Hurricon

Alfama, las arrugas de Lisboa

hurricon — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 02:02:04 +0000

hurricon — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 02:02:24 +0000

Johannesburg Civic Theatre Tour

hurricon — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 02:02:37 +0000

If your kids all motivated to become great stage actors following their end-of-year school concerts, this magical holiday tour of Johannesburg’s Civic Theatre for the aspiring little thespians may be an ideal choice. They’ll get to go backstage and see how the pantomime magic really happens during a fascinating hour-long tour. Bookings are for a minimum of four people and must be made a week in advance. Price is R10 per person.

Brompton Oratory

hurricon — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 02:01:35 +0000

Thurloe Place, Brompton Road, SW7 (020 7808 0900)

South Kensington tube. Open 6.30am-8pm daily. Admission
free; donations appreciated. Easily overlooked but worth stepping
inside if only to escape the roaring traffic outside, Brompton Oratory
is a monument to the late nineteenth- century English Catholic revival.
Built in 1880-4 to the designs of little-known (and unfortunately
named) architect Herbert Gribble, after an open competition, it is a
shameless attempt to imitate a florid Italian baroque church. Many of
the ornate internal decorations predate the building, including
Mazzuoli’s late seventeenth-century statues of the apostles, which
previously stood in Siena Cathedral.

Lilette

hurricon — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 02:00:56 +0000

In the age of neo-this and fusion-that cuisine, it’s refreshing to find a new restaurant that boldly embraces tradition. Chef John Harris has firmly positioned his Lilette as a French restaurant. Food is prepared in classic haute cuisine style while using as many fresh, regional ingredients as possible. The menu is small but carefully thought-out with a mixture of the familiar (potato gnocchi, oyster soup) and the more complicated (potato-crusted black drum, roasted muscovy duck). The wine list is quite large and deserts are rich.

The University & around

hurricon — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 02:00:45 +0000

On the corner of Calle L, three blocks south of La Rampa is the impressive 88-step escalinata (staircase) leading up to the Universidad de La Habana. The welcoming Alma Mater sculpture halfway up the stairs was made in 1919 by Czech artist Mario Korbel. Facing the base of the escalinata , is the small Memorial a Julio Antonio Mella , honouring the young student leader and founder of the University Student Federation (1923) and the Communist Party of Cuba (1925). In 1929, Mella was assassinated while in exile in Mexico.
Founded in 1728 in a Dominican convent in La Habana Vieja, the Universidad de La Habana was transferred to its present site on Aróstegui hill in 1902. The majestic and magnificent neo-classical campus was built between 1906 and 1940 around a central quadrant. The tranquillity of the shady campus today provides a haven of peace from the bustle of the city. Note, however, that the campus is closed at weekends and throughout August.
The Escuela de Ciencias (Science Department) has a magnificent inner leafy courtyard and inside, two unusual museums. Downstairs is the Museo de Ciencias Naturales Felipe Poey ( listings p89 ), named after an eminent 19th-century naturalist. It is the oldest museum in the country (dating from 1874) and displays Cuban flora and fauna and a fine collection of endemic multicoloured Polymita snail shells. Upstairs, the Museo Antropológico Montane (1903) has a rich collection of pre-Columbian pottery and idols, including a tenth-century Ta’no êdolo del Tabaco, used in religious ceremonies in Guantánamo Province. The Aula Magna (Main Hall) – open mainly during important events – has exquisite murals painted in 1910 by Armando Menocal. Note that you can’t get into the museum by the front stairs; go around the northern side to the car entrance.
Two blocks south of the university steps is the former Casa de Orestes Ferrara (1928). Since 1961 this buildings has housed the Museo Napoleónico , considered the finest collection of Napoleonic and French Revolutionary memorabilia outside France ( listings p89 ). The collection was assembled by Orestes Ferrara, adviser to President Gerardo Machado and ambassador to Washington, DC, and Rome, and includes the emperor’s death mask, his gold-handled toothbrush, a lock of hair and a farewell note written by Marie Antoinette to her children on the day of her execution.
Continuing south of here past the large Estadio Universitario Juan Abrahantes and on to Calle Zapata, you are rewarded with a splendid view to the west of the white chalk sides and shady old jagüeye trees of Aróstegui hill. On the far side of the hill is the small 18th-century Castillo del Pr’ncipe , built after the British invasion of 1762. This fort is unique in Cuba for its partially vaulted tunnel, which allowed the inmates of the castle to move around in safety. The fortress is off-limits to the public. Next to the castle on Avenida de los Presidentes (formerly Calle G) is the semicircular Italian marble Monumento a José Miguel Gómez (1936). The monument was designed by Italian artist Giovanni Nicolini, and its bas-reliefs show important moments in the life of Gómez, who was Republican president from 1909 to 1913.
Further south in a little park at the intersection of Avenida de los Presidentes and Calle Zapata is the often-missed Memorial a Ethel y Julius Rosenberg , sculpted by Cuban artist José Delarra. It commemorates the American couple who died in the electric chair in Sing Sing prison, New York in 1953, after being falsely accused of giving the Russians the secret of the atom bomb. Every year, on 19 June, the day of their execution, Cubans gather here for a modest remembrance ceremony.
East of the castle along Avenida Salvador Allende (formerly Avenida Carlos III) is Quinta de los Molinos, the summer residence of the Captains General of Cuba from 1837. Máximo Gómez, General-in-Chief of the Liberation Army, also stayed here in 1895. The house is named after the two tobacco mills ( molinos ) that used to occupy the site and today houses the Casa-Museo Máximo Gómez ( listings below ) and the Instituto Superior de Ciencias y Tecnolog’a Nucleares. The museum is closed for restoration (due to be completed at the end of 2001), but in the meantime visitors can enter the grounds to look around. The ornamental tropical gardens that surround the house were transplanted from an earlier site on El Prado and contain fountains, artificial hillocks, small waterfalls, pergolas, grottos and summer houses. One of Havana’s main music venues, La Madriguera , is also to be found here. It is home to the Asociación Hermanos Sa’z, which represents young musicians, writers, artists and poets. Musicians often can be heard practising in the gardens.

