Before we went to Barcelona, we read our Lonely Planet guide thoroughly, and were particularly taken with this nugget;
"Having become a favourite of Barcelona's working class in the run-up to the civil war, vermouth then fell out of favour (though certainly didn't disappear), but has experienced a dazzling revival over the last decade. New vermouth bars are opening all over town; historical vermouth joints are more popular than ever; and creative artisan varieties are on the up. Join the barcelonins for la hora del vermut (the hour of vermouth), typically around noon."
So it seemed appropriate to have our very first vermouth in Barcelona at the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, after having seen a spectacular amount of local art. Based on red or white wine, vermouth is infused with botanicals and fortified with brandy. It is thought to have arrived in Catalonia in the mid-19th century.
Bar Calders is described as "unbeatable as an all-day cafe, tapas, wine and vermouth bar; the outdoor tables are the go-to meeting point for Saint Antoni's boho set." We are also reliably informed that "vermouth is always accompanied by snacks such as tapas of croquettes, anchovies, patates braves or even crisps". Or, as it happens, this cheesy number.
At Port Vell we sat on the verandah at Sagardi on Pier 1, watching the super yachts and for a few seconds seating in prime real estate imagining we could hitch a ride on one of them. This was a very swanky restaurant and I don't think we were welcome to sit inside as we were wearing shorts and t-shirts but I reckon Him Outdoors looked the part in his holiday hat. The guide book informs us that "perfect vermouth is usually served over ice and with an olive or two, and sometimes, a slice of orange". (Or, in this case, lemon.)
My favourite piece of vermouth lore is that "the hour of vermouth is as much about the intimate social scene as the drink itself". Nowhere was more intimate than this gorgeous wee bar, La Vermuteria del Tano, where the barkeep chatted to her friend, who translated for us, there were trays of olives and the vermouth was kept in a safe.
On a recent trip to Sydney, we went to the World Press Photo Exhibition 2023 at the State Library of New South Wales. The annual exhibition presents the results of the 2023 World Press Photo Contest - the best and most important photojournalism and documentary photography of the last year. The winners were chosen by an independent jury that reviewed more than 60,448 photographs entered by 3,752 photographers.
We all know that bad news sells - few people want to read good news stories - and so it is with the photos in this exhibition. There are harrowing images of war, floods, drought, poverty, incarceration, and ecological disasters, leading to a warning such as the one above, and the one below: the photo of the year.
Mariupol Maternity Hospital Airstrike by Evgeniy Malolekta
Iryna Kalinina (32), an injured pregnant woman, is carried from a maternity hospital that was damaged during a Russian airstrike in Mariupol, Ukraine, on 9 March 2022. Her baby, named Miron (after the word for 'peace') was stillborn, and half an hour later Iryna died as well. An OSCE report concluded the hospital was deliberately targeted by Russia, resulting in three deaths and some 17 injuries. The jury felt the photo depicted an attack on the future of Ukraine. Evgeniy Maloletka photographed the image on assignment for Associated Press.
The port of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov was the first city struck when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Civilians were hit hard.
The strategically important port is one of the largest Russian-0speaking cities in Ukraine, a major industrial hub, and vital for the country's steel exports. The territory was also of symbolic value to invading forces as it represented a large step towards building a land bridge between the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) and Crimea, which Russia had illegally annexed in 2014.
Images from The Siege of Mariupol by Evgeniy Maloletka
Top: 06 March 2022 - Zhanna Goma (right) and her neighbours settle in a bomb shelter in Mariupol, Ukraine.
Middle left: 11 March 2022 - Serhiy Kralya, a civilian injured during shelling by Russian forces, rests after surgery at a hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine.
Middle right: 11 March 2022 - Russian army tanks move through a street on the outskirts of Mariupol. The Z marking is one of several symbols painted on Russian military vehicles in the early stages of the invasion.
Bottom left: 04 March 2022 - Marina Yatsko and her boyfriend Olesksandr Kulahin bring her 18-moth son Kirill, fatally wounded during shelling, to a hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine.
Bottom right: 09 March 2022 - People place dead bodies in a mass grave in an old cemetery in Mariupol. According to the BBC, on some days during periods of heavy Russian shelling, up to 150 people a day were buried in mass graves.
By early March, Russian forces had completely surrounded the city, restricting water, power and food supplies. Some 200,000 citizens were trapped in Mariupol, as attempts to evacuate them failed. Russian bombardment devastated the city, and included civilian targets such as a maternity hospital and a theatre where people were sheltering. Evgeniy Maloletka, who is Ukrainian, was one of very few photographers documenting events in Mariupol at that time.
