ART GALLERIES, LIBRARIES & STEAK AND KIDNEY PIES

Today, The Stones and The Grandma have started to visit Manchester. They have decided to visit some specific places and they have talked about which of them and when.

IN THE MORNING, the family has visited the John Rylands Library.

Daniel Stone was very interested in this place because he loves old music books and ancient scores. This visit has been a great opportunity to contemplate some of them. The library is an amazing and wonderful place.

The John Rylands Library is a late-Victorian neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England.

The library, which opened to the public in 1900, was founded by Enriqueta Augustina Rylands in memory of her husband, John Rylands.

The John Rylands Library and the library of the University of Manchester merged in July 1972 into the John Rylands University Library of Manchester; today it is part of The University of Manchester Library.

Special collections built up by both libraries were progressively concentrated in the Deansgate building. The special collections, believed to be among the largest in the United Kingdom, include medieval illuminated manuscripts and examples of early European printing, including a Gutenberg Bible, the second largest collection of printing by William Caxton, and the most extensive collection of the editions of the Aldine Press of Venice.

The Rylands Library Papyrus P52 has a claim to be the earliest extant New Testament text. The library holds personal papers and letters of notable figures, among them Elizabeth Gaskell and John Dalton.

The architectural style is primarily neo-Gothic with elements of Arts and Crafts Movement in the ornate and imposing gatehouse facing Deansgate which dominates the surrounding streetscape. The library, granted Grade I listed status in 1994, is maintained by the University of Manchester and open for library readers and visitors.

Enriqueta Rylands purchased a site on Deansgate for her memorial library in 1889 and commissioned a design from architect Basil Champneys. Rylands commissioned the Manchester academic Alice Cooke to index the vast library of the 2nd Earl Spencer which she had purchased and another collection of autographs.

Mrs Rylands intended the library to be principally theological, and the building, which is a fine example of Victorian Gothic, has the appearance of a church, although the concept was of an Oxford college library on a larger scale. Champneys presented plans to Mrs Rylands within a week of gaining the commission. Thereafter frequent disagreements arose and Mrs Rylands selected decorative elements, window glass and statues against his wishes.

By the nineteenth century Manchester was a prosperous industrial town and the demands of cotton manufacturing stimulated the growth of engineering and chemical industries.

More information: John Rylands Library

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.

Marcus Tullius Cicero

IN THE AFTERNOON, The Stones have lunched in one of the most popular places of the city, Mr Thomas's Chop House, a wonderful place to eat and drink the best specialities of the city.

Juan Stone has insisted in tasting good expensive wine and steak and kidney pie, a typical local dish. Juan is a synesthesic person and he transforms everything in art using the wonderful world of senses.

Mr Thomas's Chop House is a grade II listed building which first opened as a public house in 1870.

It's cast iron frame building and terracotta block displaying Art Nouveau motifs is a local institution in Manchester and one of the jewels in Manchester's crown. The managers and staff are committed to keeping Mr Thomas's at the forefront of Manchester life with fine food, fine wines, good beer and great company.

Steak and kidney pie is a representative dish of British cuisine. Steak and kidney pie is a savoury pie that is filled principally with a mixture of diced beef, diced kidney (often of beef, lamb, or pork), fried onion, and brown gravy.

The gravy typically consists of salted beef broth flavoured with Worcestershire sauce and black pepper, and thickened with refined flour, beurre manié, or corn starch. The gravy may also contain ale or stout. Hot water crust pastry, puff pastry, and shortcrust pastry are among the pastry crusts prepared for steak and kidney pie.

Among the various vernacular rhyming slang names for steak and kidney pie are Kate and Sidney pie, snake and kiddy pie, and snake and pygmy pie.

More information: BBC

Oh, don’t poo poo a nickle, Lisa. A nickle will buy you a steak and kidney pie,a cup of coffee, a slice of cheesecake, and a newsreel,with enough change left over to ride the trolleyfrom Battery Park to the Polo Grounds.

C.M. Burns

IN THE EVENING, the family has visited the Whitworth Art Gallery, a beautiful cultural place that belongs to the University of Manchester.

Mireia Stone, who is a fan of modern art, has been very happy with this visit and has become the best guide for the rest of the family. She has been very interested in the last Lego art pieces.

The Whitworth is an art gallery in Manchester, England, containing about 55,000 items in its collection. The gallery is located in Whitworth Park and is part of the University of Manchester.

