About places and people
Stories and experiences from all over the world
After
months of meticulous planing including arrival and departure times,
searching and reserving every single of the best least expensive
accommodation in some 15-16 places in France and Spain, we took
off, on a Wednesday, in Macedonian superstitious firmament the
right day for good luck, this past September, for a 21-day
tour.All that planing and the trip itself plus the intensive blogging on my Macedonian site - kept me so very long away from you here. Now, I'll try to compensate.
Most of the stories and pics I have published in Macedonian. Now they will receive somewhat different handling.
Amstelveen - Waterloo - Chimay - Reims - Troyes - Dijon - Beaunne - Rgone Valley - Lyon - Avignon - Arles - Pont du Garde - Cap d'Agde - Pont du Milau - Narbonne - Carcassonne - Andorra - Rosas - Figueras - Lloret del Mar - Barcelona - Saragosa - San Sebastian - Biarritz - Bayonne - Pau - Lourdes - Sauternnee - Bordeaux - Cognac - Mont St Michel - Aromanches - Rouen - Arras - Lille - Amstelveen
FOR THE PAST 40 YEARS work and pleasure took me more than 40 times to Belgium and Brussels but I have never ever associated the Lion of Waterloo with the actual site of the battle which epythomizes defeat, with Wellington and Napoleon. Now it was firmly fixed on the itinerary and about two hours after leaving Amstelveen in a drizzling rain, we arrived, met by a victorious sunshine, right at the spot.
The pharaohs built pyramids on the plains of sand while here, a midst the fertile fields there is this huge pyramid covered with lush grass and a roaring, victorious lion in weathered dark green bronze atop the huge pile, perched on an impressive slab of marble.
One wonders how did they bring the metal lion up? And then, why? A message to France or to all the other ambitions to subdue Europe to a single idea?
I doubt that the little Hungarian immigrant now in the Elyse had ever climbed the 225 steps I painfully, puffing and sweating, conquer to pay tribute to all those involved, satisfy my curiosity and feed my vanity with yet another bite of "of course I was there" although nobody will ever care. Not at the end of this or any other latter day. Not even myself. There are only fields, hamlets and the hum of history.
But do go, if you ever have a chance, and climb the 45 degrees steep steps to the top. Do not miss the experience, pee on Manequin Piss, if you are ever in or around Brussels. Puff to the top of the Lion of Waterloo. I did not understand much when atop the pyramid, the tablets with the indication of the position of the clashing armies do not help much. But the price of the entrance to the site comprises a visit to the panoramic drawing of the Battle. THAT is a worthwhile experience. After all that you may decide to have a drink in the caffee across the street. There I have seen these very nice tits and that, alas, was all.
Throughout the year Waterloo and Brussels with the EU headquarters on Place Schuman is a great venue for one day excursion from as far as Amsterdam and I recommend it to any parents with kids older than 9-10, particularly for those of them who have not been there. It is probably the best inexpensive one-day excitement you may propose to half of the Netherlands.
2reacties
Ernst 25-11-2007 11:13
Sorry, mijn enthousiasme sloeg op hol. Beschouw mijn vorige mail
als niet gestuurd. Het spijt mij en mijn verontschuldigingen. Dit
is niet gepast.
Inloggen is niet verplicht om je commentaar achter te laten.
Beperkt HTML (<b>vet</b>, <i>cursief</i> en <u>onderstreept</u> toegestaan; webadressen worden automatisch omgezet in werkende links).
Goggy
Woonplaats: AmstelveenBeroep: Journalist
Man
Mojot Super Podcast!
Eve vi ubava prilika! Ova e link za mojata nova serija
podkasti na kolokvijalen makedonski jazik! Ne mu ja mislite. Sega
mu e momentot. Ednostavno kliknite ovde - i tamu ste! Ve molam
ostavite komentar! There will be a special English podcast
library there too. Have you listened yet to my very first podcast in
English? Now is the best time. Click here - comment there!
Counter
Come, Join Seed Newsvine!
This may
serve you to develop new and interesting experiences. All it takes
is click the link.
