Categories
in the uk traveling

london!

we were in london for the past few days!

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 :)

Categories
just life one second everyday video

one second every day – april 2013

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.

Categories
in germany photography

where the clouds are made

in march, when germany was still clinging fiercely to its winter chills, we went to cologne for a day for the local postcrossing meetup. we didn’t have much time to properly explore the city, but our lovely host drove us around to see the very impressive brown coal open air mines of grevenbroich. they’re… huuuuge! so big in fact, that whole towns have been moved to make way for the excavation sites…

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…

Categories
just life

7 years

…here’s to growing old together! :)

Categories
in spain traveling

la laia

our (almost impromptu) visit to barcelona in february coincided with the la laia festivities, in honour of the city’s 13 year old patron. as the tragic story goes, in the fourth century, young eulalia refused to renounce her christianity, rebeling against the rule of emperor diocletian… which ended up getting her imprisoned, gruesomely tortured and killed. pretty depressing stuff… but she’s remembered as a martyr child who fought for her convictions until the end.

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!