Christmas recipe from Greece

Ingredients
• 1 cup margarine
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon red food coloring
• 1/2 cup peppermint candy canes, crushed
• 1/2 cup white sugar for decoration

Directions
1. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine, white sugar and confectioners' sugar. Beat in the egg, vanilla and peppermint extracts. Combine the flour and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until well blended. Cover or wrap dough and chill for at least one hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Divide dough into halves. Color one half red by mixing in the food color. Roll a small amount of each dough into a 2 inch long worm. Roll them together in a twisted rope and curve the end like a cane. Place onto prepared cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. In a small bowl, mix together the crushed candy cane and remaining white sugar. Roll hot cookies in the sugar mixture.

recipe from Anastasia Mamalikidou

By Mikaella from Cyprus

Traditional Recipe for Christmas:
Ingredients: 450g flour
· 1 teaspoon vanilla
· 1 tablespoon ouzo
· 450g unsalted butter
· 2 egg yolks
· 175g sugar
· 2 teaspoons cinnamon
· 1 teaspoon baking powder
· 1/2 cup ground almonds or walnuts
· icing sugar
Directions:
1. Sift flour with baking powder twice.
2. Cream butter and sugar add ouzo, vanilla egg yolks, nuts, and cinnamon.
3. Blend in flour to make soft but firm dough.
4. Break off small pieces, pat into biscuit shape, place on floured baking tray. Insert a clove in
each biscuit and bake at 180 degrees calcium for 20 mins.
5. While still hot, sprinkle biscuits with icing sugar.
6. Each shortbread should be stuck with one clove to represent the three wise men who brought
spices to the Christ child.

Acrostic Poem by Mikaella from Cyprus

Acrostic Poem:

Christmas!

Christmas Cake
Holidays
Rudolf
Illustrasion
Santa Claus
TreeMelodies
Avatars
Stories

Merry Christmas from Italy!

Crazy
Holidays
Red
Important
Snow
Tree
Merry
Amusing
Sweets

From Roberta

Students from Scoala Speciala Caransebes wish all the parteners a Christmas full of peace and a happy new year

Christmas cards for you dear parteners .
http://www.greetingspring.com/index.php?target=card&id=333&start=1&categoryid=36

Friday was last day for us in this year and for this reason we celebrate the birth of Son of Good and we sing carols in our school in our eTwinning project .





Our bishop Lucian Mic from Caransebes Diocese was Santa Claus for students from Special School Caransebes and he came with a group of priests from Caransebes and they sing also beautiful carols .

Crossword by Sevasti

Candy cane

Holidays

Reinder

Ice skating

Star

Tree

snowMan

Angel

Stocking

 

The Momogeroi

In the villages of Platanias and Sitagroi Dramas prefecture found the custom of Momogeron, which comes from the Pontian refugees. The name of the custom comes from the words or mimic Momus and old and is linked to mimic the movements of the protagonists. Those wearing a pelt of animals - wolves, goats or other - or dressed in uniforms of people armed with swords, in the form of elderly persons. 

The Momogeroi, appear throughout the course of twelve days of Christmas and the expectation of luck for the new year, turned to friends on the streets of villages and sing carols or other efchetikous lyrics: "Authority and carols beginning of time, carols always, always time. When two friends meet, they pseftopolemo each other until one team to win and the other to its allegiance. 

Variations of the same custom, found in villages of Kozani and Kastoria, called Ragoutsaria.



Article by Constantinos Avgitidis

Life of Santa Barbara

The life of states that Santa Barbara was a beautiful girl who lived in the city of Nikomidia in Asia Minor (now Izmit) in Roman Emperor Maximilian. The yam or Diosoros the passionate national "pagan" father, had closed in a tower to protect from the suitors. But secretly converted to Christianity. Her father when he ordered to build this for a bathroom, so you do not have to use public bathrooms, and while the plan provided for the initial 2 bathroom windows, Barbara installed another to honor the Holy Trinity ekmystirefontas the floor father. Then her father, seeing this change, exemanei and ordered to surrender to the Roman governor during the persecutions of Christians. The Prefect admiring the beauty of the first tried to convince, but seeing that she was adamant in its submitted testimony, more to save her from the wrath of her father who wanted to be killed. Eventually, the Prefect ordered the beheading, and appointed to execute the sentence himself the father of which was desire. According to his biographer that Simeon himself the father of the beheaded as "barren patrikais now the father xifei teleiosin accept. But while the finish was his crime, he fell dead, struck by lightning in divine justice. The Juliana of Nicomedia was martyred along with Barbara and also honored as Saint. 

