May here in Caceres is curious…2 rather big events happen that couldn’t be more dissimilar. The first is the adoration of the local virgin which is carried down from its mountain refuge in late April and then is visited everyday by a certain sector of the population to see the what colour dress it is…
My Almohad refuge has been busy of late. Every year around this time the locals take their beloved virgin down from its mountain hideaway to great pagan-like fanfare. Tears are shed, songs are sung and flowers cut…but less wine that one would expect, gotta travel further south for that I suppose. She’s then placed on…
lovely flowers outside the academy where I work Invariably when people think of Spain they think of sunshine, beaches, warm weather, siestas, sangria… But the truth of the matter is that this country is extremely varied and with that variety comes extremely variable weather. The lush, green rain-fed coasts of Galicia have more in common…
Springtime in Extremadura and the festival season is in full swing. Right on the heels of Semana Santa celebrations and the parading of the local virgin comes the celebration of the city’s patron saint, San Jorge, better known to English speakers as Saint George. A curious mix of fire, tradition and what some might call…
If you ask someone from Catalonia what they think of my adopted region of Spain, Extremadura, you might unfortunately get a derogatory remark likening the area to Africa. Worse yet, they wouldn’t be doing so in reference to the wide open spaces and conserved natural areas that are to be found out here…but that is…
Stumbled upon my name in one of the local papers the other day. It seems that one of their journalists heard about my article in the Toronto Star and gave me a little local publicity. Who knows, might lead to something?
Pascal Parrot/Getty Images Marseille, France: Pink flamingos rest at the Vaccares pond As the cold sweeps south, Spain is seeing some of the coldest temperatures it has seen in 30 years. Temperatures dipped down to around -4 here in Caceres the other night and some say that it was even colder. I do hope the…
Keeping in mind the article I published at the beginning of the month in the Toronto Star, I thought I would continue highlighting some of the sites of my adopted city. A fine view of the Palacio de Moctezuma here in Caceres at sunset.
I recently published a piece on my adopted hometown in the Saturday edition of the Toronto Star. If you are thinking about visiting Spain, click over to the article and make sure to include Caceres in your itinerary.
I’m going to try and start a new series on this blog where every Friday a new picture from around the world goes up. In honour of my recent publication on my adopted hometown here in Caceres, here’s my favourite tower. The torre de hierba…10th century Almohad construction that changes colours as the sun goes…