Image from The Siege of Mariupol by Evgeniy Malolekta
On 21 April, President Vladimir Putin announced that Russian forces had taken Mariupol, but the city council said that 1,000 civilians alongside thousands of Ukrainian soldiers were holding out in the giant Azovstal steelworks. By 20 May, the soldiers defending the steelworks had surrendered, and the UN and Red Cross were able to evacuate the citizens. The UN Human Rights Office confirmed 1,348 civilian deaths during the siege of Mariupol, stating that the actual death toll was likely thousands higher: Ukraine says that figure is more than 25,000.
At the time of this exhibition in April 2023, Mariupol remained under Russian occupation. Russia has begun rebuilding the city and scrubbing it of its Ukrainian identity by renaming streets and changing school curriculums.
The exhibition includes a short history of World Press Photo: since 1955, World Press Photo has connected the world to the stories that matter. The non-profit organisation remains committed to press freedom and the power of visual journalism by providing platforms that present accurate, diverse, and trustworthy images.
1955 - A group of Dutch photographers organizes the first World Press Photo contest to introduce their work to a global audience
1967 -Although black-and-white pictures still dominate the submissions, and chromogenic printing remains expensive, the jury awards World Press Photo of the Year to a colour photograph for the first time
1972 - The annual exhibition featuring current winners of the World Press Photo contest begins to tour outside the Netherlands. Since then, the exhibition has travelled to 129 countries
1977 - Francoise Demulder becomes the first woman whose work is awarded World Press Photo of the Year
1990 Charlie Cole's photograph of a demonstrator in front of tanks in Tiananmen Square becomes a symbol of peaceful resistance. To this day, this picture remains banned in China
Tank Man, Tiananmen Square by Charlie Cole
2002 - Fourteen years after creation of the JPEG, digital entries surpass analogue entries for the first time in the history of the contest
2019 - John Moore's photograph of a child from Honduras at the US border, which wins World Press Photo of the Year, leads to the repeal of the 'Zero Tolerance' policy that permitted separating immigrant parents from their children when apprehended
2021- To better represent a plurality of perspectives and global voices, World Press Photo introduces a new regional strategy, changing the set-up of the annual contest, the categories, and the judging
2022 World Press Photo of the Year by Amber Bracken
2022 - With her photograph of a roadside memorial commemorating the deaths of indigenous children who attended the Kamloops Indian Residential School in Canada, Amber Bracken becomes the first person to win World Press Photo of the Year without depicting a human figure
Woman, Life, Freedom
This photo-based video project narrates one chaotic night in the life of an Iranian nurse as she saves the life of a young protestor called Reza. The footage offers a rare glimpse into the dangers faced by protestors on the streets of Iran today, situated in the context of an inciting incident: on 16 September 2022, Mahsa 'Jina' Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, died after she was arrested by the Islamic Republic's morality police for allegedly violation the country's strict rules restricting the dress and conduct of women. The ensuing protests quickly intensified, spreading across the country. The Islamic Republic responded by disrupting internet access and violently repressing uprisings. Because hospitals are controlled by the regime, anyone injured in the protests risks arrest and further abuse upon seeking medical attention.
Iranian photographer Hossein Fatemi encountered the nurse in the video while providing support to local Iranian photographers covering the protests. Images and video for this project were captured by local photojournalists, the nurse herself, and a photographer on assignment to cover her story. Journalists and photographers attempting to report on the protests face reprisals from the Iranian regime, ranging from intimidation to arrest and violent abuse. Due to these efforts, it is difficult to know what is really happening inside the country. Many of the photographers who captured the images seen here will remain anonymous for security reasons.
Images from The Price of Peace in Afghanistan by Mads Nissen
These two images are from a collection that won World Press Photo Story of the Year, which captures the daily life of people living across Afghanistan in 2022. The top image shows Khalil Ahmad (15), whose parents, unable to afford food for the family, decided to sell his kidney for US$3,500. After the operation, Khalil suffers chronic pain and no longer has the strength for football and cricket. The lack of jobs and the threat of starvation has led to a dramatic increase in the illegal organ trade.
The bottom image shows women and children begging for bread outside a bakery in central Kabul, Afghanistan. Bread is a staple in Afghanistan, but soaring prices have forced more and more people to rely entirely on the compassion of others.
In August 2021, the withdrawal of US and allied forces from Afghanistan marked the end of a 20-year long attempt at nation-building. Taliban forces, having sustained an insurgency across the country, returned to power shortly after the collapse of the Afghan state. Consequently, all international aid, which in 2019 accounted for an estimated 80 percent of the country's expenditures, was halted, and 7 to 9 billion dollars of assets belonging to the Afghan state were frozen. Without these two sources of government income, the already fragile Afghan economy effectively collapsed.
