Today, The Grandma has met her new family: The Jones. She hasn't arrived alone to Barcelona because two Beans, Ana and Cristina, have decided to join her in this new adventure. They have wanted to continue enjoying adventures with The Grandma because Hong Kong was too hard for them: too much rice, everywhere, everytime.
The day has been full of surprises. Another old friend Merche Addams-Holmes has joined to this travel. The family isn't completed because we are waiting new members but, for the moment, The Jones have started to work with adjectives and its position, definitions, Saxon genitive and some questions to know a little of everyone of them.
I was born in Marstrand, Sweden, the country of Ingrid Bergman, Anita Ekberg, Greta Garbo, Max von Sydow, Andres Celsius, Alfred Nobel, Stieg Larsson, Björn Borg or ABBA. Marstrand is a seaside locality situated in Kungälv Municipality, Västra Götaland County. It had 1,319 inhabitants which despite its small population, for historical reasons often still referred to as a city, however, Statistics Sweden, only counts localities with more than 10,000 inhabitants as cities. Although Marstrand is a very small place, Sweden is a large country with small density and great famous people. The secret is culture, effort, innovation and knowledge. I'm a snake enchanted, a person who can control snakes only with her mind. I have been working in a lot of Circus companies and they're like a large family, although I must accept that there isn't a better family than The Beans, my family.
-Good morning, Cristina Bean, and thanks to attend us.
-Good morning. It's a pleasure.
-Well, you don't represent the typical Swedish profile: blue eyes and blonde.
-I don't believe in topics. There isn't a Swedish profile because we've received lots of influences and you can find different people living in the same place. From the Vikings to the last immigration movements, the Swedish population has changed and we haven't got this profile. Take the monarchy as an example. Moreover, in my case my ancestors were Scottish and this is the cause of my red-haired colour.
-Sweden is always an example of great and perfect country. Which is your opinion?
-There isn't a perfect country. It doesn't exist. All countries have lights and shadows, diamonds and rust but it's true that here, in Sweden, we're a liberal community and we can talk about whatever you want without danger, censorship or fear. For other hand, we have suffered dark moments like the murders of Olof Palme and Anna Lindh. We mustn't forget them.
-What's your reaction in front of a case like these murders?
-When you believe that you live in a perfect society, with perfect neighbours and in a perfect family who lives in a perfect city, this fact affects you more because you don't believe that it can happen next to you. These facts attempt against our lifestyle, our culture, our manner of understanding world. We're the country of Alfred Nobel. We talk about Science, about Peace, about Progress and violence is against all these things. Violence is the failure of dialogue.
-How can a Swedish snake enchanter arrive to success?
-Well. You must work very hard every day but not only for being an excellent snake enchanter, you must work very hard in all your jobs. If you allow me, today is a very important day for women and I want to express a personal opinion about it.
-Of course…
-Sweden is one of the most developed countries in equality of genre and women rights but it's not enough. Women's fight is universal, not only a Swedish cause and meanwhile we don't arrive to achieve the same rights for all the women around the world, this fight must continue. It's not a genre cause, it's a human cause. It's not a women's fight, it's a human fight and this is the reason because of men must be involved in this cause, too.
-Tell me someone that you admire thanks to this cause.
-There are millions of anonymous women who work very hard every day to try to help their families. All of them must be admired. Later, some of them can arrive to be popular because of their actions have had visibility but in that case, every little victory represents the entire collective.
-Michelle Obama, Angela Merkel, Theresa May... have high quotes of power.
-They are exceptions that we must convert in realities. We only demand respect and recognition and in equal conditions, equal salary. It's not easy to change this mentality because is a question of culture and education. This is the main reason because of the school is so important: work together, learn together, play together without distinction of genre, race or economic power.
-How do you feel being a member of The Beans family?
-I feel very well. We're a good family. We work together to reach the same objective and we don't surrender easily. The Beans are a good example of equality in work, in respect and in achieving objectives together.
-How is a normal day with The Beans?
