Olympics are now almost one week old. And I am having rather a busy time with trying to keep up with them. Half of the time I seem to be too late. Due to the time difference I have to settle for latest news and surfing over the internet. The moments that I have spend in front of the telvision I was a witness of olympic history. Some of the highlights of the last days (before I start I have to point out that this is a personal selection!) were:
1. The synchronised divers in the Water Cube: just amazing to look at. While broadcasting it there should some words of caution in the corner to warn us not to try this out in your local swimming pool! Chen and Wang, Lin and Hua won the gold medals for China. But it was a little lad from about 150cm and 47 kilos who caught my attention. Tom Daly of Great Britain is only 14 and he dares to make circus jumps from that terrifying looking tower! His partner and he came in last but I am sure that when the Olympics take place in London (2012) he will stand on the highest podium as well!
2. Michael Phelps: okay he is a bit too much too handle but god can he swim. Appearently he has the perfect body to break all the records. The Baltimore Bullet wants to get it all. He wants to make sure he gets to Olympia for sure this time. And in order to make sure this dream will become true his first three golden tokens he has won along with a world record! I just wonder one thing what will this Bullet do when he has made it? Diving into a black hole perhaps! So perhaps settling for seven isn't that bad. London will welcome you with open arms!
3. The Chinese volunteers: the show must go on!! The opening show was just breathtaking!!! I have missed most of it due to a trip to a science museum with my son. But all the people I have spoken to agreed that it was a great show. My mother her favourite seqeunce: the computer. She pointed out that the Chinese must be brave people because if one had made one small mistake it would have been noticed by all. 'And you can be sure there was an official keeping an eye on them the whole time!', were her words. They also are the ones that are 'kindly' asked to fill in empty seats at certain events! So an extra round of applause for these people who make sure that there are enough fans to attend! But it was such a fun sight to see identical dressed ladies along the road cheering for the women cyclists! Perhaps they should have some extra clothes for these kind of jobs!
4. The Belgian Hockey team: they will not win a medal but they are true amateur players and god can they play for honor!! Their coach is an australian who made sure that these guys know why they are on Beijing soil. He made them sign a contract while they are living together in Olympic village. They have to take in consideration some rules of good conduct to make sure they stay focused. So they can't call to their children or wives in Belgian after the lights are turn down in the bedrooms. When I saw them at the beginning of the game against Spain singing our national anthem in two languages I was impressed with these guys with sticks!!! It has been a long time ago that I have seen belgian athletes singing it with so much power! Our prime Minister might get the DVD: success guaranteed!! When they keep up the good work for four more years they might play with the big guys! If they last then I am getting tickets for the 2012 Olympics and cheer for them with pompoms!!
5. Vincent Kompany and Mario Aerts: okay first mentioned has quite an attitude and a football player is rather a spoiled athlete! Vincent just made very clear that he regrets the fact that he is forced to go back home after two games in order to play for his home team Hamburg!!! Let us be honest what is more important attending the Olympics or playing local!!!???? Sad to hear that the Belgian officials couldn't reach an agreement and settle it for once and for all. The Hamburg football officials seemed to have more power. Vincent showed once more that the Olympics get under your skin!!
And I bet that Mario Aerts agrees with him. This cyclist who came in fifth confessed that he first doubted that the Olympics could add some to his life. It was again an australian, Cadel Evans, who made him see that the Olympics have that extra touch you are after in your carreer!! He now wants to become an even better athlete in the future and win a ride or two in the next Tour the France!!
6. The silver and bronze medal winners of the 10m air Pistol shooting event: It is said more then once these last years that politics and sports mingle at the Olympics. Well when you have seen the statement the Gregorian Salukvadze Nino and the Russian Paderina Natalia made when they got their medals was rather the opposite message! While the Russion troops were heading for Gregoria they made very clear to the world that it wouldn't affect their friendship and their sportsmanship. The two of them might be able to handle a gun very well but they only use it in a shooting alley!! Way to go girls, this is for sure real girl power!!!
I hope that the next few days will bring some more heroes. There are ofcourse also loosers. Belgium was so close to winning twice a bronze medal but I guess that this year we will have to settle for top 10. At least this year more athletes will have gotten into top 10 then the previous Olympics but one medal would make my Olympics sky a bit more brighter!!!
dinsdag 12 augustus 2008
donderdag 7 augustus 2008
WallEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
P and I had made a mental list of the things we wanted to for and with A this summer. Well due to the oh so typical weather more then half of this list will stay fiction but we try very hard. So after P watched the weather forecast for this week we planned to go to the cinema! A is four now and has never been to a real movie theater before! We have got a surround system and so A can watch his favourite DVDs with lots of sound effects. I must admit that after watching 'Cars' for more then 100 times I am getting sound defects. There have been moments that I thaught that those cars were racing through my kitchen.
A also loves to copy cat a movie. So half through he start to act out the storyline by using all his toys. When the words: 'THE END' pop up on the screen our living room is turned into a real film set with costumes and props scattered all over the place. A thinks he is running for an oscar but it is me who ends up cleaning up the set. The prospect of still having a clean and safe to enter living room seemed rather nice!