The place and time of the martyrdom of Saint Barbara is not known. So in that other allegedly martyred in Nicomedia (now Izmit) in Bithynia in 210, by others in Heliopolis (modern Baalbek) of Egypt in 360 and by others (Catholic version) in cities of Tuscany.

Article by Vasilis Georgatzis

Mario's christmas

In Badajoz Christmas is a typical tradition, where we have 2 weeks holiday. Many times we go on trips to the snow.
We decorate the city with Christmas lights, also we gives gifts and enjoy them.
On New Year's Eve, nearly all the families meet and enjoy the new year. It is great fun, I hope you too will enjoy the Christmas and enjoy as we do.

Rubén's Christmas

The Christmas in Spain is especial. First is the Christmas eve on 24th of December, this night brings us many presents.
At Christmas they put the Christmas’s tree and the Belen’s crib. The 25th of December is Christma’s day.
In 31th of December is New Year eve. At midnight they eat twelve grape to celebrate the New Year.
Several days later, there is a procession of the Three Wise Men when I meet friends.
In the night of 5th to 6th of January the Three Wise Men bring us presents too.
The importance of the Christmas is what we are with the family.

Juan's Christmas

The Christmas in Badajoz

In Badajoz, the Christmas is celebrated in family, with all family. At Christmas, the people give presents on the 24th of December and on the 6th of January. The Christmas Holidays last from the 22th of December until 9th of January. In Spain and in Badajoz the people place a Christmas tree or a Belen Crib, that are the house places where the presents are placed. The Christmas food in Spain are seafood, smoked salmon, lardy... and the New Year’s Eve typical food are the twelve grapes. And in the 6th of January is the “Magic Kings”, in Spain we have presents.

Nacho's Christmas

CHRISTMAS IN SPAIN


At Christmas, people in Spain met with family on Christmas Eve and New Year Eve to receive the arrival of Christmas and New Year. During this time people throw firecrackers, put the Christmas tree and the Christmas scene. For children, the most anticipated moment is the night of the Kings. That night is also in the ride, where sweet are distributed. The next morning 6th of January the children wake up excited thinking about the gifts that the Kings have let them

The Christmas in Spain

Christmas in Spain is very beautiful because the streets are  adorned with  the colour lights and a lot of  Christmas trees in the diferent houses . At Christmas I stay at home with my family and meet my friends. The  25 is the Christmas Day , and my family and I have dinner  in my house .The 31 of December my family, my friends and I have dinner in my house and celebrate the new year . The 31 of December we eat twelve grapes with the arrival of the new year . The 6 of Januaryis the Day of the  "Los Reyes Magos" .

Christmas card from Dimitris Petropoulos

I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

CARDS
HAPPY
REINDEER
ICONS
SANTA CLAUS
TOYS
MAGIC
ANGEL
SNOW

Crossword from Giannis Fink

Wishes from Savvas

I wish you a merry Christmas and happy New Year.
I wish you to have love and be healthy.
I wish you to be happy and never be sad.

Candle
Happiness
Randy
Incredible
Santa
Tree
Magic
Angel
Star

Wishes from Maria Tsecheridou and Zoe

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Hallo everybody….this year in my lovely town Drama is a beautiful time…It’s Christmas time…DRAMA IS A DREAM TOWN!!

Maria Tsecheridou

MARRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

HARRY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Merry Christmas all over the word!!!!

Hi. My town Drama have the Village of Sand Clans. The anther towns copy

The village of Sand Clans.

In Greece!!!

Zoe

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!

