XUNICEF News and Views

My father was born in Spain in 1910. He came from a large family of thirteen children.

Until 2019, I had visited most (if not all) of the capitals of what was called Western Europe—except Berlin, which anyway, in my early days, was not considered part of Western Europe.

  Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, the USA … The news is so terrible and depressing. My mind needs a break from all the horror and disgust. In times like these, I go out and take photographs. Spring has arrived, and we've had a few sunny, colorful days. Sun or clouds, color or not—Spring is here. And it’s not just about the light, but about the renewal of life. Unfortunately, not everyone is speaking of life or its renewal. Sometimes, we have to strive to see the light—yet it is all around us.

  View from the Pier, Brunnen, Switzerland I hate it when I fall into “dubitative mode,” especially when it is about going somewhere. Sometimes, fears creep in about taking a trip or traveling by car, train, boat, or plane, even if, rationally, you know there’s nothing to fear, but you still feel very uncomfortable about the idea of going—whether it's there, here, or anywhere, for that matter—and so, you stay home. And that is something that is not supposed to happen. That is when I get annoyed at myself, unless there is a truly valid reason not to go. But most of the time, I just can’t find one. I usually cannot stay home for more than three or four weeks in a row. It’s not always clear where I actually need to go, want to go, should go, or have to go. Sometimes, I have to search hard for an excuse to leave or even for that place I “need to go.” Of course, I can also see the foolishness of going right then for one reason or another - because it is too expensive, it would be better...

 Our Media Center reported this afternoon that a Foreign Army that invaded Vienna two days ago celebrated on 26 October a “Friendship celebration day with the Public of Vienna”. Our correspondent in Vienna reports as follows:

Luis Oliveros writes "my father's lenses (1960s or 50s, I don't even know ) - which I can only adapt to my modern Nikon with great difficulty - and the light at a nearby park nearby (in Madrid, El Capricho) never cease to amaze me." El Capricho (the Caprice, or the Whim) is small,. It used to be a private park and only opens on weekends. I have gone many times, and if it is not cloudy, you always get the same strange fantastic green light. There used to be two black swans, one of them fell sick and was taken to the "Swan hospital".

Who has not had a Teddy bear? And now, in the twilight of our lives, who has not given a Teddy bear to our children, grandchildren, the neighbour next door or someone’s baby? When I was small, the Pelouche you would play with had to be a Teddy bear (no idea why it had to be a “Teddy” and not an Alfonso or a Peter).

In Europe, or rather, in the Northern hemisphere, it is now summer. This means good or hot weather, depending on how far North or South you happen to be. Of course, the weather also depends on how sea currents are this year (El Niño, …), or freak heat waves, hurricanes and typhoons, summer storms, not to mention man-made disasters, highway, road and pavement works, elections, big concerts, and other unpredictable disturbing factors (earthquakes, tornados, floods, wars, …). But no, let’s start again.

 It all started with, what I thought, was the forgotten “vehicle” of a child. There was nobody on the street, nor any visible entrance, so I turned the corner and saw a woman looking in an odd way at the window of an establishment.

  The Forchtenstein Castle is some 80 or 90 Kms from Vienna, south of Mattersburg, above the Wulka valley, in Northern Burgenland, Austria. It is near my home, clearly shown on the map, and very accessible by road. So, when looking at the map trying to figure out where to go on a beautiful sunny Sunday in May, the castle looked inviting; after having seen it, I wished I had done it earlier. My expectation of a castle built in the middle ages is normally a kind of fortress that has been attacked a thousand times and is more or less in ruins, though it may still keep a few walls. I would also expect to see partially reconstructed parts of it with more or less success. They may have a moat, usually a prison tower that also comes with stories of the famous people who were imprisoned there. The Forchtenstein was never overcome by the enemy (especially the Turks) becoming a huge residential castle kept in pristine condition, a museum of war artefacts, paintings and all kinds of objects f...

Luis Oliveros is a frequent contributor of superb travel photography to this blog.  This week Luis shares these stunning photos of eagles he took some three weeks ago at Hortobágy Natural Park in Hungary.  The photos below include the little Great Tit (Parus Major), the fierce Sparrowhawk (the forest freezes when he comes flying at lightning speed), the Great spotted woodpecker and the ever beautiful Red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris).

Our regular contributor, Luis Oliveros recently visited La Defénse district in Paris and as he is used to do, he took a series of stunning photographs. Here's what he has to say and a selection of his photos. Editor's suggestion-- Scroll till the end. Luis is up for a surprise: A replica of the Statue of Liberty and an open air exercise ground, under a bridge, where a user put the bar through his ears! Just kidding! According to Wikipedia “La Défense de Paris is a bronze statue by French sculpture Louis-Ernest Barrias. It commemorates the French dead from the Siege of Paris in 1870–71, during the Franco-Prussian War. The sculpture was unveiled to the west of Paris on 12 October 1883, erected alongside the crossroads between Courbevoie and Puteaux. The location became the La Défense roundabout, but the statue was later moved several times before it was placed at its current location near the Arche de la Défense" in what is now known, thanks to this old and famous Statue, L...

I live in Spain (sometimes to my chagrin). I just came back from a relatively short trip like no other I had had for a long time. It was out of Europe, or rather, nearly out of “The West”. Actually not that far, Spain is, after all, Europe’s Southern frontier. The name of the country does not matter for the purpose at hand; suffice it to say that I went to a country where my telephone did not work unless I had wifi, the language of which I did not speak, where there was no public transport I could use, where I was not that familiar with some customs (although I did have a certain knowledge of the culture) where I was entirely dependent on the kindness of the people I stayed with … In a word, I was close to being out of my comfort zone. I was not entirely out of that comfort zone because I had money and a credit card, which means you can (nearly) always manage to get out of a difficult situation. Long past are the days when, having gone all the way to South-East Asia, I just had $250 in...