We booked seats ahead and drove with one blind passenger on board to the place of action. A wasn't impressed with the enterance. 'Here is nothing to do for me', he said. Only when he saw a big commercial poster of "Walle', he got a bit more upbeat. He ran up all the stairs and then decided that he wanted to know what was behind those big doors blocking his way!
Surprise: lots of seats and a big screen! Once he was seated and checked out this place closely. 'I want something to eat! Can I have a drink, pleeeeeease!!!!!?', were soon to be heard. Well I ended up in front of a snack counter with a yelling four year old; 'Mum, come and see what I want!', while pointing at a special kidpackage containing a small popcorn and an action cup of Walle filled with a softdrink of his/her own choice!!! I was not going to get caught this time. But the dad next to me bought one for his son. But then I had the impression he was after the cup himself! A ended up with a bottle of still water (with a straw as compensation) and a small popcorn.
After the trailers and the commercials we were treated on a new short story of Pixar. A had by then already asked for a million times when Walle was going to come. Also the other kids started to wonder when they would stop with those stupid car commercials and shampoo ads. But then there he was: WALLEEEE! And he is so cute with his big black eyes! And he is so good at his job: picking up and recycling trash! Rather a modern man!
A hated it when the words 'Break' showed up on the screen. He almost started to cry. We tried to explain to him that all these kids had to get the chance to go to the loo. So he ran off and wanted to check this out for himself. I convinced him that this might be right time to go. We ended up in a small cubicle and he kept on talking about the movie and what was going to happen next. The result was that A left half of his pee next to the toilet. I ended up next to it with half of the toiletpaper.
I won't tell too much about the movie itself but A seemed to be waiting to meet all the friends of Walle. He must have seen a trailer or an article somewhere because I seemed to think there were not going to be any friends beside the white egglike girlfriend. 'Mum, Walle has got a long friend and small ones! When are they coming?' 'Shhhht! They will come soon!' And yes there were some other robots that were rather friendly to the small trashy robot and yes there is one who is rather tall!
By now A was a bit in need for some action and started to act out the movie. His waterbottle changed into a rocket and he started to imitate the sounds these robots make. I was shrinking by the minute. Ready to go undercover because all the other kids were so quiet and mine was talking out loud! I was rather a relieved mum when the words 'The End' came up.
A is now in bed and dreaming of robots, recycling, sun energy, space ships, stars and planets. I bet that starting tomorrow he will have an other movie that he can imitate. Will have to be careful when I enter the set! Many unidentified flying objects and so. I just wonder what I will be in it. I have a preference but I bet I will be the long friend of the cute little robot. P might end up being the cleaning robot but that is part that suits him well. In the end he is my favourite action hero and I hope that I am his true Eve!
Want to check out more in order to convince others to go this movie: www.disney.co.uk/DisneyMovies/Walle
A also loves to copy cat a movie. So half through he start to act out the storyline by using all his toys. When the words: 'THE END' pop up on the screen our living room is turned into a real film set with costumes and props scattered all over the place. A thinks he is running for an oscar but it is me who ends up cleaning up the set. The prospect of still having a clean and safe to enter living room seemed rather nice!
We booked seats ahead and drove with one blind passenger on board to the place of action. A wasn't impressed with the enterance. 'Here is nothing to do for me', he said. Only when he saw a big commercial poster of "Walle', he got a bit more upbeat. He ran up all the stairs and then decided that he wanted to know what was behind those big doors blocking his way!
Surprise: lots of seats and a big screen! Once he was seated and checked out this place closely. 'I want something to eat! Can I have a drink, pleeeeeease!!!!!?', were soon to be heard. Well I ended up in front of a snack counter with a yelling four year old; 'Mum, come and see what I want!', while pointing at a special kidpackage containing a small popcorn and an action cup of Walle filled with a softdrink of his/her own choice!!! I was not going to get caught this time. But the dad next to me bought one for his son. But then I had the impression he was after the cup himself! A ended up with a bottle of still water (with a straw as compensation) and a small popcorn.
After the trailers and the commercials we were treated on a new short story of Pixar. A had by then already asked for a million times when Walle was going to come. Also the other kids started to wonder when they would stop with those stupid car commercials and shampoo ads. But then there he was: WALLEEEE! And he is so cute with his big black eyes! And he is so good at his job: picking up and recycling trash! Rather a modern man!
A hated it when the words 'Break' showed up on the screen. He almost started to cry. We tried to explain to him that all these kids had to get the chance to go to the loo. So he ran off and wanted to check this out for himself. I convinced him that this might be right time to go. We ended up in a small cubicle and he kept on talking about the movie and what was going to happen next. The result was that A left half of his pee next to the toilet. I ended up next to it with half of the toiletpaper.
I won't tell too much about the movie itself but A seemed to be waiting to meet all the friends of Walle. He must have seen a trailer or an article somewhere because I seemed to think there were not going to be any friends beside the white egglike girlfriend. 'Mum, Walle has got a long friend and small ones! When are they coming?' 'Shhhht! They will come soon!' And yes there were some other robots that were rather friendly to the small trashy robot and yes there is one who is rather tall!
