Rain, rain, rain

The day started with some sun, but it got cool very fast and rained most of the daytime. I met with my cousin Anahid at St Michel and we started walking to Cite and Beaubourg then the rain hit hard. In the early afternoon, we ended up in a cozy cafe having some St. Emillion before she had to go home.



Cousin Anahid is a fun person, with a serious career in education, writing and has studied flute. We have plans to meet again mid-week.

Unfortunately the rain put a bit of a damper on plans. This being Sunday, most places are closed. Luckily Farida and her friends had made a reservation for dinner near Place des Vosges and the St Paul region. After a delicious meal we went for a short walk around the quaint village of St Paul neighborhood.

Le Marais

Today being Saturday, my friend Farida was free so we took the bus and meandered around the Marais.



Our first stop was Place Des Vosges, where Victor Hugo used the live.












After lunch, Farida wanted to some windows shopping but we went into some side roads, getting lost here and there and visited a small cathedral and its cloisters.







In the late afternoon, we went to the supermarket and I cooked dinner. A makbous from the gulf region, a recipe from my sister-in-law. It was a hit!

Swimming in the Seine

Today was my first full day in Paris and I woke up at 7:30 and had coffee with Farida's Mum, then proceeded straight back to bed. Wishful thinking! Jet lag was a little tougher than expected despite the good night's sleep.

Woke up once more at 1pm, and went to have lunch in a charming place -- tuna with a basil sauce and "tian de provence" which is a vegetable oven baked dish from the Provence region.

Since I had missed half the day, I decided the go to "Librairie Orientaliste Samuelian" --a very famous bookstore, where I found several books by Armenian poets. I think they were very pleased to get rid of old editions that noone had bothered to read before. I left and took the Metro back from ODEON to take the new subway line 14 to the Seine, for a swim at the new JOSEPHINE BAKER pool, which is on the Seine -- so I literary swam in the Seine River.


It's great to be able to keep up with my swimming regimen, and hope to do so once more on Monday.

Afterwards, I met up with Farida, and we spent dinner time at CHINA CLUB, where we had a delicious Chinese meal with a bottle of Beaujolais.








Bastille at night

New to Old Amsterdam and onto Paris

I flew out of JFK at 10pm on Wednesday aboard a KLM flight to Amsterdam and arrived around 11 am. The flight was excellent but despite the fact that I had taken GREAT CARE in choosing a good book for the flight and the trip in general, I barely read two pages before Morpheus hit me... hard.




I woke up in time for breakfast in the sky, and we soon landed at Schiphol airport. After a quick run to the airport's museum (a gallery containing some pieces of the famous Amsterdam Rijksmuseum) and purchasing a box of DROP (Dutch black licorice, yummy) I headed to my next flight into Paris CDG.




Must admit both flights were excellent experiences: on time, pleasant personnel, boarding without a hassle and the food was good. During the flight over the Atlantic, I was offered chinese or chilean red wines. I chose the chilean.

Landed in the early afternoon in Paris and headed to my friend Farida's place. Her brother is out of town and gave me his apartment for my stay. It's a cosy and beautiful studio near the Gare de Lyon, in the 12th arrondissement.

The apartment is very zen, no music and no books, so it's a good thing I have my own.






For dinner, Farida and I were at her parents. Her mother baked a savory tart made of pate brisee, mustard, lined with tomatoes and comte cheese and fresh tarragon. It was delicious.

Here's something I wrote a few weeks ago, which I believe is a good thing to share just about now.

HOME

Home is where my music
and notepad
and my art reside.

Therefore I always travel with a piece of home:
whether it's my iPod containing pictures and music,
or a stone in my pocket,
or a photo of my beloved one in my wallet,
or my thoughts...

Copyright Lola Koundakjian, Paris.

Packing for what weather?

Expectations of rain are usually high in Paris -- it is not known for its Sunny Weather. My friend Farida said it's been rather on the cool side lately. Therefore packing an umbrella and a good pair of shoes will be essential even though it is late May.

I am now in "packing mode" for this two week trip. I have mostly casual gear and then the wedding ensembles for Belgium. I did laundry today, and everything is on my bedroom floor getting organized. Lists are being made so I don't forget anything including gifts, toiletries and essentials for the plane ride (iPod, writing material, small cream/toothpaste tube).

