Happy Monday to us all....
I saw this phrase in a magazine over the weekend, and I just really like it. It's a quote from Audrey Hepburn.
I believe in Pink.
I believe that Laughing
Is the Best Calorie burner.
I believe in Kissing,
Kissing a lot.
I believe in being Strong
When Everything seems
To be going Wrong.
I believe that Happy Girls
Are the Prettiest Girls.
I believe that Tomorrow
is Another Day and
I believe in Miracles.
Thank you Audrey Hepburn. Beautiful words, and not to be forgotten.
Monday, 11 April 2011
Monday, 4 April 2011
Sunday, 3 April 2011
Adele Concert
Hey!
As I was saying on my last post, on Wednesday night I went to see the lovely English singer Adele in concert here in Milano. The venue was a place called Alcatraz which I realised is where I've seen the most concerts in Milan. A great venue, and not so massive so the atmosphere is always good.
Adele played for about 1.5 hours and she sang songs from both of her albums "19" and "21". I think though that the majority of the songs were from her latest album, "21". Her voice is beautiful and she has a great range. I really think that almost everyone there was amazed at how beautifully she sang and we did all sing along to her most well known songs. She chatted quite a bit between songs as well and she comes across as being really down-to-earth and lots of fun. She had us all laughing with some of her stories. I have to say it was one of the best concerts I've been to in a while, simply put because she has such talent.
I took a couple of photos of the concert but because I'm writing this on my iPhone I can't post them straight away so I'll do that on Monday.
I hope that you are having a great weekend. Here in Milan Spring has really sprung and today it was about 23 degrees and super sunny. I finally went for a jog this morning! The first one in a few months. I want to get back into it especially now that it's warmer.
As I was saying on my last post, on Wednesday night I went to see the lovely English singer Adele in concert here in Milano. The venue was a place called Alcatraz which I realised is where I've seen the most concerts in Milan. A great venue, and not so massive so the atmosphere is always good.
Adele played for about 1.5 hours and she sang songs from both of her albums "19" and "21". I think though that the majority of the songs were from her latest album, "21". Her voice is beautiful and she has a great range. I really think that almost everyone there was amazed at how beautifully she sang and we did all sing along to her most well known songs. She chatted quite a bit between songs as well and she comes across as being really down-to-earth and lots of fun. She had us all laughing with some of her stories. I have to say it was one of the best concerts I've been to in a while, simply put because she has such talent.
I took a couple of photos of the concert but because I'm writing this on my iPhone I can't post them straight away so I'll do that on Monday.
I hope that you are having a great weekend. Here in Milan Spring has really sprung and today it was about 23 degrees and super sunny. I finally went for a jog this morning! The first one in a few months. I want to get back into it especially now that it's warmer.
Thursday, 31 March 2011
Just some Pics
Ok, so this afternoon I'm feeling a little lazy, and so I'm just going to post some recent photo's I've taken, and in some cases then had fun with them using the Hipstamatic or Photoshop applications on my iPhone. Actually one picture is quite a famous one, and I'm actually not sure who to credit it to, however I have found a website with the information on the background behind the phrase and picture. Tonight I am going to see the gorgeous English singer Adele who is playing here in Milano at Alcatraz which is a good venue, not too large and will be a good place to see a performer such as Adele. Last night I saw the film "The Fighter" which I have to say I enjoyed. It's based on a true story and it's quite gritty, tough and sad in parts. Excellent performances from Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg and Melissa Leo. It's worth seeing; but perhaps not on a night when you just feel like watching a chilled relaxing film!
OK...here you go with some pics!
Above is: Tower Bridge in London on a sunny March day.
So the above is a very famous picture and phrase especially seen in the UK, and I found this website with information on how it came to be: http://www.keepcalmandcarryon.com/pages/history. So this image is not a photo by me, but I think it is great, and one phrase worth remembering!
This is a photo of a bunch of flowers that I took at the Baby Shower I went to in London recently, and I had fun photoshopping it!
