St. Patrick´s Day by Xabier Andrés

 
  What is St. Patrick?

The St. Patrick's Day is celebrated annually on March 17 to commemorate the death of Saint Patrick, It´s a national fest in Ireland where everything is green and Irish; Christians and no Christians celebrate the feast, regularly dressing of green, and they enjoy Irish cuisine which includes alcohol and Irish drinks, and attending parades. Some markets selling beer dyed green for the feast.

Why St. Patrick is celebrated ?

Irish pirates took prisoner the young Patrick 16 and sold him as a slave. He stayed there six years in Ireland, where he learned to speak the Celtic language. He managed to escape and went to France to prepare for the monastic life, and became a priest.

A Christian tradition says Patrick explained the mystery of the Holy Trinity using a three leaf clover. since that day as usual have to wear a clover on his feast and  dress in green and even dyed with this color beer in honor of Ireland, also nicknamed the "Emerald Island."

Opinion

In my opinion this celebrate it´s very curious because I never heard that the people dressed up of green even I felt curiosity for the green beer, finally I think that is a amazing celebration

     

St. Patrick´s Day by Diego Cameirao

Saint Patrick´s day is celebrated in Ireland and it is on 17th of March. It symbolizeS Saint Patrick´s death.
In this festival all the people are dress with green clothes, because the green colour is a lucky thing.
Another lucky things are the Spring, shamrocks and Chicago river, because all this things are green.
If you aren´t dress of green in that day, the people can pinch you. It is a american tradition. They think that the green colour could make you invisible to avoid pinches. In the beginning of the St Patrick´s day, the people dressed of blue.

There are a lot of traditions in St Patrick´s day. For example the Irish people eat meat with sprouts.
Also, if you see a Leprechaun you should have catch him because it has a pot full of money and gold.
Another Irish food are potatoes, fish, broccoli and carrots.
Saint Patrick´s legend tells that he throw out a lot of snakes of there. And the people make some jokes related with this success.
One traditional drink are the beer. Without drinking Black Irish beer the celebration isn´t the same.

In Spain, Saint Patrick´s day is celebrated too. It is join in Galicia, in a village of Pontevedra. This party is join there because this city has association with the Irish tradition. And more or less 4.000 people join it.

29th Febraury, Ladies Privilege in Ireland and Leap Year

If you take a look at your calendar you'll notice that the days of February run to 29 this year. That's because of course 2012 is a leap year and according to Irish tradition February 29th is the day when women may propose to men. This is known as ‘Ladies Privilege' and the tradition in Ireland has its origins in the legends of Ireland's Saints; St Bridget and St Patrick, after Bridget urged Patrick to allow women the right to propose. Patrick refused but later agreed to allow Ladies Privilege once every seven years, Bridget bartered him down to four and the tradition was established. Here it is the story! In the 5th century St Bridget from Ireland complained to St Patrick about women having to wait for the men to propose. So according to legend St Patrick replied that on the 29th February women can propose to the man of her choice. The right for women to propose on this date goes back many hundreds of years to when the leap year day had no recognition in English law so had no legal status. People assumed that tradition would also have no status on that day. It was also reasoned that the leap year was to fix a problem with the calendar so could be used to fix an old and unjust custom that only let men propose marriage. Bear in mind that Ireland is an ultra catholic country, and so it was in 5th century!! If your planning on popping the question or taking a romantic vacation in Ireland, what better place to start than Dublin. Ireland's capital city has charm, character and romantic landmarks such as Ha'penny Bridge, Croke Park and the burial place of St Valentine. It is a little known Dublin fact that in 1836, the relics of St Valentine were brought to Dublin and are kept in the Shrine of St Valentine at the Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church, a short walk from St Stephen's Green. What better place to be this St Valentine's Day? So ladies, if you're tired of waiting to here the question, why not pop it yourself and take advantage of ladies privilege this year with a trip to some of the romantic places in Ireland? And gentlemen - remember if you were to get hitched on February 29th you only have to remember your anniversary once every four years!

Saint Patrick and the culture of Navarre in London

This week we have celebrated St Patrick's Day, a special day for the Irish people in the world and those who like the culture of the ancient Celts. You can have a look to a recent article of this blog here.

But today we are going to talk about our region and city which are being promoted in London. Here there is a short article and references you may use to learn about, and if you're in London these days, do not hesitate to try the products.

Of course the best reason of promoting all these is our love for our land.


After the visit of the branch of Navarra in the world to NY
, there is now another promotion in another English spoken country: London, England.
15th - 21st OF MARCH AT IBERICA FOOD & CULTURE THE NAVARRA PINCHO WEEK IN LONDON

A long-standing custom in Navarre is for groups of friends to leisurely stroll from one bar to another, to drink Chiquitos (small drinks) and eat Pinchos. In northern Spain these appetisers are. generally referred to as Pinchos, whilst Tapas is used in central and southern Spain. Pinchos, always prepared with fresh, fine quality produce, range from simple and savoury bit-sized food to sophisticated miniature haute cuisine.
Each year in spring, the Pincho Week is organised in Navarre, with the participation of a hundred or so bars (this year the contest is to be held from 17th to 25th April). Each bar prepares two Pinchos which are served at the bar, accompanied by a drink. The culinary standard of these signature morsels is high, whilst the price is as low as possible (€2.20 per pincho - tapa). Pincho Week has become a social phenomenon, attracting crowds of people on a scale similar to the San Fermin bull running festivities in July.
In fact, the bars in Navarre, headed by those in the city of Pamplona, have become a benchmark for miniature haute cuisine, a point of reference for other areas of Spain

More info: in Facebook, THE NAVARRA PINCHO WEEK