Locuri de vazut in Anglia

Anglia poate fi descrisa in doar cateva cuvinte: autobuze cu doua nivele, case taranesti cu acoperisuri de paie, pub-uri, ceaiuri, aristocrati excentrici sau vreme racoroasa. Insa turistii vor observa ca nu ploua atat de mult pe cat se aude, ca exista mai multe restaurante indiene decat se asteapta sau ca exista o multime de atractii in aceasta tara, toate adunate intr-o arie relativ mica.

Pentru a cumpara bilete de avion catre Anglia, mai exact Londra, Manchester sau catre alte localitati mari va recomandam serviciile unei companii ce se ocupa cu vanzarea online a biletelor de avion.

Stonehenge

Una dintre atractiile turistice de top din Anglia, Stonehenge se numara printre cele mai importante situri preistorice din intreaga lume. A fost produs de o cultura care nu a lasat niciun indiciu scris despre Stonehenge, astfel ca sunt multe intrebari fara raspuns. Semnele indica faptul ca aceste pietre uriase au fost ridicate in jurul anului 2.500 i. H. insa nu este cunoscut motivul aranjarii lor in acest mod. Multi cercetatori sunt de parere ca monumentul era folosit drept un centru religios.

Big Ben

Turnul vechi de 150 de ani reprezinta una dintre cele mai importante atractii turistice ale Londrei. Numele de Big Ben nu se refera la ceas, ci la clopotul de 13 tone dinauntru si a luat numele omului care a ordonat clopotul, Sir Benjamin Hall. Acesta este al treilea ceas-turn din lume si reprezinta un simbol al Angliei, aparand si in numeroase filme.

Castelul Windsor

Castelul Windsor este adesea numit cel mai mare si cel mai vechi castel locuit din lume. Acesta reprezinta una dintre resedintele oficiale ale reginei Elizabeta a II-a, care isi petrece numeroase weekend-uri ale anului aici. Acest loc este mentionat pentru prima data odata cu regele Henry al II-lea care a venit la putere in 1154. O mare parte a castelului poate fi vizitata de turisti, printre care si apartamentele State sau Capela Sfantului George.

Manastirea York

Una dintre cele mai mari catedrale gotice din nordul Europei, aceasta domina cerul orasului antic York. Manastirea York incorporeaza toate stagiile importante ale arhitecturii gotice in Anglia. Constructia cladirii a inceput in jurul anului 1230 si a fost completata in 1472 respectand in mare parte planul initial.

Zidul lui Hadrian

Acest zid a fost construit de romani pentru a proteja colonia britanica impotriva triburilor din Scotia. Zidul se intinde pe 117 km in nordul tarii, de la marea Irlandeza pana la marea Nordului. Constructia a inceput in anul 122 si a fost finalizata in sase ani. Din nefericire datorita conditiilor climatice in ziua de azi se pot observa doar urme ale acestui zid.

Acte traduse in limba engleza si legalizate

M-am saturat de minunata noastra tara si sunt hotarat sa imi iau jucariile si sa plec pe alte taramuri. Ca sa fiu sigur ca nu voi fi tentat sa ma intorc prea curand m-am hotarat sa plec cat mai departe. prima mea obtiune a fost Canada, insa in ultimul an s-au inasprit conditiile de emigrare si cred ca am sanse destul de mici sa ajung in tara frunzei de artar. Limba franceza nu prea e punctul meu forte iar pe partea federala unde se vorbeste limba engleza nu am nici o sansa. Asa ca m-am reorientat spre Australia, tara cangurilor, crocodililor si ursilor Koala. Am citit toate site-urile, blogurile si forumurile posibile despre emigrarea in Australia. Se pare ca acolo oamenii stau cu capul in jos, cred ca va fi destul de greu sa ma adaptez. Primul pas e sa imi adun hartiile: diplome si alte acte de genul asta. Nu a fost prea greu pentru ca nu am prea multe. Pasul doi e sa caut un birou de traduceri legalizate cu niste preturi decente. Traducerile actelor trebuie realizate de catre un traducator autorizat si apoi legalizate la notar. Evident e nevoie de traduceri legalizate in limba engleza. Momentan m-am oprit aici. trebuie sa mai strang niste bani pentru taxele de inscriere a dosarului. Vreau sa zic ca m-am oprit aici cu dosarul dar intre timp m-am apucat sa invat fotbal australian. Rugby stiam, am mai vazut la televizor, sunt oamenii aia care se imping cu capu in fundul celui din fata. E un sport ciudat in care trag doar peste poarta si se bucura cand sar in aut de porta cu mingea in brate. Va salut si va tin la curent cu aventura mea australiana.

