La Catedral de Chihuahua es el templo sede de la Arquidiócesis de Chihuahua y es considerada como el más importante monumento religioso de estilo barroco en el norte de México. Dedicada a la La Santa Cruz desde su elevación a catedral en 1891; fue construida a partir de 1725 como templo parroquial dedicado a San Francisco de Asís y Nuestra Señora de la Regla.

La primera piedra de la catedral se colocó en el año de 1725, por Benito Crespo y Monroy, Obispo de Durango; éste al ver que las obras de la catedral avanzaban lentamente, decidió informar a las autoridades de comercio y minería para que, en consecuencia, se aplicara una contribución voluntaria a comerciantes y mercaderes.

 

Las obras fueron dirigidas originalmente y hasta el año de 1734 por el alarife José de la Cruz, quién fue también el encargado del diseño de los planos. Al fallecimiento de éste las obras fueron continuadas por varios más, y debido a varios contratiempos, no fue terminada hasta el año de 1826, 54 años después, por Ignacio Morín y Juan Pagaza y Nicolás. Las torres fueron levantadas por Bernardo del Carpio y sus campanas izadas y colocadas en su lugar por Melchor Guaspe.

La portada principal de la catedral, tallada en la misma cantera ocre de todo el edificio fue realizada por el escultor Antonio de Nava, quien para ello modificó el proyecto original. Dicho proyecto proponía una amplia portada de siete calles —calle es el espacio existente entre columna y columna—, reduciéndolo a cinco, logrando con ello la esbeltez que caracteriza a toda la catedral. Aun con la reducción en el número de calles, la amplitud de la portada no tenía parangón en la Nueva España al momento de ser construida.

 

La portada consta de tres cuerpos superpuestos y claramente diferenciados por cornisas y sobre todo por el diseño de sus columnas, todas ellas estípites que se engrosan en el centro en relación a su basa y capitel. Los primeros dos cuerpos cuentan con seis columnas, tres a cada lado de la calle central; mientras que el tercer cuerpo solo tiene una a cada lado ya que la portada reduce su ancho a manera de remate. Entre cada columna en las dos calles laterales se encuentran nichos que albergan las estatuas de los doce apóstoles, pero excluyendo a San Matías e incluyendo a San Pablo.

Las columnas del primer cuerpo se levantan sobre recios pedestales decorados con motivos vegetales, su basa y su capitel son de orden corintio, sin embargo su fuste presenta en sus extremos superior a inferior brazaletes de follaje, mientras que al resto lo decoran canales y contra canales y un anillo hundido en su centro. Las columnas del segundo cuerpo, también sobre pedestales con follaje, presentan en el centro de su fuste guirnaldas onduladas acompañadas en los extremos superior e inferior por estrías zigzagueantes, que en conjunto y desde la posición de los observadores a nivel del suelo dan una impresión salomónica. Finalmente las columnas del tercer cuerpo presentan un pedestal estriado y el fuste salomónico, como en todas el capitel es corintio, y rematan ambas columnas medallones donde se indica la fecha de conclusión de la portada —AÑO Đ 1741— y pilastras toscanas con remates piramidales.

La calle central contiene en su primer cuerpo a la puerta principal, formada por un arco semioctagonal incrito en otro de medio punto y en cuya clave se encuentran sostenidos por dos querubines que flotan entre el follaje, la tiara papal y las llaves de San Pedro; las enjutas del arco están decoradas por los motivos vegetales que encontramos en toda la catedral y entre los cuales vuelan dos ángeles. El segundo cuerpo contiene la ventana del coro, de forma octagonal y rodeada por molduras de cantera con motivos vegetales y en la parte superior la imagen de San José con el niño Jesús en sus brazos, todo ello nuevamente rodeado por la decoración vegetal.

Y esque tal y como está el panorama la cosa parecia increible.

Este martes noche a miercoles madrugada, cayó una considerable nevada en la zona norte de granada, incluso en la ciudad nevó aunque una lluvia posterior eliminó lo poco que habia caido.

El miercoles tenia madrugon pues debia llevar a la ITV el autobús que llevo, sabia que, si le sacaban algo, me echaria la mañana por alto, por suerte, solo le sacaron una jilipollez que solucioné rapido. A eso de las 12:15 salí de casa al fin libre de tareas en el curro para irme a cazar el 83309 en la nieve, y esque, ya es casualidad que nieve, y que circule este tren, pues ultimamente circula mas bien poco. La cosa esque despues de buscar y buscar, me quedé en este lugar, donde algo se apreciaba la nieve que ya quedaba. Aqui vemos a la 333-376 pasando por Bogarre con el único mercancias que a hoy dia circula de vez en cuando en la línea de Granada a Moreda.

...he heard the Reindeer grumbling about the work hours...

Feria de Monterroso-Lugo

 

Considerada popularmente como la feria de las ferias, no en vano su origen se remonta al medievo, el municipio de Monterroso, en Lugo, celebra de manera festiva el Día de Difuntos, con un mercado de animales y una suerte de bazar en el que es posible desde probar pulpo hasta adquirir variada bisutería.

 

Su nacimiento data del 1450, fue declarada feria de interés turístico gallego en el 2011 y, por su lugar de celebración, puede asociarse a la canción popular: "Se ti viras o que eu vin, alá arriba en Monterroso; vintecinco xastres xuntos, a cabalo dun raposo"

 

(¡Si tu vieras lo que yo vi allí arriba en Monterroso, veinticinco sastres juntos, a caballo de un zorro,- solo allí podía verse lo imposible-!)

Return Of Spring TAG GAME (Inspired By David aka FACTORY_BOY)

  

What is your favorite thing to do during the spring time? What is spring to you?

A great start for a new project?

Planning a dream vacation? Maybe a new romance? What do you like to wear in spring? What your dolls are wearing? Is that your favorite season?

Tell us more in spring inspired pictures or a short story/photo story.

I tagged only a few people but if you see it/reading it please join and consider yourself tagged.

Commentary.

 

When we consider U.K. places in outstanding locations we might include St. Ives in Cornwall, Clovelly in Devon, Rye in East Sussex, Tenby in Pembrokeshire, Portmeirion on the Llyn Peninsula and Lyme Regis in Dorset.

Without doubt, Plockton, must be added to the list.

Situated as it is on an enclosing and protective headland,

at the mouth of Loch Carron, unusually for West Coast settlements, it faces east.

The hills above it to the south exceed 340 metres and the Applecross Hills, to the north, and in shot, range from 700-900 metres.

The bay is something of a yacht-mooring mecca.

In summer there are sometimes over 200 leisure craft anchored.

The western bays of the Am Ploc Peninsula are white shell-sand and coral.

The main street is festooned with Pampas Grass and Cabbage Palms.

These features are testament to the incoming Gulf Stream that creates a mild micro-climate.

With access by road, rail, private plane, boat and footpath

it has become a popular tourist node between April and October.

It still has a very active fishing industry, particularly for shell-fish, Lobster and Langoustine.

The fresh produce has less than 100 metres to travel to hotels

near the shore, and the quality is exceptional.

The scenery is superb.

At dawn sunrises are simply glorious.

At dusk, from the hills around, or the western side of Am Ploc,

the sunsets over the Cuillins of Skye are quite sensational,

some of the best I have ever seen!

 

While I consider myself outdoorsy and would love to go backpacking, sleeping in tents under the stars, that’s just not in the cards for my outdoor time.

 

I have a chronic illness, and roughing it can unfortunately cause flare ups for me. As hard as it was, I’ve learned to respect my limits and having a van will help me to travel comfortably while giving me peace of mind.

 

If I do have a flare up while traveling, I now have a comfortable place to rest no matter where we are along with a bathroom for those times I become ill. I’ve learned to manage my illness quite well and those incidences have become fewer, but no matter how well you travel, it’s always a bit stressful and stress is one of my biggest triggers.

 

I’m extremely grateful (and, I recognize, privileged), to have this van. While it’s just a thing, it’s something that gives me freedom to satisfy my wanderlust, have new adventures, and create memories with Mike.

 

Unrelated note- our old van had an outdoor shower, but it was stored inside the back door & was a pain to get out. We never used it because of that. This van has it on the driver’s side (the panel next to the door) and it’ll come in handy when we need to clean off dirty things. It’s much better quality and a breeze to get out. Quite nice!

Please consider to support the restart of this film manufacturer [www.filmferrania.it/]

 

They sell the first batch of their new film as fund-raise pledges. There are still some left.

 

I thought about making this quickly with a digital, but that would have been a bummer, right?!

So, this is done with my Kiev/Hartblei 60, a Biometar 120/2.8, Fuji Acros and Caffenol. As usual.

I am going to talk about a topic most would consider to be very sensitive and that is pornography. So if you don’t feel comfortable reading about it please stop whenever you like to. Of course I will talk about it from my personal experience. I will try not to focus on porn or talk about it in details, as my goal is not to assist others to indulge in sin but to glorify God for the freedom He has given me. I will start by talking about the photo first.

 

First of all I want to say that talking about being addicted to porn is not easy. I had considered talking about for some time but didn’t really want to do so. So I decided, like I do often, is to lie down and talk to God and think about why I didn’t want to write about it. The reason was simple: I didn’t want people to have a bad idea about me. The final point was: I wanted to keep my image “clean” like so many of us Christians like to do. However, after some thought I came to this conclusion:

 

1) I was born a sinner and I am as sinful in my nature as anybody else ever lived on earth, so there is no point in acting like I am better than anybody else.

 

2) I am who I am because of who I am in Christ, and that’s because of His perfect and finished work on the Cross: His death for my sins. Not because of anything good in me or about me.

 

3) When I accepted Jesus I basically gave Him ownership over me. In other words, there is no more “my reputation”, “my name”, “my this” and “my that”. Everything belongs to Him now. Of course I thought that I could simply avoid talking about this topic and “act” as if there is something special about me. But the truth is that He is special and I am special only because the Holy Spirit, who is special, lives in me.

 

4) For Christ to be lifted through me I must be lowered. For Him to be glorified I must tell the world about who I was before Christ.

 

5) I didn’t want to be a hypocrite! Of course, as we all know, being a hypocrite is much easier than a lot of things in life. (And believe me it is much easier to be a hypocrite than to live the Christian life, but only through living the Christian life we can find true fulfillment in Jesus.) But if I claim that I belong to Christ and that my identity is wrapped up in who I am in Him, a prince and a child of the living and holy One, then I have to act upon this claim. Otherwise I am simply being a hypocrite. I cannot say that my value and worth are in Him, when I value myself in how others see me.

 

So I will start my story now…

 

When I was in my teens back home, and I would be taking the bus in the evening sometimes I would look at my hand and be completely amazed by the orange sun light reflecting off of it, especially the amount of details God has put in the skin! And because I like to draw, shadows have always amazed me. Until now I try to emphasize shadows and contrast in my photos. So a couple of days ago I was studying when it was sunset and I looked at my hand and again I loved the amount of details in the skin. So I took few photos and after some editing, I realized this photo can be very fitting to talk about Jesus Christ’s favour in setting us free from sin. So here is my final product. I hope you like it. (Special thanks to Gimp!)

 

I didn’t soak the hand with orange colour and dark shadows because I want to talk about a light that’s brighter than the sun’s: the light of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. That’s why I kept the light white.

 

I was not familiar with pornography until I came to Canada, and especially after I bought my first computer. Like so many others I started watching porn because of curiosity. I accepted Jesus in my life before I came to Canada though. Being still an immature Christian, spiritually like a few days old infant, I was an easy prey to Satan’s lies.

 

Then porn turned to more than just curiosity—it became a habit. Then from a habit it became an addiction. It pretty much consumed hours of my daily life, and all my energy. It cost me a lot in school as my marks dropped dramatically. My relationship with God was reduced to “hi” and “bye”!

 

I tried to quit many times but I couldn’t. I knew it was wrong but by then it was too strong of an addiction to break free from. I hated it and loved it at the same time. I hated it because it ruined every aspect of my life. I loved it because I was emotionally dependent on it: it was my idol. (For more on Idols you might be interested in reading: www.flickr.com/photos/001fj/2334638980/

 

Pornography was a very strange affair. I mean, when I went out I tried not to lust after women but when I came home I entertained the worst thoughts for hours! One of the worst things about porn is that it gets worse overtime. You never start at a low level and stay there; you stoop to lower levels because after a while those materials are not satisfying anymore. Can you imagine the helplessness people who are addicted to porn feel? Can you imagine the feeling of entrapment? Can you imagine not only seeing yourself in a very bad situation but also seeing yourself heading toward a worse situation and you are going by your own will simply because you couldn’t resist doing the thing that is hurting you and eventually will destroy you!

 

It is like standing in a hole and digging it to make it deeper and deeper and deeper.

 

One summer break I spent it pretty much editing photos using Photoshop and listening to Dr. Charles Stanley. In one sermon he was talking about how God sets us free and the bottom line was that we have to:

1) Realize and admit our situation and helplessness

2) Trust that God can free us

3) Surrender ourselves, lives and hearts to Him

 

So I tried it. I went to pray and told God all those three points and I meant them—I truly believed and knew that I couldn’t free myself from this sin, and I knew that God was a good God who loved me and cared about me….but, I didn’t know how to surrender! I mean if I was in a war then I could take a piece of white cloth and put it on a stick, raise it up and walk toward the enemy. They would see the white piece of cloth and would know that I am surrendering, but how do you do that spiritually? I mean, it is more than words just as in the scenario of the battlefield above: I have to raise (action word) the stick, and walk (another action word) toward the enemy. But how do you surrender spiritually?

 

Needless to say after that prayer I went back to pornography as if I had not even prayed it! I knew Dr. Stanley is a godly man so I knew he wouldn’t teach something false, but I simply didn’t know how to apply it. So I kept trying to break free from pornography using all methods I knew from self-control (emphasis on the word “self”; I am not talking about the self-control we have by focusing on Christ and putting Him first in our lives), to using filters to always keeping the windows and door open, etc…nothing worked.

 

God wasn’t completely silent in those couple of years when I was addicted to porn. I can recall some other time when God completely cut all communication with me until I obeyed Him in a certain matter (thank God He did that!), but that was not the case in those two years. I think God knew that I was helpless against breaking free from porn. He knew I was too young spiritually to abandon me completely to my weakness and leave me completely at Satan’s mercy (as if he has any!)

 

A particular scary moment was when one night after indulging in sin for hours I stood and planned to go carry out a sinful act. After a couple steps it was as if God slapped me so hard that He woke me up from a nightmare; the only thing is that I was not dreaming--it was real life! I had so foolishly bought Satan’s lies to the degree that I was going to carry them out! I froze and couldn’t move for few seconds because it was as if God had blocked my way. Then I realized that I was basically a slave of Satan if I kept believing what he told me. I was like a zombie having all sense sucked out of me and so dead in my sins.

 

Nothing can explain God's intervention in that moment better than this song:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_SjhKJgqGg

 

I also realized that I was not so different from Ted Bundy or any other serial killer and rapist. I was a step away from going that road if it wasn’t for God mercy, grace, love and compassion. I can never be thankful enough for Him for intervening in that moment. We were all born sinners, and according to God holiness that demands divine justice we all deserve the death penalty. That’s why our Lord had to die for our sins to be forgiven. So please, next time you hear about a criminal so “evil” ask yourself those two questions: 1) Can Jesus’ blood forgive all his sin? Yes, or no? 2) Can God change him? Yes, or no? The answer is yes to both questions. (Check this man’s testimony if you like to: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIfQ-aBham4

 

One time I managed to stay away from pornography for 18 days! I was so happy but when I fell to sin again I was more miserable than ever before! I knew that I couldn’t do better than that. That was about half a year after listening to Dr. Stanley’s message.

 

So sometime in March of 2003 I went to pray at night. And I basically told God that I had enough and that I wasn’t going to pray anymore. I was ending my relationship with Him! I didn’t know better at the time that He paid a high price to adopt me into His family and He wasn’t just going to let me go! I was so tired of pretending that my religion works when it didn’t! I became a Christian not looking for a religion, but because the God of the Bible was so real I wanted to know Him…I wanted to experience what He did and said He would do. But it was not working! It was also so repulsive to me to come pray to God when I had so disgustingly disobeyed Him! It was like lusting after women all day long then going home and kissing my wife and pretending that everything is “fine”, (by the way, it is NOT “fine” with God and His opinion is the only opinion that matters if not now then later!). I simply couldn’t carry a relationship with a Holy God when I was so steeped into sin. I was crying when I told Him “good-by” because I had really wanted Christianity to work since it was the only faith that held its own claims and its God was so real that it would require more faith for me not to believe in Him than to believe in Him! (How much faith does it take to believe in gravity? None, because we know it exists! That’s the same case with our God.) So I told Him that I don’t care anymore. I give up. I can’t break free from pornography’s hold on me, and He isn’t helping me. So I give up and won’t try to resist porn anymore. I was too tired to try to please a God who wasn’t willing to help me with my burdens.

