If “Basque country” was an actual country, Bilbao would be its capital. It’s the home of a famous Guggenheim museum, but the port city of Bilbao is also an important part of Basque history. We’re on our way there now. C’mon. Let’s go!
Bilbao is a capital city – it’s the capital of the Spanish province of Biscay. It was founded in the 13th century, and became a major center of trade early on. It’s been the epicenter of all things Basque for that long.
Bilbao is 80 miles east of our home base in St. Jean de Luz. We hit the road this morning. After having a minor issue at a toll station, we continued on through the green hills of Biscay.
In this part of Spain, signs on toll roads are in both Spanish and Euskara – the Basque language.
Euskara
Maybe you’ve never heard of Euskara, but there are 800,000 Basque Euskara speakers. Judging by what we’ve seen on road signs so far, I don’t think a lot of non-Basques would choose Euskara as an elective language in school. It’s intimidating.
For instance, the word for “Rest Stop” is “Atsedenaldia.” When you want to take an off-ramp, you take an arrapalatik kanpo. And when you get into town, watch out for those norabide bakarreko kaleas – one-way streets.
Along the way, we could have turned off the toll road to visit places with names like Izurtza, Zarautz, and Armotxerria. And let’s not forget Munitibar-Arbatzegi-Gerrikaitz. Whoa.
Researchers need something to research, so just like anthropologists who sought to find the roots of the Basque people, language researchers wanted to find the roots of Euskara.
Just as in the case of Basque genetic origins, researchers were not able to associate Euskara with any other language. It is a language unto itself – another example of Basque uniqueness.
Central Bilbao
After exiting the toll road we made our way into central Bilbao. We had plugged “Plaza Nueva,” (New Square), into the GPS, and so far, so good. The GPS lady with the posh British accent has been behaving herself today.
Our destination is called the New Square because it was built in 1821, replacing the old square. The old square was the home of Ribera Market – Bilbao’s version of Paris’ famous Les Halles market.
They moved Ribera Market, better known as Mercado de la Ribera, to a new location not far from Plaza Nueva. It’s the largest covered market in Europe. That should come as no surprise, since the Basques are big-times foodies.
We parked in an underground garage and found our way to Plaza Nueva. To be honest, the square wasn’t as impressive as the surrounding neighborhood. On the other hand, it was lunchtime, and Plaza Nueva was lined with cafes serving up pintxos.
We settled in at an outdoor table on the square, under massive arches looming above. Thanks to our stop in Barajas, I knew what to do this time. I went inside to find a huge array of pintos. I selected a few, ordered drinks, and we were in business.
To be continued…
Beautiful photo of Ribera Market. Credit: istcockphoto/jon chica parada
