OUR VISIT TO PRAGUE – 6-10 APRIL 2011

On Wednesday, 6^th April, President Isabel and her husband David, President Elect Judith, Carol Edwards, Mary Ann Best and her fiancé Brian and Secretary Rosemary left grange in an Airport Services Taxi for Manchester Airport.  Our flight was on time and we arrived in Prague, at our hotel, The Cloister Inn, around 7.15pm.  A meal had been booked at a local Restaurant – The Stoleti – which was very nice.  Afterwards we strolled around Prague to the Old Town Square and to the River Vlatava – everything was floodlit and looked magnificent.

On the Thursday morning we indulged in a wonderful breakfast and then set off on foot to explore the city, going back to the Old Town Square where we admired the Astronomical Clock, the Tyn Church and a lovely Easter Tree, hung with Easter eggs and checks and ribbons.  There is a statue of Jan Hus in the square.  We then walked on passed the Power Tower and stopped for coffee at a very smart art nouveau café in the Municipal Building.  We walked on through the Jewish Quarter to the River, passed Dvorak’s statue and on to lunch by the river.  On our table we held everyone up whilst we waited for our fruit dumplings – apricot flavour – worth the wait.  In the afternoon we went via funicular up Petrin Hill and then walked back down, seeing the ‘Broken Man Statue’ depicting the fall of communism at the bottom, before making our way back to the hotel to regain our strength before meeting some of the Prague Club members for our evening meal.  Not only did we meet some of the Prague members, but also some of their guests, from Belgium and Italy – again we went to the Stoleti and had another excellent meal.

On Friday, we had another day to ourselves and went for a boat trip, which also included free admission to their museum, which was very interesting.  We then went across Charles Bridge and had lunch in a pub (there was lots of eating and drinking on this trip!).  In the afternoon we went around St Nicholas Church and walked up towards the Castle.  In the evening we had our first ‘informal gathering’ with SI Prague and their guests at their Club meeting rooms, where President Regina welcomed us all to the 15^th Anniversary Celebrations.  We had a buffet supper there and then President Isabel and David went on to a Jazz concert which SI Prague had organised.

On the Saturday, we met members of SI Prague and their guests in Wenceslas Square and caught the metro and then a tram up to Prague Castle where we spent the morning exploring the castle buildings, St Vitas Cathedral and the Palace Gardens.  There were two options for the afternoon: either a tour of New Prague or a trip to the Museum.  In the evening the Gala Dinner took place at the Hotel President.  Before that we went to a concert in a nearby Church – 4 clarinet players and a percussionist called Clarinet Factory, who were superb.  The Gala Dinner went very well, with a good number of people in attendance.  There were lots of speeches from the many guests – Isabel was first up, with our Royal Wedding plate.  The number of Clubs who attended and sent their best wishes was amazing!

On the Sunday, we met up with Jana who took us to Muller’s Villa – Adolf Loos 1930 – a fascinating modern building with a wonderful interior restored in 2000.  We then had a last lunch and look at the river before getting our taxi back to the airport.

We had a wonderful time in Prague, meeting friends from the past, new friends both from SI Prague and many other countries as well.  Addresses were exchanged with two ladies from Turin and a Japanese lady from Belgium, and probably more that I am not aware of.

Rosemary

April 2011

SI GRANGE-OVER-SANDS VISIT TO SI WINCHESTER

On 18^th June, a party of 9 Soroptimists from Grange-over-Sands, SI Fylde and SI Blackburn, set off in a hired mini bus to visit Wiltshire on an Archaeological Field Trip with our resident Archaeologist, Dorothy Sheppard.  As part of our trip, we visited Winchester, where we have a Friendship Link with their Club.  Dorothy had organised a meeting with some members of SI Winchester.  We were met at Danebury Iron Age Hill Fort by Laraine from SI Winchester who guided us into the city centre.  We were very lucky to have a guided tour of Winchester, led by a professional guide, Elizabeth, seeing King Arthur’s statue, and Round Table, a walk by the River Itchen, past the Bishop’s House to Winchester Cathedral also seeing Jane Austen’s house.  The tour ended at Ann & Gavin Scott’s lovely home, opposite the Cathedral, where we enjoyed a wonderful afternoon tea and good companionship with members of SI Winchester and their Grant of Friendship visitor, Arna, from Estonia.  The day was made perfect by the most glorious weather, which we enjoyed all week.

