martes, 19 de agosto de 2008

Lifting the lid on Roman secrets


ARCHAEOLOGISTS have lifted the lid on a second coffin discovered at a dig site in Newcastle.
Two Roman stone sarcophagi were uncovered on land earmarked for development.The 1,800-year-old sandstone coffins are the first such find – and arguably the most impressive – in the area for more than 100 years.They are thought to have been used to bury members of a rich and powerful family from the nearby fort of Pons Aelius.One tomb contained the poorly-preserved skeleton of a child and the second sarcophagus held the remains of a female.They have been removed from the site by experts from Durham University.Other discoveries in Forth Street include cremation urns, a cobbled Roman road and a medieval well, the remains of the foundations of Roman shops and workers' homes, and the remains of flint tools from Stone Age hunter-gatherers.All the finds from the site will eventually go to the new Great North Museum in Newcastle, where the sarcophagi will be preserved for the public to see.
The full article contains 179 words and appears in n/a newspaper.

martes, 12 de agosto de 2008

The Osirion at Abydos (Abtu)


by Sir William Flinders Petrieand Margaret Alice Murray1904



The discovery of the Osirion (Osireion or Osiron)In the winter of 1901-2 Mr. St. G. Caulfeild undertook the further examination of the temple of Sety (Seti I) at Abydos (Abtu or Abdju). Our work there resulted in finding the temenos (enclosure) wall, and showing the connection between the planning of that temple and the Royal Tombs of the early kings on the desert behind it. These results, and his careful study of the plan of the temple appeared in the last volume of the research account. But he also made other discoveries which have been followed up during the next winter by Miss Murray with the results here issued in this volume.When Mr. Caulfeild began to excavate, I noticed some thick masses of crude brick, and suggested that they might be mastabas. He cleared along them and found that they formed a continuous wall, which we then identified as the temenos wall of the temple. I observed that parallel with this there was a slight long hollow on the surface, and proposed that he should clear it out. Some time after, on looking at the site I was told the men had found desert a few feet down. This seemed strange, and on looking at it I saw there was only blown sand. So they were told to go deeper. Again, after some time, on going there again, the same story of desert at the bottom was repeated; only this time about fifteen feet down. On examining it I found blown sand. So a third time they were told to go down, and soon after they struck some great blocks of limestone. The final result was that we found the pavement of the hall was forty-one feet under the surface; a depth filled with some Roman rubbish and much blown sand over it.After the excavations by Miss Murray and my wife, we realized that these great stones which we first found were the remains of the doorway to a limestone chamber near the north-west corner of the temenos, which had been entirely carried away for lime burning in Roman times. From the place of this doorway Mr. Caulfeild carried on excavations, continually expecting to come to an end of the entrance passage to the south, and find a door of approach to the subterranean constructions; but after continuing for a couple hundred feet this seemed as far off as ever; and the season being at an end nothing more was done.Miss Murray, then, entered on the work, with the certainty of a long inscribed passage to be cleared and copied, and its terminations to be found. Various attempts were made to settle the beginning of it by surface workings, tracing the filling of made earth which lay over it. And these resulted in showing that it turned at right angles, and led up towards the back doorway of the temple. But it could not be found at it's beginning owing to the immense rubbish heaps thrown out in Mariette's clearing of the temple halls. The work was therefore concentrated on a point where the filling seemed to be undisturbed over the construction, hoping to find there the roof intact, and so enter an unbroken part of the passages.But on descending we found that the filling in had only been left because there was no roof under it there; and the whole of the ancient roofing had been removed, so far as we were able to ascertain, excepting one cracked lintel. Thus nothing short of removing the whole forty feet of stuff over the whole construction can ever clear it. This season only sufficed for the trial working, and clearing the great hall, one chamber, and part of a passage. To do the whole clearance is beyond the slight resources of the Egyptian Research Account; and it is much to be hoped that the Department of Antiquities will undertake to open and maintain this unique hypogeum of Osiris as a part of the great temple which is one of the main attractions of Egypt.It was most fortunate that we had the knowledge of Miss Murray and the artistic copying of Miss Hansard available for such a work, which required long and tedious facsimiles to be prepared, with due attention to the inscriptions. The elaborate study of Osiris which Miss Murray has issued will, it is hoped, serve to clear up and emphasize the various aspects and connections of one of the fundamental deities of the Egyptian worship and beliefs.W. M. F. P. (Sir William Flinders Petrie)


