Category Archives: Thoughts and travels

In Nimes – Roman ruins, French charm and birthplace of jeans

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I’m back in Provence, having come in to soak in the sun for the long week-end. Nimes was an easy choice: it is the Roman town in France and sister-town to Verona. Nimes had been constructed in Roman times and is home to a wealth of well preserved Roman ruins. The charming and impressive Arene de Nimes, a small coliseum still in use today, and the beautiful temple called Maison Carree transport one to a glorious era of Gods, emperors and gladiators. Incidentally, the movie Gladiator was shot here and the arena appears in the fight scenes.

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La Maison Carree, on the other hand, is remarkable for reportedly being the most intact Roman temple in existence. Dating from around year 2 AD, it was constructed as a replica to the Temple of Apollo in Rome by emperor Augustus, when Nimes, then called Nemasus, was a prominent colony.

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In medieval times, Nimes became a famous textile manufacturing centre. What most people, including me, would be surprised to hear is that it is here that denim (de Nimes!) was invented! The fabric was then exported to Europe and, later, America, via Genes (Genova), which, mispronounced, perpetuated another name for it, “jeans”! Who knew?

The town, finally, has the typical southern European feel: narrow streets, lively piazzas, sunny weather.

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The medieval tower in Place d’Horologe changes colour at night, people eat dinner late into the night, German tourists get serenaded by Gypsy bands and everyone enjoys the balmy evenings and relaxed atmosphere of the town.

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72 Hours in Purgatory (AKA Bruges)

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Someone dared spend 72 hours in Bruges! I laughed so much reading this.

The Idiot’s Guide to Thrift Tripping

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“After I killed him, I dropped the gun in the Thames, washed the residue off me hands in the bathroom of a Burger King, and walked home to await instructions. Shortly thereafter the instructions came through – ‘Get the fuck out of London, you dumb fucks. Get to Bruges.’ I didn’t even know where Bruges fucking was…It’s in Belgium…Maybe that’s what hell is, the entire rest of eternity spent in fucking Bruges.” ~ Ray (Colin Farrell) in In Bruges

Bruges is one of the most boring places you could ever hope to spend 72 hours in.

Just to give you an idea of how boring Bruges is…if you google “things to do in bruges,” the first result you’ll get is Trip Advisor’s list of a staggering 47 activities, most of which are architectural buildings that you will be admiring from the outside. Activity #1 is to walk around the…

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48 hours in Bruges

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Bruges, I have concluded, is best seen in one day. The morning can be spent getting lost around the narrow streets (a very easy task); lunchtime can provide a respite accompanied by beer, while the afternoon is best spent visiting the churches, walking alongside the canals, or sampling the local taste trinity: waffles, chocolate and more beer.
I did all this and more, since I had 48 hours in Bruges.

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To be fair, this is a pretty town. It is, however, quite lacking in serious cultural entertainment, unless your travel interest include the history of chocolate, fries and beer, as all these have dedicated museums. Much as I enjoy all those food items, however, my interest in them does not go beyond the tasting, so, I didn’t go to visit any of those museums.

I did go to see the churches, though, I simply had to. The Church of Our Lady, for one, is a must on any art lover’s itinerary, as it houses the only statue of Michelangelo in its intended location (i.e., not in a museum) outside of Italy. His Madonna is believed to have been meant for the Sienna Cathedral, but was insteaad bought by two merchants from Bruges and donated to the city in 1504.

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The Bruges Cathedral, on the other hand, called St Salvator’s Church, is not home to world renowned treasures, but has the most impressive stained glass windows’ I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, both churches are currently undergoing extensive renovation, which dampens the experience a little.

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Other than that, I spent the rest of my time walking the narrow streets and wandering alongside the canals.

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I did like Bruges, overall, but I think its loving nickname, the Venice of the North, is a huge exaggeration! Bruges, to me, is a town to visit after you have run out of other beautiful European towns and cities to visit. As is, indeed, Belgium.
Go in for the beer, enjoy the waffles, buy handmade chocolate and take your photos, by all means. But don’t go to Bruges expecting anything like Venice, or you’ll be rather disappointed.

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For the love of beer

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Bruges, like all of Belgium, has an impressive number of beer houses, terraces and shops. Also, the Wall of Beer is a shrine to the product, in manner of Verona’s (fictitious) house of Juliet.
These beers are brewed strong (7-8%) which, judging by the merriment of some tourists, is not always advertised. There is also fruit beer available, kinder on the liver at 2-3% and super-tasty.

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In Bruges…not the movie

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I used to be one of those travellers who research the places they are planning to visit, learn about the place and get there knowing quite a bit and certainly knowing what to expect. Sadly, that was before, when I had another job and, in retrospect, far more time for myself.
So, this week-ends’ destination, Bruges, was selected on the basis of some positive reviews from colleagues at work, and the fact that it is a UNESCO heritage site.
I came here by train (the elegant Thalys) in first class with breakfast being served on the way… good sign! I read a bit about the town on the train… mixed reviews. The film, which I’d never seen, apparently portrays Bruges as a sh*^%*le… not good! Oh well, I’ll see for myself!

