A CANTERBURY TALE

Post by: Gerarda on 05 Jul 2013

(This Post was written by Susannah Jayes, Picture Editor and writer from London and contributor to my blog. Susannah has also written the piece, Patient´s Olympic experience.)

 

If you are in the UK this summer, you might like to consider a visit to the ancient city of Canterbury in Kent, just an hour or so by train from London.

Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral

With more than 1500 years of history, Canterbury is famed for its cathedral, which was established in 597AD as the birthplace of English Christianity by St Augustine. The cathedral was also the scene of the murder of the archbishop, Thomas à Becket in 1170AD (immortalised in TS Eliot’s play, Murder in the Cathedral), and became a place of pilgrimage thereafter. The pilgrimage provided the backdrop to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Today the cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the present Cathedral (rebuilt in Gothic style after a fire in 1174) is awe-inspiring, with its high-vaulted ceilings, large but intimate crypt, huge stone pillars and beautiful stained glass windows. There is so much to see that you could happily spend a day inside and also an afternoon wandering around the Cathedral precincts, staring up at the amazing 72m-high main tower and marveling at the skill and dedication of the early stonemasons and craftsmen and women who built it.

Beaney Museum

Beaney Museum

Over a weekend in June, my husband and I explored Canterbury for the first time and we really enjoyed wandering the winding, narrow streets that grew up around the cathedral, which contain many beautiful examples of early medieval architecture. If you are a keen photographer (or even if you are not), you will find many striking buildings and secret alleyways to intrigue and delight you. Canterbury today – just like in medieval and Chaucerian times – remains a lively and bustling place to visit. There is an abundance of restaurants, cafes and historic pubs to enjoy, and the buskers and market stalls offer a lively street life. There are also many museums that will fascinate. We visited the The Beaney Art Museum and Library, which houses the exotic collection of Dr James George Beaney who travelled the world in the 18th century, and sent back artifacts to his home city. Particularly interesting was the Cabinet of Curiosities, which contains all manner of items Beaney collected from far and wide – everything from stuffed parrots to Ancient Egyptian pottery!

We also visited the Eastbridge Hospital of St. Thomas the Martyr in the main street. It is a hospital in the old sense of the word – a place of hospitality – and was built more than 800 years ago to provide shelter for poorer pilgrims who needed a place to stay, and the hospital carries on this tradition of hospitality today, with 8 flats providing accommodation for some of the elderly people of Canterbury. The hospital has a wonderful vaulted undercroft, a medieval refectory and a peaceful and beautiful chapel that is still in use today.

Canterbury 5

Canterbury

If you might be thinking of visiting Canterbury, you could consider staying at the Cathedral Lodge Hotel like we did, which is set within the precincts of the cathedral itself – we really enjoyed our stay there. The hotel raises money for the upkeep of the cathedral and so contributes to keeping this amazing building going in the 21st century, so many hundreds of years after it was first built.

© Susannah Jayes/Mayflower Media Ltd 2013

 

San Bérnabe Feria – Marbella

Post by: Gerarda on 10 Jun 2013

San Bernabé is the patron saint of Marbella for whom a festival is held every year from June 9th to June15th. Many activities for young and old alike are to be found from parades and processions to games and of course the crowning of the queen. There will be music and entertainment with flamenco dancing every evening and on Sunday a bullfight. One of the highlights of the week-long celebration is a Horse Show with a classical dressage demonstration together with flamenco dancing. If you haven´t yet attended a feria, perhaps this is your year.

Program

Monday – Marbella Fairgrounds

13.00 Inauguration of the Kids Zone

13:30 Senior citizen tent – Caseta Mi Hogar opens

15.00 Rides open

17.00-20.00  Performances by local dance schools

23.00 Concert featuring India Martinez – Free entrance

 

Tuesday

10.00 Religious procession at the historical landmark la Cruz de Humilladero (Calle Málaga) with music from the Municipal Band and the La Pollinica de Marbella brotherhood.