National gross domestic product of Afghanistan dropped to around 25 percent of its peak in early 2021. Estimates for 2022 suggest that 97 percent of the population lives below the poverty line and 95 percent of people do not have enough to eat. Nine million people are at risk of famine and, according to the UN, over a million children are severely malnourished. COVID-19, intense droughts, and the inability of aid organisations to bring relief to those in need have all exacerbated the crisis, which is only expected to worsen in 2023.
The Nomad's Final Journey by Jonathan Fontaine
This highly-commended image shows Samira (16) looking out onto Qolodo camp near Gode in the Somali Region, Ethiopia, on 16 May 2022. Her family owned 45 goats and 10 camels, all of which died during recent droughts.
Nomadic peoples of Ethiopia and Somalia depend on their livestock, migrating across their territory to pasture their animals. In recent years water scarcity has threatened these livestock. Exacerbated by the climate crisis, droughts have devastated the region which, according to the World Food Program, now endanger the food security of over 26 million people. With many families forced to seek aid in climate refugee camps, social structures are weakening, precipitating violence against women and a host of mental health crises.
As droughts persist annually, women, who are often responsible for finding water, bear an enormous share of the physical and mental toll exacted by the ongoing crisis.
The text in the image above reads: This map, generated by RSF (Reporters Sans Frontiers) represents the current state of press freedom in 180 countries and territories. To arrive at the results compiled and visualised here RSF conducted extensive research during the past calendar year. In addition to distributing questionnaires among journalists, RSF also employed a panel of experts who ranked press freedom around the world according to five equally-weighted criteria: political context, legal framework, economic context, sociocultural context and safety. Their rankings are coded by colour, with the highest level of press freedom classified as 'good situation'. As you can see, that's pretty much Scandinavia. And that's it.
Part of Me by Nadia Shira Cohen
Surrogate mothers Vin Win (right) and Ry Ly (left) were arrested during a raid to fight trafficking in 2018. They live near one another and their children from surrogacy, Korng (3, left) and Phavit (4, right) often play together. Vin Win is separated from her husband who resents the situation.
This series portrays Cambodian surrogate mothers who have been required to raise their surrogate children as their own ever since Cambodia began prosecuting surrogacy in 2016.
Surrogacy - the act of carrying and birthing a baby for another person or couple - was accepted in practice in Cambodia until 2016, when the government started prosecuting surrogate mothers under already existing human trafficking laws. In 2018, a raid on a house in Phnom Penh led to the arrest and imprisonment of 32 women who were acting as surrogates to predominantly Chinese parents. Nearly all gave birth in confinement and, after sentencing by the Cambodian Supreme Court, all were obliged to raise the babies themselves or face prison terms.
Many of the women sought surrogacy arrangements with Chinese family planning agencies in order to help their families escape impoverishment and, in some instances, indebtedness from microfinance loans. In recent years, Cambodian households have become some of the most indebted on Earth and a major contributing factor has been the poorly regulated microfinancing sector. The rising burden of financial debt has resulted in an increase in child labour and families forced to sell their homes and land. For many of the women portrayed in this series, surrogacy represented a way out of debt, but now with the court ruling against them, their lives have become more difficult. Despite financial, social, and personal challenges, many of the would-be surrogate mothers have formed a deep bond with their children even as they express sadness that their children will not be able to benefit from the economic advantages that their biological parents could provide.
Death of a Nation by Kimberly dela Cruz
Winner of the long-term projects in the Southeast Asia and Oceania category, this project documents the Philippines' drugs offensive from its outset, capturing its broadening focus and the continued impact on families involved. The above photograph shows Jazmine Durana (15) cradling her month-old daughter Hazel on 2 February 2017, at the wake of her partner John 'Toto' Dela Cruz (16), who was shot by men wearing black masks a few days earlier.
Soon after taking office in June 2016, Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte began a concerted 'war on drugs', repeatedly ordering attacks against suspects. A surge of extrajudicial killings followed, perpetrated not only by police but also by masked vigilantes and other civilians. Amnesty International reports that executions mostly target low-income communities. The Philippine National Police admits to more than 6,000 such deaths to date; local human rights organisations put the figure at 30,000. The police appear to act with impunity, with only a handful of these killings being seriously investigated and almost no prosecutions.
Images from Death of a Nation
Top left: November 01, 2016 - Neighbours survey the crime scene hours after masked men massacred Manuel Evangelista, Admar Velarde, Paulo Tuboro, Jennifer Discargar, and Catalino Algueles, in Mandaluyong, the Philippines.
