jueves, 9 de julio de 2015

Once again, learning can really happen.

Can you see my new header? Well, this is not my job but a especial student's gift. Today I can say I feel quite lucky not just because a student has deliberately thought of designing such a marvelous header for me, but because I have had the privilege of being her teacher for a complete academic course.

Mind you, honey, adults have a lot to learn from youngsters like you. This is my brief homage through a shortened poem which bears your name...

It was many and many a year ago, 
In a kingdom by the sea, 
That a maiden there lived whom you may know, 
By the name of Annabel Lee; 
And this maiden she lived with no other thought 
Than to love and be loved by me.
[...]

by Edgar Allan Poe

 And as you risked when choosing a header fitting my personality, now I will take the liberty of choosing a picture which represents the way my eyes see you...


Hope you like it...

miércoles, 8 de julio de 2015

The Ceremony of the Keys in London


Guard:      Halt! Who goes there?
Chief Yeoman Warder: The Keys.
Guard:      Whose Keys?
Chief Yeoman Warder: Queen Elizabeth’s Keys.
Guard:  Pass Queen Elizabeth’s Keys. All’s well.

You may be asking yourself what this dialogue means or who says it. Well, they are the words uttered by some of Queen Elizabeth's Yeoman Warders during the celebration of the Ceremony of the Keys.

If you are interested in attending the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower, remember to book with enough time before your visit since it is usually booked. Moreover, getting one ticket for the Ceremony entails a long way process which I will try to summarise with the following info I filled in while applying for a couple of tickets for me...

1) A letter addressed to the Ceremony of the Keys office.
2) Inside the letter, attach two international reply coupons and an envelope with your name written on it.
   
      Then, if admitted, you will receive as many invitations as you asked for and from then on, you just have to be worried about enjoying yourself. Let's do some time travel...

                                       

Beef-eaters




     You have surely seen it posted on the label of a bottle of gin and it may have called your attention. I still remember when I was studying seventh grade at school and my English teacher gave us handouts of several ads representing well-known brand names which portrayed the Anglo-Saxon world. Memories of a bearded man wearing a red military uniform come into my mind…

     Then, I learnt that man was known as “beefeater” because apparently “beefeaters” were privileged people who could afford eating meat while the rest of ordinary people could not. Honestly, I always thought “beefeaters” were something of old times, until I travelled to London and visited its famous Tower, which had been home to many prisoners such as Elizabeth I or Anne Boleyn, among others.

     The architectural clash between this precious landmark and the new City is shocking. However, it is even more surprising to know that beefeaters live in the Tower Complex!

     But as it usually happens with a culture with such a meticulous way of doing “things”, nothing happens at random. The 35 beefeaters living in the Tower are carefully chosen. In fact, some of the requirements they have to follow are, for instance, 22 years of military service, holding the Long Service and Good Conduct medal, and being over 30 years old. Surprisingly, they work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year!

      Apart from working as Yeoman Warders of Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London, they are also perfect guides of the Tower since they thoroughly show every corner of such a historic landmark.

     All in all, I hope every time you see them, you remember these men of anachronic look are the "Yeoman Warders" of an immovable place since, according to legend, the Tower shall not be moved neither destroyed until the stoned ravens decorating the building decide to leave it...