Next week, I will be in Riga, Latvia, attending the centenary of the birth of Sir Isaiah Berlin as a part of the East-East group of young intellectuals from Eastern Europe. It looks like there is going to be a lot of interesting discussions ahead.
Go to www.berlininriga.com for more information about the events.
Sunday was a more subdued affair due to sudden arrival of colder weather (ca 12 C): Breakfast at Daisy Dukes (I had Cajun Omelet with Hash Browns and Biscuits), a little walk at the Riverside, watched Milk at Canal Place Cinema (Brilliant!), some shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue (bought shoes and pants on sale), had lunch at Mona’s Café and Deli in Faubourg Marigny.
P.S. Funny-named designer discovered at Saks Fifth Avenue: James Perse (perse means ass in Estonian).
Today: Swamp Tour (my first ride on an airboat!), Lakeside Shopping Centre (yawn), and a bit of nightlife (yeah).
For nightlife there are two distinct places: glitzy, touristy Bourbon Street and the alternative, hipster Frenchmen Street. Both have live music venues (I don’t think I have ever been in a city where there is so much of live music everywhere in the streets). The difference is that Bourbon Street in the French Quarter is bigger and louder with more people (tourists), but Frenchmen Street in the Faubourg Marigny area has better music and more distinctive places to go to (such as d.b.a, Apple Barrel, and a really nice gay boosktore). Both areas are definitely worth checking out.
New Orleans cannot really be described, it has to be experienced. It is quite unlike any other place I have been to, and I have only scratched the surface of this magnificent, but also deeply dramatic city. Katrina is still in people’s hearts and minds here and I get the feeling that the city and its inhabitants are in the early stages of healing and restoring. There is the spirit and potential, but with the emerging economic problems and growing crime rates, the New Orleans that once existed might never re-emerge. I hope it will, as there is so much spirit, character and culture here worth saving.
P.S. NOLA means New Orleans, Louisiana. It is also referred to as the Big Easy or The Crescent City.
I’ll write here a recap of events from Thursday and Friday.
Thrusday: Breakfast at the Commerce on the corner of Gravier and Camp in the CBD (huge Omlette with Cheddar, served with Grits and Pastries under 5 dollars), walk along the Magazine street to Uptown (lots of small speciality stores and boutiques), took the St. Charles Avenue streetcar back to Canal Street, in the evening had a delicious dinner at Antoine’s Restaurant.
Friday: Walked around French Market and the Shops at Canal Street, visited Café du Monde and the riverfront. Enjoyed live music at the Crazy Lobster near the river.
I added some photos from New Orleans to flickr.
I was yesterday and today at Meresuu Spa and Hotel in Narva-Jõesuu for a seminar and I really liked the place.
The Spa has all you need for relaxation. There are a number of different pools and saunas and some I really liked. The buffet food was exquisit, the rooms are spacious and included a small minibar filled a few free(!) drinks. There is a nice cafe in the basement.
Highly recommended.
I have been in Tartu yesterday and today. I had quite a lot of spare time, which I mostly spent in the brilliant new shopping and entertainment centre Tasku. I found some great things: the Rahva Raamat bookstore, where I bought two books (in order to learn French I bought Michel Houellebecq’s “Les Particules élémentaires” and in order to satisfy my abnormal craving for Michael Jackson related information I bought Randy Taraborrelli’s “Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness”. The café at the bookstore, called Cookbook also serves great Chai. Tartu also has Estonia’s only Celio shop, where I bought a fedora and some other things. Celio is great, as it only has clothes for men and those clothes are relatively cheap. If you are after more expensive stuff, the centre also has Pepe Jeans, Levi’s Store, Blend of America, Guess, Esprit and others. There is an Apple authorised reseller iDream as well.
But the best thing about Tasku is the multiplex cinema Cinamon, which has reasonable prices and where I saw 2 great, but diametrically different films. On Saturday I saw “High School Musical 3: Senior Year,” which was wonderful, although perhaps for me already a bit too fast-paced. It used the same formula that worked well for the wildly successful made-for-TV previous intalments and it translated into the movie screen rather well. Kenny Ortega is a genius. The songs perhaps could have been a bit better, but on the whole it was great.
Today I saw the Estonian film “Detsembrikuumus (December Heat)“, which I actually liked even more. Estonian films have gone a long way, and I really think the film was brilliantly done and acted. I especially liked Tõnu Kark, but the whole experience was so good. The film is about the attempted Soviet coup in Estonia on 1 December 1924, but there were references also to today’s challenges throughout the film.
I used to dislike Tartu, but now I cannot wait before I can return here. The Tasku centre is a worthy addition to the magic of Tartu.
In January I will hopefully visit the US for the first time in my life. The country has always intrigued me as it is the source of so many great things (and lately also frustrations). It will be a brief visit to New Orleans and Nashville.
Today I was at my longest party ever. It started at noon and ended before midnight. It involved nice people, with whom I sometimes had trouble finding a common language, but I did play Petanque and enjoyed myself a lot. The food was excellent, and I drank extraordinary amount of Rose wine witout getting drunk.
Today I visited the Porquerolles island off the coast from Hyeres. In summer, there is a boat that takes you there and back for 22 euros. It left at 9.30 and returned at 18.00, the trip lasted an hour and fifteen minutes. The Porquerolles island is small, and there are about 350 people living permanently there. The main thing you can do there is go to the beaches and look around the beautiful nature. There are four bigger beaches, and some coves. As a rule, the further away from the village you go, the less people are, and the nicer the beaches. And there are all sorts: white sand, black sand, sand with pebbles and just pebbles. There are beaches where it goes deeper quickly, and the ones I prefer, where it goes deeper slower.
If you want to take most of the visit you rent a bike. Mine cost 11 euros for the day, and it was a mountain bike. The selection of bikes and rentals was overwhelming, so I just went to one and rented it. As the island lacks its own fresh water, it is scarce and quite expensive so you are better off taking a bottle or two from the mainland.
You go around, swim, sunbathe, admire the vistas and that will take the whole day. I was quite exhausted when I returned to the boat.
Il est difficile de comprendre et parler le français. La majeure partie du peuple que j’ai rencontré ici ne parle pas anglais.
Je veux apprendre le français plus rapidement.
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