By now A was a bit in need for some action and started to act out the movie. His waterbottle changed into a rocket and he started to imitate the sounds these robots make. I was shrinking by the minute. Ready to go undercover because all the other kids were so quiet and mine was talking out loud! I was rather a relieved mum when the words 'The End' came up.
A is now in bed and dreaming of robots, recycling, sun energy, space ships, stars and planets. I bet that starting tomorrow he will have an other movie that he can imitate. Will have to be careful when I enter the set! Many unidentified flying objects and so. I just wonder what I will be in it. I have a preference but I bet I will be the long friend of the cute little robot. P might end up being the cleaning robot but that is part that suits him well. In the end he is my favourite action hero and I hope that I am his true Eve!
Want to check out more in order to convince others to go this movie: www.disney.co.uk/DisneyMovies/Walle
woensdag 6 augustus 2008
Kitchenmemories from Santenay
Written in memory of my very nice holiday!!!
When you ask people how their holiday what most of them will mention the food they had. Well right they are. Food can leave a long after taste and those memories can laste for life time! So while being in Santenay my fellow travel companions and I created some tasty memories.
I wasn't staying in a hotel but I was a guest in the holiday house of one my collegues. Her father who is a very good cook was our host. P is a very nice guy who ended up buying a house in a small and quiet wine village called Santenay. If you would ever end up there and walk through this sleepy village: it is a pink house with numerous flowerpots on the balconies. It looks like one of these houses you come across while flipping the pages of glozzy travel magazines. Behind those walls there is quite a paradise hidden and the kitchen is for sure a place where you want to spend part of your free time.
Most of my travelcompanions already had a kitchen reputation and so I felt quite nervous of performing in there. Kitchen highlights that landed on our plate to end up in our stomachs were: home made lasagna (W two tumbs up for that taste experience), spaghetti (T his tomato sauce was very tasty), Paëlla (the master chef of the house P his dish was approved by his three year old godchild, son of a local cook!!!), white Sangria (A, you got us in the right mood with that drink), homemade vegetable salads (the one made in the oven turned out to be quite a hit in combination with chicken), macaroni and cheese (3 different ones and the one with bacon got the highest marks), Pana Cotta (A and I managed to impress the local cook with this dessert!), and last but not least our last supper: poulet de Bresse (devine chicken!! prepared by our host) with French Fries (once I don't mind calling them French) and a passionate triffle (A and I managed to get very juicy passionfruits)!
Like you can read the calories have found their way to our tastebuds! We also ended up one night in the favourite family restaurant where we were treated with Burgundy's delicacies. I ended up with froglegs!!! The garlic butter turned it into one of these dishes that can abduct you to holiday heaven. A, one of our harder to please kitchen princesses had a wonderful time with the fish she had chosen. Most of us went fruity with sorbet for dessert! W decided to go very chique and had profiteroles! We all were in food heaven!
In order to get back in shape we ran home. We even didn't need a flashlight to show us the right track. Lightning was our beacon and God, were we happy to be back in time. Once we opened the door of DL Residency heaven decided to treat us on a spectacular light and sound show.
Worth to mention as well was our Fresco dinner at one of the family friends. He got that one dream kitchen you want desperatedly. Out of his professional oven came superb spiced chicken. And having tarte tatin for dessert was as well quite nice. I am not going to mention the swimbad that was close by. It just added some extra class to the dishes. After dinner some of us went for a final dive.
Cooking and eating in Santenay was quite a nice experience. I went home with some new kitchen secrets. I can go on for hours about this subject. But like we all know once you are home all these dishes become less apealing because you have to prepare in your boring kitchen. The Englsh have the saying:'No kitchen is big enough to hold two women'. Turns out that when you are travelling you even can stand tons of people in that room!! Miss that place!!
When you ask people how their holiday what most of them will mention the food they had. Well right they are. Food can leave a long after taste and those memories can laste for life time! So while being in Santenay my fellow travel companions and I created some tasty memories.
I wasn't staying in a hotel but I was a guest in the holiday house of one my collegues. Her father who is a very good cook was our host. P is a very nice guy who ended up buying a house in a small and quiet wine village called Santenay. If you would ever end up there and walk through this sleepy village: it is a pink house with numerous flowerpots on the balconies. It looks like one of these houses you come across while flipping the pages of glozzy travel magazines. Behind those walls there is quite a paradise hidden and the kitchen is for sure a place where you want to spend part of your free time.
Most of my travelcompanions already had a kitchen reputation and so I felt quite nervous of performing in there. Kitchen highlights that landed on our plate to end up in our stomachs were: home made lasagna (W two tumbs up for that taste experience), spaghetti (T his tomato sauce was very tasty), Paëlla (the master chef of the house P his dish was approved by his three year old godchild, son of a local cook!!!), white Sangria (A, you got us in the right mood with that drink), homemade vegetable salads (the one made in the oven turned out to be quite a hit in combination with chicken), macaroni and cheese (3 different ones and the one with bacon got the highest marks), Pana Cotta (A and I managed to impress the local cook with this dessert!), and last but not least our last supper: poulet de Bresse (devine chicken!! prepared by our host) with French Fries (once I don't mind calling them French) and a passionate triffle (A and I managed to get very juicy passionfruits)!
