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Personal accounts of the lifestyle, farming traditions and local fiestas in the Basque Country villages of the Spanish Pyrenees.

Basque Smugglers and Tomatoes

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Georgina Howard
Thursday, 29 November 2012 / Published in Basque Culture and Tradition, Basque Lifestyle
Smugglers of the Baztan Valley
Koilkil, our retired smuggling friend, continues to surprise us with his tales of smuggling cows and horses over the Spanish/French borders of the Basque Pyrenees. He rarely speaks with animosity about the Guardia Civil during Franco’s regime … sometimes I even note a tone of sympathy! The youths sent up to patrol the borders were usually from the south
Basque CountryBasque CultureBasque historyFrancoGuardia CivilHorsessmugglerssmuggling

El Día del Joaldunak (When I got the dates wrong!)

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Georgina Howard
Tuesday, 24 July 2012 / Published in Basque Culture and Tradition, Basque Lifestyle, Ituren carnivals
Xabier, Ituren Joaldunak.
It is the day that only the villagers know about, (and me) and last year I got it terribly wrong! This is the private day of the Joaldunak – the mythical, pagan, carnival personality of our village of Ituren. This is the day they make their personal pilgrimage to our mountain farms in honour of
Basque CultureBasque GastronomyCarnivalsFiestaIturenJoaldunakPyrenees

Our Basque grandparents (Amatxi and Atautxi)

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Georgina Howard
Friday, 11 May 2012 / Published in Basque Lifestyle
  Here is a picture of Amatxi and Atautxi, as I have always known them; the ‘grandparents’ who adopted me when I arrived in Ameztia 10 years ago and helped me to bring up Marion when she made an appearance 3 years’ later.   Amatxi  who taught Marion how to sow, how to make bread, how to
Basque CultureBasque historyBasque languageIturenPyrenees

The Making of the RTVE DESTINO ESPAÑA Documentary:

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Georgina Howard
Thursday, 08 March 2012 / Published in Basque Lifestyle
Atautxi with my daughter (his adopted grand daughter) Marion. 2008
Wallflowers and Stephen Fry! When I was contacted by RTVE, National Spanish TV, to do a documentary on my life for their programme, Destino España, the natural wallflower in me was nowhere to be found! (See the video on the menu bar). Illusions of grandeur had been sown a year ago when I had a
Basque CultureBasque historyCarnivalsGeorgina HowardIturenJoaldunakMarion HowardMillsPyrenees

Life in the Baztan Valley

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Georgina Howard
Tuesday, 14 February 2012 / Published in Basque Lifestyle, Baztan Valley
Baztan walks, culture and mythology are interwoven in the Baztan Valley
Here is a national Spanish TV documentary by RTVE about my and Marion’s life here in the Baztan Valley in the Spanish Basque Pyrenees. In this short documentary you will meet some of the friends and neighbours who have enriched our lives: Felipe, the miller from Amaiur, and Isidro, Amatxi and Atautxi from our neighbouring farm of Zubialdea in Ituren. Zubialdea is our second home
Basque CountryBasque CultureBasque languagebasque traditionsbaztan valleyCarnivalsIturenJoaldunakPyrenees

Business with the Basques in Northern Spain

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Georgina Howard
Wednesday, 03 August 2011 / Published in Basque Culture and Tradition, Basque Lifestyle, Spanish-English differences
Basque friends at a cideria with Basque champion woodcutter 'Olasagasti'
Any article entitled ´Working with the Spanish’ will get into stormy waters if it attempts blanket coverage of the Iberian Peninsula and this is no truer than for the proud Basque people who inhabit the rugged coasts of the North. Just like the English ‘go on holiday to Europe’ so the Basques ‘go on holiday
Basque CountryBasque Culturebasque traditions
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Featured Posts

  • Comet Line children meet in France

    Basque Children of the Resistance

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  • pyrenean experience sunset over the valley on our guided walking holidays in the Pyrenees

    Comet Line Crossing of the Pyrenees

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  • Map of the French and Spanish Pyrenees

    Secrets of the Pyrenees

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  • Hiking in the Pyrenees: the Baztan and Bidasoa Valleys

    Hiking in the Pyrenees – stunning scenery and ancient Basque traditions

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  • Colour definitions - is it green, blue or grey?

    Seeing Life in Colours – and the need to expand our vocabulary!

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