San Juan de Gaztelugatxe

If you will ever be in Basque Country, you have to visit Gaztelugatxe. It's an islet on the coast of Biscay, connected to the mainland by a man-made bridge. It's one of the most beautiful places that I've ever seen! 

To go there you can take a bus, rent a car or, like I did, ask your new basque friends for a lift:)

I believe that it's better to go with someone who knows the way, because you can easily get lost.

The view is breathtaking! 

To go on the top of the islet you have to climb the narrow path that contains 241 steps(yeah, it looks a lot, but actually it's not so hard as it seems). Once you there, you will find the church, dedicated to John the Baptist, that has a bell situated along the front of its facade. According to legend, once you're on top, you should ring the bell three times and make a wish.

                 

Bilbao, the city of my dreams

I really miss travelling.

I believe that when I was living in Bilbao I had the best time of my life. I was there as an exchange student at Deusto University just for one year, but that year was the longest and the most fascinating in my life.

Bilbao is the beating heart of Basque Country. Although it's located in Spain, I wouldn't call it a Spanish city. I was surrounded by people who were speaking not only spanish, but also euskera. At first it was strange, because these two languages are totally different. But it didn't take long for me to become more fascinated with the second one. I knew that I came there to study Spanish, but I just couldn't help myself:)

My favorite word is pimpilimpausa, which means butterfly.

The second one, sirimiri which means drizzle.

But it's not only the language that differs them from the rest of Spain. The people who live there at first seem to be more shy, more introvert, but once you get to know them, you see how wonderful they are.

It's not really important whether you like football or not, when you're in Bilbao it's impossible not to love Athletic, the Basque football team.

           And here, one of my favorite songs in euskera.

                       Spring is coming..... :)

Eglė žalčių karalienė

Eglė the Queen of Serpents is one of the most popular Lithuanian fairy tales and the richest in references of Baltic mythology.

I heard it for the first time when I was a little girl, and even though it scared me at the time, I was and still am really fond of it.  

"Once upon a time, there lived an old man and his wife. Together, they had twelve sons and three daughters. The youngest girl was named Eglė. On a warm summer evening, all three girls decided to go swimming. After bathing with her two sisters, Eglė discovered a serpent in the sleeve of her blouse.

The eldest girl grabbed Eglė's blouse, threw it down, and jumped on it, but the serpent did not leave. Turning to the youngest, Eglė, the serpent spoke to her in a man's voice, saying, "Eglė, promise to become my bride, and I will gladly come out."

In order to get him to leave her clothes, Eglė pledged herself to him, not understanding the possible consequences.

Three days later, thousands of serpents came for Eglė, but her relatives tricked them three times in a row. A goose, a sheep, and a cow were given instead of the girl, despite the warnings of a cuckoo. Finally, the enraged serpents returned and took Eglė with them to their master at the bottom of the sea.

Instead of seeing a serpent, Eglė met her bridegroom Žilvinas, a handsome man and the Serpent Prince. They married and bore four children, living happily.

One day, Eglė wished to visit her home, but her husband would not allow her. In order to be allowed the visit, Eglė would be required to fulfill three impossible tasks: to spin a never-ending tuft of silk, wear down a pair of iron shoes, and bake a pie with no utensils. Upon advice from a sorceress, Eglė was able to complete these tasks. She and her children left Žilvinas to visit her home.

After meeting with Eglė and her children, her family wished to keep her rather than let her return to the sea. They plotted to kill Žilvinas. Eglė's brothers asked her sons to reveal the secret calling of Žilvinas, but they would not. Finally, one of Eglė's daughters disclosed it:

"Žilvinas, dear Žilvinas,

If alive - may the sea foam milk

If dead - may the sea foam blood..."

The twelve brothers then called Žilvinas out from the sea, and killed him with scythes. They kept the secret of their deed from Eglė. Worried, Eglė called her husband, but only foams of blood returned from the sea.

Discovering that her beloved husband was dead, Eglė turned herself and her children into trees. Her sons were turned into strong trees: oak, ash and birch; her daughter was turned into a common aspen, and Eglė was turned into a spruce."

Man of a Thousand Faces

     Since I was little I've always loved to watch movies. My sister and I used to rent VHS cassettes (we loved the idea of watching movies without any commercial breaks) and mostly we were interested in horror movies. Our "forbidden fruit" was not easy to get. Back then, there were two workers at the store: an old lady who was always yelling at us for having such a stupid idea, and her husband who would rent us all the movies that we wanted if his wife was not around. We'd watched a lot of classic horror movies, but for me the best ones were those with Freddy Krueger. Although each time I was scared to death, I just couldn't stop watching them. Now I understand that for a 5-6 years old girl it wasn't the best choice for a movie (a lot of sleepless nights and nightmares) but even so, I'm glad that I have those memories. 

     I remember that I couldn't understand how someone could watch silent films. Without sound and colour, how can they be interesting? Now, when I'm older, I think that they are way better than the mayority of movies that we have in the present mainstream cinemas.

    "The man of a thounsand faces" is the nickname of Lon Chaney, a famous American actor during the age of silent films. 

     I wrote the word "famous" because I believe he was and still is (he acted in over 100 movies)  although he's not popular among the people I know. I ran into him for the first time when I watched the movie "The unknown". To not spoil you the story I will just say that there is this scene, where Chaney finds out about something so devastating that it makes him laugh and cry at the same time. I was so impressed by his acting that I totally forgot that's a silent film - I could swear that I heard him laughing/crying. 

     Lon Chaney was a child of deaf mute parents, so he became a master in expressing himself not through words, but through facial expression and body language. He is mostly know as an actor of horror movies like The Hunchback of Notre Dame or The Phantom of the Opera but the fact is that he was more than that. With his "magic" makeup case he could become anyone. He played a man without arms, a gangster without legs, an old Chinese man who converts into Christianity, a clown or a killer who is dressed up as an old lady. 

     I really recommend you to check him out:)