of the estuary at Mundaka where at high tide there is a tidal bore and surfers come from all over to ride the wave up the Mundaka River.        Another stop was made to look down at a church on a rock in the ocean, San Juan Gaztelugatxe, and then we drove through the seaside town of Bermeo on our way to the ADos Basarte Winery, run by two sisters.  They grow only white Txoli grapes and make 100% Txoli wine.  They bottle 10,000 bottles of white wine and 600 red all done by the two of them and one worker.  We tasted the wine and toured their brand new B&B.
Tide out	Tide out
Oil platform in the Bay of Biscay	San Juan de Gaztelugatxe - Church (or castle) on a rock
ADos Basarte winery	ADos Basarte winery
Ready for tasting	ADos Basarte 100% Txoli wine
Back in Bilbao, we went to find the Carrefore Market in the train station and bought bananas and TUC crackers.  Then we walked to find the interesting library with glass outer walls and the bust of John Adams.  John Adams came here to learn about the Basque concepts of democracy before the writing of the US Constitution.  He found the Basque government one of the best working examples and it influenced much of our Constitution. The Basques are very proud of that fact.	The Puppy without scaffolding
John Adams statue (breast cancer week being celebrated)	Public library with glass walls
Public library with glass walls	Public library with glass walls

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