UCC Star of Show on Spanish TV: Olé!
Previous episodes of the programme have featured New York, Sydney and Hong Kong, so it was only a matter of time before they discovered the highlights of Cork!
Previous episodes of the programme have featured New York, Sydney and Hong Kong, so it was only a matter of time before they discovered the highlights of Cork!
The programme, which aired on Wednesday 28 November, is broadcast at TPA (Television del Principado de Asturias) and captures the journeys of natives of Asturias, an autonomous region in Northern Spain, as they go out and about in the world. Previous episodes of the programme have featured New York, Sydney and Hong Kong, so it was only a matter of time before they discovered the highlights of Cork!
In this particular episode, guide for the UCC component of the programme is Asturias native and adopted local, Susana Garcia, who works at Apple Computers. Garcia takes the audience through a lively tour of campus, stopping first to greet Martin Veiga, proud Galician, who teaches in UCC’s Department of Hispanic Studies.
Wide shots show newly arrived students milling around the Main Quadrangle in bright September sunshine. Then it’s on to the Stone Corridor where Garcia takes some time to decipher the grooves and notches of UCC’s famed Ogham Stone collection. Finally the crew leaves the campus proper to take in a visit to the Honan Chapel, where the mosaic floor and Harry Clarke windows prove to be particular points of fascination.
Other parts of the city to feature in “Asturianos en El Mundo” include Shandon, Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral, Blackrock Castle and (naturalmente) the English Market, where the Asturians take some time out to engage with Queen Elizabeth’s old pal, Pat O’ Connell. The programme features locations in Cork County that include Blarney, Cobh and Kinsale, noting throughout Cork’s outstanding natural beauty, cultural heritage and culinary delights.
“We were delighted to welcome the programme to UCC and to facilitate filming on campus,” comments Louise Tobin, Director of Media and Public Relations at UCC. “The footage reflects many of UCC’s best architectural features and also manages to capture the vibrancy of campus life. UCC is one of the region’s top tourist attractions, with some 100,000 visitors passing through our gates each year. We look forward to welcoming visitors from Asturias and beyond into the future, now that these images have been beamed into the homes of several million people in Spain and elsewhere.”
The programme can be viewed at http://www.asturianosenelmundotpa.com/europa/cork (UCC appears from 11:50 onwards)
Bienvenidos a Cork!