Above is a photo I took actually last Spring and it is of Lake Como. I've always liked the picture and I recently decided to play with it also on Photoshop and I really like the sharpened effect especially of the tree and blossoms.
Lucky last! This is a photo I took at the "I Blame Coco" concert I went to a couple of weeks ago.
That's all for now! Back soon!
OK...here you go with some pics!
Above is: Tower Bridge in London on a sunny March day.
So the above is a very famous picture and phrase especially seen in the UK, and I found this website with information on how it came to be: http://www.keepcalmandcarryon.com/pages/history. So this image is not a photo by me, but I think it is great, and one phrase worth remembering!
This is a photo of a bunch of flowers that I took at the Baby Shower I went to in London recently, and I had fun photoshopping it!
Above is a photo I took actually last Spring and it is of Lake Como. I've always liked the picture and I recently decided to play with it also on Photoshop and I really like the sharpened effect especially of the tree and blossoms.
Lucky last! This is a photo I took at the "I Blame Coco" concert I went to a couple of weeks ago.
That's all for now! Back soon!
Sunday, 27 March 2011
Busy in London!
Today I am back in Milano after almost a week in London. I was there for a mix of both personal and work reasons. After a day off here in Italy on Thursday 17th March for the 150th Celebrations of Italy unifying into one country, I flew across to London on Friday morning. I went for the weekend to join in the celebrations for a good friend of mine who was having her Baby Shower on the Saturday. It was a great afternoon, that we celebrated in a pub just off Tower Bridge road, with about 30 of us attending. The weather on Saturday was also lovely, really sunny and warm; a real treat for London! On the Sunday those of us who had flown over from Milan went for lunch in Fulham, and then I had dinner with long-time friends of mine at their place, and the food was delish!
I then was working from our London office until Thursday, and also running around London and also Leeds to visit clients. All the client meetings went really well, always a good feeling and positive overall. On Monday night I went and finally saw the film "The Black Swan", and I was really impressed with the film overall especially with Natalie Portman who I thought was brilliant. I completely understood why she received so many awards this year especially the Oscar. I saw the film in one of the cinema's in Leicester Square and had dinner at one of the restaurants in Chinatown just next door.
On Tuesday night after being in Leeds most of the day I went with colleagues to the "St Pancras Grand" restaurant which is on the upper level of St Pancras station. We started with a champagne cocktail at the Champagne bar just next to the restaurant; a great start to our meal! One of my colleagues had booked the restaurant through the website Top Table, so we had a fixed menu of two courses and a glass of champagne for £17 per person. The restaurant has been fitted out really nicely, and the food too is good, I wouldn't say the best food I've ever had in my life, but I had a salmon main and it was very nice. On Wednesday between a day full of meetings my colleague and I tried a restaurant that we had tried to go to another time but it had been full and this time we managed to get a table. The restaurant is called "Yalla Yalla" and they say that the food they serve is Beirut street food. The restaurant is found on Greens Court, and is the corner of Eastcastle street, basically one street back from Oxford street. I really want to recommend this restaurant as the food is just lovely, really flavoursome, and well priced. We ordered a few of their mezze plates and finished with a fresh mint tea. I left thinking that I really wanted to go back again. Their website is: http://www.yalla-yalla.co.uk/. As if I hadn't eaten enough I then met some friends for dinner at a restaurant called "Maximini" which is found on Sussex Place, W2 and it's closest tube stations are either Lancaster Gate or Paddington. This restaurant serves Asian cuisine, and it's always good quality and fresh. In fact the restaurant is part owned by Jimmy Choo. It's become a bit of a local for me in London because I meet a group of friends there almost every time I'm in London, as its easy to access for some that need to catch trains into Paddington. We always have a good night there.