I am thinking about taking 1-2 light reading books such as chef Anthony Bourdin's "The Nasty Bits", and a couple of the book I bought at the PEN World Voices Festival last month. It is essential to plan down time while one travels, otherwise it can be overwhelming.

Next trip

I just booked my next flight. I know, I've only been back three weeks, but this time, I am going to a wedding.

I will first go to Paris, end of May. A few days after arriving, I will take the train to Antwerp and attend a wedding on June 2nd in Belgium.

Frites and waffles here I come!!!

Departure

Monday morning, I caught an early train to the airport half a block away from my hotel. The Estació de França has a direct connection for 2.5 euros which not only consts less, but allows one to avoid the hassle of hooligans and the stairs up and down the metro and then the bus to the airport.

I checked out the cheese counter, but the MENCHANGO were 70 euros which is more expensive than my hood's gourmet cheese section, so I skipped that. The flights were uneventful and I made it home intact.

HIGHLIGHTS:
La Sagrada Familia is a world wonder
Santa Maria Del Mar
I loved walking in the green spaces
Favourite museum was FUNDACION MIRO
Favourite museum building: the Picasso
The Walking Tours suggested in my guidebook were very useful

FAVOURITE FOOD
Basque cuisine

FAVOURITE WINE
Merlot from the NAVARRO region

Day Five: One more nature spot

Sunday is a lazy day in Barcelona; my favourite coffee spot was closed so I wandered around La Ribera and finally found an old cafe near "Santa Maria Del Mar" -- which gave me yet another opportunity to visit the interior of the church. This is a beautiful place to be day or night.

I was feeling a little tired after eating a very late dinner on Saturday, at a highly recommended restaurant, where I queed for about an hour. It's called CAL PEP and is a narrow and very long bar where you can see the chef cook in the kitchenette. There is a small room in the back for groups but you have to make arrangements very early.

While I was queeing, they stopped letting people in so I was the last in. I got a nice bar stool finally and ended up enjoying 6 small courses: spinach with bacon and chickpeas, razor clams, regular clams with bacon, steaks with "patatas bravas", grilled giant calamari and bread with tomato sauce and olive oil. I turned away the desert!

No wonder I was feeling tired the next morning. Europe changed hours during the course of that night, so it felt like I woke up at the crack of dawn. After a second coffee and sandwich I walked up to catch the metro at Jaime Ier and went quite far to the Palau Reial which is another green space, with a small bamboo forest, bird estuary and beautiful pinetum. I walked up to the Palace which includes a decorative and ceramics museum.

The Ceramics museum's collection was surprisingly different from what I have seen in other places. Sure there were tiles, and works showing the Arab period, but the collection was well represented, the panels were in Catalan, Spanish and English, and organized under the major cities were the kilns were located.

Dinner was a simple tapas bar at La Barcolenata, the harbor area near my hotel, and then an early sleep.

Day Four: Another hike

But before I proceed with today´s agenda, I must say, I had the best food yet last night. I dined at the Restaurant and Social Club for the Basque, Euskal Etxea. For all those who believe there is a connection between the Basque and the Armenians, take that theory right out of your mind.

Friday night´s mood was quite festive. While I was dining, a band was practicing and a group of thirty somethings were learning some basque dances in a room in the back. The front part, the bar, was jam packed with people eating small appetizers and drinking their worries away.

I had a salad with goat cheese, stuffed baby squid with black ink sauce and vegetable couscous, and some 2001 Merlot from the Navarro region. The waitress just popped the bottle in front of me, and asked me to help myself: for the record, she just charged me for a glass.

Today, I felt a little homesick, as I realized that the post office gave me the wrong stamps even though I stated that the postcards were intended for the USA. I turned on my iPod for the first time, and went to Park Guell, a forest in another hilly part of town. It is a UNESCO world heritage site, where one can see more views of Barcelona from high up. I walked uphill to the site of three crosses, the highest point, then down to Gaudi´s house, and around heading out towards the mosaic zoo.

This time though no teleferic ride to the beach -- I had to walk 1.2 kilometers AFTER leaving the parc to get to the next metro station.

