I've been pretty lazy these days, so I have lots and lots of photos to upload. Today's will be from two weekends ago, that is, October 20th. That was the day we attended the Robin Hood Pageant at Nottingham Castle, a festival which included from reenactors all dressed up in costume and doing typical Medieval stuff (I wouldn't be surprised if they were the same people who were in Sherwood Forest that other day), to jousts.
Definitivamente el mejor lugar para empezar el día. A esta estatua de Robin Hood ya la conocen, tanto del título del blog como de la foto nocturna del Ghost Walk. Está apenas afuera del castillo, al pie del acantilado sobre el que está construido el mismo.
Definitely the best place to start our day. You already know this statue of Robin Hood, both from my title pic and from the noctural one from the Ghost Walk. It's right outside the castle, at the foot of the cliff on which it's built.
Subiendo hacia la puerta del castillo. Ahí abajo se ve la estatua, obviamente con más gente trepándosele!
Climbing up to the castle gates. Down there you can see the statue, obviously with people climbing all over it!
La entrada al castillo.
The gates to the castle.
Apenas adentro, arbustos recortados para que se vean como Robin Hood y Lady Marian.
Just inside, bushes clipped to look like Robin Hood and Lady Marian.
Músicos de visita desde Holanda.
Visiting musicians from the Netherlands.
Uno de los juegos a los que se podía jugar. Es el típico de darle a los patitos, pero con un toque medieval: una catapulta y soldados en las ventanas de un castillo!
One of the games you could play. It's the typical "knock down all the ducks and win a prize" one, but with a medieval touch: a catapult and soldiers in the castle windows!
Una vista de los alrededores del castillo. En cada una de esas carpas había cosas para ver.
A view of the castle's surroundings. In each of those tents there was something to see.
Algunos de los participantes en el festival. Muy auténticos, no?
Some of the participants in the pageant. Very authentic, eh?
Estos son los guardaespaldas de Ricardo Corazón de León, que estaba en esta carpa.
This are the bodyguards of Richard the Lionheart, who was sitting in this tent.
Obviamente quisimos hablar con él, pero antes nos cachearon por si traíamos armas.
Obviously, we wanted to talk to him, but before we were allowed to do so we had to be searched for weapons.
Y acá estamos con Su Majestad, finalmente. También muy auténtico, excepto cuando exclamó "Cómo está?" cuando le dijimos de dónde éramos.
And here we are with His Majesty, finally. Also very authentic, except when he exclaimed "Cómo está?" when we told him where we are from.
Nunca puede faltar un espectáculo de títeres...
There must always be a puppet show...
... ni un niño disfrazado de Robin Hood.
... as well as a kid dressed up as Robin Hood.
Trepando incluso más alto, hacia donde iban a empezar las justas y los combates!
Climbing even higher, to where the jousts and combats were about to start.
Primero una obra de teatro contando la leyenda. Por supuesto, muchas escenas de batalla.
First a play telling the legend. Of course, plenty of battle scenes.
Y no cualquier batalla, batallas con muchas víctimas!
And not any kind of battle: battles with plenty of victims!
Y enseguida empezaron las justas. Aquí se están preparando, y en el fondo se puede ver a Lady Marian en su trono, esperando a ver quién ganaba.
And the jousts started immediately afterwords. Here they are preparing for them, and in the background you can see Lady Marian sitting in her throne, waiting to see who won.
El Sheriff the Nottingham! Les sorprende que los malos estuvieran de amarillo y negro?
The Sheriff of Nottingham! I'm not surprised the baddies were in black and yellow (those are the colours of my most hated football team, that's why I say it!)
Y del lado de los buenos, el fraile Tuck, que tenía un pedo verde y se caía del caballo a cada rato y se la pasaba agitando su jarra de ale.
And on heroes' side, Friar Tuck, who was dead drunk and kept falling off his horse and waving his tankard in the air.
Finalmente, nuestro Robin. Estaba un poquito más gris de pelo de lo que esperaba, pero muy bien!
Finally, our Robin. He was a bit grayer of hair than I expected, but very nice!
Antes de empezar, saludando al público.
Before starting, everyone salutes the audience.
Y ahora unos videos:
And now, some videos:
Antes de empezar a pelear de verdad, demostraron como se practicaba en épocas medievales, con una "quintain". No se cómo se traduce, pero es eso que ven en el video, una especie de muñeco con un escudo y del otro brazo colgando una bolsa de arena, cosa que si no le entrás de lleno al blanco la cosa entera gira y te pega la bolsa de arena en la cabeza, probablemente tirándote del caballo.
Acá se ven Sir Guy of Guisborne y el Sheriff de Nottingham. Como sentirán, tenían al público en contra!
Before the real fight started, they demonstrated how knights practiced in medieval times, with a quintain. Those of you who read medievals might have heard of it, but for those who don't, it's a target, with a shield on one side and a sandbag hanging from the other, so that if you don't hit the target full on, the whole thing will spin and the sandbag will hit you, probably throwing you off your horse.
Here you can see Sir Guy of Guisborne and the Sheriff. As you'll hear, they had the audience against them.
Luego de varios combates diferentes, el que todos estábamos esperando, el Sheriff contra Robin! Acá se ve sólo la parte de la justa y en eso terminaron empatados, pero después se bajaron del caballo y se empezaron a dar.
After several different combats, the one we were all waiting for: the Sheriff against Robin. Here you can see only the part on the horses, which ended in a draw, but after that, they got off their horses and started whacking at each other.
Estos no son ellos, son unos anteriores, pero se ve qué es lo que pasa en el combate de a pie.
This isn't them, it's two prior combatants, but you can see what happened on a foot battle.
En el combate ganó Robin (les sorprende?), pero el Sheriff hizo trampa (les sorprende?) y la cosa terminó en una batalla campal. Lejos lo mejor fue una nena que había adelante mío que en un momento en que el público hizo silencio, después de haber estado todos gritando, se mandó un "Come on, Robin, chop his head off!!!" ("vamos, Robin, cortale la cabeza!"), muy sedienta de sangre. Pobrecita, se puso coloradísima cuando todo el mundo se rió!
Robin won in the combat (surprised?) but the Sheriff cheated (surprised?) and it all ended in a pitched battle. By far the best was a little girl in front of me who, during a brief lull in the shouting, very bloodthirstily screamed "Come on, Robin, chop his head off!!!" Poor thing, she blushed so hard when everyone laughed!
Después de la batalla subimos a la mansión.. ya no está más el castillo, fue arrasado y destruido en el siglo XVII, después de la ejecución de Carlos I, para que no se pudiera usar más..
After the battle we went up to the ducal mansion... the castle isn't there anymore, it was razed during the 17th century, after Charles I's execution, so that it couldn't be used anymore.
Como ven, desde arriba hay una muy buena vista de la ciudad.
As you see, from the mansion there's a great view of the city.
Y la última: esa noche era la final del Mundial de Rugby (Inglaterra - Sudáfrica!), así que nos fuimos a un pub con unos amigos a verla.
And the last one: that night was the final game of the Rugby World Cup (England - South Africa!), so we went to watch it at the pub with a few friends.