10.30 Commemorative medal ceremony of the Cruz de Humilladero on C/ Málaga.

11.00 Mass at Parroquia Ntra. Sra. de la Encarnación. (Big church in the Old Town) and a Procession in honor of the Patron Saint San Bernabé

13.00 Tents open at the Marbella fairground

15.00 Rides open at the Marbella fairgrounds

17.00 a 20.00 Performances by local dance schools

20.30 Children’s show “EL COHETE MUSICAL” (The Musical Firework) Fairground auditorium – Free Entrance.

 

Wednesday – Marbella Fairgrounds

11.30 – 13.30 Students visit the fairgrounds

13.00 Tents open

14.00 – 22.00 Kids zone open

15.00 Rides open

15.00 – 00.00 CHILDREN’S DAY 50% discount on all rides at the children´s feria.

16.00 – 20.00 Performances by local dance schools

19.00 Grand kids party at the fairground auditorium, with activities for even the youngest of children, bouncy castles, jumping, zipline, entertainment, etc.

 

Thursday– Marbella Fairgrounds

11.30 – 13.30 Students visit the fairgrounds

13.00 Tents open

14.00 – 22.00 Kids zone open

15.00 Rides open

16.00 – 20.00 Performances by local dance schools

18.00 Dance contest

19.00 Flamenco and Horse Show El Arte de Andalucia a Caballo at Plaza de Toros in Marbella. Entrance fee:15 euro.

 

Friday – Marbella Fairgrounds

12.00 Horse parade from the Fairgrounds Arch 

13.00 Tents open

14.00 – 22.00 Kids zone open

15.00 Rides open

16.00 – 20.00 Performances by local dance schools

21.00 Dance competition in the fairground auditorium

 

Saturday – June 15th – Marbella Fairgrounds

11.30 Games competition at the fairgrounds entrance

13.00 Day center for elderly open

14.00 – 00.00 Kids zone open

15.00 Rides open

16.00 – 20.00 Performances by local dance schools

21.00 Songs to the Queen of the Feria and her ladies by Cuarnetunas, modern day troubadours. 

 

Sunday

19.00 Bullfight – Gran Corrida, Plaza de Toros, Marbella

Bullfighters: Jose Luis Torre, Jose Carlos Venegas, David Galvan

Tickets can be purchased at the locations below or from the Gran Corrida Box Office or call 697-194-236 952-772-444 – 952-924-255.

www.plazatorosmarbella.es

www.taquillatores.com

www.ElCorteInglés.com

http://www.servitoro.com/

http://tauroentrada.com/

 

 

 

 

50 Shades of Green in Marbella

Post by: Gerarda on 18 Mar 2013

Who needs 50 shades of grey when you can have 50 shades of the most magnificent color from the Emerald Isle? St. Patrick´s Day in Marbella was celebrated in a sea of green that would give 50 shades a run for its money.

From Irish dancing and singing to Irish food and drink from Aidan’s Bar & Grill, The Orange Tree, Beckitt’s Restaurant and The Playwright restaurant there was no excuse for anyone going home hungry or thirsty. Irish stew flowed from The Hogan Stand and the main entrance was awash with Guinness from The Claddagh.

Finola Sloyan of Event Planner, pulled off a miracle in getting a change of location for the festivities, for the Irish Club Marbella, since looming rain meant a last minute change of venue was going to be needed. Where do you find a site large enough for an event of this magnitude and at the same time have it available at a moment´s notice? It is not as if you can postpone such an important day in the Irish calendar.

It proves that leprechauns are not only found at the bottom of a Guinness glass but are found in scores of places and in countless forms. The Ayuntamiento de Marbella proved to be the leprechauns of the day at this year´s St. Patrick´s Day Festival, as they provided the Palacio de Congresos, a place where everyone could be warm and dry and have all the facilities one requires for a large group of people.

To the MC, Percy O´Rowland, from Toastmasters Marbella (TMI) who was an Irishman-for-a-day, well-done you. For all those who attended who were Irish or Irish-at-heart, it looked like a good time was had.

Due to rainy weather being forecast for Sunday, March 17th, the Marbella Town Hall has changed the location for the St. Patrick’s Day Festival. It will now be held upstairs in the Palacio de Congresos, Marbella. The entrance is opposite El Corte Ingles, before you get to the Copper Tower (Piruli), on the right-hand side if you are coming from Puerto Banus.  If you are driving, you can park next door, beside the Senator Hotel (free).

All of the original participants are still involved and the festivities will commence at 12 noon with the dance troop, the Aloha College Irish Dancers. All afternoon there will be oodles of entertainment with food and drink being served.

Come for Sunday lunch at the St. Patrick´s Day Festival, enjoy the music and dancing and experience the Irish talent on the Costa del Sol.