Salam Vazaha! {Madagascar : People}

We've come back from Madagascar after a two weeks trip exactly three months ago.

I haven't had the courage to go through the thousand of pictures I've took up until recently, and by this time, it's too hard to repost this as a diary. I don't remember what we ate which day, how many km we drove the day after or exactly what we saw. So I'm going to report this in a different way, with a lot of pictures and very few words, and I'm going to start with people. 

Because people, this people, I clearly remember.

p.s. It's also too hard to do any kind of post production, mainly because I can't do post production, so the pictures you see here are exactly as I took them with my camera.

The number of kids popping up from every corner as soon as we stepped down the car, or even drove by, yelling "Salam Vazaha!" (Hello Foreigner!) was what impressed me the most. They are the friendliest and even if shy, curiosity drove them to see us. In some towns they were more accustom to see tourists, or foreigners in general, but in some others I really felt a little out place. Not because of anything they did, don't get me wrong. I've never, in fact, felt in danger or risks of any kind. Any. The truth is I've never been in such a poor country, and as much as I think I'm aware of how the world goes, my privileged life doesn't allow me to completely understand. I could have taken way more pictures, but I really wanted to also just look at them. Because look at them! Could you take your eyes away? 

The Future is Europe {Brussels}

At the end of August we went to Brussels for a weekend. It's really easy flying aways for just a couple of days from Manchester and it helps having friends scattered all over the world! 

We started the trip with an evacuation from the boarding hall that brought a 4 hour delay on our flight. 1 hour flight. 4 hour delay. because somebody smoked in the airport bathroom. 

Anyhow, by 3 o clock in the morning we were at our very sleepy friends house, he was so kind to arrange a taxi for us , by that time we missed the last bus to town, and surtout wait for us!

We were lucky enough to have sunny and warm days until the very last hour there, and we were able to walk around the whole time.

Being a Political Science alumni I was eager to walk by the European Institutions, but I guess being an old and grumpy and (almost) British grownup let the magic fades away a little. Do we still believe in this? Who does? If there was a referendum like in the United Kingdom in all the other countries , what would win? I never thought brexit had a chance, and yet here we are. 

There was a lot of food involved in a two day trip. Street food fish that tasted like gourmet Michelin restaurant, huge roasted pork shank for dinner, and infinite chocolate and waffles store windows to stare at.

 

Belgium is the country of Tin Tin, and he is everywhere: the walls graffiti reminded of him and even people just walking around!

People standing in line to take a picture of a little pissing man. 61 cm of bronze that officially symbolise the sense of humor of the people there, and, according to Wikipedia, their independence of mind. A pissing man. OK.

Goodbye Brussel! Goodbye Parliament! Always in the hope that YOU will BE the future.

The Longest Day of The Year {Copenaghen}

At the end of June we decided to finally go visit a friend that we have planned to visit for ages.

It just happened to be on the longest days of the year: what better place to be in than one of the most northern capital in continental Europe?

We normally plan our trips, but since this was just a weekend and we were staying with our friend, we just let him decide where to take us, being an expert on the city after living there for several years.

He also happens to be a quiet, reserved person,  not a coincidence he’s one of M best friend and best man.

This particular fact makes him explore places that are not very touristic or in general full of people, and were we lucky to be able to stop over these lesser known locations that we wouldn’t , otherwise, never have seen.

We went all the way to see the coast of Sweden and a remote park with castles and deer!

But of course, we also needed to see some of the typical ones: the little mermaid, one of all. I was so fascinated when I was a kid by the idea of mermaids and by this one in particular.

In fact , is the only thing I remember from when I visited Denmark with my family in the early 90s.

But this time around I was more fascinated by the amount of people there! I wonder how many pictures are taken in a day is this places.

To take all the advantage we could of the very long days , after walking, after dinner, after another stroll, and after taking the train to go back home, we still went by the beach and witnessed one of the most beautiful sunset I’ve ever seen. It was almost midnight. I was in awe.

I was also in awe by the couple that with no shame whatsoever took off all ALL of their clothes and just jumped in the water! 

Of course we had to go to Tivoli: the oldest roller coaster park in the world.

Problem is, I'm scared of heights...so I was happy to just walk without going on any rides, ah ( how old do I sound?)

And Christiania, where you can smoke weed but can't take pictures.

And the canal with pubs and bars and old boats and bridges.

It was such a good trip: the city is clean, proper, civil but also fun and full and initiatives. 

The weather was gorgeous like it hasn't been in years. 

Seeing a country and an old friend. No better way to spend a weekend!