Real Madrid vs. Osasuna

Endlich waren "die Großen" aus Madrid zu Gast in Pamplona. Da wir keine Karten mehr ergattern konnten (und bei 70€ pro Karte auch nicht wirklich wollten), haben wir es mit der Hilfe eines Kommilitonen aus Palermo geschafft - die letzten 15 min des Spiels haben wir auf den Tribünen des Stadions verbracht und LEIDER noch zwei Gegentreffer mit ansehen müssen.

03/11 bis 06/11/06 - Salamanca

Am Freitag abend sind wir mit dem Auto losgefahren. Etwa 480km, ca. 5 Stunden Fahrt. Wir (Mauro, Filippo, Adrien y yo) kamen gegen 23h an und haben direkt unsere zwei Stunden zuvor "reservierte" Herberge angesteuert. Sehr zentral in der Altstadt gelegen, unschlagbarer Preis (10€ p.P. im DZ). Gegen 0:30h waren wir dann unterwegs, um das sagenumwobene Nachtleben Salamancas zu "testen". Nach einigen Bars haben wir eine Chupito-Bar gefunden, wo jeder Chupito ungefähr 1€ kostet... Persönlicher Eindruck: Interessant schmeckende Chupitos, SEHR viele Leute, vor allem Amerikaner und Brasilianer. Nach einiger Zeit kam es leider zu einem kleinen Problem zwischen Brasilien und Italien, wobei ich für Italien "spielte". Trotz fairer Spielzüge unsererseits blieben die Fouls vom brasilianischen "Team" mangels offiziellem ungeahndet. Aus diesem Grunde verließen wir das Spielfeld mit, sagen wir, einem Unentschieden... Die weiteren Bars und Discos boten insgesamt ein positives Bild. Sehr viele Menschen, viele Erasmus- oder sonstwie- Studenten, mucha fiesta...

Die übrigen Tage haben wir mehr oder weniger mit Tourismus und fiesta verbracht - muy guay!

Auf dem Rückweg nach Pamplona schauten wir uns noch jeweils kurz Burgos und Valladolid an.

15/10/06 - Euskadi

Every year a college organizes a party in the north of Navarra to gain money for their programs supporting EUSKERA, the basque language. This year, approximately 120.000 people where there!
It was a huge party that attracted everyone in favour of the basque country, its' language and culture. Thus, almost everybody was speaking in Euskera and also the flyers you got were incomprehensible to me. Euskera is the language of the basque people, spoken in the Basque Country and parts of Navarra. Just like Finnish and Hungarian, Euskera can not be traced back to any language family - so trying to understand it without never having studied it is impossible.

One typical sport in Euskadi (the Basque Country) is a shepherd trying to guide sheep around fences with his dog - great stuff!

12/10/06 - Zaragoza

Every spanish city has its "fiesta" or annual party. In Zaragoza they call it "Fiesta del Pilar". We got on the bus in Pamplona on Thursday morning and stayed there all day and night until we got back to Pamplona at 9:30 the next morning...and it definitely was worth it! We met up with many other international students from Pamplona. Concerts in the streets, samba rhythms, good wheather and I guess also some alcohol made us pass a very funny time there...
"J'ai faim, j'ai faim, je vais manger..." :-)

07/10/2006 - Navarra

Pamplona is the capital of Navarra, a region between País Vasco and Aragón. We made an excursion to see the major sights of the region of Navarra... Two buses of International students and some tutors... NICE - what I liked best? The Lunch at Yamaguchi Hotel ;-)

30/09/2006 - Bilbao

Spontaneously I went to Bilbao, one of the major cities of the Basque Country (País Vasco / Euskadi). Seba, Mauro, Adrien and Filippo went with me by car. Our major target was the "Guggenheim Museum", but we got some glances of the city center, too. Bilbao changed in the last decade from a industrial center to a vibrant and modern city. The architecture of the Guggenheim Museum is overwhelming! Sadly, just one of the three floors of expositions was opened that day. On October 12 a new Africa exposition is starting - might go there one more time then...

26/09/06 - San Sebastiàn

Since the wheather was awesome I went to San Sebastiàn to enjoy the last hot days of the year on the beach. It definitely is a the place to be in these days. I literally advanced to be a tour guide in San Sebastiàn for the other Erasmus Students, as it is my umpteath time to be here!

El viaje...

According to my duty and, by now, my desire to study for my German state exam of law in March I had to carry a considerable weight of books and material to Spain. Thus, flying was out of question and sending by mail would have cost a furtune. So I drove to Pamplona by car passing the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

On the first day I drove from Enschede to Paris. At the airport Charles de Gaulle in Paris I picked up my friend Elisa that just returned from a trip to Italy and together we drove to her house where I spent very nice hours in the circle of her family.

The next day I passed on to San Sebastiàn. I spent the weekend at the house of my friend Xabier. Esta fin de semana estuvo cojonudo, tio!!! Since it is just one hour away from Pamplona I will return every now and then to enjoy the flair of my FAVORITE city in the world!