PICK ENGLISH WITH TICs

 Hello everyone,

Do you know the story of the castle cat in Belfast?

Have a look at these pictures:

What can you see? 

I like the story about the cats. 

The Donegall family lived in this castle and they were the owners of this beautiful castle. It was said that the family always had a white cat. However, the castle was donated to the city of Belfast. Then they couldn't keep the tradition of having a white cat at the castle to bring good luck to all the visitors.

Then they decided to maintain that tradition of the white cat and the good luck with nine cats in the garden.

Are you a cat lover? Have you got a pet? 

It's important to take care of our pets.

Hello everyone,

Libraries day is celebrated is in Spain on 24th October every year since 1997.

It commemorates the destruction of Sarajevo National Library in 1997 during the Balcans War. 

Do you usually borrow books from your school or town library? Do you like bibliopatio?

How many libraries are there in your village or town?

Do you usually visit libraries when you travel? I do.

Let me share these two libraries I visited in Belfast last summer.

Belfast Central Library is a Public library in Royal Avenue, Belfast.

If you go inside, you will see this beautiful Dome.

The Linen Hall Library is one of the hidden treasures in Belfast and it is also the the oldest library in Belfast. The library was founded in Belfast as the "Belfast Reading Society" whose aim was to promote knoledge and "to excite a spirit of enquiry".

"Weaving Communities" is the theme in Spain this year.

Let's learn a little more about this special day.

 Hello everybody,

It's Friday again and we like celebrating it with music.

Ireland and Northern Ireland have given to us the greatest music bands, artists, poets, writers.

This is one of my favourite Rock and Roll bands:

The Cranberries playing "Dreams", which is one of my favourite songs.

 Hello everyone,

These are some of the building I could see on my way to school every day. I was spellbound by their magnificence, beauty and wonderful design.

Let's see some architectural treasures located in the City Centre designed by the same prestigious firm of architects Young and MacKenzie.

The Robinson & Clever Building at 

Anderson & McAuley at Royal Avenue.

The Scottish Provident Institution

Assembly Building Conference Centre

 Hello everyone,

This stained-galls window is inspired by the well-known story oof Cu Chulainn and the Cattle Raid of Cooley.

This tale has been told and retold through history. Cu Chulainn is for many the greatest hero in Irish mythology.

Let's learn a little more about him.

 Hello everyone,

It's doubtless that one of the "must see" bars in Belfast is "The Duke of York" where you can sample the real flavour of Belfast. I loved going there Fridays and Saturdays in order to enjoy the live music and the worm and cosy atmosphere.

It's incredible the unique decoration inside the bar: mirrors, clocks, bottles, glasses, lamps.

I loved all the music, but the crowd got crazy when they played:

"Take me home, country roads" by John Denver.

 Hello everyone,

My first day in Belfast City was sunny in spite of the neon umbrellas at the colourful street Commercial Court in the Cathedral Quarter which ask the visitors: 

Have you ever seen the rain coming down in a sunny day?

Let's enjoy the song "Have you ever seen the rain?" by The Credence:

 Hello everyone,

My teacher Ryan played the song "Belfast City" by Ryan McMullan, a songwriter and singer who can also play the piano and the guitar although his voice is possibly his best instrument.

This is the song who gave everybody goose bumps even though most of us had listened to it. It was the last day leaving Belfast and the emotion was really strong to the point of making us cry with feels.

The fist time I listened to the song, at The Thirsty Goat Pub, it blew me away.

Let's listen to it. 

 Hello everyone, 

Queen Victoria granted Belfast the status of the city and a grand and magnificent building was required for its new status. The City Hall opened its doors on the 1st August 1906. It was designed by Alfred Brumwell Thomas and it cost 369,000 pounds.

If you take the tour on one of the daily guided public tours of the buildings, you will see the beautiful Belfast Coat of Arms on the floor. The seahorses remind us the maritime importance of Belfast, as does the ship at the base of the shield.

Get more information: History of Belfast City Hall

 Hello everyone,

One of the details of City Hall I really appreciate is the collection of the stain glass windows that visitors can see throughout the building. Let' view some of the most recently unveiled stained windows along the corridor from the main reception.