Top Right: 04 January 2017 - AJ (16) mourns at the scene where unidentified assailants have shot his neighbour Antonio Perez outside his home in Pasay City, the Philippines.
Bottom left: March 04, 2017 - the body of Kristita Padual lies at the crime scene, after unidentified murderers killed her and Ernesto Moritz while they were having dinner beside the road, in Quezon City, the Philippines.
Bottom right: December 09, 2016 - Men shield their faces from the media after being arrested in a food factory that the police claimed to be a drug den, in Pandacan, Manila, the Philippines.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the Philippines has a low prevalence of drug use compared to the global average. Human rights organisations such as the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and Amnesty International say killings often target political opponents, activists or marginalised groups. A Human Rights Watch report found that many of the killings that police attributed to drug gangs to be a veneer to shield themselves from culpability for executions carried out without legal process - an accusation the police refute, claiming self-defense.
Images from Death of a Nation
Top left: 08 September 2019 - Nestor and Alma watch the evening news, in Quezon City, the Philippines. Exactly three years earlier, their son Richard was killed during a police operation - an event that was reported on the news at the time.
Top right: 21 February 2022 - The family of Rovelyn and Richard Cham receive the urns containing their ashes in Tayuman, Manila, the Philippines. Unknown gunmen killed the couple at home in 2016.
Bottom left: 22 November 2019 - Mothers and widows of war-on-drugs victims rehearse for a theatre performance in Tondo, Manilla, the Philippines. Sarah Celiz (centre) lost two of her sons in 2016 and 2017 and was left to care for her 12 grandchildren. The performance was organised by Paghilom (Healing), a program started in 2016 by former drug user Father Flaviano Villanueva for the families of victims of the war on drugs, providing them with support and counseling.
Bottom right: 14 February 2022 - Mary Anne Domingo stands outside a courthouse after giving testimony, in Caloocan, the Philippines. She brought a case against the police after her husband and son were killed in a raid in 2016. The trial commenced in 2021.
In 2020, Fatou Bensouda, then the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, said there was a 'reasonable basis to believe' that crimes against humanity had been committed in the Philippines in connection with President Duterte's drugs offensive. In July 2022, Duterte's successor President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced a refocus of the anti-drug offensive onto rehabilitation, however, killings continue and reforms have not yet been made to rehabilitation programs, according to Human Rights Watch.
The photographer has been documenting the war on drugs since its outset, and the jury commended her ability to capture the continued impact on families involved.
The Dying River by Jonas Kako (winner of the North and Central America, Singles category)
Alfredo, Ubaldo, and Jose tend beehives near Wenden in the Arizona desert, United States. A substantial decrease in rainfall in the area means that the men must now provide water for the bees in troughs. Heat and drought weakens bees, making them more susceptible to pathogens and parasites, and impacts the pants from which they feed. Between 2019 and 2020, colonies of managed honey-bees declined by 43.7% across the US. Bees are vital for pollinating many crops, and so play an important role in food security for humans.
This image is part of a broader project on how the climate crisis and increasing water demand are affecting the Colorado River, which flows nearby. Annual flow in the Colorado River has shrunk 20 percent in the past 30 years, according to a river program manager. The Colorado relies on snow melt from the Rocky Mountains and precipitation in upstream forests that collects in lakes and natural reservoirs. Drought and global heating have accelerated evaporation from reservoirs, and melted snowpack faster, so that rivers run dry earlier in the season. Hot, dry conditions have also parched the soil, which soaks up precipitation before it even reaches the river.
Water diverted for agriculture accounts for up to 80 percent of consumption in the Colorado River Basin, and a series of dams along the course of the river - providing drinking water to more than 40 million people and hydroelectric power to meet the needs of some seven million - further shrinks the flow.
In late 2022, the US government implemented severe restrictions on river-water use in states along the course of the Colorado River, cutting Arizona's annual allocation by 21 percent.
Jury comment: This portrait of beekeepers is visually clean and sparks interest and curiosity to understand the issue at hand. The image is subtle and understated, and the jury was impressed by the composition of bees across all thirds. While the topic resonates at ag global level, the image itself encourages us to sit with these particular people and consider how they might be impacted by the ongoing environmental crisis.
Oil Spill in Lima by Musuk Nolte
On 15 January, nearly 12,000 barrels of crude oil spilled into the sea while a tanker was unloading at Repsol's La Pampilla refinery. Repsol, the Peruvian government, and the Italian tanker company each disputed the cause of the spillage, trading accusations of negligence, inadequacy of equipment, and mismanagement.
The spill extended over 7.13 square kilometres, polluting beaches, killing wildlife, and impacting livelihoods in what the Peruvian government termed the country's worst ecological disaster in recent memory.
