Slovenia // The Legend of Erazem Prediamski (a toilet story)

I hope you learn how to love yourself the way you love others. - unconditionally and without hesitation. - [unknown quote]

Tonight... from a train which rides from Ljubljana to Vienna with a lovely story to share...

This morning I was on a mini van with the guide (Tine) and a Russian couple living in Norway.

(voice-over: Russians and Norway OMG!!!)


During the trip to the Predjama Castle, I have lernt two things:

1. That Tine (my guide's name) in Norway is a milk brand

2. That several Slovenian words related to the world of cars come from German, that means that I can speak Slovenian as well ;)

But... let's talk about what I wanted to tell you... that is

[drumroll]
[drumroll]
[drumroll]

... the Legend of Erazem Prediamski AKA a toiltet story...

Let's start from the beginning...

Once upon a time Slovenia used to have its own Robin Hood, the Knight Erazem - the robber baron.

Everything was almost fine until Erazem killed the kinsman of the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederik III. ------> NOT GOOD 

Frederik was so furious that he forced the baron into hiding in his castle.

But  Erazem was too clever. He managed to survive thanks to a secret passage between the Castle and the nearby Postojna Cave. For an entire year + 1, the baron smuggled food and drink through the tunnel till one of his soldiers betrayed him.

Since the weakest part of the castle was the outhouse on a high floor of the outside façade, they decided to attack him once there. And that was the place where the toilet was (the hole you see on the top left of the picture here).

Guess what happened... yeah.... it's exactly what you think...

The servant raised a flag and a cannon shot blasted the baron off the toilet.

Might be a legend, might be the truth... but it made me smile, thanks Tine!

"Consider nothing impossible, then treat possibilities as probabilities." - D. Copperfield

France // Caraïbos Lacanau Pro - Everything started from a picture

I am the shore and the ocean, awaiting myself on both sides - D. Stojanovic

A few months ago I saw a nice picture taken by a girl I met in Pyrmont (Sydney). It was just
a view of a fence some grass and sand with the sea in the back.

The caption was "Lacanau-Océan" and I told to myself, my next trip will be there. Honestly I am saying that about many other places and I would have never thought it was going to happen this year.

Well, Ryanair has played a part in that ;)

Lacanau Pro  -20th August 2017

My sister and I got there on the last day of the Lacanau Pro, which is a surf competition held in Lacanau every year and it attracts many sufers and fans from all over the world.

The first edition was in 1979 and it usually takes place in mid-August. It is one of the steps to the World Qualifying Series (WQS), which will then lead to the World Championship Tour (WCT).

Needless to say that the power of the ocean has always had some magic spell on me. Though with big waves, I love the peace within the water.

We got no troubles... life is bubbles under the sea. - Sebastian

The two winners of this year's Lacanau Pro were Philippa Anderson (Australia) and Marc Lacomare (France).

Philippa

Marc

Philippa is an enfant prodige, grown up in South Africa deeply in love with her element (ed. the Ocean) while Marc is winning whatever.

...and the ocean taught her how to drown in all the things bigger than herself. - R.M. Drake

He said: Surfing's one of the few sports that you look ahead to see what's behind. - L. Hamilton

--- oUr sToRy----

We didn't try to surf... too hard ... we just enjoyed the sea and the beautiful wind of a Summer afternoon ;) --- as you can watch in our funny video ;)

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
admit impediments. Love is not love
which alters when it alteration finds,
or brends with the remover to remove.

O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
that looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
but bears it out even to the edge of doom.

                                                 If this be error and upon me prov'd,
                                                 I never writ, nor no man ever lov'd.

                                                                                               (Sonnet 116 - W. Shakespeare)


                                                 

Australia // Chapter 4, part 1 - Bondi and Le Petit Bateau - A Cultural Exhibition of Life

1st ApRiL 2015

"Sharing our culture is the beginning of creativity." - Le petit bateau philosophy

Me in my creative order

It was one evening at the 3 Wise Monkeys Pub in Sydney and someone told me about Le Petit Bateau in Bondi. It was a few months later I decided to take a look there and I got the chance to discover a very nice spot in Bronte Rd.

