Notting Hill & Co.

Sorry for leaving it so long before posting an entry but I have been extremely busy both with work and kids (and kids' exams)! Apologies for having neglected your blogs as well.

But after so much work I managed to enjoy a full day off with only my friends. Following Mo’s (Fresh eyes on London) suggestion we decided to go to London and try something slightly unusual, the Notting Hill Tour, ie. visiting the film locations of the famous movie starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. Although the movie is over 10 years old I think it still retains its charm and it’s become a classic romantic film. I must have watched more than 50 times! For me it’s also a kind of sort of milestone as in the summer when it was released I was pregnant with my daughter and I went to the cinema with my big “bump”.

(The imposing Somerset House)

Anyway, we had a lovely train journey and although the weather was gray and cool when we left York by the time we got to London it was sunny and really warm. About 20 degrees: Ideal weather. After a brief stop at Somerset House for out lunch, we me our guide, Val, of London Tours of TV and Movie Locations, opposite Notting Hill Gate tube station. From there we spent over 2 hours walking with her through the beautiful streets of Notting Hill, learning a lot of fascinating information and trivia not only about the film Notting Hill but also about other movies set in the area and historical notes in general. Val was informative, funny and very sparkly. No chance to get bored with her. The tour ended in Portobello Road, where we stopped for a cake at the wonderful Hummingbird Bakery and we finished the day in London at the Gaucho Argentinean Restaurant with the stunning views over the Thames and the Tower Bridge. Just a perfect day.

Notting Hill Tube Station

Shall we climb over? Opsi Daisy, rather not!

"I bet James Bond's never had to put up with this" (from the race to the Sheraton Hotel)

Max and Bella's House

(the one with the scooter!)

Waiting for Hugh at The (real) Travel Bookshop ....

The famous blue door is now black (!)

....and here is the man himself!

The mews, location of a scene from Love Actually

Our Bentley waiting .....

...to take us to the Tower Bridge!

15.05.2005

This date is carved in my heart and makes it bleed. Five years later the bleeding is still here and will never stop. As we will never stop loving you, wonderful lovely boy taken away from us in the bloom of your teenage years for a reason we still don’t understand. A medical complication of a very silly food poisoning. A burger place I will hate forever, because it killed you. A frantic journey by bus, train, plane, coach again and then car to get to you when it was already too late, when the only thing left for me to do was to kiss your beautiful but cold forehead. You were the first baby in the family, the dearest boy ever born for us, you were a bit mine as well, as you were a bit of your cousins too when they were born and got to know their wonderful big cousin. You would have been 20 years old now, maybe at Uni, driving a car, loving a girlfriend, coming to England to see us and to watch your beloved Chelsea, being with us. Instead, all of this was taken away from as you were taken away from us. My dear wonderful Fabrizio, we will love you forever!

The Secret Post Club

When I joined The Secret Post Club created by the very clever Heather of Notes from Lapland I did it on the spur of the moment thinking it would have been something fun but didn’t know exactly what to expect. Swapping gifts with strangers internationally? Isn’t this a bit odd? After all my teenage years with penpals and all the rest are long gone! But then two days ago I received a parcel from an unknown sender. At first I thought it could have been a belated birthday present (my friends and family are always late, like me!), but when I opened the lovely bright card I realized it was from the Secret Post Club.

Kerry, a lovely young lady from the South of England did her “homework” about me very well. As she knows that I like reading she sent a lovely book that seems very interesting and thrilling, a pair of very soft and warm slipper socks and a couple of really beautiful little scarves she made herself to keep me warm. So generous and thoughtful of Kerry! But what I like the most is her beautifully handwritten card in which Kerry takes the time to tell me something about herself, her Mr L and her gorgeous Baba. A real joy to read. Please have a look at Kerry’s blog on And Then All I Thought About Was You and you’ll understand what I mean. Thank you, Kerry, for making my day! And thank you Heather, too, for creating the Secret Post Club.

