The summer solstice, known also as midsummer, will be celebrated on 20 June. It marks both the longest day and the shortest night of the year and is technically the official start of summer. It’s also one of Europe’s most celebrated and magical evenings, associated with St. John the Baptist but also with Pagan rituals.
How often we relax to the Hispanic melodies of Isaac Albeniz. His Rapsodia Espanola, Sevilla and Granada, based on Catalan folk songs, are perhaps the better known of his many compositions. These lovely melodies evoke the Spanish dream more than could any Goya painting but what of the man behind the music? Like most composers his life was as notable as was his music.
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC – The much-loved Czech actress Libuše Šafránková died yesterday at the age of 68.
Nördlingen is a town in the Donau-Ries district, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, with a population of approximately 19,190. It is located approximately 115 km (71 mi) east of Stuttgart, and 145 km (90 mi) northwest of Munich.
The feast of Green Week (Zielone Świątki) is celebrated in Poland around mid-May towards early June – it’s syncretized with the movable celebrations of Pentecost that starts 50 days after Easter. These festivities show many elements of pre-Christian Slavic spring rituals. 2021 date: May 23 / June 20 (Eastern).
One of the richest people in the world, Microsoft founder Bill Gates turned out to be the owner of agricultural land in the United States, the total area of which can rival the size of Hong Kong. In recent years, the billionaire has secretly bought hectares of farmland through a network of ‘covert front contractors’, eventually becoming the largest landowner in the country.
Today it’s hard to believe, but until the X century, there were almost no domestic cats in Russia. In fact, the sight of the domestic cat was likely as rare as hen’s teeth.
When talking about burnout, the question arises: what about our great-grandmothers? Many women had 8-10 children, there were the household chores far more arduous than today. Then there was the cattle to look after, constant hard work, eternal lack of sleep, drinking often or missing husband and never a chance of vacation on the beach. How did they all not burn out?
The Osterreiten or Osterritt ( SorbianJutrowne jěchanje ; synonym cross riding ) is an old religious rituals in the form of a procession in which the resurrection of Christ is proclaimed. It is still cultivated as a Sorbian custom in the Catholic part of Upper Lusatia . There are also Easter horseback processions in Old Bavaria and Franconia , in Upper Silesia , North Bohemia and Moravia.
Slavic carnivals are known under different names in various Slavic countries: [Macedonian language: ‘Прочка’ (Prochka)], Bulgarian: Сирни заговезни, Прошка (Sirni zagovezni, Proska), Russian: Масленица, Мясопуст (Maslenitsa, Miasopust), Polish: Ostatki, Mięsopust, Zapusty, Czech: Masopust, Šibřinky, Ostatky, Slovak: Fašiangy, Slovene: Mesopȗst, Pust, Pustni teden, Fašnk, Serbian: Покладе, Poklade, Croatian: Pust, Poklade, Mesopust, Fašnik. They are traditional Slavic festivals related to the period of carnival.
Michael Walsh Stories and Books 
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