The oil reached three marine protected areas: Lomas de Ancon, the Pescadores Islets, and Punta Salina. The plankton-rich Peruvian Pacific waters sustain a chain of marine life, from anchovies to dolphins and seabirds. Marine mammals and birds are especially vulnerable, as the oil affects their eyes, nasal tissue and their insulating capacity, potentially leading to suffocation and hypothermia. Commercial fisheries, people relying on tourism, and local communities dependent on seafood for their diets also suffered. UN experts believe the effects of the spill will last up to ten years.
Alpaqueros by Alessandro Cinque
Vital to the livelihoods of many people in the Peruvian Andes, alpacas face new challenges due to the climate crisis. Part of the camelid family, alpacas can endure the high altitudes of the Andes and are a critical source of income for farmers in an environment where few or no crops can be cultivated. They are primarily bred for their fine fibre (wool) which is highly prized for knitwear and woven cloth. Tens of thousands of Andean families depend on raising alpacas or dealing in their fibre for subsistence. Among local Indigenous communities such as the Quechia, alpacas are also embedded in cultural and ritual life.
The climate crisis is putting alpacas and the communities they sustain at risk. Shorter rainy seasons and more intense, longer periods of drought are shrinking natural pastures and reducing the quality of the grass on which alpacas feed. In addition, meltwater from Peru's glaciers, which supports high meadows during the long dry season, is declining rapidly. Peruvian glaciers retreated by 53 percent between 1962 and 2016.
These challenges threaten not only the alpacas, but the loss of high-Andean cultural identity, as alpaquero (alpaca-farmer) communities are forced to move to even greater altitudes, or to abandon their lifestyles entirely and seek work in low-lying cities. Scientists hope to help address the problem using biotechnology to create alpaca breeds more resistant to extremes in temperature. This would help the animals to survive harsh nights at higher altitudes, as well as thrive at lower elevations, since alpacas also suffer in warmer temperatures, from illnesses not present in highland areas.
It's fair to say that the images and the situations depicted are extremely grim. A brief summary of the Year in Review attempts to explain 'What Happened in 2022?' "Photojournalists working in 2022 brought stories of the war in Ukraine and life under Taliban rule in Afghanistan, of use and abuse of river water in Central Asia and the United States, flooding in Australia, oil spillage in Peru, and people with dementia in Ghana. But a tough judging process and the limitations of how to visualise certain stories means that some major stories discussed by the jury did not make it through to the final selection:
Anti-LGBTQI+ Violence - April 2022, Kenya - Sheila Adhiambo Lumumba, a non-binary lesbian, is found raped murdered in Karatina, Kenya. Human rights organisations call attention to institutionalised homophobia in Kenya and other nations across the continent including Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda.
Uvalde School Shooting - May 2022, Uvalde, Texas, United States - On 24 May and 18-year-old gunman kills 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, in the deadliest school shooting in the US in a decade.
Abortion Law Overturned - June 2022, United States - The US Supreme Court overturns Roc v Wade, the legislation that made access to an abortion a federal right in the United States. The move leads to nationwide protests.
Sri Lankan President Resigns - July 2022, Sri Lanka - President Gotabaya Rajapaksa flees the country and resigns, after months of protest against the country's economic crisis had culminated in popular occupation of the presidential palace.
Death of Mahsa Amini - September 2022, Iran - The death of Mahsa Amini after being arrested by Iran's 'morality police' for allegedly not wearing the hijab in accordance with regulations sparked some of the largest demonstrations in Iran in years.
Kanjuruhan Stadium Disaster - October 2022, Jawa Timur, Indonesia - More than 130 football fans die in a crush apparently sparked by police firing tear gas as a crowd-control measure, while leaving the Kanjuruhan Stadium after a match, in one of the world's worst stadium disasters.
'Lula' Wins Brazilian Presidential Elections - October/ November 2022, Brazil - Luiz Lula da Silva wins a majority in the Brazilian presidential elections. Former president Jair Bolsonaro does not initially concede defeat, but President Lula da Silva is inaugurates in January 2023.
Ethiopia and TPLF Declare Truce - November 2022, Ethiopia - Ethiopia's federal government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which controlled much of Tigray province, agree to stop fighting after a two-year conflict that has caused a dire humanitarian crisis.
White Paper Protests - November/ December 2022, China - Protests spread through cities across China, as demonstrators held up blank sheets of paper to oppose on-going government COVID-19 restrictions. In January 2023 China revoked its Zero-COVID policy.
