Annie Bennett
@anniebennett.bsky.social
Travel writer. Spain and Wales
Pinned
Reposted by Annie Bennett
Cheered to see that the great Madrid tradition of the Broken Microwave Christmas Nativity Scene hasn't yet died out
January 1, 2026 at 8:09 PM
Cheered to see that the great Madrid tradition of the Broken Microwave Christmas Nativity Scene hasn't yet died out
Reposted by Annie Bennett
Saints Justa and Rufina in the 1660s, showing off their A+ tower. By Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, born OTD in 1617.
December 30, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Saints Justa and Rufina in the 1660s, showing off their A+ tower. By Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, born OTD in 1617.
Cecilia Giménez, who went viral in 2012 when she ‘restored’ the Ecce Homo painting in her local church, has died aged 94.
Cecilia Giménez, aficionada a la pintura, quiso restaurar el Ecce Hommo de su pueblo sin imaginar que su resultado lo haría mundialmente famoso y acabaría atrayendo a miles de visitantes a Borja. Ha fallecido a los 94 años
Muere Cecilia Giménez, la anciana que hizo famoso el Ecce Hommo de Borja
La mujer ha fallecido en la residencia donde vivía, según ha confirmado el alcalde de la localidad, Eduardo Arilla, a la SER
social.elpais.com
December 29, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Cecilia Giménez, who went viral in 2012 when she ‘restored’ the Ecce Homo painting in her local church, has died aged 94.
“Gaudí hadn’t really ever built anything, but when the ginger architect turned up, he fitted the bill” @secondmentions.bsky.social
How Britons cracked the conundrum of Gaudí’s ‘monstrous’ tower
After almost 150 years of construction, Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia is reaching completion, but its future once hung in the balance over its shaky foundations
www.thetimes.com
December 29, 2025 at 7:40 PM
“Gaudí hadn’t really ever built anything, but when the ginger architect turned up, he fitted the bill” @secondmentions.bsky.social
High tide at Three Cliffs Bay in Gower. Not tempted to have a dip.
December 28, 2025 at 2:28 PM
High tide at Three Cliffs Bay in Gower. Not tempted to have a dip.
Duvet know it's Christmas? Brits share their temporary sleeping arrangements ahead of family festivities trib.al/Twe0nrf
Duvet know it's Christmas? Brits share festive sleeping arrangements
With an excitable dog, a distant cousin's new baby and old Aunt Joan all needing to fit under one roof this Christmas, people are having to get creative with their sleeping arrangements (pictured).
www.dailymail.co.uk
December 25, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Happy Christmas from a glorious Rhossili beach
December 25, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Happy Christmas from a glorious Rhossili beach
Reposted by Annie Bennett
Unbelievably, #DuvetKnowItsChristmas generates such good will on social media that over the years we've raised somewhere approaching a quarter of a million quid for homeless charities. If you can spare a bob or two, sling some to Centrepoint, and here's the link: www.gofundme.com/f/duvet-know...
Donate to Duvet Know It's Christmas, 2025, organized by Rhodri Marsden
Unbelievably, it's the 15th year of this thing.
What is it?
Improbably, the nig… Rhodri Marsden needs your support for Duvet Know It's Christmas, 2025
www.gofundme.com
December 24, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Unbelievably, #DuvetKnowItsChristmas generates such good will on social media that over the years we've raised somewhere approaching a quarter of a million quid for homeless charities. If you can spare a bob or two, sling some to Centrepoint, and here's the link: www.gofundme.com/f/duvet-know...
Reposted by Annie Bennett
Drawing close to the end of Richard Burton's Centenary Year make time for this... 😍🎄
#Wales
#RichardBurton100
youtu.be/SDdEvkQf9ko?...
#Wales
#RichardBurton100
youtu.be/SDdEvkQf9ko?...
Richard Burton reads Dylan Thomas’ “A Child's Christmas in Wales” (1961 Recording)
YouTube video by Historic Films Stock Footage Archive
youtu.be
December 24, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Drawing close to the end of Richard Burton's Centenary Year make time for this... 😍🎄
#Wales
#RichardBurton100
youtu.be/SDdEvkQf9ko?...
#Wales
#RichardBurton100
youtu.be/SDdEvkQf9ko?...
Reposted by Annie Bennett
Tomorrow evening it’ll be my annual duty to vaguely shepherd the activity on the #duvetknowitschristmas hashtag and urge people to give small sums to charity. 7.30pm? Something like that?
December 23, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Tomorrow evening it’ll be my annual duty to vaguely shepherd the activity on the #duvetknowitschristmas hashtag and urge people to give small sums to charity. 7.30pm? Something like that?
Reposted by Annie Bennett
People who don’t believe there is such a thing as societal decline also have to answer why every day you go to the supermarket and more and more perfectly edible and enjoyable cheese is being ruined with pointless bits of dried fruit inside it.
December 23, 2025 at 8:19 AM
People who don’t believe there is such a thing as societal decline also have to answer why every day you go to the supermarket and more and more perfectly edible and enjoyable cheese is being ruined with pointless bits of dried fruit inside it.