-There isn't a normal day because is impossible. Have you got a normal day in your life? Every day is different and you must enjoy it as time as you can. We try to enjoy as time as we can because we know that this family is not an eternal present and someday every one of us will take a different path far away the family. It's life.
-How long have you been studying English?
-In Sweden there's only an official language, Swedish, a North Germanic language, related and very similar to Danish and Norwegian but there are four other languages also recognised: Meänkieli, Sami, Romani, and Yiddish, and of course, Swedish people have a great level of knowledge of English. Then, a Swedish citizen can speak, at minimum, three languages. This is very important because as languages as you speak, as easier learning another will be.
-Then English is not difficult to learn for a Swedish?
-Swedish and English become from German. We have different alphabets and writing but phonetically, we're very similar.
-What can you explain about your life with The Beans?
-Well. I enchant snakes but The Beans have enchanted me. They're incredible people, very hard workers and with a great sense of humour, something very important to survive in difficult moments. Irony and jokes are always with us.
-Which is your best memory with the family?
-It's impossible to choose only one but I especially remember when we played together. I'm very competitive and I always like to win. I enjoyed a lot playing Bingo and Scattergories. The level was very high and you must offer your best to win. Especially, I remember the day when we played Navajo Bingo. Amazing!
-How can you control an animal so dangerous as a snake?
-Mental power. You must project positive things. If you project negative ones like fear, confusion or nerves, you will lose. Positivism is something very important in our lives and although sometimes all seems to fall down without reparation, it's not true. There's always a way to rise up and continue fighting for your dreams.
-What about the future of the circus?
-I don't know but I believe circus must change, improve and renovate its offer. Circus had a mission during the Middle-Age with the gypsy communities. Later, circus was very important during the Great Depression in the USA but now we're living different times and you need a different offer. I like companies like Cirque du Soleil because they have changed the classical circus to beautiful art. I think this is the way to follow in a closer future. For other hand, I'm a hard defender of animal’s rights and I don't like circus where animals are treating badly.
-But, you're a snake enchanter. This is a contradiction, isn't it?
-No. I work with animals that have some problems to live in their environments. Hurt snakes that suffered some kind of damage and if they would live free, probably, they wouldn't survive a lot of time. Then, they have a second chance to have a different life. We take care of them. We offer to them another life. Everybody needs a second chance. I work in collaboration with special centres that take care of this kind of animals. Moreover, one part of my benefits is destined to help these centres and their workers: vets and volunteers.
-Are you an eco-friendly?
-Yes, definitely. Everyone must be eco-friendly because we only have one planet and we are using it and destroying it as if we had another place to live. It's insane. I come from a country where is too difficult to live because of the weather conditions and we understand that human must adapt to the nature, not nature to us.
The Beans are still enjoying their victory in the last Eurovision Song Contest. The family did a great interpretation demonstrating a great teamwork and coordination, skills that you need if you want to success in the labour world.
Their amazing interpretation was TT immediately and fans around the world expressed their admiration about The Beans and their wonderful song. One of them was Katrina Leskanich, winner of this contest in 1997 representing the UK.
Katrina has offered The Beans the possibility of joining her in her next tour in Hong Kong. The family is astonished with the news and after some hours of deliberation, they have accepted. Then, it's official that The Beans are going to leave their lifestyle, their travels and their parties and they're going to join Katrina in this new adventure.
The Grandma is very happy with this decision because she has always trusted in her family and she knew they were the best candidates to do whatever they wanted because, yes, they can do it! She isn't going to stay with them in Asia because she prefers to return to Barcelona and start new business with new partners. She thinks that she has already done all her work with the family and now she's going to be in contact with them thanks to the 2.0 technology.
The secret of The Beans's success is easy to explain: sacrifice, effort, happiness, teamwork, partnership and commitment.
All of them have got this common success thanks to their individual efforts which applicated to a common goal have been the best way to reach their objectives. If you want to be a good candidate, you must have an elaborated CV, a good resume and especial communicative skills that allow you to get an interview over. These are the most important clues in labour insertion and these are the keys that have helped The Beans to reach the victory in this contest.
