Si no puedes ir a España, haz que España venga a ti!

Cuando en verano el calor NO aprieta en las antiguas tierras del Rey Arturo, que mejor que un vinito, unos taquitos de jamón y unas almendritas para sentirse como en casa. Londres es una ciudad cosmopolita a no poder más, una ciudad totalmente engalanada de actos culturales, entre ellos los hispánicos. Un evento a no perderse al menos una vez, el festival español en plena Oxford street para hacerse sentir un poquito más cerca de Spain! Todo un clásico ya cada Julio en el mismísimo corazón de London!

Los tamborileros del Norte

                                       

Churros and chocolate con un inglés muy españolizado

y que no falte ese jamoncito, por favor!

Nadal o lo que pretende ser nuestro embajador del tenis

olé y olé!

un día a la spanish!

A truly "paella valenciana" in deep UK

Once I heard a Portuguese intellectual claiming that it is easier to witness the most deeply-root culture of certain region precisely far away from that region! This statement is obviously arguable but I do not think that by saying this he was totally wrong. For example, the first 'flamenco' performance I attended to happened in Leiden, a little town of Holland more than 2000 km further away from the flamenco birthplace in South Spain! After many years in Spain I never saw a 'flamenco' concert!

In his speech the Portuguese gentlemen also included 'gastronomy' as part of that culture. Well, 'said and done' a group of 50 people had the privilege to taste a pure authentic and traditional 'paella valenciana' in the backyard of a brit house lost in the landscape of Reading, a town stuck between big brother London and historic Oxford.

Champions!

And here it is, the champion team of the 6th division Table Tennis Reading League. Excellent performance demonstrated during the whole year by all the team, with Jean-Noël, Gabor and Joaquín being among the top 10 best averages of the division! Next year won't be so easy in 5th division. Lads, now it's time to get ready things for next year, train those tricky services and top spin balls!

Greenwich

For some people the word Greenwich is a synonym of Meridian zero. What do I mean ? Many years ago, the Royal Observatory of Greenwich was internationally adopted as the reference point to refer to Universal Time (UT). This is an astronomical concept and in practical words, Greenwich gives name to the Greenwich Meridian (0° longitude) and Greenwich mean time, from where all countries refer their local time. If for example Greeks say "our local time is UTC+2", it means that in Greece it is two hours later than the reference, i.e., Greenwich. The line that goes through Greenwich is naturally imaginary, or perhaps not that much as I can show in these pictures ! The green line spitted by the Greenwich Observatory is the supposed Greenwich parallel !

The "real" Greenwich Meridian zero

Darth Maul under the Meridian zero

But Greenwich is much more than that "imaginary" line. That people not very attached to sciences may not have ever heard about this astronomical landmark, but however about their great cultural richness. Indeed in 1997, Maritime Greenwich was added to the list of World Heritage Sites, for the concentration and quality of buildings of historic and architectural interest. Many of them can be found at the riverfront on the south bank of the river Thames, next to greater London. Many of these buildings are free to visit, with amazing doms and paintings. An easy catch by a combination of London tube and DLR extension within the area 2 of London metro network, or otherwise said, just 1.60 pounds to reach with Oyster card ! Worth to visit !

The Paint Hall of the Royal Naval College of London

The riverfront of maritime Greenwich

Skiing in Pohorje

Pohorje slopes

La hormiga atómica

Most of people who live far enough from those white winter mountains and fancy some skiing, they target big, huge ski resorts for their holidays. Why this ? These ski spots are very popular (Alps and Pyrenees in Europe) and they benefit of a lot of publicity about their incredible landscapes, fantastic slopes... But, let's face reality. Did you ever think about the disadvantages of these resorts ? They are usually very crowded during holiday periods and weekends, they are very expensive and you can hardly find a parking place or a seat in a restaurant at "human times". Far from chill out holidays. Furthermore, many of these casual tourist can hardly keep stand up on their "robocop" boots. So what's the point to pay very expensive ski passes for large ski complexes, when at most they'll hit some few, not too much steepy slopes with the blue sign at the beginning ? What's the point to pay for endless resorts when we won't even see 20% of their slopes? So why do we need to pay so much for those huge ski resorts ? What about hitting a smaller, more familiar, less expensive and less crowded mountain in a much less tourist resort ? I'd like to recommend one of the them which recently I hit by myself, situated in Slovenja, next to the Maribor city : Pohorje. Winter climate over there is very much influenced by convective freezing weather cells coming from the Balkans. This assures snow until certain limit at almost every altitude. The ski resort is small, not very high, but worth to visit and very beautiful. Moreover, prices are further down when compared to Alps for example. Even in Christmas holidays you can enjoy slopes very little populated, quick (not always) ski lifts and some free table in any coffee at the head of the slopes at almost any time. Just enyojable !!!

shinning slopes

the enchanted forest

A little taste of London

From the architectural point of view I don't like London. There are astonishing buildings with remarkable decorations and great seals, heritage of the amazing legacy left by the old British Empire. But facing these buildings you can find horrible dark structures from the 70´s and in some cases the (in)harmony is completed when these buildings are scratched by an ultramodern top technology skyscraper. That's London and that's part of its center. On top of that, I don't like the color of the brick, a dark brown that gets even hazier when is wet, what in London it occurs pretty much often. Comparisons are hateful, but in this case I'd rather stay with the exquisiteness of the Parisian blocks.

