Cal:  You said that he had wanted to make that trip to Yellowstone/Tetons., but got derailed.  Have your issues resolved so that you may be able to make it before too long?

I am headed there in October.

@calfoxwc said:

There is no freakin way I could be morphed into looking like Gipper. lol

So true.  You could never look as good as me 

@diehardbrownsfan said:

Found gips cover photo:

Actually I think that is Cal fox after using one of those Russian face apps?

@diehardbrownsfan said:

I'm a Native New Yorker.

That makes the equine posterior ancestery even more likely

@nero said:

And depending on your interests (history, gastronomy or maybe nature) I can give you some advice with more detail.

Love history and we like sampling local fare that people in the area eat/drink. Also any red wines from that area you recommend we would be happy to sample with meals. If we make it to Pamplona we would be honored to have you as our guide. Years ago my wife and I drove our family to Teotihuacan (pyramid of the sun and pyramid of the moon) in Mexico and ended up with an 87 y.o. guide who spoke 5 different languages he had learned all around the world, but had come home for his final years to be a guide there. I insisted on torturing him with my very rusty Spanish between places we were walking and as a reward he took us to an archeological "dig" where they stopped to allow him to take us "where tourists don't go". You could tell the respect the people working the site had for the old man. And what a wonderful source of knowledge he carried in the 87 y.o. brain. Nothing like a local person to help you see a place through their eyes and experience.

@diehardbrownsfan said:

That's my younger Brother when he tied one on.

That's my 1.5% which is just above the average of 1.3% for Europeans.

My wife says she is not surprised.

@texasag1969 said:

My brother and his wife want to go back to Spain again (they were with us last trip) because we all enjoyed staying in the Paradores so much while venturing out by auto from place to place. Looks like the closest one to you is in Olite (Parador de Olite). Any good place to stay in Pamplona you would recommend? Also do you have a metro like Barcelona has? We stayed in Barcelona a few days about 7 years ago. Loved  it. We are considering a trip to Spain again and then driving to Sauternes in Bordeaux to stay a few days before going to Paris. So we would be going right through your area. I'll let you know when, but possibly as early as a year from now. It's all in the pre-planning stage so it might be a few months before anything is firmed up.

No joke, when I started reading 'paradores' I was immediately thinking about Olite's, even before I read it in your post. Great place with good weather and an amazing castle. Best hotel in Pamplona, in the centre of the downtown area is La Perla. Hotel Tres Reyes is 5mins away walking (from La Perla) too. They're also the most expensive ones. Another good hotel is Blanca de Navarra, which is at the end of the biggest avenue, but has a bus that takes you to downtown in 10mins every 4mins. Just so you get an idea, I live in the outskirts of the city and it takes me 30mins walking to arrive to the centre of the city. 

Only city in the north with a Metro is Bilbao, with a single line. Anyway, we have good bus transport systems, which is almost the same (or even better) because cities are more dense and smaller.

And depending on your interests (history, gastronomy or maybe nature) I can give you some advice with more detail.

@diehardbrownsfan said:

I'm a Native New Yorker.

That is where you were born....that is not where your ancestry derived from.  Knowing you....you have a lot more Neanderthal than the rest of us!!

@texasag1969 said:

Oh no! Poor "Grams" is turning over in her grave.

Artists and scientists have created the first model of a Neanderthal based in part on ancient DNA evidence.

She has been put together using analysis of DNA from 43,000-year-old bones that had been cannibalised.

That's my younger Brother when he tied one on.

@texasag1969 said:

Oh no! Poor "Grams" is turning over in her grave.

Artists and scientists have created the first model of a Neanderthal based in part on ancient DNA evidence.

She has been put together using analysis of DNA from 43,000-year-old bones that had been cannibalised.

Nearly every person who is of European descent has some Neanderthal blood in them.

@diehardbrownsfan said:

So called 'native americans' actually came from asia when there was a land bridge across the Bering sea, so.......

So.....you are from Africa.  Everyone derived from people coming out of Africa.

@nero said:

LOL! Hah that's quite a discovery. I would say that though at least last 4-8 generations from my family most likely are 100% Spanish, probably we have some french ancestors as we live in the border. 