An image from Net-Zero Transition by Simone Tramonte
In the above image (13 July 2021), people swim at Amager Strand, Denmark, near a wind farm which is co-owned by 8,552 electricity consumers, and serves more than 40,000 Copenhagen households. Upwards of 15,000 Danish families are members of similar wind turbine co-operatives.
Winner of the Europe, Long-term projects category, this sequence is a rare positive view of the world around us, which is why I felt the need to include it in this post. The project documents different technologies that offer possible routes of transition to a net-zero economy. The photographer visited innovative facilities across Europe, from Iceland to Italy, from 2020 to 2022.
Human-induced climate change is the largest, most pervasive threat to the natural environment and society that the world has ever experienced, according to the UN Human Rights Office, OHCHR. This prompted the European Union to establish targets to cut greenhouse emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030. European companies seeking ways to achieve these goals are exploring renewable energies, new technologies for food production, and the circular economy as potential ways forward.
Image from the series World Champions by Tomàs Francisco Cuesta
I wanted to finish this on a positive note, which is why I have placed this image last. It is a scene of jubilation as Argentinians revel in their country's return to World Cup dominance, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 18 December 2022. An estimated five million people took to the streets to participate in the parade and join the national team members in one of the greatest public demonstrations in Argentina's history. For striker and star player Lionel Messi the win cements his legacy as one of the greatest footballers of all time. Argentinian photographer Tomàs Francisco Cuesta said about taking these photographs,
"You really just feel good looking at those images, and those are ones that may resonate. It's just the beauty of sports. And it's the beauty of imagery, the beauty of pictures. Soccer in Argentina is so much more than a sport. It's more important than Christmas, more important than the New Years. For many people, it's more important than their jobs. That's why you saw five million people crowding the streets of Buenos Aires. It was the first time that I saw such a union in the streets without any discrimination. People were really united to celebrate and to let the players know that they were supporting them."
A Month of Sundays by Liz Byrski - it was left in my street library so I read it. Four people who
have met as part of an on-line book group meet in person at a cottage in the
Blue Mountains to take a month to talk about books – what bliss! The books they choose are supposed to “tell us all something significant about you”. They will then discuss the book, but of course, “it’s
true that we all bring something of ourselves to what we read” so they learn
more about each other as the book progresses. They are all reaching
retirement age so they have the luxury of time, and they can indulge in
self-reflection and learn more about female friendship and feminism. All of the books they choose are by celebrated and acclaimed
novelists. They are also all white, Western and middle class. That’s definitely
the territory in which we find ourselves, and there's not a lot of diversity, plot or character development.
Thanks for the Feedback by Douglas Stone & Sheila Heen - I listened to this as an audio-book while I was walking in the hills. The subtitle is The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well (even when it is Off Base, Unfair, Poorly Delivered, and, Frankly, You're Not in the Mood), which pretty much sums it up. We can all dish it out, but it's a lot tougher to take it, even when we ask for it. And yet we receive it all the time, from friends and family, colleagues, customers, coaches, bosses, doctors, teachers, and even random strangers. Feedback is essential for personal and professional development, yet we dread it because we don't want to be criticised. This book is really helpful in suggesting how to differentiate between appreciation, coaching, and evaluation; how to recognise that triggers that stop you from being open to feedback; and how to deal with feedback that is destructive, offensive or simply absurd. I'm trying to be calmer, more confident and a generally better person, but I think it's going to take more than this book.
The Borgias: The Hidden History by G. J. Meyer - Whenever an author claims a story is 'hidden' or 'untold', it usually isn't. I read this because I was travelling to Spain and wanted some historical context, and there is plenty in this (431-page) book. We’ve all heard
of the Borgias, mainly due to reports of their depravity, ranging from torture
and murder to insanity and incest. G.J. Meyer writes a rebuttal to all of that,
as he questions whether they were really as bad as their reputation suggests. “The
great challenge of Borgia history: the need to distinguish between what can be
accepted as true or at least probable on the basis of credible evidence and
what was fabricated after the fact but has been endlessly repeated because of
its usefulness in showing yet another Borgia to have been odious.” Chapters are interspersed
with ‘background’ information describing the situation at the time including
topics such as the cultural history of Rome, the battle between church and
sovereign, the creation of ambassadors, how to choose a pope, and every schoolchild’s favourite: The
Western Schism and the anti-popes. It's a little but dry, but extremely informative.