In 2015, the Whitworth reopened after it was transformed by a £15 million capital redevelopment that doubled its exhibition spaces, restored period features and opened itself up to its surrounding park. The gallery received more than 440,000 visitors in its first year and was awarded the Art Fund's Museum of the Year prize in 2015.

The gallery was founded in 1889 by Robert Dukinfield Darbishire with a donation from Sir Joseph Whitworth, as The Whitworth Institute and Park. The first building was completed in 1908. In 1958 the gallery became part of the University of Manchester.

In October 1995 the mezzanine court in the centre of the building was opened. The new gallery, designed chiefly for the display of sculpture, won a RIBA regional award.

In 2010 the art gallery received 172,000 visitors, making it one of Greater Manchester's ten most-visited tourist attractions.

In February 2015, the Whitworth reopened after a £15 million capital redevelopment and received over 440,000 visitors in its first reopening year. It was shortlisted for the Stirling Prize and won the Art Fund's Museum of the Year in 2015.

The Whitworth has notable collections of watercolours, sculptures, wallpapers and textiles.

The gallery focuses on modern artists, and the art collections include works by Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Ford Madox Brown, Eduardo Paolozzi, Francis Bacon, William Blake, David Hockney, L. S. Lowry, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Pablo Picasso, and a fine collection of works by J. M. W. Turner. One of its most famous works is the marble sculpture Genesis (1929–31) by Sir Jacob Epstein. It also houses the Musgrave Kinley Outsider Art Collection.

More information: Whitworth Art Gallery

Art is inspiring. Walking into a gallery, or when the lights go up on a stage; that thrill of getting something that has nothing to do with acquisition.

 Sadie Jones

A TRAVEL TO LONDON, A NEW VERSION OF 'THE ODYSSEA'

Loli Stone, Homer & Juan Stone, Triangle in Ithaca

Today, The Stones have spent their last day in Ithaca. It has been an amazing short Greek travel that has helped them to meet each other better and to share beautiful unforgettable experiences in Ulysses's homebirth.

It has been a special travel for Loli and Juan Stone because they have decided to take some days to think about their future together. Whatever it happened, Juan is going to remember Loli every day because she was as united to him as a shadow, although he is an adventurous brave man and he trusts on love.

The family has been shocked with this news and they have tried to convince Loli using some English grammar (Imperative & Should) but it has been impossible. Carlos Stone has said that Ithaca remembers him Agatha Christie's And then there were none, but The Grandma has thought about another Christie's novel, Triangle at Rhodes.

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The Grandma has explained some stories to try to cheer the family up but they were astonished with Loli's departure. She has been talking a little about King Arthur and about the figure of the Sibyl trying to search a relation between Ancient Greek and Sant Boi de Llobregat with the Romans as a nexus.

The sibyls were oracles in Ancient Greece. The earliest sibyls, according to legend, prophesied at holy sites. Their prophecies were influenced by divine inspiration from a deity; originally at Delphi and Pessinos. In Late Antiquity, various writers attested to the existence of sibyls in Greece, Italy, the Levant, and Asia Minor.

She has talked about the presence of some ancient caves in Sant Boi and their possible relation with ancient hermits who also lived in caves, as the ancient Greek Sibyls and finally, she has explained some facts about The Song of the Sibyl, a liturgical drama and a Gregorian chant, the lyrics of which comprise a prophecy describing the Apocalypse, which has been performed in some Mediterranean churches, on Christmas Eve nearly uninterruptedly since medieval times. It was declared a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO on 16 November, 2010.

More information: Eremistisme a Sant Boi de Llobregat? (Catalan Version)

More information: The Song of Sibyl, The Day of Judgement

Paying attention to the Sibyl -or to random-, the family has chosen to prepare their next travel to London. The social situation with a health crisis can do that this new travel was an Odyssey, because of this; The Grandma has decided to offer some rules and advice:

-Don't be panic

-Follow the official channels

-Trust in the British government

-Take your passport always with you

-Don't go alone (we are a family)

-You shouldn't be worried, you should enjoy the travel

-You should use your credit card (unfinished credit) to avoid touching notes and coins

-You should talk to everyone to practice English (it is a fantastic opportunity)

-You should use your new IPhone11, if you have any kind of trouble (911)

-Take a lot of photos and share with the family by Signal

Roll of the dice! (Alea iacta est!).

More information: National Health Service (NHS)

The Odyssey, in Greek Ὀδύσσεια, is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other Homeric epic. The Odyssey is fundamental to the modern Western canon; it is the second-oldest extant work of Western literature, while the Iliad is the oldest. Scholars believe the Odyssey was composed near the end of the 8th century BC, somewhere in Ionia, the Greek coastal region of Anatolia.

