Finding Bilbao
Bilbao is not in Portugal. At first I thought I might be confusing Bilbao with Balboa, but I soon learned that there is, in fact, no city of that name in Portugal or anywhere else in the world. I hang my head in shame.
Now that these embarrassing geographical discoveries are off my chest, I can tell you that Bilbao is actually located in northern Spain, on the flat bit of the Iberian Peninsula that runs west from the French border. Are you still with me? No? Don’t worry, you won’t be flying the plane.
I’ve actually visited the stretch of coast between Bordeaux in France and San Sebastián in Spain quite regularly. I’ve toured the magnificent foothills of the Pyrenees by car and spent many hours bodysurfing the spectacular waves that roll in off the Atlantic, but Bilbao somehow escaped my attention. I’d seen photos of its shimmering, ship-shaped Guggenheim Museum and I knew there was a professional football club called Athletic Bilbao, but somehow I’d misplaced the city. These things happen when you spend most of your school years gazing out of the window.
Fortunately, the web is my window nowadays. When I started reading up about Bilbao, the first thing that leapt out at me is that it is located in Basque country. Within seconds I found myself immersed in the Basque language, which is called Euskara in Basque and is intriguing because it is completely different from the Spanish and French spoken in the surrounding area. This ancient language was apparently around long before the Romance languages spread across Europe.
I could go on and on about this fascinating topic, but I need to drag you back to Bilbao. I’d like to do this by using Euskara to introduce you to the city. In the past, I’ve learned more about places like Romania and the Philippines by asking local experts to describe their favourite sight, sound, scent and taste in their own language, as well as what one should and shouldn’t say in their home town or country. I’d like to try that again here.
After a fairly lengthy search, I found Gilen Mejuto, an English–Basque translator based in London, who kindly sent me some descriptive sentences about Bilbao, written in Euskara. I hope my efforts to unravel his secrets – using Google Images only! – will tempt you to do some exploring of your own.
Sight: “Uriaren ikuspegia Artxandako tuneletik urtetean” – This looks nothing like Spanish or French. I haven’t the faintest idea what this means. Even Google was stumped, returning zero hits when I pasted the full sentence into the search field. Working word by word, I got: “Uriaren” (groups of people?); “ikuspegia” (landscapes?); “Artxandako” (I see a cableway in several pictures); “tuneletik” (tunnel!); “urtetean” (is that chamomile tea I see?). I think Gilen may be referring to the view from a teahouse on a hill that can be reached via a cableway running up from Bilbao through a tunnel.
Sound: “Zapaten plisti-plasta potxingoetan” – Do yourself a favour and read the first part of that sentence out loud several times before trying to pronounce the last word. Could “zapaten” be shoes? I think “plisti-plasta” is like “splish-splosh”, and “potxingoetan” might be rain. So maybe Gilen is referring to the sound of footsteps in the rain.
Scent: “7 Kaleetako jatetxeei darien usaina bazkalorduan” – Is that 7 there intentionally? When I google “Kaleetako”, I see pictures of streets and markets. I think “jatetxeei” could be a restaurant. “Darien” is a comic-book hero who has absolutely nothing to do with Bilbao. I think “usaina” may have something to do with fish. When I google “bazkalorduan”, I see pictures of people eating at long tables. Could Gilen be referring to fish frying at a street festival held on the 7th day of a month called Kaleetako?
Taste: “Basokada bat txakolina” – I see all sorts of tasty delicacies when I google “Basokada”. I’m not even going to try “bat”, because I know what I’ll get. And I’m pretty sure “txakolina” is wine. I think I know what I’ll be ordering when I get to Bilbao.
What one SHOULDN’T say: “Espainiako bazter ederra da hau” – “Espainiako” is Spain, I think. There’s a band called “Bazter”, apparently. “Ederra” seems to be a brand of wine. Maybe Gilen is warning us that we should never order anything but wine produced in the Basque Country when we’re in Bilbao. I can comply with this.
What one SHOULD say: “Aste Nagusia munduko jai onena da” – When I google the full sentence, I see a lot of happy people having fun. “Aste Nagusia” is a festival or carnival! I think “munduko” means “the world”. And “onena” could mean “feet”. I think Gilen wants us to say: “Let’s all run over and celebrate Aste Nagusia in Bilbao together.”
I’m definitely taking his advice. Don’t finish off all the “Basokada bat txakolina” before I get there. And please feel free to suggest your own translations and travel tips below. I need to know when “7 Kaleetako” is, so that I can plan my trip.