So you may be wondering if I actually did any work whilst in London...but I promise you I did, in between eating great food! Living in Milan means that at a certain point I really miss eating various international cuisine, especially good Asian food like Thai or Vietnamese. There is a Chinatown in Milan, so its possible to eat Chinese, and also there is Asian supermarkets where you can buy Asian food as well. I haven't seen any Vietnamese restaurants here in Milan, although they may exist and there are a couple of Thai restaurants however they tend to be quite expensive. Hence why when I am visiting London I tend to eat food that I can't get in Italy.
The trip was good, and as I mentioned all went well on the work side of things, however I was really looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again when I got back to Milano!
Hope that you are having a great weekend. Tonight I am going to a friends house as he is having a party to celebrate his birthday, with a theme of Cowboys & Indians! So this morning I went to buy a few of us cowboy hats, as we have been told that if we are not dressed as per the theme that we can't enter! It should be a fun night!
I then was working from our London office until Thursday, and also running around London and also Leeds to visit clients. All the client meetings went really well, always a good feeling and positive overall. On Monday night I went and finally saw the film "The Black Swan", and I was really impressed with the film overall especially with Natalie Portman who I thought was brilliant. I completely understood why she received so many awards this year especially the Oscar. I saw the film in one of the cinema's in Leicester Square and had dinner at one of the restaurants in Chinatown just next door.
On Tuesday night after being in Leeds most of the day I went with colleagues to the "St Pancras Grand" restaurant which is on the upper level of St Pancras station. We started with a champagne cocktail at the Champagne bar just next to the restaurant; a great start to our meal! One of my colleagues had booked the restaurant through the website Top Table, so we had a fixed menu of two courses and a glass of champagne for £17 per person. The restaurant has been fitted out really nicely, and the food too is good, I wouldn't say the best food I've ever had in my life, but I had a salmon main and it was very nice. On Wednesday between a day full of meetings my colleague and I tried a restaurant that we had tried to go to another time but it had been full and this time we managed to get a table. The restaurant is called "Yalla Yalla" and they say that the food they serve is Beirut street food. The restaurant is found on Greens Court, and is the corner of Eastcastle street, basically one street back from Oxford street. I really want to recommend this restaurant as the food is just lovely, really flavoursome, and well priced. We ordered a few of their mezze plates and finished with a fresh mint tea. I left thinking that I really wanted to go back again. Their website is: http://www.yalla-yalla.co.uk/. As if I hadn't eaten enough I then met some friends for dinner at a restaurant called "Maximini" which is found on Sussex Place, W2 and it's closest tube stations are either Lancaster Gate or Paddington. This restaurant serves Asian cuisine, and it's always good quality and fresh. In fact the restaurant is part owned by Jimmy Choo. It's become a bit of a local for me in London because I meet a group of friends there almost every time I'm in London, as its easy to access for some that need to catch trains into Paddington. We always have a good night there.
So you may be wondering if I actually did any work whilst in London...but I promise you I did, in between eating great food! Living in Milan means that at a certain point I really miss eating various international cuisine, especially good Asian food like Thai or Vietnamese. There is a Chinatown in Milan, so its possible to eat Chinese, and also there is Asian supermarkets where you can buy Asian food as well. I haven't seen any Vietnamese restaurants here in Milan, although they may exist and there are a couple of Thai restaurants however they tend to be quite expensive. Hence why when I am visiting London I tend to eat food that I can't get in Italy.
The trip was good, and as I mentioned all went well on the work side of things, however I was really looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again when I got back to Milano!
Hope that you are having a great weekend. Tonight I am going to a friends house as he is having a party to celebrate his birthday, with a theme of Cowboys & Indians! So this morning I went to buy a few of us cowboy hats, as we have been told that if we are not dressed as per the theme that we can't enter! It should be a fun night!
Friday, 25 March 2011
I Blame Coco!