Uncovering the OsirionSection 1. The excavations this year were carried on by Mrs. Petrie and myself (Miss Murray). Mrs Petrie managed the actual excavations, overseeing the men, paying the wages, in short, all the dull and uninteresting, though very necessary, part of the work, whereas I had the more congenial and amusing employment of copying the sculptures. Till the sculptures were sufficiently cleared for me to draw them, I spent my time in the Sety temple, making fac-simile copies of the Coptic graffiti on its walls. Then, when it was possible to draw in the hypogeum, I set to work there, but it was entirely owing to Miss Hansard's kind help that I was able to secure drawings of all the sculpture that we uncovered (with one exception, the sloping passage), before they were silted up. ....... In the previous season Mr. Caulfeild had partially cleared the long passage within the temenos wall; the passage itself had not been laid bare, but the great mass of sand had been removed, leaving a gigantic furrow like a natural ravine. The method of constructing this great hypogeum rendered it comparatively easy to discover that there was building below, though the depth at which it lay made it impossible to clear more than a small portion. The nature of the desert is that after removing from two to four feet of loose wind blown sand, the hard marl, called gebel by the workmen, comes into view. This is so firmly compacted together that it can be cut like rock. The ancient builders took advantage of this fact, and excavated passages and halls with steeply sloping, almost perpendicular, sides. These were lined and roofed with great blocks of stone, and the hollow at the top filled up with sand; the building was then completely hidden from the outside. In our clearance it was only necessary to descend a few feet till the rock-like gebel was exposed, and then to follow down the excavation; and the trial pits that we sunk within the temenos invariably showed that the gebel had been cut perpendicularly to admit of building below.We spent three weeks in hunting for a place where the roof still appeared to remain, and we were puzzled all the time at the number of right-angled turns which this extraordinary passage, as we thought it, appeared to make. These turns, as we now know, must be rock cuttings to hold chambers and halls. Finally we decided on a likely place, where the Roman rubbish, which had filled the part already cleared by Mr. Caulfeild, touched the clean marl filling of the desert. Here it was that we hoped to find the place where the roof was still intact. For days I carried candles and matches in my pocket ready to enter the passage as soon as there was a hole big enough to squeeze through; but they were never required. Throughout this excavation it was always the unexpected that happened; we expected to find a passage, we found chambers and halls; we expected to find it roofed in, the roof had been completely quarried away; we expected to find a tomb, we found a place of worship.Our first deep pit brought us into the South Chamber, which gave us the cartouche of Merenptah, and made us realize that we had found a building which has no known counterpart in Egypt. Then came the discovery of the Great Hall and then of the sloping passage. Here our hopes rose high, for the entrance of the passage had an enormous roofing stone still in position; but we soon found that was the only one that remained, the rest of the roof having suffered the same fate as the other parts of the building. I was able to copy only a very small portion of the inscriptions; for though we cleared the passage to the floor, two days of high winds silted it up to the level of the roof. The whole of the excavation was greatly retarded by heavy falls of sand, the Roman filling being so loose that there were continual rivulets of sand running down the sides; and high wind would bring down half a ton of sand and stones in one fall. To sit in a deep pit under an irregular but continuous fire of small stones, with the chance of a big stone coming down too, is an experience more amusing to look back upon than to endure.At the north end of the north passage we started another excavation, for it was there, beyond the temenos wall, that the big marl heaps stood. It was partly by these heaps that Professor Petrie had deduced the fact that a large building lay below the surface of the desert. They were not natural heaps, yet they were clean marl unmixed with any remains left by man. They were too far from the temples of Sety and Rameses to have been the rubbish removed from their foundations; they were too large to be from the excavations of an ordinary tomb; and as the ancient Egyptian never took unnecessary trouble, it follows that the tip-heap would be as near to the excavation as was allowable. Just inside the temenos wall, at a depth of about thirty feet, we came upon a vaulted passage of mud bricks which extended thirty-five feet northward, and was then apparently broken, for it was filled with sand. The thirty-five feet brought us to the north face outside the temenos wall, where we sank a large pit with this curious result:-The rock-like gebel at a distance of about sixty feet from the wall, was cut in a slope like a staircase from the surface of the desert, sloping down towards the wall. Two mud brick retaining walls had been built across it to retain the sand.At a distance of fifteen feet from the temenos wall we found a square shaft (of which the wall formed one side), lined with mud bricks, some of which bore the cartouche of Sety I. The vaulted passage, which we had entered from the other side, ended in a small arch in the temenos wall, and its floor was paved with blocks of stone. We reached a depth of over thirty feet, and came to undisturbed basal sand on which the walls rested. In the vaulted passage the pavement was lifted but with the same result -- undisturbed basal sand. This was during the last days of the excavations, and there was no time to make further research. As to the meaning of this extraordinary shaft I can offer no explanation, nor can I even hazard a guess. The great marl heaps lead to the belief that there is still a large underground building at that end, though our efforts failed to find it.

