Archive for January, 2008
The long awaited exhibition of Russian and Russian owned French art from the period around the Russian Revolution opened in London this week. For months the Russian Government threatened to pull the plug on this exhibition until guarantees were put in place by the UK government that would prevent the seizure of some of these paintings by individuals who claimed that they were obtained illegally by the Communists during the revolution. Whatever the origins of some of these paintings, the exhibition is without doubt the Art Highlight of the year for London.
Renoir, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Matisse, Kandinsky, Tatlin, Malevich are all represented in this exhibition and with highlights such as The Dance by Henri Matisse it is sure to draw in the crowds.
January 31st, 2008
To celebrate Burns night and before we log off for the weekend here’s the Scottish Poet’s ode to the Haggis:
Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o’ the pudding-race!
Aboon them a’ yet tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy o’a grace
As lang’s my arm.
As a Welshman I can’t say that I understand much of what is being said above any more than I understand why people eat haggis. Washing it down with a wee dram though is a splendid tradition. To all of you celebrating Robert Burns’ birthday, have a great night.
January 25th, 2008
The 25th of January is St Dwynwen Day here in Wales, Dwynwen being the patron saint of love and friendship, and our equivalent of St Valentine. As with all these old Welsh folk tales passed down by word of mouth over the centuries there are a number of versions. Here’s one.
Dwynwen was the prettiest of the Celtic King Brychan Brycheiniog’s 24 daughters (he also had 11 sons!). At one of the parties that King Brychan held regularly Dwynwen fell in love with a handsome prince called Maelon Dafodrill. However her father refused her permission to marry him as he’d arranged for her to marry another. Maelon was so angry that he raped Dwynwen and left her.
January 24th, 2008
In common with millions I enjoy a good TV period costume drama. I don’t know how many versions of “Pride and Prejudice” I’ve seen ( I’ve watched the 2005 film version at least three times - perhaps Keira Knightley in the role of Elizabeth had something to do with that!). ” Do you Dance Mr. Darcy?”….. “Not if I can help it!” My answer to Keira would have been rather different. But then of course I’m no Mr. Darcy
January 22nd, 2008
Wales Week USA is an annual event that takes place around March 1 – St. David’s Day. Wales Week is co-ordinated by the Welsh Assembly Government in New York in partnership with a wide variety of organisations, artists, writers and performers in both Wales and the USA. Click on the link to find out what’s on the program of events this year. www.walesweekusa.com
January 21st, 2008
It was a foul day here in Wales when Juliana and I set off to mid Wales to visit one of the hotels that we use on our itineraries - The Lake Vyrnwy hotel in Powys, Mid Wales that has a great location overlooking the lake.
On the way we stopped off for morning coffee at Llangoed Hall, a country House hotel 
owned by Sir Bernard Ashley, widower of Laura Ashley. It was either that or The Little Chef in Builth Wells. No competition. Sorry Little Chef. There’s no reception desk at Llangoed Hall, so you really do feel that you’re walking into your very (very) rich uncle’s house. We wandered into the drawing room that looked out over the croquet lawn towards the farmland beyond, introduced ourselves to one of the staff, and ordered a coffee. I could have easily spent the rest of the day being waited on hand and foot reading the latest Grisham novel, but Lake Vyrnwy beckoned so off we set.
January 18th, 2008
Norfolk’s unusual landscape is one of the most remarkable in Britain. No mountains and valleys here - it’s wide and open as a result of the ice age Glaciers that covered Britain (as well as over a third of the world) for over 80,000 years until the great meltdown about 10,000years ago. I wonder what caused global warming at that time. Hairy Mammoth flatulence maybe?
January 17th, 2008
As both my daughters now live in London I find myself visiting frequently, generally using the underground to get around. On my last visit however, my eldest who has only just moved there, persuaded me to buy tickets for one of the hop on hop off CitySightseeing buses (that we actually sell here at myguideBritain).
January 16th, 2008
Yesterday was a historic day for Cunard as The QE2, Queen Mary2 and the new Queen Victoria sailed up the Hudson into New York to a firework welcome (see video). Now we’re not a cruise website by any stretch of the imagination, and I’ve never sailed on any of these ships, but it strikes me that this is a mighty fine way of starting one’s vacation in Britain (or perhaps finishing off).
January 15th, 2008
“Why should you never swerve your car to hit a Scouser on a bike…?” I was about to start this Blog with
a joke about Liverpool as on Friday night the city celebrated the opening ceremony of its year as European Capital of Culture 2008. This nomination and accolade has been for me both a surprise and a delight. As many of you will know, if you have spoken with me or read our team profiles on the website, I studied and lived for 3 years of my life in Liverpool and therefore, for me, this magnificent city will always hold many special memories (and a few hazy ones). However, Liverpool does seem to take a good verbal bashing from the peoples of most other areas of Britain. So why has Liverpool been given such a prestigeous title? What is the culture of Liverpool? And what on earth is a Scouser?
January 14th, 2008
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