Sad but true....

Underground video of New york.

A great video from "Urban explorers" Andrew Wonder en Steve Duncan Nee.
who taped a side of New York you have never seen!

UNDERCITY from Andrew Wonder on Vimeo.

Conversation Mode

You, dear traveller, went on holiday, met a girl, but she just spoke Hungarian and barely could communicate in English? Or maybe you went to...say...Romenia and couldn't order a beer?
Your problems might be over!
If you have an android phone, Google just launched a new application called Conversation Mode. Nowadays it's only available in Spanish and English, but probably soon will be Babel!

I tried to download it on my phone and didn't have much success, because you need to have some amout of space left on your SD card, and I didn't have but soon I'll try to install it again and let's see how it works.

Oh yes, and as Nathalie said, happy 2011 everyone ;)

Mariana

Follow the river and you will find the sea...

So we finally arrived in the year 2011! Who would have figured that!
According to the maya calendar, also the last year of our existence.
But what the heck!
People should just focus on positive things and put everything in action so 2011 will become a great year again! Last year of our existence or not!

But maybe this calendar thing can push us to do more crazy stuff and let us think about the important stuff in our lives.

And I’ll truly believe 2011 will be a great year!
There has been a lot of positive changes in my life as in the life or mariana
Mariana lives back in her natural habitat (aka London) and is exploring and creating a lot of new things in her life. So I am really happy for her!
And I started to do a lot of things that feel like I should have started them way earlier (playing music, organizing cultural events, etc…)
And I’ll try to visit Mariane somewhere in March! So how great is that! The two babbeling/travelling/drinking monsters reunited!

Anyhow, Mariana and me were emailing each other today and realized we should do more blogging!
So let this be a good new year resolution, let’s bring more action to this blog, baby!

Looking forward to your comments, and happy new year to everyone out there!
Hope 2011 will bring love and happiness!

A day off to honour the Day of Peace

Today almost everyone in Belgium has a day off. Because today is the day that World War 1 ended.
Every year there are a lot of things going on to remember the ones who died on the battlefield.
I always find it very impressive to go "Ypres" to see the massive wargraves.
(More information can be found on this wikilink : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ypres)

In Ypres you can also go and visit the Flandres Field museum. A must-do If you want to learn more about the war. (http://www.inflandersfields.be)
The name of the museum is taken from a famous poem written by a canadian surgeon who worked in Ypres during the war and wrote a lot of poems about the war.
(After watching a friend of him die)
His "Flandres Field" poem became a big symbol of the war in and around Ypres.
I always found the poem really moving.

-----
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

----

a great videoclip in the city YOU love the most...

A couple of weeks ago when I was couchsurfing in Verona, my host showed me this great videoclip of Arcade fire.
It's a video supported by google chrome (so you have to install this browser before watching it!).
But I find it amazing! The idea is you have to type in the name of the city you were raised. And then you can watch the video with this catchy song and with streetview images of that specific city.

So type in the name of your favorite city and put on your running shoes!!!

http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/

London Life: Meet up!

Have you ever heard of meetup.com? It's another of those life-changing things I just found out about. Create your profile, choose your city and browse around the million groups they have there and I am sure you'll find one ( or many, like me !lol) that will interest you.

Yesterday I participated of a Treasure Hunt with the Culture Seekers group. It was very interesting, but if you don't know a lot about London's history, you would be lost. I was! Lucky me, there was a cab driver in my group and the guy was a walking encyclopedia! I also joined lots of language groups, because learning languages is one of my biggest passions. Besides , it's a great way to meet new people and practice + learn for free ( or a small fee, in some groups). This week I have the French and the Italian meetings, and soon I'll attend the European Languages one. In this one, you can even volunteer to teach.  I am still waiting for a reply to see if they accept me as a Portuguese - conversation level teacher, but if not, I'll be just as happy to attend the Italian, French, Spanish and Dutch classes they may have.

So take a look, check for something that interests you and have fun! :-)