Favourite Things-July Edition

Hello Everyone...

When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I am feeling sad. I simply remember my favourite things and then I don't feel so bad-! July Edition 

It is the end of the month again and so I thought I would share with you my favourite things from July. Here we go!

Favourite Book: Water for Elephants  

Out of the books that I have read over July, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen has been my favourite. The Flight of the Falcon by Daphne Du Maurier is a close second, but I read them both over my holiday and Water for Elephants was easier to read and the storyline was a little simpler. And so it wins! 

Water for Elephants Review

Before I Die Review

The Flight of the Falcon Review

Favourite Place Visited: Segovia 

I feel like after doing all those reviews on places I had seen in Spain, I had to choose my favourite place. Segovia wins by a mile! It is a beautiful city and I saw so many amazing things there. And it is also surrounded by mountains and I love the mountains so you know. 

Check out my review here 

And also...Plaza de Toros and Botanical Gardens

Favourite YouTube Channel: BuzzFeed 

BuzzFeed have several different channels dealing with different areas, for instance BuzzFeedBlue deals with more scientific stuff and DIYs videos, BuzzFeedYellow deals with society-orientated issues, like sexuality and more issues that I can't think of right now, BuzzFeedViolet is a lot of really relatable, awkward situations that you find yourself in, like 'Why am I always late?' and 'What people do when they are home-alone?' and BuzzFeedVideo is just a combination of nerdy, weird, funny things. And the videos are all quite short so you can watch them really easily, without wasting loads of time, and you learn some stuff so it's great.

BuzzFeedVideo 

BuzzFeedBlue

BuzzFeedYellow

BuzzFeedViolet  

Favourite Videos

YouTuber Rumours? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TitLRNH2WKc 

Surprising my brother on his birthday 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRXhWRq5EI8

The Definition of 'Sexy' around the World 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzlFh3DZF8g

The Christian Holocaust 

http://youtu.be/gJM-NSMjyKg  

Favourite Film: Inception

This film is incredible, to say the least. It was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won four of them for special effects and stuff. Inception is a film about dreams and dreams within dreams. An extractor, someone who can take information out of people's dreams, (Leonardo DiCaprio) has to plant an idea in the dream of the son of a very successful businessman to try and get him to divide his empire. The first ten minutes have you completely confused and most people have to watch it a few times in order to fully understand but it isn't frustrating if you don't get the whole story first time. On the contrary. It is fascinating. Christopher Nolan has done an amazing job at directing it and it has action sequences and it is really thrilling. Leonardo DiCaprio plays in it with Ellen Page and Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I really recommend you see it if you haven't already. 

Favourite Fact of July

When you are in water and the skin on your fingers and toes goes all crinkly, it is to improve your grip on wet and submerged objects and is an old adaptation that we no longer need because we don't live in water anymore.

Favourite Songs 

Super Trouper by ABBA

Voulez-Vous by ABBA

Waterloo by ABBA

I Don't Care, I Love It by Icona Pop

Angel with a Shotgun by The Cab

Try by P!nk

Elastic Heart by Sia 

A few little beauty/fashion items...

Sandals

I bought these from Marks and Spencer because my old ones had a sole that was wearing very thin and I kept slipping in them. These cost about £29.00, I think, but they are really comfortable. I did a lot of walking in them and I didn't get any blisters or anything. They are really sturdy as well, a reason why I don't like flip-flops very much because they are really flimsy sometimes. These sandals do give you some strange tan lines but that is the only complaint. 

Palmer's Coconut Oil Formula Leave In Conditioner 

I have nothing but praise to give this. As I think I have mentioned before, I am cursed with having really thin frizzy hair which is horrible. Especially after being in the water, (in the sea or swimming pool) and the humidity, (in England or Spain), my hair gains about five centimeters of frizz that just grows and grows. I don't even know where it comes from because I don't have a lot of hair. But this conditioner doesn't make it feel greasy or oil and all of the tangles brush out really easily and it smells divine. I also have a really difficult time brushing my hair when it is dry and usually have to comb it because using a brush is sort of a death wish and this really helps calm it. 

