Who will be the next bride?

-in the air & 10 sec later (see below)-

Not me! the bride's father said I didn't really try hard to get the maze :)
Actually the bride threw the flowers twice and twice her little cousin (the boy with the lila shirt) got it!!!!

°<><

The lighthouse church

In my district (via marliano, Roma), a church looking like a lighthouse to me!

°<><

Tecktonik

This post is a special dedicace for Konsti.

In memory of our crazy after lunch during exam period @Bocconi.

"It will only have known one season of glory but it was intense glory. In 2007, tecktonik was born, according to legend, in the Métropolis in Rungis (yes french can still be trend setters...), a suburb of Paris. It conquered Europe with its super speedy hairdresser moves, glittery look from Pimkie (well, Konsti we missed that on your video) and its outrageous hair styles. For those who never managed to master the spring-like leg movements or the spinning arm movements, it's time to stop practicing in front of the mirror (or the computer) because even in Rungis they have moved on to a more reasonable choreography." in the Baboo magazine.

If you cannot exactly figure out what it could look like, check "tecktonik" on youtube!

°<><

Les demis-fous

Ce soir 19h15, je rentre chez moi. Je suis déjà dans notre impasse lorsqu'un jeune homme asiatique arrive tout en courant derrière moi. Bon, déjà ce n'est pas vraiment le lieu. "Signora, Signora, aspetta!" Aurai-je perdu qqchose? "Non parlo bene italiano ma vorrei farla una domanda..." Je ne parle pas bien l'italien mais j'ai besoin de vous demander quelque chose. Ok. Et là j'ai mis 4 minutes avant de comprendre qu'il avait besoin d'un truc pour son pied. "Carta!" sauf que "carta" ça veut dire papier. Je lui sort des pansements... et oui je suis bien organisée, je me promène avec l'indispensable! Et parfois ça sert. Non, non ce n'est pas cela qu'il veut. Alors j'en ai assez et je m'en vais. Mais il continue en faisant des gestes. En fait c'est des chaussettes qu'il cherche. Pour sa copine qui a mal aux pieds (en parenthèses nulle copine en vue donc où elle ne pouvait vraiment plus marcher où elle n'existait pas). Mais il rêve ou quoi, je ne vais pas monter lui chercher des chaussettes! Je lui dit que je n'en ai pas. Il a soi-disant cherché dans tous les magasins et n'a pas trouvé. Sympa je lui indique un magasin proche où ils vendent de la lingerie, et je suis quasiment sûre des chaussettes surtout qu'ils ont déjà mis en rayon la collection automne. Et là je comprends qu'il veut MA chaussette ou plutôt mon bas. J'avoue que je ne me promène pas souvent par 35°c à l'ombre en bas mais avec mes chaussures à talons je suis un peu obligée. Il veut bien payer. Oui, c'est ça j'aurai dû marchander. Il me dit que je suis la seule à me promener avec des chaussettes en plein été, qu'il ne pouvait demander à personne d'autre... mais bien sûr.... là j'en ai vraiment assez, ET.....

A votre avis, qu'est-ce que j'ai fait?
Et qu'est-ce qu'il voulait?

°<><

Lavaux, Vineyard Terraces

The Lavaux vineyard belongs to the World Heritage. We took the metro until Ouchy station, then walked along the lake until Lutry from where you can have a very nice walk through the vineyard up the hill. Then we took the train back to Lausanne from Boissières.

The Lavaux Vineyard Terraces, stretching for about 30 km along the south-facing northern shores of Lake Geneva from the Chateau de Chillon to the eastern outskirts of Lausanne in the Vaud region, cover the lower slopes of the mountainside between the villages and the lake. Although there is some evidence that vines were grown in the area in Roman times, the present vine terraces can be traced back to the 11th century, when Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries controlled the area. It is an outstanding example of a centuries-long interaction between people and their environment, developed to optimize local resources so as to produce a highly valued wine that has always been important to the economy.

The Lavaux vineyard landscape is a thriving cultural landscape that demonstrates in a highly visible way its evolution and development over almost a millennia, through the well preserved landscape and buildings, and also the continuation and adaptation of longstanding cultural traditions, specific to its locality. It also illustrates very graphically the story of patronage, control and protection of this highly valued wine growing area, all of which contributed substantially to the development of Lausanne and its Region and played a significant role in the history of the geo-cultural region; and, has prompted, in response to its vulnerability next to fast-growing settlements, exceptional popular protection.

source: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1243/

Agrandir le plan
°<><

Magnifique Lac Léman

- les alpes irréelles dans les nuages -

°<><

La bonne affaire

Suddenly after six months spent in Rome I decided that it was now time to personalize my room. I went to MAS (magazzini allo statuto). It's the oldest department store in Rome and is located on Piazza Vittorio Emanuele. Special... because it's a little bit old fashioned with the so many vendors dressed with these red overalls, nuns buying fabric, piles of not so good quality household linen or dump bins "tutto 1 EUR". I noticed than even if located in the China Town, it sells mainly "made in italy" goods.

But the great thing about MAS is that in this labyrinth you can find gems... because they also sell the destocks of big brands for almost nothing... you just need to have the right size ;) Today I found none of the articles I wanted and was a bit disappointed and ready to go as I had seen nothing really interesting when I discovered a collection of swimming suits from a well known italian brand ( & I urgently need to buy one as I'm going to the aquapark tomorrow and I forgot my swimming suit in Budapest the other day...)! And this was a super great deal, better than sales: 93% off! 3 EUR instead of 49 EUR!!! so I got two of them a blue and a fluo green ;)

http://www.magazziniallostatuto.com/

°<><

IBAN BIC SWIFT

While living abroad you might still use your national bank account. Nowadays with the online banking facilities it becomes easy to set a bank transfer. However you should better know the other parties bank details (BIC and IBAN). More than often people don't know their IBAN or BIC or they don't match.

