Worldcup in Barcelona

The last time in Barcelona is not a good memory. Not Barcelona's fault. She was just the wrong place at the wrong time.

Or maybe I should not have been there. Or perhaps I was precisely supposed to be there, just to be able to endure the toughest moment in my life which would come a few days later.

But not this year. This year Barcelona carries no heavy weight, just suntanning, good food, enjoying friends. Oh yes, and the football world cup. Spain has not done too well this time, but in Barcelona some people may actually be rooting for Holland, so no big deal.

We are based in the Olympic Village (rather than some nice barrio) with easier access to the Barceloneta beaches. Priorities.
This time there is no Heineken Ice Bar on the beach to give us funny stories to recount years later. This is the time of the Rock bar with true Catalans and 70's music in Gracia, Opium with thousand drunk foreigners in Barceloneta, beach bar with big screen to watch Brazil and Holland before sunset, Pakistanis selling drinks illegally on the beach.

And "bomba" tapas for good memory.

Le baiser du Cinquantenaire

Love in Brussels mid-summer night does not go unnoticed, especially during the just discovered Noa Moon's cheerful Paradise.

Moon? You serious? After the post from a couple of days ago?

Half-moon

Tonight my friends ordered half-moons for dinner at the usual Italian restaurant. And tonight that I feel no interest in sleeping, a half-moon rose at east, big, hazy and in the colour of amber.

I always loved the moon. I used to dream that from a little door hidden behind the sink in the bathroom of my childhood home, you could go directly to the moon. And it was peaceful and nice up there. It was never clear if there existed a way to go back to my bathroom but, in truth, in my dream there was no hint that I was even thinking of looking for a way back.

And then there are the memories of a splendid moon seen from a desert in the middle east, an implacable one during a sleepless night in a hospital, or a bright one shining through the window of someone who could have been special and never wanted to be.

But today there is no full moon. Today this is a half-moon, like this half-baked story, or this half-hearted message. Beautiful still. Fully beautiful, I dare to say. Rising and shining. And yet half. And so will she remain. For a while still.

Wedding in Chia

Who needs travelling to the Caribbean when you have got Sardinian beaches like Tuerredda?

And a great way to start summer: scenic wedding on the beach, great party afterwards and, icing on the cake, a couple of days to spend on stunning beaches.

After having seen the north of Sardinia, Santa Teresa, Alghero and Maddalena years ago as well as Villasimius in the south more recently, once again a great time in Chia. Looking forward to the next teaching invitation - else I would need to plan a real holiday around Oristano. Tough.

And Cagliari is always a pleasure, even when being there for the fifth time. Will 2014 be in the records as the year of repeating the good stuff discovered in the past? Best ice cream in town in Piazza Yenne, best ciccioneddas alla campidanese and saffron meatballs at Sa Piola, best views from Libarium at Bastione Santa Croce. Unfortunately my favourite Ristorante 51 no longer serves the great fish I had come to appreciate a few years ago. No problem: new addition to the list: Luigi Pomata and his tuna tartare on a bed of cream of buffalo mozzarella (!).