Like you can read the calories have found their way to our tastebuds! We also ended up one night in the favourite family restaurant where we were treated with Burgundy's delicacies. I ended up with froglegs!!! The garlic butter turned it into one of these dishes that can abduct you to holiday heaven. A, one of our harder to please kitchen princesses had a wonderful time with the fish she had chosen. Most of us went fruity with sorbet for dessert! W decided to go very chique and had profiteroles! We all were in food heaven!
In order to get back in shape we ran home. We even didn't need a flashlight to show us the right track. Lightning was our beacon and God, were we happy to be back in time. Once we opened the door of DL Residency heaven decided to treat us on a spectacular light and sound show.
Worth to mention as well was our Fresco dinner at one of the family friends. He got that one dream kitchen you want desperatedly. Out of his professional oven came superb spiced chicken. And having tarte tatin for dessert was as well quite nice. I am not going to mention the swimbad that was close by. It just added some extra class to the dishes. After dinner some of us went for a final dive.
Cooking and eating in Santenay was quite a nice experience. I went home with some new kitchen secrets. I can go on for hours about this subject. But like we all know once you are home all these dishes become less apealing because you have to prepare in your boring kitchen. The Englsh have the saying:'No kitchen is big enough to hold two women'. Turns out that when you are travelling you even can stand tons of people in that room!! Miss that place!!
The best medival hospital of the world!
Written after a museum visit to the Hospices de Beaune during my holiday in France!
One of the rather less nice things while travelling is getting sick. But sometimes I just gets to you. Sour throats, sunburn, migraines, toothaches, sun allergies, coughing, upset stomachs and constipation are some the things that made us visit the local pharmacy. Very helpful people who send us home with small plastic bags filled up with pills, drops, creams, lotions, syrops and gels. Day by day our house was starting to look like a hospital. It makes you think about what people did in the past when there was no pharmacist or doctor near by!
Well if you were living in the region of Burgundy you were rather lucky. In Beaune there was and still is the ‘hospice’. It is one of the highlights on your trip through the region. For the moment the front is still covered up for restorations. But don’t hesitate to pay the entrance fee because it worth the money!
Thanks to two people (Nicolas Rolin and his beloved wife Guigone de Salins) the inhabitants of Beaune had something nobody else had : a real hospital! I guess we all know what a hospital looks like. I have been to many and have tested out some them. But this is nothing like it! First of all the building itself. If it would be still a working hospital I guess many patients would turn into imaginary ill people. Your house looks like a shed compared to this monument. Oké I bet that the chances you would leave this place alive were rather small. This was the last stop before heading for heaven. All you could hope for was miracle once you ended up in one of their beds. Still this was a four star place compared to many hospices.
The food you got was prepared in very clean kitchen. The stove and sink I would kill for! The copper pots and pans were filled with many dishes that fed the poor and the ill. Hoping they would find the strength to recover of face death! Working in this kitchen was like having a workshop in Marta Stewaert’s kitchen. The best materials and ingredients were used. Many patients had a short moment of recovery when the smells came out of the kitchen!
Walking through the building makes you realize that these people were rather smart. In contrast to many medieval disasters they were the first to treat patients according to the care they really needed. Going into quaratain when needed and making sure that you took care of your hygiene were common treatments in the hospice. Healthy food, clean water, tons of herbs, loving nurses, trained pharmacists and a man in love with his wife made many ill people travelling to Beaune. He had the money and the power to make this place work. I just wonder if he got his hands really on one of these sick people who entered his house.
And there is always money that makes things a bit easier. Even at that time when you had the money you got a nicer and bigger room. Perhaps you were that lucky to get operated on. I am not kidding, they even had a small room where they performed rather complicated operations like trilling into the brain of cutting of hand or leg! Doubt that there was laughing gas or sleeping pills to pass out when lying there! The only thing that they could offer you was a look at one of the divine paintings. All you could do then was pray that you would make it to the end of the procedure!
But it were not just minor artists who were granted exhibition room in the hospice. Rolin made sure that he only got the best for himself and his patients. Proof can be found in the darkest room of the museum. There is hanging a big altar piece depicting the last judgement. It is said to be painted by one of the Flemish masters: Rogier Van der Weyden! Rolin was quite eager to stand model in paintings. Van Eyck also made a painting of him in the company of the holy virgin! While standing in front of that piece of art try to imagine that you were that sick and all you could hope for was granted eternal peace in heaven. Many dying patients used this painting to find the rest they were after so that they could find peace of mind. Palliative care in style so to speak!
By the time I got out of the museum I felt rather thankful. Now I am walking around with sun allergy, a sour throat and pain in the ears but I doubt if that would have been enough to be granted entrance at the time. So I will have to settle for a painkiller or two before going to bed and drinking an extra glass of wine. Now that I mention wine, even the hospice knew the importance of drinking grape juice! Every year Christy's comes to town in order to auction wine for extra funding. And I guess Rolin would feel quite well to know that up till today his spirit is still living on in the modern hospitals of Beaune. So from now on George Clooney and Patrick Duffy you will have to do a bit more then just wearing scrubs!