Katrina Elizabeth Leskanich (born April 10, 1960) is an American musician, author and former lead singer of British pop rock band Katrina and the Waves whose song Walking on Sunshine was an international hit in 1985 and in 1997 won the Eurovision Song Contest for the United Kingdom with the song Shine a Light.
Katrina Leskanich
Leskanich was born in Topeka, Kansas. She is of Irish, German and Czech ancestry. Her father was a colonel in the United States Air Force, and Katrina and her five siblings (four sisters and one brother) moved frequently as children. After she was born, they moved from Kansas to New Mexico, and then California, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Stuttgart, in (then) West Germany, and the Netherlands before arriving in the United Kingdom in 1976.
The band's earliest incarnation was as The Waves, a group that played in and around Cambridge, England, from 1975 to 1977 and featured guitarist Kimberley Rew and drummer Alex Cooper. For the first Capitol album, the band re-recorded, remixed, or overdubbed 10 songs from their earlier Canadian releases to create their self-titled international debut album in 1985.
The Katrina and the Waves album was a substantial critical and commercial success, and the group had a worldwide hit with the song Walking on Sunshine. A Grammy award nomination for Best New Artist followed, as did constant touring, both of which helped to spur sales of new releases.
The Beans during their winner performance
In 1997, after having somewhat faded into obscurity, the band won the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 for the United Kingdom with Shine a Light, the same song that Katrina has chosen, this time, to sing with The Beans.
The first video of this song is now avalaible and we can offer the exclusive of its premiere. Under the direction of Antonio Bean and The Grandma's production, Katrina sings with Paqui, Elisabet and Cristina Bean with a chorus formed by Ana, Nereyda and Natalia Bean, a choreography created by Carol Bean and a fantastic melody performanced by Tania Bean with the drums, Anton Bean with the keyboards, Óscar, Edgar and Estefanía Bean with the guitars and Manuel Bean with the bells. The result is a beautiful and unforgettable version of the 1997's hit Shine a light.
The new version is stronger than the older because every Bean offers his/her colour to it and as a result, you can enjoy a powerful song with deep lyrics full of commitment, energy, happiness, effort, teamwork and coordination, an amazing song mixed of gospel, folk and pop rythms which is going to steal your heart and you mind.
C'mon, the version is also now avalaible in ITunes and Amazon Music. Download it now and enjoy with us!
Teamwork requires some sacrifice up front;
people who work as a team have to put the collective
needs of the group ahead of their individual interests.
Today, The Beans have visited the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. The family has been invited to participate of one of the most important Navajo cerimonies: The Blessing Way.
Cristina Bean has been chosen to participate in this cerimony where you put your soul in contact with the universe and become stronger to confront difficult situations.
After the cerimony, the family has been revising some English grammar with the Reported Speech and they have started the last chapter of Christmas Carol.
Tania Bean and Estefanía Bean have participated in a difficult password that they have won demonstrating that there isn't anything more important that the teamwork.
A member of the Navajo Community has explained them the importance of his community during the WWII where they worked as code talkers using his own language and The Grandma has been talking about the importance of money in all our daily activities where a coin becomes more important than a person, a vision totally opposed to the point of view of the Native American cultures.
The Grandma has also talked about the importance of being a member of a community and working together to keep good services of all for all as a way to live better; and about the evaluation of happiness like a social indicator.
The Earth is inhabited for differents cultures and we can take example of the best things that everyone of them can offer to us to improve our lives, our communities and our environment.
It's a very difficult goal but we must do it, if we think in the next generations and we want to leave them a good legacy.
There are about 175,000 speakers of the Navajo language Díne Bizaad. While English is the language that all Navajo speak, they also keep alive their own language, culture and customs so that future generations will be aware of their heritage.
For Americans who grew up on old TV westerns, they may have heard the language without realizing it. As most westerns were centered on the southwestern United States, the most depicted tribes in these westerns were Apache or Navajo. The Navajo greetings Yah’eh-teh’, meaning how do you do?, and Ah-hah-lah’nih, which is an affectionate greeting, were often used.
