Italian crush

Just booked two week in Tuscany in June! after a time-consuming benchmarking exercise comparing different language schools in Firenze, Milano, Roma etc etc, I finally opted for Viareggio. For the  past few years, I have enjoyed participating in the LSE summer language classes, it’s a nice way to meet people and to get a serious kick-start to a new language. But this year, after having followed the Italian Cultural Institute weekend courses, I felt like I deserved a treat: a new language yes, but while enjoying the  sun, beach-runs, & local wines….that’s about as good as language-acquisition gets! 

I have a love & hate relationship with languages, as a teenager,  the first holidays I worked the whole summer to finance was a full time Spanish immersion in Barcelona; when I arrived in London, I signed up straight away for speech improvement classes; and generally, the more I travel and work surrounded by people coming from various horizons, the more I want to learn to speak to them in their native speech. But speaking languages is at the same time extremely gratifying and unbearably frustrating. As fluent as one will become, it’s a never-ending process, what’s worse: one has to constantly fight against their own memory, which is – perversely – trying to off-load and forget as much as it can…

a friend recently told me his 10 years-retired mum, despite her career as an English teacher, couldn’t speak to his American wife, for she has forgotten most of it! Can’t blame the Brits for hating languages….

 

http://www.alfredocassano.com/buyitaliangestures.html

PS: for Italian-as-a-second-language speakers, any easy good audio-books to recommend? (pls not Harry Potter)

World Party!

We love travelling guides, of all of them, the penguin’s “rough guides” are high up in my esteem.

One of my flatmate has received the amazing “World party” rough guide for Christmas and I truly thank his mum. It’s no ordinary travel guide, it’s a window open on worldwide fun and excitement.
It’s also a constant reminder that I have only ticked a very limited amount of boxes, and all of it in Europe: The Notting Hill festival, Pascua en Andalusia, Ibiza opening and closing parties … All were amazing but there is so much more to do I feel like getting plane tickets every time I flick through it.

 

Rough Guide -World Party

Also check out their world music network website

Ps: tell us which ones you’ve ticked off. Was worth it?

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Moroccan wedding reinvented

  

Like the King’s wife, Salma of Morocco, my friend is from Fes. Unlike her, she is a full time executive worker in Paris and married a French guy from the Caribbean  The common point to all Moroccan weddings isn’t the rum-punch; it’s that the bride is always a princess. Like in little girls dreams, she’s pampered, fed delicious delights, being introduced to the party on a sedan chair….

Moroccan weddings are a major institution, and 3 days of festivities could feel quite intense; however, life goes by at a different pace there, and the seamlessly  organised step by step process is also very patronising, securing. First because they’ve invented the wedding planner concept with their tradition keepers (the neggafates), so no schedule slip and no worries – at least for the guests.

I flew there 2 days prior to the wedding and we steamed and scrubbed in the hammam at the sound of women’s songs and chants…marvellous way to relax and gather amongst girls. Unsure if it’s the pampering or the carb and sugar load but the whole pre-wedding experience feels pretty childish, in a good way. more info on Morrocan weddings

And the actual wedding ceremony is a spectacular ballet of  – extremely sweet – food, from the pastilla to the Cornes-de-Gazelles and other honey&almond-heavy deliciousnesses. And if you thought European weddings were colourful and Kaftans were a austere dress ? mmm not quite there; guest are rivalling with not so traditional kaftan of all colours, shapes, fabrics, folding it up the knee and dancing till late.

The diversity and refinement of kaftans is fascinating from a fashionista point of view as it gives a canvas that can be declined in to so many versions! I went to the wedding wearing a long gown but instantly wished I had rented one! I had never realised it could be so sophisticated and also figure flattering with the large belt that can be adjusted. To get a better idea, check last year’s fashion shows, and my favourites

Do’s and Dont’s

• do stay in a Riad in the medinah, avoid the Hilton (Sofitel) unless you’re on a business trip. I stayed in Ali’s Riad Zyo, an oasis of hospitality. I could eat his home-made beghrir everyday for breakfast…yum
• do bargain argan oil, rose water and orange blossom water: each time I open the bottle, my bedroom travels back to the souk
• don’t go for just a weekend if yuo’re travelling from London – with no direct flight to Rabat you will have to fly to Casa and take a train. It’s cheap and rather easy, people are friendly enough they will show you the way in French or broken English, but plan at least 5 days

Readers Corner

for those who can read in French: Partir – Tahar Ben Jelloun

my next trip there?

Morocco is an enticing country, with lovely, welcoming people and Rabat combines the wealth, the Mediterranean sea-side and diet. When tourist guides all focus on Marrakesh and Essaouira, I felt pretty privileged to have been invited to Rabat and shared delicious home made Couscous al-fresco.

From there, where next?

surfing in Imessouane, Dakla or Sidi ifni which I have been recommended recently. And given how welcoming people are, how good the food and how consistent the weather is, it’s on the “get back” list

or maybe who knows, one day I put my guts together and sign up for the Marathon des Sables

Cornes de Gazelles, macaroons, almonds, dates, honey….