Hello guys and Merry Christmas!!!!!
Happy New Year!!!!!
I wish you great holidays and with a lot of presents…….
Christmas is one great celebration with a lot of love. I want to give to all of you one sweet recipe of Christmas: Melomakarona

''This is the material for a Traditional Christmas Cookie''



For the cookies:
1 ¼ cups (2 ½ sticks) butter
1 egg yolk
¼ cup orange juice
2 tablespoons whiskey
½ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon baking soda
3 ½ cups flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon ground gloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon orange zest

For syrup:
2 cups honey
½ cup ground walnuts or almonds

From Maria Tersenidou!!!

video by fran

Cristina

In Spain Christmas celebration es very similar to your Christmas.
The first thing, on the 25th of December, we receive Santa Clause's presents under the Christmas tree.
The Secondo thing, on the 6th of January we receibe presents of the three wise men.
The three wise men put more presents than Santa Claus because the presents are more expensive.

Maria, Spain

In Christmas I spend my time with my family. On 6th 7th and 8th of December, me and my family decorate our house with a big tree, some light and a I put the big crib. I like do it because I think it is very amusing and funny.
On 24th of December we do many things. In the morning my mum and me make different kind of desserts. About two o’clock in the noon, my parents, my brothers and come out, to a bar or to a restaurant with friends to wish Merry Christmas. In the afternoon, we go to my grandparent’s house, there are my uncles and my cousins. After that we return home, finish the dinner and give little presents like socks or gloves or something like this. We call this celebration Christmas Eve.

On 25th we made a lunch, and some of my uncles come to my house to congratulate the Christmas.

On 31st of December (New Year’s Eve) my family make the dinner in the afternoon and after we go to my grandparent’s house to have some time with them. After that we return to house and have dinner. At 12 o’clock we eat 12 grapes with the chimes. And after, we phone the family to congratulate the New Year or we go out to have a party with smart clothes.

In the afternoon on 5th of January we go to the ride with a lot of colour and some characters from different cartoons or series. This night we go to bed early and put some milk and water in the living room because this night the Three Kings come to your house and put a lot of presents and sweets under the tree.



I have a good time in Christmas, I enjoy a lot with this!
See you later and write me soon! :)

Acrostic Poem for Christmas

CAROLS

HAPPY

REINDEER

ICE SKATING

STAR

TREE

MAGIC

ANGEL

SANTA

by Vasilis Georgatzis

Sitagroi (Drama)

The village of sitagroi located on the motorway Drama-Serres. The excavation showed  that in the municipality of Sitagroi human presence  is continuous since prehistoric times. The population of the municipality  of Sitagroi is minly characterized by the refugee points (Sea Thracian and Asia Minor).

Fince they mored to new places, they transferred their manners and customs, religious traditions and in general all those cultures and cultural elements, give a special color in the region and the lifestyle of residents. My village is small. 1500 residents live there.

 Around The village there are 3 other villages: Meglokampos, Mikrokampos  and Fotolivos.
People there mainly to their fields and livestock.     

Article by Valantis Ampelidis

MORE ABOUT DRAMA

Today region area is attracting crowds of visitors at Autumn.They are going to have fun at the restaurants and at café bars.Drama has a celebration at the third day of Ceptember.The celebration area is Agia “Barbara”.We are now in the modest emporic city of Drama.Monsolmanic temples in the center area awakes minds of all seasons in the town.In Drama football has been admiring by most of the people because of Doxa Drama.Drama is generally known for her danken fun, as the residents are distinguish with their lives and at the songs.

Article by Dimitris Svigkas

Oneiroupoli (Drama)

Photo by Tasos Seferiadis

Prefecture of Drama (Greece)

Area: (sq. km): 3.468

Population (2001) : 103.763

Population Density (hab /sq. km) : 30

Capital City: Drama

Number of Hotels: 9

Number of hotel Rooms: 430

by :  Constantinos  Avgitidis

Santa Barbara

Drama is a city built on water. The central source of water is located in Santa Barbara. The clear water of Sana Barbara has a lot of fish, like crayfish, small brianas and trouts. You can also see the foundations of a building in the water, which according to a legend is the ruins of the old church of Santa Barbara which water sprouted when the Turks demolished it to build a mosque .The Cross of light is released every year from Santa Barbara’s podium.