Section 2. This hypogeum appears to Professor Petrie to be the place Strabo mentions, usually called Strabo's Well. He describes it as being under the Memnonium; with low vaulted arches formed of a single stone, by which he probably meant that the stone beams went across the halls and chambers in a single span. Whether the entrance is really inside the Temple of Sety, thereby leading him to believe that it was under that building, or whether it was entered from the back door of the temple was not ascertained. As to the spring which he mentions it might well be that already the lower parts of the hypogeum were then below high Nile level, and that what Strabo saw was the remains of the inundation, which he mistook for a natural spring. Section 3. At first sight there was nothing to indicate the real nature of this building, but later two hypotheses presented themselves. The cartouche of Merenptah appeared in every place where it could be inserted, and we therefore had to consider the possibility of it being his tomb. The two points in favour of this hypothesis are that the walls are inscribed with scenes and chapters from the books of Am Duat and of the Dead, and that Merenptah is called the Osiris and "Maat-kheru". Now M. Maspero has pointed out very clearly that the epithet Maat-kheru can be applied to the living equally well as to the dead; one of his most convincing instances being taken from the Temple of Sety at Abydos, where the youthful Rameses II, destined to live to a very great age, is called Maat-Kheru. I have endeavoured to prove (chap v) that the king, in his lifetime as well as in death, was identified with Osiris; this being so, the fact of his being called Osiris does not of itself show that this was his funeral monument. We must remember also that Merenptah had a very fine tomb in the Valley of the Kings; he was hardly likely to make two of such magnificence, one at Thebes and one at Abydos.The other hypothesis was that this was the building for the special worship of Osiris and the celebration of the Mysteries, and this appears to me to be the true explanation, for many reasons. Each reason may not be convincing in itself, but the accumulation of evidence goes to prove the case. There is no tomb even among the Tombs of the Kings that is like it in plan, none having the side chamber leading off the Great Hall. Then, again, no tomb has ever been found attached to a temple; the converse is often the case, I mean a temple attached to a tomb; but this, as far as we can judge, is a kind of extra chapel, a "hidden shrine" as the mythological texts express it, belonging to the temple.It is only to be expected that Osiris, one of the chief deities of Egypt, should have a special place of worship at Abydos, where he was identified with the local god. And that it should be a part of the temple dedicated to the worship of the dead, and which had special chambers set apart for the celebration of the Osirian mysteries is very natural likewise. The building lies immediately in the axis of the temple; a line drawn through the temple and the desert pylon to the Royal Tombs passes through the sloping passage and across the centre of the Great Hall. This is not the result of accident, the temple being older than the hypogeum, but shows that both were dedicated to the same worship.The sculptures in the Great Hall are the Vivification of Osiris by Horus, and the offering of incense by Merenptah; between the two sculptures is inscribed chapter cxlii of the "Book of the Dead", the "Chapter of knowing the Names of Osiris". The other chapters of the "Book of the Dead" inscribed on the walls were pronounced by M. Maspero, when he saw them, to be the "Book of Osiris". The books of "Gates" and of "Am Duat", which are sculpted and painted on the north passage, were said by the ancient Egyptians to have had their origin in the decorations which Horus executed on the walls of the tomb of his father Osiris.Margaret Alice Murray.
(acendingpassage)