Last Wednesday 16th March myself and some colleagues discovered that Sony (plus a few other associated sponsors), was holding a party at the Superstudio on Via Tortona in Milano, and that the super cool band "I Blame Coco" plus DJ's "Cassius" were playing. The entrance to the venue was free, although this was only after 11pm. Prior to that people with VIP passes could enter, but anybody else had to wait till after 11. So even though we were not entirely sure about the whole entry process and if it was going to be a mad crazy scene we decided to go.
We arrived a bit before 11pm, and on the street there was a few hundred people waiting to go in. After waiting for about 15 minutes or so the security guards decided to open the entrance which was the size of a standard door, instead of the big double gates about five metres further on. What ensued was a mass of people pushing, moving, squashed, and ultimately desperately surging forward to enter inside. When I finally got inside I actually was shaking, and thinking I hope that this is all worth it!
Superstudio is a venue most well known for being used in the Milan Salone del Mobile (Furniture Fair) for the Fuori Salone displays and events. It's actually quite a big space, with various different areas are available to use. Sony had hired the biggest areas, and as a result the space was probably about 2/3 full. There was also an open bar, however to be honest there was a massive number of people all trying to order drinks so at the end I think I had just one.
For me though it was all about the music, and "I Blame Coco" were worth the effort. I think that they pretty much played all of the music from their first album and really sounded great. I like Coco Sumner's voice, style and she seems to be a very independent soul. The band's music is a combination of electro pop and new wave. Because there wasn't such a big crowd there it meant that everyone could get quite close to the stage, and I think that everyone there really enjoyed their performance. The band is not that hugely known in Italy, but I think that they are slowly becoming more popular and growing their fan base.
We also stayed for the DJ's "Cassius" and they too were very cool. The crowd very quickly started dancing to their music, and they are great to see perform. They played for at least 1.5-2 hours, so we also got into the swing of things with some dancing before heading out.
A great night of fun!
We arrived a bit before 11pm, and on the street there was a few hundred people waiting to go in. After waiting for about 15 minutes or so the security guards decided to open the entrance which was the size of a standard door, instead of the big double gates about five metres further on. What ensued was a mass of people pushing, moving, squashed, and ultimately desperately surging forward to enter inside. When I finally got inside I actually was shaking, and thinking I hope that this is all worth it!
Superstudio is a venue most well known for being used in the Milan Salone del Mobile (Furniture Fair) for the Fuori Salone displays and events. It's actually quite a big space, with various different areas are available to use. Sony had hired the biggest areas, and as a result the space was probably about 2/3 full. There was also an open bar, however to be honest there was a massive number of people all trying to order drinks so at the end I think I had just one.
For me though it was all about the music, and "I Blame Coco" were worth the effort. I think that they pretty much played all of the music from their first album and really sounded great. I like Coco Sumner's voice, style and she seems to be a very independent soul. The band's music is a combination of electro pop and new wave. Because there wasn't such a big crowd there it meant that everyone could get quite close to the stage, and I think that everyone there really enjoyed their performance. The band is not that hugely known in Italy, but I think that they are slowly becoming more popular and growing their fan base.
We also stayed for the DJ's "Cassius" and they too were very cool. The crowd very quickly started dancing to their music, and they are great to see perform. They played for at least 1.5-2 hours, so we also got into the swing of things with some dancing before heading out.
A great night of fun!
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Culture!
In the last couple of days I've been out and about enjoying Milan, despite the rainy weather. Every now and then in the past couple of weeks we are having great weather and glimpses of spring, however since Sunday we've had rainy days.
On Sunday I met a group of friends for brunch at a place called "Indiana Post Bar & Restaurant". I've not been there before, and they have a great brunch menu for €18 per person, which and I know this sounds really strange is actually a "proper" brunch. In Milan there are a few places which offer weekend brunch menu's however, they don't include a lot of the standard brunch fare such as pancakes, eggs benedict etc, so it was refreshing to go somewhere where it was possible to order these plus scrambled eggs, salads, and burgers plus then also have a selection of food from a buffet available, and non-stop coffee. Also the price was better than a lot of other restaurants, which quite often charge upwards of €25 per person for an average brunch.