However, London is a wonderful capital, one of the most important cultural centers of the world. Whatever you go, whatever you may think of, you'll find in London. There is always something going on and for sure no time to get bored in this city. What could you do in a cloudy Sunday day with nothing prepared in advance ?

Get up late (is Sunday!), then have a shower and go to a French bakery to have a midday brunch: delicious homemade cakes covered with based on wild fruits jams, a crunchy croissant filled in almonds, squeezed oranges coming from Valencia and and why not, accompanied by a delicious cappuccino with a taste of ginger or scented Japanese thees. Then take the subway and "mind the gap !". The first stop over could be an art gallery. In the wharf opposed to Waterloo you can find several cultural centers. Right now I wouldn't miss the world press photo exhibition. Just amazing ! After that why not enjoying in the same cultural center of some live music played by a new band of young talents. Next walk into the center and its charm, browse some books in an open-air old library settled in the Thames promenade and on the way towards St. Paul cathedral drink a pint in a cozy brewery. Move on to the museum of London. It is very interesting getting known about the fire that devastated the city in the XVII century. After that lose yourself up at the Barbican center. Who dare to design this ? Because I still have no clear what is it ! Either you'll love it or you'll hate it. But worth a visit.
If your body still needs a bit more let´s get back to the Southbank Center. There is always something going on there. This time there was a BBC jazz festival. Here you have an exemple of two bands that were playing. First one, an alternative grumpy jazz metal band. Something that you'd never dare to buy, but a life is worth to listen once... And second, Richard Mitchell elegant jazz.

(...tomorrow I'll hang here these two passes of the gigs...)

And let's finish this journey with a just cooked crunchy taste of pork marinated in rosemary and other spices with homemade appel jam. Gozzzzz !!! And ei, this is just a little of all that can be done ! Did you have enough for this Sunday ?

La cúpula de la vergüenza

Esta semana pasada la cúpula que adorna la sala XX del Palacio de Naciones de la ONU en Ginebra ha sido noticia. Y vaya noticia... La renovación de esta sala ha costado la friolera de cerca de 20 millones de euros, que si por si queda alguna duda de la magnitud de la tragedia, en pesetas de las antiguas hacen unos 3300 millones. Ahí es nada !

Los detalles asociados a la renovación de esta sala vienen acompañados de una serie de disparates que no hay por donde cogerlos. ¿ Qué señor/es puede/n tener la cara tan dura para aprobar dicho presupuesto ? Desde luego alguien a quien le importa bien poco el resto de los mortales que no compartan su exquisito círculo de pseudo-intelectuales. ¿ Crisis ? ¿ Quién ha dicho que hay crisis ? El señor Barceló, después de sus innumerables fracasos, se debe de haber jactado al poder vivir una segunda infancia jugando al paintball con mangueras en vez de pistolas de pintura, bajo el pretexto de reproducir un mar con distintos reflejos dependiendo del ángulo con el que se mire. Imagino que aquellos que sepan algo de física y óptica se habran echado una carcajada ante tan burda explicación. Seguro que los ganadores del último Nóbel de medicina (que contribuyen a salvar vidas) o el último Nóbel de física y química (que contribuyen al avance tecnológico) cobraran en varios años lo que este señor ha cobrado por dejarnos su incalculable legado artístico. Gracias Barceló.

Pero los despropósitos alrededor de esta obra sublime no se quedan ahí. De la partida destinada a esta "fenomenal obra" de arte comtemporáneo 500.000€ ( es decir, unos 90 millones de pesetas) vienen de los Fondos de Ayuda al Desarrollo (FAD). ¿ Fondos de Ayuda a quién ? Ya lo he entendido. Los señores mandatarios que se reúnan en la futura sala de la Alianza de Civilizaciones se sentirán mucho más inspirados y con ganas de contribuir al Desarrollo de los países menos evolucionados al mirar al techo, es decir, es una inversión de futuro que se amortizará en tan sólo un par de reuniones... Y aún más bochornoso si cabe, el 40% de esta obra viene de fondos públicos de los contribuyentes españoles... Mejor que esto no lo sepan muchos, porque en famosos tiempos de crisis más de uno se va a cabrear (y con razón).

La cantidad de atropellos que giran alrededor de esta obra no caben en la cabeza de una persona normal, ni siquiera en la de los políticos que allí se reúnan. Más de uno mientras se tome un canapé se preguntará por el fenómeno que ha sido capaz de justificar "esto". Mientrastanto nuestro querido Rey no tiene más remedio que poner buena cara y decir que bonito esta todo esto el día de su inauguración.

Bonito y elegante será todo lo que se quiera pero, ¿ de verdad se necesita invertir esta barbaridad de dinero para renovar una sala de reuniones ? ¿ No existen modos más austeros de decorarla con clase y lujo sin tener que malgastar el presupuesto de todos ? No quiero ni imaginar lo que upondría dedicar esta partida de dinero por ejemplo a investigación, a reformas institucionales, a educación, a conservación de la biodiversidad, entre otros... Lo más gracioso (si es que tiene gracia) es que nuestras instituciones europeas, aquellas que luchan y abogan por los derechos de todos y luchan contra la pobreza, contra la desigualdad, contra el analfabetismo, etc. ,(principalmente en Bruselas), están rodeadas de lujos, despilfarros, sueldos astronómicos, que si algunos supieran provocarian una revuelta social...
Pues bien, la cúpula de del despilfarro ya está bautizada popularmente como la cúpula de los pobres.