lunes, 11 de agosto de 2008

Roman Temple Uncovered In Ancient Jewish Capital Of Galilee


ScienceDaily (Aug. 11, 2008) — Ruins of a Roman temple from the second century CE have recently been unearthed in the Zippori National Park. Above the temple are foundations of a church from the Byzantine period.


The excavations, which were undertaken by the Noam Shudofsky Zippori Expedition led by of Prof. Zeev Weiss of the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, shed light on the multi-cultural society of ancient Zippori (also known as Sepphoris).

The discovery indicated that Zippori, the Jewish capital of the Galilee during the Roman period, had a significant pagan population which built a temple in the heart of the city center. The central location of the temple which is positioned within a walled courtyard and its architectural relation to the surrounding buildings enhance our knowledge regarding the planning of Zippori in the Roman era.

The building of the church on the foundation of the temple testifies to the preservation of the sacred section of the city over time. This new finding demonstrates not only the religious life, culture and society in Roman and Byzantine Zippori, but also that this was a city in which Jews, pagans and later Christians lived together and developed their hometown with various buildings.

The newly discovered temple is located south of the decumanus - colonnaded street - which ran from east to west and was the main thoroughfare in the city during the Roman through Byzantine period. The temple, measuring approximately 24 by 12 meters, was built with a decorated façade facing the street. The temple’s walls were plundered in ancient times and only its foundations remain.

No evidence has been found that reveals the nature of the temple’s rituals, but some coins dating from the time of Antoninus Pius, minted in Diocaesarea (Zippori), depict a temple to the Roman gods Zeus and Tyche. The temple ceased to function at an unknown date, and a large church, the remains of which were uncovered by the Hebrew University excavation team in previous seasons, was built over it in the Byzantine period.

North of the decumanus, opposite the temple, a monumental building was partially excavated this summer. Its role is still unclear, although its nature and size indicate that it was an important building. A courtyard with a well-preserved stone pavement of smooth rectangular slabs executed in high quality was uncovered in the center of the building, upon which were found a pile of collapsed columns and capitals - probably as a result of an earthquake. The decoration on these architectural elements was executed in stucco. Beyond a row of columns, an adjacent aisle and additional rooms were discovered. Two of them were decorated with colorful, geometrical mosaics.


