Throughout Europe there is rising ethnic-identity awareness, a cultural revolution that rejects the multi-cultural sub-culture not of Europe’s own. Renewed enthusiasm for national identity expressed through music perhaps lies behind the recent craze for Portugal’s Queen of Fado, Amalia Rodrigues (1920 ~ 1999). The blues singer‘s fame once eclipsed that of the iconic French soul-singing waif Edith Piaf and that of Nana Mouskouri of Greece.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the topic of travel is temporarily closed for most of the inhabitants of the Earth. Fortunately, we can still go on virtual walks in stunning locations. Why not take a stroll through the halls of the world’s best museums that have created an interactive version of their exhibits? Let’s go on excursions to visit the best cultural treasures of different countries and people.
Older than Stonehenge and more enigmatic and ancient than the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Newgrange tomb in Ireland holds as many mysteries as each of those mysterious structures. The massive complex of Newgrange was built about 3200 BC, yet its existence was not discovered until 1699, when a local landowner wanted the mound dug up for its stones. In fact, throughout Ireland have been so far discovered over 200 such tombs.
Many great Europeans truly believed that their pens, as they composed, were guided by a divine spirit. Great musicians were quite clear in their belief that their works were the creation of a divine force, which we place under the blanket term, God.
The aqueduct of Segovia is a classic example of Roman water transport architecture—simple in design, yet magnificent to behold, and surprisingly durable. The aqueduct was built in the 1st century AD to convey water from Frío River, 17 km away, to the city, and it has been carrying out this function in one form or another for the past 2,000 years. This is all the more impressive when you realize that this aqueduct was built without a single ounce of mortar.
Stephen Foster was America’s first great professional songwriter. He was the ninth child of William and Eliza Foster — arriving on earth July 4, 1826, as America was celebrating 50 years as a nation.
Looking at the sculptures, covered with the thinnest marble veil, one ponders: How to sculpt the thinnest, transparent fabric from a block of solid stone? A truly divine gift of brilliant artists and sculptors allows you to convey in stone the tenderness and airiness of the lightest fabric, bends and folds while preserving every feature of the face and body. It is impossible to believe that this is the creation of human hands.
George Bizet (1838 – 1875) wrote in a letter; “As a musician, I tell you that if you were to suppress adultery, fanaticism, crime, evil, the supernatural, there would no longer be the means for writing one note.”
Building a bridge over water is a daunting task, and despite the many technological progresses, the basics have remain unchanged since ancient times. First a cofferdam is constructed on the riverbed and the water inside this enclosed structure is pumped out, exposing the muddy button. Upon this ground the piers of the bridge are erected.
Michael Walsh Stories and Books 
Recent Comments