Anton Bean & Navajo Code Talker Monument
Probably the most famous use of the Navajo language outside of the Navajo Nation was during World War II. 420 young Navajo men were recruited and became Marines codetalkers during the war in the Pacific.
They were picked because they spoke both English and their native language fluently, so they could receive orders and relay them to other codetalkers to give to their superiors. The Navajo language had not been studied by the enemy, so orders could be issued without fear of interception.
Code talkers are people in the 20th century who used obscure languages as a means of secret communication during wartime. The term is now usually associated with the United States service members during the world wars who used their knowledge of Native American languages as a basis to transmit coded messages. In particular, there were approximately 400–500 Native Americans in the United States Marine Corps whose primary job was the transmission of secret tactical messages.
Code talkers transmitted these messages over military telephone or radio communications nets using formal or informally developed codes built upon their native languages. Their service improved the speed of encryption of communications at both ends in front line operations during World War II.
The name code talkers is strongly associated with bilingual Navajo speakers specially recruited during World War II by the Marines to serve in their standard communications units in the Pacific Theater. Code talking, however, was pioneered by the Cherokee and Choctaw peoples during World War I.
Other Native American code talkers were deployed by the United States Army during World War II, including Lakota, Meskwaki, and Comanche soldiers. Soldiers of Basque ancestry were also used for code talking by the U.S. Marines during World War II in areas where other Basque speakers were not expected to be operating.
Finally, The Beans have visited Navajo Nation in Arizona and Utah by the air. It has been an unforgettable experience before traveling to Lisbon where tomorrow night they are going to participate in the Eurovision Song Festival.
The Beans are living their last days in San Francisco before travelling to San Diego where they're going to participate in a new edition of the ComicCon as special guest stars. This morning, they have been revising some English grammar like Past Simple vs. Past Continuous and constructions with Let's.
They have also talked about objective and subjective points of view, something very important if you like enjoying modern art.
The family has participated in a new programme of ABC7-KGO TV. Manuel and Cristina Bean have been chosen by their family to representate it in a TV Contest named Password. Both of them have done a fantastic participation and they have won the total amount valorated in free entrances to visit the SFMOMA in San Francisco.
The family has decided to talk about art with one of the genius of the last century, Salvador Dalí, and they have been preparing their visit to the SFMOMA, a wonderful and interesting museum where you can enjoy the last modern works without any kind of censorship, because, as everybody must know, art is a free expression and we are in the city where was born the Free Speech movement and where was signed The Charter of the United Nations in 1945.
Then, this afternoon, the family has visited the SFMOMA. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is a modern art museum located in San Francisco. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th-century art.
The museum’s current collection includes over 33,000 works of painting, sculpture, photography, architecture, design, and media arts. They are displayed in 16,000 metres square of exhibition space, making the museum one of the largest in the United States overall, and one of the largest in the world for modern and contemporary art.
The Beans, the SFMOMA and Salvador Dalí
SFMOMA reopened on May 14, 2016, following a major three-year-long expansion project.The expansion more than doubles the museum’s gallery spaces and provides almost six times as much public space as the previous building, allowing SFMOMA to showcase an expanded collection along with the Doris and Donald Fisher Collection of contemporary art.
SFMOMA was founded in 1935 under director Grace L. McCann Morley as the San Francisco Museum of Art. For its first sixty years, the museum occupied the fourth floor of the War Memorial Veterans Building on Van Ness Avenue in the Civic Center.
A gift of 36 artworks from Albert M. Bender, including The Flower Carrier (1935) by Diego Rivera, established the basis of the permanent collection. Bender donated more than 1,100 objects to SFMOMA during his lifetime and endowed the museum's first purchase fund. The museum began its second year with an exhibition of works by Henri Matisse. In this same year the museum established its photography collection, becoming one of the first museums to recognize photography as a fine art.
SFMOMA was obliged to move to a temporary facility on Post Street in March 1945 to make way for the United Nations Conference on International Organization.
You can understand nothing about art, particularly modern art,
if you do not understand that imagination is a value in itself.