If you would like to go, the restaurant is on Naviglio Grande, and their details are:
"Indiana Post Bar & Restaurant"
Via Casale, 7
Alzaia Naviglio Grande
Milano
T: 02 58112220
In the afternoon I had booked tickets to see the "Impressionisti" exhibition at "Palazzo Reale" (http://www.impressionistimilano.it/). This exhibition started on 2nd March and its running until 19th June. Tickets cost €9 per person (plus any booking fees). This lovely exhibition is made up of artworks from the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute from the USA. It comprises paintings by majority French artists and there is a lot of Renoir and Monet paintings in particular which are really beautiful. There are paintings which are both portraits and landscape paintings from their lives in France plus international trips to Italy and the UK for example. It is proving to be a popular exhibition, and there was quite a large number of people enjoying the exhibition whilst I was there plus a queue of people outside when I left waiting to go in. However, I think that when it comes to Impressionist exhibitions, wherever I am they are always popular with lots of people going to see these beautiful artworks. I think that Impressionism is definitely my favourite period with regards to art, and has been for a long time. It's worth a visit!
Then lucky last for my couple of days of culture, last night I went with a few friends to a bar called "Magnolia" to see the Scottish band Glasvegas. The bar is actually just out of Milan, near Idroscala and Linate airport. It's not a massive venue, and I guess that there was a couple of hundred people there last night. I actually didn't know too much about Glasvegas beforehand, but I did enjoy the concert. They have a new album that they are busy promoting at the moment. Their music is rock / indie and they've got some good songs. Their drummer is amazing! She is Swedish and a real rock chick!!
On Sunday I met a group of friends for brunch at a place called "Indiana Post Bar & Restaurant". I've not been there before, and they have a great brunch menu for €18 per person, which and I know this sounds really strange is actually a "proper" brunch. In Milan there are a few places which offer weekend brunch menu's however, they don't include a lot of the standard brunch fare such as pancakes, eggs benedict etc, so it was refreshing to go somewhere where it was possible to order these plus scrambled eggs, salads, and burgers plus then also have a selection of food from a buffet available, and non-stop coffee. Also the price was better than a lot of other restaurants, which quite often charge upwards of €25 per person for an average brunch.
If you would like to go, the restaurant is on Naviglio Grande, and their details are:
"Indiana Post Bar & Restaurant"
Via Casale, 7
Alzaia Naviglio Grande
Milano
T: 02 58112220
In the afternoon I had booked tickets to see the "Impressionisti" exhibition at "Palazzo Reale" (http://www.impressionistimilano.it/). This exhibition started on 2nd March and its running until 19th June. Tickets cost €9 per person (plus any booking fees). This lovely exhibition is made up of artworks from the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute from the USA. It comprises paintings by majority French artists and there is a lot of Renoir and Monet paintings in particular which are really beautiful. There are paintings which are both portraits and landscape paintings from their lives in France plus international trips to Italy and the UK for example. It is proving to be a popular exhibition, and there was quite a large number of people enjoying the exhibition whilst I was there plus a queue of people outside when I left waiting to go in. However, I think that when it comes to Impressionist exhibitions, wherever I am they are always popular with lots of people going to see these beautiful artworks. I think that Impressionism is definitely my favourite period with regards to art, and has been for a long time. It's worth a visit!
Then lucky last for my couple of days of culture, last night I went with a few friends to a bar called "Magnolia" to see the Scottish band Glasvegas. The bar is actually just out of Milan, near Idroscala and Linate airport. It's not a massive venue, and I guess that there was a couple of hundred people there last night. I actually didn't know too much about Glasvegas beforehand, but I did enjoy the concert. They have a new album that they are busy promoting at the moment. Their music is rock / indie and they've got some good songs. Their drummer is amazing! She is Swedish and a real rock chick!!
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