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The Douz Festival is based on an ancient Bedouin gathering when Saharan tribes met to trade and, legend has it, to marry off their daughters. Instead, today, the Saharan Bedouins compete in camel, horse and dog races, folklore performances and traditional plays. Their backdrop is the 150-mile salt lake of Chott El Ferid, which set the scene for the film, The English Patient and the golden sand dunes that were a setting for Star Wars.
Walk about, listen to bands from competing tribes, ride a camel called Mustapha, attend a busy market and eat fresh fish, such as red snapper, sea bass, bream, grouper, red mullet, tuna and prawns. The sweet baklava is to die for.
If you are curious to see this bloody tourist show, please consider that:
24 hours beforehand, the bull is shut in a dark wooden box, denied food, and weakened and disorientated by having the ends of his horns painfully cut off.
At the moment of the bullfight, the bull is released from the darkness straight into the arena. Blinded and disorientated by the light, he looks for a chance to escape. But here he will be tortured with a 45cm-long spear tipped with a conical blade to cut the muscles at the base of his neck, force him to lower his head, and start the blood loss.
Then, in the same part of his body, ‘banderillas’ (harpoons of 8cm in length) will be thrust in and left there to painfully sever nerves and muscles with every movement the bull makes. Finally, a sword of 80-100cm in length is plunged in, which penetrates the bull’s body, perforating his heart, his lungs, his diaphragm or liver, causing him to die.
The horses too are the victims. Often gored and disemboweled, their wounds are hidden by the long blankets they wear. Their vocal chords are cut, so that you are unable to hear their cries. Do not encourage the torture of animals: Spain has many bloodless festivals that demonstrate it is possible to enjoy yourself without being cruel. 75% of Spaniards are against this practice but it is the financial support of tourists that allows this butchery to continue.
Being probably the best local radio in Denmark. Aarhus Studenterradio offers you the opportunity to live, hear and feel the vibes of the exciting bohemian city of Aarhus. With a bold mix of the brilliant upcoming local music scene of Aarhus and the voices of their top-of-the-line radio dj talents, Aarhus studenterradio delivers the best and most convincing listening experience available in northern Europe. Forget your iPod and your vintage vinyl collection - this is the real deal and the voice of tomorrow!
You can find Aarhus Studenterradio by tuning your radio into 98.7FM - every weekday from 8-9 in the morning and again from 7-10 in the evening
Galicia was once the heart of Eastern European Jewish culture. This museum gives a great introduction and interesting overview of this fascinating culture.
The permanent exhibition, Traces of Memory, is a contemporary look at the Jewish past in Poland. The exhibition features the work of the late photographer Chris Schwarz. Over a period of twelve years, he travelled together with Prof. Jonathan Webber (UNESCO Chair of Jewish and Interfaith Studies, University of Birmingham, UK) town by town and village by village. Their work offers a special way of looking at the Jewish past that was destroyed in Poland. I enjoyed the exhibition as very informative and thought-provoking.
Check the changing current exhibition as well!
The International Festival of Alternative and Experimental theatres is one of the oldest theatre festivals in Poland. It has been organised continuously since 1975. Always taking place in April, it is a good opportunity to combine a spring city break and cultural event. The weather in spring is usually bit more friendly than in London and you will enjoy spending the first nights out, having a drink.
The festival is an opportunity to get a first glance at the new season's productions. It uses the theatre in an attempt to make us aware of a problem that concerns us all from an unknown and extraordinary angle.
I have been to the last two Cheltenham Science Festivals and I cannot wait for this year's to start! With a huge range of events from the family-friendly Experitent to the adult-orientated debates and discussions, the festival really does cater for anyone and everyone. This year the festival braves taboo topics, which is sure to spark passionate debates, active discussions and controversial arguments.
If you haven't done so already, get out there and buy an event ticket or three - you won't be disappointed!
Website: www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/
Telephone: 01242 227979
Email: boxoffice@cheltenham.gov.uk
Swindon has a fantastic collection of 20th century British art - Lowry, Nicholson, Howard Hodgkin, David Bomberg, Terry Frost etc. A really unexpected hidden gem of a collection nestled alongside the local museum up in Old Town. This collection really has wow factor.
Swindon Museum & Art Gallery
Bath Road
Swindon
SN1 4BA
www.swindon.gov.uk/heritage
01793 466556
This website is about the real Budapest, and gives very interesting background details about the history, culture and architecture of this beautiful capital which is slowly losing some of its unique features (old presszo bars, neon signs, dingy borozos) as it changes into a modern European metropolis. Written by a Hungarian speaker, the articles featured go behind the facade and into much more detail than a guide book could manage.
It has a wealth of information for people who really love Budapest and want to know the city better.
Check out the recent story on the Trabants - really interesting!
A pedestrian shopping street in a real market town without any chain stores or significant supermarkets. Halesworth is in the 'Cranbook Triangle' that has seen off predatory supermarkets but for how long?