She was exhausted. The car had broken in the worst moment. She pushed it again and again. Then, a new hope appeared in the horizon. She felt she was saved. Edgar was walking to her quietly. When he arrived next to her, she cried "Edgar!" and he, like a brave hero, turned to her and say "Hello!" before disappearing into the same horizon that he had arrived.
Lombard Street is an east–west street in San Francisco that is famous for a steep, one-block section with eight hairpin turns. Stretching from The Presidio east to The Embarcadero, with a gap on Telegraph Hill, most of the street's western segment is a major thoroughfare designated as part of U.S. Route 101.
The famous one-block section, claimed to be the crookedest street in the world, is located along the eastern segment in the Russian Hill neighborhood. It is a major tourist attraction, receiving around 2 million visitors per year and up to 17,000 per day on busy summer weekends, as of 2015.
The street was named after Lombard Street in Philadelphia by San Francisco surveyor Jasper O'Farrell.
Lombard Street's west end is at Presidio Boulevard inside The Presidio; it then heads east through the Cow Hollow neighborhood. For twelve blocks, between Broderick Street and Van Ness Avenue, it is an arterial road that is co-signed as U.S. Route 101. Lombard Street continues through the Russian Hill neighborhood and to the Telegraph Hill neighborhood. At Telegraph Hill it turns south, becoming Telegraph Hill Boulevard to Pioneer Park and Coit Tower. Lombard Street starts again at Winthrop Street and ends at The Embarcadero as a collector road.
Lombard Street is known for the one-way block on Russian Hill between Hyde and Leavenworth Streets, where eight sharp turns are said to make it the most crooked street in the world. The design, first suggested by property owner Carl Henry and built in 1922, was intended to reduce the hill's natural 27% grade, which was too steep for most vehicles.
The crooked block is perhaps 180 m long and 125.7 m straightline, is one-way and is paved with red bricks. The sign at the top recommends 8 km/h. The segment normally sees around 250 vehicles per hour, with average daily traffic reaching 2,630 vehicles in 2013. During peak times, vehicles have to wait up to 20 minutes to enter the Crooked Street segment, in a queue that can reach Van Ness Avenue. The Powell-Hyde cable car stops at the top of the block on Hyde Street.
A city is not gauged by its length and width,
but by the broadness of its vision and the height of its dream.
Today is Saint Valentine. Saint Valentine, officially Saint Valentine of Rome, is a widely recognized 3rd-century Roman saint commemorated on February 14 and since the High Middle Ages is associated with a tradition of courtly love.
All that is reliably known of the saint commemorated on February 14 is his name and that he was martyred and buried at a cemetery on the Via Flaminia close to the Ponte Milvio to the north of Rome on that day. It is uncertain whether St. Valentine is two different Saints. Several different martyrologies have been added to later hagiographies that are unreliable.
The Roman Catholic Church continues to recognize him as a saint, listing him as such in the February 14 entry in the Roman Martyrology, and authorizing liturgical veneration of him on February 14 in any place where that day is not devoted to some other obligatory celebration in accordance with the rule that on such a day the Mass may be that of any saint listed in the Martyrology for that day.
Saint Valentine is commemorated in the Anglican Communion, as well as in Lutheranism. February 14 The Lutheran Service Book, with its penchant for the old Roman calendar, commemorates Valentine on this date.
The Beans have just arrived to the Hotel Palace in San Francisco where they're going to stay during their visit. For the moment, they're going to rest a little and take enough force to continue their visit in this wonderful side of California.
Old memories of The Grandma with Janis Joplin
The Grandma has decided to visit Vesuvio Café, a long-time city favourite, place that has welcomed authors, musicians,
artists and other free spirits through its doors since 1948, artists like Janis Joplin, someone who The Grandma adores. Drawn to
the Beat movement, and later to psychedelic rock, Janis Joplin was just
another patron who loved to hang out and chill behind its doors.
Some members of the family are remembering their firsts dates, something very special in a day like today, meanwhile The Grandma is evokating the past again and thinking strongly, that French is the most beautiful language to sing love songs.