• IBAN >> BIC: If you have the international bank account number (IBAN) but not the bank identifier (BIC): you can get the BIC with this tool: http://www.ibancalculator.com/bic_and_iban.html?&L=2

• NAT.ACCOUNT NB + BANK CODE >> IBAN: If you have the national account number, the bank code and the country, you can get the IBAN by using this interface: http://www.ibancalculator.com/bic_and_iban.html?&L=2

The swift.com website should allow you to do BANK >> BIC: getting the BIC from the bank name and location: http://www.swift.com/bsl/freequery.do and BIC >> BANK: check if the BIC corresponds to the right bank: http://www.swift.com/bsl/freequery.do.
However it never works for me so try to get the code through a generic websearch. Good Luck!


°<><

Survival video

come back to the origins... or how to eat a pine kernel:

CH - Swiss identity

The swiss flag represents the swiss identity...




and have you ever noticed that the red cross flag is just the opposite (red cross on a white background) and that founder was swiss!
°<><

Travel lead time

- The longest part of a journey is to pass the doorway -

°<><

The nightmare of packing for airplane travel

Yes, if you have taken the plane recently you should have noticed how painful it has become to board the plane with all your belongings and how low cost companies try to make money from everything!

After the number of hand luggage limitation, their size, their weight, the additional price for checked-in luggage, the liquid interdiction... you have to be careful while booking your flight and clever while packing your suitcase.

Here below two summer packing list for hand luggage, italian version:

"Scelgo pezzi basici in tinte monochromatiche (una chiara e una scura): T-shirt manica corta e over da usare anche come vestito, canotta, pantalone ampio, pantaloncino corto, camicia. Una maglia a righe bianche e blu con maniche lunghe. Due pezzi in denim: minigonna e pantalone slim. Due cardigan, uno chiaro uno scuro. Un pareo e un foulard fantasia da usare in mille modi. Un abito leggero lungo e ampio, un abitino corto aderente, un top prezioso. Biancheria intima bianca e leggera, poi un costume intero e tre bikini. Un sandalo alto con tacco largo, un infradito in gomma, un infradito anche per la sera, una tennis leggera (Superga o Bensimon). Le zeppe indossatele durante il viaggio. In un sacchetto mettete un po' di collane e bracciali non troppo colorati da poter sovrapporre e mixare e una bella spilla per impreziosire una T-Shirt. Per chiudere il trolley (il mio è il lite gloss di Delsey: è rigido e le cose non si muovono troppo), dovrete giocare a tetris con il beauty e le scarpe (in sacchetti singoli) mentre l'abbigliamento sarà piegato e arrotolato: ce la farete!" Elle Italia, Agosto 2009.


and mine for 6 days in Hungary. It had to be polyvalent as I was staying a few days in town, including a graduation ceremony + canoeing with bivouac:

constraints: 10kg, 1 bag only (no other purse or rucksack)
liquids: max 1L in 100ml containers
luggage size: 50x20x40 cm


Finally I chose:
1 fleece jacket
1 dress (for the graduation ceremony)
1 scarf
1 skirt
1 pair of jeans
2 pair of shorts
3 T-shirts

1 sleeping bag (taking 1/4 of my suitcase)
1 hat
1 pair of sunglasses
1 swimming suit
1 pair of flip flops
1 pair of sandals (to wear with the dress)
1 pair of sneakers (to run away from crocodiles)
2x sunlotion (I30 + I50)
1 mosquito lotion
diverse tubes with your own hygiene survival kit (max 1l)

1 plastic glass , IKEA type
food plastic bags
cakes
local currency
1 book + 1 Bible
1 cellphone charger
1 digital camera charger

salad for the airport

what I should have taken and I didn't because I asked my friends to borrow me one:
towel, raining coat, mattress

what I wanted to take but couldn't:
knife, fork and bottle
°<><

Special Shopping in Budapest

(M) Nagyvagyter (well, the spelling is incorrect but I don't remember the right one)

One fantastic place in Budapest is this second hand UK shop. I never went into my mums or big sisters wardrobe but I think it's even better! You can find everything for almost nothing especially light tops as you pay per kilo of clothes you buy: 2490 HUF/kg = 9,34 eur/kg. And to give you an example I got 3 pairs of trousers + 5 tops for 1,3 kg... The only quality you need is patience as all sizes are mixed up. The clothes are coming from the UK, Scotland... and are sorted and washed before being sold. You can find the latest fashion trends as well as more neutral clothes, same for the brands. I don't really know the value and prices of the English brands but I'm sure it costs a fair amount of money when bought new. And funny thing, you realize when you come home that you bought the same brand several time... stile and fit matters!

°<><

Good Bye and back in Budapest

°<><

Sunset on the Tisza

°<><

Arrivals

- Arrival 1st day after 30 kms -

- Final destination, Szolnok, back to civilization -

°<><

Food Distribution

- Ingrid distributing food rations -

- my ration -

- the beneficiaries -

if you didn't understand the parallel, go to www.wfp.org :)

°<><

HU - On the way to the Tisza

- Train from Budapest to Szolnok, bus from Szolnok to Tiszaroff -

- Tiszaroff-

- Hungarian countryside house -

- Storck nest -

°<><

HU - Tisza location

Agrandir le plan

This year I only participated to the two last days of the canoe trip, i.e 45 kms from Tiszaroff to Szolnok.

°<><

HU- Canoe Trip on the Tisza 09

Some related posts of last year (the whole story was published in August 2008)

• Tisza Canoe trip
• Kms 485 - 453
• first bath
• Tisza Tò swamp
• Lake maze
  

°<><