events

some of the events we attended, planned and unplanned...

Dinagyang festival, Philippines - we flew to the beautiful island of Iloilo and were lucky enough to be given tickets to the Dinagyang festival and it's many colourful dance performances by local school groups celebrating the birth of the baby Jesus, Iloilo, Philippines

Sapporo Snow Festival, Japan - we attended the Sapporo Snow Festival to see a number of beautiful (and enormous) ice sculptures in Odori Park and learnt our lesson about wearing appropriate clothing in freezing conditions

smaller ice sculptures along the main street in Susukino at the Sapporo Snow Festival, Japan

Abashiri Snow Festival, Japan - we traveled via train across Hokkaido from west to east and discovered the quaint town of Abashiri and their own Snow Festival, Japan

Setsubun, Japan - we were busily 'Geisha spotting' in Gion during the First Day of Spring or 'Setsubun', when we witnessed a very loud procession of monks throwing roasted soybeans to chase out the Oni or bad spirits and welcome the good

'Florence Museum at Night', Italy - we were lucky enough to arrive in Florence on the 'Florence Museum at Night' where most galleries & museums stayed open late with free entry

World Sacred Music Festival in Fes, Morocco - i was very keen to visit the World Sacred Music Festival, unfortunately many of the concerts were rained out. organisers were not at all organised, but we did catch some great performances, eventually

Running of the Bulls, Pamplona, Spain - gorings, gougings, the emergency services were very much in demand at the Running of the Bulls and yes, we both ran alongside the great beasts & in the fastest race ever!

Free entry to the Louvre, Paris - we took advantage of the free entry to the Louvre (on the first Sunday of every month)

yes, this is the actual key to unlock one of the entrances to the Louvre. it took the security guards about five minutes to get it working, which meant despite our 7.30am arrival (and being first in line) we were not the first to see the Mona Lisa, grrr...

The Berlin Wall 50th Anniversary, Germany - we rode bikes and walked along what remains of the Berlin Wall during the 50th Anniversary of its completion