 

I don’t remember exactly what day it was that I prayed that prayer but I know it was in the last 10 days of March, 2003. So I stood up and thought that was the end…that all those prayers I had prayed and He answered, the peace He has given me, the joy, and the awesome awareness of His presence I had experienced before…were all things I had imagined.

 

Next day I didn’t watch porn, and I thought because I was busy with school work. The day after I didn’t watch porn either and I thought because the whole week was a busy week with school work! After a week I realized that I didn’t watch porn for the last week nor did I think about it or desired to watch it! That’s when it hit me: I was free! Hallelujah, Jesus set me free! Christianity works! My wonderful God is real! Everything He did before was real! So I went to pray again, and asked Him what I should do now! He put on my heart to go to www.settingcaptivesfree.com/home/our_courses.php and register! So I did, and went through the online program for 2 months. And I have been free from pornography since that March night until today. I had a friend in high school was struggling with pornography too. He was from Pakistan and when I told him that I was free he didn’t understand how. I couldn’t explain it more to my friend than the blind man, whom our Lord Jesus healed, answered in John 9:25:

 

He replied, "…One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!"

 

It took me a while to realize that the Biblical principle in Dr. Stanley’s sermon works! What I did in that prayer is simply I gave up: surrendered. I stopped trying to do it in my own strength. I stopped trying to fight God’s war for Him. I stopped trying to earn His favour. I stopped trying to win my way according to my timing. I ceased striving.

 

If you read Gideon’s story, the story Dr. Stanley based his sermon outlines on, you will realize God did the same thing with Gideon and His army. I truly encourage you to read it. You can find it in the book of Judges.

 

Why did God free me this way? Well there are many reasons, here are some:

 

1) He wants to bring Himself the glory. If we do it on our own and succeed what does that tell the world about Him? Nothing. Then I could’ve written this whole story without a mention of Him. But the fact is I couldn’t break free from pornography on my own in a million years. It was all His work.

 

2) He desires to grow our faith. My faith wouldn’t have grown in a God that stands idle while I did everything myself. But now I know He is more than able to do everything He said will do.

 

3) God wants us to trust Him and know that He can handle His own affairs and wars. It is good to defend God and fight for Him, but we must let Him fight His own battles so the world to know that He is a mighty and powerful God, and that He is real.

 

Let me ask you some questions: if you are always fighting for your god, protecting it, speaking on its behave, defending it, what makes you think it is a real god? If your god can’t speak, what makes you so convinced it could create your mouth? If your god can’t fight its own battles against evil, what makes you think it can give you victory? If your god can’t defend itself, what makes you think it can protect you?

 

4) For others to see, hear, believe and come to know Him. If I was able to free myself from porn by myself, how would that draw people to Him?

 

You can say whatever you want about God. You can say that you don’t like Him. That you don’t believe in Him. You can say that you would rather live your life without Him, and spend eternity in Hell than in Heaven with Him. But you can’t tell me that I was not addicted beyond human hope to pornography and He freed me from it. You can’t tell me that my God isn’t real or that He is dead. You can’t tell me that my God is not powerful, or that He doesn’t love me and cares about me.

 

I remember a couple of years ago I was waiting for the bus (isn’t it strange how I realize a lot of things while waiting for the bus!), and thought to myself, “What is so horrible about pornography anyway?” (That was a couple of years after God freed me from it!) Then suddenly I had this very empty feeling in my chest when I remembered how spiritually thirsty I was when I was addicted to porn. I remember how horrible it felt to chase after something that does not satisfy and that it leads to more chasing…but it still does not satisfy! Ever since then until now, I would like to think that I have a healthy fear of pornography, and sin in general. (Remember, God created fear to protect us, just like pain. But how we view fear and respond to is what makes the difference between a protective fear and an enslaving fear.) Of course, porn’s destruction is much more than the chasing after something that does not satisfy. But I won’t go into how much it has actually ruined countless lives, because many websites and statistics are available for those who are truly seeking to know the truth about porn’s destructive power.

 

1 John 4:4 says:

 

“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

 

It is sad how many Christians have opinions about sin that are not based on God Word. I read things such as, “It is my motives that count…so even though I do this and that, I do them without lusting…” Really? Where does the Bible teaches that? When our Lord talked about motives he was talking about fasting, praying, and giving to the poor not about sin! You can’t sin with pure motives! It doesn’t make sense! You can fool me, and you can fool your church congregation! But how can you live with yourself knowing that you are lying to yourself! And how are you going to fool God? Rather, how are you going to face Him?

 

And some Christians even say “it is natural to do so and so”. Yes, you are correct, but since when does the Bible talk about our nature as if it is holy! Our nature is corrupt and sinful, so why do we say “natural” as if it is a good thing! It is natural to get angry and want to get revenge; it is natural to lie when accused of something; it is natural to cheat when we want to get our way…but what does the Bible teach about all those examples of “natural behaviour”? They are all sin and do not fit us as sons and daughters of the living God!

 

No, I am not talking about people who are addicted to drugs, porn, alcohol, and so on. I am not even talking to the unbelieving world here. I am talking to us, Christians. I truly believe that there is a huge difference between someone who is sinning—because he or she are addicted to a certain sin, regardless of how they got themselves into this mess—but they absolutely hate that sin and want to be free from it, and between someone who knows he is sinning but has no problem with it--welcomes sin in his life.

 

I am going to say something here that I think will make a lot of people dislike me, but I am going to say it anyway and hope that you take it with an attitude knowing that I am not judging anybody here:

 

If you are a woman who has Christ in her life, please re-consider the way you dress. Not according to my standards, or the church you attend. Certainly not according to the standards of the latest fashion or to “that is the only thing available in stores nowadays”. Don’t go to someone else asking their opinion or read an article about it. Go directly to God’s Word and ask God directly, and if you are honestly seeking to follow Him He will show you His way. But I must warn you: once He makes His will clear you won’t have peace until you obey Him.

 

You might be wondering why I am talking about women’s dressing in a topic about porn! Well, men are very visual so they sin by lusting (even women do that, but I am not sure they do so as much as men do) and so porn is a naturally attractive sin to them. Women desire to feel beautiful, desired, wanted and so she tries to meet those need by dressing in a way that attracts men’s attention. And that’s how she gets her momentarily (short-lived: like all the promises Satan makes in regard to sin) emotional high by noticing a man looking at her. But what I want to ask you is this: if you go home and you are all by yourself and have nothing to do, how do you feel: empty, far from your heavenly Father; or peaceful and your heart is flowing with love and adoration for Him?

 

Causing to Sin, Mark 9:42-50:

 

"And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where

" 'their worm does not die,

and the fire is not quenched.' Everyone will be salted with fire.

"Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other."

 

If you are a man who has Christ in his life, please take some time, be quiet with God, and think about where you were yesterday spiritually, where you are today, and where you are heading tomorrow! Evaluate your life. Evaluate your ways. Seek to know God better. Make decisions, daily decisions, to live for Him. Live a pure life starting with your heart and mind. Think about your future wife (or present wife), think about your kids. You are going to be the leader of the house who represents Christ to the whole household! Will they see Him through you? Or will your daughters grow up thinking that they have to look beautiful, sexy, and act in certain ways to get a man’s attention and love? Think about God’s awesome and wonderful purpose that He desires to accomplish through you. Think about God’s reputation among the people who know you. Please don’t settle for less. We are not going to be given another chance after this life!

 

“Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment” (Hebrews 9:27)

 

If you realize you are sinning against God while you are on your way home then repent right away and seek to follow Him! It is never too late to make a decision to live for Him, even if you just realized that at the end of the day. Daily surrender yourself to Him if that’s what it takes for you to live a pure and blameless life.

 

I will stop here. All I ask is that if you claim to believe something about God put it into practice. Whether in regard to your identity in Him, your personal agendas vs. His plans and purposes, or if you claim to believe that Christ died for someone else’s sin then why not forgive them? Remember, John 13:17:

 

“Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”

 

What things? The things that are written in God’s Word, and the Holy Spirit reveals to you.

 

And don't ever lose focus of this fact: all things are done through His goodness, grace and mercy—it, life here on earth and eternal life, is all about Him. However, for Him: it is all about you. It is the "Lord's favour" and not our own works whether in being saved or the power to live for Him: it is all about His grace.

 

Nothing But the Blood

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wej1jHtiH-M

 

(Toronot, ON; winter 2008.)

 

While you can see this video here, please consider going to the following Youtube link. Your "likes", "views" and "comments" there will be helpful in relation to the video's placing in NPR'sTiny Desk Concert competition.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=482rqsLuLaA

 

Thank you!

  

At the initiative of Daniel Warren Johnson the band Baby Mountain just recorded a video for NPR's Tiny Desk concert contest. The song is titled "Spinning" and its protagonist (the deer / dear in the dark) is–one Temma Lowly. It was a delight recording song with this wonderful ensemble in my studio at North Park University. Lyrics for the song are below.

 

Participants included:

Christie Miller - clarinet

Javier Payano - cello

Andrea Benavides-Chaves - violin

Emerson Cobbley - Harmony Vocals & Tiny Desk Holder

Daniel Warren Johnson - Guitar & Production

Myself - vocals, lyrics and music

 

______________________________________________

 

"Spinning"

 

words and music – Tim Lowly

 

______

 

The deer in the dark

turns her listening eye.

The stars are but sparks

in her evergreen sky

 

Out of her mouth

a beckoning sound

like the sun up above

to the seed in the ground

 

Resume the spinning

bang on the suitcase

let your baggage float

out on the water

turn around

let it go

 

Resume the spinning

dance to the wing beats of the circling dove

embrace the cipher

paint what you love

 

Resume the spinning

darn a sock

make a patchwork coat

out of the rejects

put it on

say hello

 

Resume the spinning

drop a petal in the puddle

watch the ripples float

out to the edges

one foot in front and

off you go

Many consider Gandy Street to be one of the most charming, and interesting streets in Exeter. Lined with bijou gift shops, bistros and restaurants, it is an essential stop for those visiting Exeter.

Please consider leaving a comment if you fave, it is lovely to hear from you! xx

 

Boxing Day saw another visit to the Star. It was quite a quiet night with not many out but we had a good night all the same!

  

Considerado por muitos o "Presépio" da Beira, Penha Garcia situa-se na encosta da Serra com o mesmo nome, ramificação da Serra da Malcata e na margem direita do rio Pônsul.

Do castelo, edificado pelos Templários sobre o castro romano, restam fragmentos de muralhas em bom estado de conservação. A partir daqui, desfruta-se de uma vista sobre toda a campina Raiana, barragem e Vale Feitoso.

Please View On Black

 

On 500px here.Views & votes appreciated :)

Consider visiting my blog for tutorials, videos and reportages on Montreal and more!

 

See my most interesting pictures here or take some time to view the slideshow .

  

[ email | website | Follow me on Twitter | Join my Fanpage ]

Basílica da Sagrada Família

 

Texto, em português, da Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre:

Templo Expiatório da Sagrada Família

Templo Expiatório da Sagrada Família, e também conhecido simplesmente como Sagrada Família, é um grande templo católico da cidade catalã de Barcelona (Espanha), desenhado pelo arquiteto catalão Antoni Gaudí, e considerado por muitos críticos como a sua obra-prima e expoente da arquitetura modernista catalã. Financiado unicamente por contribuições privadas , o projeto foi iniciado em 1882 e assumido por Gaudí em 1883, quando tinha 31 anos de idade, dedicando-lhe os seus últimos 40 anos de vida, os últimos quinze de forma exclusiva. A construção foi suspensa em 1936 devido à Guerra Civil Espanhola e não se estima a conclusão para antes de 2026, centenário da morte de Gaudí.

 

A construção começou em estilo neogótico, mas o projeto foi reformulado completamente por Gaudí ao assumi-lo. O templo foi projetado para ter três grandes fachadas: a Fachada da Natividade, quase terminada com Gaudí ainda em vida, a Fachada da Paixão, iniciada em 1952, e a Fachada da Glória, ainda por completar. Segundo o seu proceder habitual, a partir de esboços gerais do edifício Gaudí improvisou a construção à medida que esta avançava. O templo, quando estiver terminado, disporá de 18 torres : quatro em cada uma das três entradas-portais, a jeito de cúpulas; irá ter um sistema de seis torres, com a torre do zimbório central dedicada a Jesus Cristo, de 170 metros de altura, outras quatro ao redor desta, dedicadas aos evangelistas, e um segundo zimbório dedicado à Virgem. O interior estará formado por inovadoras colunas arborescentes inclinadas e abóbadas baseadas em hiperboloides e paraboloides buscando a forma ótima da catenária. Estima-se que poderá levar no seu coro 1500 cantores, 700 crianças e cinco órgãos. Em 1926, ano em que faleceu Gaudí, apenas estava construída uma torre. Do projeto do edifício só ficaram planos e um modelo em gesso que resultou muito danificado durante a Guerra Civil Espanhola. Desde então prosseguiram as obras: atualmente (2015) estão terminados os portais da Natividade e da Paixão, e foi iniciado o da Glória, estando em construção as abóbadas interiores.

 

A obra que realizou Gaudí - a fachada da Natividade e a cripta - foi incluída pela UNESCO em 2005 no Sítio do Patrimônio Mundial com o título «Obras de Antoni Gaudí».

 

História

O propósito de construir um templo expiatório dedicado à Sagrada Família em uns novos terrenos do Eixample barcelonês foi do livreiro Josep Maria Bocabella, para o que fundou a Associação de Devotos de São José. Para isso foi adquirido um quarteirão inteiro do Eixample num lugar conhecido como El Poblet, perto do Camp de l'Arpa, em Sant Martí de Provençals, entre as ruas Provença, Maiorca, Marina e Sardenya.

O projeto foi entregue em primeiro lugar a Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano, que propôs um conjunto neogótico, recusando a sugestão de Bocabella de fazer uma réplica do Santuário da Santa Casa de Loreto . O projeto de Villar consistia numa igreja de três naves, com os elementos típicos do gótico, como os vitrais alveolados, os contrafortes exteriores e um alto campanário em forma de agulha. A primeira pedra foi colocada a 19 de Março de 1882, dia de São José, com a presença do então bispo de Barcelona José María Urquinaona. Gaudí assistiu à cerimônia, já que tinha trabalhado como ajudante de Villar em vários projetos. As obras não se iniciaram até 25 de Agosto de 1883, sendo adjudicadas ao empreiteiro Macari Planella i Roura.

Em 1883, Villar renunciou por desavenças com Joan Martorell, arquiteto assessor de Bocabella. O projeto foi oferecido ao próprio Martorell, mas, ao recusar, este foi oferecido a um jovem Gaudí de 31 anos; Gaudí fora ajudante de Martorell em várias construções, fato que motivara a recomendação de Gaudí, que ainda não executara grandes obras. Ao encarregar-se Gaudí do projeto, modificou-o por inteiro - salvo a parte já construída da cripta -, imprimindo-lhe o seu estilo peculiar. Durante os remanescentes 43 anos da sua vida trabalhou intensamente na obra, os últimos 15 anos de forma exclusiva. Esta dedicação tão intensa tem a sua explicação, para além da magnitude da obra, pela circunstância de Gaudí definir muitos aspetos à medida que a construção avançava, em lugar de os ter concretizado previamente nos seus planos e instruções. Por isso a sua presença pessoal na obra era de grande importância.

Durante a vida de Gaudí somente foi feita a fachada da Natividade , com escultura de Carles Mani, Llorenç Matamala e Joan Matamala, contando com os desenhos de Ricard Opisso; Gaudí apenas chegou a ver coroada a torre de São Barnabé antes do seu falecimento. À morte de Gaudí encarregou-se das obras o seu ajudante Domènec Sugrañes, durante os anos 1926-1936, acabando as três torres que ficavam na fachada da Natividade.

Durante a Guerra Civil Espanhola ficou destruída na sua maior parte a oficina na qual Gaudí trabalhara, e onde se encontravam os seus croquis, maquetes e modelos . Por esta causa e pela particular maneira de trabalhar Gaudí, não ficaram planos nem diretrizes a respeito de como devia terminar-se o templo. Portanto, quando em 1944 prosseguiu a construção da Sagrada Família, teve de definir-se em primeiro lugar como devia proceder-se, para edificar o templo da forma mais fiel aos princípios de Gaudí.