Sciencedaily 11.8.2008
archeology news

Viaje a China


China es un país excitante, me gustaron todas las ciudades que visité pero para mi una de las ciudades más atrayentes de China es Beijing, capital de China. Tiene una extensión de 16.808 km cuadrados y una población de 12 millones de habitantes. Esta ciudad tiene una antigüedad de 3000 años aunque solamente cuenta con 1000 años como capital imperial o real. Es una ciudad en la que se observan muchos contrastes..la modernidad y la cultura milenaria. Pekin es una ciudad preciosa y es necesario callejear por todas partes y empaparse de su cultura, observar a la gente, admirar la belleza de sus monumentos, de sus templos, e sus palacios, museos de sus casas , de los famosos hutongs, de sus jardines, de sus parques……. Adentrase por sus calles y callejuelas y observar a los vendedores con sus puestos en los que se encuentra todo tipo de cosas… Una de las cosas que más asombro me causó es ver los puestos de comida y como te ofrecían esas cosas tan raras. Te ofrecen pinchos de caballitos de mar (como si fueran pinchos morunos) ; cabezas con cuello de pollo medio asadas y pinchadas en palos, insectos, , etc etc El moverse por la ciudad es fácil gracias a los medios de transporte, el metro es muy rápido, los taxis son muy baratos, puedes también viajar e forma muy barata con cochecitos tirados por un caballo, autobuses… Otra de las cosas que también llama la atención es ver tantos militares y policías, además de construcciones militares por muchas partes. El nombre de esta plaza significa: de la paz celestial. Esta situada en el corazón de Beijing y tiene una capacidad para un millón de personas. Pasee por esta plaza montones de veces. Como no tiene asientos, la mayoría de los chinos llevan un trozo de periódico y cartón y así pueden sentarse en el suelo. Espectacular durante el dia y la tarde… llas paradas y desfiles militares, el cambio de guardia…. además por las tardes es maravilloso ver como los padres con sus niños hacen volar comentas… Me gustó tanto esta plaza!!!! Mao,proclamó la republica popular el dia uno de octubre de 1949 desde la puerta de Tiananmen. Esta puerta fué contruida el siglo XV y restaurada el siglo XVIII. Esta dividida en 5 puertas y frente a estas puertas hay 7 puentes sobre el agua. A traves de esta puerta se pasa a la CIUDAD PROHIBIDA. Alrededor de la plaza de Tiananmen se encuentran ,el Museo de Historia y de la revolución China, la sala del pueblo (donde se reune el congreso nacional el pueblo), la puerta Qianmen (al sur), el Mausoleo de Mao y el Monumento a los Héroes del Pueblo. Este monumento es un gran OBELISCO de 26 metrs de altura. El mausoleo de Mao está en la plaza de Tiananmen.Justamente detrás del Monumento a los héroes. Una de las cosas que no queria perderme en mi vista a Pekín era este Mausoleo. La entrada es gratis y se forman unas colas descomunales, por eso lo mejor es ir por la mañana temprano. No se puede entrar con bolsos,cámaras de fotos etc etc. Pero cruzando la calle , hay unas oficinas estatales que guardan las bolsas y te dan un resguardo para recogérlas. Bajo un estricto cntrol militar, la fila llega hasta la entrada, allí nos dividieron en dos filas, una a la derecha y otra a la izquierda y pasamos alrededor del cadáver de Mao. Solamnete puedo decir que cuando estuve visitando el Palacio de Verano todo fué precioso, increíble, alucinante!!! Está situado al oeste de Beijing, alejado del casco urbano y los jardines son preciosos, (uno de los jardines imperiales mas grandes de China). Las construcciones dentro del recinto son bellísimas !!!! Siempre esta lleno de gente, turistas algunos si, pero sobre todo esta lleno de de chinos que se reunen allí . Algunos cantan, otros bailan…otros juegan al dominó, los niños y adultos juegan con cometas…etc ect pasear por allçi es como pasear por un paraíso!!! hay algunos vendedores ambulantes..pero no demasiados. El Lago Kunming ocupa gran partedel parque -30 metros cuadrados de lago!!!!!- El salón e la benevolencia y la longevidad esta situado al final del lago en dirección a la puerta este. En este salón es donde el emperador trataba los asuntos de estado y recibía a las visitas. El gran corredor tiene 700 metros de largo y es una verdadera gozada pasear por el. Está situado en la orilla norte. En la Colina de la longevidad hay varios templos. El puente de los 17 arcos tiene 150 metros y se extiende hasta la Isla Sur del lago. En la mitad oeste del lago esta el Puente del Cinturón de jade. El jardínde la armonía esta en el noreste. CADA UNO DE LOS RINCONES DE ESTE PARQUE TIENE MONUMENTOS HISTÓRICOS. Este precioso parque está a 12 kms del centro de Pekín. Para visitarlo ,se puede ir en taxi o tomar el metro hasta la estacón de Xizhimen y allí coger un minibús, también hay autobuses que llevan hasta allí. También se puede ir en bici ya que en Pekin e alquilan bicis a un precio muy bajo. En el museo de Historia natural de Pekin hay de todo, flora y fauna china, animales, etc etc. Pero lo que realmente me impresionó fueron los miembros humanos en alcohol y los cuerpos humanos - y están conservados en alcohol- El museo esta a unos 40 minutos paseando desde el sur de la Plaza de Tiananmen. Cuando después de estar en Tiananmen cruzamos para dirigirnos a la Ciudad Prohibido, sentí una emoción muy intensa. Por fín iba a visitar una de las zonas mas bonitas de Pekín, la mítica ciudad prohibida. Entramos por la puerta, que se llama Wumen y es el lugar donde realizabas las ceremonias….. IMPRESIONANTE!!! La ciudad prohibida esta en el centro de Beijing.Es un conjunto de antiguos palacios, edificios palciegos,pabellones…y es el más importante complejo artístico y cultural de China. Fue llamada ciudad prohibida ya que durante 500 años fué realmente el pueblo no podia acceder a la zona. Fue la residencia de las dinastías Ming y Qing. Desde este lugar,los emperadores dirigian China. El Palacio fué construido por el emperador Yong Le en el siglo XV, y recucló a mas de un millón de campesinos como obreros. La ciudad prohibida sufrió, incendios, asedios,pillajes,asaltos … Por ejemplo enel año 1664, los Manchures tomaron la ciudad y la quemaron.Ademá de los edificios que desaparecieron se perdieron con el fuego, muchas obras de arte, libros, pinturas y pergaminos. En 1949, el koumintang, en vísperas de la llegada del comunismo se llevaron muchísimas obras de arte…que están expuestas ahora en Taiwan.