P.S.: If you want to find out more you can surf to: www.hospices-de-beaune.com
One of the rather less nice things while travelling is getting sick. But sometimes I just gets to you. Sour throats, sunburn, migraines, toothaches, sun allergies, coughing, upset stomachs and constipation are some the things that made us visit the local pharmacy. Very helpful people who send us home with small plastic bags filled up with pills, drops, creams, lotions, syrops and gels. Day by day our house was starting to look like a hospital. It makes you think about what people did in the past when there was no pharmacist or doctor near by!
Well if you were living in the region of Burgundy you were rather lucky. In Beaune there was and still is the ‘hospice’. It is one of the highlights on your trip through the region. For the moment the front is still covered up for restorations. But don’t hesitate to pay the entrance fee because it worth the money!
Thanks to two people (Nicolas Rolin and his beloved wife Guigone de Salins) the inhabitants of Beaune had something nobody else had : a real hospital! I guess we all know what a hospital looks like. I have been to many and have tested out some them. But this is nothing like it! First of all the building itself. If it would be still a working hospital I guess many patients would turn into imaginary ill people. Your house looks like a shed compared to this monument. Oké I bet that the chances you would leave this place alive were rather small. This was the last stop before heading for heaven. All you could hope for was miracle once you ended up in one of their beds. Still this was a four star place compared to many hospices.
The food you got was prepared in very clean kitchen. The stove and sink I would kill for! The copper pots and pans were filled with many dishes that fed the poor and the ill. Hoping they would find the strength to recover of face death! Working in this kitchen was like having a workshop in Marta Stewaert’s kitchen. The best materials and ingredients were used. Many patients had a short moment of recovery when the smells came out of the kitchen!
Walking through the building makes you realize that these people were rather smart. In contrast to many medieval disasters they were the first to treat patients according to the care they really needed. Going into quaratain when needed and making sure that you took care of your hygiene were common treatments in the hospice. Healthy food, clean water, tons of herbs, loving nurses, trained pharmacists and a man in love with his wife made many ill people travelling to Beaune. He had the money and the power to make this place work. I just wonder if he got his hands really on one of these sick people who entered his house.
And there is always money that makes things a bit easier. Even at that time when you had the money you got a nicer and bigger room. Perhaps you were that lucky to get operated on. I am not kidding, they even had a small room where they performed rather complicated operations like trilling into the brain of cutting of hand or leg! Doubt that there was laughing gas or sleeping pills to pass out when lying there! The only thing that they could offer you was a look at one of the divine paintings. All you could do then was pray that you would make it to the end of the procedure!
But it were not just minor artists who were granted exhibition room in the hospice. Rolin made sure that he only got the best for himself and his patients. Proof can be found in the darkest room of the museum. There is hanging a big altar piece depicting the last judgement. It is said to be painted by one of the Flemish masters: Rogier Van der Weyden! Rolin was quite eager to stand model in paintings. Van Eyck also made a painting of him in the company of the holy virgin! While standing in front of that piece of art try to imagine that you were that sick and all you could hope for was granted eternal peace in heaven. Many dying patients used this painting to find the rest they were after so that they could find peace of mind. Palliative care in style so to speak!
By the time I got out of the museum I felt rather thankful. Now I am walking around with sun allergy, a sour throat and pain in the ears but I doubt if that would have been enough to be granted entrance at the time. So I will have to settle for a painkiller or two before going to bed and drinking an extra glass of wine. Now that I mention wine, even the hospice knew the importance of drinking grape juice! Every year Christy's comes to town in order to auction wine for extra funding. And I guess Rolin would feel quite well to know that up till today his spirit is still living on in the modern hospitals of Beaune. So from now on George Clooney and Patrick Duffy you will have to do a bit more then just wearing scrubs!
P.S.: If you want to find out more you can surf to: www.hospices-de-beaune.com
Spider-invasion of Taizé
Sunday, 27 of July (written during my trip in Burgundy)
We had many things on the list to do when being on our break. One that perhaps some might find rather strange, is going to Taizé. It is one one of these spots in France where you go to find yourself and sing out your love for God, the saints, Jezus and the world in general.. In the world of today it seems to be a rather unpopular destination to head for but was I in for a surprise.
We visited that day the local market of Beaune, bought shiny olives and tomatoes, goat cheese, baquets, water melons and melons de Charentes and litters of water. These were the ingredients of our divine picnic. The meal took place in front of a petite chateaux and in the back of vineyard! Once our stomachs were filled we headed for the real thing: the winecellar.
Being in a state of Delirium we headed for Cluny. For me that brings back so many memories. Professor Sneyers, one of my favourite professors ever, called Cluny a true paradise for the Romanic architecture and all what it stood for at that time. I didn’t remember that many pictures of that place but of Clugny I, II and III is not that much is left over. You have to use your imagination to call alive the city Clugny once was.