À frente desta gigantesca tarefa estiveram os arquitetos Francesc Quintana, Isidre Puig i Boada e Lluís Bonet i Garí, enquanto da obra escultórica se encarregou Jaume Busquets. Posteriormente, quando se construiu a fachada da Paixão, o conjunto principal das figuras escultóricas foi encarregado a Josep Maria Subirachs . As obras deste último originaram certa polêmica, devido a ter criado esculturas totalmente contemporâneas afastadas do estilo realista que Gaudí incluiu na fachada da Natividade. O escultor japonês Etsuro Sotoo colaborou em algumas esculturas da fachada da Natividade . Desde 1987 que as obras estão sob a direção do arquiteto Jordi Bonet i Armengol.

Projeto de praça estrelada para a Sagrada Família (1916).

Um dos pontos que suscitou maior controvérsia em relação ao templo é a sua situação no tecido urbanístico de Barcelona: quando começaram as obras encontrava-se num descampado, mas rapidamente ficou integrado no rápido desenvolvimento da cidade em princípios do século XX. Em 1905 Gaudí realizou um projeto para englobar a Sagrada Família dentro do Plano Jaussely, o novo projeto de alargamento barcelonês: concebeu situar o templo dentro de uma zona ajardinada em forma de estrela octogonal, que teria proporcionado uma excelente visão do templo a partir de todas as zonas circundantes. Finalmente, devido ao custo dos terrenos, reduziu o projeto a uma estrela de quatro pontas, que permitia uma ampla visão de todos os vértices. Contudo, o plano de Gaudí não se levou a cabo: em 1975 o Município de Barcelona realizou um estudo urbanístico que previa reabilitar uma zona em forma de cruz em torno da Sagrada Família, com quatro praças ajardinadas em cada extremo do templo ; mesmo assim, atualmente existem apenas duas destas praças, e a criação das novos espaços implicaria demolir vários edifícios, pelo qual ainda se estuda a solução ideal para enquadrar a Sagrada Família numa envolvente apropriada.

O Templo da Sagrada Família teve vários eventos destacados: em 1920 celebrou-se o Ano Jubilar de São José com procissões, peregrinações e missas, e cantou-se o Aleluia de O Messias de Händel por mil cantores de orfeões vindos de toda a Catalunha, dirigidos por Lluís Millet. Em 1953, por ocasião do 35º Congresso Eucarístico Internacional celebrado em Barcelona, foi inaugurada a iluminação artística da fachada da Natividade. Em 1981 abriu-se a praça Gaudí frente à Sagrada Família, com um projeto de jardins de Nicolau Maria Rubió i Tudurí, onde se destaca o tanque, em cujas águas fica refletido o templo. Ao ano seguinte, por ocasião do centenário da colocação da primeira pedra, o templo recebeu a visita do Papa João Paulo II. Igualmente, a 18 de Março de 2007 foi comemorado o 125.º aniversário da colocação da primeira pedra do templo com uma festa, concertos e bailando uma sardana em redor de todo o templo. O templo é palco habitual de numerosos atos culturais e encontros religiosos.

Veja o texto completo no site pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Templo_Expiat%C3%B3rio_da_Sagrada_F...

 

A text, in english, from barcelona.de/en/barcelona-sagrada-familia.html

 

The basilica Sagrada Familia

Antoni Gaudí's life work is an UNESCO world heritage

 

The Sagrada Familia is one of the most famous landmarks in Barcelona. Since 1882 it was built at the church in the district Eixample built. From 1883 the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí took over the leadership of the works until his death in 1926. The building is significantly influenced by him. The church is such a huge size, so they often referred it as "cathedral", but without having a bishop's seat. Pope Benedict XVI. inaugurates the Sagrada Familia on November 7, 2010. The church building is raised to a basilica.

Much time should allow for the visit of the details of the facades, where many embassies and biblical stories are hidden.

With the completion in 2026 expected, the construction is financed solely from donations and ticket money. Currently, 8 out of 12 about 100 meters tall bell towers are completed. The higher towers of the facade of the glory will be built and the central dome with a height of over 170 meters. Currently, part of the cloister is the building of the apse dome.

 

The start of construction of the Sagrada Familia.

Mid-19th Century the booksellers José María Boca Bella , Chairman of the Holy Brotherhood, planned a church in Barcelona to build and to devote the Holy Family ( "Sagrada Familia"). The land he choose was a parcel within the "Poblet (village). He preferred a fundamental step closer to the city centre out. Because of the already high land prices this was not possible.

The planning of the church began with the architect of the Diocese Francisco del Villar. He designed a church in Gothic style and began in 1882 with the construction of the crypt. Because of fundamental disagreements with Boca Bella he had to resign from his job. A few months later in 1883, the young architect Antoni Gaudí took over his work.

Gaudí took place in the Sagrada Familia his life's work. He worked until his death on 10th June 1926.

Under Gaudí the church won because of their extensive dimension and its lush design with such importance that they soon called it "the Cathedral". Also Gaudí even called it, although they do not house a bishop. He was convinced that one day the city would be known as "his" church.

 

Gaudí shaped espacially the Sagrada Familia . Many new parts are built according to plans, which are hardly ever received and often depend on assumptions as the great architect had originally planned. Of course everyone is sure of one thing: the Church Sagrada family in case of completion in respect to all previously built churches of Christendom will surpass all in greatness.

As a church, the Sagrada Familia should not only be seen in the artistic point of view. It must be the consideration of building facades with its towers and even religion.

 

Tips for visiting the Sagrada Familia.

The Sagrada Familia is the most visited monument in Spain. At peak times therefore sometimes one can queue in front of the house and cash in on the elevators of the towers which go up, on the other. The largest are the queues in the late morning. So if you dont want to stay in the queue, use the time to the cathedral from a distance, the two places right and left of the Sagrada Familia from them.

On the rear lifts, in the towers of the facade of the birth of Christ which goes up, the queue is much shorter. Do not return to down the lifts, use the stairs. Only then do you see the absolutely stunning spiral staircase.

“...they do not work or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these! And if this is how God clothes the wild grass, which is here today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven, how much more will he clothe you, you people of little faith!”

 

-‭‭Luke‬ ‭12:27-28‬ ‭NET‬‬

"Consider how, after the death of our Lord, two of His disciples, Joseph and Nicodemus, took Him down from the Cross, and placed Him in the arms of His afflicted Mother, who received Him with unutterable tenderness, and pressed Him to her bosom.

 

O Mother of sorrow, for the love of this Son, accept me for thy servant, and pray to Him for me. And Thou, my Redeemer, since Thou hast died for me, permit me to love Thee; for I wish but Thee, and nothing more. I love Thee, my Jesus, and I repent of ever having offended Thee. Never permit me to offend Thee again. Grant that I may love Thee always; and then do with me what Thou wilt."

– Reflection by St Alphonsus Liguori.

 

Station from the church of Old St Mary's in Detroit.

 

During Passiontide, I am posting one Station of the Cross a day, each taken from a different location around the world.

Left side of the entrance door. Detail of Amentit, considered as the goddess of the west and fertility.

 

• Dinastía V.2. Reinado de Sahure´ (Horus: Nebkau).

• Procedencia: Abusir. Complejo piramidal del rey Sahure´. Pirámide secundaria.

• Material: Piedra calcárea pintada.

• Dimensiones:

• Conservación: Berlín. Neues Museum ÄM 21784.

 

BIBLIOGRAFÍA:

 

REFERENCIAS

 

Texto: Juan Rodríguez Lázaro

Foto: Juan Rodríguez Lázaro. Tomada el 21 de septiembre de 2019

 

Hollande was born in Rouen, to a middle-class family. His mother, Nicole Frédérique Marguerite Tribert (1927–2009), was a social worker, and his father, Georges Gustave Hollande, an ear, nose, and throat doctor who "had once run on a far right ticket in local politics.The family moved to Neuilly-sur-Seine, a highly exclusive suburb of Paris, when Hollande was thirteen. Hollande was raised Catholic, but became an agnostic in later life,and now considers himself as an atheist[8] (In December 2011, Hollande told the French Christian magazine La Vie that he respects all religious practices but has none of his own).He attended Saint-Jean-Baptiste-de-la-Salle boarding school, a private Catholic school in Rouen, the Lycée Pasteur, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, then graduated with a bachelor's degree in law from Panthéon-Assas University. Then he studied at HEC Paris where he graduated in 1975, before attending the Institut d'études politiques de Paris and the École nationale d'administration. He graduated from ENA in 1980[10][11] and chose to enter the prestigious Cour des comptes. He lived in the United States in the summer of 1974 while he was a university student. Immediately after graduating, he was employed as a councillor in the Court of Audit.Early political career: Five years after volunteering as a student to work for François Mitterrand's ultimately unsuccessful campaign in the 1974 presidential election, Hollande joined the Socialist Party. He was quickly spotted by Jacques Attali, a senior adviser to Mitterrand, who arranged for Hollande to stand for election to the French National Assembly in 1981 in Corrèze against future President Jacques Chirac, who was then the Leader of the Rally for the Republic, a Neo-Gaullist party. Hollande lost to Chirac in the first round. He went on to become a special advisor to newly elected President Mitterrand, before serving as a staffer for Max Gallo, the government's spokesman. After becoming a municipal councillor for Ussel in 1983, he contested Corrèze for a second time in 1988, this time being elected to the National Assembly. Hollande lost his bid for re-election to the National Assembly in the so-called "blue wave" of the 1993 election, described as such due to the number of seats gained by the Right at the expense of the Socialist Party.First Secretary of the Socialist Party (1997–2008)François Hollande in 2004: Hollande with his former partner Ségolène Royal, at a rally for the 2007 elections. As the end of Mitterrand's term in office approached, the Socialist Party was torn by a struggle of internal factions, each seeking to influence the direction of the party. Hollande pleaded for reconciliation and for the party to unite behind Jacques Delors, the president of the European Commission, but Delors renounced his ambitions to run for the French presidency in 1995, leading to Lionel Jospin's resuming his earlier position as the leader of the party. Jospin selected Hollande to become the official party spokesman, and Hollande went on to contest Corrèze once again in 1997, successfully returning to the National Assembly.

That same year, Jospin became the prime minister of France, and Hollande won the election for his successor as first secretary of the French Socialist Party, a position he would hold for eleven years. Because of the very strong position of the Socialist Party within the French government during this period, Hollande's position led some to refer to him the "vice prime minister". Hollande would go on to be elected mayor of Tulle in 2001, an office he would hold for the next seven years.The immediate resignation of Jospin from politics following his shock defeat by far-right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen in the first round of the 2002 presidential election forced Hollande to become the public face of the party for the 2002 legislative election but, although he managed to limit defeats and was re-elected in his own constituency, the Socialists lost nationally. In order to prepare for the 2003 party congress in Dijon, he obtained the support of many notable personalities of the party and was re-elected first secretary against opposition from left-wing factions.

After the triumph of the Left in the 2004 regional elections, Hollande was cited as a potential presidential candidate, but the Socialists were divided on the European Constitution, and Hollande's support for the ill-fated "Yes" position in the French referendum on the European constitution caused friction within the party. Although Hollande was re-elected as first secretary at the Le Mans Congress in 2005, his authority over the party began to decline from this point onwards. Eventually his domestic partner, Ségolène Royal, was chosen to represent the Socialist Party in the 2007 presidential election, where she would lose to Nicolas Sarkozy.

Hollande was widely blamed for the poor performances of the Socialist Party in the 2007 elections, and he announced that he would not seek another term as first secretary. Hollande publicly declared his support for Bertrand Delanoë, the mayor of Paris, although it was Martine Aubry who would go on to win the race to succeed him in 2008.

Following his resignation as first secretary, Hollande was immediately elected to replace Jean-Pierre Dupont as the president of the General Council of Corrèze in April 2008, a position he holds to this day. In 2008 he supported the creation of the first European Prize for Local History (Étienne Baluze Prize), founded by the "Société des amis du musée du cloître" of Tulle, on the suggestion of the French historian Jean Boutier. François Hollande awarded the first prize on 29 February 2008 to the Italian historian Beatrice Palmero in the General Council of Corrèze.2012 presidential campaign: French presidential election, 2012. Following his re-election as president of the General Council of Corrèze in March 2011, Hollande announced that he would be a candidate in the upcoming primary election to select the Socialist and Radical Left Party presidential nominee.[13] The primary marked the first time that both parties had held an open primary to select a joint nominee at the same time. He initially trailed the front-runner, former finance minister and International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn.Following Strauss-Kahn's arrest on suspicion of sexual assault in New York City in May 2011, Hollande began to lead the opinion polls. His position as front-runner was established just as Strauss-Kahn declared that he would no longer be seeking the nomination. After a series of televised debates throughout September, Hollande topped the ballot in the first round held on 9 October with 39% of the vote, not gaining the 50% required to avoid a second ballot, which he would contest against Martine Aubry, who had come second with 30% of the vote.The second ballot took place on 16 October 2011. Hollande won with 56% of the vote to Aubry's 43% and thus became the official Socialist and Radical Left Party candidate for the 2012 presidential election.[14] After the primary results, he immediately gained the pledged support of the other contenders for the party's nomination, including Aubry, Arnaud Montebourg, Manuel Valls and 2007 candidate Ségolène Royal.Hollande's presidential campaign was managed by Pierre Moscovici and Stéphane Le Foll, a member of Parliament and Member of the European Parliament respectively.[16] Hollande launched his campaign officially with a rally and major speech at Le Bourget on 22 January 2012 in front of 25,000 people.[17][18] The main themes of his speech were equality and the regulation of finance, both of which he promised to make a key part of his campaign.[On 26 January, he outlined a full list of policies in a manifesto containing 60 propositions, including the separation of retail activities from riskier investment-banking businesses; raising taxes on big corporations, banks and the wealthy; creating 60,000 teaching jobs; bringing the official retirement age back down to 60 from 62; creating subsidised jobs in areas of high unemployment for the young; promoting more industry in France by creating a public investment bank; granting marriage and adoption rights to same-sex couples; and pulling French troops out of Afghanistan in 2012.On 9 February, he detailed his policies specifically relating to education in a major speech in Orléans.On 15 February, incumbent president Nicolas Sarkozy announced that he would run for a second and final term, strongly criticising Hollande's proposals and claiming that he would bring about "economic disaster within two days of taking office" if he won.Hollande visited Berlin, Germany, in December 2011 for the Social Democrats Federal Party Congress, at which he met Sigmar Gabriel, Peer Steinbrück, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Martin Schulz;[23][24] he also travelled to Belgium before the United Kingdom in February 2012, where he met with Opposition Leader Ed Miliband; and finally Tunisia in May 2012.Opinion polls showed a tight race between the two men in the first round of voting, with most polls showing Hollande comfortably ahead of Sarkozy in a hypothetical second round run-off.The first round of the presidential election was held on 22 April. François Hollande came in first place with 28.63% of the vote, and faced Nicolas Sarkozy in the second round run-off.[28] In the second round of voting on 6 May 2012, François Hollande was elected President of the French Republic with 51.7% of the vote.President of France (2012–present)[ François Hollande was elected President of France on 6 May 2012. He was inaugurated on 15 May, and shortly afterwards appointed Jean-Marc Ayrault to be his Prime Minister. He also appointed Benoît Puga to be the military's chief of staff, Pierre-René Lemas as his general secretary and Pierre Besnard as his Head of Cabinet. On his first official visit to a foreign country in his capacity as president of France, the airplane transporting him was hit by lightning.[31] The plane returned safely to Paris where he took another flight to Germany. The first measures he took were to lower the income of the president, the prime minister, and other members of the government by 30%, and to make them sign a "code of ethics".Budget: Hollande's economic policies are wide-ranging, including supporting the creation of a European credit rating agency, the separation of lending and investment in banks, reducing the share of electricity generated by nuclear power in France from 75 to 50% in favour of renewable energy sources, merging income tax and the General Social Contribution (CSG), creating an additional 45% for additional income of 150,000 euros, capping tax loopholes at a maximum of €10,000 per year, and questioning the relief solidarity tax on wealth (ISF, Impôt de Solidarité sur la Fortune) measure that should bring €29 billion in additional revenue. Hollande has also signalled his intent to implement a 75% income tax rate on revenue earned above 1,000,000 euros per year, to generate the provision of development funds for deprived suburbs, and to return to a deficit of zero percent of GDP by 2017.[33][34] The tax plan has proven controversial, with courts ruling it unconstitutional in 2012, only to then take the opposite position on a redrafted version in 2013.[35][36]

