cottages4you blog: inspiration for your cottage or villa holiday in UK, Ireland and Europe

Amy Riddell, spokeswoman for Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, has kindly provided us with her cultural highlights for the months ahead.

The Essence of Beauty: 500 Years of Italian Art at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum (until August 12th)

Dubbed one of the finest public art collections ever held in the UK, this is a remarkable exhibition, showcasing pieces that have been locked up for decades to preserve their integrity.

However, experts have been busy undergoing conservation work to the art to prepare them for this breathtaking show.

“Several works in the collection are undisputed masterpieces painted by some of the great names of Italian Renaissance and Baroque painting – Signorelli, Bellini, Titian, Domenichino, Rosa, Guardi,” says Ms Riddell.

West End Festival (June)

You know a festival means serious business when it is comprised of over 600 events that cater for all music sensibilities, from folk to jazz and rock n roll.

Now celebrating its 17th year, Glasgow’s West End Festival has become a staple part of the cultural calendar, with over a million people visiting since it began in 1996.

Check out Michael Redmond’s Sunday Service; Refugee Week exhibition; and Improv Wars, which takes improvised comedy to another level.

Glasgow International Jazz Festival (June)

For those holidaymakers looking to enjoy the cool, chilled out and groovy vibes of jazz, the Glasgow International Jazz Festival will satisfy your every need.

This year’s event continues to dazzle with a busy programme of music and good times. Some of the artists performing include the mesmerising saxophonist Soweto Kinch, who is performing as part of a trio; the funky Yolanda Brown; the exceptional jazz guitarist George Benson; and Niki King and the Elements.

Merchant City Festival (July)
“If you’ve never experienced the fun of the Merchant City Festival before, now is the time to start,” says Ms Riddell.

“With street art, music, dance, theatre, literature, film and comedy in Glasgow’s cultural quarter you will be in for a real treat. The festival has grown as the Merchant City has developed in recent years into Glasgow and Scotland’s principal cultural quarter.”

Posted by David Sollberger, cottages4you

Tap away into your touchscreen smartphone or scribble away into your personal planner this year’s Hastings Seafood & Wine Festival – it’s happening in September.

Now in its seventh year, the festival, which celebrates the area’s brilliant food and drink culture, will be hosting up to 30 stalls, offering visitors plenty of delectable delights to savour.

The fun takes place in the brilliantly evocative Old Town, which is the hub of the region’s fishing and cultural quarter.

“Enjoy a Jazz Breakfast with a relaxed coffee and a croissant on the Sunday morning, musical entertainment from the cream of the local music scene throughout the day and walks and talks on the 1,000 year history of the Hastings’ fishing fleet – with local fishermen doing netmaking demonstrations,” suggests Jane Ellis from Hastings Borough Council.

“There really is something for everyone at this festival, which has fast become and established and eagerly anticipated event in the Hastings’ calendar.

We’ll be posting some more information on the festival closer to the date.

Hastings Seafood & Wine Festival is on from September 18th until 19th.

Posted by Andrew Hill, cottages4you

“Don’t be foolish, but don’t be too timid,” Valentine Warner, a chef who has appeared on the BBC, told the Independent. “My father taught me to investigate everything and be inquisitive. Follow your nose and you’ll find great food. Get off the beaten track and a little road will lead somewhere interesting. Talk to the locals and you’ll find out lots more than you would if you stayed by the pool.”

Wise words indeed – be explorers, be nosey, and, to a degree, be adventurous. We would still be hunting wild animals if our primeval ancestors decided to chill all day, blasé about what was on the other side of the mountain or river.

And talk to locals, bravo, what great advice! Of course, sometimes the language barrier can make things really awkward, but hey, 80 to 90 per cent of communication is through body language, so surely some banter, whether it’s for directions or advice on what attractions are worth checking out, can be achieved through hand signals and expressions? Yes we say!

Mr Warner, who has just created two new pizzas for the spring menu at Pizza Hut, also delivered some advice on what are essential travel luxuries: a razor and a toothbrush.

When you don’t have them, you feel unkempt after a few days of travelling,” he told the newspaper. “If you have got them, you feel like David Niven instantly.”

Sound guidance really, one that applies to both men and women, although we’re not advocating women go for the Niven look: refined pencil-thin moustaches are not really that cool on women.

As a slight aside, Mr Warner has been described as the Russel Brand of the kitchen, a comparison that has flummoxed him completely.

“I have no idea at all where that started,” he told Digital Spy back in 2008.
“All I can say is he’s written a ‘booky wook’ and I’ve written a ‘cooky booky wook’. My hair is reasonably wild, but not nearly as wild as his, and you’d certainly never catch me in skin-tight trousers.”

Posted by David Sollberger, cottages4you