+ my world looking at special places in our lives
TRANSCRIPT
+
My world
Looking at special places in our lives
+My World - My special place in the world is …
Think about the following and discuss with your partner(s).
+Vocabulary and more
What tenses will you use?
Present
Past
Future
I
You
He/she/it
we
They
What person(s) will you use?
+Can you think of more adjectives that may help you?
incredible
special
breathtakingdangerous
beautiful
wonderful
decrepit
enchanting
huge
great
wet
good
recurring
amazing
modern
comfortable
spacious
relaxing
quiet stunning
perfect
pleasant
historical narrow
pictoresque
dilapidated
decadent
laidback
lovely
hot
+
Examples
A special place for me is …Toronto Ontario
(Canada)
+Canadian National Exhibition, Toronto
In August 2014, we travelled to Toronto, Canada, from Spain. It was a special trip because Daisy, my mother-in-law, who left Ireland to live in Canada 50 years ago, was having her 90th birthday. We had a great time sight-seeing and visiting family and friends.This picture shows the CNE (called the Ex), the longest-running fair in North America, begun 150 years ago. There were lots of scary rides, concerts, and competitions, and even someone who guesses your weight and age for $5. We enjoyed it very much. It was like going back to our childhood!
A special place for me is …Toronto Ontario
(Canada)
La Habana (Cuba)
One long-cherished dream of mine was to travel to the Caribbean and visit Cuba, and last Christmas Santa Claus made that wish come true. My family and I set off for Havana and Varadero on 22nd December 2013 and spent a wonderful week there with some Cuban friends of ours. As soon as I set foot in “La Habana”, I simply fell in love with the city, the people and its atmosphere. Despite the decrepit buildings you may encounter in your strolls around Habana Vieja, any traveller could envisage the enchanting splendor of the old times. This is a photo taken from the balcony of our hotel “ Habana libre”. You can contemplate the whole of “La Habana”, “el Malecón” , the old town , “El Vedado”etc… One day this beautiful place will be the jewel of the Caribbean.
La Habana (Cuba)
A special place for me is …Toronto Ontario
(Canada)
La Habana (Cuba)
The Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Palamós, Costa Brava (Spain)
+Wreck dive site: The Boreas
This was the first time I was scuba diving with my 15-year-old son. We were visiting The Boreas, a vessel which was sunk in 1969. Once on the boat on our way to the dive site, we realised one of the divers had a huge camera. We asked him if he would be so kind as to take a photo of us underwater.
And… here we are!
This picture shows how we were decompressing at the end of our dive. I know it is not a great shot, but I can tell who I am and who my son is. Can you make a guess?
Thank you, Eric, for bringing back wet memories from our trip to Costa Brava
A special place for me is …Toronto Ontario
(Canada)
La Habana (Cuba)
The Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Palamós, Costa Brava (Spain)
Burgos (Spain)
+ Burgos Cathedral
Four years ago I revisited Burgos. When I first became a teacher I moved there and stayed for three years. I had the time of my life in this small city in the north of Spain. I met a lot of people, made some good friends and had a lot of fun.When I moved back home, Burgos became a recurring dream. I used to dream that I was still there, so I thought perhaps I hadn’t said goodbye properly to my previous life. That’s when I decided to revisit Burgos. I found it hadn’t changed much, but this visit helped me close that window I’d left open. Burgos will always be one of my very special places.
A special place for me is …Toronto Ontario
(Canada)
La Habana (Cuba)
The Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Palamós, Costa Brava (Spain)
Burgos (Spain)
Pompeii (ITALY )
+Pompeii
This summer we visited an ancient Roman city called Pompeii. I was travelling around Italy with my friend. I’ve always wanted to visit Pompeii because I love History and I’d like to be an archeologist.
Pompeii had a population of about 30,000 people. It was suddenly destroyed and buried under 4 to 6 metres (13 to 20 ft) of ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
It’s an amazing city to visit and learn about Roman customs and ways of living: villas, amphitheatre, baths, aqueduct , forum, shops etc. During the excavation, plaster was used to fill in the voids between the ash layers that once held human bodies. This allows us to see the exact position the people were in when they died. It was an experience I will never forget.
