Povo Lisboa no El País

Nem só da crise vivem Portugal e Espanha...
Este artigo do El País demonstra isso mesmo. O Povo além de ser um ótimo local de convívio no meio da cidade antiga de Lisboa oferece iguarias bem portuguesas e fado. E o meu petisco favorito: prego no bolo do caco.

http://www.bestguide.pt/povo-lisboa/

American Palaces

Great American fortunes grew after the Civil War (1861-65) and so many rich millionaires, who were familiar with European standards of aristocratic life and opulence, began building a series of large sumptuous houses, modeled after Florentine palaces, English castles and French Châteaux. These millionaires admired the beautiful sea setting of Newport Rhode Island, where they then decided to build lavish houses that they called “cottages” and which were only occupied for two months a year during the summer. Among the wealthy elite arriving in Newport were several of the Vanderbilts.

All these palatial estates are open to the public. In the summer some of them host the Newport Music Festival while in the winter we can admire their Christmas decorations.

Marble House

William K Vanderbilt, the grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, founder of the clan and its fortune, commissioned Richard Morris Hunt in 1888 to build the finest summer house money could buy on Bellevue Avenue, Newport , in time for the debut of their daughter who married the Duke of Marlborough. 

Marble is in evidence throughout the house as well as art treasures from many parts of the world.

The Breakers

The favourite grandson of Commodore, Cornelius II, also hired Richard Morris Hunt who conceived the Breakers as a Palazzo of the Italian Renaissance. Work began in 1893 and the 70 room limestone palace was completed in just over two years.

Biltmore

Motivated by family competition, George Washington Vanderbilt opened Biltmore in 1895. The largest private residence in America has 250 rooms and was built in the style of a French renaissance château by Richard Morris Hunt. It is situated in North Carolina. I have not yet had the opportunity to visit this gorgeous estate.

Vizcaya

In 1894, industrialist James Deering began construction of a Renaissance- style Italian villa in Miami. The name Vizcaya is a Basque word for “elevated place”. The house contains one of the finest collections of European decorative arts from the Renaissance to the present.

"I have a dream" 50 years later

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made history 50 years ago on August 28, 1963 when he delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech, calling for civil and economic rights for African Americans.
MLK began by reading notes from a prepared speech. Then he heard gospel singer Mahalia Jackson say,“Tell ‘em about the ‘Dream,’ Martin, tell ‘em about the ‘Dream.’ ” 

King paused, pushed his prepared remarks aside, and began:

“Even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream".

”I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”...

On the 50th anniversary of this historic event, President Barack Obama will commemorate the March on Washington and deliver remarks from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. 

My previous post about MLK (in Portuguese):

http://relvateresa.blogspot.pt/2013/01/martin-luther-king.html

Joana Vasconcelos in Ajuda Palace

The Portuguese artist felt very happy with her 5 month exhibition in Ajuda, Lisbon, which was visited by 232 000 people.

Never had so many people visited a temporary exhibition.

Joana Vasconcelos argued, therefore, that Portuguese people are taking into account their contemporary heritage and hoping to see their culture spread abroad.

My holiday Scrapbook

Copenhagen

NYhavn: a colourful 17th century waterfront, canal and popular entertaining place

Tivoli Gardens

The Black Diamond : The Royal Library resembling a diamond

The Opera

Rosenborg: A renaissance castle and a museum exhibiting the royal collection including the Crown Jewels

Picasso in the National Gallery

Amalienborg: The winter residence of the Danish Royal Family

The Dining hall in Christianborg Palace (the 3rd to be built on this site)
During the fire of 1884 the staircase was spared from the flames. The mahogany table is made of the Queen´s staircase in the second Christianborg Palace. The chandeliers  previously belonged to the Royal Palace in Oslo, but they were sold when they had electric light installed in 1903.

We can also appreciate Flora Danica. The last time Queen Margrethe had the table laid with Flora Danica was in 1990, when her mother turned 80.

In the Carlsberg Glyptotek I could see for the first time Danish Painting of the Golden Age.

I enjoyed smørrebrød (Danish open sandwiches)

I learned a lot about amber, which is a fossilized tree resin 30-50 million years old.

Last but not least there was time for shopping and

visiting the emblematic statue of the Little Mermaid, which turned 100 years old .

before moving to another Baltic country

Warnemünde and Rostock

The University of Rostock, founded in 1419, is the oldest and largest in continental northern europe. It awarded an honorary doctorate to Einstein.

In St Mary´s church, built in the 13th century, we can marvel at the amazing astronomical clock. Its calendar dates from the 14th century to the year 2017.

It is always a pleasure to visit Germany

The Perfect Holiday!

Tallinn

The beautiful Aleksander Nevsky filled with golden icons and mosaics

The medieval streets

I even rode a bike taxi

St. Petersburg

The richness of the Palaces is something I had never witnessed. 

Catherine´s Palace is in the village of Pushkin. Peter the Great presented this estate to his wife Catherine in 1710. It was later expanded by her daughter . It was used as the summer residence of the Tsar family . It contains the famous Amber room with the walls covered in amber. Although it was stolen and suffered severe damage during the second world war it has been restored. I didn´t take pictures inside but bought beautiful books.

The world famous Hermitage

It was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great. The Hermitage (place of retreat) is famous not only for its collection but also for its buildings. The most remarkable, the Winter Palace, was the main residence of Russian Tsars for 250 years.

Peterhof was built by Peter the Great to rival Versailles

The statues were restored last year (with GOLD) so they were very shiny

Samson destroying the lion (it represents Sweden) is the most famous

Peterhof Gardens and Fountains

Time for pretending we are in cold Russia

Helsinki

The Cathedral

I loved the clean green streets with flowers

The nice islands with holiday houses

The tiny fish (joaquinzinhos?) which are forbidden to catch in Portugal

A monument dedicated to Sibelius

If it were not for the harsh winter I would like to live in this place of fashionable designers

Stockholm

I couldn´t resist stopping by the ABBA museum, the music of my youth

In the Vasa Museum

A miniature of the Vasa, which set sail in 1628 and sank on her maiden voyage

Having a rest in the beautiful Town Hall, which hosts the annual Nobel Banquet.

A farewell to Sweden... and the holiday