Let’s keep the citrus theme going today — from lemons
in Spain to oranges in Italy we go: The annual Orange
Festival will take place from February 25 – 28, 2006 in the northern Italian town of Ivrea, about 30 miles north of
Turin, in the Piedmonte region. This historic festival began in the 19th century with the throwing
of fruit from the balconies at passers-by, imitating the grand Carnivals held in the seaside town of Nice where the
first citrus fruits originated. Random fruit throwing soon developed into real disputes, then in to an organized
tradition of opposing teams (one on foot, the other in horse-drawn carts) who would battle each other by throwing
oranges. Held every year, the four-day celebration culminates on Shrove "Fat"
Tuesday. The official carnival season kicked off on January 6th, and there are a series of events that take place leaving up to the four
day fruit fest. Learn more about Piedmonte’s Canavese and Lanzo Valley region and consider
an off-season visit to witness the orange mess for yourself.
Spain: New Rules
After about a week in Portugal, I’ll be spending several in Spain. In
recent weeks I’ve read about two new laws that went into effect in the country at the beginning of 2006. I’ll be
interested to talk to locals about how they feel about these changes and what differences they have observed, if any,
since the rules went into effect. The first is the government’s official end of the siesta, a
centuries-old tradition that had Spanish workers at the office from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., then on break till about 4:30
p.m., then back to the office for about three more hours each afternoon. Under the new law, Spanish government
ministries will close no later than 6 p.m. as part of a package of measures designed to help Spaniards balance jobs and
families. Taking siesta time in the middle of the day is not practical for most workers anymore, since they usually have
to travel far to the office. The second law that went into effect was a series of anti-smoking
laws, which states that smoking is now forbidden in all places of work, both public and private and all public
buildings, including schools, shops, hospitals and on public transport. Employees who want to smoke must do so outside,
and must make up the time lost at work too. According to the News from Spain blog I linked to above, it appears that the
law is not yet being enforced or taken seriously in parts of the country. And this 2005/2006
perspective piece on the country says the evolution to practice of the law will be slow. It’s only been a
week…we’ll see how it is when I’m there next month.
Japan's Kanamara Matsuri
Many
will walk away from the Kanamara Matsuri
calling it by its actual name or the festival of the Steel Phallus. Some will just tell their friends there was a whole
lot of penis. It’s true. Lollipops and other penis shaped candies make perfect souvenirs, men, women, and a combination
of both take photos embracing a large phallic statue and some locals carve penises out of radish to auction off later.
The fun doesn’t stop there. There is even a phallic-shaped seesaw for women to ride upon for good luck and fertility
blessings.
Sounds bizarre, quirky, absurd and a little explicit to the average person lacking knowledge on
the annual fertility festival held at the Kanamara Shrine in Kawasaki, Japan. There are several stories about the
origin of this unique festival. One of which states, it was created to pray for sexual safety among Kawasaki’s
prostitutes during Japan’s Edo period (1603-1867). The other deals with a demon living in a woman’s vagina that would
bite off the penises of her lovers. Today the festival helps raise money for HIV/AIDS research and draws crowds of
people looking for good fertility. Others just come to gawk. Could you imagine?
According to Steve Grove, a past festival attendee, the Kanamara Matsuri takes
place sometime during cherry-blossom season in the spring. He provides a semi-detailed history on the event and his own
experience which turned out rather amusing for those of us who know no better.
Five Vanishing Travel Sites
A few days back USA Today featured an article on five of the world’s natural and cultural wonders on the brink of extinction due to global warming (of course), over-development, and habitat degradation. Sad to say, but there is not much that can be done to verse the tremendous amount of damage done with so little time left. After speaking with several conservationists, Jayne Clark provides the prognosis and some tips on making your way to the site before they change or vanish completely. When Mother Nature is the cause of a site’s disappearance what can you do, but when man is the reason it’s a huge bummer. Everyone should consider reading this piece and other lists out there with places running close behind these five.
- The snows of Kilimanjaro along the border of Tanzania and Kenya
- Polar bears on the Hudson Bay
- Ancient Egyptian archaeological sites on the West Bank of the Nile in Luxor
- Gullah/Geechee Culture along the Atlantic Coast from Cape Fear, N.C. to the St. Johns river in North Florida
- Monarch butterflies’ annual migration in Michoacán, Mexico
Bible Walking
When
you thnk about it, most of the main folks in the Bible were pretty hard core travelers. Don’t know if you’ve been
watching ths series, but PBS has been broadcasting a video version of the book series by Bruce Feiler on the Bible.
Called "Walking the Bible" the TV program on Discovery Channel explores
the characters and places of the Good Book.
Feiler is a journalist, and not half bad on camera, and he’s
approached the subject of religious history seriesouly, and makes the material approachable to both the devout and the,
well, non-devout. Fieler’s books have
been around a while, and I’ve long wanted to get my hands on them and read them. But this series has been great so far,
and I urge you to check it out when it runs again or comes out on DVD.