Category Archives: Everywhere and nowhere

Meer plaatsen bezoeken -> meer leren -> meer mens

Something is going to happen…

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Something is going to happen…
something is going to happen…
something is going to happen…
and something did happen. A great week with Ana visiting Leiden, Brugge, Noordwijkerhout and the Hague. Of course way to short, but very nice.

Brugge resulted to be a very nice little city in Belgium, but it was crowded with tourists. In fact, it seemed that there were only tourists walking the streets. Still, we found some very nice local pubs where we could choose from hundreds of beers :-D. We also did a tour across the canals, climbed some big tower and ate some nice Belgium food. A very nice visit.

Verrassing

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Guell Park, Barcelona!Afgelopen weekend was een bijzonder geslaagd weekend. Donderdag nacht ben ik naar Barcelona gevlogen, om vrijdag middag mijn broeder te verrassen. Ik wist dat hij op school zat van 9 tot 1, dus iets na enen was de verrassing compleet :-).

Het was een leuk weekend, alleen ben ik nu wel zo ziek als een hond.

The Widow’s Revenge by Katherinne Bardales

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Today I got a CD in the mail. It was something I knew was coming. A CD filled with poetry, all the way from Chicago. My friend/sister Kathy turns out to be a very good poetry writer, and her reading the poetry makes it sound even better :-). Now at least I am a little less of a culture-barbarian. Thanks a LOT!!! More reasons for me to want to see her dance also.

The Widow’s Revenge
© Katherinne Bardales

I ran away to the desert, a black shawl,
to mend my broken heart
with fuschia papelillo petals,
green flesh of cactus
and sharp fox teeth.

Many miles I walked, barefoot,
cutting open my soles with broken beer bottles
and burnt wood left from talking circles
long ago.

Layer by layer of skin I peeled off,
leaving trails of brown and pink in the sand.
With my tanned skeleton I danced in the wind
and made love to the sand dunes.

Then sun reached out with its upturned fingernails
and made my hair catch on fire.
My head, a golden flame now, turned my memory to dust.

I became speckles of copper and meteor
and the fishermen, who crossed the desert each day
to find virgin shores filled with silver eyes
sprinkled me on their fish like spice.

I made them see oases.
I made them jump in sandpits, mad with love.

Alcorcon

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Alcorcon!Aanstaande zaterdag is mijn eerste vakantie dit jaar en dit keer ga ik een dikke week op bezoek bij mijn Spaanse vrienden in Alcorcon. Hier was ik vorig jaar ook al geweest, maar toen leefde in nog in de verkeerde veronderstelling dat ik in Madrid was geweest. Het bleek echter om de provincie Madrid te gaan en het stadje Alcorcon.

De planning van vakantieplannen is typische Spaans gegaan. Van alles is verzonnen en uitgedacht, met als uiteindelijk resultaat dat er eigenlijk helemaal niets vast staat en dat ik wel zal zien wat er gebeurt. Een perfecte vakantie dus.

Milan & Alitalia

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Alitalia!Milan was really nice. After our arrival at Malpensa airport I quickly realized that I misjudged the temperatures. There was quite a lot of snow lying around and clearly my expectation that it would be warmer in Milan compared to Holland was wrong.

In addition to being the fashion capital of the world it seems that Milan is also the worlds most maintained city. All the mayor sites were being renovated and everything was covered by scaffolding. As a result there was very little to see. The cold and frequent rain also did not add to a very nice holiday feeling.

Luckily the pizzas, cappuccino, tiramisu and other Italian treats compensated for the weather. Because of the total lack of people understanding or speaking English you really get a feeling of being in a strange country. Some pictures of Milan.

The only thing that really gave a negative touch to this holiday was the travel back home. It is always sad when a holiday reached its ending, but this time it was worse. First I checked myself in way ahead of time at the business class desk of Alitalia :-p. Then the waiting started, and I waited and waited… until well past the scheduled take off time. When finally the boarding of the plane commenced my seat had also been given to someone else! On top of the seat problems the luggage of two other passengers was lost and then my new seat could be moved backwards, but it was a one way more. Putting the back straight was not an option. Argh.

Eventually I arrived at Schiphol. A lot of rain greeted me to my normal life.

Milan

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Italy!First we thought about Venice, then we changed to Rome and finally we decided on Milan as the city to spend for a nice weekend in Italy. I have to admit that I don’t know very much about this city. Only that it is a city famous for fashion and its fashion shows.

It gets even worse… on the website promoting Milan the city is roasted in the first paragraph. “The city of Milan does not calls to mind images of a city flooded by sunshine where people spend their time on white marble squares and cozy back alleys. The idea that Milan does not offer these things is correct.” and “You will not find people having lunch for hour but simple business.” An interesting way of promoting a city.

I really know very little about Italy. I know it is a catholic country and the people like to eat pizza and pasta and they enjoy nice cappuccinos, espressos, tiramisu cakes and of course the Italian ice cream. For sure it will be a nice weekend and visiting a new country for the first time is always worthwhile. :-)

Tank City

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Chelyabinsk!Mijn neef Leo gaat binnenkort trouwen met zijn vriendin Julia. Julia komt van origine uit Rusland, dus het plan was om te trouwen in Nederland en in Rusland. Leuk! Maar wat blijkt… er blijkt heel wat te lezen over de plek waar Julia vandaan komt en het is niet allemaal zo best.

Ik was eerst van plan om ook gezellig langs te gaan bij het feest in Rusland. Leuk met de gehele familie op avontuur, maar nu twijfel ik toch erg sterk of dat wel zo’n geslaagd plan is. Voor de geïnteresseerde.. lees en huiver.

Chelyabinsk
The Most Contaminated Spot on the Planet

For forty-five years, Chelyabinsk province of Russia was closed to all foreigners. Only in January of 1992 did President Boris Yeltsin sign a decree changing that. Shortly afterwards, I made my first trip to this region, which later Western scientists declared to be the most polluted spot on earth.

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Foto’s spaans bezoek

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Pop!Hoe het is gegaan weet ik niet, maar op een gegeven moment raakte we in gesprek met een straatartiest, die met zijn dummy een bijzonder coole show had. Hij was al vier keer weggestuurd door de politie van de dam en zocht nu zijn heil op het Leidseplein. Zijn show vereiste het gebruik van een radiootje en dat mag niet in het nette Amsterdam.. tenminste, het mag niet zonder vergunning, want stel je eens voor.

Als fransoos kwam hij net uit Barcelona en was hij nu in Amsterdam aanbeland. Hij vroeg ons om een vloeitje en bood ons daarna zijn joint en een showtje aan. Leuk, heel erg leuk zelfs en ik voelde me als het kleine kind dat als betoverd keek naar het optreden. Mogelijk werd dit ook veroorzaakt door de werking van paddo’s en wiet tegelijkertijd. Uiteraard heb ik een fotootje gemaakt en er zijn er nog veel meer! Allemaal van het uiterst leuke bezoek van de Spanjaarden.