The weekend before our departure from the Monterey area was the regionally-well-known Artichoke Festival. Trivia fans know that Castroville, CA is the Artichoke Capital of the World. (The festival is sometimes called the Castroville Artichoke Festival.) We were pleased to hear the festival would take place live and in person, and were determined to attend.Continue reading “One Last Festival”
Tag Archives: Festivals
Fiesta Weekend, Feb. 7-12, 2020
This was the weekend of the annual fiesta in our neighborhood. The Virgin of Lourdes is the patroness of our area. A tiny chapel sits up on the hillside, and the larger chapel is at the end of our block. Every year a local resident sponsors the festival and organizes a weekend of activities. ThisContinue reading “Fiesta Weekend, Feb. 7-12, 2020”
Old and Gold, Brunswick Heads
We happened to arrive in time for the annual community garage sale in nearby Brunswick Heads. The Old and Gold Festival sounded like our kind of event, with lots of rummaging around and maybe a treasure or two as a result. The people-watching was fabulous, unparalleled by anywhere we’ve been in Australia. This tiny town,Continue reading “Old and Gold, Brunswick Heads”
Interim–October in Santa Barbara
We left Peru with great fanfare, but didn’t get all the way to New Zealand in one hop, we stopped for a month in Santa Barbara, CA. It was a month of relaxation, walks on the beach, exploring the area, and wine-tasting–this is California, after all. We visited the Avocado Festival in Carpenteria, and theContinue reading “Interim–October in Santa Barbara”
Life in Campania: Vacation Paradise, Daily Grind?
Hurricanes have flattened more than one vacation paradise recently. There are many left, and we are just finishing our stay in Salerno, Italy, adjacent to, if not in, vacation paradise (as in Amalfi, Sorrento, Capri). Our current home ground, the province of Campania, was the breadbasket of ancient Rome, and was occupied both long beforeContinue reading “Life in Campania: Vacation Paradise, Daily Grind?”
San Mateo, Patron of Salerno
The story of St. Matthew and the martyrs of Salerno is a triumph of faith over history. Briefly, St. Matthew the Apostle died a martyr in Ethiopia, where he was buried. Three hundred years later, the story goes, his remains were transported by Breton merchants to Legion, a town located in the westernmost part ofContinue reading “San Mateo, Patron of Salerno”
Jonathan takes the Prize–at Féile an Phráta
Months before we arrived in Dingle, Jonathan read about a local potato festival and decided that he wanted to participate. He emailed the organizers, sharpened his potato peeling knife, and marked the date. It wasn’t as easy as jumping in the car, because all the publicity for the festival was in Irish. Diligent work withContinue reading “Jonathan takes the Prize–at Féile an Phráta”
Invercharron Highland Games
We were in far southern Scotland for most of the Highland Games season, so we were delighted to be able to get to the final event of the summer, the Invercharron Highland Games. Invercharron is in the Kyle of Sutherland, northwest of Inverness. What a day! The sun shone, there was no wind to blowContinue reading “Invercharron Highland Games”
Sheep Races
Every town in Scotland has a summer festival or agricultural show, meaning that on any given weekend you are within an hour’s drive of at least two such events. We had the Dalbeattie Civic Day on Saturday, culmination of a week-long series of events. The parade started at 1 pm, led by a pipe band.Continue reading “Sheep Races”
The Stewartry Show
We jumped right in to life in southern Scotland. During August, every town and region holds an agricultural show and a town fair. We went to the Stewartry (historically, a region within what is now Dumfries and Galloway) show, and watched animal judging A woman I spoke to said “Are you here for the congress?”Continue reading “The Stewartry Show”
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