June 29- Festival Of San Pedro

Today I was able to watch and be a part of a traditional Basque celebration, the festival of San Pedro (St. Peter). SAS arranged a field program (we had to pay for the tickets) to go to a nearby town called Sopelana to see the festivities at 10:00 am. As soon as we got into town, we saw a parade of people walking the streets. The group was headed by 4 gigantic human figurines that were carried by the townsfolk. I wish I knew more about what was going on so I could explain who the figures were supposed to be, but the truth is that I have no idea. Following the large “mascots” (for lack of a better word) were musicians, children dressed up in costumes, and adults wearing traditional Basque outfits. The parade went all through the tiny town and ended at a church where everyone gathered to have a Sunday service. We didn’t stay for that part, but the other events wouldn’t begin until 12:00. So Courtney, Lindsey and I just chilled in a café for an hour drinking espresso and eating pintxos. At noon, we went back out into the town and saw that the street were lined with vendors. They were selling everything from bags to clothes to toys to jewelry to art and just about everything in between.

Festival of San Pedro

Parade Through Sopelana

Sunday Service at a Chapel in Sopelana

In the center of town, some of the local townspeople were putting on a show in celebration of San Pedro. There were several groups of children of various ages who would perform a traditional Basque dance. It started off with the young children, and an older group would replace them as a new song began to play. It was very interesting and entertain to watch. Most of the people in the crowd were locals, and it was pretty evident that most of the tourists were from SAS. Everyone looked so happy and nice and like they were having a lot of fun.

We had the choice to go back to the ship with SAS at 2:00 or stay in Sopelana and come back later on our own. Lindsey and I decided to head back to the ship. We watched the Disney cartoon Hercules while we waited for her roommate, Katie, to return from a different field program. FYI, Lindsey loves Disney so I already know we’re going to be good friends.

After Katie got back to the ship, we grabbed some dinner and headed into Bilbao. Coincidentally, we met up with Courtney as soon as we got off the bus. The four of us decided to visit Casco Viejo or “Old Town” which is just the historic area in Bilbao. Casco Viejo has a lot of neat little shops and boutiques, so it was fun to explore. We got some ice cream and later some pintxos before finally returning to the ship at 9:00. Exhausted, I went to bed happy and dreamt of pintxos and gelato all night.