Puente de Carlos


Existen varias leyendas acerca de este famoso puente.
Hay que recordar que fue el emperador Carlos IV el día 9 de julio de 1357 quien colocó la primera piedra.
Una de las leyendas cuenta que durante la construcción del puente hubo muchos accidentes y los obreros tuvieron muchos problemas. El maestro de obras contrató a un joven bastante diligente para que le ayudara y durante el día se construía bastante y bien, pero al llegar la noche, el diablo lo derribaba. Entonces el constructor, al darse cuenta de que era el diablo quien destruía todo lo realizado en el puente hizo un pacto con el diablo, para así poder terminar el puente. Le dijo al diablo que si no lo destruía mas, podía quedarse con el alma del primer ser vivo que cruzara el puente, una vez acabado.
El diablo accede y el puente se termina sin problemas. El día de la construcción, el constructor ordenó que nadie debería cruzar el puente, ya él tenia la idea de soltar a un gallo que había comprado y así engañar al diablo. Pero como el diablo es muy listo y lo intuye todo… se acercó disfrazado de obrero a casa del constructor y le dijo a la mujer de este que su marido había tenido un accidente. Entonces la mujer llorando corrió hacia el puente y lo atravesó antes de que el constructor soltara al gallo. Entonces la mujer desapareció…. Durante bastante tiempo por las noches las personas que pasaban cerca del puente veían el fantasma de una mujer vestida de blanco lanzando unos gemidos desesperados, todos huían despavoridos al ver el fantasma. Pero un día un aldeano que vio al fantasma dijo: alma, que dios te ayude, que dios te de la paz eterna que necesitas!!! Y fue entonces cuando el alma subió al cielo y el fantasma dejó de pasearse por el puente de Carlos.


