Dude, did you fart again?
Yeah, I did. Don't do that again, man.
It's the medieval ages!
I don't care. We're in a cellar, Bro.
There is nowhere for your farts to go.
Plug it up, Bro.
There are corks everywhere if you want.
I've got you , man. We'll plug it.
I've got a grand reserve up there.
Bloopers, right?
I've got a grand reserve over here.
Goooood morning.
Buenos Dias.
Eta egun on [Basque: and, good morning]
Guys, the trip through the Basque Country continues
Right now we're in the southern province of Alava
Today we're going to go check out the capital
of the Basque Country, Vitoria
but first we're going to the salt flats,
Salina de Añana.
We will tell you more about those things,
which are just right here once we walk down there.
Let's go.
We are now officially in the complex
of the Salinas de Añana.
It's difficult to pronounce.
Try saying that ten times fast
You might be able to see that it's gigantic.
This water comes from a spring, and it's salty.
Each one of these little squares is basically
like a pool; you leave it out in the sun,
and it eventually evaporates and makes salt.
And salt is my favorite condiment.
Back in the day though, salt was much more than a condiment.
It was a form of money.
Before refrigeration, it was basically the primary way
of conserving food for longer than a day or two.
Back in the day, they would have made it by
boiling water in ceramic pots, then breaking them,
which was really inefficient.
So when the Romans came, they indroduced
this idea of solar evaporation,
which is good for the Mediterranean,
but as you can see here,
if's it cloudy, it doesn't work so well.
But first we're going to meet someone who
actually knows what she's talking about.
Hey Wikipedia, tells a lot.
There she is. Hello. Let's go.
I'm not going to die?
No.
Taste salty.
Can I gargle with this?
How salty is it compared to the ocean?
Ten times more salt.
How do we make here salt?
The first thing is to take water from the pool.
3-2-1
Then we have to put it all in one square.
After that we need two or three days
Are you going to stick around for two to three days?
Bueno [Laughs]
This is the salt...a basket full of salt.
And the way they stored it was by pouring it through
these holes in the walls and these underground cellars.
It's kind of funny....
the whole time that we've been here,
cars have been driving through this little village,
just laying it down on the horn.
Beeeeeep for 15 seconds in a row.
Oh yeah, that's the baker.
And then 5 minutes later, another beeeeeep.
Yeah, that's the butcher.
See what I mean?
Bread
Or maybe, meat.
And we're off
to Vitoria-Gasteiz,
the green capital of Europe.
And I have no idea why I'm talking in this accent.
Let's go.
All right. Well we've just arrived in the city
of Vitoria-Gasteiz, capital of Alava.
And there's some sort of fiesta going on.
There's a marathon going on; there's a marriage
And all these kids are dressed up in traditional
Basque clothes because they were just doing a dance.
That's one of the cool things about the Basque Country:
is wherever you go, you seem to just
stumble upon festivals.
Surprise, surprise. We show up,
and someone tipped off the news,
and we've got the EITB News team here.
So we're going to be walking around with them.
When I was an English teacher, before we got into making videos,
I wrote a guide book for the Basque Country, an App.
Download it in the link below in the info box.
But I came here to make some reviews about the city,
and I haven't been back since so it should be fun.
I know nothing except the fact that Victoria
is the green capital of Europe.
The only thing I know is that I know nothing
Ready to learn. But more importantly,
I'm ready to eat, drink, and be merry because
that's what life is all about.
Right now we are walking with the film crew
through the streets of the old town.
This is about 800 years old,
and one of the coolest things about Vitoria
is that all the streets are named after medieval trades.
There's a Blacksmith Street, Leather Workers Street
The old town is formed like an almond shape,
and it's called La Almendra, which is like The Almond.
We're actually in the plaza where they used to sell wool
because this is the road that goes from Castilla
which is the heart of the Spanish kingdom,
all the way through the Pyrenees to Europe.
You had to pass through here,
and you usually had to pay tax.
There's a restaurant here called El Portalon
and this was an old staging coach.
