Argynnis pandora or Cardinal

The Cardinal is, apart from the Old World Swallowtail and the Scarce Swallowtail, one of the most eye-catching butterflies that fly around at ´El Paraje´ at the moment. This butterfly - ´pandora´ in Spanish and ´keizersmantel´ in Dutch – has two scientific names, Pandoriana pandora and Argynnis pandora. It is a large butterfly which seems to be more restless and faster than many others. For a few days we have been trying to take a picture of this beauty with orange upperwings, but it never sat still quite long enough. While following their behaviour this morning, we saw that a pair started mating in the foliage of one of our almond trees, which enabled us to take this photograph.
 

Related key words: vlinders, alpujarras, sierra nevada, wandelen, wandelingen, trektocht, standplaats vakantie, hiking, trekking, bérchules, B&B, hotel, wanderungen

Música para Sierra Nevada in La Taha

Throughout the year 2009, different exhibitions and activities are organised to commemorate the XX ´Aniversario de la Ley de Espacios Naturales Protegidos de Andalucía´. We can find the programme for this on the website of the Junta de Andalucía. ´Música en las Montañas´ forms part of the festivities organized by the Parque Natural y Nacional de Sierra Nevada. For this important event, a choir was formed which gave a concert last night on the church square of Pitres. Apart from a performance of the choir with an orchestra, there were recitals of chamber music with cello and piano. Cat Jary, initiator of the concerts in the Alpujarras, played the cello with her former music teacher Bernard Gregor-Smith, pianist Yolande Wrigley and the talented son of this couple Ben Gregor-Smith. This quartet gave a beautiful recital of chamber music on the threshing floor of Capilerilla and later on in the evening on the Plaza de la Iglesia in Pitres. It is quite something that professional musicians that are used to playing in world-famous concert halls, are prepared to play in the open air on an ´era´ in the Alpujarras.
Although tonight is the last evening of the special concerts of ´Música para Sierra Nevada´, the programme ´Música en las Montañas´ continues with concerts on the 4th and 5th of September, the 31st of October and the 1st of November.

Semana Cultural and Fiestas Patronales Lobras 2009

The semana cultural in Lobras starts on Sunday the 23rd of August at 10.00 hours with a ´mercadillo tradicional´. At 21.30 hours D. Jaime Ribot Martín will give a speech, which will be followed by a performance of Candiota, the Alpujarran association of traditional songs or ´troveros´. On Monday there are different workshops, tournaments and contests. On Tuesday the book ´La Guerra Civil en Lobras´ will be presented by the author D. Jaime Ribot Martín at 12.00 hours and there will be a theatre performance by Teatro Maravilla at 19.30 hours. On Wednesday there will be more workshops, the final of the ´paulo´ competition, and at 22.00 hours the women of Las Moreas, the ´asociación de mujeres´ of Lobras, will sing traditional songs. Thursday there will be a ´feria del mediodía´, a paella on the village square and traditional andalusian music by ´ Por Copla´ at 22.00 hours. Friday the 28th of August is the day of the patron saint of Lobras, San Agustín, which will mark the height of the festive week. At 12.00 hours there will be a service in his honour and his carving will be taken out in procesion at 20.30 hours. Saturday there will be a concert by the band San Blas from Cádiar in the morning and during the ´feria del mediodía´. There will be a music and dancing on the Era until midnight, after which the fiesta will be closed with fireworks and ´churros con chocalate´.

Sculptures Manuel Martín at Expo Cádiar

Manuel Martín Quesada is one of the exhibitors at the Expo Cádiar 2009. At the entrance of the fair part of his sculptural project ´Por la memoria viva de la Alpujarra´ can be seen. This life-size representation of the Alpujarran agricultural heritage that is slowly disappearing, is unique for its combination of colour, shape and expresion. Outside ´la trilla´ can be seen, translated as ´the threshing´ which is always called ´la parva´ in the Alpujarra. In the background there are a few goats which are part of the representation of ´pastoreo con cabras´. A shepherd with more goats can be seen inside where Manuel Martín has another stand. Here we picked up a brochure on this magnificent project in which the sculptor explains his ideas and in which he gives information on the materials he used. This same text can be found on the blogsite with news and events in Cádiar. More information on the artist and sculptor who lives and works in Narila, can be found on the Manuel Martín website.


Related links:
- ExpoCadiar website
- Por la memoria via on the ExpoCadiar 2009 website

related keywords: art, kunst, art

Expo Cádiar 2009

From the 14th to the 17th of August the X Feria Agroalimentaria, de Artesanía y Turismo is organized in Cádiar. This fair will be opened today at 13:30 hours. Apart from a demonstration of local products, handicrafts and services there will be a few performances and cultural activities. The programme can be found on the website of the expo . The fair is every year organized during the ´puente de agosto´.

Fiestas San Roque, Narila 2009

Like Pitres, Narila also pays tribute to San Roque. As this is a village only a few hundred metres lower down in the valley, we will be able to hear the music of the band and of the verbena musical at El Paraje. This morning we picked up a programme of the San Roque festivities at the town hall of Cádiar.

Fiestas Patronales San Roque, Pitres 2009

San Roque is the patron saint of many villages and cities throughout the world. Although this is not mentioned in the text of the life of Saint Roch on Wikipedia, this French saint is also the santo patrón of Pitres. The festivities in this vilage in his honour, will take place from the 11th to the 18th of August. This is the weekend programme of the ´Fiestas Patronalers en honor a San Roque en Pitres 2009

¡Viva Santo Cristo!

Last weekend Alcútar celebrated its ´fiestas patronales´. The patron saint of this village is ´El Santísimo Cristo de la Misericordia´, whose carving can be seen hanging above the central altar of the village church throughout the year. For the celebrations it is taken down and placed on a portable platform with candles and red carnations. On Saturday evening about fifteen men from the village lifted the image up an carried it out of the church while the band was playing the announcement with impressive drumbeats. While one of the assistents exclaimed ¡viva Santo Cristo!, this was repeated by the ´alcuteros´ and ´berchulers´ with great fervour. After this the carving was taken through the small steep streets of Alcútar followed by the band and the faithful villagers carrying candles. After two hours the ´costaleros´ or carriers arrived back at the church exhausted. This is no wonder as the total weight is about a thousand kilos and they sometimes needed to almost go down on their knees to be able to pass underneath the ´tinaos´. The procession was followed by music and dancing until dawn. On Sunday a lot of activities were organized and there was paella for everybody in the afternoon. On Sunday evening the carving was hung back above the altar with all due ceremony. Blessed red carnations were handed down for people to take home. The music of the band playing inside the church was impressive and moving. We therefore encourage everybody to attend the ´subida del Santo Cristo´ when they have a change. The fiestas in Alcútar in his honour, are always celebrated the second weekend of August.

Música en las Montañas 2009, an intimate concert in Atalbéitar

Yesterday we assisted one of the concerts of the programme Música en las Montañas. On the Plaza de Atalbéitar, Boris played the violin and clarinet and Frank the accordeon. They played, amongst others, klezmer - traditional jewish folk music - and Argentinian tangos. They created with their music a fairy-tale athmosphere on the village square of this tiny little village. Tonight they will play at 22.00 hours in the larger town of Pitres which we can see on the programme that the Alexander Music School recenlty published on their website. On Youtube you can see a video of their performance in 2008 in Ferreirola with the same intimate atmosphere.