Mikaella from Cyprus

Hello! My name is Mikaella Patsali. I am thirteen years old and I was born on 18th January in 1996. I am from Cyprus and I live in a small village, called Yeri, near the capital of Cyprus, Nicosia. My favourite lessons are History, Computers and Maths. I have one brother younger than me. In my free time I love going to the cinema, playing games online and cooking. I speak Greek, English and French. I like making new friends and I'm looking forward to making some across Europe. My best friends are Anastasia and Skevi. We are true friends and we have fun all the time.

Modern
Interested in sports
Koala is my favourite animal
Athletic
Exciting
Lucky
Lovely
A little bit excited about this blog

The birth of Son of God or Christmas

In Christianity, Christmas is the festival celebrating the Nativity of Jesus, the Christian belief that the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament's Messianic prophecies was born to the Virgin Mary. The story of Christmas is based on the biblical accounts given in the Gospel of Matthew, namely Matthew 1:18-Matthew 2:12 and the Gospel of Luke, specifically Luke 1:26-Luke 2:40. According to these accounts, Jesus was born to Mary, assisted by her husband Joseph, in the city of Bethlehem. According to popular tradition, the birth took place in a stable, surrounded by farm animals, though neither the stable nor the animals are specifically mentioned in the Biblical accounts. However, a manger is mentioned in Luke 2:7 where it states "She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." Early iconographic representations of the nativity placed the stable and manger within a cave (located, according to tradition, under the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem). Shepherds from the fields surrounding Bethlehem were told of the birth by an angel, and were the first to see the child. Many Christians believe that the birth of Jesus fulfilled prophecies from the Old Testament.
Christians celebrate Christmas in many ways. In addition to this day being one of the most important and popular for the attendance of church services, there are numerous other devotions and popular traditions. Prior to Christmas Day, the Eastern Orthodox Church practices the Nativity Fast in anticipation of the birth of Jesus, while much of the Western Church celebrates Advent. People decorate their homes, and exchange gifts. In some Christian denominations, children perform plays re-telling the events of the Nativity, or sing carols that reference the event. Some Christians also display a small re-creation of the Nativity, known as a Nativity scene or crib, in their homes, using figurines to portray the key characters of the event. Live Nativity scenes and tableaux vivants are also performed, using actors and live animals to portray the event with more realism.
There is a very long tradition of producing painted depictions of the nativity in art. Nativity scenes are traditionally set in a barn or stable and include Mary, Joseph, the child Jesus, angels, shepherds and the Three Wise Men, Balthazar, Melchior, and Caspar, who are said to have followed a star, known as the Star of Bethlehem, and arrive after his birth.

Here is a power point presentation made by Marius with paintings and drawings of the students from Special School Caransebes .

Power Point Presentation made by Marius

Tags: ppt .

Students sing european anthem in romanian language and some carols.


Dear parteners here you can see how we celebrate The birth of Son of God or Christmas in last school year in Special School Caransebes http://studentsallovereuropecelebrategodsbirth.piczo.com/?g=1&cr=2

Shopping in Bari

Bari is an important commercial city. In Bari there are many shops and the most important are mainly situated in a few central streets: Via Sparano, Corso Cavour, Via Argiro, etc.. There are shops of different categories, both national and international. These streets in Bari's new town are excellent for gift and souvenir-buying as well as just browsing while you wander. You'll find large shops of international brands like H&M, Adidas and Zara, and also Italian ones. There is no pressure to buy if you enter any of the shops and it is a pleasant walk where you can see the everyday life of the modern town. We think that it is not wrong to define the “Borgo Murattiano” as a big open-air shop. In fact, here there are a lot of shops,and everyone can find what he is looking for.The main street is surely Via Sparano,the long promenade and pedestrian area where it is possible to find the main brands. Corso Cavour is also ideal for shopping, but mainly with cheap shops and stalls.But in all the streets of this area (for example,Via Argiro) there are a lot of shops, so...have a nice day!The opening hours are 9-13 and 16.30-20.30. On Monday morning and Sunday (few occasions excepted) shops are usually closed. There are also several shopping centres, like Auchan, Ipercoop, Bariblu, each with a big hypermarket and lots of shops. They are usually located on the outskirts of the city or on the highways connecting Bari with other towns of the metropolitan area and they are open all day, between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m..

