Tag: Europe

Gratitude for rest against all odds

Our car of 15 years showed three flashing lights on the dashboard while we travelled to Whitby last Sunday. It displayed them during Summer too when we were driving to Poland from the UK. We got it repaired but the same problem showed. ‘We’ll give it a rest when we get to Whitby. It will cool down and we’ll be able to drive back.’ my husband said. His prediction was right. We returned home safely. One thing to be rather grateful for today.

We travelled to Whitby for air. To feel the sand between our fingers and water on our feet. And to eat fish, of course, an irreplaceable custom of every food lover. We headed towards the beach when we saw a crowd of people returning towards the car park. We seemed to be the only family that walked in the opposite direction. ‘Was everything fine?’ I wondered examining the opened restaurants, stalls, coffee shops and calmly floating boats and yachts. The surrounding was reassuring and the lobsters and crabs painted on restaurant walls seemed to nudge us towards the beach. Who wouldn’t like to see where the crabs live after all?

We rushed to get at least an hour of the golden light at the beach. We passed the crab-fishing family, a man inviting us for a sea trip, new marine centre and just before we reached the beach we had to pause to urgently drop 50p coins into a designated place for overstretched bladders. A relief worth paying for. :)

We collected ourselves and all the 6 bags that we had with us for all the eventualities of the beach life. Just before the stairs we stopped at the viewing platform to see the sea and the beach but the beach was not there to be seen. The frothy waves were licking the sea walls and all the way to the cliff. A spring high tide took over the whole beach. Disappointment was hard to swallow and yet there we were exposed to the sea air, energised by the colours of the sky, caressed by the breeze. Enough to be grateful for. Not to mention the ice-cream and the dinner and a chat with a fisherman… but more on this at a different time.

Take cake. x

Alicja

Les Vieux Alpages, Agriturismo, Aosta

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This is one of the highest agriturismi in Italy (and Europe, I guess) at 1881m. This is also the place that encourages you to drive for one hour up the mountains just for the food. The views are a bonus.

We stayed there a couple of years ago with our small son and we were delighted by the breakfasts and dinners. They make so much themselves on the farm and what they don’t make is local. It is an exhibition of regional cooking. And at its very best.

As parents of a small child we appreciated it so much. Such an amazing escape from the mundane and what a pampering for a tired mind. This year we went back to see the familiar faces, admire the views and eat their abundant homemade food. We were very sad to leave.

You can contact Les Vieux Alpages and read more about it following this link: http://www.agriturismo.it/it/agriturismi/valle_d_aosta/aosta/LesVieuxAlpages-2960339/index.html

I hope you will enjoy your holiday as much as we did.

Lace-making in Cogne, Aosta, Italy

In the region of Aosta in North West Italy there is a small place called Cogne fairly far up (at 1500m altitude) an alpine valley of the same name (from where one can explore the wilderness of the Gran Paradiso national park). In Cogne there is a small museum of lace-making next to the church. I was inspired by the place and hope you will be too. You can read about this very precious lace-making tradition in Cogne on the official tourist webiste for Aosta Valley here.

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Do you want to give it a go?

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A few reflections on the days after the referendum

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Like many of you I was shocked with the result of the referendum on Friday. In fact I was so unhappy that I could find in myself nothing but an angry voice. Truth be told I was never as angry in my entire life as when I heard of the Prime Minister’s resignation. Then, a day later, after I vented some of my frustration on social media, I realised one thing: how difficult it is to be kind when we’re angry. How difficult… it is.. to be kind when we’re angry. I think it is quite a powerful realisation. One that probably would help us all in dealing with and processing changes that we might not want go through.

On the Saturday and Sunday I was fortunate to be with family and friends celebrating the christenings of two wonderful little girls and on the Saturday when we were driving south with my family, I was thinking about the people who for the last forty or more years worked for European cooperation and strongly believed in its core values and purpose in the world. I felt the tragedy that they were going through, I saw the debris of their collapsed world and I heard the question that they were perhaps asking themselves: Was it all in vein? And my answer to them was: Don’t even think for one minute that it was in vein. It would be much greater a personal tragedy if for forty years you were working against your core values. That, to me, would be a tragedy.

So here came another realisation to me that actually it doesn’t matter if things fail in the end, but what matters is that you still want to commit and create. As Elizabeth Gilbert once said: Your ego is wounded but your soul is fine, your soul just says: Do you want to do it again? Do you still want to work for those values? That’s the key question.

 

Photo-essays from Milan (1): Street & Street Art

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Last month we went for a short trip to Milan to visit our son’s great grandmother. Milan is a beautiful place known all too well for il Duomo, its cathedral, and for its fashion. But there is much more to Milan as is to every city so I’ll be doing a series of photo-essays on this blog from our Milan trip. Just for a pure enjoyment of travel and photography. :)