Link to Seed Newsvine. Opens up a different world,
different community. Then, which more important, you can promote
your or other texts, blogs, posts that you would like thousands of
people to know about.
All-Macedonian Podcasts
Grozdan Popov's New Series: Musing Over Public Faces
Well, this is
just the beginning of an idea, pretty entangled right now, very
private, almost intimate. It is about my personal feelings arising
from a visual contact with faces of public figures by proxy. I
mean, this is sort of reflections triggered by published pictures
of various people without or definitely before
reading a word about their characters. Say, so far there are these
accounts about Giovanni Accongiagioco Elkann, of the Agnelli
family; Howard Stern, the King of All Media in the USA;
Barack Obama, possibly the next US President; Toshihiko
Fukui, governor of the Bank of Japan; Patricia Joan
Remak, former Dutch MP, now convict; Peter Hartz, VW and
Germany's super crook; Chad Hurley, co-establisher of
YouTube; Nobuyoki Oneida, CFO of Sony Corporation;
Florentine Rost van Tonningen, Dutch Black Widow I'll
read your portraits too, if you send the pic! TRY ME So,
all you need to do is Click
here to go there. Those portraits are interesting pics.
The Archives
Neque porro
quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur,
adipisci velit Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia
dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit I think Turkey deserves
every possible argument supporting its impressive drive to full EU
membership. This link takes you to a selection of my articles on
Turkey and related issues. There are numerous posts entered
that qualify under the term Macedonia . Some of them retain
their intrinsic value, others are reminders of once acute issues.
This link takes you to a full list of the entries
related to Macedonia and its people.
Turkey Now Festival
There is this
multi-faceted Turkey Now" festival in earnest preparation
going on all over town these days. If you read Het Parool
you would know this already. There will be, just after St.
Valentine Day, at least 20 events and one of the highlights is a
jazz concert that you can sample here: the
well known Ayse Tutuncu Trio but other stuff as well. So, it
will be fun. Some original "classic" Turkish music as well. More
information? Hit here then. One of the organizers is
Stichting
Kulsan established by the Turkish community in the Netherlands
in 1987 for promotion of the culture. It works hand-in-hand with
the Istanbul
Foundation for Culture and arts. There will be music, theatre
shows, dance and film. This is yet another Istanbul events link
A JOKE A DAY KEEPS THE BLUES AWAY
Tom, a
handsome dude, walked into a sports bar around 9:58 PM. He sat down
next to a blonde at the bar and stared up at the TV. The 10:00 news
was on. The news crew was covering a story of a man on ledge of a
large building preparing to jump. The blonde looked at Tom and
said, -Do you think he'll jump? Tom says, -You know, I bet he'll
jump. The blonde replied, -Well, I bet he won't. Tom placed a $20
bill on the bar and said, -You're on!" Just as the blonde placed
her money on the bar, the guy on the ledge did a swan dive off the
building, falling to his death. The blonde was very upset, but
willingly handed her $20 to Tom, saying, -Fair's Fair. Here's your
money. Tom replied, -I can't take your money, I saw this earlier on
the 5 o'clock news and so I knew he would jump. The blonde replied,
-I did too; but I didn't think he'd do it again. Tom took the
money.
Inspirational
Reading
Times
Literary Supplement Is one of my great pleasures. Sometimes I
use the paper sometimes the on-line edition. The topics are
carefully selected and absolutely first class. They are often my
well of inspiration. The TLS enrages me often and I write letters
to the Editor (Tom
Stothard, he also bloggs) who acknowledges their receipt
but throws them in the bin, though I'd prefer the other way round.
He will send you a sample copy for free so that you can check
whether I am right or no.
GLOBETROTTING
Some of you
may be interested in my impressions from travels around the world.
Just begun developing that site. A bit early for promoting it, but
that is how I tick. This is
your link if you wish to visit. The trips have taken me
over to Africa, Asia, North and South America, Australia and very
much around Europe. The software of that facility counts as
"one country" Lichtenstein with poor Vaduz and the USA with some 30
states (including Hawaii) as "one country" again. By such a count I
have covered paltry 17% of the globe. Which is funny. Navigating
though that site is not as easy as one may expect. But it is
interesting. See for yourselves if you like!