At the Bar

So we're vacationing in Bangalore, and we're in the bar, and sitting at another table is Feroze Khan, who was a filmstar once, and who is a producer, and whose son is acting in films. He was drinking with someone who seemed to be a pal of his. A little blonde girl, the child of one of the foreigners who are staying at the hotel, and who looked to me to be about nine years old, all dressed up in churidar-kameez, with a dupatta and everything, and probably feeling very grown up, went over to his table. My first thought was, Where are her parents? Then I looked again, nosy/curious, and saw that she had draped a loop of string around the pal’s hands, and was showing him how to play cat's cradle. She was very intent on the loops and twists, and when she was done both men applauded. I looked again a few minutes later, and she was sitting in the chair next to FK's, and he was showing her what looked like sleight of hand, a magic trick. He looks dramatic, a shaved head covered with a long scarf. He was doing magician-like hand movements with flourishes, and she was trying to copy him, and the light was shining down on both of them, and it looked charming. Then it was over, and she ran back to a stool at the bar, where her father or someone was waiting for her.

Good News and Bad News

Regarding my recent disappearance from the airwaves, Blogger has sent me this note:

I have some good news and bad news for you. The good news is that your blog is now back online and publishing correctly with all your posts and archives intact. The bad news is that everything you have uploaded to your page such as pictures and images have been lost. We deeply and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.


Once I get over being stunned, I will begin to try to replace those images. Anyway, here I am. Blogger has pulled me out of the hat. Tada.

For Once, Then, Something

I suddenly wanted to read poems by Robert Frost. I had read him in high school, then did not for many years. I found this poem, which I had not known before, but which I found beautiful:

For Once, Then Something

Others taunt me with having knelt at well-curbs
Always wrong to the light, so never seeing
Deeper down in the well than where the water
Gives me back in a shining surface picture
Me myself in the summer heaven, godlike
Looking out of a wreath of fern and cloud puffs.
Once, when trying with chin against a well-curb,
I discerned, as I thought, beyond the picture,
Through the picture, a something white, uncertain,
Something more of the depths-and then I lost it.
Water came to rebuke the too clear water.
One drop fell from a fern, and lo, a ripple
Shook whatever it was lay there at bottom,
Blurred it, blotted it out. What was that whiteness?
Truth? A pebble of quartz? For once, then, something.

Several Things

It's fever season. We always have malaria and typhoid, to greater or lesser degrees; this year we have chikungunya. I'd never heard of it; it has emerged after 37 years. And more recently, there's dengue. Dengue is usually more prevalent in the north, but I heard from someone here a couple of days ago that he had been diagnosed with it. Both are carried by a day-biting mosquito.

When we sit out on the lawn at night and I get bitten, I think, "Never mind, it's a night-biter," and if I get bitten during the day I think, "Never mind, this one isn't likely to be carrying anything." So far, this primitive magic has worked.

One night, very late, there was such a thunderstorm that it was like a very austere musical composition: concerto for thunder, with the soloist right overhead, and supporting thunder all around. It was so beautifully spare a piece that the only frill was the percussion of rattling windows. By the time the rain started, I had already gone back to sleep.

An Elephant Crackup

There's a fascinating / scary / terribly sad article in today's New York Times magazine: An Elephant Crackup? It is primarily about African elephants, but it mentions Indian elephants as well; and the problems are apparently evident among all elephant populations:

... today’s elephant populations are suffering from a form of chronic stress, a kind of species-wide trauma. Decades of poaching and culling and habitat loss, they claim, have so disrupted the intricate web of familial and societal relations by which young elephants have traditionally been raised in the wild, and by which established elephant herds are governed, that what we are now witnessing is nothing less than a precipitous collapse of elephant culture.

It has long been apparent that every large, land-based animal on this planet is ultimately fighting a losing battle with humankind. And yet entirely befitting of an animal with such a highly developed sensibility, a deep-rooted sense of family and, yes, such a good long-term memory, the elephant is not going out quietly. It is not leaving without making some kind of statement, one to which scientists from a variety of disciplines, including human psychology, are now beginning to pay close attention. ...