Archive: July 2010

As a traveller, most of the instructions and advice I read on travel web sites bores me. People are always pointing you towards the typical tourist traps, instead of unveiling  new and undiscovered treasures which promise fun and rewarding experiences. I’m not the only one with this pet peeve. The character I want to introduce to you in the following lines not only goes by the name of Joël Henry, but goes the extra yard.

Joël Henry is not just any tourist. He is an experimental tourist. In the mid-90s, while dining with some friends, this journalist who writes for the Art channel decided to apply his love for games to his love for holidays. So it was that he founded The Laboratory for Experimental Toruism (www.latourex.org), an entelechy compiling travel ideas devoid of conventional touristic restrictions.

Among his proposals are such gems as getting to know cities by only visiting the last stop on a subway line, catching a train precisely at 12:12 and getting off at the twelfth stop or discovering by yourself and in-depth the K2 area of a city’s map. Whether you think his ideas are stupid or just plain zany, no doubt you’ll agree that chance and random selection often improve the quality of one’s travels. I confirmed this for myself during our ExperienceLess venture, months ago when we launched Trourist.

Going over the top for a moment … who would be willing to choose their next destination from a list of places where a crime took place a year ago? Pushing the envelope a bit further, would you prefer instead to set loose a cricket on a map for a minute or so and then embark on a trip following its aimless wanderings? Now it’s your turn: do you have any wild, out-there experimental tourism recommendations that you’d like to share with us?

Heaven knows why, but as I showered this morning I began wondering about the five things one should do in any new city. Following is my handful of ideas, though I’m sure you can come up with many more.

Taste a new dish. Even though we often eat more with our sense of sight than our sense of taste, sampling the local gastronomy is a great way to bond with the culture of the place we’re visiting. Besides, it can be a source of inspiration and creativity and way of astounding others when you return home.

Knock back a few pints at the local pub. You know the kind: small, divey, off the beaten path, where beer still can be found for under 1,5€, the sort of place locals hit after a long working day. These are the types of haunts where you’re likely to meet that bizarre someone who’ll offer you conversation that is priceless.

Take the metro-subway-underground (take your pick, assuming they have one). Each time you make one of these subterranean voyages it’s like an intensive course in sociology. Personally, I love observing the variety of people that make up a city, checking out their assorted fashions and unpredictable behavior …

Get lost. Yeah, no kidding. Some of life’s best experiences come from discovering small niches we happen on by chance, be it the result of taking the wrong road or catching a bus in the opposite direction. As they say: many times the right way to go is the wrong way.

Catch a sunrise. That special instant when the city is waking up while you still haven’t gone to sleep. It’s as though the universe were frozen for a few seconds, only to go into triple overdrive seconds later. It’s a can’t-miss moment, particularly if the company and setting is right.

Surely many of you intend to travel somewhere during the upcoming weeks. After all, one does have to take advantage of the warm summer weather. Some of you will pick a city, others some deserted beach. And still others will trek up some mountain. One thing is for certain: all of you will want to discover a special nook or have a genuine experience wherever you go.

This aim of helping you find real treasures during your travels has been from the start the number one concern for all of us here at Trourist. Little by little, thanks to your participation and sharing of experiences such as a cool creperie in Paris or that tea stop in Granada, we are achieving our goal.

Now, during Summer 2010 we wish to introduce a new initiative: the Trourist guides. For those of you travelling to San Sebastián, Barcelona and Berlin during the next few months you’ll be able to download and print Trourist for each of these cities (London and Madrid guides coming soon). Included in these guides are the best experiences shared with us plus advice from bloggers and trourists from these destinations.

We hope from the bottom of our hearts that you find these guides useful, whether it’s for trips you personally embark on or those done by friends and acquaintances (whom you’ll want to surprise by sending them a copy). To download these guides free of charge, all you have to do is visit the following link to Issuu.