The poem mainly focuses on the Greek hero Odysseus, known as Ulysses in Roman myths, king of Ithaca, and his journey home after the fall of Troy.

It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War. In his absence, it is assumed Odysseus has died, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus must deal with a group of unruly suitors, the Mnesteres, in Greek  Μνηστῆρες or Proci, who compete for Penelope's hand in marriage.

Carlos, And then there were none & The Odyssey

The Odyssey continues to be read in the Homeric Greek and translated into modern languages around the world. Many scholars believe the original poem was composed in an oral tradition by an aoidos (epic poet/singer), perhaps a rhapsode (professional performer), and was more likely intended to be heard than read. The details of the ancient oral performance and the story's conversion to a written work inspire continual debate among scholars.

The Odyssey was written in a poetic dialect of Greek -a literary amalgam of Aeolic Greek, Ionic Greek, and other Ancient Greek dialects- and comprises 12,110 lines of dactylic hexameter. Among the most noteworthy elements of the text are its non-linear plot, and the influence on events of choices made by women and slaves, besides the actions of fighting men. In the English language as well as many others, the word odyssey has come to refer to an epic voyage.

The Odyssey has a lost sequel, The Telegony, which was not attributed to Homer. It was usually attributed in antiquity to Cinaethon of Sparta. In one source, the Telegony was said to have been stolen from Musaeus of Athens by either Eugamon or Eugammon of Cyrene.

Odysseus' name means troubl" in Greek, referring to both the giving and receiving of trouble -as is often the case in his wanderings. An early example of this is the boar hunt that gave Odysseus the scar by which Eurycleia recognizes him; Odysseus is injured by the boar and responds by killing it. Odysseus' heroic trait is his mētis, or cunning intelligence. He is often described as the Peer of Zeus in Counsel. This intelligence is most often manifested by his use of disguise and deceptive speech.

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As he sails away from the island of the Cyclopes, he shouts his name and boasts that nobody can defeat the Great Odysseus. The Cyclops then throws the top half of a mountain at him and prays to his father, Poseidon, saying that Odysseus has blinded him. This enrages Poseidon, causing the god to thwart Odysseus' homecoming for a very long time.

The Odyssey is written in dactylic hexameter. It opens in medias res, in the middle of the overall story, with prior events described through flashbacks or storytelling.

The events in the main sequence of the Odyssey, excluding Odysseus' embedded narrative of his wanderings, take place in the Peloponnese and in what are now called the Ionian Islands. There are difficulties in the apparently simple identification of Ithaca, the homeland of Odysseus, which may or may not be the same island that is now called Ithakē (Ιθάκη).

The wanderings of Odysseus as told to the Phaeacians, and the location of the Phaeacians' own island of Scheria, pose more fundamental problems, if geography is to be applied: scholars, both ancient and modern, are divided as to whether or not any of the places visited by Odysseus, after Ismaros and before his return to Ithaca, are real

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 A man who has been through bitter experiences

and travelled far enjoys even his sufferings after a time.

Homer

THE STONES TRAVEL TO ITHACA ISLAND, ULYSSES'S HOME

Brauny Stone has suggested to travel to Ithaca

Today, The Stones have decided to travel to Ithaca, the Greek island located in the Ionian Sea, well-known by being the hometown of Ulysses.

After some discussions with Brauny, the family has chosen this wonderful place to spend some days. They want to relax and discover the amazing history of this island, one of the most mystic of the Mediterranean Sea. Because it is their first travel together, The Grandma has decided to prepare the budget and the activities planning to avoid they have too much work and they have enough time to prepare their suitcases and be ready to take their plane tomorrow afternoon. She has also gone to El Prat International Airport to prepare her private jet.

Before talking about this travel, The Stones have been talking about some aspects of English Grammar. They have studied the order of adjectives, the a/an article and the Saxon genitive. They have received great news when they have met Juan Stone, a new member of this great family.

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Ithaca, Ithaki or Ithaka, in Greek Ιθάκη, Ithakē, is a Greek island located in the Ionian Sea, off the northeast coast of Kefalonia and to the west of continental Greece.

Ithaca's main island has an area of 96 square kilometres and had a population in 2011 of 3,231. It is the second-smallest of seven main Ionian Islands, after Paxi. Ithaca is a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and the only municipality of the regional unit. The capital is Vathy or Vathi.