Hollande has also announced several reforms to education, pledging to recruit 60,000 new teachers, to create a study allowance and means-tested training, and to set up a mutually beneficial contract that would allow a generation of experienced employees and craftsmen to be the guardians and teachers of younger newly hired employees, thereby creating a total of 150,000 subsidized jobs. This has been complemented by the promise of aid to SMEs, with the creation of a public bank investment-oriented SME's, and a reduction of the corporate tax rate to 30% for medium corporations and 15% for small.Hollande's government has announced plans to construct 500,000 public homes per year, including 150,000 social houses, funded by a doubling of the ceiling of the A passbook, the region making available its local government land within five years. In accordance with long-standing Socialist Party policy, Hollande has announced that the retirement age will revert to 60, for those who have contributed for more than 41 years.LGBT rights: Further information: Law 2013-404; Hollande has also announced his personal support for same-sex marriage and adoption for LGBT couples, and outlined plans to pursue the issue in early 2013.[37] In July 2012, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault announced that "In the first half of 2013, the right to marriage and adoption will be open to all couples, without discrimination [...]", confirming this election promise by Hollande.The bill to legalize same-sex marriage, known as Bill no. 344, was introduced to the National Assembly of France on 7 November 2012. On 12 February 2013, the National Assembly approved the bill in a 329–229 vote.The Right-wing opposed the bill. The Senate approved the full bill with a 171–165 majority on 12 April with minor amendments. On 23 April, the National Assembly approved the amended bill, in a 331–225 vote, and following approval of the law by the Constitutional Council of France, it was signed into law by President François Hollande on 18 May 2013, with the first same-sex weddings under the law taking place eleven days later.Labour reform: As President, Hollande pursued labour reform to make France more competitive internationally. Legislation was introduced in late 2012 and after much debate passed the French lower and upper house in May 2013. The bill includes measures such as making it easier for workers to change jobs and for companies to fire employees. One of the main measures of the bill allows companies to temporarily cut workers' salaries or hours during times of economic difficulty. This measure takes its inspiration from Germany, where furloughs have been credited with allowing companies to weather difficult times without resorting to massive layoffs. Another measure that aims to simplify the firing process. Layoffs in France are often challenged in courts and the cases can take years to resolve. Many companies cite the threat of lengthy court action – even more than any financial cost – as the most difficult part of doing business in France. The law shortens the time that employees have to contest a layoff and also lays out a scheme for severance pay. The government hopes this will help employees and companies reach agreement faster in contentious layoffs.Another key measure introduced are credits for training that follow employees throughout their career, regardless of where they work, and the right to take a leave of absence to work at another company. The law will also require all companies to offer and partially pay for supplemental health insurance. Lastly, the law also reforms unemployment insurance, so that someone out of work doesn't risk foregoing significant benefits when taking a job that might pay less than previous work or end up only being temporary. Under the new law, workers will be able to essentially put benefits on hold when they take temporary work, instead of seeing their benefits recalculated each time.Pension reform: As President, Hollande pursued reform to the vast and expensive pension system in France. The process proved to be very contentious, with members of Parliament, Labor Unions, and general public all opposed. Mass protests and demonstrations occurred throughout Paris. Despite the opposition, the French Parliament did pass a reform in December 2013 aimed at plugging a pension deficit expected to reach 20.7 billion euros ($28.4 billion) by 2020 if nothing were to be done. Rather than raising the mandatory retirement age, as many economists had advised, Hollande pursued increases in contributions, leaving the retirement age untouched. The reform had a rough ride in parliament, being rejected twice by the Senate, where Hollande's Socialist Party has a slim majority, before it won sufficient backing in a final vote before the lower house of parliament. French private sector workers will see the size and duration of their pension contributions increase only modestly under the reform while their retirement benefits are largely untouched.[43] Several scholars and economists argue the reform did not go far enough.[who?] Foreign affairs: See also: List of presidential trips made by François Hollande

Leaders of Belarus, Russia, Germany, France, and Ukraine at the summit in Minsk, 11–12 February 2015. As President, Hollande promised an early withdrawal of French combat troops present in Afghanistan in 2012.He also pledged to conclude a new contract of Franco-German partnership, advocating the adoption of a Directive on the protection of public services. Hollande has proposed "an acceleration of the establishment of a Franco-German civic service, the creation of a Franco-German research office, the creation of a Franco-German industrial fund to finance common competitiveness clusters, and the establishment of a common military headquarters". As well as this, Hollande has expressed a wish to "combine the positions of the presidents of the European Commission and of the European Council (currently held by José Manuel Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy respectively) into a single office...and that it should be directly chosen" by the members of the European Parliament.Hollande made a state visit to the United States in February 2014; a state dinner was given in his honor by U.S. President Barack Obama.On 27 February 2014, Hollande was a special guest of honor in Abuja, received by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in celebration of Nigeria's amalgamation in 1914, a 100-year anniversary. In September 2015, Hollande warned former Eastern Bloc countries against rejecting the EU mandatory migrant quotas, saying: "Those who don't share our values, those who don't even want to respect those principles, need to start asking themselves questions about their place in the European Union".Intervention in Mali: Hollande reviews troops during the 2013 Bastille Day military parade. On 11 January 2013, Hollande authorised the execution of Operation Serval, which aimed to curtail the activities of Islamist extremists in the north of Mali.[44] The intervention was popularly supported in Mali, as Hollande promised that his government would do all it could to "rebuild Mali".During his one-day visit to Bamako, Mali's capital, on 2 February 2013, he said that it was "the most important day in [his] political life". In 2014, Hollande took some of these troops out of Mali and spread them over the rest of the Sahel under Operation Barkhane, in an effort to curb jihadists militants.Co-Prince of Andorra: The President of the French Republic is one of the two joint heads of state of the Principality of Andorra. Hollande hosted a visit from Antoni Martí, head of the government, and Vicenç Mateu Zamora, leader of the parliament.Approval ratings: An IFOP poll released in April 2014 showed that Hollande’s approval rating had dropped five points since the previous month of March to 18%, dipping below his earlier low of 20% in February during the same year.[57] In November 2014, his approval rating reached a new low of 12%, according to a YouGov poll.[58] Following the Charlie Hebdo shooting in January 2015, however, approval for Hollande increased dramatically, reaching 40% according to an IFOP poll two weeks after the attack,[59] though an Ipsos-Le Point survey in early February showed his rating declining back to 30%. Personal life: For over thirty years, his partner was fellow Socialist politician Ségolène Royal, with whom he has four children: Thomas (1984), Clémence (1985), Julien (1987) and Flora (1992). In June 2007, just a month after Royal's defeat in the French presidential election of 2007, the couple announced that they were separating.A few months after his split from Ségolène Royal was announced, a French website published details of a relationship between Hollande and French journalist Valérie Trierweiler. In November 2007, Trierweiler confirmed and openly discussed her relationship with Hollande in an interview with the French weekly Télé 7 Jours. She remained a reporter for the magazine Paris Match, but ceased work on political stories. Trierweiler moved into the Élysée Palace with Hollande when he became president and started to accompany him on official travel.On 25 January 2014, Hollande officially announced his separation from Valérie Trierweiler[63] after the tabloid magazine Closer revealed his affair with actress Julie Gayet.[64] In September 2014 Trierweiler published a book about her time with Hollande titled Merci pour ce moment (Thank You for This Moment). The memoir claimed the president presented himself as disliking the rich, but in reality disliked the poor. The claim brought an angry reaction and rejection from Hollande, who said he had spent his life dedicated to the under-privileged.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Hollande

 

Today will be the happiest day of François Hollande’s term as president of France. In the least surprising surprise result of the year, Hollande has defeated incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy, with whom much of France had become frustrated and fed up. Public sentiment is easy enough to understand. Sarkozy rode into office on a wave of expectations which he seemed tempted to inflate at every turn. But he, like France, was ill-equipped to handle the economic crisis that now threatens to pull France into Europe’s troubled bottom tier, down with Italy, Spain, and Greece. Sarkozy’s brand of center-right nationalism had met its match. Now it’s time for Hollande’s, shall we say, socialist nationalism. Despite his reputation as a would-be “Mr. Normal,” Hollande offers an ideology far more grandiose in its self-regard than any associated with Sarkozy. Sarkozy’s egotism suited a party that believed it knew the future. Hollande’s apparent personal humility is an all-too-poetic fit with the animating spirit of his political creed — a wilfull ignorance of its own futility and obsolescence. There are many illustrations to come of why socialism is dead on arrival in twenty-first century France, and François Hollande will find no shortage of disappointments and calamities waiting for him at the peak of power. But right now, we can already identify five key reasons why Hollande is destined to fail: 1. No mandate. Whatever else can be said about socialism or François Hollande, there is no disputing the fact that his public support comprises a soberingly small slice of the French electorate. As it stands, he has not cracked 52% of the vote. What you may not know is that one in four voters rejected every candidate, with 20% casting no ballot and 5% casting a blank one. France’s radicals may tolerate him in a resigned sort of way, but the French right will simply bide their time and drum up some challenger who reminds no one of Sarkozy. The far right, on the other hand, will drive Hollande to distraction. He will be pushed toward the terrible choice either of demonizing them or trying to ignore them. Both alternatives will strengthen them, so long as Hollande actually advances his policies. Anything trans-nationalist will give the Front National fits, while anything else will be occasion for a pitched battle with Hollande over what nationalism is for. Hollande’s support is shallow and weak, fueled largely by a combination of dismayed hope and relief that at least one needn’t endure Sarkozy’s variety of failure anymore. To strengthen his support, Hollande will have to demagogue and cut left. The more he does this, the narrower his appeal will become. No matter what kind of changes in policy he achieves, they will be transitory. France, and Europe, are already waiting for the other shoe to drop. It will.

2. Nationalist nonsense. Barack Obama’s foreign policy has proven itself to be incoherent but acceptable to many Americans. François Hollande’s foreign policy will prove unacceptably incoherent. The French left has always favored greater European togetherness, but now associates the European project with Germany’s economic domination of the Continent. Hollande wants to square the circle by spearheading a European push for ‘more growth’, but he associates pro-growth economic reforms with so-called austerity. (Simply not spending substantial new sums counts as austerity.) As Gideon Rachman observes, France “is a country where the state already consumes 56 per cent of gross domestic product, which has not balanced a budget since the mid-1970s, and which has some of the highest taxes in the world.” And Hollande’s vision of growth is a product of his leftist view of nationalism:Mr. Hollande has vowed to restore social equilibrium in France, in part by pushing back against the austerity championed by Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and the European Central Bank president, Mario Draghi. Mr. Hollande’s plans include rolling back tax breaks that Mr. Sarkozy gave to the wealthy, and increasing state-sponsored investment, in part by creating tens of thousands of civil sector jobs. 4 Essential Tips To Becoming A Better Leader Hollande is correct to realize that Germany lacks the political authority to successfully impose its fiscal habits upon Europe. But he is a fool to believe he ought to do more of precisely what caused Germany to try in the first place. Massive government spending is actually not the problem (although if Paul Krugman is right, France and Europe would require a volume of deficit spending that Hollande hasn’t a chance in hell of securing). The problem is not the amount of money that Hollande takes in, from whatever source, but how he will spend it: on government jobs. The secret killer of Europe’s economy has been government jobs, which have grown to absorb so much of Europe’s economies because so many European governments have functioned as if the EU had done nothing to weaken nationalism. There is little more nationalist than a government job, and little more hostile to European togetherness. The more government jobs, the farther away a common labor market. Civil sector jobs strengthen nationalism just at the moment of its most startling failure, yet they are the centerpiece of Hollande’s vision of normalcy. It’s a view that puts him on a collision course with the viability of the Eurozone and the EU itself. Once the left really accepts this, Hollande will become a scapegoat for whatever doesn’t work, which eventually will be everything. Left nationalism is as useless in the face of this crisis as Sarkozy’s center-right Gaullism. Sarkozy got off easy. Hollande won’t. 3. More globalization. Globalization will not reverse itself out of deference to François Hollande. For now, France is itself a globalizer, not a victim of globalization. But by the time Hollande is done with France, that may well change. The markets do not like Hollande — and why should they? — but, try as Hollande might, France is a market, and a big one. If he impairs the vitality of French business in Europe — and he will — he’ll make firms from around the world an offer they’ll be unlikely to refuse. This time, Germany won’t be first in line, especially if Hollande gets his way. The European left’s resistance to Germany is stronger than its resistance to China. China, meanwhile, is busy developing a new approach to Europe that can capitalize on this attitude. Just as the French left will find itself more nationalist, yet more beholden to foreign powers, it will be more antagonistic to globalization, yet more dependent upon it. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3: take Europe’s economic situation, add French socialism, and stir. 4. Focused opposition. France’s political right may be fraying and fragmenting now, but by the time Hollande is up for re-election, France’s needs — and the right’s — will become clear. Long gone will be the days when only a few isolated American and British commentators advance opinions concerning the necessity of one or another kind of new Napoleon in France. The heavyweight argument on that count involves a recognition that French nationalism and European togetherness can only be reconciled through a kind of French-led continental unity for which Napoleon’s First Empire is the only available inspiration. But a more easily digestible argument, capable of reuniting the right, looks something like this:Given the inevitable collapse of a future Hollande administration – either through economic failure or political ineptitude – what will save France from this poisonous consensus of decline and disorder? To return to the Napoleonic/Gaullist model, it needs a strong man (or woman) to advance bold, wholesale reform. It doesn’t require a dictator: the rule is that every successive great leader adopts and preserves the best of the constitution that came before. But France surely needs a president who will a) reject sectional politics that pits one class or region against another, b) resist pandering to the mob, and c) do what must be done to deregulate the French economy. Once the right accepts these things, an intelligible, coherent answer to Hollande will come into focus. The key piece will involve spanning the nationalist-versus-transnationalist divide. It will come as a matter of logic — before, not after, Hollande is replaced. The big picture for the French right is a realization that France cannot be kept strong and proud unless it asserts its political leadership over the whole of Europe. If it does not, failed states and hostile interests will hem it in on all sides, and unmet longings will bring chaos to its politics and its streets. 5. The force of history. The objection will be raised that the French right will never unite to beat Hollande unless the right individual — a truly remarkable individual — steps forward. Circumstances, however, have a habit of thrusting to the forefront someone who will do. By the time Hollande’s term is up, France will, historically speaking, have tried everything but a far-right government led from Paris. And the far right is too factional to swiftly step into effective command. Europe’s shambles and France’s limbo will form a vacuum reminiscent of the one that Napoleon stepped forward to fill. The people will be ready for it. After Hollande, they will be exhausted by politics and sick of themselves. Socialism will have proven itself completely unable to reconcile nationalism and transnationalism, as we already know it to be. The task will fall to the French right. Today, Hollande’s opponents seem incompetent to fulfill this task. But whatever the institutional preparedness of the French right appears to be, France will face the kind of historic moment that makes great statesmen, not waits on them. France’s savoir won’t be Hollande, thanks to the one-two punch of his orthodoxy and his disposition. His administration will exacerbate the troubles that already dwarf him. Whether he is aware of this or not, the outcome will be the same.

www.forbes.com/sites/jamespoulos/2012/05/06/five-reasons-...

French unemployment rose to near a record high in the third quarter, the latest sign that President Francois Hollande is struggling to meet a pledge to create jobs.Unemployment climbed to 10.6 percent in the three months through September from 10.4 percent the previous quarter, national statistics office Insee said in an e-mailed statement. That’s in contrast to Germany, where the jobless rate fell to a record-low 6.3 percent in November.While jobless claims have been steadily climbing for the past four years to reach a record 3.6 million in October, Hollande has been able to point to France’s growing population as part of the reason. The unemployment rate, by contrast, has stayed below the all-time high reached in 1997.The third-quarter increase now leaves unemployment at its highest in 18 years and just shy of the the 10.7 percent record. While the economy is showing some signs of sustained growth for the first time since Hollande took power in May 2012, the labor-market numbers represent a political defeat for the Socialist president, who has said that job creation is a condition for his own re-election in 2017.Separately on Thursday, Markit Economics said its composite manufacturing and services gauge fell to 51 in November from 52.6 in October. While that’s above the key 50 level indicating expansion, it lower than the initial estimate and signals the slowest growth of private sector output since August.

www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-03/french-unemplo...

These days you could consider the company truck in this photo a step back in time, with the old SITA green colour, body branding and logo on the mudguards and cab door. The truck itself is a bit of an older machine too, definitely can’t see it still operating today just going by the fork cylinder mountings, also no doubt this had a Mitsubishi badge instead of Fuso on the front of the cab. SITA operated quite a few of these combos across Sydney, with only a few of the later models remaining, but I imagine their days are numbered too. For some reason this truck and a number of others were in the car park of the Wetherill Park yard on a Sunday afternoon - happened to be doing my truck driving test in 2012 and noticed as I passed by!