You would have had to stop here on your way
to Europe from Spain.
So we're going to stop here on our way to lunch
because they also do lunch,
and it's time to eat.
I've heard it's so authentic that it often feels
like time travel.
Hello. Is anyone there?
I'm a weary traveler looking for a room.
I come from London.
Who is it? Ah.... Señor Ayling
So nice to see you. What brings you to Vitoria?
I'm here to buy more of your wool.
My weavers are making these fine coats.
That is a nice coat.
Please, come in . Have some wine.
I'm not accustomed to the wine from Alaba,
much stronger than our English ales.
I can see it's the first time you've played cards
against the Basque.
Be careful, my friend. You've already lost, so much.
On the contrary, my friend, Alejandro
I've everything to gain.
Envido a uno
The wine makes you bold, Englishman.
But Basques are bolder.
Envido a dos
I will see your dos, but I have nothing left to bet.
Like I said earlier,
nice coat.
Fine
But first, let us drink.
OK. Mas vino!
Si, senor.
Shall we show our cards?
After you, English friend.
Oh, how the tables have turned, amigo.
But I believe this is yours.
Like I said, nice coat.
It's a long way to England
See you next year, English friend. Nice Coat.
Well, that was fun. Onwards
As you can see, Ken Follett statue. That's because
he used this cathedral to base his book,
Pillars of the Earth, which I have read. It's great.
You should read it.
We are in the bowels of the cathedral.
Literally, these are the pillars of the earth.
We are now in the main part of the cathedral,
and I thought I would just clarify the name
of the city a bit because we've called it Vitoria,
but it's also call Gasteiz.
Vitoria is in Spanish,
and Gasteiz is the Basque name.
This town was founded in the 800s,
and it was called Gasteiz, which is a Basque name.
Later it was absorbed into the kingdom of Navarra
Navarra is where Pamploma is.
And this place...the whole Basque Country
has always been between kingdoms.
The kingdom of Castilla which is what founded
modern day Spain and the kingdom of Navarra.
I don't know how many of you guys play
Assassin's Creed
Being up here
you definitely get that Assassin's Creed feeling.
Question is? If I jump off and land in a
barrel of hay, do I get extra eagle points?
Only one way to find out.
Well, well well.
We've made it to another evening.
It is dinner time, which is my favorite time
in the Basque Country
because we get to eat at another awesome place..
We're going to Sagartoki, which is Basque for
Sagar= apple and toki= place.
It's a cider house, but it's a different one.
They do sushi. Basque sushi. I'm starving
The last time we ate was in the 15th century
Dude, it's been hundreds of years
since our last meal.
These are all the different flavors for the sushi wrap.
They have carrot-flavored, spinach, potato,
beet root and pepper.
I'm literally just covered in egg yolk.
Alex, you've always wanted to be yolked,
and now you finally are.
Vitoria-Gasteiz
I liked it.
That was so much fun today. Wow, what a good day.
It started off at the salt flats in Salt Valley
We had a great time walking through the city
And ending here was really like the cherry on the cake
No. Was that phrase English? Cherry on the cake? No.
It's the cherry on top of an ice cream sunday.
Nice try. The food at Asador Sagatoki was next level
Senen, awesome guy,
and definitely going to have to come back.
Here in the Basque Country, food is first and foremost.
It's such an important part of the culture.
Traditions in general are really respected,
but traditions in food are sacred.
It's really cool to see someone like this
who is doing innovations in a cool new way.
I mean, sushi. But sushi with anchovies.
Basque peppers and Basque ingredients that
are so, so fundamental to the culture.
Thumbs-up. Anyways if you guys enjoyed this video,
you know what to do:
give it a thumbs-up, share it with your friends,
and subscribe to Vagabrothers for new travel videos
every week. We'll see you guys soon
The next epioside, we're going to the coast.
so... gero arte! [Basque: See you later!]
In the meantime remember to stay curious,
keep exploring, and we'll see you guys on the road
Hondorribia! Later.
You're going to be fine, Alex.