Are You Ready for "Arde Lucus"?

Arde Lucus 2013 starts tomorrow: Lugo will be a Roman town for three days. 

Here are a couple of videos that can help you get the spirit of the celebration. Both videos are part of Ted-Ed/Lessons Worth Sharing, which means they are really good from an educational point of view.

The first video is about the domestic life of leisure of young, wealthy girls; it focuses on four sisters - called "Domitia," all of them. While you watch the videos, choose the subtitles (captions) in English - they will not be difficult to follow since the images follow the text closely.

Once you have watched the video, you can do a multiple choice exercise about it; click here. For extra information about freeborn women in ancient Rome and about the cultural aspects in the video, click here

The second video is about a 17-year-old boy living in Rome in 73 AD; his name is Lucius Popidius Secundus. You will see what life was like for a typical Roman teenager: arranged marriages, coming-of-age festivals, and communal baths.

Are you ready for some comprehension questions about the video? Click here. If you would like to read some extra information about this period of history, click here.

"The Local," Spain´s News in English

The Local  is an online newspaper in English; the Spanish edition focuses on news related to Spain. Its pieces of news are not long and they should not be difficult to read for a student of English with an intermediate level. 

Have a look at this piece of news published last week (4 June, 2013):

Singing pilot diverts flight in sightseeing stunt

A pilot with Spanish airline Iberia on Monday changed his flight plan to allow passengers to take in the sights of the historic Galician city of Lugo.

"He asked if he we could divert from our route a little to take in the beauty of the walls of Lugo," passengers on flight IB 0512 from Madrid to A Coruña told the newspaper La Voz de Galicia.

Passengers on the flight could hardly believe their ears, but moments later they found themselves above the famous Roman walls of the city.

The unusual in-flight entertainment had already started at take-off at Madrid's Barajas airport when the pilot, Ángel Aznárez, greeted them with a sung greeting in English.

It was a big surprise "but nice", one of the passengers said.

After take-off it was all quiet on board until the pilots starting singing again. 

During the flight, the knowledgeable captain introduced each city along the plane's route and provided historical information on aspects of Spanish history.

The stewards enjoyed the show as well, according to passengers. 

"They told us the captain's joyful behaviour was normal and that he was a really nice guy to both the crew and the customers," another passenger told La Voz de Galicia.

Aznárez' show was greeted with plenty of appreciative applause when the plane landed. 

Lugo is the only city in the world with intact Roman walls. These date from the 3rd century and are a UNESCO  World Heritage sight.

George Mills (george.mills@thelocal.com)

Halloween

It´s Halloween again; that time of the year when you can act like crazy and freak everybody out and nobody will question you. That´s what magician Rich Ferguson  does in the video below; he walked the streets of his home town playing a head-drop trick on passers-by.

Besides tricks, Halloween is associated with pumpkins and, as far as decoration or sculpting is concerned, Ray Villafane is a real professional: he works as an action-figure character sculptor but in Halloween he turns into an excellent pumpkin carver. You will know what I mean when you watch the video below. Click on his name to be linked to his web page and there, under "gallery," you will see some of his amazing pumpkins

Don´t miss the activities related to Halloween that will take place in Lugo :

Don´t you know what sort of costume to wear? Here are some ideas:

  
Supercut: 50 TV Characters in Hilarious Halloween Costumes from Flavorwire on Vimeo.

 Halloween links: click here

Roman Walls of Lugo, Google Wonders Project

The Roman Wall of Lugo is a World Heritage Site, that´s why it has been included in the Google Wonders Project; you can look for it browsing by location (Europe, Spain, Lugo) or browsing by themes (Architecture, Cities and Towns). This is the first description in the page: 

The Roman walls and defensive complex in the city of Lugo in Northwestern Spain exemplify the ancient civilization that once controlled the city.

The Google Wonders Project offers street views, a couple of videos, photos and  information about the Roman Wall.

It certainly makes us feel a little bit proud of the place where we live, doesn´t it?