Roman Dancing Maidens at Braga Romana

As I mentioned in the earlier post about the military camp enactment, there were many performances going on all over the historic district (the main tourist center) in Braga. Many of them were dance performances. We especially liked this one: a beautifully choreographed dance in several sequences by four "Roman" maidens.

The dancing was accompanied by haunting music performed by three musicians who sang and played special instruments. The group's name is Dorahoag, and here is a YouTube site where you can hear the three men of the group play a very similar sounding piece of music. They create their own music in fusion with other music. Really wonderful.

Here you see two of the men from Dorahoag with a woman who is playing an instrument that — sadly — I can't name:

And then the marvelous dancers! You can see such grace in all their movements:

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There were other dance performances by belly dancers, which I will share in a later post.


How about you? Do you like dance performances? Do you like music that fuses more than one genre? What is your favorite music?
                     

Braga Romana Displays — The Military Encampment.

 A month has slipped by since our return from our trip on June 4th. I did get in one post here and another at my Victorian Scribbles blog next door,  just before we left. But on arrival, the election was the very next day here in California. Then my husband had cataract surgery — which turned out well. Then there was gardening to catch up on (pesky weeds); and much of my time has been taken with political matters (I'll be marching this coming Saturday to protest the breaking up of families at the border.)

Still, our trip to Braga, Portugal was filled with spectacular events, and I don't want it to get lost in the busy-ness of life. See the picture of the Roman soldier to the left? There is a four-day festival each year toward the end of May, celebrating Braga's Roman past. It's called Braga Romana, and the whole city turns out in costume, including a children's parade that kicks off the celebration with students of all ages. Performances are held at various sites. Tents and kiosks display arts and crafts, mostly in keeping with Braga's Roman and Celtic past.

The soldier above was posted at one side of a re-created military encampment in the Largo do Paço, a plaza surrounded on three sides by wings of the former Archbishop's Palace. (Paço means palace, and the building now houses books and archives for the University of Minho.) This largo was the perfect site for the "encampment." Here is a better view of the false "entrance":

Before we went entered, outside the gate, two men were demonstrating the way rope was made in ancient times.

 

Once inside, there were areas with people working the old crafts: weaving, carving utensils, blacksmithing, etc. And something was supposedly cooking in that dangling pot:

         Meanwhile, we became intrigued by how soldiers and visitors were looking at one particular tent:
Even standing guard at one time. What was inside that tent? All kinds of wonders.

              Remember I said this site was perfect for the encampment? Well drapes transformed the arcade of pillars into housing for the Roman big wigs that planned troop movements, and enjoyed perks of power, etc.

Imperial Rome Map

Imperial big wigs resting.

Little vehicles to attend to
big wigs' whims. 

Then, as we came out the exit, we saw the Roman weapons of war shown below. Notice the battering ram with the ram's head:

Finally we exited the encampment itself, into the street, where a Roman legion was passing by:

Throughout the four days, Roman troops appeared regularly, marching through the streets and saying "Ave, Caesar." etc. It really was a kick.

The military encampment was an ongoing feature for the entire festival, day and night. There were other performances and displays that I will share in my next post. I hope you've enjoyed the pictures.

Meanwhile, if you like mysteries involving Sherlock Holmes, I've reviewed a good read on my Victorian Scribbles blog HERE . 



Have you been to festivals where everyone dresses the part and arts and crafts reflect the era? Do you enjoy those kind of events? Do you ever dress up in costume to attend one?

The Beaches in Northern Galicia

A few weeks ago, Rajan and I drove up to the northern coast to see the  beaches called "Os Catedrais" in Galego and "Los Catedrales" in Castilian, inspired by a trip we took last year with our friends, Terri & David. They are called 'cathedrals" because the waves have worn away the rocks and created caves like chambers in a cathedral, but it is only safe to go into them when the tide is out. This is what they looked like last year:

But on this trip, we did not get there at the correct time for going to the caves. We seemed to keep getting high tide. But we had a lovely time, since we love beaches anyway. We stayed at a nice hotel right on a nearby beach, walked to a restaurant we had enjoyed for lunch, and walked back, and took tons of pictures along the way. Here is what the cathedral beach looked like this time:

So we contented ourselves with photos from above.

Nonetheless, we loved the walk along the beaches and waterfront; sometimes along the road, back to out hotel, O Refugio. Here are some scenic pictures along the way:

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I particularly love the crazy architecture of the lavender house. It's actually a popular architecture in Galicia.

And there's a lot of pasture land away from the beaches.

Once back at the hotel, we enjoyed a glass of wine indoors and talked over our day. The hotel was very reasonable, perhaps because Galicia is reasonable, but also because we were off-season (it was still May) and mid-week (Wednesday night). But we had a lovely, clean, charming small room overlooking the ocean, and the management and staff were cheery and warm and welcoming, wanting to know all about us. Here are some pictures from the grounds:

The glass roof you see is the top of the outdoor part of the  restaurant and was right below our room's  window.

And this railing you see, above the glass roof was right outside our window.

 Me after we got back from our long walk, and Rajan the next morning at breakfast, trying to read one of the Spanish newspapers. (You'd be surprised how much news we are actually able to glean now and then! 😊) 

We also learned on this trip that one one of the beaches along a drive there is a small fishing village with wonderful reviews of the food. And at another spot along the drive, there is an ancient castro (and you know how we love ancient castros!) So that is on the travel list for our next trip to Galicia.