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teasers:

"I stepped around him to look at the plesiosaurus laid out in slabs on the floor. It was about nine feet long, and half that width, which accommodated the span of its massive diamond-shaped paddles"

(page 275, Remarkable Creatures, by Tracy Chevalier)

Tracy Chevalier is back at her best again after the disappointing (for me at least!) Burning Bright. In the words of The Guardian: "Historical figures have rarely been so cleverly used ... A stunning story'

Cleggmania

(Photo from the Daily Telegraph)

Oh yes, Jane, Karen and Kia are right, Colin Firth seems to have succumbed to the Cleggmania as well (he has openly endorsed the Lib Dems). Pity that the Cleggmania hasn't really materialized in figures and seats and the Liberal Democrats will probably have to 'share their bed' with the Tories or (very unlikely) with Labour to be able to form a Government. Anyway, enough with politics now and let's announce the winner of the electoral quiz, who is

Kia

Please, Kia, email me your postal address and I will send you a little surprise. Thanks to everybody for taking part. And ... good luck, Britain!

Hung but not Dead (yet)!

Apologies if I've just shocked you with this "graffiti' but I think this represents the current situation in my adoptive country after yesterday's shamble election. I've never understood the British electoral system and now I'm even more confused than before. But as I wasn't allowed to vote anyway I suppose I don't need to understand. I just need to know how to pay my taxes...

Anyway, while we are waiting to know who our next PM will be, something good came out of all that ramble: Caroline Lucas was elected in Brighton as the first British Green MP!

And of course now I hope the meaning of 'hung parliament'...very useful indeed!

GO CAROLINE!

Electoral Quiz

Nothing brainy or heavy today, don't worry. I suppose there will be enough to worry about once they've counted the votes! Anyway, to celebrate Election Day in Britain I've decided to host a rather trivial quiz.

Which party has our lovely Mr Darcy, aka Colin Firth, been (openly) supporting during this electoral campaign?

Here is what he says about his choice:

"As a once committed XXXX voter I, like so many, have been appalled by the abandonment of the values they advocated. For me, their conduct on asylum alone is reason enough never to be able to contemplate voting for them again."Those who, like me, have despaired of political alternatives, should take a second look. I believe they could open a space for real dialogue, where values of compassion and tolerance take centre ground."

A mystery prize for the winner will be drawn on Saturday. So sorry to disappoint, but it won't be a candle-lit dinner with the new PM...

The End of the Millennium

Almost two thousand pages later and my Millennium is finished.

Swedish journalist Stieg Larsson wrote novels, for fun, in his spare time. He died suddenly in November 2004, leaving three unpublished books, that are known as the Millennium Trilogy: The Girls With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.

It follows the lives of the unlikely heroine Lisbeth Salander and journalist Mikael Blomkvist. In this trilogy, Salander fights for her civil freedom and takes revenge on certain people who have harmed her in the past. Armed with phenomenal hacking skills and tenacity to live, Salander might fight the system and everyone who wants her to stay down. Mikael Blomvist enlists her help to uncover government conspiracies and together they fight the dominating power.

These three books are among some of the most interesting ones I have read this year. Translated from Swedish, the three books open my eyes to a new setting; I was bored with crime novels set in North America or in the UK and this series provided a refreshing change from that. Also, I have always been fascinated by the Scandinavian countries and especially by Sweden and this trilogy offers a good overview of life in the modern Swedish society (and politics)

Larsson has created a very intriguing heroine. She is a victim but not victimised; she is vengeful but not cold-blooded; she is small but not weak; she deserves empathy but not sympathy. Lisbeth resides in a critical balance between these dialectics. This is what makes her an unlikely heroine. She is nothing cliché. At some points she overshadows Blomkvist, but the two main characters both have their own charms in the trilogy. Blomkvist is not a perfect hero, which only serves to make him more convincing as a human being. The books are a bit slow in some points and over-descriptive in others due to that fact – think - that Larsson was a journalist and not a novelist. Some parts could have needed an abundant editing and some repetitions would have surely not been there if Larsson would be still alive now.

That said, I think this series is worth reading, especially the first book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It’s a very dark and strong story, very shocking and engrossing at the same time. But never boring. I’m very sad to have to say farewell to Lisbeth Salander who kept me company for many interesting nights. I will devote myself to their cinematographic versions, the Swedish films of course, before Hollywood get hold of the film rights and make of George Clooney and Scarlet Johansson the unlikely versions of Lisbeth and Kalle!