In the afternoon I headed to the MACBA -- museum of contemporary art of Barcelona, but the temporary show was not of interest so I checked the bookstores there and around the university faculties. The art gallery next door had a show on the Danish painter Hamershoi, but I had seen the show in Paris and New York.

I got my mother a book on Gaudi, and looked for some ceramic tools, but no luck.

I headed for a short mass in Catalan, to say a special prayer for a friend of mine who is sick. I know she´d appreciate it. Catalan is quite different from Spanish, but I was able to grasp some things being said. The music was quite soothing and it was a little rest before heading to the internet cafe and tonight´s dinner.

Day three: walking and hiking

The concert last night was a pleasant diversion, Robert Schumann´s piano and choral music, and I sat near a German couple. We had a nice chat about the city and music in general -- first time I speak so much German in years!!! (One hears a lot of Italian and German in Barcelona´s touristic center).

I thought I´d take it "easy" today, to give my feet a rest, and just do one thing. Well it turns out that the Miro Foundation and its surrounding Montjuic Park are HUMONGOUS and it was a two hour hike to just get there, luckily well worth the fresh air and the view. The Miro Foundation has a very nice collection, much larger than the Picasso and Tapies ones here, and includes some sculptures in bronze and other media.

A highlight was to take the teleferic down to the beach, which is within walking distance of my hotel.

Weather wise, it was also the best yet, although it got chilly once again after sunset.

In the evening I met up with Carlos and Maria, an Argentinian couple, she of Armenian heritage, who have lived here since the early 80s. He´s a translator and she´s a university professor. We chatted for a few hours and then walked around. I met them because they corresponded with me about an Armenian author, and coincidentally they live in Barcelona.

Tomorrow, I hope to do some shopping and visit Park Guell, the grounds surrounding the home of Gaudi, the creator of La Sagrada Familia, the basilica.

Blogging in Catalan on day two

I am not fluent in Spanish, far from it, but this is a bilingual town, and Catalan is closer to French, so I am doing my best to channel the multilingual knowledge bank and making my way through Barcelona.

I started a second walking tour today -- very different from yesterday´s -- concentrating on the Modernism period. The tour walks you through all the different chichi neighborhoods where Gaudi and his contemporaries build modernist edifices in the beginning of the 20th century. Some are totally crazy!!!

After lunch, I went to the Antonio Tapies Foundation. This contains the library of Tapies, some of his work including annual contributions, and a space for other artwork, which contained a video series entitled B Zone: On the Margins of Europe. I was very much touched by the story about a man, trying desperatly to seek asylum only to be rejected time and again by various European countries.

This reminds me of the editorial I read on Tuesday in the International Herald Tribune regarding the new form of slavery. More on this later, if I can reread the original piece.

Nothing tops a visit to La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi´s incomplete masterwork, which after 125 years is a work in progress (yes, workers were inside and on the job). This is a beautiful cathedral and I had to walk around twice, and will need to visit the Gaudi house on another day.

Tonight I am attending a piano recital at the Palau Musical Catalana.

First full day in Barcelona

Slept until 11am, and then after a quick coffee, walked into La Ribera, a neighborhood of beautiful rambling narrow streets, where after a visit to the Santa Maria Del Mar (our Lady of the Sea) I fell into this internet cafe.

A little Spanish goes a long way. My restaurant vocabulary and reading comprehension have been enough to fend myself against a rude young man last evening, ordering food, coffee and so forth.

All is good -- Museum of Picasso was next, where I discovered that his sister´s name is ... Lola!!! The museum is housed in what used to be 4 small palaces now interconnected. Some of the rooms are preserved for historical purposes and don´t contain any of Picasso´s work. A lot of the artist´s early work is there, some representing other early periods such as the Blue and the Pink, and then the ceramics, ¨Las Meninas¨and the Pidgeons series.

In the afternoon, I did a walking tour (following a map and descriptions in my guidebook) of the Old Barcelona until just about dusk. This region includes Roman wall and tombs, Medieval period all the way to Gothic. It was a very special walk.

On the way, I stopped at the 4Gats cafe, where Picasso and other famous artists used to hang out about a century ago.

