Welcome!


You can find DIY and inspiring posts.

Comments are welcome as long as they are nice and constructive.

Much love and blessings

Monday, January 31, 2011

Hommage to my beloved Egypt

Rupadelik and I took a couple of pictures of Cairo just a week before January 25th. I had the idea to take black and white pictures of old buildings in downtown, part of my latest picture series.


Most of buildings in Downtown are reminiscent of Paris in 1870s. And at some point declared the most beautiful city on the world in 1920. The "Paris on the Nile" has a charm, even with the neglect and the deterioration due to climate. 

Rupy provided a panoramic of Talaat Harb Square. Stunning.  (Click on the picture to get a better view) Just stunning! I need to stress that this picture is licensed under CC by - nc - nd.



Café Riche. A city trademark. Food is reasonable, prices a bit high, service not so fast...but it is a nice sitting area. Ask for Tony. He is quite a character... The life of the place.


When we were there a guy stopped us to tell us the story of the guy in the statue. Yeah, some foreigners know this trick. We just listened for a while about "Mohamed Talaat Pasha Harb, the founder of Banque Misr...". 


Anyhow, We moved on and took a couple of more pics...Here you go. 


American University in Cairo - Greek Campus. 












Marché de Bab El Louq.





Hamada baladi cafe? Is that the name of it...


Groppi. Had nice ice cream (mango and strawberry) but I dislike the minimum charge! 



Words are not enough to express how I feel about what is going on in Egypt right now. I just feel proud of the Egyptian people.  Ana Masrya kaman! Horreya!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Follow The Yellow Brick Road - Király Street

On my journey to Budapest, last November, I was staying on the "Pescht" side of the Danube. I ended up in a hotel in a very design friendly street called Carat, just off from Deák Square

Pizzeria

I had such a wonderful time walking up and down that street, as it's filled with very indie design shops, cafes and art galleries. 

View from Kiraly street of Anker Koz Street. 

It is such a colorful street, and it's full of life both day and night.  On my usual morning break I would stop for coffee at La Petite Française. It's an Interior Design/Cafeteria and they sell all sort of French imported sweets. We bought a bag of "Carafous", caramel toffees with a fine sugar coating. They just melt in your mouth... 

La Petite Française - Front

Inside store

In the forefront of the store, apart from buying sweets, you might want to try the coffee, which is excellent, served in a Almodovar design cup and with one of those carafou on the side. The cake selection is ample, and you will be able to find as well canned food like Marrons, Home made marmalade, Beaujolais wine, and reusable shopping bags.  The rest of the store at the back you will find all the interior design items placed with exquisite taste and elegance. 

Tick-Tack.

Back to Kiraly street, I remember it was my last day in Budapest and I had been noticing something every time I walked there. I noticed there was a building with a yellow brick entrance. 


Yellow Brick Road.

And then on the opposite side a nice garage door with colorful panes. It reminded me of Mondrian with the exception of green and replaced by white. 


Funky Garage door

But what really caught my attention was this strange little creature that I saw all over the place on this same street! 


I wonder what it is?
Here are some pics of the creatures:















It was sort of rainy. 

Anyhow, I proceeded down. There are a bunch of art Galleries and the main one was hosting an event of young "Green" designers,  I just manage to see series of plastic bottles laying around and hanging from the main entrance just like Christmas garlands. I don't know what the point of it was. As well two stacks of newspapers were laying there.  I don't understand the concept. I don't understand what the designers were trying to convey. 

Here is a nice building that was having some renovations. 


Most of the buildings are old, very dirty and it happened to us, that some bricks actually fell from the roof structure. 



I didn't reach the end of the street. I noticed a winged maiden just behind St. Teresa Church. 
It is actually a fountain with two lion head which distribute water through their mouths. It's fresh spring water, as Budapest is known for it's thermal and fresh water springs. This water was cold. 


I turned left at Ferencz Liszt ter. Yes the street named after the famous Hungarian composer. 

Best part after min 6. 


But this is another street. 

Anyhow, if you happen to know the name of that creature, let me know.

Kissies

Saturday, January 15, 2011

My little piece of Heaven - Ananda Camp

If there is a place on earth which I can call home, this is it. There is no place I'd rather be but here. Ever since I first came to this camp I knew I had developed a strong tie with it. My roots were being planted little by little, and each time I go back, deeper they grow. There is a man to thank for this, and  he is Mr. Ezz Gelbana. He has been running the camp for over 10 years, and managed to create a charming, peaceful and relaxing place. This is his kingdom, as he is on the watch as a lion over a hill. Mr. Ezz is a beautiful person. To me and to my closest of friends and relatives, he has become a father. He makes his guests feel like family members not just mere tourists. 
This was my second time at the camp and here are some pictures of the place. I think photographs explain it better than words.


The main hut.


These huts are equipped with electricity, the ones by the beach in exception with the 2 bungalows do not have electricity. 


Main hut sitting area.


What I like about this place is that it's down to earth. It doesn't pretend to be, but it simply IS down to earth. 


The place is clean, serves create food and is able to provide services as transportation, snorkeling equipment and has one of the best beaches on the area. 


The decor of the place is welcoming and calming.


Last time we experienced a rain storm, it was quite an experience! Thankfully, nothing happened, and the huts we resistant and no water leaked in. 


Some of the wooden huts near the main hut.


The embracing rocky mountains of Sinai.


A sheltering sky.


The most amazing sunsets I've ever experienced. 


Hammocks.


Nice, uh?


To visit Ananda you can contact Mr Ezz Gelbana at his mobile phone: 
00 20 123561742
It is located in Sinai, just south of Taba (45Km from), and North of Nuweiba (22Km from). You can reach it by car, bus (East Delta from Cairo) or sometimes there are flights to Taba and the airport is quite near.


There are three types of accommodations: 
-Bungalows with bathrooms and electricity
-Wooden huts with electricity
-Wooden huts by the beach with no electricity.

There are two main bathroom with warm water supply, these are clean and tidy. Showers and WC. 

Prices are reasonable, and food and drinks are served there. Vegetarian options are available with a great menu and only high quality food is served. 


Colombo who works there under Ezz is Mr Miracle, anything you might ask him he will get for you, from toothpaste and brush to a tasty Banana Shake. I highly recommend to try, also try the Sahlab and do not miss the Om Ali from the kitchen. You might also want to try the tagines and pizzas. All made on the spot.  

It is often a suitable place to do meditation and yoga, and some trainings are held there. 
More info?
Take a plane to Egypt and go visit! It's totally worth it.  


Pictures: 50% by Rupadelik and 50% by Pixadelik.