Park, Park, Park & Park

Grandma and Grand-Dad arrived from the US yesterday. So, we took them on a walk into the hills around Larrabetzu to work off the jet lag. Then, today we ventured into Bilbao- spending the day walking all over the place.

Here is C in front of la vacha- Spanish for cow. Out in a field near to where I, I and L are camping. Here is D on the streets of Bilbao, after tasting pintxos- the Basque idea of light lunch meets appetizers. We had also just walked by the Teatro Arriaga showing Chicago!

I gathered several bits of video since arriving which give a bit of the experience. In order of appearance: The hill where Idioa, Inigo and Leia are camping for a few days, overlooks the town of Larrabetzu and the surrounding countryside. We stopped in for a tour and fresh fruit right off the trees yesterday eve. Then, today off to the beaches of Bakio . Apparently, the surfing is good here, and the rock formations in the background provide lots of interest to C. We then went up the coast to St Juan de Gaztelugatxa to have a bite to eat. If you look closely at the video, you can see both the Catholic Church way out on the point and the island off to the right (see the map as well). No video for this, but we then drove through the hills to Gernika (famous for the WW2 bombing and Picasso protest painting), and then back home. Once back, we made a tour of the high street late in the day for more of the local fun and drink. C is running up and down chasing Leia. Bedtime for C and D

We went for a short drive and then a long walk (by C's standards) in the hills above Larrabetzu today. And we ended at what most people would call a local restaurant- Inigo knows everyone and gets us the best food and wine. It was a fantastic (phonetically "osondo" in Basque) meal. Here we are at the top of the hill.

Bells doesn't write too often for this blog, but an email she sent out about our ferry ride to Bilbao deserved a re-print. Just a quick note to share the journey with you. It started even worse than expected. At 10 am, the vomitorium score was: Bella 0 Adam 1 Christian 7 Dorothy 9 Needless to say, while I had packed spare clothes, I had not anticipated the share scale of need! By 11 am, everyone got their sea legs and were fine for the rest of the day. And we've arrived ... stinking and smelly. But there's a washing machine. Anyway, see most of you in a month. And here are some snaps: Just driving on to the biggest ship I've ever been on and post- vomitorium below.

Landed in Euskadi- The Basque Region- this morning, and already settled into our abode. All the comforts of home (hence the wireless for the laptop), plus sun and warmth. Made a reccie of the town- Larrabetzu- and have secured grocery store, cafe, cash machines, and taverns. Everyone is very friendly to the British and American interlopers. Mom and Dad- we're set. Have also begun my list of Basque vocabulary to learn.

On my run yesterday, I almost tripped over this thing- as long as your finger! So, I wrapped up Lucanus Cervus in my tee shirt and brought him home. C and I talked about what he eats (wood) and where he lives (dead trees). C thought he was sad, and I think both sides were a bit intimidated. It turns out that it is an Internationally Protected Species , and in serious decline in the UK! So we put him in a jar and took him to the park to roam free.

In a few days, we're off to The Basque Region of Northern Spain for our summer holiday. Specifically, to this town- Larrabetzu . Bells has organized a house swap through some very good friends- Idoia and Inigo, and we scouted it out this past February. See here and here for a few of the highlights. Bells and the kids get a full month(!) of sun, chorizo and Festivals. I'm there for two weeks. And, my parents are coming over for most of it as well- like Tuscany back in 2007. The packing is halfway done. My beret is ready to go. The ferry leaves on Wednesday eve.

We're off on holiday soon, so I am trying to clean out my "inbox of good pictures" before we go. Here's D running around at a birthday party.

The first clip is C's Godfather teaching him how American sports stars are doing the traditional High Fives now... Then there is a bit of D... With a finish of C movin' it!

This is a 10 minute collection that Sheringdale Primary School put together of C at various times through the year.

We've gotten in the habit- maybe in preparation for Spain later this month?- of walking to the High Street (American = Main Street) for a pre-bath drink. There is an Italian place that has a decent glass of wine, beer and juice for the kids. Here we are with Jone and the kids. It's a sidewalk cafe, hence C dancing on the sidewalk.

C has progressed from here to this...

We've been slightly neglectful of our share of the allotment this summer. So much so, that I was asked to chop some weeds back to a respectable size. As C and I made our way over, we ran into some Allotment Friends- Dan and Lucy. Here's Louie.

And I've added a link to the kids YouTube Channel to the right.

As some of you will know, today is the 4th of July- American Independence Day. Not a ton going on here at The Ex-Colonial Mothership today. So to celebrate C and I went to the park and played- for the first time- a little baseball. Actually, Whiffle Ball. Godfather Ubu brought C a whiffle ball and bat (a plastic, light weight stand-in for real baseball equipment; big with kids C's age in the US). As a side note: this bat- 3 feet long and looking like a real bat- made it through customs as carry-on from Chicago to Prague, down to Italy, and then to London. I hit. C fielded and practiced his pitching. Also, my spies in Wales tell me that they sang "Battle Hymn of the Republic" in church today, and the Independence Movement there is rising. It is also the Iron Anniversary for Bells and I today. There's a joke somewhere about me getting her a cast iron frying pan as a gift...

My great friend Ubu had a layover in London this week, and stayed with us for a few days. Bells took C out of school for the day, and everyone got a scenic tour of The Big Smoke on a sunny day.