A French Wedding
Was in Sens, France for the last four days attending a wedding.
Romantic, relaxed and fun, with great food and wine, yet I had a hole in my heart the whole time. The couple however are the most perfect match, which is a treat to see.
24. September 2008
Norway in a Nutshell
Before putting up the cheap postcards of the fantastic Norwegian summer, these must be shared.
Preikestolen is possibly the only other tourist attraction in the world (apart from Amsterdam’s Red Light District) where upon arriving, you promptly lie down, hang on and enjoy it
The magical song and dance at the waterfall
Where’s Dmitry?
Multi-lingual fish market
Ship, roof and ship
Back to Bonn
Over the long weekend I went to Cologne and Bonn. I moved there in 2003 and stayed for about 14 months, and it was now first time I had been back. When I first arrived there in 2003, it was my first real adventure, my first proper solo travel, and for all intents and purposes, the first time I had lived out of home. I was shell-shocked initially, but gradually got used to it, and started having fun. By the end, although I hungered for Australia, I did miss the place when I left.
So now I arrived back, five years later, and looked at the same place with more world-weary eyes. It was a bit of a headspin to see things that were so familiar, such as the house I used to live in, but now so distant. Not much seemed to have changed, although shock-horror, Bonn now has a Starbucks. The weekend was very enjoyable, and I even managed to get severely sunburnt after falling asleep on the grass at the Fischmarkt. Surely a metric of a holiday’s success is the level of sunburn?
I happened to be there for a lover’s tree festival of sorts (the proper name of it escapes me). It happens every year, and is particular to this area of Germany. What happens is a bloke and his mates drive out and chop down a tree, bring it back to the city, decorate it with streamers, attach a sweetheart’s name to it, and tie it to a pole, or somewhere close to her abode. Typically, some amount of beer is involved in this whole exercise, as is the German fashion. While the trees go up, cable-tied to street poles and what not, other lads are going around pulling down people’s trees for shits and giggles, or to reappropriate for their own sweetheart. Thus, the original owner often has to stick around his tree late in to the night to make sure no-one steals it. He has his friends and liquor to keep him amused, and apparently girls parents will often come out and give the boy some beer. In the morning, the girl awakens, and promptly judges the boy based on the tree (yes, size does count) and the artistic sensibility of the decorations.
This year, being a leap year, the roles were reversed. Girls were supposed to put up trees for the guys, although quite a few guys were still hard at work, judging by the names on trees around the city.
15. May 2008Under a Tuscan Cloud
For the past week I have been in Florence, Italy. Most of my time has been consumed attending CHI 2008, which apparently hit a ‘world record’, although I’m unsure if this is for the number of submissions received or the number of submissions accepted. In any case, the conference wasn’t too bad, I think the best times were had in-between sessions, as well as listening to the swirling cloud of rumour and gossip about particular work and personalities. Unfortunately I failed to get a photograph of it, but one highlight was “Internet cafe” which turned out to be a rather aspirational title as it lacked both internet and coffee, and consisted entirely of a blue sheet of plastic, and about 1% of the required number of chairs and power sockets.
There are many intrinsic Italian things that can be enjoyed. Cheap, good coffee, where the default is espresso (unless you are mistaken for American, whereupon the barista offers ‘Americano’ coffee). Another bonus is the good, cheap wine, which seems to be served everywhere. My only complaint is the food. I really love Italian cuisine, but I just couldn’t find anything that was above ordinary, even at relatively expensive prices. It was remarked by a colleague, that in Australia, a ‘restaurant’ wouldn’t get away with simply serving a plate of pasta and pesto sauce. In Florence, they’ll do exactly that, with everyday pasta and pesto sauce, and then charge you €18 for the pleasure.
But otherwise, Florence is a very beautiful city, and very enjoyable.
Overheard in the Uffizi gallery today
- “It looks just like a photo!”
- “I know it was done by him, but if I didn’t know I’d say it’s shit” (on a da Vinci)
- “What’s with all the Japanese?”
- “But I don’t want to order from my table, I want to order now and eat it there! […] It costs extra to sit?!”
There are some photos online, too.
17. April 2008