The stuff treasure is made of....

and I mean the real stuff...that glittery gold looking stuff!!!

and buckets and buckets of it!!

 The last voyage of the frigate Our Lady of Mercy or Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes exhibition in the Marq Museum,Alicante.

I had been waiting eagerly for this exhibition to arrive here in Alicante! 

I have been following the discovery of the Mercedes and its treasure,the lawsuit proceedings and the final success of the Spanish authorities in winning the lawsuit against Odyssey Marine Exploration, for several years.
Finally after a long wait and after touring many of the major cities in Spain this exhibition arrived here in Alicante and Friday, May Day, being a fiesta day was perfect for us to go and see it.

This is a story of greed and plunder both latter-day and in the past, as described in this extract:

The Spanish frigates – Medea, Mercedes, Fama and Clara – laden with bullion for the Spanish crown, under the command of the expert seaman Don José Bustamante, were sailing from Montevideo to the coasts of Cadiz. They were intercepted and attacked off Cape St Vincent, south of Portugal, by four English frigates which, despite the existing peace treaties between the two nations, were lying in wait for them to prevent the riches from falling into the hands of Napoleon, their most feared enemy. When the Spanish commanders refused to accompany them to any non-Spanish port, Sir Graham Moore launched the attack, with barely any time to negotiate and seek an alternative that did not involve bloodshed. During the unexpected combat the Spanish frigate Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes violently exploded and instantly sank. Two hundred and sixty-three people died in the explosion or subsequently drowned. The loss of this frigate, which was carrying many passengers – among them the wife and children of the second-in-command, Don Diego Alvear – swung the combat in favour of the English ships, which eventually captured the three Spanish frigates and escorted them under arrest to Great Britain.

Two hundred and three years on from this historic event, which led directly to the declaration of war on England that December, the ‘treasure hunting’ firm Odyssey Marine Exploration located and plundered part of this frigate’s cargo, illegally transporting it to Tampa (Florida) in 2007. More than 500,000 silver and gold coins, in addition to a few remains of objects belonging to the crew, make up the rich archaeological treasure extracted from the sunken wreck that lay at a depth of 1,500 metres beneath the sea. This gave rise to a lengthy lawsuit in which the US courts finally ruled in favour of the Spanish state, acknowledging its rights to these assets and ordering their immediate return to Spain. The case sets an important international precedent in the defence of Underwater Archaeological Heritage.

The main purpose of the exhibition is to make these assets known and available to society as part of a heritage that belongs to it. The exhibition project aims to go beyond the economic worth of the coins extracted by conveying the cultural values of these objects, which are protected by law as part of Spain’s Historic Heritage.

http://www.accioncultural.es

Although I knew that the treasure itself mainly consisted of a very large amount of silver and gold coins I still looked for and found no evidence of the mundane archaeological items that are usually found and displayed from a shipwreck such as personal items or nautical remains. However except for a gold rape box, part of a silver fork, and one gold cufflink there were none.
I admit to being quite surprised by this until I read the following:

situated near the exit at the end of the exhibition.









A brilliantly presented exhibition which I'd recommend to anyone who is visiting Alicante.



 I am indeed thankful that the Spanish State won the lawsuit otherwise I and others would have never had the opportunity to learn about and see this impressive treasure and also understand the importance of protecting the Archaeological Heritage of every country in the world so we may all enjoy and understand our past.


In the hands of Odyssey everything would have gone to the highest bidder and private collections!!!

Keep well

Amanda :-)

Crazy times!!!

At least that is the way I see it at this moment!   

Easter Holidays pah!!!  so much for holidays... clients have become more and more demanding!
 I won't bother to bore you or me with the fine details of work and my frenetic race to keep up with all those demands . I just wanted to pop in here for a minute to tell you I haven't gone away anywhere or given up on my blog in fact I read blogs every morning while I sip my tea in between phone calls and other morning before going to work chores.

So this is another quickie blog post and I haven't got much to tell you that I think is interesting but....

I thought you'd like to know this useless bit of information that I was curious about and briefly researched on the internet:

In my class yesterday I was asked what the expression chock-a-block meant. I knew the answer to that of course as it means full…something that is crammed in so tightly that there is no space for anything else!
I couldn't help wondering though where did this expression originate from and so I did a little research and here are the results.
As many expressions in English it is of nautical origin and from way back to the 15th century as the word chock was mentioned then to mean "full to choking". Later in the 18th century it was used to describe a chock,a wedge of wood to block a cask or heavy body on board ship to stop it moving around.
It is now a popular expression and used more colloquially than in formal speech.
e.g. My case is chock-a-block! I can't fit anything else in there!

 “Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Alice   by Lewis Carroll

still windy in Alicante

 Anyhow I am still a presence here in blogland :-)

Keep smiling!

Amanda

Father's Day or San Jose

Father's Day today !

At least it is in this part of the world and I expect in parts of South America too!
As Spain is a Catholic nation it follows the catholic calender and today is San Jose.
Fiesta Day!!!!!

A lovely mid-week break too!

so Happy Father's Day to all who celebrate it today as we do in our family :-)

What Is A Dad?

A dad is someone who
wants to catch you before you fall
but instead picks you up,
brushes you off,
and lets you try again.

A dad is someone who
wants to keep you from making mistakes
but instead lets you find your own way,
even though his heart breaks in silence
when you get hurt.

A dad is someone who
holds you when you cry,
scolds you when you break the rules,
shines with pride when you succeed,
and has faith in you even when you fail...
- Unknown



I haven't had much time to crochet but I did manage to finish this hot pad I promised I would make for my sister in Lincolnshire. She uses wood burners in her 17th century cottage.
Something like this :

 and the hand on the door always gets very hot so I made this double thickness hot pad for her.

It isn't my pattern I found it on the internet but it is a great little pattern,clear and quick to do. You can find it at Hooked on Needles

 

and I used the lovely yarn that Sharon at From my Front Porch sent me. This yarn was included in her Swap parcel that she sent me. That was back in October 2012.

Thank you so much Sharon this yarn was perfect for this make.

Now I have to dash as my oven is calling me!

Keep well

   Amanda :-)