What to eat in Bari

Bari's cuisine is based on three typical agricultural products found in the Puglia region: wheat, olive oil and wine. A wide variety of fruit and vegetables is also produced locally. Local flour is used in homemade bread and pasta including the famous "orecchiette", hat-shaped pasta, "recchietelle" or "strascinate" (orecchiette of different sizes) and "cavatelli".
Homemade dough is also used for baked "calzoni" , pies stuffed with onions, anchovies, capers and olives; fried "panzerotti" with mozzarella cheese, simple "focaccia" (a kind of pizza) with tomatoes, etc.
Meat dishes and the local Barese "ragù" (stuffed meat rolls cooked in tomato sauce) often include lamb, pork and often horse meat, considered something of a local delicacy.
"Pasta al forno", a baked pasta dish, is very popular in Bari and was historically a Sunday dish. The traditional recipe consists of "penne" or similar tubular pasta shapes, tomato sauce, small beef and pork meatballs and halved hard boiled eggs; but different families have variations. The pasta is then topped with mozzarella or similar cheese and then baked in the oven to make the dish top crispy.

Bari is the capital of an important fishing area, so it offers fresh fish, and also seafood (octopus, sea urchins, mussels), often eaten raw. In fact, perhaps Bari's most famous dish is the oven-baked "Riso, patate e cozze" (rice with potatoes and mussels).

By Margherita, Alessia, Caterina, Rosemary, Stefania

("focaccia" picture from www.flickr.com)

Going out in Bari

In Bari there are many places to go out in the afternoon and at night. The most frequented by young people are two central squares, Piazza del Ferrarese and Piazza Mercantile, which are very close to one another. Piazza del Ferrarese is a very large old square connecting the shopping area in the modern Murat district and the old town, and leading to the ancient city walls. Piazza Mercantile also dates back to ancient times. These two squares are full of cafés, pizzerias and restaurants.
People can have a walk along Corso Cavour and Via Sparano, very wide boulevards full of shops (Via Sparano is also a pedestrian area) and finally they can hang out along the beautiful seafront. “Nderr a la Lanz'’ is a particular part of the waterfront, where during the day you can buy fish and seafood and find stalls with various types of merchandise, while at night it is frequented by people in their twenties.

By Dominga, Viviana, Mario, Gianluca, Pasquale, Nicola

Bari Cathedral

The Cathedral of Saint Sabinus is older though less famous than the Basilica of St. Nicholas in Bari, and it is right in the heart of the old town, in a square called Piazza dell’Odegitria.
The Cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Bari-Bitonto. It was begun in Bizantine style in 1034, but it was destroyed in the sack of the city in 1156 by William the Wicked.
A new building was built between 1170-1178, partially inspired by that of San Nicholas. Today traces of the original pavement are visible in the transept. One of the mosaic pavements bears an inscription with the name of Bishop Andrea and it seems likely that these are the remains of the first cathedral, which was destroyed in the 9th or 10th century.
The church is an important example of Apulian Romanesque architecture and it has a simple Romanesque façade with three portals; in the upper part there is a rose window decorated with monstruous and fantasy figures. The interior has a nave and two aisles, divided by sixteen columns with arcades. In the crypt there are the relics of Saint Sabinus and the icon of the Madonna Odegitria.
The interior and the façade were redecorated in Baroque style during the 18th century, but in the 1950s the Cathedral was restored to its original style.

By Mattia, Yary, Luigi A., Barbara, Luigi S.