I got into Bruges around 11, checked into the hotel, dropped my luggage and started into town. The sky was a bit cloudy but not too bad. To walk into town coming from the station I was advised to go through the park. However, I chose to take a street, instead, to get a more immediate feel for the place.
It started innocently enough, with some pretty Inns and B&Bs…and then I turned a corner and I got this Copenhagen feeling!!! And not in a good way. Bruges, it turns out, is an unspoilt medieval town, preserving most of its architecture from its heyday period, the 1500s, when it was a prosperous trading centre. More importantly, though pre-dating the Roman invasion, Bruges established itself in the 9th century, upon the descent of the Vikings.
So, you can understand how joyous my feeling when I realised Bruges is a mini-Copenhagen!!! Same type of red-brick architecture, similar layout of market places and squares, same…air as my beloved Copenhagen.
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Later in the day I had the opportunity to get to the more famous landmarks, the Markt, a beautiful square, the imposing St Salvator Church, the postcard worthy Minnewasser, the so-called Lake of Love.
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Bruges is quite pretty, not at all ‘the epicentre of northern European dullness’, as the Guardian article reviewing the film ‘In Bruges’ described it(filling me with horrified anticipation). I’ll see more tomorrow and I’m sure I won’t be displeased but, nonetheless, I decided today to only take the train south of Paris from now on….At least while I have this job and my acquired Copenhagenphobia!

Bellagio v2 – real life Ocean’s Eleven

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I was looking for photos of Bellagio and got this instead:

http://www.10news.com/news/u-s-world/man-arrested-in-armed-robbery-at-bellagio-in-las-vegas

I guess while I was visiting the original Bellagio spontaneously and carefree other people were crafting a more careful visit to its US counterpart… I just thought this is too funny. I didn’t think this stuff happens anymore in this day and age, with all the surveillance cameras and advanced gadgetry those casinos have. But then the man is 84 years of age!!! probably a little behind on technology.

And to think I was happy when I walked away with 65 Euros’ winnings from the Casino in Monte Carlo earlier this year 🙂

Strasbourg will have to wait

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Today I was supposed to go to Strasbourg. Booked in the frenzy of a special offer from SNCF, I hadn’t realised at the time how physically tired I would be upon returning from my Italy trip. Yesterday, to be perfectly honest, I was so tired at the end of the day, that going to Strasbourg seemed like a chore. I was supposed to go there for just the day, leaving my house at 7 am to return home at 11 pm. A little too much for someone who has not spent one week-end at home since early June. Then, I thought, let me check the weather….and Strasbourg was predicted to have thunderstorms in the afternoon. That was the deciding factor and so, despite having a partially non-refundable ticket, I cancelled and instead enjoyed my bed and got up at 2 pm. Feeling so much better now.

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However, in order not to disappoint, I will start today on a little retrospective of those trips I took prior to setting up this blog….that includes trips to Luxembourg, Vienna, Salzburg, Barcelona, New York and Corsica and, of course, more Italian towns. I will add a ‘retrospective’ column to this blog and try and keep you entertained even when I have to sleep or clean my apartment! Good plan!

Midweek muses…midlife crises?

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Coming back from a vacation spent travelling is always fraught with disappointment: however long, the holiday invariably feels like an all too brief infusion of real life into what otherwise can only be described as existence. It’s only on vacation, when you do some much, see so much, cover so much ground and feel so many feelings in one day, that you realise just how much of your life goes wasted during the work-week. And, upon realising this, depression invariably sets in…

Albert Camus captured the feeling perfectly and expressed it much better than I could possibly do it more than 70 years ago…“ Rising, streetcar, four hours in the office or the factory, meal, streetcar, four hours of work, meal, sleep, and Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday and Saturday according to the same rhythm – this path is easily followed most of the time. But one day the “why” arises and everything begins in that weariness tinged with amazement.”

It is summer vacation time. The summer finally feels like summer, the Copenhagen office is empty, my Parisian colleagues are getting ready for les grande vacances… Everyone wants to get away…no-one feels like working anymore. At the office, we had a chat this afternoon on whether we should all take a collective sabbatical and do what our hearts dictate rather than what conscience and contractual agreements make us do…One of my friends from North America wrote bemusing the meaning of life. Are these pre-vacation blues or are we all heading for some sort of midlife crisis?

I’ve already had mine – fast and furious and early…more like a third-of-life crisis, really. I woke up one day to realise that what makes us good in school makes us suckers in real life, and that the only thing you need to prove in this life is that you at least tried to experience and live it fully, and, perhaps, even be happy sometimes. How? Depends. Most people go traditional and procreate so that they can then project all their hopes and unspoken regrets onto the new progenitor. Some people travel (me!), some paint, some write, and most people dream a little daring and unlikely dream that keeps them going by providing the illusion of a possible escape….

Today at work we were talking about this: I want to write a book, a colleague wants to write a crime novel, another dreams of being a theatre costume designer while yet another dreams of being a TGV train driver. We all have far better paying jobs, enviable job titles and apparent “career success”… We’re all quite young, still in our 30s….So why are we all dreaming of a second career?
In the end, we all agreed that we just want a break, a sabbatical of some sort, the opportunity to pursue something easier, more creative, more meaningful according to each person’s sensibilities. Which got me thinking, why don’t companies allow this? In the same way that academics (in the US, at least), can take 6 months every 6 years to pursue their individual research interests, why can’t we, in the corporate world, just take a break to pursue our own life dreams, once in a while? If I ever get to have my own company, I will definitely offer the sabbatical option…and then proceed to be the first employee to take one, myself!!!

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