Mango Body Butter

This, I have mixed feelings about. Sometimes, I love it but sometimes, not so much. However, I have been using it a lot during July so I thought that it deserved a mention. This is the Body Shop's Body Butter in the scent Mango. I have their Body Mist in Grapefruit but the Grapefruit Body Butter smells really weird, I thought, so I went for mango instead. On the one hand, this is really moisturizing and its scent stays on the skin for a long time but on the other hand, you have to be careful with how much you put on because it can leave your skin feeling very oily and uncomfortable. So you have to find a balance.  

And there you have it! Favourites from July, done and dusted! As always, I hope you enjoyed it. 

Clare

La Mujer Muerta and other stuff in Segovia

Hey everyone...

So, I promise that this will be my last post about my holiday. But I wanted to talk about Segovia because I really enjoyed it and it was our last day in Spain and so it was a very special time. Okay, whatever. By the way, this is probably going to be a really long blog post, simply because there are a lot of pictures that I want to put in, so if you don't like that, I suggest you don't start reading.  

Segovia is part of the region of Castille and León. It is not too far from Madrid and it takes about an hour, give or take, to drive there. We crossed the mountains by driving through a tunnel that went underneath it and then you are pretty much there. Now, I was with my brother, godmother, her husband and their child and at first, we all went to these gardens that were close to Segovia in this little town. Word of Advice to anyone travelling around Europe: bring identification if you are a student. Pretty much every price is reduced to get into castles and monuments and things and some places are free (like the Prado) if you are a student. So bring something!

These gardens were free to get into, though. There was also a large house, as you can see in the photo above. I was told that no one is living there at present but we didn't go inside it, so I don't know. (I would just like to say that while I am writing this, the sky is very overcast and I am looking at that sky above the house and just wishing that I was back in Spain...anyway! Back on track!) I don't know who made these gardens so I won't be able to tell you anything about that but I can say that it was very exotic. There were all these different fountains and pools that were decorated with statues. Some statues were gold, some were silver, some were bronze. It was really incredible. They were all different shapes and sizes, some were on different levels, some were square, some were in a semi-circle. It was amazing. Also pictured above  are some of the statues in front of the house that we saw. I have to say some of those were slightly odd, there were sphinxes and women with children growing out of their backs but some were cool so you know. Each to his own, I guess. 

And then, we went to the actual city of Segovia. In terms of geography, I think it must be quite high up but then again, it is surrounded by mountains, so I am not sure. We did have to climb many stairs to get up to it though. In the picture, you can see the cathedral in the background and that was the first place we visited in Segovia. Now, being a Catholic, I have been in so many cathedrals in my life across the globe, in Italy and France and Brazil and everywhere. But Segovia's cathedral wins the prize for being the best. Whoever built it, *applauds*. You did your job well. Even the organ was covered in gold leaf and icons and decorations and things. It was mind-blowing. And all around the edge of the cathedrals were these shrines to different saints and every single one of them was decorated in a different way. If you like cathedrals, for some reason, this one is a must see. You can even climb the tower but it was closed when we went there. I think you have to go in the morning or something. The detail on everything was extraordinary; the gates were all decorated, the ceiling was decorated, the floor was decorated. Above every archway there was some decoration or design. It was amazing.

The three pictures above are different shrines. I am not sure which saint they were dedicated to but you can just admire the general atmosphere

This is the tower that you can climb

Just look at that. How incredible is that!

 And then, after the cathedral, we went to the edge of Segovia where there is a Roman aqueduct. Apparently, in the past, Segovia used to be a river and so the Romans built this aqueduct to channel the water. And here it is. (Sorry for the people in front of it but it was so crowded.) If you at centre in the top row, there is a little statue of Mary. I was told a legend that had to do with pagans and Christians but I am not sure of the exact details. The story went that some pagans were going to try and build the entire aqueduct in a night and they managed it except for that little bit there and so the Christians put the statue there instead. I don't know. But it was something like that. And then you could climb up this huge flight of stairs and be at the same level as the top level of the aqueduct. And you can see all these mountains surrounding Segovia and there is one that the locals call the 'La Mujer Muerta' which means the dead woman because it looks like a woman who has died in childbirth.

La Mujer Muerta
You can see her head, her pregnant stomach in the middle and then her feet at the end

And did you know that knockers on doors on old houses, when they are really high up, is not because everyone in the past was really tall but because they used to knock on the door when they were sitting on a horse? I didn't know that. And also, we saw a jail that had been converted into a library and a bunch of buildings that were decorated in something that looked very Celtic but obviously wasn't (because we were in Spain) but was from the Medieval period.

But, I think that is it, finally. I know that it was long but we did see a lot. I hope you enjoyed parts of it, even if I seem to get overly excited about the most mundane things. Anyway, I think the last blog post of July will be my favourites and my second novel is coming out really, really soon! Finally!

Clare

The Flight of the Falcon by Daphne Du Maurier

Hey everyone...

This is the last book review of the holidays. I read The Flight of the Falcon by Daphne Du Maurier. I have heard that Daphne Du Maurier's style of writing is quite an 'acquired taste' and people I know who like all the same genres that I do, really dislike Du Maurier's way of writing. For my part, I like it. Her books are classified as classics, but they don't feel like you are reading a classic. For instance, when reading Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre, there is a particular feel to the book, in my opinion, and you know that it is a 'hard' read. However, I don't find that with Du Maurier's books. I think her most famous book is Rebecca and I have read that, but I preferred her less well known ones, The King's General, for example and My Cousin Rachel.

The Flight of the Falcon takes place in Italy, about thirty years or so after the end of WWII, in a town called Ruffano. A lot of Daphne Du Maurier's books are part of a mystery genre. Although not drastically so, the characters are always discovering things or finding out things, as well as having a different overall storyline. This particular protagonist, a man called Armino Fabbio, is a tour guide across Italy, when he hears of the murder of his childhood nurse. This murder is a reoccuring theme throughout the book however, at the same time, there is another storyline about a annual Festival held in Ruffano and incidents surrounding that. Maybe I should include the blurb here, because I am not very good at summarising stories. :/

BLURB 
Armino Fabbio leads a pleasant, if humdrum life - until he becomes circumstantially involved in the murder of an old peasant woman in Rome. The woman, he gradually learns, was his family's beloved servant many years ago, in his native town of Ruffano.
Over five hundred years before, the sinister Duke Claudio, known as The Falcon, lived his twisted, brutal life preying on the people of Ruffano. Now, in the twentieth century, the town seems to have forgotten its violent history. But have things really changed?

What I liked about the book 
As I said, Du Maurier's style of writing is one that I enjoy. Her description is not present in vast quantities but is detailed and very effective. The story nevers 'sits still', and there are loads of details that you think are insignificant but all come together at the end in a really cool way and I didn't expect the ending at all. Du Maurier is very good at making you believe something and then completely changing your mind. If you have read Rebecca, you will know what I mean. I loved the way that she developed her characters and the relationships between them, particularly the two brothers that feature heavily. I also liked the way that when thinking about the book, the storyline seems really complicated because there are so many different things happening but, when you are reading it, it is really easy to understand.

Issues discussed in the book
In this book, there is a clear theme of history repeating itself. Dictators and heroes appear throughout history, repeated whenever the time so dictates. This theme, of history repeating itself, is used often in books because it can be interpreted and written in many different ways and I, for one, like this type of theme. In this book, Duke Claudio 'reappears' in another form and there are parallels between events in the past and events in the present.
I love history, because I think that humans, in our arrogance and ignorance, don't learn from our mistakes and will continue to repeat them until the end of time. In a way, we think that because we are at the top of the food chain, we are somehow incapable of making mistakes and so refuse to see them when they happen.
People say that history is a dying subject, one that is studied simply because of interest in the past and plays no role in the future. I disagree. Look at the period of history a few years before this book, from the years 1914-1991. Three big wars during that time. WWI, WWII and the Cold War. Well, I could say from that that there will be another war some time because we obviously have not learnt our lesson. WWI was supposed to be the war to end all wars and then came WWII and the Holocaust. Although there was no actual fighting in the Cold War, directly between the Soviets and the Americans, during that period of time there was the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, the greatest threat of nuclear war this world has ever seen, and the Afghanistan War, which lasted for ten years and cost something like 1.5 million lives. I think only time will tell when another war comes but I feel sure that it will come, because we never learn.

Wow, that was a happy ramble. Quick, onto the recommendations.

Recommendations
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke - This is the first book in a trilogy. I have read all of them. They were originally written in German but have been translated into English. It is about a girl called Meggie who loves books and her dad is a bookbinder. But then, a stranger comes to their house and Meggie is taken on a journey of discovery about powers that she has only read about. Although, history does not repeat itself exactly, the past does return to haunt Meggie and her dad, Mortimer.

The King's General by Daphne Du Maurier- If you read The Flight of the Falcon and enjoy it, I recommend that you check out Daphne Du Maurier's other books. My favourite is The King's General. It is about the Civil War in England between the King and Parliament. But it is also a love story between Honor Harris and Richard Grenville, the general of the King's army. It is inspired by a horrible discovery in a house in the nineteenth century and the discovery is featured in the book. So read it and find out! :)

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Well, that is it for this blog post. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you check out the books I recommended.:)


Clare

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Hey Everyone...

The second book I read over my holiday was Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen. It is now also a film, starring Robert Pattinson, but I have never watched it. Water for Elephants is the story of a circus in America during the 1920s approximately. The protagonist, Jacob Jankowski loses his parents in a motorcycle accident and jumps onto a circus train travelling across the country, where he is recruited by the circus 'Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth' as a vet. During this time, the 1920s, America had Prohibition. The Prohibition Amendment and the Volstead Act of 1919 and 1920 meant that the consumption, production and selling of alcohol was illegal across America. Because people still wanted to drink alcohol, they produced their own alcohol (moonshine) or smuggled it in from Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean. Brewing your own alcohol was very dangerous, as I am sure you can imagine, and, although during the period of Prohibition, there was a decrease in the number of deaths on the road from drunk driving, doctors reported an increase in cases of blindness and poisoning due to the consumption of moonshine. 

What I liked about the book
This book is really easy to read and the plot is really easy to follow. It does not take a lot of effort to read. The book is also really accurate to the time and does not beat around the bush about the effects of Prohibition, of the illegal practices that started to become normal practice and the tragedy of the Jamaica ginger paralysis, which came from drinking poisoned alcohol. And I learnt a lot about the practices of circuses and the cruelty with which they treated their animals. It was really eye-opening. 

Issues discussed in the book 
Obviously, circus life plays a huge part in this book. Sara Gruen did extensive research into the life of the circus in America during the 1920s. I don't know whether you have seen or read the Elephant Man. A slightly different time period but the cruelty inflicted upon the 'Elephant Man' because he was what they called a 'freak' was horrendous. I don't know whether 'redlighting' was a common procedure in many circuses, but in the Benzini Brothers, if you weren't performing properly, or there was something wrong with you, they pushed you off the moving train. I think that it is incredible that people believe that they are justified in doing things to others. This for me applies to so many different areas in life, from the heinous deeds of terrorists, where they think that they are justified in killing thousands of innocent people to the smallest things, when the smallest person in the class is picked on, for example. I don't know whether this is my religious inclinations shining through (;/ Whoops) but it really is interesting. What is the thought process that allows you to do that? I don't understand it.
Similarly, in Water for Elephants, many of the animals are treated terribly. I don't know a lot about circuses now but, you know, during that time, they used every animal as a money-making machine and every person as well.  The elephant in the book is called Rosie and there is a 'problem' with her that, at the beginning, is not understood by most of the circus staff. Due to this problem, she would not perform well at the shows. And when that happened, they just beat her and beat her. At the back of the book, Sara Gruen spoke about two circus elephants, Old Mom and Topsy. If you want to know more about them, look them up. Their stories are heart-breaking. :(
Now, in a lot of these reviews, the issues discussed directly affect human life. This review is slightly different, in that it affects animal life. To me, using animals as entertainment is a cruel process. There are many ways that you can entertain yourself; animals don't need to be used. That is why I so strongly disagree with bullfighting and using animals in circuses. Unless an animal was made to do something, I disagree with making it do it.  

Recommendations 
The Dancing Bear by Michael Morpurgo - If you have read my review on Before I Die (here) and my holiday reading recommendations, then you will have seen this. If not, this is the story of a bear cub adopted by an orphan. They become very close until a film crew comes to the village and wants a dancing bear for the film that they are making. It is a very short book and very easy to read. (I know some of the books I recommend can be quite daunting) However, it completely discusses the issues that are brought up in Water for Elephants and I think that it is an amazing book. Michael Morpurgo is an author who has written some of my favourite books of all time. If I could have half the career in writing fiction that he has had, I would be extremely honoured.


Wonder by E.J. Palacio- This book is sort of a modern day version of the Elephant Man. It is the story of a boy who is severely physically disabled but lives the normal life of a teenager. It shows how cruel children can be towards one another and how unaccepting people are of each other, when others look a little different. You know that phrase, Don't judge a book by its cover. On the back of this book, it says, Don't judge a boy by his face.' And it shows that we all do, judge by physical appearance when it doesn't matter at all. I really recommend this book.

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Well, that is it for this blog post. I hope that you enjoyed it.  

Clare 

Before I Die by Jenny Downham

Hello Everyone...
I'm back. Back from Spain. I read three books over the two weeks and this is number one. It is called Before I Die by Jenny Downham. For those who have read it, I know that it is not a very 'happy' book, in the fact it is about a girl who is dying of cancer but it is an interesting book and very uplifting at the end and it does present a series of interesting questions and situations. (Before I begin, I would like to say that when I go on holiday, probably contrary-wise to the majority of the book fanatic population, I like to take books that I don't have time to read during the non-holiday period. That means, usually, they are difficult to read or they are quite different books. I don't take 'easy' novels on holiday. So, with that in mind, if you like something simple to read while you are chilling out on holiday somewhere, I will give some recommendations below so you can skip this review and check those out.)
Before I Die is about a girl called Tessa, who is dying of cancer but she has a list of things that she wants to do before she dies. The list evolves and changes, going from being very superficial and almost crude to becoming deeper and more beautiful. 

What I liked about the book
Jenny Downham is an amazing writer, that much is clear from her style and way of writing. She is slightly ambiguous at times in her metaphors and similes but I think it is very beautiful. However, the character of Tessa annoyed me sometimes in the way that she saw the world and her actions. I also did not like the message that could have been interpreted from the book. Tessa's list of things to do included illegal things and she said that she was 'living'. I quote, 'stay wrapped in blankets and get on with dying, or get the list back together and get on with living'. I personally was not too impressed with this because I believe that it could affect readers in the wrong way. To me, the quality of life does not affect whether or not you are living truly but, nonetheless, I did enjoy the book. (I have just realised that I probably sound like a real killjoy in all of these reviews. I just have very definite and probably controversial views so...sorry about that.) 

Issues presented in the book
I suppose one of the biggest issues in the book was this idea of the quality of life and how it affects the way that you see the world and the way in which you see life. Tessa had a poor quality of life, that much was clear because she was dying of cancer but she tried to improve but doing different things and changing her attitude along the way. I guess that one of the greatest things in the book is that by the end she realised that fulfilling a list of things does not make life any worse or better. Life isn't improved by doing a list of things; that isn't how life gets better. She finds out, as I suppose the reader might as well, that life is life. People and experiences make it more enjoyable but not really better. Wow, deep. On the cover of the book, there is a quote from a reviewer that says 'a book that will make you happy to be alive.' and it really is. It did make me appreciate the things that I have and the illnesses that I don't have and, when you finish the book, you feel cathartic.  

Recommendations (for Before I Die)

Mister God, This Is Anna by Sydney Hopkins, under the pseudonym Fynn- This is one of my favourite books of all time. It is the story of a girl called Anna, of about five years old, who is found by a nineteen-year old boy called Fynn on the streets in London. Fynn takes her home to live with him and his mother because Anna doesn't seem to have a family. It is the story of Anna through Fynn's eyes, her constant outpouring of information about all the different issues in the world and her explanation of her friend and mentor, Mister God. It is an adorable story and it is so sweet.  

Eva's Story by Eva Schloss - Another great book. Eva Schloss is the step-sister of Anne Frank. When Anne, her sister and mother died in the concentration camps, Eva's brother and dad died and therefore Otto Frank and Eva's mum married after the war. I have met Eva Schloss and she signed my copy of Eva's Story. ;) It is not as well known as Anne Frank's diary but I think I prefer Eva's Story. It is so heartbreaking and so authentic that it makes me cry every time I read it. It is the story of Eva's experience in the concentration camps of the Nazis and her story of survival. Every time you read it, it makes you marvel at the things people think they are justified in doing to others. It is really, very sad.

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Recommendations (for holiday books)
All of these are quite short books that could be read over a short period of time and I have chosen a few different categories so you can pick and choose.
FOR THOSE THAT WANT A QUICK READ-
Cool by Michael Morpurgo - the story of a boy called Robbie in a coma after being in a car accident. It is actually really uplifting and surprisingly amusing at times.
The Dancing Bear by Michael Morpurgo - this is the story of a bear that is adopted by a  orphan girl and she raises him but then a film crew comes to the village and they want a dancing bear.
Toro! Toro! by Michael Morpurgo - Antonito lives on a bull farm in Spain. His favourite bull is called Paco but then he finds out that Paco is headed for the bullring.
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FOR THOSE THAT WANT SOME COMEDY 
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell- This is the story of a boy who moves to Corfu with his family and loves animals. He keeps trying to bring wildlife into the house and that, along with his highly eccentric family, makes it a really funny book
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FOR THOSE THAT WANT A LITTLE ROMANCE 
Amy and Roger's EPIC Detour by Morgan Matson- This is the story of a road trip between California and the East Coast. Amy Curry hasn't been able to drive a car since her father's death and so Roger drives them. And you can guess what happens next... ;)
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FOR THOSE THAT WANT TO BE SCARED 
Coraline by Neil Gaiman- I wasn't scared by this book but it is classified as paranormal. It is the story of Coraline, who has moved into a new house and behind the door in her drawing room is another house where live people who have buttons for eyes. It is just really creepy. If you like that...
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Well, finally we have got to the end of this review. Wow, it has been long. I hope you enjoyed it and you like some of the books that I recommend. I have two more reviews coming out, one will probably be today and the other tomorrow morning some time.


Clare

Vertical and Botanical Garden...and the Prado

Hello everyone...
This is another one of those blog posts where I show you what I did while I was on holiday for two weeks in Spain. And on one of the days, my brother and I went to the centre of Madrid and we saw the Prado museum (which is free for students, btw), the Royal Botanical Garden and the vertical garden. So I thought today that I would talk a little bit about those three things. 




First things first, the vertical garden. Its name is the Green Vertical Garden and it is a part of the newest museum in Madrid, the CaixaForum. I actually did go to that museum a few years ago but it was pouring with rain and so I didn't have the chance to look at the garden. There are 15,000 different species of plants on the wall and it was designed by Patrick Blanc, who would like to grow more gardens like it in the UK and China. CaixaForum is also a very interesting place but we didn't go in it on that particular day. We went to the Prado instead. Here is a picture of the vertical garden and that is my brother standing in front of it.

The Royal Botanical Garden, or the Real Jardín Botánico is in Madrid. (It is only about a five minute walk.) According to the little guide that they gave us when we bought our tickets, this garden were made on the order of King Fernando VI in 1755 but it was made on the banks of the Manzanares River. King Carlos III had it transferred to its location now on the Paseo del Prado and it was reopened in 1781. 

Now, I am not a plant fanatic in any sense of the word. I don't enjoy gardening, although I did like it when I was younger, and I don't study any science anymore. But, I can honestly say that you don't have to be interested in plants, to enjoy this garden. There are fruit trees and medicinal plants and a bonsai collection and a greenhouse with three sections of different regulated conditions for plants from the Canary Islands. There are plants from every continent and this garden has helped in scientific expeditions and discoveries all over the world. There is a huge collection of seeds there as well, to help with the reintroduction of species into the wild, research and the protection of biodiversity in Spain and the world. In the library, this garden has the biggest collection of books on botany in Spain, some dating back to the 17th and 18th century.  

I have to say that I am not the best at taking photos. I tend to get distracted by a lot of things and forget that I am photographing the whole park. I also, being me, didn't take pictures of the labels. So, I am just going to show the pictures that I took and hopefully, if you are interested, you can go one day and see for yourself. :) 

There were a lot of statues across the park...of kings probably. There are a lot of statues of kings in Madrid, on horseback usually.

This was a set of vines growing or something. Because it is so hot in Madrid for pretty much all the time in the summer, the plants need so much water and so there were hoses just lying on the soil spraying the plants. 

These sunflowers were huge! Also, while we were driving from Valencia to Madrid in the coach, I saw fields of sunflowers that were all facing the same way, towards the sun obviously. So, sometimes they were facing towards us and sometimes away and it was so cool!

This is my brother again, walking down one of the paths

A collection of plants above. I have a few more but I chose the nicest ones. They are from different areas in the garden but below is how most of the plants from the same species were organised, in regular rows with little hedges to separate them. Also, each plant had a label to say where it came from and was it was.

 Unfortunately, in the Prado, you are not allowed to take pictures so I have none. But, we did go inside and I really enjoyed it. I have been to the National Gallery in London many, many times and I am not a huge fan of art museums, although once or twice is alright for me. My brother is studying Goya, a Spanish artist for school and so we saw a lot of his paintings, (they have three rooms for Goya) and also there was a room full of statues in the basement. If you like art, or you study art, I recommend you go because it is free for students (Yay!) and it is interesting. 

I know I use the words 'interesting' and 'beautiful' a lot on my blog :/ Ah well. I do know other words but I don't spend much time editing the writing; I just write whatever I am thinking at the time. So, I'm sorry about that. 

Anyway, that is it for that blog post. I hope you enjoyed it and maybe found it a little intriguing/interesting. There are book reviews coming but I haven't finished them yet and I think I will publish all three at once. I also have a review on Segovia to finish. That will be coming soon. And stay tuned! I have another book coming out soon! I am so excited. 

Clare 

A tradition worth dying for!

Hello, everyone...

While in Madrid on holiday, I had the opportunity to visit the Plaza de Toros, the famous bullfighting ring. This place is considered to be the home of bullfighting in Spain. It was made to seat 20,000 people but actually seats 23,000 people approximately. It has a Royal Box for the President (and also the King if he is there) and seats in both the shade and sun. And then, of course, there is the large sandy pit where the matador will publicly kill a bull after 'outwitting' it. For those who love the sport of bullfighting, it is considered an art form because there is no competition involved and the matador must perform several different moves with the bull, almost like a dance. 

The Ring 

The structure of a bullfight is deeply engrained into tradition. In Spain, a bullfight is called corrida de toros and is split up into four separate parts. The first part is the parade, where all the participants of the bullfight come into the arena and salute the President (and the King if he is there.) We, (my brother and I) had an audio guide during the tour and it said that the costumes that the bullfighters wear are made by hand. If that is true, that is amazing because the details on each costume is incredible. 

And then, there is the first part of the actual fight, which is called the Tercio de Varas. The audience first see the bull released into the arena, where the matadores and banderilleros engage the bull with a cape, making the bull charge it and observing weaknesses in the bull and which side the bull favours. Then, in the same part, picadores will enter the arena on horseback. (The horses are blindfolded and wearing padding for protection.) The picador will proceed to stab the bull in the shoulder/back of the neck with a lance. It is the first blood drawn. 

The second part is called the Tercio de Banderilleros. Three banderilleros each attempt to stick two barbed sticks into the back of the bull. Sometimes, the matador will also try and stab the bull with his own stick. This further weakens and angers the bull. 

The last part is called the Tercio de Muerte, where the matador will re-enter the ring alone, with only a cape and a sword. He uses the cape to show his dominance over the bull, by causing it to charge particularly close to his body. Then, he will stab the bull through the heart with the sword. 

Very rarely, if the bull had done especially well and the audience have liked him, they will wave their handkerchiefs and the President will have to decide whether or not to let the bull go. 

The building itself is actually very interesting though, whether or not you like the sport. From the outside, it looks a bit like a gladiator ring or something else from ancient Rome. It is all very grand and patriotic with the Spanish flag hanging from the roof. Over the door, there are mosaics that tell the history of bullfighting. The arena is in the centre and takes up most of the space in the building. There are seats in the sun and in the shade, the latter being more expensive obviously, but also the price of seats depends on how close you are to the ring. Around the edges of the arena were the tunnels that are used to release the bull into the ring. The bullfighting season is from March to October and so, as we walked around the edge of the ring, we could hear the bulls that were being kept in stables next to the arena. For some reason, in front of the stables, there was a taxidermy of a real bull. Why? I don't know. The Plaza de Toros is a circular building but at the back, in a separate area are the stables for the horses that are used in the parade and by the picador. We saw the padding that is used for protection. It was huge. I know that bulls are extremely strong animals and their horns are extremely dangerous, but this was ridiculous. It is a wonder that the horse can stand up, let alone carry a person on its back and move around. There is also an infirmary, (because bulls can kill and/or gore or permanently injure the matadors with their horns) and a chapel that we did not see. 

Outside of the Plaza de Toros 

Outside of the Plaza de Toros 

The stands

Artwork at the back of the building 

The Royal Box

Now, I am sure I could go on for a long time about bullfighting and the points for it and against it but that would get boring. I am going to say though that, to me, bullfighting is an unnecessary part of tradition. It is cruel, no matter whether or not the bulls for a ring have a better life than the bulls used for food and it is barbaric. I was talking about this to a Spaniard here in Spain and they said that bullfighting is an art form, a 'dance' was the word they used to honour the strength of the bull. I was told that I should not ridicule it because it was very important to many people. But to me, in the same wag bear baiting was stopped and dog/cock fighting in England, I think some traditions should be removed as to keep them is to keep a very primal way of thinking. I won't go into details about the life of the bull in the last days before it is sent to the ring but there is nothing about it that honours the strength or the grandeur of this animal that is driven into a fury before being killed in a heinous way in front of thousands of people.

Okay, well that is it for this blog post. There will probably be a few more like it because I had the pleasure of visiting many cool places in Madrid and in Spain. What is your opinion on bullfighting? Is it a sport that can be justified because it is part of tradition? Or is it just cruel? 

B.T.W. I am sorry for the quality of my photos. I am not the best with a camera :/

Clare 

#MyNIVEAFashionMoment

Hello everyone, 
This is going to be a very quick blog post because I only had the idea today. So, at the moment, Nivea is doing a campaign of sorts. You go into a Superdrug store, in England or Wales and you take a selfie on the Nivea catwalk, posting it on social media with the hashtag #MyNIVEAFashionMoment. They give you a free goodie bag for participating and they also give £5 to Marie Curie Cancer Research on your behalf. The closing date is the 31st of July so, if you want to go, I recommend you do so soon. I suspect most Superdrug stores are doing it. I did it and I will just show you what I got in my goodie bag. If you want to see my extremely uncomfortable photo on the catwalk, check out my Instagram  here. :)

Here are all the details- you are also entered to win a £500 ASOS voucher
(I am sorry about the quality- it did come out clear with the camera so I am not sure what has happened)

NIVEA Refreshingly Soft Moisturising Cream

NIVEA Antiperspirant (Invisible for black and white)

NIVEA Refreshing Facial Cleansing Wipes 

NIVEA Anti-Wrinkle Day Cream (SPF 15)

NIVEA Lip Butter Blueberry Blush 

Okay, well that is it for now. I do recommend that you go because it is for a good cause and you do get something out of it. So have fun!


Clare