Aujourd'hui

Quelqu'un m'a demande pourquoi je ne mis pas a jour cette blog. Alors-la, je suis revenue il y a presque 1 mois. Oui, je traine, je suis desolee. Il faut que je m'efforce un peu plus... :)

Annecy

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is a really scary place, even scarier than Barcelona, and that’s saying something. At least in Barcelona, people are wary and you get the feel that they want you to stay away from them. In Amsterdam, the male population seems way bigger-built than the female population, and the people seem ready to pounce on you and to pick ur pocket or grab ur backpack anytime. Very ‘approachable’, so to speak. In Barcelona, people hold on to their bags and look around carefully before transacting at the ATM. Here, they people do whatever they want and will probably mow you over if you stand in their way, so they don’t really need to look out for anyone. It helped that I received multiple warnings to ‘Be Careful!’ or to ‘Be Very Careful!’ in Amsterdam. So I guess my ears are pricked up and my nose is in the air sniffing for danger at all times.

Then again, as a cultural comparison, the British are probably more like the French, while the Dutch are more like the Spaniards. No, scratch that, it’s not true.

The train system is as convoluted as can be. The first day I arrived at the airport, I guess I didn’t set my watch properly, as the flight attendant said while we were landing ‘It’s a bout 4:20pm in Amsterdam’, when in fact it was probably 4:17pm. Which in this case led me to take the wrong (earlier) train at the right platform. Hahahar. It wasn’t really inconvenient, just dumb.

(Oh, I have to add a note here to say a big THANK YOU to Auntie Wella and her friend Teresa for stuffing my extra bag and 2kg of carryon luggage into my backpack, so that I didn’t have to pay the extra GBP20 for excess luggage which the meanie check-in lady of Flybe would not let me check in onto the plane. EVEN if I paid to have 2 bags in the hold luggage, I was still only allowed to put 20kg into the hold, which was taken up by my main luggage. Crappers. But anyway, really nice to have experienced travelers around, so cheers to these 2 ladies, the best.)

The weather in Amsterdam is such that if you took too many consecutive pictures or held the frame too long without snapping, your fingers froze and you couldn’t feel them after a pretty short while. Same for if, say, you were walking with a supermarket shopping bag and your bag-holding hand was not in your pocket.

London

This visit to London shattered all my previous memories of ten years ago, when I felt that London was paradise on earth – psychedelic, energetic, streets full of beautiful things and beautiful people, every other person on the street looking like a model from a Hugo Boss or Calvin Klein ad.

Spain: Basque Country: Bilbao

Finally had the chance to go to Bilbao to see the Guggenheim museum. It was a 1 hour flight from Barcelona airport to Bilbao. Apparently a 0720hr flight, but it got cancelled, I think cos there weren't enough people crazy enough to take the plane at this time (but it was a really good price!). So anyway, when I got to the airport the departure screen showed the scheduled flight as 'CANCELLED' and I was promptly bumped onto the 0850hr plane. Bummer, could've slept for 1 1/2 more hours! Anyway, at least the view from my plane window was good.

It was colder in Bilbao that in Barcelona, a good 12 degrees when I landed. That was the moment that I wished I was in 'warm and cosy' Barcelona (took me 7 weeks and a change of weather to finally appreciate that just cos I wear 2 pairs of tights in a place doesn't mean that I can't think of it as warm and inviting later on). 

Was drizzling slightly when I arrived in Bilbao, which was the typical welcome weather there, so it was okay and I had my brolly and was still able to balance the camera in the other hand while walking. First destination was the Guggenheim, straight from the airport. Harangued the security guard at the airport how to get there, by walking into the arrivals hall after I had left it, so he had to come out to greet me (and see what the hell I was up to). Anyway asked for directions and he gave me a time on where to get off the bus from the airport to the town centre (Place Moyua). Always nice to know that the place that you intend to go is within walking distance of the stop where you are getting off.

The Guggenheim is known more for its temporary exhibits than its permanent one. Which means that besides going for the impressive architecture of Frank Gehry, which reflects the maritime nature of Bilbao commerce of the past, the experience inside the museum itself would be pretty (to borrow a phrase from my cousin Mervyn) some sort of 'random'. I was lucky enough to be able to go through a Cy Twombly exhibit on the entire 2nd storey of the museum, as well as a private collection from Austria which covered most of the medieval periods from the 14th to the 18th centuries on the 3rd floor.

Cy Twombly is a modern artist with squiggly lines and splashes of paint as his signature (Google and see!) I like his poetic quirkiness with a hint of whimsicality and seriousness in the same note.

The first day in Bilbao I out- museum-ed myself by going to both the Guggenheim and then to the Museu de Belles Artes (Fine Art Museum) for the works of Basque country artists of all periods. The reason was that I arrived on a Wednesday and the fine art museum was free on Wednesdays. ;)

Bilbao in general is a quieter and more quaint town with shorter buildings than in Barcelona. Ther people seem more innocent and open to strangers. Still, it has its own beauty, especially the Chrismassy-looking Gran Via shopping street where are the branded things are. But like any other city that doesn't get quite enough sun, it's not cheerful enough to live in for me. However, they really know how to do food. More on that later when I post on San Sebastien.

Moisturiser

Think the Spanish don’t believe in SPF (or FPS as they call it here). The highest I can find here is FPS15. More usually it’s FPS8. I mean, what is that? Why bother with FPS at all? The range available at the pharmacies are usually dismal.
Besides Nivea, Ponds and Olay, the rest are hoity-toity European brands that I’ve never seen before, and they retail for like E30 for a 50ml bottle. Which I dunno, I would not go for a brand I am not familiar with, and without substantial FPS to boot. So am still using my night cream as a day cream (I am a Philistine!!!) while the sun does not shine, till I find something better. That might be in another country.

Safety Food

Have learnt always to carry a small cake or piece of bread in my bag. In case of shopping blitzes. Last night was pulled around for about 4 hours for a shopping mission for my roommate who had a posh party to attend. She had to buy – an outer jacket, a fur stole, a set of earrings and pendants, clutch bag and shoes (okay, shoes she borrowed mine from Sfera). I remember vividly and with a tinge of wry bitterness that every hour I would say ‘I’m hungry’, and every hour at a different moment she would turn to me and ask ‘Are you hungry?’ with large, interested eyes (to which I would very pointedly say ‘Yes’) – and then she would continue shopping. Boggles the logical mind. It’s not an issue of assertiveness, I tell you. Just that the patisccerias and the boutiques aren’t exactly in the same areas where we were shopping. :p Anyway, was hoping to get a xiocolate croissant in a nice-looking shop somewhere, but ended up eating the small butter roll I carried in my mochilla (backpack). Sheesh.