Praga es una de mis ciudades favoritas. Es una ciudad preciosa y tiene muchísimas cosas para ver: La torre de la pólvora, la zona judía con visitas a sinagogas y al antiguo cementerio judío), el ayuntamiento, el famoso reloj, el puente de Carlos.El castillo de Praga con sus preciosas vistas. Visitar Praga es como estar en un cuento de hadas, como si se viajara en el tiempo….

La parte más atractiva de Praga es el centro histórico, que hace de ella uno de los lugares turísticos más importantes del mundo.
Esta Dividida en dos partes por el río Moldava.Y hay que destacar el famoso y encantador Puente de carlota, coronado por dos torres barrocas, Este puente une las dos orillas de la ciudad.

Las partes más antiguas - Hradčany, Malá Strana, Staré y Nové Město, dejan al visitante extasiado envolviéndole en una atmósfera única y una cantidad de preciosos monumentos, por los que Praga es llamada la ciudad de las cien torres doradas o madre de las ciudades. El centro histórico está rodeado por los barrios antiguos, llamados la ciudad interior (Karlín, Smíchov, Vinohrady,Vršovice, Žižkov,…) . A ella se une la ciudad exterior con los suburbios y barrios periféricos de casas unifamiliares (Jižní Město, Jihozápadní Město, Bohnice,…) más allá la zona limítrofe con bosques y terrenos dedicados a la agricultura.

Rusia


hay muchos sitios que dejan huella y Rusia es uno de ellos.
He viajado a Rusia en dos ocasiones. La primera vez estuve unos dias en Moscú cogí el tren nocturno hasta Sant petersburgo y allí estuve disfrutando de otros dias inolvidables.
La segunda vez, además de estar unos dias en esas dos ciudades, alargué el viaje con un crucero por los rios y canales de Rusia.
El crucero desde Moscú a Sant Petersburgo es algo increible!!!
Se visitan ciudades medievales rusas, Kaliazin, Uglich, Goritsy,Kiszhi, Mandroga...
Desde Moscú se navega por el rio hasta el canal Moscú volga, se llega al embalse de Rybinsk, se sigue navegando por el rio Sheksna hasta el lago blanco despues por el canal volga-báltico, río Kovsha hasta el lago Onega, después por elrío Svit hasta el lago Ládoga y después hasta el rio Neva...
Además en el crucero, como se navega durante muchas horas y son varios dias..se hacen todo tipo de actividades. Bueno, algunas no me gustaba y no las hacia (bingo, y cosas así) pero otras actividades eran curiosisimas (enseñar el idioma ruso, canciones rusas, cocina rusa, etc etc)
Además de actuaciones musicales y bailes rusos... aya ay que recuerdos!!!
Una de las experiencias más emocionantes que he tenido en este país es el estar allí durante las llamadas "noches blancas".
Cuándo estuve la primera vez era el mes de junio y los dias tenían tanta luz!!!! solamente había oscuridad durante unas pocas horas...



Amsterdam




una de las ciudades más bonitas de Europa. es sin duda Amsterdam. Creo que quien va a Amsterdam por primera vez, se queda cautivado por su encanto y necesita volver una y otra vez . Bueno eso es lo que pasó a mi.
Hay una leyenda que habla sobre la fundación de esta ciudad, se dice que dos pescadores fueron los que se establecieron allí y todos sus familiares y parientes se unieron a ellos y entre todos construyeron la aldea en el lugar donde el rio AMstel confluye con el estuario del Zuider Zee.Levantaron un dique para contener el agua, dique en holandés se dice "DAM" y de esta manera se derivó el nombre de la ciudad Amstelledamme , que significa dique sobre el Amstel. Posteriormente este nombre se tranformó en la palabra actual, AMSTERDAM.

