blog in english
Last Tuesday night, or actually it was already Wednesday as it was after midnight, the phone rang. My aunt called to ask if she could come to our place immediately, together with her husband and dog. Family that wants to stay over is not exactly what you expect when the whole country is in quarantine, …
Six years ago, I lived and worked in Brussels for six months, right in the heart of the political arena of Europe. I was part of a very special team as each country in the European Union had sent over one person. On January 6th, the team started working. Well, the whole team except the …
Buona Pasquetta! In other words, Happy Easter Monday! In Italy, they don’t speak of a second Easter day as it is known in the Netherlands, but they call this day Pasquetta. A very lovely name, I think. Pasqua is the Italian word for Easter, which refers to Easter Sunday. Pasquetta is the diminutive, literally translating to little Easter. …
Five weeks ago today, I published a blog with nonna’s good advice to – in case you would unexpectedly be quarantined – take up the challenge of preparing the perfect polpette al sugo, meatballs in tomato sauce. Of course that was sort of a joke, because it wouldn’t really come to that, would it? I never thought I’d say this but I’m actually doing …
Where on the first of January we not only wished each other a happy new year but also a happy new decade – The Roaring Twenties had begun! – now, not only three months later, 2020 has practically been cancelled. The Eurovision Songcontest, the Eurocup, the Olympic Games, everything is postponed to next year. Big …
A few days ago, I was interviewed by a Dutch newspaper about how it feels to not be able to go back home in Rome. While the journalist was asking me questions over the phone, I noticed that the ‘I can’t go home’ part had become completely irrelevant. Individual interests don’t matter any longer, now …
#20 What quarantine dreams are made off… (English) Read More »
And all of a sudden, I couldn’t go home anymore… On Monday evening the 9th of March, I had packed my little suitcase again – I hadn’t brought much more than one pair of shoes and some clothes for only four days in the Netherlands – and set my alarm at a quarter past six …
Last Tuesday, while being on a tour on the Via Appia Antica, the most important road in the ancient Roman Empire, I met an American man of about sixty-five years old who had a pretty impressive life story. He told me about how he was one of the guys that had launched MTV in the eighties …
It’s with regret that I have to say goodbye to Corona this week. Wait, what? Don’t worry, this has nothing to do with the virus. Then what’s going on? Well, I’m moving out! My flatmate’s surname happens to be Corona so you can probably imagine how strange it is for him and all the other …
It’s vastelaovend again. Carnevale as they call it here in Italy. And the fact that I’ve just published this blog on Monday evening, means that unfortunately, I’m not standing somewhere in a dark but at the same time super colourful bar back home in Limburg, that I’m not having a beer in my hand (the only five days …
#16 Vastelaovend with a hint of Dolce Vita (English) Read More »