Manuel & Cristina Bean
I remember my first date with Cristina. We met in a fantastic restaurant in the downtown and I was waiting for her very nervous. Suddently, Cristina appeared. It was like a dream. She wore a beautiful long white dress -she seemed a bride- and all stopped. Time stopped. World stopped. The waiter stopped. It was an incredible sensation. I was flying. A big scream returned me to the real world. It was a Cristina's scream. Her dress had become red and she was angry. The waiter had fallen over her and the Rioja wine finished on her beautiful dress.
I don't remember a lot about that day. I only remember that Manuel had asked for me a date thousands of times. He was very heavy, very persistent. At the end, I accepted and I wore the most beautiful dress I found inside my wardrove. I was a little nervous but I kept calm when I saw him, just before that waiter fell over me. We had dinner. At the beginning, it was a little uncomfortable to wear that red wine dress but finally, I only had eyes for Manuel. It was like a dream. Since that moment, he is my Cari.
I was visiting another little town in Denmark. Denmark is a wonderful country full of beautiful tales and nice people. I was travelling with some friends and we decided to visit a little church. When we entered in the religious place, an intensive light focused on him. Antonio was there, at the end of the central corridor, with the Holy Bible in his hands, reading Apostle John. I remember his words: 'And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth' (1 John 5:6). It was like a dream.Since that moment, I knew I wanted to stay the rest of my life with that handsome man, although I realized it wasn't going to be easy to share my life with a Protestant preacher. I'm Portuguese. I'm deeply Catholic, but as Apostle John says: 'The Spirit is the Truth'.
It was another day in the church. There's an enourmous crisis of faith in European citizens nowadays and Danish people aren't an exception. There weren't a lot of people in my little chappel but suddenly, the door opened and Ana appeared rounded by a sacred light. She was like an angel, a God's revelation. She was a God's present. I knew it immediately. It was like a dream. Since that moment, I realized I could follow the paths of God in different ways, it wasn't necessary to explain the God's words inside an empty church. I must go out and explain them around the world, but I wasn't going to do it alone: I wanted to share the rest of my life with Ana. She's a God's blessing.
I'm a professional football player and although I'm French, I'm a great fan of Real Madrid, perhaps because one of my favourite players has been Zinedine Zidane. It was the first time I visited the Santiago Bernabeu. I was very lucky because I was going to watch a derby: Real Madrid against Futbol Club Barcelona. I was very excited and happy. The anthem sounded and everybody stood up and started to sing and wave their flags. Everybody? No. In one of the corners of the stadium, near me, a beautiful woman looked the scenery with incredible open eyes. It was like a dream.It seemed that she wasn't very comfortable there and I felt a strange feeling of helping her to stay better. I left my seat and walked between dozens of people to arrive to her. I embraced her. I embraced Eli. Since that moment, we share our lives and two wonderful kids. By the way, my team won 2-1. ¡Hala Madrid!
I was scared. Thousands of thousands of people were shouting and singing to cheer their team. All the stadium was covered by an intensive white colour except me. I was very proud of wearing my blue and maroon t-shirt, which symbolize the colours of my football team. Yes. I'm a Futbol Club Barcelona's supporter and I was watching the Derby in the stadium of the rival thanks to a contest that I had won eating a packet of fried potatoes. I was alone and I have to confess that I didn't feel very well. Suddenly, Edgar appeared from the crowd and embraced me. It was like a dream.Since that moment, we share our lives, our football discussions and I demonstrate everybody that to love someone is not a question of age but heart and feelings. I don't remember the final score. It doesn't matter. Visca el Barça!
Last night, The Beans went to Times Square to celebrate the New Year. It was an incredible experience sharing this special moment with hundreds of New Yorkers and visitors like them.
During the afternoon, they had visited the famous ball and they had seen how the technicians prepared all the elements to reach an exceptional event, perhaps, one of the most celebrated around the world during this New Year's Eve. Cristina Bean had expressed her illusion about this event to the Grandma and The Beans decided to got to this unforgettable event.
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment center and neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue. It stretches from West 42nd to West 47th Streets. Brightly adorned with billboards and advertisements, Times Square is sometimes referred to as The Crossroads of the World, The Center of the Universe, the heart of The Great White Way, and the heart of the world.
