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Iruña-Pamplona.  After their visit last September to California, the group Itsaslur, headquartered in Pamplona, will attend the Semana Nacional Vasca in Argentina next week in Villa Maria to present Overtrails Tour Operators.  It is a travel program to get to know Euskal Herria designed especially for the Diaspora and Basque descendants.  This program, organized in Basque, English, Spanishs or French, hopes, “to create a bridge so that through tourism we gain mutual understanding and a stronger relationship with what exists today.”

Karlos Agirre, of Itsaslur, will make various presentations in Villa Maria from November 8-10.  Anyone wanting to get in touch or get more information can send an email here.

Overtrails provides three kinds of trips that allow travelers to live and experience the Basque Country from the inside.  They are as follows:

Programs of Cultural travel and experience

Programs of 8-12 days in length in the Basque Country “to experience the traditional way of life of our culture, like our ancestors lived in the land that they had to leave, an some time during their live,” said Karlos Agirre.  With guides and Basque speaking companions, as well as English, Spanish or French speaking guides for groups of 6 or more (for 2 people by request).  Lodging in old farmhouses that have been converted into Agro-Tourism sites, lie the farmhouse of Erraizabal, site of the Sheepherders Eco-museum, the farmhouse of Gomiztegi farmhouse three kilometers away from Aratnzazo, or that of Txindurri Iturri where cider is made and the lifestyle is that of the past.

“In addition to be able to swim on the beaches of Deba, to have pintxos in Getaria, Zumaia, Zarautz, Bermeo or Donostia-San Sebastian, wherever we can go by boat “Johnny Maracas,” we will learn about the history of Flysch de Zumaia,” he added.  “We will visit the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao as well as the Balenciaga in Getaria, and from Pasaia, using the Mater Museo-Ontzia as our base; we will get to know how fishermen lived, the art of traditional and sustainable fishing on board a tuna boat.”

Basque language immersion program

This consists of a five-week program to learn, or improve the participants’ Basque level.  It is comprised of three weeks of classes in Pamplona with lodging with Basque-speaking families.  Following there are two weeks of linguistic immersion and culture with Basque-speaking families in the north of Navarre.  Classes are taught by IKA and take place in Pamplona at the Arturo Campion Euskaltegi near the Castillo Plaza.

Experiential Barnetegis

These are stays of 12-14 days on the Basque coast to practice Basque, with lodging in Zumaia, Legazpi and the area of Pasaia.  “While we live and experience the traditional way of life, we will perfect our level of Basque.  In the morning we will have experiential programs in the country or on the shore, and in the afternoon we will have talks and classes for a couple of hours, combining the theory with what we are living at that moment with grammar,” Karlos Agirre explains.

Promotional video of the program: