National Gardening Day (U.K)

We’ve got lots of exciting plans for National Gardening Week this year. We'll be focussing on two main themes for the week; Horticultural Careers and Wildflowers.

Why is Britain going wild for Wildflowers?

We want to help the Nation plant wildflower meadows from mini-meadows in plant pots to transforming spaces in gardens. Some of our plans include hosting workshops at RHS Gardens and providing online advice, as well as our wildflower seed giveaway.

Sue Biggs, RHS Director General says: “After enjoying the Olympic Park wildflower meadows in 2012 there is a great appetite from the British public to create their own version at home, which is great news for pollinating insects!”

Over the past 50 years we’ve seen a huge reduction in wildflowers in the countryside, which play a vital part in biodiversity and creating a habitat for pollinating insects. Gardens are increasingly recognised as important sources of nectar and pollen for insects. It has been estimated that the value of insect-pollinated fruits and vegetables grown in the UK is about £220 million a year. Encouraging people across the country to plant wildflowers will help protect their habitat.

The RHS has developed extensive advice on what to plant, visit RHS Plants for Pollinators and look out for the Plants for Pollinators logo in garden centres.Over the past ten years Ragley Gardens have been developing their grounds, clearing large over grown areas to make way for new gardens of interest including a Crevice Garden for alpines, a Prairie Garden for late summer interest and a new contemporary Rose Garden.

To help mark this achievement and our partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society we are celebrating National Gardening Week with an Open Day on 17th April 2013.

Experts will be on hand to help get you going in the right direction. There will be special talks and demonstrations and the chance to ask questions or even just chat to the experts about your favourite plant.

April is the perfect month to get stuck into the garden and get some real work under way. The days are getting noticeably longer and the weather is warming up. Things are bursting into life and colour is blooming all around.

Newest retail temple in Leeds

Leeds, an oft unsung northern getaway, has long been known for its lively bars and energetic nightlife. Now, it has added another string to its bow.

More than 130,000 people visited the new Trinity Leeds shopping centre when it opened its doors on a chilly Thursday morning last month.

Work on this £350million retail temple restarted in 2010 after a 16-month hiatus caused by the recession saw building falter. When the shopping and leisure centre finally officially opened its doors, there was significant fanfare.

The centre is still a work in progress to some extent. Popular names such as Victoria’s Secret, Primark and the Everyman Cinema are yet to open.

One innovative feature that more shopping centres should implement was the licensed busking spots dotted around the mall. We counted at least four budding musicians who were playing guitars both inside and outside including a singer called Joseph Francis, who had more than a few female fans watching him strum the guitar.

Trinity Leeds has invested half a million pounds into a range of artwork for the centre and created 2,600 new jobs across the city. 

Paul Smith, Marketing Manager for the centre said: ‘Set in the heart of Leeds and joining the three busiest shopping streets under our stunning, sweeping dome roof, Trinity Leeds brings the largest range of shops ever to the city for visitors to enjoy.

'Pop-up shops, performances and art installations are all in the pipeline', he adds.

Even with the boost of Trinity Leeds, the city perhaps can't quite do battle with some of the nation's other shopping goliaths; the Bullring (Birmingham), Meadowhall (Sheffield) or Trafford Centre (Manchester).

However, there are lots of shopping gems spread out across the city. Sitting between Briggate and Vicar Lane is the upmarket Victoria Quarter, which is home to luxury stores and an undeniably fabulous interior of marble and mosaics.

Harvey Nichols is the stand-out store in the Victoria Quarter with its fashionably-dressed customers and glamorous neighbouring shops. But it isn’t just shopping that the West Yorkshire city has to offer - there is fine-dining galore and for culture vultures, museums, art and theatres.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Refugee Boy, a novel by Benjamin Zephaniah about a 14-year-old refugee from Ethiopia and his stay in London, showing at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. Starring Fisayo Akinade as refugee Alem Kelo, the packed-out theatre sat enthralled by the small cast and great acting.

 Dinner at Piazza By Anthony is just the ticket - with an amazing setting in the historic landmark building, the Corn Exchange.

This brasserie-style restaurant is perfectly paired with stunning surroundings.

The large bedrooms at this stylish hotel are surprisingly quiet considering it is so central. Located just five minutes walk from the main shops and sitting near the train station it was easy to find.

The bedrooms boasted a gold, blue and red colour scheme and the grandiose reception area was stylish, with friendly staff.

Return train tickets from London to Leeds start at £49, visit www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk

The New Ellington Hotel offers overnight accommodation, breakfast and shopping vouchers for Trinity Leeds for £225 per couple, visit www.thenewellington.com

More information on Anthony's Restaurant can be found at www.anthonysrestaurant.co.uk/piazza/

For more information on Leeds, visit www.visitleeds.co.uk

Australia a vista de pájaro

Se cree que los aborígenes australianos llegaron a estas tierras en barco, desde el sudeste asiático durante la última glaciación, hace al menos 50.000 años. En la época del descubrimiento y colonización europea, un millón de aborígenes vivían en el continente y eran cazadores y recolectores.  Se distribuían en 300 clanes,hablaban 250 idiomas y 700 dialectos. Cada clan tenía una conexión espiritual con un territorio específico, pero también viajaban para comerciar, buscar agua, frutas y verduras de temporada además de realizar reuniones rituales y celebraciones totémicas.


Diversos exploradores europeos navegaron por la costa de Australia, conocida en aquella época como Nueva Holanda, en el siglo XVII. Sin embargo, no fue hasta 1770 en que el capitán James Cook desembarcó en la costa este y reclamó el territorio como británico. El nuevo puesto se utilizó como colonia penitenciaria y, el 26 de enero de 1788, la primera flota de 11 barcos que transportaba 1.500 personas, la mitad presidiarios, llegó al puerto de Sídney. Hasta que el transporte de presos finalizó en 1868, 160.000 hombres y mujeres llegaron a Australia como presidiarios. 

En 1825, un grupo de soldados y presidarios se asentaron en el territorio de la tribu Yuggera, cerca de la actual ciudad de Brisbane. Perth fue colonizada por caballeros ingleses en 1829, y en 1835 un colono ilegal zarpó de la bahía de Puerto Phillip y eligió la ubicación para la ciudad de Melbourne. Al mismo tiempo, una compañía privada británica, orgullosa de no tener vínculo alguno con los presidarios, colonizó Adelaida en Australia Meridional.

El oro se descubrió en Nueva Gales del Sur y en la zona central de Victoria en 1851, lo que atrajo a miles de hombres jóvenes y algunas jóvenes mujeres aventureras de las colonias. Se unieron a barcos cargados de buscadores de oro procedentes de China y a un carnaval caótico de artistas, dueños de pubs, vendedores ilegales de bebidas alcohólicas, prostitutas y farsantes de todos los rincones del mundo. En Victoria, los intentos del gobernador británico por imponer el orden (con licencias de pago mensual e ineptos oficiales supervisores) desembocaron en la sangrienta lucha contra la autoridad de Eureka Stockade en 1854. A pesar de la violencia en los yacimientos de oro, las riquezas obtenidas de este metal precioso y la lana propiciaron grandes inversiones en Melbourne y Sídney que, durante la década de 1880, se convirtieron en ciudades modernas y elegantes.

Los seis estados de Australia se convirtieron en una nación regida por una única constitución el 1 de enero de 1901. Una de las primeras leyes del nuevo parlamento nacional fue aprobar una legislación, conocida posteriormente como la Política de la Australia blanca, que restringía la migración a personas de origen principalmente europeo. Esta política dejo de tener validez progresivamente tras la II Guerra Mundial y, hoy en día, Australia es el hogar de personas procedentes de más de 200 países. 

Lost in Austen country on a literary tour of her much-loved Hampshire

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Pride And Prejudice is one of Britain's best-loved novels. 

Flicking through the visitor book at the modest Jane Austen's House Museum, I find more than one declaration of love for the author's brooding male protagonist. 

'Mr Darcy is a misunderstood man,' reads one entry. 'Lydia needs a smack,' rebukes another.

This year, the nation celebrates 200 years since Austen's most famous tome was published, and it seems Darcy and the spirited Elizabeth Bennet remain just as cherished by readers as ever. 

As I arrive at the museum, a pretty 17th Century cottage surrounded by the thatched roofs and quiet village green of Chawton on the edge of the South Downs in Hampshire, a group of Americans from the New York State chapter of the Jane Austen Society also sweep in on the trail of their literary heroine.

In a set-up not unlike that of the Dashwoods in Sense And Sensibility, Austen lived with her mother, sister Cassandra and good friend Martha Lloyd in a cottage on her brother's grand estate from 1809 until 1817. 

Seeing the tiny table where Austen sat and put her beloved characters on to the page, and the humble bedroom she shared with her sister, is just half the story. It's the knowledgeable volunteers at the museum who truly bring Austen's legacy to life.

They talk of 'Jane' as if she were a treasured niece and indulgently chuckle over the wry letters she wrote and adventures she had. 

Seek out Ann Channon, the house manager. There is nothing she doesn't know about Austen and she has tales galore of Colin Firth's visits when he was playing Mr Darcy in the BBC adaptation. The boost to visitor numbers after the series aired in 1995 was so great that it is referred to as The Colin Firth Year.

In the reading room, I flick through copies of Austen novels, sequels, prequels and adaptations. There is even a Dummies' Guide To Jane Austen. 

My favourite find, though, is a portrait of Austen's cousin the Rev Edward Cooper. The caption reads: 'Jane Austen's cousin, sermon and hymn writer. In their youth Jane found him "cheerful and amusing" but his growing evangelical zeal made him a less engaging correspondent with the passing of time.' Perhaps he was the inspiration for the awkward Mr Collins? 

From the modest cottage, I feel just like Austen herself as I walk to the 'Great House' where her brother Edward Knight (he changed his name after he was adopted as an heir to childless relatives) resided. 

The little church at the foot of the drive is where Austen's sister and mother are buried, while Jane's remains (she died at the age of 41) are in Winchester Cathedral. The grand manor house is now the Chawton House Library, celebrating literary works by women writers in honour of its links with the Austens.

There are thousands of unusual works (a book on 16th Century midwifery, anyone?), including first editions, all available for public use. The charitable trust also hosts a series of lectures – including one planned by Simon Langton, who directed the BBC's adaptation of Pride And Prejudice, for the book's bicentenary.

Beyond the grand Armada fireplace in the great room and the tapestries and wood panelling that transport me to a different time, my favourite spot by far is the alcove in the ladies' drawing room. 

It is here that Austen sat and watched village life go on at the end of the driveway. I settle down to do the same, watching her American fans weaving among the cottages, the first of many who will make the pilgrimage to Jane's world this year.

Entry to Jane Austen's House Museum costs £7.50 for adults and £2 for children. For information on the bicentenary celebrations, visit

www.prideandprejudice200.org.uk. 

El Galés también se habla en Argentina

El galés (Cymraeg) es un idioma perteneciente al grupo britónico de la familia de lenguas celtas. Es hablado en el País de Gales, en el Reino Unido (150.000 personas), donde aproximadamente 611.000 personas (el 22% de la población de Gales) lo utilizan como su lengua principal, especialmente en la zona norte del país. El galés es idioma oficial junto con el inglés. También se habla en el sur de la República Argentina, más específicamente en la patagónica Provincia de Chubut, donde vive la mayor comunidad galesa fuera de las Islas Británicas. Chubut, oficialmente Provincia del Chubut (en galés, Talaith: 'Chubut'), está ubicada en la Patagonia, entre los paralelos 42 y 46 de latitud sur. Limita al norte con la provincia de Río Negro, al este con el Mar Argentino, al sur con Santa Cruz y al oeste con la República de Chile. Su capital es Rawson y la ciudad con mayor cantidad de habitantes es Comodoro Rivadavia. 

La Colonización galesa en Argentina tuvo lugar en el siglo XIX, generando una nueva colonia hablante de galés en la Provincia del Chubut, que se llamó Y Wladfa en esa lengua. La colonización galesa estableció las primeras bases de civilización permanente en Chubut, donde varias de las principales ciudades fueron fundadas por los colonos, además de mantenerse toponimia en galés, raíces e intercambio cultural con el país de Gales y un uso disminuído pero vigente del idioma, que se sigue enseñando en escuelas privadas.

La población de origen galés se ha integrado en forma completa al resto de la comunidad, pero muchos descendientes mantienen vivo el idioma y la cultura, que se renueva cada año con la celebración del festival denominado Eisteddfod; actualmente es estimada en torno de los 72.685 mil habitantes galeses-argentinos viviendo en el territorio de la Republica Argentina.

St.Patrick´s Day

The person who was to become St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born in Wales about AD 385. His given name was Maewyn, and he almost didn't get the job of bishop of Ireland because he lacked the required scholarship. Far from being a saint, until he was 16, he considered himself a pagan. At that age, he was sold into slavery by a group of Irish marauders that raided his village. During his captivity he became a Christian and adopted the name Patrick.

He escaped from slavery after six years and went to Gaul where he studied in the monastery under St. Germain, bishop of Auxerre for a period of twelve years. During his training he got the notion that his calling was to convert the pagans to Christianity.

His wishes were to return to Ireland, to convert the native pagans to Christianity. But his superiors instead appointed St. Palladius. But two years later, Palladius transferred to Scotland. Patrick was then appointed as second bishop to Ireland.

Hamlet´s quotes

"This above all: to thine own self be true" Hamlet quote (Act I, Sc. III).
"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so" Hamlet quote (Act II, Sc. II). 
"What a piece of work is man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals! " Hamlet quote (Act II, Sc. II).
"And it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man". (Hamlet Quote Act I, Scene III)." 
"Brevity is the soul of wit". -  Hamlet Quote (Act II, Scene II).

"Doubt that the sun doth move, doubt truth to be a liar, but never doubt I love". Hamlet Quote (Act II, Sc. II).
"Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind". - (Hamlet Quote Act III, Scene I).
"When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions". - (Hamlet Quote Act IV, Scene V).




And keep you in the rear of your affection,
Out of the shot and danger of desire.
The chariest maid is prodigal enough
If she unmask her beauty to the moon. (1.3.35)


Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportioned thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar;
The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel. (1.3.59)


The time is out of joint; O curs'd spite,
That ever I was born to set it right! (1.5.188)




The rest is silence. (5.2.348)