versione italiana
End of July - September 2005 - Catania,
Sicily & Newcastle, England
All
photos by Valeria Lo Iacono & Paul Symonds - 2006
Before the England pictures, a few more pictures
from the July visit to Sicily. Rugby seems to be
quite popular in Catania, Sicily - and even in temperatures
of 30 degrees Celsius, with the sand in their eyes,
there is a Sunday rugby beach league, as shown above.
In the picture below from left to right in the picture,
Gabriella (Valeria's cousin), Cristano, Gabriele
and Marco (Valeria's brother) enjoy a few hours
on the beach. I am in the same picture taking it
easy on the sun lounger in the background. A picture
of Valeria and her mother in the picture below right.
.
In July we met up in London for a few days with
two of my ex-students (Mi-Kyoung and Ji-Yeon) from
Korea. We introduced them to the English pub culture
and the amazing taste of cider. Below (left) a picture
with our Korean friends and below (right), a picture
talen from Valeria's mothers house on the Etna hills
of the Etna volcano, as the sun sets.
The Tall Ships race came to Newcastle, England. Below
you can see one of the Indonesian ships which took part
in the event. The Tall Ships Race takes place every
summer with more than 100 sailing ships from more than
30 countries worldwide participating. In July 2005 the
Tall Ships Race returned to Newcastle (the last time
it was in 1993) with around 105 sailing ships mooring
on the Tyne, before starting the second leg of this
world famous race. There were attractions on both the
banks of the Tyne, with stalls, a big panoramic wheel
and free concerts in the Sage theatre. It was also possible
to board some of the ships and the Indonesian boat below
was one of the liveliest ships, with the crew playing
live music on board whilst some other crew members tried
to sell cheap souvenirs to the visitors, to get some
sterling currency.
One of the main attractions in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne is
the Millennium Bridge, which is shown below (left). If
you are in Newcastle it is worth taking a look at the
bridge and also why not visit what our friend Paul Bradley
tells us is one of the oldest pubs in Newcastle, by the
Quayside (Below right).
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The following four pictures were taken in the Beamish Museum.
The Beamish
Museum is an open-air museum, located in the countryside
near Newcastle, which recreates life in the North of England
in the 1800s and early 1900s. There are the old town; the
mine; the miners' houses; the farm; the railway and old
buses and trams which transport you from one part of the
museum to the other. Everything is well reconstructed to
the smallest detail. Below left, you can see a strange version
of Valeria, in the mirrors house, one of the attractions
of the amusement park in the museum (recreating an amusement
park as it was in the 1800s and early 1900s). Below right,
another picture of Valeria - sorry - I mean a farm animal
in the farm area of the museum (only joking Valeria!)
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Below the Beamish Museum as a horse stares into our camera,
clearly used to being photographed - the horse posing for
a picture as though it is the most natural thing in the
world. On the right, a picture of Pauline (a friend of Valeria's),
enjoying an ice cream at the museum.
The last picture represents the 'Sage theatre' (which
looks like a big fat caterpillar), an example of contemporary
architecture, in Gateshead, on the south bank of the
Tyne. Gateshead is located just in front of Newcastle,
on the opposite side of the river. It might look like
part of the same city, but it is not. Gateshead inhabitants
always proudly stress the fact that Gateshead is a town
of its own, independent from Newcastle. Personally Gateshead
and Newcastle look exactly the same to me. Alas, it
is goodbye to Newcastle and hello to Bristol as we move
South at the end of September.
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