Así es que en 1270 surge un pueblecito de pescadores,que con el tiempo se ira haciendo cada vez más grande
He de confesar que de mis sitios favoritos en esta ciudad es la plaza Dam.
Esta plaza es el "centro" de Amsterdam, a pesar que ya no esta en el centro geográfico de la ciudad.
Durante el día,la plaza esta llena de gente..holandeses y visitantes que necesitan pasear o reunirse en esta plaza.
Es típico en los jóvenes el sentarse y reunirse en las escaleras que hay en el famoso Obelisco de la plaza. Este monumento conmemora a los holandeses caídos en la segunda guerra mundial. Es el obelisco de la liberación que está adornado con figuras alegóricas.
En la plaza Dam esta el el Palacio real, que tiene una torre octogonal con la cúpula (que tiene un techo verde) y un reloj.
tambien está la Nieuwe Kerk, que fué reconstruida en 1452 ya que en esas fechas hubo un gran incendio en Amsterdam.
Tambien en Dam square hay un sitio que a mi me gustó mucho, el Museo de cera de Madame Tussaud.
La verdad es que puede uno pasarse horas y horas, sentada alli en los bancos de piedra de la plaza Dam, y ver la gente que pasea,las palomas revoloteando, los niños dando de comer a las palomas........
Recuerdo la visita al museo...............El museo casa de Ana Frank es uno de los lugares que mas me ha gustado de Amsterdam.
Allí puede visitarse la casa de atrás, donde estuvieron escondidas las familias, además hay bastantes objetos personales y el diario de anna.
Visitando aquel museo, se comprende mejor todo lo que tuvieron que t que padecer aquellas familias allíencerradas ...y todo el horror que ha padecido la humanidad con hechos tan terribles como el exterminio nazi. A mi personalmente me impactó.
Y reeleer el diario de Anna es algo que realmente me hace derramar lágrimas siempre!!

La dirección del Museo es
Museo Casa de Ana Frank. Ana Frank Huis
Prinsengracht, 267.
Esta CIUDAD esta llena de coffeeshops, se ven por todas partes. Uno de los más famosos y visitados es Grasshopper, que es un edificio verde que esta muy cerca de la estación central, en la calle Oudebrugsteeg.
Una de las cosas que veo curiosas es que en los coffehops se puede beber todo tido de bebidas excepto bebidas alcoholicas.
Menudos recuerdos de esta ciudad.Una de las zonas más curiosas de Amsterdan es el famoso mercado e las flores.
El Muntplein es una plaza que esta en dos puentes, Amstel y Singel.
El distrito rojo o Wallen
Singel Canal , aparece en la foto ...menudas vistas desde mi ventana :)
Este canal es el mas interno de Amsterdam. Singel significa aro o cinturón y era el último límite de la villa medieval.
Antes del año 1600 el singel era un gran foso que separaba las murallas de la ciudad.



El Wallen es el distrito rojo de Amsterdam. Esta situado en el casco antiguo a unos pasos de la Plaza Dam.
Es u barrio pintoresco ,donde las edificaciones preciosas, los escarate llenos de mujeres y los shepshops son continuamente visitados.

Las mujeres en sus vitrinas, sentadas en un taburete o depie, sonriendo y miranto y a veces invitando a los transeuntes que, como es lógico..miran con curiosidad a esas mujeres. De dia y denoche hay actividad en el Wallen.
En la plaza está la torre de la Ceca, La Munttoren. Es u torreon barroco que fué construido en 1620 por Hendruck de Keyser.
Fué construda la torro en el lugar donde habia una e las antiguas puertas de la ciudad.
a la Munttoren te la encuentras cnontinuamente, ya es esta zona es una zona idea para callejear.
bscaré alguna foto para colgarla en el album.

Me gustó muchisimo, flores diferentes,plantas y sobre todo tulipanes,tulipanes y tulipanes!!!! preciosos.
Allí solamente se venden flores y semillas (y algunos recuerdos típicos para turistas-claro).
Esta abiero todos los dias de la seman excepto los domingos.
Esta situado en el tramo de arriba del singel.