Caribbean summer in Rotterdam...Zomerkarnaval 2009!

Every last weekend of July Rotterdam turns into a Caribbean colony for....2 days! Drums, music and people dressed in exotic, colourful costumes are the most normal thing to see and hear while walking in the center:-)

What once started as Antilles-only festival, grew up in the last 25 years to a huge party event, where not only the Dutch Caribbean islands are represented but there are also participants from Capo Verde, Africa, Brazil, Surinam, Marocco and even the Netherlands.

The weather helped a lot to get the "Caribbean feeling" and people were dancing in the street together with the performers. Rotterdam was crowded, but the ambiente was amazing...

Taste (of) Italy...

May I present you to some deliciously looking, very inviting and yummy smelling Italian "dolci" (sweets in Italian language)...During my first day in Sardinia i found a sweet small pastry shop in Villasimius where everything looked soooo good!

















 
Italians are famous for good cuisine and this I want to stress includes great dessert and amazing pastries! very often one can see some with almonds or with marzipan (specialty from Sicily)...Here you can find some pics of typical Sardinian sweets, the so called "pardulas" (tiny cheese cakes flauvoured with safran, vanille and orange or lemon peel), who just melt in your mouth and make you melt before u put them there:-)

About Nora, the first Sardinian city....

On a small peninsula, next to the village Pula, around 60 km from Cagliari one can visit the remains of the Nora, which is believed to have been the first Sardinian city. It has been settled by the ancient Nuraghi people, later the Phoenicians and the Romans lived here.

The different civilisations left beautiful mosaics (partly restored), impressive roads (still in perfect shape nowadays), glass and ceramics tableware (to be admired at the museum in Pula)..

Because the southern part of Sardinia is sinking into the Mediterranean Sea, a substantial part of the former town is now under the sea and can be visited by snorkeling. On the right side of the entrance there is the Pula laguna with a very nicely made aquarium and a turtle hospital. When we visited there were 5 patients in there. 

A stroll through Cagliari....

The capital of Sardinia impresses its visitors with majestetic stone buildings and charmed them with its huge palm trees as well as with its beauty. This could have been somewhere in Paris, I started thinking aloud while looking at the lovely ornaments at one old house in the centre. The center of Cagliari is called Castello and it was build on a top of a hill.

Nowadays the city has 170 000 inhabitants and offers next to narrow shopping streets, also a Botanic garden, old churches and a huge harbour.