European Day of Languages 2023

Today is the European Day of Languages again.  The EU promote linguistic diversity and encourages everyone to speak multiple foreign languages.  There are 27 EU member countries and the EU has 24 official languages.   

The official EU languages are Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish (Gaelic), Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, and Swedish.

This means that EU legislation must be published in all 24 languages.  All EU citizens have the right to communicate with EU institutions in any of the official languages.

Within the EU, the European Parliament is the most linguistically diverse institution.  All 24 EU languages are used as MEPs may speak any official language.  Very diverse but it's expensive to have interpreters and translators to handle all 24 languages.  

The European Commission values efficiency over linguistic diversity.  While legally bound to all 24 languages of the EU, in practice the three main working languages are English, French and German.

Adding or removing a language to the official list requires the approval of all 27 EU members.  This is normally a part of the ascension process when a country joins the EU.  For example, Croatian became an official language when Croatia joined the EU in 2013.

When Luxembourg joined the EU in 1957, back when it was originally the European Economic Community (EEC), the national languages were French and German.  Both of which were official languages.  In 1984, Luxembourg made Luxembourgish an official national language.  However, it is not an official EU language because (a) Luxembourg didn't submit it as a language when it joined, and (b) to add it now would require all 27 countries to agree.

In Cyprus, both Greek and Turkish are official languages but only Greek is an official EU language.  More or less, kind of for the same reason as in Luxembourg.  

Last month, Spain formally requested that Catalan, Basque, and Galician all become official EU languages.  I don't think that this will happen anytime soon because all 27 countries have to agree, plus the associated administrative cost of adding three new languages.

English is an official language in Ireland and Malta, which is why English stayed an official EU language even after the UK left the EU. 

Brno City Break in 2023

Last year, Time Out magazine published their list of the 16 best city breaks in Europe for 2022.  Brno came in second place.  

This year Brno made the list again but fell to seventh place.  A few spots lower but still in the top ten.

The write up for Brno was pretty much exactly the same as last year.  

Here are the top 18 places.  Several of these are still on my list of places to visit.

1. Marseille, France
2. Sheffield, UK
3. Buhać, Bosnia and Herzegovina
4. Milan, Italy
5. Bilbao, Spain
6. Arles, France
7. Brno, Czech Republic
8. Liverpool, UK
9. Kaunas, Lithuania
10. Oslo, Norway
11. Hamburg, Germany
12. Dublin, Ireland
13. Inverness, UK
14. Trikala, Greece
15. Rotterdam, Netherlands
16. Freiburg, Germany
17. Turku, Finland
18. Valencia, Spain

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Bilbao Trip Summary

After very little travel due to Covid-19 it felt so good to get on an Iberia flight to Spain.  One of the things that British Airways / Oneworld did during Covid was to extend frequent flyer status levels while people couldn't travel so thanks this this I still have my silver medallion status.

For Kája and I, this was our first trip together.  Who knew if we would travel together well or not?  Kája is used to Ryanair, so it was a nice surprise for him when we arrived at the airport and got to move to the front of the queue and he had his first airport lounge experience.  

Bilbao was great!  Neither of us had been there before and visiting the Basque Country has been on my list of places to see for years.

On Thursday we did a free walking tour of historic Bilbao.  Our guide, Marina, was excellent.  

We enjoyed walking around and checking out the local sights.  It was especially nice enjoying the 30℃ (86℉) weather which was way warmer than in Brno.  

On Friday, we went to see the Vizcaya Bridge and did some walking around in Getxo and Portugalete.

On Saturday was our half-day tour which included stops at San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, Bermeo, and Guernica.

You can't visit the Basque Country and not enjoy pintxos, which is the Basque version of Spanish tapas.  Both are small snacks but pintxos are usually served on top of bread with a toothpick holding things together.

On Saturday afternoon we came across Basque folk dancing in the centre.

I'm not sure what I did that there's no sound but you get the idea.

Later we took an hour-long boat cruise along the Nervion River which gave us another view of the city.

Halloween seems to be catching on more and more across Europe.  

I think only in Spain will you see kids go trick-or-treating in pubs.

Of course, Saturday night wasn't just for kids.  

There were plenty of adults out as well.

We had a great time in Bilbao.  We definitely want to return to the Basque Country and next time we'll check out San Sebastián.

Vizcaya Bridge, Urdaibai, San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, Bermeo And Gernika Tour, Spain

On Saturday we did a half-day tour to see Vizcaya Bridge, San Juan De Gaztelugatxe, Bermeo and Gernika.  We got to see several Basque Country sights.  It was a long trip but well worth it.  

Our first stop was in Getxo for a 20-minute stop to take a look at the UNESCO transporter bridge.  Twenty minutes didn't leave people with enough time take a ride across the river and back but we were fine since we already did the bridge thing the day before when we went to Portugalete.

San Juan de Gaztelugatxe is an islet off the coast of the Bay of Biscay, about 35 km (22 miles) east of Bilbao.  There is a man-made stone bridge to the island with a 10th century hermitage on top dating back to 1051.

Many people take two hours to hike to the hermitage and ring a bell there three times to make a wish.  We only stopped at an overlook for 20 minutes to take some photos.

