Adventuras en España: Gernika & Mundaka

This past Friday Cide, my study abroad program, treated us to another wonderful excursion. We took a bus trip to the city of Gernika or Guernica and Mundaka. Some of you may know about Guernica from the famous painting by Picasso, Guernica is famous for the bombing in 1937. The city is the historical capital of Pais Vasco, Basque Country. During the Spanish Civil War Franco was threatened by the rebelling Basque people and so he asked the Germans to bomb the city to rubble.

A replication of Picasso's "Guernica"

Most importantly, though, Guernica is the historical capital of Pais Vasco. It has a famous symbol, thousand year old tree or the tree of Guernica, which symbolizes the old freedoms and the past Biscayan protagonist. When we first arrived in Guernica we visited the tree and the Assembly House in Gernika, which use to hold the meetings of the General Assemblies of Biscay. In 1876 the old laws which governed life in Biscay were abolished and meetings no longer took place. However, in 1979 the General Assemblies were recovered. We walked through the Assembly House after watching a video about the history of the tree and Basque country. Next, we toured the Assembly Chamber, where all the assemblies take place, and the Stained-Glass Window Room, a museum dedicated to the history of Biscay. It is know as the Stained-Glass Window Room because the ceiling is a complete stained glass window that represents the tree as a meeting point for the different towns in Biscay. It is quite impressive to walk under!

"The Old Tree" is approximately 300 years old.

The Assembly Chamber

Tree of Gernika was planted in 2005 and directly descends from "The Old Tree."

The Stained-Glass Window Room

After touring the Assembly Chamber we walked over to the Gernika Peace Museum, which was a modern museum. It was inspired by the tragic bombing of Gernika on April 26, 1937. The museum exhibits operate around three major questions: what is peace, what is the legacy of the bombing of Gernika, and what about peace in the world today? The exhibit for the bombing of Gernika was very well done and you were able to grasp a sense of the devastation it caused. The ground was glass which has rubble and cards and pieces from the bombing underneath it. You could read about the impact of the bombing and listen to stories from survivors.

Floor of the Exhibit

Another look at the Bombing of Gernika exhibit

There was also a temporary exhibit in the museum called S.T.O.P, Sobreviviendo en los Territorios Palestinos Ocupados. The translation is Surviving in the Palestine Occupied Territories. The exhibit is a look at the effects of the conflict in Palestinian territories through the statements of local inhabitants. It was done by photographer Giovanni Marrozini who revealed these stories of the region where the population are terrified by checkpoints, searches and bombings, but also by a lack of hope and a feeling that they have no future through a series of photographs. The exhibit was set up like you were walking through a checkpoint with barbed wire and the lights. It was a very moving exhibit and opened my eyes to a lot of things happening in Palestine.

S.T.O.P. Exhibit

One thing you can always count on while on a Cide Excursion is lunch! They always take us to the nicest restaurants and we get served 3 course meals. This time we got served traditional seafood Paella which is rice, vegetables, and seafood. I'm not the biggest fan of rice so I basically just ate all the seafood which included crayfish, fish, mussels, clams, squid, all of my favorites! Then for the main course we got served a white fish which was good, but the dessert was to die for! It was this light, rich, chocolate mousse cake drizzled in raspberry sauce. And we had coffee to go with it. It was the best ending to a delicious meal!

Paella

Best Dessert Ever!

After lunch we got back on the bus and drove to Mundaka which is situated on the mouth of the Mundaka Estuary. It is a small fishing town but is known for its great waves for surfing. It holds the World Championship of Surf. The town was quaint but the view was just gorgeous. Too bad our nice, sunny day quickly turned into a cold, wet, windy, miserable day. The minute we got off the bus everyone pulled out their umbrellas and huddled together to get away from the wind and rain. But the view was still pretty and I was able to get some good pictures. Again, overall it was another successful Cide Excursion!