It is like a big building where people from different nationalities live together: Italian, French, Swiss, Polish, German etc..

Le Petit Bateau - backyard where I had my coffee

As soon as I entered the backyard, an Italian guy offered me a coffee. It was not the best one I had but for sure the most welcoming one. [I am not saying that because I'm Italian btw].

Gaetano, that was his name, started immediately telling me about their project.

Le Petit Bateau is an art collective launched in May 2014.

Everything started into a garage and backyard space, conceived by Anne-Sophie Ridelaire, a curator from Paris, and her fiancé Gaetano Russo, an Italian boat designer [and the guy with the coffee to me ;)]

LBP is composed by visual artists, performers, musicians, designers, architects from all over the world, working together to promote Art in all its forms and make it "user friendly".

Le Petit Bateau - building @ Bronte Rd.

The two guys (AnSo + Gaetano) share the dream to create a gallery on a boat, with the message that "you never know which way things are going to go".

At that time they were taking part to The Big Picture Project.

Le Petit Bateau - The Big Picture Project

"The Big Picture Project is a show of grand scale contemporary photography exposes, the possibility of images as art via email, instantly exchanged globally and blown up to large mural proportions."

These images are expanded as large Xerox prints and displayed inside the gallery as well as posted in approved outdoor locations. All began in the city of Denver in USA and then it spread all around the globe. And Sydney is a sister city of this project.





  Have a look to this video to make yourself an idea  of this dream reality in Bondi.

  Well... it's all for today... a big big hug!


  Don't let small minds convince that your dreams   are too big.

Chapter 3, part 1 - Randwick and my first flat

That's how a regular table looks like in Australia
ROFL

It's that time of my life I feel like leaving again... no worries I won't do that. First I need to try something else.

Anyway... before trying that something else, I will write my chapter about my flat research in Sydney.

I was lucky honestly, I changed only three times and in all the three flats I was really happy.

1st flat - Randwick
2nd flat - Kingsford
3rd flat - Coogee

They are all located in the Eastern Suburbs. I don't know if it's the best area in Sydney, but I loved it.

And this was my first room in Sydney. I guess that in that apartment it was where I cooked most. Maybe 4/5 times in 3 months...I was a real shame.. really unable to use a kitchen...

Let's start with the first one: Randwick.

Randwick is for me... actually... just a street, that is Belmore rd. If I think about it, what pops into my mind are:

Coles
Liquorland (lol)
Cotton on
Prince of Wales Hospital (yeh... I tried that as well cos of a cut to my thumb)
and last but not least my Coffee Crazy.... a name... a guarantee...

I have just seen that it has now turned into Vigor Espresso.... lovely coffee shop but really made of lovely CRAZY people. At least when I was there (Ciao Claire, Lance and Sydney).


I miss them sometimes as I miss my adventure there...

Even my first flatmates were great and still are: Rob, Max and Justin. Three amazing guys ...they are now well spread across the world ... I hope to meet you again... maybe on a plane ;) Who knows...


2 Years ago the average price for a single room per week was of about 200,00 $ / 250,00 $, which was pretty good... I do not know now... if you have any udpdate about it, feel free to add your comments below...


A quick post just to keep the dream real!

I love you all...

VaL

The Australia Day // Australia as the largest penal colony in the world - The Aboriginal issue & Other Stories...

----- 26th JaNuArY 2015 -----

"Once People come to Australia, they join the team" - Tony Abbott



Vintage buses running through the City
on the Australia Day

Good evening to everyone! It's dinner time Up Above here :) And I will just write a quick post to tell you a bit about the history of Straya.

Two days ago it was the National Day of Australia, the Australia Day.

It marks the day in 1788 when the so-called "Father of Australia", Captain Arthur Phillip, and his first Fleet of 11 ships arrived at Sydney Cove from Great Britain. Those ships were carrying convicts, who turned Australia into essentially the world's largest prison.

