From Barcelona I head towards San Sebastian in the mountainous Basque country.
The Basque language is fascinating. It is completely different to the surrounding
romance languages of Spanish and French. Some scholars suggest it is the oldest language in Europe,
with many of it’s words deriving from the Neolithic stone age.
For the Basque people to have maintained a language throughout various European invasions,
from Celtic to Roman, is truly amazing. I wondered whether the people themselves were different.
My first impression of San Sebastian, was that I couldn’t believe how many old people there were.
Old people walking their old dogs,
Old People discussing the latest pop songs on park benches.
Old people wearing the latest fashion
Old people sunning their old flesh on the beaches
And even older people watching.
Everywhere I looked there were old people out and about, enjoying themselves.
I wasn’t used to such a wanton display of senile exuberance,
In Australia we lock out old people away in special homes,
and only let them out occasionally, to hoon around in motorized wheelchairs.
I wondered whether the Basque people knew of the fountain of youth.
I decided to make some enquiries
Rebecca Ezquerro is a friend of Pilar, who I interviewed in Barcelona.
I asked Rebecca did she think the Basque people were different
People talk about us (Basque people) as we were cold people,
they are probably right but we are very kind,
I mean at first time we don’t give you so much trust,
but when we have a really good friend,
we’ll keep on being friends a long time.
Well, I still don’t think I know their secret ,
maybe it is something they eat or drink.
This region is known as a foodies heaven
I think one of the best things we have here is food. It’s very traditional
and has a lot of success because we love cooking.
Nowadays there are a lot of men as cooks.
There are a lot of restaurants,
we don’t want to bring foreign food here,
because ours it’s good,
we make our own food and drinks like cider.
Hmm, cider, traditional food, male cooks, hmm, maybe this helps in living a long healthy life,
but Im still not sure. Maybe the fountain of youth is a location, maybe it isn’t in San Sebatian
Another thing is that San Sebastián is located in a fine place,
you can go around by car, you can see beautiful views, mountains, grounds…
you can also see a lot of animals, there are many cows and sheep,
one of the most beautiful villages is next to San Sebastián (20 km.),
it’s Zarautz, which I suggest you to go there,
because it’s beautiful and it’s full of life.
I don’t know, I can’t work it out,
is it the great culinary tradition of grazing from bar to bar on snack size pinchos,
is it the wonderful climate, being by the sea, the mountains, the drinking of cider.
I cant work it out, the longevity of these basque people,
but I suppose if I was to live here, why wouldn’t I want to live forever!!