Reposted by Annie Bennett
Reposted by Annie Bennett
December 21, 2025 at 8:39 AM
Environmental groups and local campaigners in the Basque Country welcome scrapping of project to build an outpost of Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum in Urdaibai biosphere reserve. @swajones.bsky.social
Guggenheim scraps Basque Country expansion plan after local protests
Campaigners celebrate defeat of proposal to extend Bilbao institution into areas including nature reserve
www.theguardian.com
December 18, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Environmental groups and local campaigners in the Basque Country welcome scrapping of project to build an outpost of Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum in Urdaibai biosphere reserve. @swajones.bsky.social
OH in hairdresser: ‘I’m a large mammal kind of guy”
December 18, 2025 at 10:55 AM
OH in hairdresser: ‘I’m a large mammal kind of guy”
Stone Age, Picasso or Barceló? This new exhibition in Almería looks interesting. Chuffed with my quiz score of 12/14!
www.thetimes.com/article/24ff...
www.thetimes.com/article/24ff...
Stone Age or Picasso — can you spot the difference?
An exhibition puts art lovers to the test by mixing neolithic pieces with more modern works, without labels to help them. Could you tell which is which? Take our quiz
www.thetimes.com
December 17, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Stone Age, Picasso or Barceló? This new exhibition in Almería looks interesting. Chuffed with my quiz score of 12/14!
www.thetimes.com/article/24ff...
www.thetimes.com/article/24ff...
Now that would be a lovely present for someone*
(*me)
(*me)
Discover the world one book at a time with the Manderley Press City Collection, a beautifully curated (and gift-wrapped) bundle celebrating five remarkable literary cities: Edinburgh, Florence, London, Bath and New York 📚🌎 #booksky
December 4, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Now that would be a lovely present for someone*
(*me)
(*me)
Reposted by Annie Bennett
So here's a thing. I help run my local food bank, and we're doing this: 12 Days of Christmas Giving.
It's the busiest time of year for us and we have to build up our stocks right through December.
I know you're not in N4, but all food banks are in the same boat, so if you can help please do! 🙏🎄
It's the busiest time of year for us and we have to build up our stocks right through December.
I know you're not in N4, but all food banks are in the same boat, so if you can help please do! 🙏🎄
November 30, 2025 at 10:29 AM
So here's a thing. I help run my local food bank, and we're doing this: 12 Days of Christmas Giving.
It's the busiest time of year for us and we have to build up our stocks right through December.
I know you're not in N4, but all food banks are in the same boat, so if you can help please do! 🙏🎄
It's the busiest time of year for us and we have to build up our stocks right through December.
I know you're not in N4, but all food banks are in the same boat, so if you can help please do! 🙏🎄
Looks like someone just threw it up… 🤮
This recipe has all of the delicious comfort of a cheeseburger served in a bowl — you won’t even miss the bun. nyti.ms/4r5oKaX
November 21, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Looks like someone just threw it up… 🤮
Reposted by Annie Bennett
My blog is out: Aiming high: Green Spain's heroic viticulture - inland Galicia features some of Spain's most extreme winemaking landscapes. I went on the road there to investigate. Plus: #wine I've been drinking this week, feat Ribera del Duero, Crete
aviewfrommytable.substack.com/p/on-the-tra...
aviewfrommytable.substack.com/p/on-the-tra...
Aiming high: Green Spain's heroic viticulture
Inland Galicia features some of Spain's most extreme winemaking landscapes. I went on the road there to investigate. Plus: what I've been drinking this week
aviewfrommytable.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:19 AM
My blog is out: Aiming high: Green Spain's heroic viticulture - inland Galicia features some of Spain's most extreme winemaking landscapes. I went on the road there to investigate. Plus: #wine I've been drinking this week, feat Ribera del Duero, Crete
aviewfrommytable.substack.com/p/on-the-tra...
aviewfrommytable.substack.com/p/on-the-tra...
I’ve done yet another list of some not-quite-so-well-known areas of Spain…
www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/2b0986f...
www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/2b0986f...
The enchanting holiday spots in Spain that most Britons don’t know about
Our Spain expert highlights 10 of the country’s most underrated regions, along with some spectacular places to stay
www.telegraph.co.uk
November 18, 2025 at 2:29 PM
I’ve done yet another list of some not-quite-so-well-known areas of Spain…
www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/2b0986f...
www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/2b0986f...
Very sad to read that Rachel Cooke has died.
Rachel Cooke obituary: omnivorous food and culture journalist
Writer and polymath who wrote with wit and enthusiasm about the pleasures of food and TV and celebrated history’s resilient women, dies aged 56
www.thetimes.com
November 14, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Very sad to read that Rachel Cooke has died.
Or at least read it through carefully a few times. Then leave it and read it again the next day.
Once more I am begging those of you with Substacks to get an editor to look over your long, heartfelt screeds.
November 11, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Or at least read it through carefully a few times. Then leave it and read it again the next day.
“Between 2020 and 2025, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment rose by 59% in Madrid and 47% in Barcelona” @brendanboyle.bsky.social
Spaniards split from their city centres
What's a city without citizens?
open.substack.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:33 AM
“Between 2020 and 2025, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment rose by 59% in Madrid and 47% in Barcelona” @brendanboyle.bsky.social
Reposted by Annie Bennett
Still life of exquisite quietude by Francisco de Zurbarán, born this day in 1598. Meditation on vessels.
November 7, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Still life of exquisite quietude by Francisco de Zurbarán, born this day in 1598. Meditation on vessels.