My second shortest trip to Lisbon

It's been 10 years since I posted about my travels. I have been in Mexico City for most of this time, and with a little one for the past 3 years, and so I have done more local travel than anything. In 2020, with lockdowns, economic downturns, and the hassle associated with travel, I have traveled even less. Yesterday I got on my first travel virtual travel experience, via Airbnb. 

This was my second shortest trip to Lisbon, the first was featured on this blog. I started the day cooking Portuguese food, listening to fado, looking at old pictures, and making drawings of the city. When the time came for the experience I was in Portugal in my mind. 

While the host could have been more engaging and inclusive, it was still nice to travel in my mind. I also got to make drawings pending from my first visit to Lisbon, almost 15 years ago!!

I learned about the geography of Lisbon, about the history of the azulejos, the beautiful colored tiles covering buildings, cork-making, Portuguese wine, a local festival, revisited the different neighborhoods and got more into fado music. 

This inspired me to organize a Mexico City virtual trip, so stay tuned. 

Thorn Tree cafe, Nairobi

The Thorn Tree Café has long served as a central meeting place in Kenya, and was originally named after an acacia tree that served as its centerpiece and was used as a message board for passing travelers. Over the years it has also been a popular hang-out for high profile guests, most notably, Ernest Hemingway. Today, the Café -hosted in the Sarova Hotel- still retains its position as a central meeting place in Nairobi’s business district (and still provides a message board, although more for nostalgia purposes) and is a popular destination.

Places, a visual approach

my collage collection

People & Places

it's been 3 years on the balcony, and I yet have to write about my first visit to my beloved Mexico, I still have to tell you about my love-hate rumba with New York, about England land of the Beatles, Vienna untouched by world wars, San Francisco where I should have been born in the 70s, tales of the deep america, memories of enchanted Prague, a Geneva summer weekend, my first February summer birthday in Australia and re-encounters with my second home, Spain.

As I'm spending too much time in front of my computer screen for work and for study, I'm currently expressing myself through pictures instead of words (no i'm not taking photos, give up already!).

After 3 years of writing about People and Places, I'll use a different form of expression, Collage.

So stay tuned ;)

Berlin again

Berlin skyline, Nikolai neighborhood

Amman, do not judge a book by its cover

Hearing that I would go to Amman, many warned that it would be uber-boring, and that there is nothing to see there. Seeing buildings with perfect limestone façades, no higher than four floors, and hearing no noise, I freaked out, I was going to be stuck in this city for ten whole days ...

I was lucky to meet and reconnect with people who took me around the city, Amman is now on my list of my favorite cities.

The soundtrack to the trip was the voice of Makadi Nahas whom I was lucky to catch in concert at Courtyard a lounge hidden in the lovely Shmeisani district where my friend lives.

In the horizon the mountain neighbourhoods have little two storey limestone houses with gardens, and you could see their lights twinkling from the terrace of Books@cafe or simply Books as Ammanis call it, a bookstore, lounge, bar, cafe mix, 70s wall art, a relaxed artsy crowd, lots of scarves and curls, chairs with different but matching colors, a jazzist and her microphone on the lounge wall, just my kind of place!

Books is off Rainbow street where all the hip-spots are and that may be the only street where cool spots are concentrated, and I didn't mind that. The beauty of Amman is in its mystery, the coolest hangouts are hidden away in residential neighbourhoods, and fancy restaurants look like houses from the outside and are as welcoming when you go in (Levant, Romero, Fakhr El Din).

Even art centers are hidden in the mountains and one feels as if intruding on someone's private art collection in their home, that's exactly how I felt when I knocked on the doors of Darat Al Funun.

I have to admit that I freaked out on the first day when I couldn't find an arts and culture guide, and now I can say I am happy I worked for it, I am happy I only knew when I asked around, only then I knew that 7iber (Ink) is the reference.

I loved the views from the benches at Rainbow streets which reminded me of miradores in Spain, designated points in the city to get a bird's eye view. I even enjoyed the down town kitsch cafe-bars, which had only male customers and are now attracting the intellectual hippie crowd, I know they will very soon become Amman's equivalent of Horreya in down town Cairo. I also found Jazz, so I cannot complain, Cafe de Paris had unique gigs, night after night.

As for old Amman, my friends have transmitted their nostalgia to me, I can tell stories of Jabal Natheef and Jabal Luweibdeh, of the neighbours in the harras, and of the old jasmine tree.

When I remember Amman, I remember fresh pine scented air, rain on my coat, trying to find my way to Wild Jordan, and the lady at the fruit shop who gave me a banana and wished me a lovely day.

Photo: Church in beautiful Luweibdeh, near Luzmilla hospital (the first picture I take in 2 years)

Urban Tribes

Previously I had blogged about Identity, quoting Amin Maalouf, one of the authors I really admire.
A couple of days ago, I realized more than ever that even those of us who broke the traditional molds (as we say in Arabic) need to belong, maybe to a group of different people each "freaky" in their own way, all wandering away from the herd but in different directions.

I was always questioning if Urban Tribes were born from this need to belong.
Here is a documentary produced by my alma mater, UC3M about Urban Tribe, you can watch it on YouTube (part1, part2).

Let me know what you think of all this.