Puccelini

hurricon — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 02:00:26 +0000

A major Italian bistro contender has popped up in the otherwise bleak semi-industrial Prague district of Holesovice. Puccelini, adorned throughout with music scores and lamps hidden inside trumpets, serves up fine pizzas from a traditional wood-fired brick oven. But its starters, such as baked, stuffed aborigines and mozzarella potato thyme soup are just as impressive. Linguine with calamari is a typical entrée, a thoughtful wine list includes a delectable Barolo and the tiramisu is a generous handmade wonder.

The Producers

hurricon — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 02:00:20 +0000

It’s ‘Springtime for Hitler’ all over again. Mel Brooks brings his riotously funny 1968 movie about Broadway musicals to the Great White Way, with a brand of humour that might be considered rather risque in today’s politically correct times. Few today would dare include a musical about Nazism as a comedic device, but ‘Springtime for Hitler’ is the centrepiece of this story of a Broadway producer who seeks to produce a flop and abscond with his investors’ money, only to have the worst script he could imagine turn into a monster hit.

Royal Ascot

hurricon — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 01:59:53 +0000

(20-23 June) – Ascot Racecourse, Ascot, Berkshire (01344 622211)

Ascot rail.

Ascot is the top toffs’
horse-racing meeting of the year. On Ladies’ Day (22 June), when the
Queen attends, the outrageous hats worn by many of the women are as
much the focus of attention as the racing results.

Vies de Chien

hurricon — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 02:00:23 +0000

A dog’s life is a happy one after all, if this exhibition is to be believed. The works on display come from several major museums and include Rubens’ and Velvet Breughel’s paintings of Diana the Huntress depicting the 34 dogs of Dutch regent Isabella, paintings by Oudry, Boucher and Descamps, and Bachelier’s beribboned poodle. The dozens of collars go from heavy iron to the silver version of the dog-loving Nabab of Junagadh, plus fancy modern creations by Hermès. There are Meissen porcelain spaniels on velvet cushions and even a room of kennels and stools.