Istanbul (I)

Wonderful!

The tour is starting

On the bus

Meeting in Hellín - Spain (V)

APRIL 17th, 2013: VISITING CUENCA (UNESCO World Heritage)

Bridge of Saint Paul

Hanging Houses

Hanging Houses

Hanging Houses

Huécar Canyon

Hanging Houses

Cathedral of Our Lady of Grace and Saint Julian

Medieval streets

Medieval streets

Bishop's Palace

Mangana Tower

Meeting in Hellín - Spain (IV)

APRIL 16th, 2013: VISITING ALBACETE CITY AND CHINCHILLA DE MONTEARAGÓN

International Children's Day

Hi friends, I want to inform you about a festival we celebrated last week.Turkey celebrate April 23rd Children's Day. It is an official holiday dedicated to the children of Turkey and (from 1979 on) the world. The day is celebrated annually in Turkey with spectacular activities. It is celebrated with the principle of "PEACE AT HOME, PEACE IN THE WORLD" through the participation of an average of 42 countries. This year it was celebrated in Konya and more than 100 countries have participated up to today.

Melike Örnek

April 23rd 2012

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World Book Day 2012

WORLD BOOK DAY is a yearly event on 23 April, organized by UNESCO to promote reading, publishing and copyright. The Day was first celebrated in 1995 and in 2012 the UK World Book day was celebrated on March 1, 2012. 

 World Book Day was celebrated for the first time on April 23. The connection between 23 April and books was first made in 1923 by booksellers in Spain as a way to honour the author Miguel de Cervantes who died on that day. 

 In 1995, UNESCO decided that the World Book and Copyright Day would be celebrated on this date because of the Catalonian festival and because the date is also the anniversary of the birth and death of William Shakespeare, the death of Miguel de Cervantes, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega and Josep Pla, and the birth of Maurice Druon, Manuel Mejía Vallejo and Halldór Laxness.

TORRIJAS (French toast)

French toast is a dish of bread soaked in eggs then fried. When French toast is served as a sweet dish, milk, sugar, or cinnamon are also commonly added before frying, and then it may be topped with sugar, butter, fruit, syrup, or other items.

In Spain, it is called "torrijas" and is typically made during Lent, out of thick slices of bread soaked in milk or wine, dipped in egg, fried and then drenched in spiced honey or cinnamon. In Portugal, it is called "fatias douradas", rabanadas or fatias de parida. In Romania, it is called "frigănele", sometimes pâine cu ou. In Turkey, it is called "yumurtalı ekmek", literally eggy bread. In Bulgaria, it is called "Пържени филийки (fried slices)". In France, it is called "pain perdu". 

 In Slovakia it is called...¿? 

In Poland it is called... ¿? 

In Lithuania it is called...¿? 

 Can you help me?

Tamborada of Hellin

Not for the faint hearted, The 'Tamborada’ of Hellín, is a very noisy event and is one of the most famous and well-known celebrations in the province of Albacete, where adults and children take to the streets of the town, their number exceeding 20,000 drummers, wearing black tunics with a red neckerchief or a black hood. The first drumming session takes place on the night of the Friday before Palm Sunday, when they celebrate the Via Crucis of the Torches. As a preparation and in order to warm up the drums, an increasing number of drummers head towards the Calvary without their black tunics, in a pilgrimage that lasts until the wee hours of the following day. The Wednesday right before Holy Thursday , at three pm, begins the second big drumming session. All the people flock to the streets, wearing their tunics and carrying their drums and, in groups of friends, they walk through the streets of town until 11 pm, which marks the beginning of the procession of the Oración del Huerto [Prayer in the Grove].

Comenius Picnic in Outurela-Portela

Comenius Picnic... celebrating the arrival of the Springtime...

Easter in Hellin

Easter week is one of the most heartfelt and deep-rooted fiestas celebrated in Spain. This commemoration has centuries of history and tradition, remembering the passion and death of Jesus Christ. The streets of the majority of Spain's cities, towns and villages become the stage for religious fervour and devotion, combining grief and meditation in memory of Christ's death. Music, art and colour come together in magical processions - solemn parades in which crowds of people accompany religious images on their route through the street.

Region of Hellin

PDF Campos Hellin

Mărţişor

Mărţişor

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Comenius Carnival in Outurela-Portela

Comenius Carnival in Outurela-Portela, EB1 c/ JI Amélia Vieira Luís, Portugal, under the theme "Our Amazing reasure Nature".

Campo de Criptana (La Mancha-Spain)

Campo de Criptana is a municipality and town in the province of Ciudad Real in the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain). It is found in the region known as La Mancha. 

 "At this point they caught sight of thirty or forty windmills which were standing on the plain..." Thus begins chapter VIII of Don Quixote. In Cervantes' time windmills were quite common. This view is undoubtedly the characteristic landscape of Campo de Criptana, presenting its silhouette from the Sierra de los Molinos and the Cerro de la Paz. Today, ten windmills can be seen from afar, with their original structure and machinery preserved.

El Albaicin manchego en Campo de Criptana

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Paper Making

Paper making

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Christmas in Poland

Christmas in poland (2)

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Fourme D'Ambert

Fourme d'Ambert is one of France's oldest cheeses, and dates from as far back as Roman times. It is a usually pasteurized cow's milk blue cheese from the Auvergne region of France, with a distinct, narrow cylindrical shape.