I know for certain where you’ll be.
(And also where you won’t).
You won’t be where a murmur is missing,
or in the cold silence where melancholy fills
the lifeless streets found in every city,
Nor will you be where today is like tomorrow,
Nor where the ambience has the insipid air of a Monday morning,
Nor in a photograph where you look awkwardly out of place.
You will not be alone seated in a chair,
a bridge that links you to that other world
constructed by smiles and conversation,
Nor will you be locked inside the four walls of some room
Nor waiting on an endless line without not knowing why
Nor will you be oblivious to what is going on around you.
No, I don’t have to go looking for you.
I know where to find you.
You’ll be in the spotlight of a battle,
or anchoring aweigh at dawn,
dreaming with your eyes wide open,
feeding your most venturesome spirit,
and experimenting until surprises leave you breathless.
You’ll search for that something
which makes your voyage special.
Oh yes, my dearest TROURIST friend,
I know for certain where you’ll be.

Even though this ranking may exhibit my personal bias, I believe it provides a useful calendar for any trourist electing to visit the Basque Country during the summer season:

St. John. Hernani, June 23rd. If one has to pick a single moment above all others, I’d have to lean towards the txupinazo because of its symbolic representation as the launch of the St. John festivities. On this day, at noon, a very special atmosphere can be felt in the Plaza de los Gudaris, overflowing with expectant merrymakers eager for the rocket launch  signaling the commencement of five days of non-stop partying. Merrymakers and hell-raising go hand in hand during this period because for many it is the beginning of the summer festival season and the end of final exams, a double cause célèbre.

La Blanca. Vitoria. August 4th. The beginning of this feast is marked by the descent of Celedón (an effigy of a mythical legend) every fourth of August at six in the evening. Over forty-thousand people congregate, bottles of cava in hand, at the Plaza de la Virgen Blanca (the White Virgin Mother, hence the feast’s name) to witness the most important instant of the following five days. Once this moment is over, bedlam ensues and the feast is on. The highlight of every afternoon comes just before the bullfights when the “blusas” (residents of all ages dressed in traditional festival garb) form flanks and cheer passersby as they cross back and forth in front of them, to the tune of deafening music played by local amateur brass bands known as charangas. Just as they are in other parts of the Basque Country, txosnas (mobile bars run by cultural and/or political organizations) are another mainstay at these feasts. Every night, young people meet to drink and take in the concerts which have been scheduled.

Aste Nagusia. Bilbao, August 21st (this year). For five nine days, the feast just takes over the streets of the city and thousands of persons enjoy the convivial atmosphere that always predominates in Bilbao. The feast’s origin dates back to 1978, when several Bilbao associations decided to organize a contest to garner the best ideas for a Semana Grande (Big Week) in the city. The nine-day extravaganza is run jointly by the local town hall and various comparsas (local associations and groups) throughout the city. Thirty years later, the Aste Nagusia of Bilbao is one of the most popular and most frequented feasts in the Basque Country. Following the txupinzao (above-described) and inaugural speech, the peculiar Marijaia (Festive Mary), symbolic mascot of the feast, steps out onto the balcony of the Arriaga Theater to kick off the festivities, which  take place in the various txosnas of diverse stripe and persuasion across the city. No indoor bars for the feast’s duration, this party is held in the street.

Antzar Eguna. Lekeitio, September 5th. A sea of people attired in blue overflow the txosnas to be found at the seaport of this lovely fishing village. The climactic moment occurs at 4 p.m. when the village’s cuadrillas (groups of friends) set out in boats to take turns participating in the local festivities in a more direct manner. A representative from each boat grabs onto a goose which is tied to a chord and held at the opposite end by 20 people. This tug-of-war causes the elected goose-holder to bounce off the water’s surface several times before yanking the goose’s head off (assuming he manges to do so). Following this bizarre display of dexterity, the feast romps into full swing, non-stop till the wee hours of the morning. The best part of the program? Without question, the day fare.

Euskal Jaia, September 9th. Decked out in traditional rural farm worker (baserriterra) wear, the people of Zarautz and neighboring villages hit the streets every September 9th to live the most special day of the year for this breezy coastal town. Unquestionably, cider is an indispensable element in the Euskal Jaia of Zarautz. It is served by the ton at Barren Plaza and Musika Plaza, but also from carriages and supermarket carts prepared especially by local cuadrillas for the occasion. No doubt, it’s a great way to conclude the summer fanfare and begin the back-to-school haul full of energy.

Needless to say, you are more than welcome to participate in all the feasts you find to your liking or consider worthwhile. There’s something here for everyone!

Antzar Eguna. Lekeitio.