Integratore di Ginkgo Biloba

Il Ginkgo biloba è uno degli alberi più antichi del pianeta. Il Ginkgo è considerato un "fossile vivente", nel senso che ha continuato a sopravvivere anche dopo grandi eventi di estinzione.

 

Gli alberi di Ginkgo hanno proprietà molto particolari: sono in grado di crescere più di 130 piedi e possono vivere per più di mille anni. In realtà, in Cina ci sono alcuni esemplari che hanno più di 2500 anni.

 

Il suo estratto ha molte proprietà terapeutiche e contiene alti livelli di flavonoidi e terpenoidi, antiossidanti che assicurano una protezione contro lo stress ossidativo causato dai radicali liberi.

 

Negli ultimi anni, gli integratori di Ginkgo sono diventati sempre più popolari: attualmente sono tra i fitoterapici più venduti. L'estratto di Ginkgo biloba (GBE) viene raccolto dalle foglie verdi essiccate della pianta ed è disponibile come estratti liquidi, capsule, e compresse.

 

Le foglie secche della pianta possono essere utilizzate anche per fare il tè.

Il Ginkgo è stato utilizzato ed è ancora usato per una grande quantità di problemi di salute e di malattie. Le sue proprietà principali sono il suo utilizzo come antibatterico, antimicotico, antiossidante, antitosse, espettorante, astringente, stimolante circolatorio, ringiovanente e sedativo.

 

L'effetto più apprezzato del Ginkgo è quello sul sistema circolatorio. I flavonoidi del Ginkgo dilatano direttamente il più piccolo segmento del sistema circolatorio, i capillari, che aumentano i livelli di circolazione del sangue e di ossigeno nel corpo. Questo è uno dei motivi principali per cui è così efficace in alcuni disturbi. Il Ginkgo contiene anche componenti che inibiscono attività di fattore piastrinico (PAF), che è un costituente del nostro corpo. Lo stress fisico, e la cattiva alimentazione possono però stimolare maggiormente la produzione di PAF; in altre parole la coagulazione del sangue. Le piastrine diventano eccessivamente adesive causando la loro aggregazione. Il coagulo così formato può rimanere attaccato al vaso sanguigno o staccarsi e rimanere in circolo fintanto che non incontrano un vaso troppo stretto attraverso cui non può passare. La coagulazione del sangue può essere responsabile di una grande varietà di malattie devastanti.

 

Il Ginkgo agisce in modo simile all'aspirina riducendo la viscosità del sangue.

 

Qui di seguito ci sono diversi casi in cui il Ginkgo biloba è stato efficace in alcuni problemi di salute e malattie.

 

Il Ginkgo biloba è molto ricercato per le sue proprietà medicinali e la capacità di migliorare il funzionamento della mente.

 

Per capire il motivo per cui il Ginkgo è efficace nel trattamento di queste malattie, dobbiamo prima capire che cosa provoca la malattia. Pertanto, ogni malattia sarà seguita da una breve descrizione della causa e poi una spiegazione di come e perché il Ginkgo è efficace.

 

Il Ginkgo biloba è molto ricercato per le sue proprietà medicinali e la capacità di migliorare le capacità mentali. Nelle malattie degenerative legate all'età come l'Alzheimer, oltre a migliorare le attività mentali semplici è in grado di supportare la memoria a breve termine.

 

La malattia di Alzheimer

 

La malattia di Alzheimer è una malattia neurodegenerativa che si manifesta con un progressivo deterioramento mentale, perdita di memoria e declino delle funzioni cognitive, e l'incapacità di portare a termine le attività della vita quotidiana. Questi sintomi sono spesso indicati come demenza. Negli Stati Uniti, il 5% della popolazione di età superiore ai sessantacinque anni soffre di demenza grave, mentre un altro 10% della popolazione soffre di demenza da lieve a moderata. Anche se ci sono molti studi sulla causa dellla malattia di Alzheimer, ce ne sono principalmente due che sono trattabili con il Ginkgo: i danni causati dai radicali liberi e il danno ossidativo. Grazie alle sue proprietà antiossidanti il Ginkgo migliora la circolazione sanguigna e aumenta i livelli di ossigeno nei tessuti cerebrali. Questi antiossidanti fungono da scavenger e combattono i radicali liberi (sostanze chimiche altamente reattive che attaccano le molecole cruciali per la funzione delle cellule causando danni nel cervello e in altri tessuti). Questo risulta in una aumentata longevità cellulare e in una migliore stabilità della membrana. Inoltre, aumenta il metabolismo e regola i neurotrasmettitori che sono direttamente correlati alla funzione cerebrale. Altri effetti sono stati dimostrati in uno studio in doppio cieco con EEG (test utilizzato per rilevare e registrare l'attività elettrica generata dal cervello). Questo studio ha dimostrato che il Ginkgo aumenta le onde alfa (associate alla prontezza mentale) e diminuisce le onde theta (correlate alla mancanza di attenzione) negli anziani che mostravano segni di deterioramento mentale. Altri studi hanno dimostrato che l'estratto di Ginkgo non solo è in grado di aumentare la capacità funzionale del cervello, ma normalizza anche i recettori nell'ippocampo (la zona del cervello più colpita dalla malattia di Alzheimer) e aumenta la trasmissione colinergica, deficitaria nell'Alzheimer.

L'efficacia clinica dell'estratto di Ginkgo EGb 761 in caso di demenza come l'Alzheimer è stata confermata in uno studio pubblicato sulla rivista Pharmacopsychiatry (Kanowski S et al., Proof of efficacy of the ginkgo biloba special extract EGb 761 in outpatients suffering from mild to moderate primary degenerative dementia of the Alzheimer type or multi-infarct dementia. Pharmacopsychiatry. 1996 Mar;29(2):47-56.)

-Un altro studio, pubblicato su JAMA, allo stesso modo ha scoperto che EGb 761 "era sicuro e sembra in grado di stabilizzare e, in un numero considerevole di casi, migliorare le prestazioni cognitive e la socializzazione dei pazienti affetti da demenza da 6 mesi a 1 anno.".

 

(Le Bars PL et al. A placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized trial of an extract of Ginkgo biloba for dementia. North American EGb Study Group, JAMA 1997 Oct 22-29;278(16):1327-32.)

 

Miglioramento cognitivo e della memoria

 

Dal momento che il Ginkgo aumenta il flusso di ossigeno al cervello, aumenta l'assorbimento e l'utilizzo di glucosio (stimolando il metabolismo del cervello e l'energia), è anche oggetto di ricerca per il suo ruolo nella senilità, nella perdita di memoria, mal di testa, e nel miglioramento delle prestazioni mentali.

 

Hindmarch (1988) ha riferito sugli effetti della somministrazione orale di un estratto standardizzato di Ginkgo biloba (GBE) sulla memoria a breve termine di giovani volontari sani di età 25-40 anni. In uno studio in doppio cieco cross-over, Hindmarch ha scoperto che, un'ora dopo una singola dose orale di 600 mg di GBE, parametri di memoria a breve-termine sono risultati significativamente migliorati rispetto ai controlli. Secondo Hindmarch, i test indicano una specifica attività sui processi cognitivi centrali e propone l'uso di GBE nei casi di deficit di memoria.

 

Il Ginkgo è spesso aggiunto a frullati di frutta e altri snack sani al fine di raggiungere risultati come migliorare le capacità cognitive e la memoria.

 

Malattia vascolare o claudicatio intermittens

 

Le malattie vascolari si riferiscono alle malattie dei vasi sanguigni al di fuori del cuore e del cervello. Ci si riferisce spesso ad un restringimento dei vasi che portano il sangue alle gambe, allo stomaco, alle braccia o ai reni. A causa del restringimento dei vasi il flusso di sangue alle gambe diminuisce e la malattia altera la capacità di camminare causando un forte dolore alle gambe.

 

La claudicazione intermittente è simile alla malattia vascolare in quanto anche essa è causata da insufficiente flusso di sangue (e quindi di apporto di ossigeno) ai muscoli delle gambe. Essa si verifica comunemente durante l'esercizio fisico o stando in piedi. I sintomi sono dolore alle gambe, crampi muscolari e zoppia. Il semplice compito di camminare diventa insopportabile per alcuni.

 

A causa delle stesse proprietà antiossidanti che aiutano con le funzioni cerebrali, il ginkgo sembra offrire la stessa protezione dai disturbi vascolari. Aumenta il flusso di sangue, aiuta l'ossigeno ad essere distribuito più efficacemente dai vasi sanguigni al tessuto muscolare. Aiuta a mantenere l'integrità e la permeabilità delle pareti cellulari inibendo la perossidazione lipidica (lipidi che si rompono e formano radicali liberi). Migliora anche il tono e il nutrimento dei vasi sanguigni.

 

Anche altri disturbi della circolazione possono essere trattati con Ginkgo quali emorroidi, vene varicose, problemi di circolazione causati da ictus o trauma cranico.

 

Depressione e ansia

 

Una mente efficiente è molto importante nel controllo dell'umore e nei livelli di serotonina. La serotonina è un neurotrasmettitore chimico del cervello che controlla le emozioni, il comportamento e il pensiero.

Il Ginkgo può contribuire ad alleviare i sintomi dell'ansia.

Uno studio, pubblicato sul Journal of Psychiatric Research, ha evidenziato che le persone con disturbo d'ansia generalizzato che hanno assunto l'estratto di Ginkgo hanno sperimentato un maggior sollievo dall'ansia rispetto ai soggetti trattati con placebo.

 

(Woelk H et al., Ginkgo biloba special extract EGb 761 in generalized anxiety disorder and adjustment disorder with anxious mood: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. J Psychiatr Res. 2007 Sep;41(6):472-80. Epub 2006 Jun 30.)

   

Tinnitus

 

Negli Stati Uniti, si stima che 17 milioni di persone hanno o hanno avuto acufeni. L'acufene non è una malattia, si tratta di un sintomo di danni al sistema nervoso e di alcuni disturbi dei vasi sanguigni. Si crea la percezione di un suono, sibilo, o fischio nelle orecchie o nella testa quando nessun suono esterno è presente. Nel 1986, Christopher Hobbs ha dimostrato l'efficacia del Ginkgo come trattamento per gli acufeni. Il fischio è scomparso nel 35% dei pazienti testati, con un netto miglioramento in settanta giorni. Molti pazienti che assumono Ginkgo per l'acufene, sostengono che è poco costoso rispetto ad altri trattamenti disponibili e che ci sono pochi effetti collaterali.

 

Oftalmologia, glaucoma, cataratta e degenerazione maculare

 

L'assunzione regolare di ginkgo aiuta a migliorare la vista ed è in grado di proteggere gli occhi da una grave patologia oculare.

Il glaucoma è un termine usato per descrivere un gruppo di patologie oculari che coinvolgono di solito un aumento della pressione all'interno del bulbo oculare. Può essere correlato al danno del nervo ottico e della retina. Il glaucoma è solitamente una condizione che sopraggiunge con l'avanzare dell'età e può addirittura causare cecità.

Le cataratte sono definite come un appannamento o oscuramento della lente nell'occhio provocando visione sfocata, offuscata o distorta. È una condizione naturale negli anziani, ma può anche essere causato da sovraesposizione ai raggi ultravioletti.

 

La degenerazione maculare è un'anomalia di afflusso di sangue alla macula, cioè la parte dell'occhio sensibile alla luce. Come risultato, il deterioramento della macula avviene causando una perdita della visione centrale.

 

I flavonoidi contenuti nel Ginkgo aiutano a fluidificare il sangue: i globuli rossi possono muoversi con più facilità all'interno del torrente ematico e attraverso i sottili capillari, aumentando così l'apporto di sangue ai capillari retinici. Questo può rallentare il deterioramento della retina, che si traduce in un aumento di acuità visiva. Gli antiossidanti presenti nel ginkgo hanno anche una funzione di protezione per gli occhi.

 

Anti-impotenza

 

Questo è un altro malfunzionamento del corpo causato da insufficiente flusso di ossigeno nel sangue e aterosclerosi (indurimento e ostruzione delle arterie) del pene.

Ci sono stati diversi studi negli ultimi 15 anni per studiare gli effetti del Ginkgo su questo disturbo. Ad esempio, nel 1991, uno studio pubblicato sul Journal of Sex Education and Therapy ha valutato l'effetto dell'estratto di foglie di Ginkgo nel trattamento della disfunzione erettile in cinquanta pazienti. Gli uomini con diagnosi di impotenza erettile arteriosa hanno ricevuto 240 mg di estratto di foglie di ginkgo al giorno per un periodo di nove mesi. I pazienti sono stati divisi in due gruppi in base alla loro risposta alle terapie convenzionali. Nel primo gruppo di 20 pazienti erano state precedentemente sperimentate con successo terapie farmacologiche convenzionali. Il secondo gruppo (30 uomini) non aveva raggiunto l'erezione dopo le terapie convenzionali. In seguito al trattamento con l'estratto di foglie di ginkgo, tutti i pazienti del primo gruppo hanno riguadagnato piena, sufficiente, e spontanea erezione dopo sei mesi di trattamento. Il miglioramento è proseguito durante il periodo di trattamento di nove mesi. Nel secondo gruppo 19 su 30 pazienti hanno risposto positivamente al trattamento, mentre 11 sono rimasti impotenti. Nessun effetto collaterale è stati riportato nello studio. Questo era solo il secondo studio pubblicato sull'uso di estratti di foglie di ginkgo nel trattamento dell'impotenza. (Sohn, M. and Sikora, R. Ginkgo biloba extract in the therapy of erectile dysfunction. J. Se Educ. Ther. 17:53-61, 1991)

 

In un altro studio, esami ecografici di 60 uomini impotenti trattati con Ginkgo biloba hanno mostrato un miglioramento della circolazione sanguigna del pene dopo appena sei settimane. Dopo sei mesi, il 50% dei pazienti aveva riacquistato la potenza sessuale. Gli studiosi continuano a proporre il Ginkgo per il trattamento dell'impotenza con risultati soddisfacenti.

 

Migliora l'asma

 

L'asma è una malattia polmonare, che può provocare affanno e difficoltà di respirazione. Di solito è di origine allergica.

 

Il Ginkgo è stato utilizzato per trattare l'asma in Cina da molto tempo. Il Ginkgo inibisce l'attività degli eosinofili (un tipo di globuli bianchi attivi nella lotta contro i parassiti e le allergie); un'azione attribuita al Ginkgolide B. sembra alleviare gli spasmi delle vie respiratorie e dispnea associati a questa malattia polmonare. In uno studio condotto in Belgio, 6 su 10 bambini con asma severa hanno ottenuto sensibili miglioramenti entro i primi 3 o 4 giorni di assunzione di Ginkgo. Altri 3 in questo stesso gruppo hanno fatto enormi progressi, ma sono ancora necessarie altre terapie.

Il Ginkgo è raccomandato per il trattamento dell'asma, ma non nel caso di un attacco acuto.

 

Riduce il rischio di infarto o ictus

 

Un attacco di cuore è la morte del muscolo cardiaco a causa di mancato afflusso di sangue. Il mancato afflusso di sangue è di solito causato da blocco completo di un'arteria coronaria, che porta il sangue al cuore. Un attacco di cuore è spesso fatale.

 

Inibendo la formazione di coaguli di sangue causati dall'aggregazione dalle piastrine, e aumentando il flusso sanguigno e l'ossigenazione generale, il Ginkgo è una pianta ideale per la prevenzione e il trattamento di un attacco di cuore. Il Ginkgo non è consigliato per fermare un attacco cardiaco acuto, ma come trattamento preventivo.

 

Un ictus si verifica quando un'arteria nel cervello si blocca o quando si rompe vaso sanguigno, interrompendo il flusso di sangue in un'area del cervello. Quando si verifica un ictus, le cellule cerebrali nella zona circostante muoiono per il mancato apporto di ossigeno. Queste cellule cerebrali possono controllare funzioni differenti, come il movimento di un arto o il linguaggio. Quando queste cellule nervose si danneggiano, si perde la funzione che svolgevano.

Inibendo la formazione di coaguli di sangue dovuta all'aggregazione delle piastrine e aumentando il flusso sanguigno e l'ossigenazione generale, il Ginkgo è una pianta ideale per prevenire e curare infarto e ictus. Il Ginkgo non è consigliato per fermare un ictus, ma per prevenirne la comparsa.