A special place for me is …Toronto Ontario
(Canada)
La Habana (Cuba)
The Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Palamós, Costa Brava (Spain)
Burgos (Spain)
Pompeii (ITALY )
La Carizal. Asturias (Spain)
+
My special place is a modern house on top of a hill in the countryside, only 15 kms away from Gijón. Its owner, a friend of mine, asked my husband and I to take care of it while he was working abroad for a year. I have never been a big fan of country life, so at first I was not very keen on staying there. However, because my husband loves it, we ended up spending every other weekend and most of our Christmas and Easter holidays there. And I must admit I really enjoyed every minute of it. The house is really comfortable and spacious, the view from the living room and the studio is so relaxing: green fields, apple trees, distant hills and mountains.On clear days you can see the highest Picos de Europa mountains. We went for long walks along the quiet country roads nearby, watched/admired so many stunning sunsets and sunrises …The peace and quiet there made it the perfect place to unwind, and it was so near.. I’m going to miss it now that my friend has come back.
La C
ariza
l
A special place for me is …Toronto Ontario
(Canada)
La Habana (Cuba)
The Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Palamós, Costa Brava (Spain)
Burgos (Spain)
Pompeii (Italy )
La Carizal. Asturias (Spain)
Sardinia (Italy)
+Somewhere in Sardinia
In summer, my husband and I always plan trips to visit new places: new countries or new cities, and we usually go up north, because my husband can’t cope with the heat.
But last summer, after a cold winter and a wet, rainy spring, we decided to go to Sardinia looking for sunshine, pleasant temperatures and blue skies.
We took this picture while going to our hotel the day we arrived on the island.
A special place for me is …Toronto Ontario
(Canada)
La Habana (Cuba)
The Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Palamós, Costa Brava (Spain)
Burgos (Spain)
Pompeii (Italy )
La Carizal. Asturias (Spain)
Sardinia (Italy)
Sicily(Italy)
+
Ortigia
(Siracusa)
The small peninsula of Ortigia is the historical heart of the city of Siracusa. Much of the island's charm lies in wandering down narrow pictoresque alleys and discovering your favourite abandoned Baroque palazzi where weeds creep over dilapidated balconies.
I particularly like the decadent atmosphere of this once-grand villa which embodies the wealth of times past and the blend of cultures and architectural styles. It also conjures up a laidback lifestyle and love for lovely gardens with cacti and palm trees in which to indulge yourself in a hot summer afternoon.
A special place for me is …Toronto Ontario
(Canada)
La Habana (Cuba)
The Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Palamós, Costa Brava (Spain)
Burgos (Spain)
Pompeii (Italy )
La Carizal. Asturias (Spain)
Sardinia (Italy)
Sicily(Italy) Asturian beach
(Spain)
+ASTURIAN BEACH
I don’t know when neither who took me to this beach for the very first time, but this place is heaven on earth. I won’t tell you the name, it’s a secret. I want to keep it just to myself. Golden sand, beautiful crystal clear water. This is where I go when I want to unplug, unwind, and recharge.
Here’s one of my mornings on this beach, where the colors change every 30 seconds. Summer is all too short in Asturias, and scenes like this, all too fleeting.
A special place for me is …Toronto Ontario
(Canada)
La Habana (Cuba)
The Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Palamós, Costa Brava (Spain)
Burgos (Spain)
Pompeii (Italy )
La Carizal. Asturias (Spain)
Sardinia (Italy)
Sicily(Italy) Asturian beach
(Spain)
Arequipa (Peru)
+
Last summer I went to Peru with a group of friends and we spent the entire month visiting different parts of the country. Lima, the capital, is an old multicultural city, but it is permanently covered by grey clouds. Maybe that is the reason why I did not like it that much. Instead, Arequipa was the place I enjoyed the most. It is the second biggest city in the country and it is located near the south border with Chile. During the summer it receives lots of tourists interested in the natural environment that surrounds it. I had a great time discovering its delicious gastronomy, going hiking in the mountains and walking down its traditional streets – as the one in the picture.
Arequipa (Peru)
A special place for me is …Toronto Ontario
(Canada)
La Habana (Cuba)
The Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Palamós, Costa Brava (Spain)
Burgos (Spain)
Pompeii (Italy )
La Carizal. Asturias (Spain)
Sardinia (Italy)
Sicily(Italy) Asturian beach
(Spain)
Arequipa (Peru)
Beijing (China)
+Beijing In September 2014 I moved from Spain to Beijing, China. It was a big change for me because it was the first time I was going to live abroad but it has turned out to be a very enriching and interesting experience. Beijing is a massive city and it can take hours to get from one part of it to another. Besides, it is heavy polluted, so the sky is never blue and on the worst days you should better not leave your place.
One of the things that surprised me the most was the huge amount of bicycles. Everybody has one and they usually ride it every day to go to work… so often, as you can see in the picture, you find yourself completely stuck in the middle of the road!