Christmas in Cyprus

Christmas in Cyprus

The Christmas period is a religious holiday, the Cypriot people honour Christ. There are services at all Churches on Christmas Eve and early Christmas Morning. Before Christmas arrives, the housewives start the preparations for the twelve holy days. The Holy Twelve days of Christmas, six days in the “old” year and six days in the “new” year, include the three feast days-Christmas day, New Year’s Day and Epiphany.

Turkeys are now part of Christmas in Cyprus and Christmas Day will see the traditional turkey Christmas dinner! The children get their presents on New Year’s Day as Santa Claus is “Agios Vasilis” whom is celebrated on this day.
After bedtime on New Year’s Eve, the mothers would put out the presents under the tree with “Santa’s” cake with a coin inside the cake, and a glass of wine next to it for “Santa” to refresh himself.

The children wake really early on New Year’s Day and rush to cut the cake, for someone to find the coin. The person who finds the coin will be lucky all year. After the cake cutting, it’s time for presents!! For the New Year’s Day feast, much traditional baking takes place, including the cake with the lucky coin. After attending the service in church, the different families will embrace and wish each other everything that is good.

On the 6th January, the children would again rise early and go to their grandparents’ homes. After reciting a small poem, the children receive gifts of money. Christ was baptized in the River Jordon on Epiphany Day (The Feast of Light) which is the 6th January. In all seaside towns or villages, it is traditional for the Priest to lead a procession down to the sea where the ceremonial Baptism is enacted. Suring the ceremony, the leading Priest will cast the Holy Cross into the sea and young men dive into the sea to try to retrieve the cross and returning it to the Priest.

Every year in 1 december we celebrate in our town Caransebes - National Day of Romania

Dear parteners we participated at the events organized in our town Caransebes for 1 december.






If you want to see many videos follow this playlist .

November Awards

Being at the end of our second month we’ve reached at a good point in getting acquainted with each other through out the posts and comments the students have made. Once again, all posts are very interesting and show your efforts and surely your teachers are congratulating you for that.

Willing to embellish your continuous presence on our blog, we came to the thought of choosing the virtual prizes of the month from the sea world and specifically among the creatures living in the reefs due to their variety and fine colours

Fran from Spain wins the famous clown fish, for her post was the most popular this month (11 comments). Clown fish, well-known from the movie "Finding Nemo", communicate via sounds. Researchers found out which technique they use to talk with each other: They move their jaws and teeth. With movements of their jaws and the friction of the teeth they produce different sounds and crack noises. Clownfish are native to warmer waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans, including the Great Barrier Reef and the Red Sea.

Second prize (11 comments on her post too) goes to Stefania from Italy and it is Angelfish. It originates from the Amazon River, Orinoco River and Essequido River basins in tropical South America. Its body shape allows them to hide among roots and plants, often on a vertical surface. Naturally occurring angelfish are frequently striped longitudinally, colouration which provides additional camouflage. 

Third prize the guppy, also known as the millionfish, is one of the most popular freshwater aquarium fish species in the world (females 4–6 centimetres long, males 2½–3½ centimetres long). Guppies are native to Barbados, Brazil, Guyana, Netherlands Antilles, Trinidad and Tobago, the US Virgin Islands, Venezuela. This one goes to Maria Tersenidou from Greece (10 comments on her post).

Stefania from Italy (again!) is the top commentator of this month (10 comments) and her prize is a Brain coral. Brain corals are so called due to their generally spheroid shape and grooved surface which resembles an animal brain. They are found in shallow warm-water coral reefs in all the world's oceans. The life span of the largest brain corals is 900 years. Colonies can grow as large as 6 or more feet (1.8 m) high. Brain corals extend their tentacles to catch food at night and during the day, they use them for protection by wrapping them over the grooves on their surface.

Second prize is a precious coral or red coral and this goes to Rosemary from Italy (7 comments). The distinguishing characteristic is their durable and intensely colored red or pink skeleton, which is used for making jewelry. Red corals grow on rocky seabottom, typically in dark environments. The original species is found mainly in the Mediterranean Sea. It grows at depths from 10 to 300 m. In the underwater caves of Alghero, Sardinia (the "Coral Riviera") it grows at the depth of 4 m. The same species is also found at Atlantic sites near theStrait of Gibraltar and at the Cape Verde Islands. Other  species are native to the western Pacific, notably around Japan andTaiwan; these occur at depths of 350 to 1500 m in areas with strong currents.