 

Altre e nuove scoperte

 

Grazie all'utilizzo di Ginkgo biloba, recentemente sono state scoperte nuove funzioni. Altre malattie sono attualmente oggetto di studio con Ginkgo biloba: ad esempio la Vitilgo, una comune malattia auto-immune della pelle, la protezione dal danno cerebrale indotto dal telefono cellulare, azione anti-age, miglioramento dei comportamenti sociali, e prevenzione del rigetto di organi trapiantati.

Storia del Ginkgo biloba

 

Il Missouri Botanical Garden sostiene che il Ginkgo biloba è "l'unico membro ancora esistente di un gruppo di piante antiche che si ritiene abbiano abitato la terra, da 150 milioni di anni fa."

 

Introdotti molto presto nella storia umana, gli alberi sono stati originariamente coltivati come una medicina tradizionale.

 

Il Ginkgo biloba è stato utilizzato per le sue proprietà medicinali nella Cina antica. I cinesi hanno utilizzato il ginkgo per i suoi benefici effetti cognitivi e per alleviare i sintomi dell'asma.

 

Il Ginkgo biloba in Occidente

 

Engelbert Kaempfer fu il primo europeo a scoprire il Ginkgo, verso la fine del 1600. Nel 1771 Linneo finalmente da il nome all'albero di Ginkgo Biloba che si traduce in "pennacchio d'argento con due lobi."

Nel 1784 il Ginkgo è stato portato in America per il giardino di William Hamilton.

 

Interazioni farmacologiche del Ginkgo biloba

 

I pazienti con disturbi della circolazione sanguigna o individui in trattamento con anticoagulanti, come l'aspirina, sono a rischio di sperimentare effetti indesiderati dopo l'assunzione di ginkgo.

 

Inoltre, se si assumono antidepressivi si consiglia vivamente di non prendere il Ginkgo in quanto inibisce la monoamino ossidasi, riducendo l'efficacia dei farmaci (come gli inibitori della ricaptazione della serotonina e gli inibitori della monoamino ossidasi).

  

Possibili effetti collaterali del ginkgo biloba:

 

Nausea

Diarrea

Vertigini

Mal di testa

Mal di stomaco

Irrequietezza

Vomito.

 

Precauzioni d'uso del Ginkgo biloba

 

Le foglie di ginkgo contengono alchilfenoli a catena lunga, che sono altamente allergenici. Pertanto si consiglia alle persone che sono allergiche agli alchilfenoli e alle piante di edera di evitare completamente di assumere il ginkgo. www.b2s.pm/xih73T

Considerada como una de las ciudades más bellas de Europa, Budapest cuenta con varios sitios que son Patrimonio de la Humanidad, entre los que se incluyen, a orillas del Danubio, el barrio del Castillo de Buda, la avenida Andrássy, la Plaza de los Héroes y el Metropolitano del Milenio, el segundo más antiguo del mundo.

 

CROMEO

Twitter

Facebook

consider a donation for the free photos @ lucid-motion-images.com

Dan Kitchener at work on his wall for Blackpool's Sand Sea & Spray festival

2025-Germany; Project-365-268

Tequisquiapan es un pueblo de México considerado Pueblo Mágico, situada en el Estado de Querétaro y cabecera del municipio homónimo. Ubicada a 20 km al norte de San Juan del Río y a 60 km al oriente de la ciudad de Santiago de Querétaro, capital del Estado. Se encuentra en una zona rica en aguas termales. Destaca por su arquitectura colonial, especialmente el Templo Parroquial.

 

En el año de 1656, a iniciativa de Juan Pérez Salmerón, el poblado tomó el nombre definitivo de Tequixquiapan, palabra náhuatl compuesta por las raíces Tequexquitl (Tequesquite), Atl (agua) Apan (lugar), es decir, lugar de agua y tequesquite. El nombre fue asentado en Cédula Real ante Don Francisco Gutiérrez, alcalde mayor y Lorenzo Vidal escribano de su Majestad, como lo afirma Pedro Martínez de Salazar y Pacheco.

Esta población fue fundada el año 1551, por cédulas Reales de Carlos V y firmadas por el Virrey de la Nueva España D. Luis de Velasco y dadas a conocer por el conquistador indígena Don Nicolás de San Luis Montañez, el veinticuatro de julio del mismo año. Acompañado de sus caudillos y capitanes D. Alonso de Guzmán, D. Alonso de Granados, D. Ángel de Villafaña y el padre D. Juan Bautista. Se congregaron al despuntar el alba los indios Chichimecas y Otomíes en el lugar señalado para la fundación; se plantó una cruz y se formó con un montón de piedras y cubierto con yerbas y flores, un altar, donde el Padre Juan Bautista celebró el santo sacrificio de la misa.

 

La parroquia de Santa María de la Asunción data del siglo XVII en la primera etapa, la segunda etapa se terminó en 1874, en la tercera etapa se construyó la meda naranja, que fue dirigida por el Arq. Antonio Olguín, y se terminó en 1921; dicha obra se realizó gracias a las faenas gratuitas de los hombres de Tequisquiapan.

 

El 17 de octubre de 2012, fue declarado por la Secretaría de Turismo Federal como el 4º pueblo mágico del Estado de Querétaro y el número 61 del país.

Photographer: Justin Bonaparte

Model: Heather Harris

Please consider leaving a comment if you fave, it is lovely to hear from you! xx

 

Here I'm trying out my new LED light strips in my living room. I'm really impressed with them.

 

Considerado de temperamento meigo e dócil, é um pouco sensível, resignado, cuidadoso com crianças e tem seu adestramento classificado como fácil. Fisicamente pode atingir os 30 kg e tem a pelagem dura, curta e brilhosa, que pode atingir quatro diferentes colocarações.

 

Fonte: pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointer_ingl%C3%AAs

Leica MP

Leica Elmarit 28mm f/2.8 III

Kodak Gold 200

Bellini Foto C-41

Scan from negative film

Capture from SW Sixth Avenue in the Pioneer District of downtown Portland, Oregon.

"Consider the meeting of the Son and the Mother, which took place on this journey. Jesus and Mary looked at each other, and their looks became as so many arrows to wound those hearts which loved each other so tenderly.

 

My most loving Jesus, by the sorrow Thou didst experience in this meeting, grant me the grace of a truly devoted love for Thy most holy Mother. And thou, my Queen, who wast overwhelmed with sorrow, obtain for me by thy intercession a continual and tender remembrance of the Passion of thy Son. I love Thee, Jesus my love; I repent of ever having offended Thee. Never permit me to offend Thee again. Grant that I may love Thee always; and then do with me what Thou wilt."

– Reflection by St Alphonsus Liguori.

 

This station, recently restored, is in St Dominic's Priory Church, the Rosary Shrine in London where I serve as parish priest.

 

During Passiontide, I am posting one Station of the Cross a day, each taken from a different location in the world.

Basílica da Sagrada Família

 

Texto, em português, da Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre:

Templo Expiatório da Sagrada Família

Templo Expiatório da Sagrada Família, e também conhecido simplesmente como Sagrada Família, é um grande templo católico da cidade catalã de Barcelona (Espanha), desenhado pelo arquiteto catalão Antoni Gaudí, e considerado por muitos críticos como a sua obra-prima e expoente da arquitetura modernista catalã. Financiado unicamente por contribuições privadas , o projeto foi iniciado em 1882 e assumido por Gaudí em 1883, quando tinha 31 anos de idade, dedicando-lhe os seus últimos 40 anos de vida, os últimos quinze de forma exclusiva. A construção foi suspensa em 1936 devido à Guerra Civil Espanhola e não se estima a conclusão para antes de 2026, centenário da morte de Gaudí.

 

A construção começou em estilo neogótico, mas o projeto foi reformulado completamente por Gaudí ao assumi-lo. O templo foi projetado para ter três grandes fachadas: a Fachada da Natividade, quase terminada com Gaudí ainda em vida, a Fachada da Paixão, iniciada em 1952, e a Fachada da Glória, ainda por completar. Segundo o seu proceder habitual, a partir de esboços gerais do edifício Gaudí improvisou a construção à medida que esta avançava. O templo, quando estiver terminado, disporá de 18 torres : quatro em cada uma das três entradas-portais, a jeito de cúpulas; irá ter um sistema de seis torres, com a torre do zimbório central dedicada a Jesus Cristo, de 170 metros de altura, outras quatro ao redor desta, dedicadas aos evangelistas, e um segundo zimbório dedicado à Virgem. O interior estará formado por inovadoras colunas arborescentes inclinadas e abóbadas baseadas em hiperboloides e paraboloides buscando a forma ótima da catenária. Estima-se que poderá levar no seu coro 1500 cantores, 700 crianças e cinco órgãos. Em 1926, ano em que faleceu Gaudí, apenas estava construída uma torre. Do projeto do edifício só ficaram planos e um modelo em gesso que resultou muito danificado durante a Guerra Civil Espanhola. Desde então prosseguiram as obras: atualmente (2015) estão terminados os portais da Natividade e da Paixão, e foi iniciado o da Glória, estando em construção as abóbadas interiores.

 

A obra que realizou Gaudí - a fachada da Natividade e a cripta - foi incluída pela UNESCO em 2005 no Sítio do Patrimônio Mundial com o título «Obras de Antoni Gaudí».

 

História

O propósito de construir um templo expiatório dedicado à Sagrada Família em uns novos terrenos do Eixample barcelonês foi do livreiro Josep Maria Bocabella, para o que fundou a Associação de Devotos de São José. Para isso foi adquirido um quarteirão inteiro do Eixample num lugar conhecido como El Poblet, perto do Camp de l'Arpa, em Sant Martí de Provençals, entre as ruas Provença, Maiorca, Marina e Sardenya.

O projeto foi entregue em primeiro lugar a Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano, que propôs um conjunto neogótico, recusando a sugestão de Bocabella de fazer uma réplica do Santuário da Santa Casa de Loreto . O projeto de Villar consistia numa igreja de três naves, com os elementos típicos do gótico, como os vitrais alveolados, os contrafortes exteriores e um alto campanário em forma de agulha. A primeira pedra foi colocada a 19 de Março de 1882, dia de São José, com a presença do então bispo de Barcelona José María Urquinaona. Gaudí assistiu à cerimônia, já que tinha trabalhado como ajudante de Villar em vários projetos. As obras não se iniciaram até 25 de Agosto de 1883, sendo adjudicadas ao empreiteiro Macari Planella i Roura.

Em 1883, Villar renunciou por desavenças com Joan Martorell, arquiteto assessor de Bocabella. O projeto foi oferecido ao próprio Martorell, mas, ao recusar, este foi oferecido a um jovem Gaudí de 31 anos; Gaudí fora ajudante de Martorell em várias construções, fato que motivara a recomendação de Gaudí, que ainda não executara grandes obras. Ao encarregar-se Gaudí do projeto, modificou-o por inteiro - salvo a parte já construída da cripta -, imprimindo-lhe o seu estilo peculiar. Durante os remanescentes 43 anos da sua vida trabalhou intensamente na obra, os últimos 15 anos de forma exclusiva. Esta dedicação tão intensa tem a sua explicação, para além da magnitude da obra, pela circunstância de Gaudí definir muitos aspetos à medida que a construção avançava, em lugar de os ter concretizado previamente nos seus planos e instruções. Por isso a sua presença pessoal na obra era de grande importância.

Durante a vida de Gaudí somente foi feita a fachada da Natividade , com escultura de Carles Mani, Llorenç Matamala e Joan Matamala, contando com os desenhos de Ricard Opisso; Gaudí apenas chegou a ver coroada a torre de São Barnabé antes do seu falecimento. À morte de Gaudí encarregou-se das obras o seu ajudante Domènec Sugrañes, durante os anos 1926-1936, acabando as três torres que ficavam na fachada da Natividade.

Durante a Guerra Civil Espanhola ficou destruída na sua maior parte a oficina na qual Gaudí trabalhara, e onde se encontravam os seus croquis, maquetes e modelos . Por esta causa e pela particular maneira de trabalhar Gaudí, não ficaram planos nem diretrizes a respeito de como devia terminar-se o templo. Portanto, quando em 1944 prosseguiu a construção da Sagrada Família, teve de definir-se em primeiro lugar como devia proceder-se, para edificar o templo da forma mais fiel aos princípios de Gaudí.

À frente desta gigantesca tarefa estiveram os arquitetos Francesc Quintana, Isidre Puig i Boada e Lluís Bonet i Garí, enquanto da obra escultórica se encarregou Jaume Busquets. Posteriormente, quando se construiu a fachada da Paixão, o conjunto principal das figuras escultóricas foi encarregado a Josep Maria Subirachs . As obras deste último originaram certa polêmica, devido a ter criado esculturas totalmente contemporâneas afastadas do estilo realista que Gaudí incluiu na fachada da Natividade. O escultor japonês Etsuro Sotoo colaborou em algumas esculturas da fachada da Natividade . Desde 1987 que as obras estão sob a direção do arquiteto Jordi Bonet i Armengol.

Projeto de praça estrelada para a Sagrada Família (1916).

Um dos pontos que suscitou maior controvérsia em relação ao templo é a sua situação no tecido urbanístico de Barcelona: quando começaram as obras encontrava-se num descampado, mas rapidamente ficou integrado no rápido desenvolvimento da cidade em princípios do século XX. Em 1905 Gaudí realizou um projeto para englobar a Sagrada Família dentro do Plano Jaussely, o novo projeto de alargamento barcelonês: concebeu situar o templo dentro de uma zona ajardinada em forma de estrela octogonal, que teria proporcionado uma excelente visão do templo a partir de todas as zonas circundantes. Finalmente, devido ao custo dos terrenos, reduziu o projeto a uma estrela de quatro pontas, que permitia uma ampla visão de todos os vértices. Contudo, o plano de Gaudí não se levou a cabo: em 1975 o Município de Barcelona realizou um estudo urbanístico que previa reabilitar uma zona em forma de cruz em torno da Sagrada Família, com quatro praças ajardinadas em cada extremo do templo ; mesmo assim, atualmente existem apenas duas destas praças, e a criação das novos espaços implicaria demolir vários edifícios, pelo qual ainda se estuda a solução ideal para enquadrar a Sagrada Família numa envolvente apropriada.

O Templo da Sagrada Família teve vários eventos destacados: em 1920 celebrou-se o Ano Jubilar de São José com procissões, peregrinações e missas, e cantou-se o Aleluia de O Messias de Händel por mil cantores de orfeões vindos de toda a Catalunha, dirigidos por Lluís Millet. Em 1953, por ocasião do 35º Congresso Eucarístico Internacional celebrado em Barcelona, foi inaugurada a iluminação artística da fachada da Natividade. Em 1981 abriu-se a praça Gaudí frente à Sagrada Família, com um projeto de jardins de Nicolau Maria Rubió i Tudurí, onde se destaca o tanque, em cujas águas fica refletido o templo. Ao ano seguinte, por ocasião do centenário da colocação da primeira pedra, o templo recebeu a visita do Papa João Paulo II. Igualmente, a 18 de Março de 2007 foi comemorado o 125.º aniversário da colocação da primeira pedra do templo com uma festa, concertos e bailando uma sardana em redor de todo o templo. O templo é palco habitual de numerosos atos culturais e encontros religiosos.

Veja o texto completo no site pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Templo_Expiat%C3%B3rio_da_Sagrada_F...

 

A text, in english, from barcelona.de/en/barcelona-sagrada-familia.html

 

The basilica Sagrada Familia

Antoni Gaudí's life work is an UNESCO world heritage

 

The Sagrada Familia is one of the most famous landmarks in Barcelona. Since 1882 it was built at the church in the district Eixample built. From 1883 the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí took over the leadership of the works until his death in 1926. The building is significantly influenced by him. The church is such a huge size, so they often referred it as "cathedral", but without having a bishop's seat. Pope Benedict XVI. inaugurates the Sagrada Familia on November 7, 2010. The church building is raised to a basilica.

Much time should allow for the visit of the details of the facades, where many embassies and biblical stories are hidden.

With the completion in 2026 expected, the construction is financed solely from donations and ticket money. Currently, 8 out of 12 about 100 meters tall bell towers are completed. The higher towers of the facade of the glory will be built and the central dome with a height of over 170 meters. Currently, part of the cloister is the building of the apse dome.

 

The start of construction of the Sagrada Familia.

Mid-19th Century the booksellers José María Boca Bella , Chairman of the Holy Brotherhood, planned a church in Barcelona to build and to devote the Holy Family ( "Sagrada Familia"). The land he choose was a parcel within the "Poblet (village). He preferred a fundamental step closer to the city centre out. Because of the already high land prices this was not possible.

