A small town in La Rioja and the British Imperial State Crown

Many of you may have visited the Tower of London and would have seen The Imperial State Crown, re-made for the coronation of King George VI and worn by Queen Elizabeth in her coronation, and every year since, for the State Opening of Parliament. What you may not know is that the big red ruby in the crown was a payment in kind to Edward of Woodstock, the Prince of Wales, also known as the Black Prince, by the Spanish King of Castile and León Peter of Castile for the help the former gave to the latter in one of the many wars of the 14th Century. The ruby adorned the figure of the Virgin Mary which up to this date is kept in the Monastery of Santa María la Real in the town of Nájera in La Rioja region of Spain.

© Crown copyright

A Madrid art centre you have not seen

If I appear certain that in your visit to Madrid you have not visited the Centro de Arte 2 de mayo (CA2M), it´s because it is located in the town of Móstoles, about 18 Kms. southwest of Madrid. Móstoles is nowadays, basically, a suburb of Madrid and is best known for having formally declared war on France on the 2nd May, 1808, following the popular uprising of the people of Madrid against the troops of Napoleon. CA2M is well suited for "installation art" and is currently showing: Pop Politics: Activism at 33 Revolutions and works by the Turkish artisit Halil Altindere.
A tip from one of the works by Altindere shown below: Some of the carpets sold in bazars in Turkey are laid out in the sun to wear down the colours so that they appear old and are sold as antiques.

Dinner with Madonna

Well, not quite, but you can have dinner where Madonna filmed the video clip for her song Take a Bow. The restaurant La Espuela  is inside the bullring in the Spanish town of Antequera in Malaga where the video was filmed. The town claims to have the most religious buildings in Spain and whilst I have not been able to confirm this, walking around the town would seem to support the claim. Antequera is bang in the middle of Andalucia and, thus, an important logistic centre, connected to Madrid, Cordoba and Malaga via the high-speed train AVE. About 16 Kms. south of Antequera be sure to visit the karst landscape of El Torcal and its geological formations.

Caruso, Karajan, Domingo, Pavlova...in Buenos Aires

The list of artists that have performed in the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires since its inauguration in 1908 contains the names of some of the greatest all-time composers, conductors, opera singers, musicians and dancers. The theatre is considered one of the best of the world for its acoustics and the 2013 season is about to start with a programme of opera, ballet and concerts. A tip: On certain Sundays at 11 AM, starting 10th March, the theatre offers free concerts! Tickets can be collected from the ticket office 48 hours before each concert.

The Beatles in ...Claudio Coello Road

Many of you may be thinking that I have made a mistake in the title of the post and that I surely meant Abbey Road. Not quite. The Carlos de Amberes Foundation in Madrid (Claudio Coello Street) is the venue for an exhibition of Beatles memorabilia in the private collection of Carlos D. Chardí. To be honest, I expected much more, but if you are in the area and grew up with The Fab Four, it may be worth it just to take you back briefly to the swinging 60s.

Spanish records

Going native

Psychedelic

Wonder what St. Andrew would have thought

Yellow submarine

Lima to Asia in one hour

No, we have not tested the next supersonic jet. The Asia we are referring to here is, in fact, about 100 Kms. south of Lima. This is the Peruvian equivalent of The Hamptons, where the affluent have their summer beach houses and a shopping and entertainment centre called Boulevard Asia, to be able to stock up on all the necessities of modern life, and mingle with the same people you normally mingle with in Lima during the rest of the year.

"Shaken, not stirred"...and with chicken

I just can´t imagine James Bond eating chicken and washing it down with a martini but, if he did, he would definitely do it at La Granja Azul, just outside Lima. This popular restaurant has been around for over 50 years and is a popular venue for celebrations. The menu is simple and one of the most popular choices is composed of: anticucho (grilled beef heart and chicken liver) and all the chicken you can eat, washed down with huge cocktails. Better not to drive there!

Cocktail

The bar

In case you forgot your wallet

Lima coast

Photographs of Lima taken from the district of Barranco.