Governor Phillip founded a system of labour in which people, whatever their crime, were employed according to their skills - as brick makers, carpenters, nurses, servants and farmers.

To tell the truth, not all Australians have been proud of the country's past as a penal colony.

Another controversial aspect about this day refers to a delicate issue: Who belongs this anniversary to?

Two cultures meet on Australia Day.
Their worlds might touch but their views can be worlds apart.

Most Australians celebrate Australia Day as the day Australia was founded.

However, to many Aboriginal people there is little to celebrate and it is a commemoration of a deep loss. Loss of their sovereign rights to their land and the right to practice their culture.

Many of them rather call 26th January Invasion Day or Day of Mourning.

“Freedom begins where it ends ignorance” - Victor Hugo

 ------------------

Interesting to point out: The Harbour Bridge March.

On 26 January 1988, up to 40,000 Aboriginal people (from as far away as Arnhem Land in the NT) and their supporters marched from Redfern Park to a public rally at Hyde Park and then on to Sydney Harbour to mark the 200th anniversary of invasion. It was the largest protest since the 1970s.

Well... I will talk more about this topic in one of my next chapters. Stay tuned ;)

Ha... by the way...

.... though states and territories began marking Australia Day in 1935, it wasn't till 1994 that Australians began to celebrate Australia Day as a public holiday on Jan. 26.

???? See ya ;)

---- mY StOrY---

When I was there the Australia day was a Monday and with my special Husky friend (Alis) we went to Manly. Though it was Summer that day was pretty rainy but still we had a lot of fun in getting our faces tattooed as two teens.

Copenhagen // Superkilen - Nørrebro // Urban Project and What We Forget

"Triton: I just don't know what we're going to do with you, young lady.
Ariel: Daddy, I'm sorry, I just forgot, I." - from the Little Mermaid - Walt Disney

Last December I was in a surprising beautiful København and thanks to Claudia, my sister, I discovered a very particular area, called Superkilen, a urban open space in Nørrebro located in the Quarter of Mimersgade.

Superkilen is a half a mile long urban space in one of the most ethnically diverse and socially challenged neighborhoods in Denmark.

This project was born from the collaboration between BIG, Topotek1 + Superflex, which represents a fusion of architecture, landscape design and art.




It's a urban park divided in three main sections:

- The Red Square
+ The Black Market
- The Green Park

It looks like a giant exhibition filled with objects that come from all over the world.

A sort of an open-air museum that reflects the true nature of the neighborhood.

"Just living is not enough," said the butterfly, "one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower." - The Complete Fairy Tales - H.C. Andersen

3 ZONES - 3 COLOURS

Red Square // Photograph: Nanna Flachs

The red square is conceived as an urban extension of the sporting and cultural offerings of Nørrebrohall. It's a massive outdoor gym, exactly like Muscle Beach in L.A., where residents can meet for physical activity and games.

Black Square // Photograph: Val (that's me LoL)

The black square is a kind of urban living room. Mimers Plads is the heart of Superkilen and in just a glance it sums up 4 or more Countries (I've recognized just 4 of them, but as you can see from link to the document I posted below, it's plenty of objects coming from everywhere).




A suggestive Moroccan fountain and a Turkish bench under the Japanese cherry-trees is where usually the locals meet around.

Turkish bench + Japanese cherry-trees // Photograph: Torben Eskerod

Green Park // Photograph: Mike Magnussen

The green park is a place for families, picnics, relaxing, sunbathing, for hockey tournaments and badminton matches.

Actually there is much more to talk about this lively area of København but at the same time I do not want to bother you with too many words, that's why I'll just suggest you this interesting document if you want to know more about Superkilen and its world in miniature.


Bauman once said:

"Sport is one of the few institutions in society, where people can still agree on the rules". 

No matter where you are from, what you believe in and which language you speak, you can always play football together.

And Superkilen is a perfect example of it!