The planning of the church began with the architect of the Diocese Francisco del Villar. He designed a church in Gothic style and began in 1882 with the construction of the crypt. Because of fundamental disagreements with Boca Bella he had to resign from his job. A few months later in 1883, the young architect Antoni Gaudí took over his work.

Gaudí took place in the Sagrada Familia his life's work. He worked until his death on 10th June 1926.

Under Gaudí the church won because of their extensive dimension and its lush design with such importance that they soon called it "the Cathedral". Also Gaudí even called it, although they do not house a bishop. He was convinced that one day the city would be known as "his" church.

 

Gaudí shaped espacially the Sagrada Familia . Many new parts are built according to plans, which are hardly ever received and often depend on assumptions as the great architect had originally planned. Of course everyone is sure of one thing: the Church Sagrada family in case of completion in respect to all previously built churches of Christendom will surpass all in greatness.

As a church, the Sagrada Familia should not only be seen in the artistic point of view. It must be the consideration of building facades with its towers and even religion.

 

Tips for visiting the Sagrada Familia.

The Sagrada Familia is the most visited monument in Spain. At peak times therefore sometimes one can queue in front of the house and cash in on the elevators of the towers which go up, on the other. The largest are the queues in the late morning. So if you dont want to stay in the queue, use the time to the cathedral from a distance, the two places right and left of the Sagrada Familia from them.

On the rear lifts, in the towers of the facade of the birth of Christ which goes up, the queue is much shorter. Do not return to down the lifts, use the stairs. Only then do you see the absolutely stunning spiral staircase.

Commentary.

 

When we consider U.K. places in outstanding locations we might include St. Ives in Cornwall, Clovelly in Devon, Rye in East Sussex, Tenby in Pembrokeshire, Portmeirion on the Llyn Peninsula and Lyme Regis in Dorset.

Without doubt, Plockton, must be added to the list.

Situated as it is on an enclosing and protective headland,

at the mouth of Loch Carron, unusually for West Coast settlements, it faces east.

The hills above it to the south exceed 340 metres and the Applecross Hills, to the north, and in shot, range from 700-900 metres.

The bay is something of a yacht-mooring mecca.

In summer there are sometimes over 200 leisure craft anchored.

The western bays of the Am Ploc Peninsula are white shell-sand and coral.

The main street is festooned with Pampas Grass and Cabbage Palms.

These features are testament to the incoming Gulf Stream that creates a mild micro-climate.

With access by road, rail, private plane, boat and footpath

it has become a popular tourist node between April and October.

It still has a very active fishing industry, particularly for shell-fish, Lobster and Langoustine.

The fresh produce has less than 100 metres to travel to hotels

near the shore, and the quality is exceptional.

The scenery is superb.

At dawn sunrises are simply glorious.

At dusk, from the hills around, or the western side of Am Ploc,

the sunsets over the Cuillins of Skye are quite sensational,

some of the best I have ever seen!

 

Consider this little figure I threw together a teaser for my new MoC. Yes it is Silk Road.

 

Love these combos as well! :D

 

Happy holidays!

Está considerado como uno de los cementerios más hermosos de España tanto por su ubicación privilegiada en el promontorio de La Atalaya -lugar desde el que se obtienen unas magníficas vistas del mar y los acantilados-, como por los panteones modernistas y capillas funerarias que alberga. En este camposanto descansan los restos del ilustre luarqués D. Severo Ochoa, galardonado con el Premio Nobel de Medicina en 1959.

Le mamiya C330 est une belle machine très bon marché ... et innovante pour son époque MAIS celui qui considère que c'est 1,7kg de perfection ???? alors je peux dire que celui là n'a jamais rien vu ou bien n'a pas d'yeux .... MDR !!! :o)))

 

Comparer une optique japonaise avec une optique allemande revient à comparer une voiture française avec une voiture allemande .... -( juste que ça ne se compare pas MDR !!)

 

Bon plans sur paris :

 

www.photostock.fr/index.cfm

 

negatifplus.com/

  

Juste pour le plaisir du partage:

 

Au centre, Mamiya C330 pro F + bloc optique 180 mm F4,5.

 

* A gauche, le bloc optique "standart 80mm F2,8.

Puis un des meilleurs de la gamme mamiya C, le 105DS, c'est une optique macro excellente de 105mm F3,5, il est pourvu d'un diaphragme sur l'objectif de visée pour le contrôle précis de la PDC.

*A droite, le 55mm F4,5.

  

Globalement ce système se défend car mis à part le poids et l'encombrement, et l'optique assez moyenne, ce sont des machines très sympas ... certes, ce n'est pas du zeiss ... c'en est même très loin .... mais le 80mm est assez convainquant , le 105 aussi, le 55 enfin, mon exemplaire n'est pas bouleversant, on est très très loin d'un "distagon" haha !! Pour comparer il faut avoir des points de comparaison, moi, j'en ai LOL :o))

  

Les blocs optiques sont montés sur un obturateur central de marque seiko, très supérieur aux "copal" et autres "prontor", le boitier est muni de nombreuses sécurités, l'armement et couplé à l'avance du film ... la visée est lumineuse et confortable ... de nombreux dépolis sont disponibles et divers systèmes de visée dont des prismes avec et sans cellule CDS. Le soufflet permet une MAP assez proche ... les blocs optiques sont interchangeables .... Pour l'époque c'était très bien !! LOL ;o))

 

Pour ne pas parler de ce qu'on ne connait pas !!

 

Je n'utilise pratiquement plus ce système mais vu le prix de la revente éventuelle, ça ne donne pas envie de vendre, tout simplement ... si chacun appliquait ce principe que je crois sage, probablement que les cours ne seraient pas aussi bas !!

il y a sur cette galerie quelques exemples du rendu plutôt correct, de ce système C, en image ... parce que l'essentiel est d'en faire ... certains ne font qu'en parler ...on a les noms LOL ;o)

 

A bientôt sur flickr pour : partager, apprendre, transmettre :o))

On the Patch - These are stunning birds in autumn . I always look forward to seeing the Greenland Race .They are big , upright colourful birds that make our UK birds look rather drab, They have really long thick legs and almost orange underparts. These have the longest migration of any small migratory bird 30,000 km (18,640 miles), from sub-Saharan Africa to their Arctic breeding grounds. I am not sure why these are not classed as a separate species rather than a race of the normal Wheatear .When you consider some of the species of Wheatear, it can only be told apart by DNA, when these are so obviously different to our normal Wheatear. It's probably my favourite spring and autumn migrant.

Viena es una ciudad austriaca en Europa Central situada a orillas del Danubio, en el valle de los Bosques de Viena, al pie de las primeras estribaciones de los Alpes. Es la capital de Austria y uno de sus nueve estados federados (Bundesland Wien). Así como la mayor ciudad y el centro cultural de Austria

Además es la segunda ciudad más poblada de Europa Central (tras Berlín) y la décima ciudad en población de la Unión Europea. Su población supera el 1 800 000 de habitantes (2017) y su área metropolitana cuenta con 2,4 millones, población similar a la que tenía la ciudad en 1914. El idioma oficial es el alemán austríaco estándar; se habla también el alemán vienés, un dialecto bávaro.

La ciudad tiene una larga historia, ya que es una de las más antiguas capitales de Europa, por lo que cuenta con un importante patrimonio artístico. Durante el siglo XIX fue una de las grandes capitales musicales del mundo y a principios del siglo XX meca de la filosofía y el debate político de Occidente, así como uno de los principales centros culturales mundiales.

Los romanos la llamaron Vindobona, nombre de origen celta que significa ciudad blanca.

Los primeros asentamientos humanos en la actual Viena son de origen celta (500 a. C.), posteriormente germánicos, y con la expansión del Imperio romano hacia el norte en el siglo I a. C., se adhiere a este en el año 13 a. C. El río Danubio, al igual que los Alpes, sirve entonces de límite natural entre bárbaros y romanos, y Vindobona sirve desde entonces y hasta la caída de Roma (año 476 d. C.) como punto de defensa del imperio. La ciudad nace como campamento del ejército romano, para controlar la Provincia de Panonia, en el que se asientan diferentes unidades, de entre las cuales destaca la Legio X Gemina, que permaneció en ella desde el que la zona fue ocupada por pueblos germanos en época de Graciano y de Teodosio I

Con las invasiones bárbaras es ocupada por ávaros y magiares. Carlomagno conquista la ciudad en el siglo IX y la bautiza con el nombre de Ostmark (la marca del este). Durante el alto medievo Viena es un importante aliado del papado y punto de abastecimiento de armas y víveres para la empresa de las Cruzadas. Fue capital de Hungría con Matías Corvino, y desde el siglo XV hasta las guerras napoleónicas capital del Sacro Imperio Romano Germánico, al ser la residencia habitual de los Habsburgo.

En 1237 las murallas de Viena alcanzaron la extensión que conservarían hasta su desaparición en 1857.

Desde la caída de Constantinopla en 1453, hubo un interés creciente del Imperio otomano por Viena, dado que era la clave para conquistar los demás países de Europa; interés que se hace más notable durante el período del sultán Solimán el Magnífico. Pero sus esfuerzos fracasaron y los austríacos salieron victoriosos de los distintos sitios a los que sometieron a la ciudad, el primero en 1529, a pesar de que inicialmente los defensores de la ciudad solo recibieron el apoyo poco entusiasta de sus vecinos alemanes. El ejército turco estaba mal equipado para un asedio y su tarea fue obstaculizada por la nieve y las inundaciones. Solimán se retiró a finales de octubre y no pudo reanudar el asedio a su regreso en 1532, cuando encontró a los defensores apoyados por un gran ejército bajo el mando del hermano del emperador Carlos V, Fernando.

Entre el primero y el segundo sitio turco, las instalaciones defensivas fueron reforzadas y modernizadas constantemente. Esto trajo como consecuencia que se tuvieran que ampliar una y otra vez los espacios libres frente a los bastiones para utilizarlos como campo de tiro. En 1529 estos espacios abarcaban 90 m que, a partir de 1683, fueron ensanchados a 450 m. Hasta 1858 no se construyó ningún edificio en esta explanada.

El segundo sitio se produjo en 1683, en la llamada batalla de Viena, y marcó el comienzo del declive del Imperio otomano en Europa. Fue iniciado por el gran visir Kara Mustafá, que necesitaba desesperadamente un éxito militar para reforzar su posición inestable y trató de lograrlo en una campaña contra el emperador Leopoldo I. Los turcos avanzaron con fuerza abrumadora, sitiaron la ciudad el 16 de julio, pero su falta de artillería de asedio permitió a Leopoldo reunir un ejército adicional formado por tropas austriacas, alemanas y polacas, que derrotó al ejército turco en una batalla librada delante de los muros de la ciudad el 12 de septiembre, que también se conoce como Batalla de Kahlenberg.

Durante el siglo XVIII, los Habsburgo habían convertido a la ciudad en su capital desde 1556 y su importancia se vio acrecentada con la expansión por el valle del Danubio. Se convirtió en un núcleo principal del Barroco europeo gracias a la construcción de importantes obras arquitectónicas y creaciones musicales. En 1800, antes de las guerras napoleónicas, la ciudad contaba con 231 900 habitantes.

Desde el asedio de 1683, en que fueron destruidas numerosas ciudades pequeñas que existían en el exterior de la muralla, en el terreno ondulado situado frente a la ciudad se alzaron numerosos palacios con jardines. El punto de partida fueron los planos del palacio real de Schönbrunn, elaborados por Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach. Hacia 1720 se contaban 200 residencias rurales. El príncipe Eugenio de Saboya había adquirido en 1693 la más bella parcela y una de las más grandes con los primeros ingresos que le habían llegado. Allí, tras cuarenta años de trabajo, levantó el Belvedere con sus espaciosos jardines.

Tras la derrota austriaca a manos de Napoleón Bonaparte en 1809 (batalla de Wagram), este último se hospeda en el palacio de Schönbrunn, en Viena. Durante esta estancia, Francia y Austria se alían, y Napoleón desposa a María Luisa, hija de los emperadores de Austria.

Metternich, canciller austriaco en esta época, cambia a Austria al bando anti-napoleónico tras la derrota francesa en Rusia. Después de la derrota definitiva de Napoleón, se celebra el Congreso de Viena, una conferencia internacional convocada con el objeto de restablecer las fronteras de Europa. La reunión se llevó a cabo del 1 de octubre de 1814 al 9 de junio de 1815, lo que le permite a Austria conservar gran parte de sus territorios a pesar de haber estado aliada con Napoleón, y a partir de entonces, Viena, por medio del canciller Metternich, se convertiría en el eje de la política de la Europa continental durante los siguientes treinta años.

Durante el siglo XIX, sobre todo en la segunda mitad, Viena inició un despegue demográfico, acompañado de reformas urbanísticas, que la convirtieron en una gran ciudad, multiplicando en un siglo su población por diez. En 1857, se derribaron las murallas por decreto de Francisco José I de Austria, abriéndose una nueva avenida, la Ringstraße, donde se construyeron importantes edificios, como la Ópera, la Universidad, el Ayuntamiento, el Parlamento, la Bolsa y los museos de historia del arte e historia natural. La derrota de Austria en la guerra austro-prusiana en 1866 y la posterior anexión de los Estados alemanes a Prusia convirtieron a la unificada Alemania en un peligro para Austria, por lo que esta última se tuvo que aliar con Hungría en lo que se conoce como la "política de compensación" o Ausgleichpolitik. Así pues, en 1867, tras el Compromiso con Hungría, Viena se convirtió en la capital del Imperio austrohúngaro y en un centro cultural, artístico, político, industrial y financiero de primer orden mundial. Con esta alianza, Austria prosigue sumando otras más, con lo que para fines del siglo XIX el imperio abarcaba los actuales países de Austria, Hungría, Eslovaquia, República Checa, la Galicia polaca, la Transilvania rumana, la Bucovina y la Rutenia ucranianas, Croacia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Eslovenia y el Trentino-Alto Adigio italiano.

Viena alcanza su máximo demográfico en 1916 con 2 239 000 habitantes, siendo la tercera ciudad más grande de Europa. Este es el período cultural más glorioso de la monarquía de los Habsburgo, con Francisco José I rigiendo el Imperio (período 1848-1916). También es la época de los suntuosos valses vieneses en la Opera Nacional de Viena, grandes carruajes paseando por la Ringstraße y la Kärntner Straße, así como de los típicos cafés vieneses.

De la época destacan intelectuales, como Sigmund Freud en el psicoanálisis y Otto Bauer en el campo del pensamiento político, principal exponente del austromarxismo, ideas que calarían fuerte en la sociedad vienesa, pues ya en 1895 el gobierno municipal estaría en manos del partido socialcristiano, precursor del actual partido ÖVP (democristiano) . Tampoco hay que olvidar en el plano artístico el movimiento modernista, la Secesión de Viena (Secession), con Gustav Klimt como principal exponente en la pintura, Coloman Moser en el grafismo y Joseph Maria Olbrich y Josef Hoffman en la arquitectura. Contrario a estos destacaría asimismo Adolf Loos con su racionalismo arquitectónico. Sin embargo, la Primera Guerra Mundial y la posterior derrota austrohúngara truncarían gran parte de ese esplendor.

Tras el asesinato del archiduque heredero Francisco Fernando y su esposa, Sofía Chotek, en Sarajevo, a manos del terrorista serbo-bosnio Gavrilo Princip, y ante la abrumadora evidencia de la participación de los servicios de inteligencia serbios en el complot, la monarquía dual declara la guerra a Serbia, a la que se le alían Alemania y Turquía y que, ante la oposición de Francia, Inglaterra y Rusia, deviene en la Primera Guerra Mundial. En octubre de 1918, derrotada Austria-Hungría y sus aliados, estalla la revolución en Viena que pide la disolución de la monarquía y la independencia austríaca; sería el fin de la monarquía de los Habsburgo que gobernaba el país desde 1278.

Viena se convirtió, tras el tratado de Saint-Germain, en la capital de la pequeña República de Austria, reducida a su tamaño actual, sufriendo un importante revés demográfico, económico y político. Pese a todo, en esta época continuó la actividad intelectual con el Círculo de Viena (der Wiener Kreis), considerado por muchos el grupo de intelectuales más influyentes del siglo XX en Europa, entre los que destacan Moritz Schlick y Ludwig Wittgenstein en la filosofía positivista lógica (Logischer Empirismus).

