Tag: https://www.visitbruges.be/en

Culture

Bruges to Mayo

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It’s been more than a decade in the making but Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell are back together again for another black comedy from Bruges to Mayo.

Of course we all of us will be hoping the bromance, or brom com if you will, does the same for Mayo as it did for the medieval Belgian canal city.

And well done for Brendan in persuading Colin out to see its charms.

Although both being gangsters we thought they would have wanted to see the fabric of the cloth Joseph of Arimathea used on Jesus in the Basilica of the Holy Blood.

Canal city: In Bruges

Film buffs and proud natives of Mayo will, of course, tell you that the Maritime County is already on the cinematic map.

With Cong drawing fans of The Quiet Man to its village religiously.

And Linnane the setting for The Field among others.

Of course Tourism Ireland are all over the possibilities from Mayo being showcased on our big screens.

And in conjunction with Searchlight Pictures they have created a behind-the-scenes featurette.

With footage shot during filming for The Banshees of Inisherin.

All Ireland

I have a hunch: Colin Farrell

Director Martin McDonagh, Farrell (Pádraic), Brendan Gleeson (Colm), Kerry Condon (Siobhán) and Barry Keoghan (Dominic) all talk us through the locations.

The Banshees got a 14-minute standing ovation at the Venice International Film Festival.

And it is expected to do the same when the film hits picture houses in Ireland, the UK and the US on October 21.

Farrell and Gleeson have, of course, done much to promote the whole of Ireland.

Where East and West shall meet

An Irishman abroad: Brendan Gleeson

With many remembering a cherubic-faced Farrell negotiating the mean streets of Dublin in Intermissions.

And country village life in my old bailiwick of Co. Wicklow, the Garden of Ireland in Ballykissangel, near Avoca.

While Gleeson has been out West before.

Most notably in The Guard opposite Don Cheadle, and Calvary.

All in all we can see just why the Venetians and the international film audience would want.

To spend 14 minutes clapping Colin and Brian.

Because anything they do from a black comedy from Bruges to Mayo is right up our street.

 

 

 

 

America, Caribbean, Countries, Europe, Food & Wine

Chocs away on Easter Sunday

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And for many it’s what today is all about… Chocs away on Easter Sunday.

And thoughts away of dem sweet places where I’ve savoured the treat of the Gods.

We have the Central and South Americans to thank for extracting the cacao which makes our chocolate.

And when we want to know more on anything our go-to people are the Smithsonians in Washington DC.

Jumping for joy: It’s Choccie Day

And Hayes Lavis, cultural arts curator for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian has the skinny on chocs.

He tells us that ancient Olmec pots and vessels from around 1500 B.C. were discovered with traces of theobromine.

And for those who know their chocs they’ll recognise that as a stimulant compound found in chocolate and tea.

So now we’ve done the science let’s sample the choccie tastes of the world.

ChocolaTobago

Ground force: In Tobago

And the way to a man’s heart is the love of a daughterie.

So when you come across a chocolate called Laura in the West Indies then you get that special rush.

This Tobago taste of heaven is a French-Caribbean collaboration and named for the manufacturer’s matriarch Laura.

Sold in high-end shops like Harrod’s it’s still best sampled where it’s made, Tobago Cocoa Estate.

Swiss sweet

The Scary One is here: In Switzerland

We all know about Swiss sweets… Toblerone and it’s mountain triangular shapes.

And Lindt which is everywhere of which I was reminded from the minute you arrive in Geneva.

You’d have to tell me if SWISS airline still gives out comp choc to it’s passengers…

I like mine, my Lindt, though like the Asians who love to take selfies at the top of Europe.

To show off to family back home, at the top of the Jungfraujoch.

In Bruges

Flowing nicely: Easter in Bruges

Was I the only one who wondered why a restless Colin Farrell didn’t cure his boredom through chocolate and beer?

Mind you, it would have been a very different movie.

Yes, go up to the cathedral and also check out St Anthony’s tongue.

But the best taste of all in Bruges is their oh-so-tasty chocolate.

Cadbury’s and Brum

Smiles better: Cadbury’s

Now you might not immediately link Bruges in Belgium and Birmingham in England.

But they’re both canal cities, major historical trade hubs.

And they are both hooked on chocolate.

It is no exaggeration to say that Brummie Joseph Cadbury was a chocolate evangelist.

As a Quaker and teetotaller he saw chocolate as a healthy alternative.

Joseph was a general good egg all round (or Cadbury’s Creme Egg) if you will

He set up a village in Bourneville for his workers and provided for all their social, health, education and sporting needs.

And a great pacifist, he even took on Queen Victoria over the Boer War.

All of which you can discover in the excellent Cadbury’s museum.

And finally, a Big Chocolate Apple

The Big Bunny: At Jacques

I’ve always been a great advocate of only having friends in cool places or jobs, or preferably both.

And in return they get the pleasure of hosting me.

Kate is one such, a New Yoiker and food and drinks editor who took La Famiglia Murty around Manhattan.

Chinatown, her own office kitchen on Production Day, and Jacques Torres Chocolate factory.

Now Willie Wonka’s got nothing in Kate or Jacques.

I mean bacon-flavoured chocolate… you read it here first.

Enjoy! Chocs away on Easter.