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FRIENDSHIP VISIT TO SI VIAREGGIO

Six members of the Club – President Margaret, Pam, Sue, Rosemary, Dorothy and Penny – flew to Pisa on Wednesday, 10th February 2010, at the invitation of Grange’s new friendship link, SI Viareggio in Italy.  The visit was timed to include the annual carnevale, dating back to 1873.

Viareggio is the largest centre in the Versilia region of north-west Tuscany, around 40 minutes drive north from Pisa.  It lies on the cost, part of 20km of uninterrupted sandy beaches, and is backed by the snow-capped Appuan mountains.  We were met at the airport by three of the Italian Club, including Nannina who visited Grange last August.  Whilst our luggage was driven to our host houses, we were shown round the famous sights of Pisa.  Later we dined with our respective hosts, and were glad of an early night having started off at 4.00am.

Thursday was spent exploring Viareggio, walking along the sea front and to the end of the pier.  Two more members treated us to lunch and in the afternoon we were taken to the new Carnevale citadel, built for the construction and storage of the carnevale floats, and housing a museum showing the carnevale’s development over the years.  Eighteen of us dined at the home of Adriana, the incoming President (a notary), the evening starting with Moet Chandon, and finishing with the Italian Limoncello liquer!

Friday, left to our own devises, we were up early to catch the train to Florence.  It was cold and rainly, but we made the most of it and managed to take in the major sites.  That evening Crstina (owner of an art gallery) invited us to dinner at a local hotel, where the menu consisted of fish!  We started with smoked swordfish, followed by mussel soup, and then five more courses of fish.  We declined dessert!

Saturday we were taken to Lucca, a beautiful Tuscan town protected by massively thick 16th century walls.  The return journey included a visit to the home of Puccini at Torre del Lago, where he composed many of his operas.  The house is now a museum, and we were introduced to the composer’s granddaughter.  We also went to the site of the horrific train explosion last year.  Although the area is still cordoned off, we were able to see the extent of the devastation.  The full day was rounded off by a formal dinner with the Club at the Palace Hotel, where they hold meetings.  It began with three national anthems – Italian, British and the European Union.  President Patrizia, a paediatrician, welcomed us and presented Margaret with an engraved plaque formally establishing the link, and Margaret presented them with a book on the Lake District.  We were each presented with two books telling the history of Burlamacco, the carnevale’s mascot.  The daughter of Umberto Bonetti, the artist who designed the mascot, is a Club member and she and her sister signed the books.

Sunday was Carnevale Day, and the festival atmosphere was terrific.  We had special seats in the stand giving us a bird’s eye view.  The 2 hour parade comprised bands and dancing troupes, but the main items were the huge floats.  Most allegorical, depicting national and international events and featuring caricatures of political celebrities; even Gordon Brown made an appearance!  One of the floats depicted violence against women.  Later we wandered down to the harbour where stalls offered all sorts of food.  We were met by 3 more members, and enjoyed our first course of black or white risotto from the stalls, taking the second course – fried fish – back to the home of Maria Luisa (a shipyard owner).  Each room of her apartment had different foods on offer!  Of note was a cheese platter and special carnevale cakes…some of us managed 3 of them!

Monday we were off with Nannina and Anna (a Professor of Classics), who drove us through the exclusive private beach area of Forte dei Marmi.  We turned inland to visit Pietrasanta, a pretty old town known for its marble.  Michelangelo came here to choose his raw materials.  Next stop was Camaiore, a small town founded in Roman times, which contains many artistic treasures.

Tuesday, our final day, was spent mostly packing.  Although we had travelled ‘light’ we had acquired 18 books, 6 of them hardback, 6 jars of home-made marmalade, and 6 glass vases!  This entailed a trip to the market to buy an extra case and to a travel agent to book one case into the plane’s hold.

All in all, we met 22 of the 33 members of the Viareggio Club.  We were warmly welcomed and received tremendous hospitality.  We had an exciting and enjoyable visit, and hope friendships made during the week will be strengthened in the months to come.

Friendship Link Weekend

16th – 21st July 2009

Grange Soroptimists recently welcomed overseas members from their friendship links in Czech Republic, Finland & Italy for a weekends programme of events. It proved to be a wonderful opportunity for sharing friendship & exchanging ideas about mutual areas of concern. Visitors stayed in members homes & were taken to as many local places of interest as time allowed. They sampled local produce in the evenings at members homes & all agreed it had been a great success.

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More information on our five friendship links coming soon.

Friendship links:-

Pori

Prague

Goeztepe

Winchester

Viareggio Versilia