Pillar corals are a type of hard coral which live in the western Atlantic Ocean. They are one of the digitate corals which resemble fingers, or a cluster of cigars, growing up from the sea floor, but without any secondary branching. Pillar corals can grow to be up to 2.5 m tall. They can grow on both flat and sloping sea floors at a depth of between 1 and 20 m. This last prize goes to Fran from Spain (again...!) he sent 7 comments this month.

As an extra trophy for every winner we will offer them the opportunity to publish their next posts by themselves. Therefore, we welcome new blog editors! Congratulations to all of you!

What to do in Badajoz

Ifeba is institution fair of Badajoz, each year organizes fairs related with the different economic sectors, in which present the main companies to generate commercial relations, multiply his contacts and present novelties. Began to operate in 1989.

Written by David

What to see

THE SIGHTSEEINGS OF MY TOWN
The sightseeings of my city are in the old town of Badajoz.
The principal monuments of my city are:

PLAZA ALTA OF BADAJOZ(SQUARE)
The Plaza Alta of Badajoz (Extremadura, Spain),

was for centuries, the centre of the city which had been Muslim fortress.
It has got arches which were markets held in the Middle Ages. There was also a venue for events and meetings of all kinds.

ALCAZABA
The Alcazaba of Badajoz is situated in the old part of Badajoz and surrounded by the river Guadiana .It is from 12th century .The Alcazaba of the monarchs of the kingdom ¨TAIFA¨. Inside the Alcazaba there are gardens.

TOWER OF ATALAYA OR TOWER OF ESPANTAPERROS.

Espantaperro’s Tower, also known as the Tower of the Alpendiz or its true name. Alpendiz tower is a watchtower adjacent to the fortress of Badajoz, originally Almohad and octagonal. Built in 1169, it is about 30 metres.
Following its construction in the 16th century, a Mudejar Tower was added to the temple .
It has recently been restored.

By Alejandro, Antonio, Fran and Juan

Sightseeings of Badajoz

By Juan

"If Paris were on the sea, it would look like a small Bari..."!

People from Bari love to repeat that "if Paris were on the sea, it would look like a small Bari"!
It is a joke, of course, but it says a lot about the pride (and sense of humour!) in our area.
Ours is a city with a deep sense of history and art, with very rich cultural roots living together with a modern business outlook. Bari was already an important city under the Greeks, then it became a Roman municipality and was later ruled by the Saracens, the Venetians, the Normans, the Aragons and finally the Bourbons, before becoming part of the united Italy.
Our dialect is a mixture of all these influences, and many people still speak it in private situations, with the family, or with friends. Among young people vernacular words are often used as a kind of slang.
This is a nice video we have found on YouTube, which contains several pictures of the city and uses a traditional song in Bari dialect as soundtrack.
Enjoy it!
By Vanya and her class

Welcome to Bari!

Bari is an Italian city with 320,160 inhabitants, capital of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region (‘Puglia’ in Italian). It is located on the south-east coast, on the Adriatic Sea. It is known for being the city where the relics of St. Nicholas lie. That privilege has made Bari and the splendid Basilica dedicated to the Patron Saint one of the greatest centres of orthodoxy favoured in Italy. The city is situated in a heavily urbanized area, which is one of the most important and populous in Italy. Bari is soon going to become one of the 15 metropolitan cities in Italy; in fact there is a ‘strategic plan’ which aims at realizing the first part of this project by 2015. It is also a major terminus for trade with the East and its port is the largest passenger port in the Adriatic Sea. The city has a strong maritime tradition and has always been the central point in the commercial, political and cultural contacts with Eastern Europe, consolidated thanks to the famous Festival of St. Nicholas, which takes place on 7th-8th-9th May. An important trade fair, the ‘Fiera del Levante’, takes place in Bari every year, in September. It involves exhibitions from many sectors and industries and attracts many exhibitors from Italy and other countries, especially Mediterranean. There is also a "Fair of Nations" which displays handcrafted and locally produced goods from all over the world.
Bari is home to a University of Studies and a ‘Politecnico’. The city boasts a unique historic centre (the so-called ‘Barivecchia’, which means ‘old Bari’), with narrow and winding streets, where you find the most important medieval monuments (the Basilica of St. Nicholas, the Cathedral of St. Sabinus, the Swabian Castle). The modern city centre is instead the grid-shaped Murat district, which is probably the largest shopping area in Italy and contains a large number of high street stores and smaller shops.

