Post one of many on Paris- day 1

Here are the first images of one of the best holidays I have ever had! in a wonderful city called Paris.

I am going to struggle to describe the atmosphere (very bohemian and relaxed), the different style of fashion (quite simple, yet chic- it's not what they wear, but how they wear it!), the wonderful role music plays in the city life (it's everywhere, from metros to street corners), the old buildings and monuments (you can feel history come alive), their bikes system (which I find amazing and which allowed us to get to know the city much better than any other before) and last but not least the food (croissants and baguettes that really melt in your mouth, as well as yummy cheese and hams).

My first Eurostar experience was impecable coming from the UK and 2 hours late coming back, as the online system was down on the French side. Minus one point for the French! :) We travelled very very cheap on £53 return. And it took us from the heart of London straight to the heart of Paris. Beats planes any day, especially because it only takes 2 hours.

During day 1 we just murdered one turist objective after the other...starting with..Notre Dame.

Beautiful and famous gothic cathedral that was finished in 1345...

...and that inspired many stories, including that of Quasimodo, whom we found having coffee at one of the coffee shops down the street (hahahahaha).

From the Ile the la Cite, which is the island in the middle of the Seine, where Notre Dame ''lives'', you can see one of my other favourite buildings: The Conciergerie, which was a prison that held some famous people before their deaths during the French Revolution.

Next we cycled our way...

(The bike system they have is awesome. There are bike racks every 400m in the city center and it only costs you one Euro for a day pass. If you put it back before 30 min you are charged nothing, after 30 min it's 1 EUR, after 60 min, 7 EUR, and so on. So less than 30 min is very do-able. The only bad side is that they block a guarantee of 150 EUR, in case you don't bring the bike back and it may take a while before your money is unblocked- since we are talking about banks in different countries...)

...and we got to the next point of attraction: the George Pompidou Center, which hosts the National Modern Art Museum, one of the most impressive collections of modern art in the world.

...And guess who else I found there...

Soon we were on to the next big thing...the heart of Paris...one of the best places to be in...the Montmartre hill...
...home to the Sacre Coeur...a very very beautiful white church....


...from where you get an awesome view...

...and also home to some of the most expensive coffee places...overlooking some of the most beautiful squares, where all the artists gather to paint idilic scenes of Paris or portraits of the passers-by.

Here ladies with beautiful voices play strange instruments and sing Edith Piaf...

...your eye indulges on small coffee places...

...shops....

and art.

And as we went down, because it was in the neighbourhood...we had to drop by...none other than: The Moulin Rouge....

...where we thought to practise a bit of Can-Can...

and failed... but at least it was fun :). (TO BE CONTINUED)

Song for a Saturday morning :)

Casa de piatra!!!

Wow...nu am cuvinte...alte doua colege de clasa s-au casatorit luna asta. Dupa Diana si Alexandra- din cate stiu eu- sambata Andreea a avut petrecerea de nunta din Romania, la care a aparut si Bea- care avea si ea nunta in aceeasi zi. Casa de piatra fetelor! Mi-as fi dorit sa fiu acolo!

Tribute to a great movie...

..on a relaxed Sunday evening...

Becoming Lisa :) a no comment story

The last national conference

With my lovely team...the absolute boat racing champions...again! :)

And finally...with my successor- Ali from Birmingham. Hihi

Pangea Day- a global experience

Last night...people from 180 countries gathered around huge screens to watch 4 hours of the same programme. The ''event'' was broadcasted live from London, LA, Mumbai, Rio de Janeiro, Rwanda and Egypt- by the pyramids.
The idea was that for one night the people are united to see the world through each other's eyes. In this sense the event had a series of speeches and interviews, music from all over the world, 24 short movies were that were selected out of 2500 made from all over the world,as well as other cool events.
Some highlights were:
- Gilberto Gil- the minister of culture in Brazil performed
- Queen Noor of Jordan had a very heartfelt speech
- Meg Ryan, Cameron Diaz and Goldie Hawn presented
- People laughed together, as part of an Indian practise
- There were interviews with Palestinians and Israelis together, as well as with Lebanese people.
- And we found out of a lot of new very cool organizations who deal with different issues

Over all it was an amazing event and I am so happy to take part in it- it felt unbelievable.
But the true question is what impact did this event actually have? ''How does one measure the impact of a moment of laughter or tears or shock shared between a neighbor, a stranger on the other side of the ocean, a friend in another time zone, an e-pal on the internet? How does one truly evaluate the effect of a film on an audience, on one person versus another? There are so many intervening factors, and yet, at least as I witnessed first-hand tonight in London, Pangea Day heaved opened a new window. A window wide enough for any two people to lean back and forth, to share a story, to whisper a fear, to giggle over a secret - wide enough for communication between three or four...million or more. As Christiane Amanpour and our Middle East friends reminded us tonight, change happens from within. The question remains who of the inspired will take action?''

Do watch the event and the movies at: http://www.pangeaday.org/ and http://www.ted.com/.

These were the people I shared the experience with- some of them total strangers- now potential new friends.

We are what we do

Change the World for a Fiver:

www.wearewhatwedo.org

Very cool organization. Check it out!

Big Showdown this weekend!!! :)

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN....

It is with great pleasure that i introduce the greatest challenge of the century...:)

2 of my good friends will battle it out this Saturday to be my next fashion advisor!

Introducing the contestants:

LAURA-the one and only Archer (the tortoise)...

and in the blue corner:

Manish (also known as MANO and Manusa de dus- for the romanians)

Place: Camden town

Time: This Saturday from 12.00-13.30

Task: to get me the best summer outfit with £20 each.

Umpires: me and Urvi :)

May the best fashion adviser win! Bring it ON! :)

Até já, António!!

If you skip the first 1.50 min, it's great. :)
This is it...I said goodbye...to Portugal for a while, to Coimbra, to the apartment, to my baby.
But the video I saw of the people in Kazachstan made me very happy and confident that this is the right thing for him.
And you know what? This makes me even more excited about the experience ahead...for both of us...because I know we ARE going to make it!How many people can brag about a life like ours? The fab jet setting life...
See you in Prague!I love you! :*