Tag Archives: cities

Vereint in Quito

by ladina

Aterrizado. Landed.

Soviel verrät mir der Bildschirm am Flughafen von Quito. Flurinas Flugzeug ist sicher gelandet, sie ist bereits auf ecuadorianischem Boden und sehr bald werde ich sie endlich in die Arme schliessen können. José und ich begeben uns vor die Türe der Arribos internacionales/International arrivals und warten gespannt. Jedes Mal wenn die Türe aufgeht steht mein Herz still. Aber nein — es ist nur der Pilot. Und der Passagier aus der Business Class. Und das Kind, das von einer Stewardess begleitet wird. Und und und. Hat Flu vielleicht ihr Gepäck nicht bekommen? Oder ist etwas beim Zoll schief gelaufen (schliesslich wusste ich, dass sie Käse für uns im Gepäck hatte)? Blöde Fragen beginnt man sich zu stellen, vollkommen unrealistisch.

Die Zeit vergeht langsam, zu langsam, wenn man etwas mit so viel Vorfreude erwartet.

 

Aber dann endlich ging die Schiebetüre auf und da kam sie heraus, wackeren Schrittes, ihren liebsten Rucksack tragend und mit dem grössten Lachen auf dem Gesicht, das ich je bei ihr gesehen habe.

 

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Brooklynites for a week

by jose

 

“I hadn’t even mentioned Airbnb because I thought you already knew, what with you two being globe-trotters and all!”

Liza had been unable to host us, but had looked into a number of alternatives to help us, although without success. Fortunately, Madleina, Ladina’s cousin whom we had visited two weeks earlier in the Silicon Valley, had told us about Airbnb, a community-based platform for subletting and subrenting everything from a bed to a villa. We had ended up finding the cheapest bed we could possibly hope for, given New York’s crazy accomodation prices.

Liza (Elisabeth by her real name, but it’s damn too long!) was another old friend of mine, who happened to be in New York at the same time as us. She was greatly enjoying her stay, and, as an art lover, loved the fact that she was able to go to all the museums of the city for her work. We took the opportunity to spend a fabulous evening and make a few cultural visits together.

“So now you’re staying in Brooklyn?”

We were, de facto, Brooklynites for a week.

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SF

by jose

I had not seen him for over two years. I remember it well. Ladina and I had made a short trip to Paris, to see family, friends, and celebrate New Year’s Eve in the City of Light.

We made a call at his apartment one evening, the one he shared with Thomas at the time, another very good friend of mine: we all had known each other during classe préparatoire, that oh-so intensive two-year course aiming to make us enter the most prestigious schools of France. We had struggled together, endured together, stuffed our sleep-deprived brains with ludicrous amounts of knowledge, and had become close all the while. And we had left it, more disgusted by the pompous and arrogant elitism of it all, and by the dysfunctional educational and academic system of the Western world, than elevated to any prestige. But I had come out with the best friends I am to ever make, and for this I will never regret it.

Maël was there and as always, it felt like we had seen each other but the day before. Before I knew it, we were sitting on the floor watching Machete with a steak in our plates. He told me he was going to study a (third) Master degree in Berkeley, San Francisco Bay Area — or how he put it: “J’vais à SF” — and that was the last I saw of him.

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Mumbai & Ellora

by jose

Ladina put down her whip, took off her hat and wiped the sweat off her brow. We had just escaped a deadly arrow trap followed by swinging axes when we had stumbled upon a long gallery. Astonished by our discovery, we slowly made our way along the walls, using our torch to bring light to ancient, crumbling bas-reliefs depicting what seemed to be forgotten gods in scenes of daily life: battling demons, wrenching entrails out of an agonizing enemy, or sometimes simply lifting mountains above their heads.

“I think we would better appreciate all of this if we had some historical context, or better still, theological explanations.”

“Let me get the Lonely Planet out”

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Hong Kong, again

by ladina

Three months after our first visit to Hong Kong, the anticipation of going back there grew very high. How often over yet another meal of nasi goreng did we dream of the variety of dim sums? When did we actually last wear clean clothes? Or sleep in the same bed for more than five consecutive days? When did we last receive handwritten letters?

Our high expectations were not disappointed: in Hong Kong, we were able to appreciate the conveniences of sedentary life for two weeks. Again, we were very warmly welcomed by José’s relatives, and they were keen on showing us around in their city, inviting us to taste new savours of the Asian cuisine and taking us back to our favourite yum cha places. On several occasions, we got lost in the jungle of tall skyscrapers and shopping malls, amazed by all the shiny and glittery goods in the shop windows and the modern architecture of the buildings. Eating was one of the main occupation during these days: as you can see on the pictures, we tasted numberless specialities from all over Asia, including sinful desserts. Therefore, yielding to all the temptations, we put on a few pounds — as a reserve for meagrer times in Nepal.

All too soon, the moment of packing our backpacks and saying goodbye to everyone arrived. This time, it was much harder to leave Hong Kong behind, for we did not know when we will go back there again. All we have left now are the beautiful memories of those days as well as José’s photos; and the latter we want to share with you in this post.

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