Akatz Island is a neighbouring island that is home to nesting birds.

San Juan de Gaztelugatxe has become even more popular when HBO digitally created a castle on top of the islet and created Dragonstone for the seventh season of Game of Thrones.

The Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve was declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1984.  

It covers an area of 220 km² (85 square miles) on the Bay of Biscay coast.  It is home to about 45.000 people and 80% of them around towns of Bermeo and Gernika.

Our next stop was the small fishing town of Bermeo about 11 km (7 miles) away.  Bermeo was founded in 1236 and is home to almost 17.000 people.

Bermeo was the provincial capital from 1476 to 1602.  However, once Bilbao was founded in 1300, Bermeo's importance started declining.  

We stayed here for about 40 minutes and even got to sample a local fish pintxo which is the Basque version of Spanish tapas.

Then it was on to Gernika, the Basque name for Guernica, about 40 km (25 miles) east of Bilbao, where we stayed for about an hour.

Guernica was founded in 1366 and is home to 17.000 people.  It is a small market town but it is very important to Basque culture and identity.

Our first stop here was at the Assembly House which is the Basque House of Parliament.  

The hall was built from 1826 - 1833.  The Assembly House is also part museum because there's the Hall of Stained Glass, the Library and the former office of the President.

The Tree of Gernika is a symbol of Basque independence and democratic ideals from The current oak tree was planted in 2015 and it replaced the tree that had been planted in 2004.  It was descended from the "Old Tree" (1792-1860) and from the "Father Tree" which died in 1792.

The Church of Santa Maria is the oldest building in the town dating back to the 15th century.

Guernica is most know for being bombed on 26 April 1937.  During the Spanish Civil War, General Francisco Franco requested the Germans and Italians to help him overthrow the Basque Government and the Spanish Republic government.  The German Luftwaffe used it as an opportunity to experiment with its blitzkrieg tactics which it later unleashed on Europe in WWII.

The city was bombed for three hours and more than 1500 people were killed.

It's what inspired Picasso's Guernica which is on display at Madrid's Reina Sofía Museum.  A life-size reproduction of the piece was installed in 1997 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the bombing.

Here's a short video I found on YouTube that helps interpret Picasso's masterpiece.

©BBC News

Portugalete, Spain

About 14 km (8 miles) north west of Bilbao, across the river from Getxo, is Portugalete.  The city is part of the Bilbao greater metropolitan area and it is home to about 46.000 people.

Portugalete was founded in 1322 so this year it celebrates its 700th anniversary.  

In the 1300's, its port competed with Bilbao but fell behind when Bilbao's port was grated trade privileges in 1511.  

In the 19th century it became a summer getaway for England's bourgeoisie.

Like Getxo, the Vizcaya Bridge is a major attraction.  The world's first transporter bridge which became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006.

The Basilica of Santa Maria was built on the site of an existing church.  Construction began in 1492 and it was consecrated in 1580.  

The Gothic church became a minor basilica in 1951 and in 1984 it was declared a national asset of cultural interest.

The town hall, located at Solar Plaza, doubles as the office of the municipal police.  The neoclassical building was completed in 1883.

Torre Salazar is a four-storey tower that was built around 1380.  Originally it was a defensive complex, with the first floor serving as a prison and the second floor being a residence.  Today there is a town museum and a restaurant.

La Canilla is the old railways station that was built in 1890 on land reclaimed from the sea.  Today it is the town tourist office.

The Convent of Santa Clara was founded in 1614.  Over the years it has been destroyed and rebuilt a few times.  Today it houses the town's cultural centre.

Museo Rialia is the museum of industry and it is located on the Old Dock.

A widow willed money and land to be used to provide free education for all children, workers and the poor.  So in 1902, Augustinian monks set up a convent and a school.  It was rebuilt in the early 1950s.

Portugalete is a pretty town filled with statues and and makes for a nice little day trip from Bilbao.

Getxo, Spain

Getxo is a town of 78.000 people about 14 km (8 miles) north west of Bilbao.  It's only a 30 minute subway ride away so it's easy to get to.

The city was founded in 1075.  It is an affluent area of the greater Bilbao area.

The Las Arenas neighbourhood sits on the right side of the Nervion river directly across from Portugalete.  The two towns are connected by the Vizcaya Bridge, or the "hanging bridge", which was the world's first transporter bridge.

The bridge took three years to build and it was completed in 1893.  It is referred to as the Arc de Triumph of the Industrial Revolution.  In 2006 it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The gondola runs 24 hours a day.  It takes 90 seconds to cross the river.  Up to 6 cars, 6 motorcycles, bicycles and 200 passengers can cross at a time.  I don't know about cars bit it is one €0,50 per person to cross.

Here's 20 seconds of a 90 second trip.

Near the bridge is the Church of the Mercedes.  It was destroyed in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War and it was rebuilt in 1939.  It doesn't look like your typical Catholic Church from the outside.  Unfortunately it was closed when we arrived so we didn't get the chance to see the inside.

This building was used as a social centre for decades before 1986 when it became the Andrés Isasi Music School.

This is all we saw during a quick stroll around as we spent most of the day on the other side of the river checking out Portugalete.