Mosley Park Birmingham

Birmingham is a town I have visited a lot over the 10 or 11 years.  A lot of people would roll their eyes to heaven when they hear or see any mention of Birmingham.   Huge industrial landscapes come to mind large working class tower blocks and housing estates are the normal response.  Yes in away justified back in a certain time when Birmingham was associated with heavy industrial activity.

Mosley Park Birmingham

The last 20 years has brought vast changes to Birmingham Urban landscape.   Enlightened urban development and landscape planning has an new vital into Birmingham City.  It is now a sought have event and conference centre.  Bringing much needed revenue you into the city.  Accommodation providers like hotels self-catering apartment Birmingham and serviced apartments companies.
Strangely enough I have to say I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered certain greenbelt locations in Birmingham, that have been preserved and maintained adjcent to the city centre for many years.  One such area is Edgbaston the other is Mosley in particular Mosley Park

Less than two miles from Birmingham city centre. Unaltered for over a hundred years. Eleven acres of peaceful parkland, a beautiful lake packed with fish and water fowl and surrounded by trees.

Moseley is a fantastic part of Birmingham with its farmers and arts markets, but what makes it particularly special and unique is having at its centre, the Park and Pool. This historic park, with some 300 years of history, is run by a charitable trust. The Park was originally a major part of the gardens of the Moseley Hall estate which were designed by the famous landscape gardener Humphry Repton. Towards the end of the 19th century much of the estate was being sold for house building. Realising that it was only a matter of time before this remaining part of the gardens would be built upon, a group of far sighted businessmen bought the Park and Pool in order to preserve it for the citizens of Birmingham. In 2006 a Charitable Trust was created in order to ensure that the Park is restored with a view to preserving it as a place where people can relax and enjoy themselves and children and schools can use it for educational purposes. Most important of all, the terms of the Trust ensure that it can never ever be sold. It is a green tranquil oasis that is a haven for wildlife as well as homo-sapiens. Its popularity continues to grow not only within Birmingham, but also nationally as a result of the continuing success of the Jazz and Folk festivals.  I know some excellent self-catering  accommodation Birmingham  nearby which are actually serviced apartments.

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Whats in a name Killarney

Whats in a name

Killarney Lighthouse

When someone mentions Killarney to me of course I think of natural beauty.

I. Muckross National Park  which includes the historic Muckross House, Muckross Lake Killarney Golf Club and of the mountains.

2. The garveys ferrying visitors in and out of town year in year out

3 The Gleneagle Hotel  Where very famous events and entertains take place and perform each year.

Its a tourist retreat in the south of Ireland and use the word the retreat in the sense of relaxation.  As its known as a great place to chill out the world over.  Excellent food superb self-catering and hotel accommodation particularly Killarney Holiday Village.  This place is so famous it has other town named after it.  

Take for instance Killarney , Ontario Canada.  Not sure to those folk connect with their Irish cousin town.  But I searched Killarney as an image and I came up with the following.

Killarney Bay Inn:

Overlooking Killarney Bay and surrounded by our nine hole golf course, Killarney Bay Inn provides the newest accommodations in the area with a fully licensed dining room, lounge and conference facilities. As your host, we have one goal: to make your stay the most comfortable.

We are next door to Killarney Provincial Park, Ontario's "Crown Jewel" of parks and on the most Northern tip of Georgian Bay, or as many say "the gateway to the North Channel". We are only minutes away from Killarney airport  which has a paved 3500' runway and also open year-round.

Comfortable accommodation, excellent home-cooked meals, suites or units with telephone, television (cable) and air conditioning all combine to make your stay restful and carefree.

We can give you boat cruises, shore lunches or fish-fries. You can enjoy nature walks in our pristine Park, cross-country skiing, ice-fishing - or if you prefer, just a wonderful rest

This is the ultimate playground for any outdoor enthusiast, whether it be hiking, kayaking, boating, or just plain relaxing. The options are unlimited.

Have to say from a tourist point of view they both look very similar for another blog I am going to search further into Killarney Ontario they must have a mention of Kerry in their historical records.

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Portuguese Black Pork or Porco Preta

Back in the summer of 2015 our Portuguese friend Marco was driving us from our self-catering apartment Lagos to Faro airport.  The usual conversation took place in relation to holiday rentals in Albufeira mainly  villas in Albufeira available for holiday rental to the price of fuel in the Algarve.

Iberian Black Pigs

Conversation turned to climate and informed us that the Portuguese province of Alentejo.  Which he explained was north of the Algarve on the Spanish border.  As he travels alot he was aware that in this province there are extremes of climate.  Winters can go to minus 4 where summers can be as much as 40 degrees.

I was aware a lot of wine sold in the Algarve is harvested in Alentejo.  It tends to be a dry wine because the soil here gets a lot of sun.  During the course of this conversation Marco mentioned and other excellent product of Alentejo is black pork or in Portuguese porco preto.

Of course my curiosity was heightened and I kept an eye on menu and meat counters for porco preta.  Strangely the first time I came across it was in the fresh meat counter in Iceland in Algarve Retail Park.  Of course I purchased some and yes it was delicious in a stir fry.

The Alentejo porco preto also known as  Iberian black pig, also known in Portugal as Alentejo black pig, is a race of the domestic pig  that is native to this area of the Mediterranean. The Iberian pig, whose sole origin can be traced back to ancient times, is found in herds grouped in the territory center and south of the Iberian Peninsula
the most accepted theory is that the first pigs were brought to the Iberian Peninsula by the Phoenicians in the east coast of the Mediterranean (current Lebanon), where they crossed with wild boar.
 This cross breeding  became the first Iberian breeds, whose origin, in this case, can be traced back to around the year 1000 aC.

The production of Iberian pork is profoundly linked to the Mediterranean ecosystem. It is a rare example in world production of pigs, where the animal contributes in such a decisive way to the preservation of the ecosystem. This  Iberian race of pig is currently one of the few examples of a domesticated race is totally adapted to its local environment as it consumes oak nuts and bark from the Cork Trees all found locally.

The numbers of the Iberian breed were drastically reduced since 1960 due to various factors such as outbreaks of African swine fever and the reduction of the value of the animal fat. In the last years of the decade of 2010, however, the production of pigs of the Iberian type increased to meet the new demand for meat of superior quality.

The iberian pig is dark in color, goes from black to gray.    As the animals are free ranged living freely in the forests, they are constantly moving and therefore burn more calories than other species of pork.
If in  self-catering apartment in Lagos or a villa in Albufeira you will find poco preto on Menu and also in fresh meat counters all worth a try.

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