Durante el periodo democrático republicano, es decir, desde 1918 hasta la dictadura de Engelbert Dollfuss en 1934, el Partido Obrero Socialdemócrata (Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei en alemán) obtuvo la mayoría absoluta en todas las elecciones celebradas para el gobierno local, por lo que la ciudad pasó a ser conocida como Viena roja. La política socialdemócrata de esos años se caracterizó por un extenso programa de viviendas sociales y por un marcado apoyo a la educación y la sanidad públicas, tal y como preconizaba la corriente austromarxista. La Viena roja finalizó en 1934 a consecuencia de la guerra civil austríaca y la victoria del Frente Patriótico. Su último alcalde fue Karl Seitz.

La importancia cultural vienesa se mantendría hasta 1938, año en el que el país fue invadido y, posteriormente, anexionado por la Alemania nazi. Dicha anexión, conocida como el Anschluss, estaba prohibida en los tratados de paz y fue la primera de las expansiones tendentes a unificar en un solo Estado a todos los germanohablantes, bajo un solo liderazgo ("ein Reich, ein Volk, ein Führer"). En la ciudad, que pasó a ser capital de la provincia de Ostmark, pronunció Hitler, el 14 de marzo de 1938, su primer gran discurso a los vieneses desde el balcón central del Palacio de Hofburg, discurso que es considerado uno de los más emotivos del dictador y de mayor aclamo por su masiva audiencia debido a la euforia que la anexión de Austria al Tercer Imperio Germano (Dritte Reich) causó en parte de la población. Para legitimar la invasión se celebró un referéndum el 10 de abril que resultó favorable al Anschluss con un 99,73 %, si bien carecía de las garantías democráticas.

Durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, Viena sufrió los indiscriminados bombardeos aéreos estadounidenses que destruyeron buena parte del patrimonio histórico (la catedral gótica de San Esteban, el Palacio de Hofburg, la ópera de Viena, los puentes del Danubio, entre otros), el cual fue reconstruido tras la contienda. En mayo de 1945 Viena fue tomada por el ejército soviético, quienes, junto con franceses, estadounidenses e ingleses, la ocuparían durante los diez años posteriores bajo un sistema de ocupación cuatripartita en la ciudad, similar al de Berlín.

Tras las gestiones de Leopold Figl y Julius Raab y la posterior firma del Acuerdo de Moscú, Austria recobra su independencia el 15 de mayo de 1955, y Viena vuelve a ser capital de la República de Austria. A partir de entonces y gracias a su compromiso de neutralidad, Austria se convirtió en sede de organismos internacionales como la OPEP, la ONUDI, IAEA, IIASA, entre otros, lo cual convierte a Viena en la tercera capital de la ONU, después de Nueva York y Ginebra, por lo que se puede ver hoy en día una gran comunidad internacional, en particular en el distrito 4 de Viena (Wieden) derivada de sus cuerpos diplomáticos. Desde 1995 es parte de la Unión Europea y de los países de Schengen. A partir de 2002 sacó de circulación el chelín austriaco y entró en vigor el euro como la moneda de curso legal en toda Austria.

La población de Viena, en el primer trimestre de 2015, era de 1 797 337 personas, de las que, aproximadamente, el 80 % son austríacos y el 20 % restante de otros países. La población vienesa ha aumentado desde 1988, sobre todo en los últimos años, como consecuencia de la inmigración. El área metropolitana, que se extiende por tierras de la Baja Austria, cuenta con una población de cerca de 2 500 000 habitantes.

En 2001, la Unesco declaró el «Centro histórico de Viena» como un lugar Patrimonio de la Humanidad, destacando en primer lugar que sus cualidades arquitectónicas y urbanas representan un testimonio sobresaliente de un continuo intercambio de valores a lo largo del II milenio. Además, su herencia arquitectónica y urbana ilustra muy bien tres períodos claves del desarrollo político y cultural de Europa: la Edad Media, el período barroco y el Gründerzeit. Finalmente, desde el siglo XVI Viena ha sido universalmente reconocida como la «capital musical de Europa». Gran parte de este legado se transmite en los monumentos de esta ciudad, que se encuentran a continuación ordenados alfabéticamente por sus denominaciones alemanas, ya que en Viena no son conocidos bajo sus nombres traducidos. La traducción al español está entre paréntesis.

Akademie der bildenden Künste (Academia de Bellas Artes)

Albertina, una de las más extensas colecciones de impresiones y dibujos

Burgtheater (teatro imperial de la corte)

Heuriger, tabernas típicas vienesas para degustar buenos vinos, carnes frías o embutidos de la región que se encuentran en los distritos vieneses de Döbling, Favoriten o Floridsdorf, en el estado de Burgenland o en el Weinviertel (parte de Baja Austria),

Hundertwasserhaus, que muestra la arquitectura vanguardista del arquitecto austriaco Friedensreich Hundertwasser

Kaffeehäuser, los cafés vieneses

Kahlenberg, un monte en el Wienerwald (Bosque de Viena), con el mirador más espectacular del río Danubio a su paso por Viena

Karlskirche (Iglesia de San Carlos Borromeo), obra maestra de la arquitectura barroca

Augustinerkirche (Iglesia de los Agustinos), iglesia gótica cuya cripta (Herzgruft) conserva los corazones de los Habsburgo

Kaisergruft (Cripta imperial), mausoleo de la familia Habsburgo

Kärntner Straße y Graben, las calles con las tiendas de moda de las marcas más prestigiadas y caras; también se encuentran agradables cafés, como el café del Hotel Sacher, origen de la Sachertorte

Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museo de Historia del Arte), uno de los más ricos del mundo

Museum Liechtenstein (Museo Liechtenstein), abierto por la familia gobernante de dicho principado. Alberga importantes obras de Rembrandt, Rubens y Van Dyck

Museum für angewandte Kunst (Museo de Artes Aplicadas), es un instituto museo histórico y prestigioso situado en la famosa Ringstrasse

Museum für Völkerkunde (Museo de Etnología), que alberga el controvertido Penacho de Moctezuma, reclamado por el gobierno de México

Museumsquartier (Barrio museístico) con tres museos de arte moderno con lo mejor de la pintura de Gustav Klimt y Oskar Kokoschka

Naturhistorisches Museum (Museo de Historia Natural)

Palacio Belvedere, un palacio de estilo barroco

Palacio de Schönbrunn (literalmente, "Schönbrunn" en alemán significa "Bella fuente")

Palacio Imperial de Hofburg ("Hofburg" = "Palacio de la Corte")

Palacio Schwarzenberg, un palacio barroco, sede de la Casa de Schwarzenberg

Parlamento

Wurstelprater, un parque de atracciones con el "Riesenrad" (noria gigante)

Rathaus (Ayuntamiento)

Sezession (Secesión)

Spanische Hofreitschule (Escuela española de equitación)

Staatsoper (Ópera Estatal)

Stephanskirche (o Stephansdom) (Catedral de San Esteban de Viena) en el Stephansplatz (Plaza de San Esteban)

Votivkirche (Iglesia Votiva), que alberga el altar de la Virgen de Guadalupe más grande fuera de México.

 

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viena

  

Vienna (German: Wien) is the capital city of Austria.

It is in the east of the country on the river Danube. More than 1,800,000 people live there (2016). It is the largest city in Austria. It is also an administrative district (Bundesland) of its own.

Before World War I, it was the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Its centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The history of the city goes back to the Roman Empire. The Romans started a military camp called Vindobona.[9] The camp was in today's first district on the Danube river. The name came from the Celts, so there was probably a Celtic settlement before the Roman invasion. The Romans stayed until the 5th century. In medieval times, the settlement was still in use. The present name was mentioned in 881 in the Salzburger Annalen, where a battle ad weniam is mentioned.

In 976 the House of Babenberg became rulers of the area. They made Vienna their capital in 1155. Vienna was already an important city. In 1156, Austria became a Duchy, and Vienna was where the Duke who ruled the Duchy lived. In 1221, Vienna got municipal rights. It Is the second oldest city in Austria (Enns, in Upper Austria, is the oldest).

In 1278, the Duchy came to the Habsburg family. Rudolf IV started the university in 1365 and while he was duke the nave of the Gothic St. Stephan's Cathedral was built. Quarrels within the Hapsburg family caused an economic decline in Vienna. In 1438, Vienna became the residence of the Holy Roman Emperor.

During the time of the reformation Vienna was a Protestant city, but in the times of the Counter Reformation, Austria and Vienna were mostly Roman Catholic.

In 1529, Vienna was first besieged by the army of the Ottoman Empire, which had a border only 150 km east of Vienna. This hurt Vienna economically, but led to people fortifying the city (making it stronger). After a second siege, the Ottoman Empire could not take Vienna, and the city started getting larger.

During the baroque era, Vienna was rebuilt. Many residences for the nobility were built. Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach was an important architect in Vienna.

At the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century Vienna was the home of important composers like Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert.

After the revolution in 1848 Franz Joseph I. became emperor of the Austrian Empire, which was founded in 1806 after the liquidation of the Holy Roman Empire. He ruled till 1916. Vienna became a center of arts, culture and architecture. The city grew because the suburbs became part of the city. After 1858 the walls of the city were destroyed and the Ringstraße replaced them. Along that street houses of the rich citizens were built, as were public buildings like the city hall and the Burg theatre. The industrialisation started at the beginning of the century and made more people live there. In 1870, Vienna had one million people, and in 1910, two million people. With the creation of a large working class and poverty in Vienna the Labour Party (Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei) became stronger.

Karl Lueger was the most important mayor in the time of Emperor Franz Josef. During his time important community plans were realized that made Vienna a modern city. However, Lueger was a radical anti-Semite. He was admired by the young Adolf Hitler, who spent some years before the First World War in Vienna. At this time, Vienna was an important place for the arts. Composers like Arnold Schönberg, Anton Webern, Alban Berg and Ernst Krenek were important for the development of modern music. Also the psychoanalysis was founded in Vienna by Sigmund Freud. Also the so-called Jugendstil in arts was part of Vienna's modern arts scene. Founding fathers of modern architecture lived and worked also in Vienna at this time (Otto Wagner, Adolf Loos)

After the end of the First World War the Austrian-Hungary Empire was dissolved and Vienna became capital of the Republic of Austria. In 1938, Austria was occupied by Germany. In Vienna the suffering of the Jewish inhabitants began. A lot of their properties was given to Austrians (Arisierung).

After the Second World War, which destroyed 20% of Vienna's buildings, Vienna was divided into four parts. The city was controlled by the allies like the other parts of Austria. In 1955 the state treaty between the allies and Austria was signed in Vienna's Belvedere. After that Vienna became an important city for international organisations. The first was 1957 the International Atomic Energy Organisation (IAEO) and 1965 the OPEC followed. 1980 the Vienna International Center was opened and Vienna is now the third UN-city together with New York and Geneva.

Vienna has many things worth seeing. Here are a few of them.

St. Stephen's cathedral and St. Stephen's Square:

Today St. Stephen's square with the cathedral is the very center of Vienna.The Graben and the Kärntner Straße which lead away from the square are shopping streets with a lot of different shops. Opposite the cathedral you can find the Haas-House, a very modern building by architect Hans Hollein.

Ringstraße:

The Ringstraße runs around the first district and was built in the second half of the 19th century. The street follows the old city walls which were destroyed to create it Along the street you can find different important buildings like the Staatsoper (opera house), the parliament, the Burgtheater, the two museums of natural history and arts. Also the Wiener Postsparkasse which is an important building by the architect Otto Wagner is along the street.

Hofburg:

From the 13th century to 1918 this was the residence of the Habsburg rulers. Today it is the residence of the President of the Republic of Austria and you can also visit different museums like the Schatzkammer where you can see the different crowns of the Habsburg family and the crown of the Holy Roman Empire. The National Library is also the Hofburg.

Schloss Schönbrunn:

Today's buildings were built by the architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach an important architect in the baroque era in Austria. Another building of Fischer is the Karlskirche.

Schloss Belvedere:

Schloss Belvedere was built by Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt another important Austrian baroque architect. It was built for Prinz Eugen of Savoy who fouyght successfully against the Ottoman Empire. Today the castle is used as museum (Austrian Gallery Belvedere).

 

simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Districts_of_Vienna

  

Please consider leaving a comment if you fave, it is lovely to hear from you! xx

 

A final bit of girly time to see out another fantastic weekend with Gemma. Sunday night in on my own, trying on another new (to me) dress.

Consideraba yo a mi amiga Morella con un sentimiento de profundo, aunque muy singular afecto. Habiéndola conocido casualmente hace muchos años, mi alma, desde nuestro primer encuentro, ardió con un fuego que no había conocido antes jamás; pero no era ese fuego el de Eros, y representó para mi espíritu un amargo tormento la convicción gradual de que no podría definir su insólito carácter ni regular su vaga intensidad. Sin embargo, nos tratamos, y el destino nos unió ante el altar; jamás hablé de pasión, ni pensé en el amor. Ella, aun así, huía de la sociedad, y dedicándose a mí, me hizo feliz. Asombrarse es una felicidad, y una felicidad es soñar.

 

Edgar Allan Poe

Morella

 

¿La Quieres Ver Más Grande?

 

En Fondo Negro

 

En Fondo Blanco

   

The Birmingham Main Line Canal in Wolverhampton, West Midlands.

 

On 24 January 1767 a number of prominent Birmingham businessmen, including Matthew Boulton and others from the Lunar Society, held a public meeting in the White Swan, High Street, Birmingham to consider the possibility of building a canal from Birmingham to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal near Wolverhampton, taking in the coalfields of the Black Country. They commissioned the canal engineer James Brindley to propose a route. Brindley came back with a largely level route via Smethwick, Oldbury, Tipton, Bilston and Wolverhampton to Aldersley.

 

On 24 February 1768 an Act of Parliament was passed to allow the building of the canal, with branches at Ocker Hill and Wednesbury where there were coal mines. The first phase of building was to Wednesbury whereupon the price of coal sold to domestic households in Birmingham halved overnight. Vested interests of the sponsors caused the creation of two terminal wharves in Birmingham. The 1772 Newhall Branch and wharf (now built upon) originally extended north of, and paral-lel to Great Charles Street. The 1773 Paradise Street Branch split off at Old Turn Junction and headed through Broad Street Tunnel, turned left at what is now Gas Street Basin and under Bridge Street to wharves on a tuning fork-shaped pair of long basins: Paradise Wharf, also called Old Wharf. The Birmingham Canal Company head office was finally built there, opposite the western end of Paradise Street.

 

By 6 November 1769, 10 miles (16 km) had been completed to Hill Top collieries in West Bromwich, with a one mile summit pound at Smethwick. Brindley had tried to dig a cutting through the hill at Smethwick but had encountered ground too soft to cope with. The canal rose through six narrow (7 ft) locks to the summit level and descended through another six at Spon Lane.

 

In 1770 work started towards Wolverhampton. On 21 September 1772 the canal was joined with the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal at Aldersley Junction via another 20 locks (increased to 21 in 1784 to save water). Brindley died a few days later. The canal measured 22 miles and 5 fur-longs (22⅝ miles), mostly following the contour of the land but with deviations to factories and mines in the Black Country and Birmingham.

 

Over the next thirty years, as more canals and branches were built or connected it became necessary to review the long, winding, narrow Old Main Line. With a single towpath boats passing in opposite directions had to negotiate their horses and ropes. In 1824 Thomas Telford was commissioned to examine alternatives.

 

Telford proposed major changes to the section between Birmingham and Smethwick, widening and straightening the canal, providing towpaths on each side, and cutting through Smethwick Summit to bypass the locks, allowing lock-free passage from Birmingham to Tipton.

 

By 1827 the New Main Line passed straight through, and linked to, the loops of the Old Main Line, creating Oozells Loop, Icknield Port Loop, Soho Loop, Cape Loop and Soho Foundry Loop, allowing continued access to the existing factories and wharves.

 

A year earlier he had built an improved Rotton Park Reservoir (Edgbaston Reservoir) on the site of an existing fish pool, bringing its capacity to 300 million imperial gallons (1,400,000 m3). A canal feeder took water to, and along, a raised embankment on the south side of the New Main Line to his new Engine Arm branch canal and across an elegant cast iron aqueduct to top up the higher Wolverhampton Level at Smethwick Summit. The reservoir also fed water to the Birmingham Level at the adjacent Icknield Port Loop.

 

The Smethwick Summit was bypassed by 71 ft cutting through Lunar Society member, Samuel Galton's land, creating the Galton Valley, 70 feet deep and 150 feet wide, running parallel to the Old Main Line. Telford's changes here were completed in 1829.

 

By 1838 the New Main Line was complete: 22⅝ miles of slow canal reduced to 15⅝; between Birmingham and Tipton, a lock-free dual carriageway. It was also called the Island Line as it was cut straight through the hill at Smethwick known as the Island.