A tiny slice of my London life – part 1

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Bangladesh, brick lane market, curry, Elephant and Castle, london

It was 11 pm when they knocked at the door. “Unusual”, I thought. Zantia opened the door. From upstairs I tried to focus my attention on who she was talking to. It had been a busy day and I was looking forward to going to bed and watch a movie. But not that night. Afia was talking to a man about her husband, Zahir. I hadn’t seen him in a couple of days, actually.

That time I was living with a Bangladeshi couple in Elephant and Castle, South East London. Zantia was born in the city and, apart from her appearence, she behaved and talked exactly as a 28-year-old Londoner. Zahir left Bangladesh for England 5 years before. Distant relative from Zantia, they soon married. He was only 22 and he spent most of his days on the couch, watching Bangladeshi films and eating Bangladeshi food. One day he started working at McDonald’s. After two days his hands were all burned because of the boiling oil of the chips: “It’s dangerous. Too hard work.” The next day he was sitting on the couch again.

Once a week he cooked. He cooked a bunch of food that was left in the kitchen in a couple of old pans until the following cooking-day. Mostly lamb, with a sharp sauce. And rice, of course. Needless to say, there was curry everywhere. And I hate curry. I can’t stand its smell. They had giant jars of curry everywhere. Yellow, orange, milder, hotter. Every kind of it. They used to buy it at Brick Lane market and every centimetre of the house smelled like a Brick Lane’s stand. So why on earth did I end up to live there, you are probably wondering. But that’s another story…

[to be continued...]

A tu per tu con il TI

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Lido, Locarno, Lugano, Monte Tamaro, Svizzera, Ticino

Ticino, Ticino…

quanto pensarti, quanto sognarti…

Oggi ti osservo dall’alto.

Ho deciso di cambiare prospettiva per riflettere un po’ su di te.

Set a place at this Sicilian table

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cannoli, Cortile, Custonaci, lemon, pesto, regional food, restaurant, Sicily, sorbetto, Trapani

It’s getting dark in Custonaci, a little village in Trapani province, Sicily. From the hill, I can see the color of the surrounding mountains turning from brown to red to dark blue. In the distance the sea is getting ready for the night.

While the nature is going to sleep, I’m sitting at a table inside a courtyard, a “cortile”, as the restaurant is called. My boyfriend and I just landed a few hours ago and unsure about where to have dinner we decided for this place not far away from our hotel.

Genève en fête

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cigni, Fête musique, Genève, Ginevra, lago, musica, Svizzera, treno

Il percussionista africano che indossa un’ampia camicia gialla e rossa, non lascia trasparire il caldo che inizia a sentire. Dopo tanta pioggia, infatti, il cielo si libera dalle nuvole e regala un azzurro quasi dimenticato. Ma lui continua a suonare con il sorriso aperto sul viso, nonostante il sudore.

Where Londoners go green 3 – Regent’s Park

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fiori, Londra, memories, parco, primavera, Regent's Park, zoo

Tra i tutti i ricordi di Londra che mi sono portata a casa sparsi qua e là nella valigia, ce n’è uno in particolare che riaffiora nella mia mente con un sorriso. Quello di un parco colorato e profumato di primavera. Quello di Regent’s Park appena risvegliatosi dopo un lungo inverno.

Cows have their beauty contest too

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Blenio Valley, cattle, contest, cow, festival, market, Pian Castro, Switzerland, Ticino

On the 1^st of May one of the most important events of the Blenio Valley, southern Switzerland, takes place in Pian Castro.

While workers celebrate worldwide their international day, here dozens of farmers exhibit their cows aiming to win the prestigious prize of the contest: Miss Pian Castro.

Camonica Valley at its best

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Bienno, Camonica, craft, festival, Iseo

Near Bergamo, in Northern Italy, a usually quiet valley gets ready for the most important event of the year. Samantha Ghisla explores her Italian roots at Camonica’s annual Craft Festival. 

“I’m sorry madam, you can’t park here,” tells me a police officer. I try to explain him I come here at least once a year and I always park in that square. I’m looking for my parking permit – since I’m the owner of a house in the city centre – as he adds: “Don’t waste your time. During this week no exceptions are made. Parking is forbidden in all the historical centre.”

Where Londoners go green 2 – Greenwich Park

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anatroccoli, fiori, Greenwich park, meridiano zero, museo marittimo, osservatorio astronomico

Oggi, a Londra, sembra estate. È come se d’un tratto la natura si fosse risvegliata dal torpore invernale, senza preavviso. Ed è durante giornate come questa che il desiderio di scappare dalla città si fa più forte. Per un attimo viene voglia di distaccarsi dal caos, dall’inquinamento e dalla folla. Esserne lontani. O, ancora meglio, esserne al di sopra. Proprio per questo ho pensato di trascorrere la giornata a Greenwich Park, situato su una piccola collina all’estremità sud-orientale di Londra.

Where Londoners go green 1 – Battersea Park

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Battersea park, lake, london, park, relax, zoo

Dopo un’intera settimana di studio o di lavoro nella capitale, il fine settimana è il momento ideale per rilassarsi e fare una passeggiata in città.

Poichè questo è il desiderio di molti, non sempre è facile trovare un luogo tranquillo in cui ricaricare le proprie energie. Musei e vie dello shopping sono invasi dai turisti, ma fortunatamente Londra dispone di molti parchi e attività da fare all’aria aperta.

In questa serie di post vi racconto la mia esperienza in tre luoghi di Londra, i miei preferiti dove assaporare un po’ di tranquillità. Oggi vi porto sulle rive del Tamigi, a Battersea Park.

Tips for future journalists

Journalism is a competitive world, indeed. But it’s not so hard to start your career thanks to really simple means, as the Internet, for example.

In my podcast, I suggest some basic advice for future journalists I learned during my journalism course at LSJ, in London.