How about you? Do you love beaches? Fresh fish for dinner? Spooky caves?

A Trip to an Ancient Castro

                                             
 

Last week we visited an ancient "castro" with friends David & Terry about an hour and a half's drive away. It's called Castro Maior (maior being Galegan for "major"— Major Castro; it's also spelled Castro Mayor in Castilian). A castro is an ancient, pre-Roman fort city, Celtic in origin from all I can read. We approached it via a faint road just off an offshoot of the  "Camino" (one of the pilgrimage routes to Santiago); mainly uphill, and bordered by the beautiful combination of purple heather and yellow broom you see here. (They are just coming into their own in this very late spring. )

This castro is 2400 years old, and what you see are the remains of what must have been ground floors of the various households in what was basically a village structure, but the method of building involved houses building onto houses with adjoining walls, and a main entrance into the village, with a path or lane going around the edge of the village, but cutting through at places between buildings—not unlike the present plans in the present villages (which all are old and follow an ancient tradition).

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A "castro" was the whole village, with stone foundations and thatched roofs (the thatching being of the barley that grew all around.) The village was surrounded by farmland, but there was only one main entrance into the castro, and there were also storage areas that served the entire castro. Above are some pictures of the ruins were were privileged to wander among.

Below, you can get a good idea of the stone work. The stones in that area are quite flat, not "block-shade" like some of the rock that forms the foundations of more recent (but old) buildings.

                 
         
       
       
        To me, it was awesome to think I was touching stones someone had touched 2400 years ago. But those of you who have read earlier posts know I get "mystical" about ancient buildings. They stir something deep inside me, and make me imagine the past. Our friend, Terri said she could actually "see" (figuratively) scenes in these ancient little rooms. It is amazing to see how they have stood the test of time. The thatched roofs are gone, but the foundations remain.

After our walk-around the castro, we went to another town called Portomarin for lunch. Portomarin is quite charming. My husband likes to photograph old churches, and we were rather captivated by the square architecture of this one right in the center of town.

   
 
 
 
 
 
    We were also excited to learn that there is another castro closer to us in a village called Fion that we can visit. If we find time to go see it, you can bet we will take more pictures.

How about you? Do old buildings and ruins stir something inside you and take you back to the past? Do you like historic architecture? Do you like to imagine the past when you visit a place? 

A Writerly Week

                   

Even though we are on "vacation", in Galicia once again, I work part-time most days, either writing or doing research. Rajan takes pictures, mostly black and white, that he develops when we get home. I take my point and shoot camera everywhere and snap less professional shots. I couldn't resist this one on the left: in the far distance on the hill is the Parador of Monforte de Lemos, the town that has built up all around it, below.

Meanwhile, this has been a "writerly" time for me. First, shortly after our arrival two and a half weeks ago, I received word that a short story I had submitted was accepted. The title is "Going Home" and it was published on April 13th by a cool magazine called Page & Spine. If you are interested, you can read it HERE. 

Second,  I've been doing research for a character in my current WIP. In my  book, one of the characters turned out to have been in Vaudeville in  her earlier years. (I'm sure all you writers know how that happens. You suddenly learn something about a character you didn't know earlier. She let me know she had been in Vaudeville.)

Well, I knew next to nothing about Vaudeville, and I love research, so off I went to find information. I've been mesmerized by a book called No Applause — Just Throw Money, by Trav S. D. (Yup, that's the author's name.) The book is expensive online, unless you go for a used copy. I did, and I was fortunate to get copy in pristine condition. Here's the book:

The writing is fast-paced, humorous, and at times brutally honest about the racism and prejudice that permeated the industry. (Vaudeville was one of the few avenues open to minorities and immigrants, but the actors themselves played off their own stereotypes in the early days.) The author gives a comprehensive history. I hadn't realized the differences between music halls, saloon variety shows, or how gradually respectability was worked into shows that once were a step away from medicine shows, freak shows, etc. They had an unsavory past, too, thanks to after-hours entertainment before they gradually evolved into what became known as Vaudeville. Then Vaudeville became cut-throat business for managers, theater owners, agents, etc., until the movies came along. I'm only halfway through the book, but since one of my characters wants to be a movie star, I'm glad to see this book has information about the early days of the movies as well.

Third, while doing the research I need for this character, I've been writing poetry. A blog friend mentioned a poetry challenge for April ( National Poetry Month). (She writes Haiku and has a wonderful blog called Words and Such; she always has rewarding posts, which you can read HERE.

The challenge was actually a contest: You register to write 30 poems in 30 days around a theme of your choice. At the end of it, you have a chapbook. I started on April 1st, but I didn't register in time, so I missed the contest. Still, I gave myself the challenge anyway, because I felt I needed to be writing while I worked out what I was learning in my research in terms of the characters. I felt I couldn't afford not to be writing.

Well, "I did it!" I wrote 30 poems in 30 days. Today I wrote my 30th. I'm done! Whew! But it really was a nice way to start each day. I actually woke up many mornings thinking about the new poem for the day.

How about you? Do you like poetry? Do you like research? Do your characters surprise you with revelations about themselves? Have you ever written a chapbook? (If so, I'd sure like some information about how to put one together.)