A Clear Conscience by Frances Fyfield - Helen West is a prosecutor in
domestic violence cases, and this is her fifth outing in novels by Frances
Fyfield, although that is not obviously apparent from this edition. The
fast-paced and bleak thriller is set in the world of back-street boozers, wife
abusers, ex-boxers, and knock-off perfume. The crime is both petty and serious,
as passion erupts into fights over office romance and much darker offences. The
characters are criminals, cleaners, bar staff, ex-army personnel, lawyers,
policemen and caseworkers. The
writing style is almost breathless, and grammar seems optional as the prose
gathers pace along with the narrative. The author constantly switches point of
view so it appears to be third-person omniscient but we are always in the mind
of the subject, blurring the lines between reality and perception. Written in 1994, the novel has an end-of-the-century
feminism feel as the author questions women’s roles and their need to validate
themselves in society. Although short and sharp, this is an oppressive
novel in which women are struggling to stand alone without being defined by men
– partners; bosses; social constructs. There is a menacing tone and a fear that
they will never be enough – but by whose standards?
Transcription by Kate Atkinson - In 1940, Juliet is employed by MI5 to transcribe
recordings of meetings in a bugged flat between a group of fascist sympathisers
and a man named Godfrey Toby, whom the fifth columnists believe is a Gestapo
agent but is actually a British spy monitoring his informers. The second strand of the narrative, set in 1950,
begins when Juliet – now working for the BBC – encounters Toby again, and his
reappearance seems to trigger a series of reckonings for the lies she told
during the war, and is possibly still telling. The style is almost stream-of-consciousness as we are informed of every fleeting thought of Juliet's permanently irritated inner monologue. It's full of Shakespearean references, repeated refrains, pithy sayings, and biting commentary on gender inequality, which feels too modern for the time.
It's not strictly true to say that Stirling Castle is a newest favourite thing because I went there about four years ago, but I liked it very much and, although I have posted about the monarchs who lived there, and the Dos and Don'ts of Kingship, I have not yet posted about the castle itself, so here we are.
Perched atop a cliff, it is an imposing structure along the lines of Edinburgh Castle. It dominates the landscape above the river Forth at the meeting point between Lowlands and Highlands, and the tourism info claims it was the key to the kingdom of Scotland. During the Wars of Independence, which were civil wars among the Scots as well as a struggle between Scotland and England, the castle changed hands eight times in 50 years. It was the focal point for famous battles such as Stirling Bridge (featuring William Wallace) and Bannockburn (starring Robert the Bruce), in which Robert captured the castle back from the English but destroyed its defences to stop it being used by the English in future.
Robert the Bruce is a complicated character who seems to have been on and off the English side until neither Edward I (reigning monarch in England) or the Scots really trusted him. What he really wanted was the crown of Scotland, to which his family held a claim along with several other powerful families. He stabbed the heir of one of those to death, became King of Scotland and had bloody civil wars with the family of the deceased claimant. Whatever his credentials, he is clearly admired enough to have a statue of him built just outside the castle.
There are commanding views from the battlements, as you might expect, and also some interesting archaeology. Intriguingly enough, research carried out in 2011 revealed that King Arthur's round table may well have been hidden beneath the historic King's Knot that sits below the castle.
The King's Knot
The King's Knot, best appreciated from the Ladies' Lookout in Stirling Castle, is on the grounds of the ancient King's Park, Crown property from at least the 1100s, where Scotland's royalty partook in jousting, hawking and hunting. The earthworks known as the King's and Queen's Knots were part of the formal gardens of Stirling Castle, and were remodelled for Charles I's 'hamecoming' for his Scottish coronation, which took place in 1663.
You can also see the amazing burial grounds, such as the Old Town Cemetery which spreads over the valley between the castle and the Church of the Holy Rude. A burial ground has occupied the site west of the Holy Rude Church since 1129, when the first Dominican Chapel was built here. For most of Stirling's history, those who could afford memorials were laid to rest beneath the church floor, a practice which ceased in 1623 officially 'to avoid the great abuse and profanation of God, his house, in burying of dead corpses', but actually because the stench within the kirk had become unbearable.
Many of the graves are marked only with initials and symbols; names are rare as such identification would be a sign of sinful vanity. Who you were didn't matter, whereas what you were, did - thus stones bear the marks of a hammer, mallet and chisel (Masons and Quarriers), skulls, crossed-bones and hourglasses (Death), an Angel, Green Man or Ouroboros (Resurrection) or symbols of trade or business (Occupation).
In November 1823, 'Resurrection Men', graverobbers seeking corpses for medical study, visited the cemetery probably surmising that as it was terribly overcrowded, a few bodies wouldn't be missed. In the 1840s, the new Valley Cemetery was landscaped 'as an ornamental cemetery according to the most approved manner of a modern necropolis' by evangelist William Drummond. Its straight lines and regimented rows were inspired by scripture: 'the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.' (Isaiah 40:4).