THE WORTH OF THIS WEBSITE plus $5,000 GOODWILL
TIME OFF
Try this. It is really fun and you may learn some...
WORLD'S EASIEST QUIZ Passing requires only 4
correct answers....a measly 40%. 1) How long did the Hundred Years
War last? 2) Which country makes Panama hats? 3) From which animal
do we get catgut? 4) In which month do Russians celebrate the
October Revolution? 5) What is a camel's hair brush made of? 6) The
Canary Islands is named after what animal? 7) What was King George
VI's first name? 8) What color is a purple finch? 9) Where are
Chinese gooseberries from? 10) What is the color of the black box
in a commercial airplane? All done? Check your answers
below! 
Panama hat:
hand-made exclusivily in Ecuador from a plant called Toquilla. 1)
How long did the Hundred Years War
last? 216 years 2) Which country makes Panama
hats? Ecuador 3) From which animal do we get
catgut? Sheep and
Horses 4) In which month do Russians celebrate the October
Revolution? November 5) What is a camel's hair brush
made of? Squirrel fur 6)
The Canary Islands is named after what
animal? Dogs 7) What was King George VI's first
name? Albert 8) What color is a purple
finch? Crimson 9) Where are Chinese gooseberries
from? New Zealand 10) What is the color of the black
box in a commercial airplane?
Orange, of course. What do you mean you failed? That's
nothing. Do not frett. It is the language barrier, nothing else!
Panama hat:
hand-made exclusivily in Ecuador from a plant called Toquilla. 1)
How long did the Hundred Years War
last? 216 years 2) Which country makes Panama
hats? Ecuador 3) From which animal do we get
catgut? Sheep and
Horses 4) In which month do Russians celebrate the October
Revolution? November 5) What is a camel's hair brush
made of? Squirrel fur 6)
The Canary Islands is named after what
animal? Dogs 7) What was King George VI's first
name? Albert 8) What color is a purple
finch? Crimson 9) Where are Chinese gooseberries
from? New Zealand 10) What is the color of the black
box in a commercial airplane?
Orange, of course. What do you mean you failed? That's
nothing. Do not frett. It is the language barrier, nothing else!
The paths not taken
So, this is
about new places with unknown faces. About longitudes where the sun
casts different shadows and the air is full with new scents. This
is about awakening of memories for fresh beginnings and the comfort
of returning to old fireplaces. Above: The castle atop, typical
architecture, the Roman theatreseen from the
terrace of the best accommodationin Ohrid, Macedonia + + +
DO NOT MISS THIS: 
Believe you
me, I know every single trick from the vaults of the
newly announced Gogan's School of Newsmanship. Travelled
the world on the magic carpet woven from those subtleties, dined
and wined with kings, queens, princes, the lot. Go, hit the road.
Try it! (Left: Daddy with a student) 
THE TURKISH PART OF
CYPRUS will have een feest and I am invited. The man who
will be my host is a University professor who earned his Ph.D. in
economics from Utah, but I think he is nowhere close to the
religion preached out there.
Eureka, Eureka!
After a year
of fun and play we, the bloggers, know that there is a lot
of time, effort and skill poured into the VK. I believe that GJB
and us could chat a bit about a new, commercial, twist to the
individual pages. Since we are a sort of one big family maybe we
should see whether and how we could contribute to the costs of this
facility, gather money for improving it and, doing so, earn a
decent buck individually. The proposal is simple. GJB supplies
those who are interested the price-list for a 300x300 pix slot on
this column, agrees to pay us commission (which he anyways pays to
others) and we contract sponsors who pay directly to VK upon which
VK shells out our part. We as authors do not promote
those sponsors in our posts. There are parties which do not even
know about the VK but may be interested to advertise here for any
reason, especially sponsoring an acquaintance's or friend's hobby
or whatever. To secure that the big-time advertising wizards are
not affected, we, the small fry, would be allowed to bring adds at
least 600 pixels under the ad at the top for which VK gets
money. So, that is it. Simple like Senate Beans Soup. But please click
here and have a say, file your post on the other side. Go there
now. Pleeese!
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