You'd be more than welcome to Pamplona, and I'd guide you (or Gipper, if he decides to come) through my beautiful city heh  

Yea, we know what kind of a guided tour you would give us......right on the horns of some damned bull.  

@nero said:

LOL! Hah that's quite a discovery. I would say that though at least last 4-8 generations from my family most likely are 100% Spanish, probably we have some french ancestors as we live in the border. 

You'd be more than welcome to Pamplona, and I'd guide you (or Gipper, if he decides to come) through my beautiful city heh  

My brother and his wife want to go back to Spain again (they were with us last trip) because we all enjoyed staying in the Paradores so much while venturing out by auto from place to place. Looks like the closest one to you is in Olite (Parador de Olite). Any good place to stay in Pamplona you would recommend? Also do you have a metro like Barcelona has? We stayed in Barcelona a few days about 7 years ago. Loved  it. We are considering a trip to Spain again and then driving to Sauternes in Bordeaux to stay a few days before going to Paris. So we would be going right through your area. I'll let you know when, but possibly as early as a year from now. It's all in the pre-planning stage so it might be a few months before anything is firmed up.

@diehardbrownsfan said:

I was born here, so I'm an American, capish?  I don't give a flying Shmuck where my ancestors came from.

Oh no! Poor "Grams" is turning over in her grave.

Artists and scientists have created the first model of a Neanderthal based in part on ancient DNA evidence.

She has been put together using analysis of DNA from 43,000-year-old bones that had been cannibalised.

@mjp28 said:

But DNA won't show that you were born in America just where your DNA was derived from.....unless you were actually a true American, if you were one. 

All you would need is a birth certificate for that. So you could be 100% North Korean and be born American in your book right? 

So called 'native americans' actually came from asia when there was a land bridge across the Bering sea, so.......

@texasag1969 said:

Hey cousin Nero. Turns out my visit to Spain was just me "going home".

I just got my DNA results back from National Geographic Geno 2.0. Turns out I am 28% SW Europe which is primarily Spain and just over the Pyrenees into deep SW France. Guess my next stop there has to include Pamplona to meet my newly found cousin.

I was 67% NW Europe which includes primarily the British Isles/Ireland, but people there average only about 11% SW Europe which means I have about 2 1/2 times as much Spanish blood. Maybe I am a direct descendant of one of the Spanish Armada survivors. I do know I have dark black hair even at age 71 (with a little gray sprinkled in now) just like both of my parents.

LOL! Hah that's quite a discovery. I would say that though at least last 4-8 generations from my family most likely are 100% Spanish, probably we have some french ancestors as we live in the border. 

You'd be more than welcome to Pamplona, and I'd guide you (or Gipper, if he decides to come) through my beautiful city heh  

@diehardbrownsfan said:

I was born here, so I'm an American, capish?  I don't give a flying Shmuck where my ancestors came from.

But DNA won't show that you were born in America just where your DNA was derived from.....unless you were actually a true American, if you were one. 

All you would need is a birth certificate for that. So you could be 100% North Korean and be born American in your book right? 

@westside-steve said:

Maybe his grandmother was my great grandmother?🥷

@diehardbrownsfan said:

I was born here, so I'm an American, capish?  I don't give a flying Shmuck where my ancestors came from.

So, you are rootless.  You don't know where you come from and you sure as hell don't seem to know where you are going.  Do you not know even when/where your ancestors came to this  country?  How do you know that you are not a product of illegal immigrants?

I am first Generation American.....on one half.  My mother was Irish...and remained an Irish citizen til she died.  I have dual citizenship with Ireland.  All I would need to do is to apply for an Irish passport if I wanted one.

On my Dad's side.....it is hard to tell......been here since before the Revolution.  In fact.....I have a namesake....first and last name including same spelling (and my last name is not spelled conventionally)....who came over to Jamestown with John Smith in 1608.  But there is no specific evidence that I am descended from him.  Likely the opposite....as that person did not seem to survive the "starving time"  in Jamestown.

In fact....there is some anecdotal evidence that perhaps it was my namesake that actually was the first known European to have killed a Native American. 

So, I got that burden hanging over my neck.....except that I think I am off the hook because I am not descended from him.