Here Napoleon passed through and so many stones were recycled to wipe out all the clergical monuments. Well Clugny did a very good job indeed! Most stones you can find in the wall of the city. For some people this might sound rather harsh. The modern architect finds this not such a bad idea. You create open spaces for new creations. The art-historian that I am thinks differently. They did not just tear down buildings but also wiped out a way of life.
Clugny was in medieval times the example many monasteries based their way of life on. A monastery had to be able to be self efficient and at the same time it had to be place for contemplation and soul-searching. So while walking through Clugny you encountered history in very surprising corners.
But revenge is always sweet and because of the sake of Professor Sneyers and my whole course of Romanic Art I left the half of my pineapple juice in a shop on the floor! Eat that Clugny!
Remorse became that part of me and fortunately we were heading next for Taizé. And all Clugny stood for you will find here. Tons of people that are trying to spend time together in a very peaceful place, sing, reflect about their faith, celebrate their love for that drive that makes us go on. I was amazed by the number of people that were in that same spot. It is hard to describe what I saw and felt but is was sure a special experience.
One of my travel companions had a very different experience going on. Toilets are very important while travelling and the experienced traveller knows that you have to be able to stand a bit smell and dirt. I was told by the experienced Taizé-people that going to the smallest room is not that much fun. But we found some rather clean ones at the bar!
Appearently W liked them that much that he was spending quite some time in there. When he finally appeared he was looking pale. ‘I was attacked by a spider in there!’ He even had to sit down and shake off the fear. ‘You know they jump and bite, and so I tried to sit very still!’ W then was so kind to tell us about his anarchaphobic tendency. I guess if we could have looked for a spiritual person in order to help him out. But instead we ended in a field eating (water)melons and sharing horror-stories. Splashing, jumping, biting, creeping and spooky eight legged animals became the main ingredient of our dinner conversations.
W was so kind to share with us his unforgettable spider tale. ‘There was once a spider in my bathroom and one of my guests run out of my bathroom, telling me that a spider was having a sanitary stop. I went in there armed with my flying bat in order to send that beast to the eternal battlefields. Just took one look, aimed and went for the kill. I just like to hit once and hope then that they are dead. Well this one had a very splashing end! My whole body was covered with small bits and pieces of the black enemy! ‘
By the time we were heading for the church I was feeling spiders everywhere creeping down my body! It was then the six of us became part of one common rituals in Taizé: singing out our love and faith! I was the only who hadn’t done this before. When I entered the huge church and sat down on the ground I was soaked up in a spiral of emotions. Of course I have to admit that it was also nice to do what we people of Limburg are so good at: singing. And for once nobody cared if you sang off key!
One of the highlights during the service is the moment of silence. I always thought that you couldn’t make a crowd being silent for more then five seconds. Well, I was wrong. I suddenly was sitting amongst thousands of individuals who were silent for more then 10 minutes. It was there and then that you become part of that what Taizé stand for: trying to find back yourself and letting in all the thoughts and emotions. I even had the impression I was for a few seconds in a trance but then I felt suddenly eight legs crawling down my legs. Over and out all the peace I was looking for that hard.
We managed to get out of the church in time without being attacked and drove content and with peace in our hearts home. Guess what I was dreaming about that night?! And to make the spider-invasion complete there was this Garfield cartoon in the newspaper the next morning! Garfield got kidnapped by spiders! In oder to get rid of the spider tales one of my travel-companions is hoovering spider-webs! Let us hope that the spider knight will prevail!!!
'La Vie en Rose' in Burgundy
Written during my stay in France!!! Sunny memories!!!
Thursday, 24th of July
We had almost forgotten what it was like to have sun all around us. But once we were on the way to live like gods and goddesses in ‘la douce FRANCE’ we saw what we had missed these last three weeks: pure landscapes in the sun. We were ‘on route’ for ten days of joy, delicious food experiences, conquering castles , emptying out their wine cellars, driving scenery and touristic routes, discovering unknown treasures, awing at views to kill with a camera, speaking high school French at the local pharmacy, walking around like a world traveller and acting like one, ……
I could go on for hours what we were heading for but once you land there fiction becomes reality! I can get up now in the morning opening up my window and just have that one feeling that I was after: genuine calmness. Everything looks so much better in the sun and especially when you are looking at a fountain that is producing clear water and in the background you know that the grapes are spending the last month on the hills.
Life moves on and we are privledged to witness the life in Santenay that moves on the seasonal waves to produces these tasty wines that will decorate many tables around the world and will end up in many mouths. But a true wine lover knows that once you have seen, smelled, touched, sensed the country where these grapes have rested, their nostalgic aromas it will be a better wine. Your glass embodies all these cherished memories. The taste that touches your tongue gives that one sparkle you need to feel alive.
Being Bachus in France is being in paradise and feeling just lucky to be alive! My drinking companions seem to have that same drive in life and once I am back home opening up a bottle of Bourgogne wine it will be followed by an explosion of memories that will boast my life for the better. Emotions produced by fruits that are filled up with tons of anti-oxidants, just what the doctor has prescribed! So tonight when I am sitting on the terrace sipping a local red or white wine I will feel healed and in balance!! Santé is for sure one of my most favourite words for the moment!!
Thursday, 24th of July
We had almost forgotten what it was like to have sun all around us. But once we were on the way to live like gods and goddesses in ‘la douce FRANCE’ we saw what we had missed these last three weeks: pure landscapes in the sun. We were ‘on route’ for ten days of joy, delicious food experiences, conquering castles , emptying out their wine cellars, driving scenery and touristic routes, discovering unknown treasures, awing at views to kill with a camera, speaking high school French at the local pharmacy, walking around like a world traveller and acting like one, ……
I could go on for hours what we were heading for but once you land there fiction becomes reality! I can get up now in the morning opening up my window and just have that one feeling that I was after: genuine calmness. Everything looks so much better in the sun and especially when you are looking at a fountain that is producing clear water and in the background you know that the grapes are spending the last month on the hills.
Life moves on and we are privledged to witness the life in Santenay that moves on the seasonal waves to produces these tasty wines that will decorate many tables around the world and will end up in many mouths. But a true wine lover knows that once you have seen, smelled, touched, sensed the country where these grapes have rested, their nostalgic aromas it will be a better wine. Your glass embodies all these cherished memories. The taste that touches your tongue gives that one sparkle you need to feel alive.
Being Bachus in France is being in paradise and feeling just lucky to be alive! My drinking companions seem to have that same drive in life and once I am back home opening up a bottle of Bourgogne wine it will be followed by an explosion of memories that will boast my life for the better. Emotions produced by fruits that are filled up with tons of anti-oxidants, just what the doctor has prescribed! So tonight when I am sitting on the terrace sipping a local red or white wine I will feel healed and in balance!! Santé is for sure one of my most favourite words for the moment!!
Bread and Games in Beijing!
Two more days to go and we are off again for that one of a kind sport event: the Olympic Games in Beijing! I love them. There was a time that I would be glued to my couch to watch as much as possible. Even weightlifting could make me feel rather excited! Archery, swimming, atletics, wrestling, horseriding, sailing, tennis, cycling, judo and many more are for three weeks all my favourite sports. Every four years I become a true Olympic fanatic and try to keep up with all the atletes. A sport in its own!
These last months Olympic fever got rather high. That China got them in the first place is rather a difficult issue. The Chinese people consider it an honor but at the same time they just call it something normal. Organising the Olympics is a symbol of being treated as a grown up. The 1,35 miljard Chinese already were waiting for 100 years to get them! A few years ago the IOC told China that they were unable to organise such a sporting event because of air pollution. And when you look at the pictures of Beijing you know these guys were right to say so!
A few years ago the New York Times described competing in Beijing as following:'Beijing you can compare with an athlete who is trying to get into shape by running on a traidmill but at the same time is eating a double cheeseburger!' Most athletes know that they will have a hard time to breathe or catch a breath of clean air when they enter the Bird's Nest. For the very first time in history many sportive souls will blame the air when they won't win a medal! Or when it is again a Chinese it will be the best excuse ever:'Well, he/she is used to competing in such circumstances!'
To make things even worse many people got Tibet back in the picture. It even caused stress because the Olympic flame was attacked a few times. Even the Daila Lama had to say outloud that he thaught that the Olympics were a very good thing and that this isn't the right place and time to deal with his beloved homeland! For the record try not to find a Chinese Olympic athlete who agrees that Tibet should be independent. Many young Chinese can't think of China without Tibet. It is just one of their rightful provinces they own and this is historical justified!
Finally the big boss of the IOC: Jacques Rogge (Belgian!!!!) is asked to resign! Some human rights organisations think that he didn't deal well with the situation. China and human rights are not succesful combination. Rogge stays very calm and poised when asked why he thinks Beijing is worth the Olympic Games. Sports and politics seem to be entangled very closely. In the end he just says that he still thinks that it will be worth in the end.
China is ready for the games: 'One World One Dream', is the slogan they choose for these games. They will show the rest of the world what they are worth and it will be a lot more then just all the things you have bought with the label: made in China! Many Chinese have been dreaming to compete in this event but only a few will have gotten through. Here they create Olympic heroes when they are four and you can forget it when you are ten and wake up after dreaming of becoming an Olympic athlete! The chosen one are the ones that will give China what it is really after: worldy recognition! They want to be treated as grown ups!
The Olympic stadium is a real architectural pearl and the Water Cube where the swimmers and divers are to perform is so magnificent that you just want to dive in! And to make sure that we were not going to forget these Olympic games the Chinese introduce very proudly not just one mascot but five Fuwa: Beibei (fish), Jingjing(panda), Yingying (Tibetan antelope), Nini ( swallow) and Hucinhuan (the Olympic flame) are the chosen ones to be the olympic embassadors. A friend of mine has them and they are so cute!!! When I get my hands on them my money won't be safe anymore!