Modern Ithaca is generally identified with Homer's Ithaca, the home of Odysseus, whose delayed return to the island is the plot of the classical Greek tale the Odyssey.

More information: Ithaca

Although the name Ithaca has remained unchanged since ancient times, written documents of different periods also refer to the island by other names, such as:

-Val di Compare (Valley of the Bestman), Piccola (Small) Cephallonia, Anticephallonia (Middle Ages until the beginning of the Venetian period)

-Ithaki nisos (Greek for island), Thrakoniso, Thakou, Thiakou (Byzantine period)

-Thiaki (Byzantine and before the Venetian period)

-Teaki (Venetian period)

-Fiaki (Ottoman period)

The island has been inhabited since the 2nd millennium BC. It may have been the capital of Cephalonia during the Mycenaean period and the capital-state of the small kingdom ruled by Odysseus. 

The Grandma checks her private plane

The Romans occupied the island in the 2nd century BC, and later it became part of the Byzantine Empire. The Normans ruled Ithaca in the 13th century, and after a short Turkish rule it fell into Venetian hands, Ionian Islands under Venetian rule.

Ithaca was subsequently occupied by France under the 1797 Treaty of Campo Formio. It was liberated by a joint Russo-Turkish force commanded by admirals Fyodor Ushakov and Kadir Bey in 1798 and subsequently became a part of the Septinsular Republic, which was originally established as a protectorate of the Russian Empire and Ottoman Empire. It became a French possession again in 1807, until it was taken over by the United Kingdom in 1809.

Under the 1815 Treaty of Paris, Ithaca became a state of the United States of the Ionian Islands, a protectorate of the British Empire. In 1830 the local community requested to join with the rest of the newly restored nation-state of Greece. Under the 1864 Treaty of London, Ithaca, along with the remaining six Ionian islands, was ceded to Greece as a gesture of diplomatic friendship to Greece's new Anglophile king, George I. The United Kingdom kept its privileged use of the harbour at Corfu.

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The origins of the first people to inhabit the island, which occurred during the last years of the Neolithic period (4000–3000 BC), are not clear. The traces of buildings, walls and a road from this time period prove that life existed and continued to do so during the Early Hellenic era (3000–2000 BC). In the years (2000–1500 BC) some of the population migrated to part of the island. The buildings and walls that were excavated showed the lifestyle of this period had remained primitive.

During the Mycenaean period (1600–1100 BC), Ithaca rose to the highest level of its ancient history. Mostly based on the Odyssey and oral traditions, it is believed that the island became the capital of the Ionian Kingdom-State, which included the surrounding lands, and was referred to as one of the most powerful states of that time. The Ithacans were characterized as great navigators and explorers with daring expeditions reaching further than the Mediterranean Sea.

The epic poems of Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey, shed some light on Bronze-Age Ithaca. Those poems are generally thought to have been composed sometime in the 9th or 8th centuries BC, but may have made use of older mythological and poetic traditions; their depiction of the hero Odysseus and his rule over Ithaca and the surrounding islands and mainland preserves some memories of the political geography, customs, and society of the time.

Ithaca, Ionian Sea, Greece

After the end of the Mycenaean period Ithaca's influence diminished, and it came under the jurisdiction of the nearest large island.

During the ancient Hellenic prime (800–180 BC), independent organized life continued in the northern and southern part of the island. In the southern part, in the area of Aetos, the town Alalcomenae was founded. From this period, many objects of important historical value have been found during excavations. Among these objects are coins imprinted with the name Ithaca and the image of Odysseus which suggest that the island was self-governed.

According to the different periods, conquerors and circumstances, the population of the island kept changing. Although there is no definite numerical information until the Venetian period, it is believed that from the Mycenaean to the Byzantine period, the number of inhabitants was several thousand, who lived mainly in the northern part of Ithaca. During the Middle Ages, the population decreased due to the continuous invasions of pirates, forcing the people to establish settlements and live in the mountains.

In 1479, Ottoman forces reached the islands and many of the people fled from the island out of fear of the new Turkish settlers. Those that remained hid in the mountains to avoid the pirates who controlled the channel between Cephalonia and Ithaca and the bays of the island.

In the following five years, the Turks, Toques and Venetians laid claim to the islands diplomatically. Possession of the islands was finally taken by the Ottoman Empire from 1484 to 1499. During this period, the Venetians had strengthened into a major power with an organized fleet. The Venetians pursued their interest in the Ionian Islands, and in 1499 a war between the Venetians and the Turks began. The allied fleets of the Venetians and the Spanish besieged Ithaca, and the other islands.

