which is why it meant a lot to us that our first english breakfast in british soil was prepared by our hosts! it’s a lot of methodical work: some bits go in the oven, some are warmed in a pan, some are fried in a specific order so that everything is nice and hot before being served… but what a beauty! i especially liked the black pudding, but every bit of it was delicious – one of those meals that makes you want to sigh and lovingly pet your stomach at the end… before leaping out of the table with tons of extra energy for the day’s sightseeing :)

no, wait wait, that’s not right… what i meant to say is…

WE WERE IN LONDON FOR THE PAST FEW DAYS!! :D

i had ridiculously high expectations for this trip, which usually spells catastrophe and disappointment – and yet, london went above and beyond them, and was, in the famous words of arthur shappey, brilliant! i loved the fast pace, the mix or architecture, the food, the markets, the river, the crowds, the stationery shops, chinatown, the way they use words which the rest of world seems to have forgotten… (and by the way, how nice to be able to understand everyone in a foreign country!)

i’m still reeling from the experience. i’ll try to share bits and pieces of what we’ve done there, but i must confess i wasn’t very diligent in taking photos… i was busy taking it all in :)

good things this month:
- eddie izzard
- the boy ran 2 half-marathons (on the last one, he placed 24th!)
- first ice-cream of the season
- flying the rc plane
- bright sunny days
- lots and lots of nice meals with friends :)

previously: march 2013.

because the whole thing didn’t fit in a single frame of my holga, i made this rough panorama instead (click for bigger):

it looked a bit like the surface of an alien planet, with its ridges and indentations, both beautiful and haunting. from everywhere around the mine, you can see the steam-electric plants, puffing away clouds of white… we heard that the parents here tell their kids that’s where clouds are made – a rather clever cover to an otherwise dirty reality…

…here’s to growing old together! :)

i love discovering the traditions and costumes of the places we visit, so we had to ask… how do they celebrate a young martyr? turns out, the answer is with dances, giants… and dances with giants!

people started gathering in a square one afternoon, chatting, grouping, putting their stuff on the floor… then suddenly, the band started playing and everyone around us was giving hands dancing sardanas! the footwork seemed rather tricky, with sudden twists and jumps but everyone seemed to be in on the secret steps!

after that, the giant laias and other characters walked the streets of the old town, eventually joining the dancers in the square for a little dance too while nearby, some volunteers distributed hot chocolate and buns for the children!

giants dancing, you say? yup! pretty awesome in my book!

so… one month later, this is how the past month looked like in our lives:

somedays we almost forgot about it until the last minute and ended up recording something dull (or food), so the result isn’t a showpiece… and still, like magic, every brief second brings to mind a very specific moment, which in turn allows us to instantly remember the whole day!

having a visual reminder of every single day i ever lived is pretty awesome. i think i want do this for the rest of our lives! :D

MARTIN: But does it make you happy, truly happy?

DOUGLAS: Oh well come on, no one’s truly happy.

ARTHUR: I’m truly happy!

MARTIN: Oh God.

DOUGLAS: No, Arthur, you are cheery. No one’s interested in the secret of true cheeriness.

ARTHUR: But that’s not true. I’m fairly often just completely happy. Like, for instance, when you get into a bath quickly and it’s just the right temperature, and you go “ooooh”. I mean really no one gets any happier than that.

MARTIN: What a depressing thought.

ARTHUR: No, no, it’s not though, because those sort of things happen all the time, whereas you’re hardly ever, you know, blissfully happy with the love of your life in the moonlight, and when you are, you’re too busy worrying about it being over soon, whereas the bath moments, there’s loads of those! Oh, like when you realise your knuckles are ready for cracking.

listening to cabin pressure makes me (truly) happy! :D

we’re sticking around for a while longer because frankly, it feels comfortable and safe here. things work. for all their bluntness, the germans are strictly predictable and law-abiding, and although it comes at a price, it’s also a reassuring feeling.

besides, there’s so much left to see… so, prost! and here’s to another year of adventures in germany :)

holy lactose-sugar-gluten combo, batman! but there is something so irresistible about fried dough dipped in hot chocolate… :D guilty pleasure indeed!