The Beans arriving to Times Square
One of the world's busiest pedestrian areas, it is also the hub of the Broadway Theater District and a major center of the world's entertainment industry.
Times Square is one of the world's most visited tourist attractions, drawing an estimated 50 million visitors annually. More or less 330,000 people pass through Times Square daily, many of them tourists, while over 460,000 pedestrians walk through Times Square on its busiest days.
Formerly known as Longacre Square, Times Square was renamed in 1904 after The New York Times moved its headquarters to the newly erected Times Building –now One Times Square– the site of the annual New Year's Eve ball drop which began on December 31, 1907, and continues today, attracting over a million visitors to Times Square every year.
After spending all night enjoying those wonderful moments, The Beans returned to the Bryant Park Hotel to rest a little because today they want to visit the UNO.
The Beans arriving to the UNO Headquarters
The Grandma is a great admirer of the United Nations since she had the chance of seeing Pau Casals playing one of his last compositions, El Cant dels Ocells (Song of the Birds), which became in the Hymn of the United Nations.
He conducted its first performance in a special concert at the United Nations on October 24, 1971, two months before his 95th birthday. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, U Thant, awarded Pau Casals the U.N. Peace Medal in recognition of his stance for peace, justice and freedom.
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization tasked to promote international cooperation and to create and maintain international order.
The Beans inside the UNO Headquarters
A replacement for the ineffective League of Nations, the organization was established on 24 October 1945 after World War II in order to prevent another such conflict. At its founding, the UN had 51 member states; there are now 193.
The headquarters of the UN is in Manhattan, New York City, and is subject to extraterritoriality. Further main offices are situated in Geneva, Nairobi, and Vienna. The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states.
Its objectives include maintaining international peace and security, promoting human rights, fostering social and economic development, protecting the environment, and providing humanitarian aid in cases of famine, natural disaster, and armed conflict. The UN is the largest, most familiar, most internationally represented and most powerful intergovernmental organization in the world.
The UN Charter was drafted at a conference between April–June 1945 in San Francisco, and was signed on 26 June 1945 at the conclusion of the conference; this charter took effect 24 October 1945, and the UN began operation. The UN's mission to preserve world peace was complicated in its early decades by the Cold War between the US and Soviet Union and their respective allies.
Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbours,
When Jordi Bean chose The USA to go at Christmas holiday, The Grandma asked for every member of the family about their preferences in this journey.
Cristina Bean confessed she wanted to visit the Metropolitan Museum in New York City and today, her dream has come true. The Grandma is also very happy with this visit because she was very interested, as a good Andorran woman, in the MET Romanic cloisters. She also wanted to see some Salvador Dalí's works which are exposed in this magnificent museum.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York, colloquially the Met, is the largest art museum in the United States. With 7.06 million visitors in 2016, it was the second most visited art museum in the world, and the fifth most visited museum of any kind. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among seventeen curatorial departments. The main building, on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is by area one of the world's largest art galleries. A much smaller second location, The Cloisters at Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan, contains an extensive collection of art, architecture, and artifacts from Medieval Europe.
Cristina Bean in front of The Temple of Dendur
On March 18, 2016, the museum opened the Met Breuer museum at Madison Avenue in the Upper East Side; it extends the museum's modern and contemporary art program.
The permanent collection consists of works of art from classical antiquity and ancient Egypt, paintings and sculptures from nearly all the European masters, and an extensive collection of American and modern art.
The Met maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanian, Byzantine, and Islamic art. The museum is home to encyclopedic collections of musical instruments, costumes and accessories, as well as antique weapons and armor from around the world. Several notable interiors, ranging from first-century Rome through modern American design, are installed in its galleries.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870 for the purposes of opening a museum to bring art and art education to the American people. It opened on February 20, 1872, and was originally located at 681 Fifth Avenue.
A great day in New York would be to wake up, get a cup of coffee and head up to Central Park for a nice walk.
Then I'd go down to the East Village and stroll around.
After that, maybe I'd go check out a museum or catch an indie film at the Angelika.