That's quite a lot about the surrounds, now for the castle itself. After entering through the main gate, the Queen Anne Gardens are through the next archway. This peaceful and pretty garden is on the 'sunny south side' (remembering this is Scotland) of the castle, overlooked by the Queen's Lodgings and the Prince's Tower. There may have been a royal garden here since the 1400s; the flat lawn was turned into a bowling green in the 1620s, and the beech tree is over 200 years old.
The castle has been both a great royal residence and a powerful stronghold. Following the attempted Jacobite invasion of 1807, improvements to the castle's defences were ordered as a matter of priority. The main front wall was extended outwards to form Guardhouse Square. This had the effect of creating two defensive walls, both of which were fronted by ditches defended by covered firing galleries known as caponiers. To the rear of the walls, chambers called casemates were built to strengthen the wall and provide gun emplacements. The French Spur was modified slightly to allow more canons to be mounted.
The main parts of the castle are arranged around the quadrangular Inner Close: the Royal Palace; the King's Old Building; the Chapel Royal; and the Great Hall.
In times of peace, Scottish royalty came to Stirling to enjoy its comforts, the superb hunting and to hold court - the castle was often the centre of government. Royal building projects like the Great Hall, the Chapel Royal and the Palace of James V marked it out as one of the most important places in all Scotland. It was also a childhood home of some of the most famous people in Scottish and British history, such as Mary Queen of Scots and James VI and I.
The Royal Palace is one of the best-preserved Renaissance buildings in the UK and has been refurbished to look as it might have done around the 1540s. Simply decorated and furnished, it recalls the years when it was the childhood home of Mary Queen of Scots. The royal chambers include the magnificent rooms where nobles and courtiers met their monarch, and the bedrooms where the royals retired with their closest companions. They are also home to brightly-painted replicas of the Stirling Heads and the Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries.
The architecture is French-inspired, but the decoration is German in inspiration, and sources for the statues have been found in the work of the German engraver Hans Burgkmair. The statues include a line of soldiers on the south parapet, and a series of full-size figures around the principal floor. These principal figures include a portrait of James V, the Devil, St Michael, and representations of Venus and several planetary deities. Their arrangement on the north, east and south faces of the Palace has been interpreted in relation to the quarters of the heavens.
Internally, the Palace comprises two apartments, one each for the king and queen. Each has a hall, presence chamber, and bedchamber, with various small rooms known as closets. The Renaissance decoration continued inside, although little has survived the building's military use, excepting the carved stone fireplaces.
In the King's Outer Chamber
The Great Hall is the largest of its kind ever built in Scotland and was used for feasts, dances and pageants. The exterior walls are a distinctive colour, rendered in Royal Gold Harling, as they would have been in the 1500s.
Completed for James IV in 1503, the Great Hall has four pairs of tall windows at the dais end, where the king and queen sat, and was heated by five large fireplaces. There are galleries for minstrels and trumpeters. In 1594 James IV held a banquet in the hall for the baptism of his son, Prince Henry. It was so lavish that the fish course was served from an enormous model wooden ship complete with firing canons and featuring live mermaids. These extravagant celebrations are thought to be the origin of the term 'pushing the boat out'.
Stained glass window in the Great Hall
The King's Old Building is the oldest part of the Inner Close. It was begun as a new residential range by James IV and originally comprised an L-shaped building. The principal rooms were on the first floor, over cellars, and included two chambers with wide open views to the west.
The Chapel Royal was built in just seven months on the orders of James VI who wanted somewhere suitable for the baptism of his son and heir Prince Henry. Dating from 1593-4, it was one of the first Protestant kirks in Scotland and also the last royal building at the castle. In 1603 the union of the crowns saw James head south to rule from England, and in 1625 he was succeeded by his surviving younger son, Charles I. The handsome frieze painted by Valentine Jenkin in 1628 was created in the expectation of a coronation visit to Scotland of the new king.
The stunning white, blue, red and gold altar cloths were embroidered by members of the Stirling Branch of the Embroiderers Guild. Designed by textile artists Malcolm Lochhead, they take inspiration from the waves and seascapes of the chapel's upper walls. Upon completion, the cloths were dedicated to the children and teacher who lost their lives in Dunblane Primary School in 1996. Today they are used in interdenominational worship.
Stirling Castle later became an important military base and eventually home to the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Some of the vaults display barrels, which once contained gunpowder. Others showcase exhibitions from the romanticisation of Scotland (encouraged largely by Sir Walter Scott) and the identity of Highlanders, to the engineering feats of Robert Stevenson and the photography of Erskine Beveridge.
Stirling Castle is a truly fascinating place and well worth a visit. Would recommend.
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