Spanish Civil War Window: "No Pasarán"

Get more information Belfast City Hall Stained Glass

 Hello everyone,

St. George's Market was built between 1890 and 1896. This market is the last surviving Victorian covered market in Belfast City. It is on May Street, near the River Lagan. It was built in red brick with sandstone (you can see several buildings with this style in Belfast). It was designed by the architect and engineer JC Bretland who also designed the fish market in Oxford Street.The main entrance arch shows the Belfast Coat of Arms and you can also see the City's Latin Motto "Pro Tanto Quid Retribuamus", which means  "What shall we give in return for so much?".

There are 200 stalls selling fruit, vegetables, hot food, cakes and buns, fish, clothes, books. There are a lot of traders, musicians and food vendors.

Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday you can enjoy live music at St. George's Market. There are performances from local artist, then this is a fantastic weekend destination.

 Hello everyone,

These are more examples of Art and Craft I have found in Belfast. I hope you like it.

If you like to have a nice cup of coffee at any time, Cafe Nero at Royal Avenue, is the right place because they take care of every detail to guarantee the highest quality . There you will find this piece of art on one of its walls. "They view coffee-making as a craft". 

Do you agree?

 Hello everybody,

You can find a lot of "Urban Art" on the sides of the houses and walls across East and West Belfast.

Here you can see a couple of beautiful examples on "the Falls Road" in West Belfast.

We love these songs which talk about Peace and Race. Let's promote tolerance.

"Your racist friend" by They might be giants.

 Hello everybody,

I found this interesting questions next to Linfield Stadium which invite us to reflect.

Make the pics bigger to find out the questions and try to answer them. They are not sometimes really difficult to find the right response.

 Hello everyone,

Do you like art? Are you good at painting?

What type of Art do you like? Have you got a painting in your house, in your living room or bedroom?

What about your village, town or city?

Here you can see some beautiful murals in Ormeau neighbourhood Belfast.

Do you remember Covid-19? These workers are always essential.

 Hello everyone, 

This girl or woman represents various allegorical themes associated with hope and aspiration, peace and reconciliation, respect for diversity. The angelic silhouette (derived from images from Classical and Celtic mythology) holding the globe is called Harmony.

It is also called Beacon of Hope. This sculpture, made of stainless steel in 2005, is 19.5 m. tall and it's along the River Lagan in Thanksgiving Square.

The aim of the sculpture is also to bring people together and to change hearts and minds; to make bridges across the divides in the community. To work towards to a peaceful, happy existence for everyone in this planet by respect for each other, their cultural heritages and all our aspirations.

 Hello everyone,

Belfast was designated a UNESCO City of Music in 2021. Wherever you go, you can find live music across many genres. One of those places is "The Sunflower" where you can also enjoy people who gather to play together every week.

These are some of the songs, by the British band "The Waterboys", I have enjoyed more here.

 Hello everyone,

It's a sad day because the Irish singer, Sinéad O'Connor, has died at the age of 56. Her voice was unique, beautiful and and her talent unmatched.

She was best known for her single "Nothing compares to you", which reached number one and brought her fame around the world.

We want to pay tribute to her with this song from Belfast, where I am studying now. Rest in Peace Sinéad.

 Hello everyone,

Here you can see some pics and one video of the Orange Parade celebrated on the twelfth of July in Belfast.

It is worth noting the shared folk.traditional aspects of the Orange Parade.

As you can see the flags and bunting decorating parades routes which also appear in other contexts in Ireland and abroad.

Orangemen and women march to a distinctive music, with folk and soldierly associations. Flute bands predominate nowadays but there is a long tradition of brass, silver, bagpipes and accordion bands that accompany marchers to their chosen field or destination. Speeches are also made and followers enjoy picnics.

 Hello everyone, 

The Belfast Summer School of Traditional Music is celebrated form Monday 24th - Friday 28th July. Young and old musicians come to Belfast to learn the very best in the business. Here you can find a clear example of some of them playing in a jam session at the hall of the LIV Student in Belfast. That's great!