The Thoroughfare is a pedestrian street of friendly and helpful independent retailers of clothing, hardware, stationery, health foods, gourmet foods, toys and most other essential services like banks, chemist, opticians and so on.
It also has several cafes and two art galleries at either end without the heaving crowds and parking hassles of Southwold (which is a great town too). If you're going to Latitude in the summer, drop in for supplies.
Halesworth is on the East Suffolk rail line and ten minutes off the A12 by road.
Just an hour outside Berlin by car lies a real hidden gem. The Woerlitzer Park – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – is one of the most dazzling examples of landscape gardening in continental Europe. Having been inspired by a trip to England, Prince Leopold III started work on the 122 hectare public garden in 1764. Now it stands – a stunning series of labyrinthine paths, winding rivers and ponds – as an oasis of calm, and a true work of art.
For directions see
www.woerlitz-information.de/woerlitz-en/ko/anfahrt.php
Come to Granada in May and experience music, art, culture and sunshine in the beautiful Andalucian mountains. May 16 - 18 2008.
This year the procession takes place on May 1 and it is something that should not be missed as it is a glittering pageant of colour and history that has taken place since 1150.
Reputed to be a piece of cloth that was used to wipe the wounds of Christ by Joseph of Arimathea; the Count of Flanders brought it back home to Bruges.
Even if you are sceptical as to the orign of the relic - this is a great day out in Bruges with even more to enjoy than usual.
Starting off in the Burg, the procession winds itself around the city. Helpful information links may be found here
www.oldchocolatehouse.com/Links.html
Cheltenham Jazz Festival takes place every year in the spring. I was there last year and it was enough to turn me into an absolute Cheltenham Jazz Festival fan! From storming funky bands to sultry jazz singers, the festival really caters for anything your heart desires! Even if some of the events are a little on the expensive side, a range of buzzing fringe events makes it more than possible to immerse yourself in the town's quirky atmosphere when the festival is on!
Website: www.cheltenhamfestivals.com
Telephone: 01242 227979
Email: boxoffice@cheltenham.gov.uk
It is a museum and art gallery on a beautiful pedestrianised street that goes from Victoria Park right down into the centre of town. It is free, always interesting and has a good quiet café at the back of the building too.
New Walk
An independent cultural and nightlife website, with its ear to the ground.
The Super Lamb Banana was the original work of Japanese-based artist Taro Chiezo. It originally caused an outcry in Liverpool when first shown but now has its admirers. It's a huge yellow lamb with a banana for its tail. A Super Lamb Banana parade is to occur in summer with 100s of mini Super Lambs accross the City of Liverpool.
On the corner of Tithebarn Street and Vauxhall Road in Liverpool City Centre. Near to Liverpool Lime Street Station
Me and some friends went to Rio last week and we had such a great time there. We really liked the people down there, very warm and kind. The beaches were simply amazing, it was just awesome to get up and walk a few blocks… and bam! You’re in the middle of a beautiful beach! We had the guts to also try the very popular samba, In a place called Casa Rosa Cultural. It’s a hidden place, I guess, but one of the greatest spots there. Plenty of samba lessons, and also some ‘circles’ of it, many great people to know. This trip was the best ever!
Rua Alice, 550
Laranjeiras
The museum is all out in the open with beautiful views of the surrounding mountains creating a lovely balance between art and nature.
From Tokyo take the Odakyu line to Hakone Yumoto. From there take the Hakone Tozan Railway to Chokoku No Mori Station (then a short walk).
Mongolia is a notoriously tough place to get your 5-a-day and wholefoods, but if you're craving fresh produce while visiting Ulaanbaatar you no longer need rely on those suspiciously glossy looking imports in the State Department Store. There's now a single row of stalls in the square outside the former Museum of the Revolution every Saturday selling home-grown berries, vegetables caked in the soil of the steppes, honey, fungi, an array of sour but sumptuous cheeses and other intriguing commestibles. The atmosphere is typically friendly and down to earth, and you can sample the cheese and honey. Best of all, you can duck into the guanz (cafeteria ger) at the end of the row and hunker down with the locals to quaff bowl after bowl of fermented mare's milk while chewing a plateful of horsemeat (the Mongolian equivalent of mother and child reunion) boiled up with jacket potatoes.
About a kilometre west of the Natural History Museum on Khuvsgalchdyn Orgon Toroo, the street north of and parallel to Peace Avenue.
Every evening around 7 o'clock there is an incredible Hindu ceremony to the gods through the five elements, which is performed by sadhus. The ceremony takes place on the main ghats along the River Ganges in the centre of Varanasi.
The walk to the main ghats through the markets is a great experience too. The main ghats are around the Dasaswamedh ghat, which is one of the oldest and holiest ghats. Here you can take a rowing boat on to the Ganges to catch the ceremony from the river. It's incredible to watch the ceremony and it was a really memorable experience of India.
It's a great way of getting in touch with the spiritual side of India in the oldest and one of the holiest cities in this amazing country.
Take a cycle rickshaw to the top of the open-air street market and walk down towards the river to find the Dasaswamedh ghat.
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