The lucky atletes who conquered the air, water, fire, earth of Beijing will be able to take home one of the precious medals. This round piece of precious metal is inspired by 'bi', an ancient jade piece and inscribed with dragon patterns. It stands for nobilty, virtue, ethics and honor. So when you end up on the stage you will be treated like a king or queen! And when you can catch again your breath you will be able to eat the olympic delicacy: roasted 'lucky' duck!
I wonder what Pierre de Coubertin would have thaught about these games. Pierre wanted to make sure that the French got their education system back into shape. These games had to represent four principals: to strive to perfection, represent a moral elite, create a truce and glorify beauty! The aim of this all: make men!!! In case of the Olympic Games of Beijing: one nation will be made bigger then ever. ''Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni." (meaning: Welcome to Beijing!, just add up the five mascots and you can speak Chinese!)
P.S.: Want to know more just surf to: http://en.beijing2008.cn/. And Kim, Oliver, Sven, Tia, Evy, Karin, Ilse, Steven, Tim, Joris, Dirk, Carolijn, Hans, Nathalie, Mathieu, Filip, Kenny, Bob, Kevin, François, Veerle, Iljo, Kristof, Dirk, and the other Belgian Olympic heroes just keep in mind: participating is more important then winning. But then some jade would look nice in your living room!
These last months Olympic fever got rather high. That China got them in the first place is rather a difficult issue. The Chinese people consider it an honor but at the same time they just call it something normal. Organising the Olympics is a symbol of being treated as a grown up. The 1,35 miljard Chinese already were waiting for 100 years to get them! A few years ago the IOC told China that they were unable to organise such a sporting event because of air pollution. And when you look at the pictures of Beijing you know these guys were right to say so!
A few years ago the New York Times described competing in Beijing as following:'Beijing you can compare with an athlete who is trying to get into shape by running on a traidmill but at the same time is eating a double cheeseburger!' Most athletes know that they will have a hard time to breathe or catch a breath of clean air when they enter the Bird's Nest. For the very first time in history many sportive souls will blame the air when they won't win a medal! Or when it is again a Chinese it will be the best excuse ever:'Well, he/she is used to competing in such circumstances!'
To make things even worse many people got Tibet back in the picture. It even caused stress because the Olympic flame was attacked a few times. Even the Daila Lama had to say outloud that he thaught that the Olympics were a very good thing and that this isn't the right place and time to deal with his beloved homeland! For the record try not to find a Chinese Olympic athlete who agrees that Tibet should be independent. Many young Chinese can't think of China without Tibet. It is just one of their rightful provinces they own and this is historical justified!
Finally the big boss of the IOC: Jacques Rogge (Belgian!!!!) is asked to resign! Some human rights organisations think that he didn't deal well with the situation. China and human rights are not succesful combination. Rogge stays very calm and poised when asked why he thinks Beijing is worth the Olympic Games. Sports and politics seem to be entangled very closely. In the end he just says that he still thinks that it will be worth in the end.
China is ready for the games: 'One World One Dream', is the slogan they choose for these games. They will show the rest of the world what they are worth and it will be a lot more then just all the things you have bought with the label: made in China! Many Chinese have been dreaming to compete in this event but only a few will have gotten through. Here they create Olympic heroes when they are four and you can forget it when you are ten and wake up after dreaming of becoming an Olympic athlete! The chosen one are the ones that will give China what it is really after: worldy recognition! They want to be treated as grown ups!
The Olympic stadium is a real architectural pearl and the Water Cube where the swimmers and divers are to perform is so magnificent that you just want to dive in! And to make sure that we were not going to forget these Olympic games the Chinese introduce very proudly not just one mascot but five Fuwa: Beibei (fish), Jingjing(panda), Yingying (Tibetan antelope), Nini ( swallow) and Hucinhuan (the Olympic flame) are the chosen ones to be the olympic embassadors. A friend of mine has them and they are so cute!!! When I get my hands on them my money won't be safe anymore!
The lucky atletes who conquered the air, water, fire, earth of Beijing will be able to take home one of the precious medals. This round piece of precious metal is inspired by 'bi', an ancient jade piece and inscribed with dragon patterns. It stands for nobilty, virtue, ethics and honor. So when you end up on the stage you will be treated like a king or queen! And when you can catch again your breath you will be able to eat the olympic delicacy: roasted 'lucky' duck!
I wonder what Pierre de Coubertin would have thaught about these games. Pierre wanted to make sure that the French got their education system back into shape. These games had to represent four principals: to strive to perfection, represent a moral elite, create a truce and glorify beauty! The aim of this all: make men!!! In case of the Olympic Games of Beijing: one nation will be made bigger then ever. ''Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni." (meaning: Welcome to Beijing!, just add up the five mascots and you can speak Chinese!)
P.S.: Want to know more just surf to: http://en.beijing2008.cn/. And Kim, Oliver, Sven, Tia, Evy, Karin, Ilse, Steven, Tim, Joris, Dirk, Carolijn, Hans, Nathalie, Mathieu, Filip, Kenny, Bob, Kevin, François, Veerle, Iljo, Kristof, Dirk, and the other Belgian Olympic heroes just keep in mind: participating is more important then winning. But then some jade would look nice in your living room!
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