Written by: Margherita, Alessia, Caterina, Rosemary, Stefania from Italy

What to do: festivals

Carnival!

The carnival in my city is one of the best of Spain.
We’re going to tell you some information about the history of the carnaval in my city:
The carnaval Started on 1815 after the independence war.
This event has centuries of history, in the century XIX we had very important comparsas riding in carriages or horseback.
The carnaval disappeared from 1936 to 1980 beccause the Civil war forbade the celebration.

Nowadays, we have a murgas contest . The murgas are groups of people who meet to make a humorous criticism about the city life singing in a setting, in Lope de Ayala theater. They dress up about a subject or a character or something like this. We have 42 murgas but every year we have more. The murgas are like this:

We have comparsas too. The comparsas are groups of people who dance in a march-past whith original costumes like that:

We have 40 comparsas with more than 3500 people who form the parade.

The people who don’t participe in murgas o comparsas dress up and have a party in the street with music.
The carnival in Badajoz is the participation of the Dressed-up people in the street.The carnaval is in February on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
In these days we have an importan celebration, its name is the burial of the sardine. This day is the end of the celebration and we go to ‘’San Roque’’ (street) on Tuesday to eat grilled sardines.

Written by:

María Benítez, Gema, Alba and Raquel

What to see in Badajoz

Sightseeings

In Badajoz there are six Museums:

Archaeological provincial museum of Badajoz, Museum of fine arts, Museum of the metropolitan cathedral of Badajoz, Museum of the city, Extremaduran and Latin-American museum of contemporary art of Badajoz, and Museum trurino of the bullfighting Extremadura club.

Puente RealIt is called Royal because two years before the King and Queen of Spain put the first stone in the beginning of his construction. It is a modern bridge, with rail for bicycles, investor as panoramic sight and joins the newest zone of the city with Elvas's Avenue that leads to Portugal, to the University, Fairground, medical services and fairground enclosures.

Puerta Palmas is a monumental door of the wall that was surrounding Badajoz in Spain, located opposite the Bridge of Palms. The ending of this construction dates back of 1551. It is the most representative monument of the city.
It is integrated by a commemorative arch and two cylindrical towers of solid aspect. In the exterior front the arch is of half a point adorned with a shield of Carlos I. In the interior front there places a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Angels. The towers used as royal prison until ends of the 19th century.





The Cathedral of Badajoz (or Cathedral of San Juan Baptizer) is placed in the Plaza of Spain, in the center of Badajoz. In this temple took place the marriage of the future king don Fernando VI with the Portuguese princess dona Barbara de Braganza in 1729, which was a queen of Spain up to the death of the first one in 1758.

Written by Silvia, Irene and Laura

THE ORIGINS OF BADAJOZ

THE ORIGINS OF BADAJOZ

Ibn Marwan:

This well-know muladi with the nickname of “ Al Yilliqui”, was son of the wali or governor from Merida. In the year 875. Ibn Marwan is able to impose its conditions to build Batalyaws without paying tributes to Cordoba, being born this way the Kingdom of Badajoz.

AL-MOSSASSA

With this name that means “The Foundation of Badajoz” the city has commemorated its origins from 1998. The celebration is held at the end of the month of September and beginning of October, the Arab foundation of the city. In these days Badajoz returns to the 9th century.

Written by: Daniel, Nacho, Luis and Sergio