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The fleets prevailed, and from 1500 onwards the Venetians controlled the islands. According to a treaty of 1503, Ithaca, Cephalonia and Zakynthos would be ruled by the Venetians, and Lefkada by the Ottoman Empire. By then Ithaca was almost uninhabited, and the Venetians had to grant incentives to settlers from neighbouring islands and the mainland to repopulate it. During the next centuries, the island remained under Venetian control.

A few years after the French Revolution, the Ionian area came under the rule of the First French Republic (1797–1798), and the island became the honorary capital of the French département of Ithaque, comprising Cephalonia, Lefkada, and part of the mainland, the prefecture was at Argostoli on Kefalonia.

The population welcomed the French, who took care in the control of the administrative and judicial systems, but later the heavy taxation they demanded caused a feeling of indignation among the people. During this short historical period, the new ideas of system and social structure greatly influenced the inhabitants of the island.

At the end of 1798, the French were succeeded by Russia and Turkey (1798–1807), which were allies at that time. Corfu became the capital of the Ionian States, and the form of government was democratic, with a fourteen-member senate in which Ithaca had one representative.

The Ithacan fleet flourished when it was allowed to carry cargo up to the ports of the Black Sea.

Ithaca, Ionian Sea, Greece

In 1807, according to the Tilsit Treaty with Turkey, the Ionian Islands once again came under the French rule (1807–1809 AD). The French quickly began preparing to face the British fleet, which had become very powerful, by building a fort in Vathy.

In 1809 Great Britain mounted a blockade on the Ionian Islands as part of the war against Napoleon, and in September of that year they hoisted the British flag above the castle of Zakynthos. Cephalonia and Ithaca soon surrendered, and the British installed provisional governments. The treaty of Paris in 1815 recognised the United States of the Ionian Islands and decreed that it become a British protectorate. Colonel Charles Philippe de Bosset became provisional governor between 1810 and 1814.

A few years later resistance groups started to form. Although their energy in the early years was directed to supporting the Greeks in the revolution against the Turks, it soon started to turn towards the British. By 1848 the resistance movement was gaining strength and there were skirmishes with the British Army in Argostoli and Lixouri which led to some relaxation in the laws and to freedom of the press.

Union with Greece was now a declared aim, and by 1850 a growing restlessness resulted in even more skirmishes. Ithaca along with the other islands were transferred to Greece in 1864 as a gesture of goodwill when the British-backed Prince William of Denmark became King George the First of the Hellenes.

During the British protectorate period prominent citizens of Ithaki participated in the secret Philiki Etairia which was instrumental in organizing the Greek Revolution of 1821 against Turkish rule, and Greek fighters found refuge there. In addition, the participation of Ithacans during the siege of Messolongi and the naval battles against Ottoman ships at the Black Sea and the Danube was significant.

Ithaca was annexed to Greek Kingdom with the rest of the Ionian islands in 1864.

More information: Discover Greece

Ithaca lies east of the northeast coast of Cephalonia, from which it is separated by the Strait of Ithaca. The regional unit covers an area of 117.812 square kilometresand has approximately 100 kilometres of coastline. The main island stretches in the north-south direction, in length of 23 km and maximum width of 6 km. It consists of two parts, of about equal size, connected by the narrow isthmus of Aetos (Eagle), just 600 metres wide. The two parts enclose the bay of Molos, whose southern branch is the harbor of Vathy, the capital and largest settlement of the island. The second largest village is Stavros in the northern part.

Lazaretto Islet or Island of The Saviour guards the harbor. The church of The Saviour and the remains of an old gaol are located on the islet.

The capes in the island include Exogi, the westernmost, Melissa to the north, Mavronos, Agios Ilias, Schinous, Sarakiniko and Agios Ioannis, to the east, and Agiou Andreou, to the south. Bays include Afales Bay to the northwest, Frikes and Kioni Bays to the northeast, Molos Gulf to the east, and Ormos Gulf and Sarakiniko Bay to the southeast. The tallest mountain is Nirito in the northern part (806 m), followed by Merovigli (669 m) in the south.

Its largest towns are Vathy (pop. 1,920 in 2011), Perachori (343), Stavros (366), Platreithias (201), and Kioni (182). Ithaca is the only populated island in this island group.

More information: Greeka

As you set out for Ithaka
hope the voyage is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.

Konstantinos Kavafis