HANOI TRAIN STREET

HANOI TRAIN STREET

Sep 21, 2024 | JOURNEY FROM MUG TO MUG, WORLD, JOURNEY FROM MUG TO MUG, WORLD

Hanoi Train Street is something I discovered thanks to the TV showBeijing Express.

Unfortunately, I only ‘travel’ through others, thanks to the stories and images shared in several ways.

For this reason: images, I like Beijing Express.

Since it is broadcast on pay TV I have to wait for the free version, so only a week ago I happened to see Fru sitting at a table in a bar in Hanoi Vietnam for a coffee.

What could possibly be strange about that? It is true that I here celebrate the coffees of all those who give me the privilege of sharing, but why am I talking about a coffee seen on TV? 

This indeed wasn’t a coffee of the ones I like to call ‘calm.’

Train Street … the name leaves no mystery, but did you know that train tracks literally pass along a street in Hanoi just a short distance from buildings?

Hanoi Train Street

It was a discovery for me and so I couldn’t help but try to find out more.

The railway in Hanoi was built by the French in the early 1900s and buildings sprang up later in time.

In the second decade of the 2000s the narrow space between the tracks and the houses, also considering that the speed of the trains doesn’t particularly decrease as they pass through, became a tourist attraction growing to the point of being extremely dangerous.

The mania or perhaps we should say the urge to take pictures feverishly seizes many people and the Instagram wild created a risky as well as uncontrolled crowd.

This is why the authorities in 2022 closed access to tourists.

But you know: business is business.

Once upon a time, they used to say: ‘once the law is made, there’s always a loophole’ … so the buildings have been transformed into cafes that can safely accommodate visitors, with timetables and rules to follow.

So after telling you about The Happiness Trains we are now chatting about the Trains how? You tell me.

COFFEE ON THE ROAD

COFFEE ON THE ROAD

Aug 17, 2024 | JOURNEY FROM MUG TO MUG, WORLD, JOURNEY FROM MUG TO MUG, VIDEO, VIDEO, WORLD

Coffee on the road, can you tell me?

I hope you are one of those who are travelling to fantastic destinations these days.

How did you find the coffee?

Better? Worse? Long, short, black, macchiato?

With these words I always remind the scene from You’ve got mail. 

We are very sedentary and we only moved within our territory, but each time we’ve had a nice coffee.

You too?

If you could be inspired to send me a photo of one of your coffees, I would be HAPPY.

In the meantime, I will tell you about a virtual trip to places totally unknown to me thanks to Tomislav.

First of all, I congratulate him on winning the International Fiction Festival award for his Wonderful story about a girl with Papovka.

Caffè in viaggio

The first ten pages of his comic are published in the UK, then five pages in Macedonia in the magazine Devetka.

The comic will also be published in Serbia in the comics magazine Balon, in the magazine Strip Prefiks in Croatia, the first six pages translated into Slovenian will be presented by Supernova, the magazine Athanatik from Montenegro, and the publisher Koloseum from Banja Luka.

And the next target is the Bulgarian magazine Duga.

Tomislav told me about all these publications, accompanying them with a coffee for each of the places.

If you click on the words in bold you will find each of the links.

So starting from Serbia, here is the coffee in Niš Serbia and the Turkish-style spoon from in Niš.

Caffè in viaggioCaffè in viaggio

From Kikinda, also Serbia, I have no café but I was enchanted to see this wonderful tree-lined boulevard. 

Caffè in viaggio

Carpe Diem Cafe Zagreb Croatia what can I say? A perfect name.

Caffè in viaggioCaffè in viaggio

About Timișoara Romania we had already chatted, but can we give up these cappuccinos? 

Caffè in viaggioCaffè in viaggio

And finally Turkish-style Bulgarian coffee and Turkish sweets in the Balkan as Tomislav called them.

Caffè in viaggioCaffè in viaggio

Layla, on the other hand, was in Italy for six weeks studying in Orvieto and the photo in her story depicts Office Coffee – coktails. 

This is her video story 

Very nice, isn’t it?

What about you?

THE LAST RIDE

THE LAST RIDE

Jun 15, 2024 | AWARD, STORIES

The Last Ride is the title of my story for the Bisarca 2024 competition organised by Il Perdilibri. 

I have already told you about the Bisarca  competition in past editions: but I quote directly: what do you win? The satisfaction of participation and eventual victory.

I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank Il Perdilibri for hosting The Last Ride.

Habit is regarded as addiction, but asking questions is also a habit.

Eleonora, however, is not in the habit of doubting her schedule, starting with the alarm clock: for which there are three repetitions before getting up, every day, regardless of tiredness, weather, hunger, or stress level.

After that everything is calculated, including the delay, a luxury offered to her by an anonymous traveller.

A group sub-habit is created among the usual commuters: a kind of unwritten code according to which, occasional invaders aside, seats are occupied according to a kind of hierarchy acquired over time.

Eleonora remembers the day when the man with whom she shares the seat beckoned to her: ‘as of today the seat is free’ were the only words other than good morning and good day, which they exchanged over a period of what may be a thousand days now.

Eleonora arrives at six forty-three minutes, sure to find the seat reserved by her travelling companion, who, as always, rests his briefcase on the window side until she reaches him.

All she knows about him is that he travels daily to Milan, that he perpetually listens to something on his earphones, that he prefers classic, good-quality clothes in shades of grey, and that he uses a perfume with Vetiver as the base note.

Every morning they exchange a single good morning each, Eleonora sits down, takes the book out of her bag and starts reading. In these thousand days she will have read a hundred books, all in strict silence until she arrives at Porta Garibaldi, when her travelling companion wishes her a good day before gettinf off, leaving her for her ritual minutes during which she waits for the crowd to thin out.

If you want, you can find the rest here. 

But first tell me: what would be the last ride for you?

There are many examples: books, movies, on a personal level though, does your first instinct lead you to think of last in a positive or negative way?

NEST IN THE PARK

NEST IN THE PARK

Aug 7, 2022 | ENVIRONMENT, WHO CARES

If I say Nest in the Park, what do you think?

Specifically: Ticino Park, which I have already told you about. 

Could it be a nest in the park for Ibis? 

Or a nest in the park for them?

What about a den?

Maybe for the hare or for some other being that wanders around … 

No: Nest in the Park is an Eco-camp, to be precise it is the first Italian Tentsile Experience Camp.

What does this mean?

It means camping tents suspended in the trees for a total immersion experience in Nature.

What do you think about?

Can you imagine waking up and having a coffee in the heart, in an actual sense, of the Ticino Park?

Or, more generally, what is your ideal vacation?

Journey? 

Adventure or comfort? 

City  or countryside? 

I grew up experiencing camping vacations, not as extreme as the Park Nest, but equally significant enough to occupy a special place among the memories of the heart.

 

Of course, it’s all different now, we no longer talk about camping but glamping, and it seems light years from the time when postcards were sent …

And by the way, I’ve come a long way too, literally.

With my husband, holiday transformed: from the static “camping” to mile-long walks to visit as many places as possible.

Besides Paris I would mention Umbria.

But what about you? What holiday can you tell me about?

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