hidden europe 36

In this issue, we trace the history of London’s St Pancras area, witness how the villagers of San Vicente de la Sonsierra in Spain’s Rioja region mark Holy Week, probe Charles Dickens’ statement that the French port city of Boulogne was “every bit as good as Naples”.

We invite you to join us on an itinerary that takes us from the island of Mingulay in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides via an intriguing Swiss museum to Jutland’s sandy shores.

Picture above: Memorial to Auguste Mariette in Boulogne, France (photo © hidden europe).

Summary

In this issue, we trace the history of London’s St Pancras area, witness how the villagers of San Vicente de la Sonsierra in Spain’s Rioja region mark Holy Week, probe Charles Dickens’ statement that the French port city of Boulogne was “every bit as good as Naples”.

We invite you to join us on an itinerary that takes us from the island of Mingulay in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides via an intriguing Swiss museum to Jutland’s sandy shores.

Sanctuary: in the shadow of St Pancras

In 'A Tale of Two Cities', Dickens recalls the work of bodysnatchers in St Pancras Churchyard. The graveyard is in the very shadow of London's magnificently restored St Pancras station. We reflect on how the railways have reshaped the St Pancras area, pay a visit to Somers Town and savour the renaissance of the former Midland Grand station hotel, which reopened as the St Pancras Renaissance London Hotel.

The mystery of Los Picaos

Guest contributor Diego Vivanco visits the village of San Vicente de la Sonsierra in Spain's Rioja region to see how its inhabitants mark Holy Week. He witnesses a Lenten spectacle that is both theatrical and intimate at the same time.

England’s favourite: the port of Boulogne

The port city of Boulogne has always attracted visitors from across the Channel. Tobias Smolett came and so did Charles Dickens who called the town his "favourite French watering hole", declaring it to be "every bit as good as Naples". Today, the town's ferry terminal is abandoned, but Boulogne remains a popular spot for visitors from Britain and offers a few exotic surprises.

The art of concealment: Riga

The Latvian capital has long been shaped by outside influences. Every new master required the reinvention of the country's identity: what was acceptable was brought into the open and what could not be denied had to be conealed. Guest contributor Neil Taylor introduces us to the high art of political camouflage.

Livonian culture in Latvia: Mazirbe

Guest author Toby Screech travels to the heartland of the Livonian minority in Latvia to visit the their annual cultural festival. Not as grand as the main Latvian event in Riga, it is an altogether more intimate affair. And it reveals that the Livonian identity today is hardly more than the ephemeral memory of a once mighty realm.

Tussling with the elements: Jutland

Survival on Jutland's coast has always been a question of working with nature. Great storms have transformed the sandy coastline and entire communities have come and gone with the ebb and flow of history. We travel north along the Danish mainland's west coast and visit Europe's fogotten island of North Jutland.

Ephemeral art

There is a remarkable vividness about pieces of art whose days are numbered. Artists like Richard Shilling and Andy Goldsworthy have been keen advocats of what is sometimes called land art. We search for the remnants of last year's sand sculpture festival in the coastal community of Søndervig.