The semi-hard cheese is inoculated with Penicillium roqueforti spores and aged for at least 28 days. Almost identical to Fourme de Montbrison, the two were protected by the same AOC from 1972 until 2002 when each was recognized as its own cheese with slight differences in manufacture. A likeness of the cheese can be found sculpted above the entrance to a medieval chapel in La Chaulme (Auvergne, France.)

Although most often produced with pasteurized milk by industry and Coopératives, more recently artisanal production has begun using raw milk, and farm or fermier production has now re-started, by the moment, three farmers produce up to 15 tonnes of fourme d'Ambert fermière AOP inevitably made with raw milk.

The Magi (and The King's Cake)

The Magi, also referred to as the (Three) Wise Men, (Three) Kings, or Kings from the East, were a group of distinguished foreigners who visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They are regular figures in traditional accounts of the nativity celebrations of Christmas and are an important part of the Christian tradition.

Western Christianity celebrates the Magi on the day of Epiphany, January 6, the day immediately following the twelve days of Christmas, particularly in the Spanish-speaking parts of the world. In these areas the Three Kings ("los Reyes Magos de Oriente", also "Los Tres Reyes Magos" and "Los Reyes Magos") receive letters from children and magically bring them gifts on the night before Epiphany. In Spain, each one of the Magi is supposed to represent one different continent, Europe (Melchior), Asia (Caspar) and Africa (Balthasar). According to the tradition, the Magi come from the Orient on their camels to visit the houses of all the children; much like Santa Claus with his reindeer, they visit everyone in one night. In some areas, children prepare a drink for each of the Magi. It is also traditional to prepare food and drink for the camels, because this is the only night of the year when they eat.

In Spain, Argentina, México and Uruguay there is a long tradition for having the children receive their Christmas presents by the three "Reyes Magos" (the figure of Santa Claus only appeared in recent years) on the night of January 5 (Epiphany Eve). Almost every Spanish city or town organises "cabalgatas" in the evening, in which the kings and their servants parade and throw sweets to the children (and parents) in attendance.

KING'S CAKE

"Roscón de reyes" or "rosca de reyes" (kings' ring) is a Spanish and Spanish American king's cake pastry traditionally eaten to celebrate Epiphany. Although the name indicates that it should be round, the “rosca de reyes” generally has an oval shape due to the need to make cakes larger than 30cm across for larger parties. Recipes vary from country to country. For decoration, fig fruit, quinces, cherries or dried and candied fruits are used. It is traditionally eaten on January 6, during the celebration of the "Día de Reyes" (literally "Kings' Day"), which commemorates the arrival of the three Magi. In Spain "roscones" bought in cake shops hide in their interior a figure - either of Jesus or others like little toys for kids and a dry faba bean. Whoever finds the figure is crowned and becomes the "king" or "queen" of the banquet, whereas whoever finds the bean has to pay next year's roscón.

Neujahrskonzert: The Vienna New Year Concert (Radetzky March)

Radetzky March, Op. 228, is a march composed by Johann Strauss Sr. in 1848. It was dedicated to the Austrian Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, and became quite a popular march among soldiers.

When it was first played, in front of Austrian officers in attendance, they promptly clapped and stomped their feet when they heard the chorus. This tradition is carried over today when the march is played in classical music venues in Vienna, among members of the audience who are familiar with the tradition. It is almost always played as the last piece of music at the Neujahrskonzert, the Vienna New Year Concert.

In 2009 the orchestra was conducted by Daniel Barenboim:

Twelve Grapes

The Twelve Grapes (Sp. Las doce uvas de la suerte, "The twelve grapes of luck") is a Spanish tradition that dates back from at least 1895 but become consolidated in 1909. In December of that year, some alicantese vine growers popularized this custom to better sell huge amounts of grapes from an excellent harvest.

The tradition consists in eating a grape with each bell strike at midnight of December 31. According to the tradition, that leads to a year of prosperity. In some areas, it is believed that the tradition wards away witches and general evil. Each grape is eaten with each beat of the bell.

The twelve grapes are linked to the Puerta del Sol tower clock, where this tradition started and from where the change of year is always broadcast.

This tradition was adopted also by places with a broad cultural relation with Spain such as Mexico and other Latin American countries, as well as Hispanic communities in the United States. Countries as far as the Philippines have adopted the tradition.

Nativity Scene

A nativity scene or crèche (also known as a manger scene, or crib) is a depiction of the birth of Jesus as described in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. While the term "nativity scene" typically includes two dimensional depictions in film, painting, printmaking, and other media, in the history of art and culture, as well as in popular use, the term refers to static, three dimensional, artistic, commercial or folk art dioramas, or pantomimes called "living nativity scenes" in which real humans and animals participate. Nativity scenes exhibit figures representing the infant Jesus, his mother Mary, and Joseph. Other characters from the nativity story such as shepherds, the Magi, and angels may be displayed near the manger in a barn (or cave) intended to accommodate farm animals. A donkey and an ox are typically depicted in the scene, as well as camels belonging to the Magi.

Saint Francis of Assisi is credited with creating the first nativity scene in 1223 (a "living" one) intending thereby to cultivate the worship of Christ, having been inspired by his recent visit to the Holy Land where he had been shown Jesus's traditional birthplace. The scene's popularity inspired communities throughout Catholic countries to stage similar pantomimes.

Nativity Scenes in Albacete (Spain)