The EOI’s London Trip

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EOI Ferrol Número 18 ANO 2020

Carlos Cuadrado

Vidas íntimas e o Teatro Nacional São João

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No fim de semana de vinte e três e vinte e quatro de novembro fomos de viagem ao Porto numa excursão organizada pelo Departamento de português da EOI de Ferrol. Após outras atividades, e já com ânimo de relaxarmo-nos, fomos passeando até à Praça da Batalha, em que está localizado o teatro

Nacional São João, para assistirmos a uma peça de teatro, Vidas íntimas.

O teatro

Oteatro é um edifício esplêndido de estilo neoclássico, julgo eu, cuja sala principal – há outras menores – está decorada com motivos principalmente vegetais em relevo, dourados, sobre pintura grená. Há quatro andares de camarotes. Tem um teto muito alto em que se podem ver umas pinturas murais a fresco que não se enxergavam muito bem, mas pareciam representar pessoas com as mãos levantadas, é possível que a chorar ou pedirem auxílio. As da parte central já não as consegui ver com nenhuma clareza.

Viagem da EOI Ferrol ao Porto e Vila do Conde. Nesta cidade, no domingo 24 de novembro (2019), visitámos a Alfândega Régia e a Nau Quinhentista, fundeada no cais do Rio Ave

A peça de teatro

Aobra, Vidas íntimas, pareceu-me muito divertida, no que diz respeito às muitas piadas que os atores diziam, mas no fundo era bastante azeda. Apresenta duas personagens, homem e mulher, que uns anos atrás – acho que cinco − foram casal, mas já estão divorciados. Estão em luade-mel, hospedados em quartos vizinhos num hotel com os seus novos parceiros, com quem acabaram de se casar. Reparam um no outro, mais uma vez surge a paixão entre eles e fogem juntos para Paris, deixando atrás os seus atuais e recentes esposos. Os seus novos casais seguem-nos e tentam que voltem com eles, porém não conseguem convencê-los e mais uma vez vão-se juntos.

Os novos parceiros são pessoas muito convencionais, cinzentas, sem brilho, mas que podem oferecer uma relação sólida e sem sobressaltos, embora provavelmente aborrecida.

A ligação afetiva entre os antigos cônjuges, novamente apaixonados, é um relacionamento em que se sucedem os momentos brilhantes, e que lhes produz emoções de contínuo. Contudo, também é como uma montanha-russa, agora felizes, e a detestarem-se daqui a um bocado. E esta é a parte azeda, que conceituo de relação tóxica, em que mesmo há violência de género, embora seja este um conceito da nossa época, inexistente quando a peça foi escrita. No entanto, segundo julgo, violência é violência em qualquer época.

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The EOI’s London Trip

Jorge Maneiro Piñeiro 51

EOI Ferrol

Número 18 ANO 2020

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A Long Weekend Getaway to London

Iam going to write some lines about our trip to the United Kingdom organized by the School of Languages from 16th to 20th May in 2019. I will focus my attention on our visit to London on the 17th and the 19th. We set off from Alvedro airport in A Coruña on Thursday evening. Our journey by plane lasted approximately one hour, so at 19.40 p.m. we were landing at Heathrow.

We had a pleasant trip by bus from the airport, in which we could see the main streets in London, like Marylebone

Street and Euston Road. The bus finally stopped at an impressive hotel called Travelodge Central Kings Cross, which has a magnificent façade with a gallery and some little towers and a sculpture on the roof. It is located in the city center nearby Kings Cross train station, from which we set out for our trip to York on Saturday 18th May.

On Friday 17th May, we met a Galician guide from Carril at 10:15 a.m. With him, we visited Green Park and later on we watched the changing of the guard near Buckingham Palace. We continued visiting Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament, both of them from the outside. It is worth mentioning that we did not see the Parliament from the River Thames site and that the famous Big Ben was covered with scaffolding. We passed through Downing Street and it shocked me that it is a street closed to the public, that is, an iron fence does not allow anybody to come into the street. Our tour ended at Trafalgar Square, where a huge statue of Admiral Nelson, the St.Martin-inthe-Fields church and the building of the National Gallery can be found.

I would like to say that I visited the National Gallery alone on Sunday 19th May. It took me 45 minutes to arrive on foot from the hotel. I spent almost seven hours inside looking at the pictures, including a break to have lunch at the restaurant. The painting I liked the most was ‘The Madonna of the Pinks’ by Raphael. It was a very little picture depicting a young Virgin Mary and the child, with flowers called pinks. The virgin has her ears covered with a transparent veil; it is a very lifelike painting.

In the evening, we started our journey visiting St. Paul’s Cathedral. Although the original building was constructed in AD 604, the present cathedral and its impressive dome were built in the 17th century by the architect Sir Christopher Wren. All the façade is made of white marble and the interior has a marvellous splendor. Perhaps, that is why Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer had their wedding there. After seeing St. Paul’s, we hung out on the streets and we visited Leadenhall Market, with plenty of stalls and cafés.

Later on, we walked on both sides of the River Thames. We visited the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. We could see the crows there, which are fed with an over-protective attitude, because it is said that if these crows die, the institution of the Crown would end.

Our next step was to cross to the other bank of the River Thames. After some minutes walking we went into the Tate Modern. It is an art gallery with contemporary works, but what I really remember the most were the marvellous sights from the balcony on the upper-floor. Old and new buildings on the banks of the river coexist in harmony. It was a splendorous sight, and the new skyscrapers were built in a way that do not spoil the views. It can be defined with only one word: eclecticism.

To conclude, I would highly recommend visiting London to all my readers, because it is a wonderful city.