For dinner, I started with some tapas in Barri Gottic, and then walked back to my hotel´s hood for a nightcap.

Good night!

Via Munich .... missed connection 3-20-07

Due to bad weather in Europe, flights were delayed to North America, and we departed an hour or so late in New York City. I missed my connection in Munich, the next plane was full, therefore I had to wait 4 hours in Munich. Luckily I knew I could ask for a lunch voucher and got one for 10 euros, which was enough for an open faced sandwich and a double espresso macciato.

We landed in Barcelona on a sunny late afternoon. It´s sunny here, there are palm trees and a nice breeze. I took the blue Aerobus to the center of the city (Placa de Catalunya), then asked for a map at the information booth, took the subway to the neighborhood of Barcelonata, near the beach.

After a quick shower I walked around a bit, and passed by a restaurant which is highly recommended in my guidebook. Nice coincidence.

More walking but couldn´t find any shops open to get a SIM card or an internet cafe.

Flying tonight

I am flying tonight to Barcelona, via Munich.

It's been very cold in Eastern US and I am looking forward to some sunshine and mild weather.

Goodbye snow and sleet, fellow flip-flops :-)

Barcelona, Spain

I will be travelling to Barcelona this month.

I am spending a week (6 nights) there. I have never been to Spain, so this is going to be great.

WHy Barcelona? Great food and wine, art and architecture never fail to attract me.

I travelled to Cuba and China, and Turkey last night

I didn't -- but my thoughts did.

As a member of Pen America, I went to a holiday card writing blitz. About 40 of us sat around big tables, took a bunch of UNICEF cards and sent greetings to journalists and writers and their families around the world who are either currently in prison or in trial.

PEN provided the UNICEF cards, envelopes, address labels, and postage.

It was very moving to find the name of Hrant Dink amongst the names. My father who came to volunteer with me, and I wrote to Mr. Dink.

It must be said that my Dad, who normally has to be bribed to write holiday cards to family members, sat and wrote cards in Arabic French Turkish, and some in English to complete strangers in the Middle East, Africa, Cuba and China. As a retired photo journalist, he knows all about freedom of the press.

To know more about Pen, visit its sites, and start by readings its Charter.

The Website of Pen America and
International Pen

UNESCO OFFICIAL sites for Armenia

Always a good idea to check world heritage sites before travelling as they add a special flavor to trips.

In the case of Armenia, there are several sites already, and some more waiting for approval.


Check out the official site at UNESCO

Properties inscribed on the World Heritage List:
Cultural
Cathedral and Churches of Echmiatsin and the Archaeological Site of Zvartnots (2000)
Monasteries of Haghpat and Sanahin (1996)
Monastery of Geghard and the Upper Azat Valley (2000)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Properties submitted on the Tentative List
The archaeological site of the city of Dvin (#) (1995)
The basilica and archaeological site of Yererouk (#) (1995)
The monastery of Noravank and the upper Amaghou Valley (#) (1996)
The monasteries of Tatev and Tatevi Anapat and the adjacent areas of the Vorotan Valley (1995)

technorati post

Lola Koundakjian

Post Partum

I was at the airport in a jiffy, and had my last coffee at the small but active coffee bar. The security system at the new airport is very advanced; they scan your index finger as you check your suitcase and then again before boarding for your flight.
There were also lots of precautionary posters about HIV/AIDS.

In Moscow, the transfer time was much shorter and the four hours went fast.



The flight to New York however was extended to 10 and a half hours, due to wind conditions over Canada all the way down to New York.

Mum and Dad greeted me.... The only big news is that my brother had eye surgery to repair a torn retina, otherwise, all is good.


HOME SWEET HOME!!!

Last day and FINALE

On my last day, I was hoping to catch a rehearsal of the National Chamber Orchestra and say hello to an old friend, the conductor Aram Gharabekian, but it was not meant to be.

I had to say goodbye to my extended family, do some last minute gift shopping and then had a party. Artsvi and his wife Ashkhen, Tsovinar Chilingaryan, Onnik Krikoryan and Zara, Violet Grigoryan, Mariné Petrossian, Myrthe and her beau all came.

The debates were very lively but I had to send everyone home at midnight.



I slept a wink (barely!) and then went off to catch a 7am flight.