10 things you should know about the Basques
probably best known internationally for
the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao
one of the oldest, if not the oldest,
peoples in Europe
Their language, Euskera, bears no clear
relationship to any other language in the world
only European people who
continue to occupy the sites where they originally evolved.
"I live in Bilbao" translates as "Ni Bilbon bizi naiz,"
literally "I Bilbao in to live am."
rural
culture of traditional folk dances in exotic costumes, archaic
rural sports, such as rock-lifting and goose- decapitation
obsession with food and drink. The Basques boast that they have
more Michelin stars per square kilometre than any other country
Tens of thousands of Basque men belong to gastronomic societies,
where they cook elaborate meals for each other at least once a
week
the best cave paintings in the world
Eta, an armed group that fights for Basque independence, killed
dictator Gen Franco's prime minister in the middle of Madrid in
1973
clipped from: www.ireland.com