Pretty Little Liars – Charles

Hold and behold, what amazing season finale we had on Tuesday night (or in my case, since I’m in Europe… yesterday!).

I am still quite speechless about what I have seen, and I will most definitely have to rewatch the episode once more in the days to come. The episode was intense, I felt breathless a couple of times. I was so worried that one of the girls or one of their boyfriends is A!

girls

So, you can imagine my relief when I figured out the anagram…. Charles! And not just Charles… He’s a DiLaurentis! At one point while I was watching one of the earliest seasons of Pretty Little Liars, I was quite convinced that Alison had a twin; but it never gone through my mind that Jason could have a twin. The story was all the time about Alison, and Jason was never really the focus of the plot.

charles#

So…. my thoughts on the episode itself and the future epsiodes:

  • If Jason has a twin… Spencer has another brother…
  • We have met Charles before… but where?
  • A’s doll house… what’s up with that?
  • How long have the girls been stuck there? It looks like they new their way around the house by end of the episode… Does that suggest that within that 45 minutes, days have gone by?
  • Mona is blonde (yuck!) and alive
  • Andrew Campbell, is he in favour of the girls or against?
  • Emily and Alison… will there still be sparks between them?

girls2

GermanWings Plane Wreck Aftermath

Today the online news-feeds are all filled with photos of this horrible plane crash. I have also read about theories on what could have happened, and this is some of what I came across, which might be interest to you, and a quick recap of all things going on:

Both Mr. Hollande (France) and Ms. Merkel (German) were scene on the accident scene.

planewreck merkel and hollande

The before and after of the plane:

planewreck

…And the debris

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The black-box / cockpit voice recorder is recovered

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GermanWings plane crash; 150 dead

Today I will dedicate my blog post as a remembrance for those 150 people who are presumed to have lost their lives this morning in a plane crash aboard GermanWings Flight 4U9525. The passenger list is said to include two babies and 16 students who were on a school trip. The crash happened in a remote snowy area in the French alps. The plane left Barcelona to its destination being Düsseldorf in Germany.

germanwings-crash-france-map

A little under an hour since its departure, the officials received a call of distress.

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A rescue helicopter from the French Security Civil flies over the French Alps during a rescue operation after the crash of an Airbus A320, near Seyne-les-Alpes. (Reuters)

Since the weather conditions are considered to be drastic, with local storms, snow is above 1,800 metres and relatively low clouds, it is proving to be very difficult to land in the area with helicopters. French police explain that due to the difficult terrain, it is expected to take days to retrieve the bodies and debris.

During the conference, GermanWIngs CEO stated that the pilot has worked with the company for over 10 years and has over 6,000 flight hours under his belt. He continued saying that the crash itself lasted just 8 minutes. The crashed plane; A320 is 24 years old and has been serving with GermanWings since 1991, according to online database airfleets.net.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she will head to the crash site.

GermanWings is a low-cost airline based in Cologne, and is part of the services offered by Lufthansa. 

Laferla Cross walk

Another great area for walking, is the surroundings of Laferla Cross in Siggiewi. The walk is uphill and a bit tiring, however, you get to see the best views of Siggiewi and all the countryside which is part of the town I am living in. The photos below are of what you can see once up the hill. In the coming days I will also include other photos of the walk which leads to this cross. I encourage you to go here, as it is very peaceful and relaxing. It’s also really clean, and has just been renovated by the Siggiewi Local Council, thanks to the funds from the European Union.

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20150319 - Laferla Cross Siggiewi Walk (48) copy

20150319 - Laferla Cross Siggiewi Walk (58) copy

20150319 - Laferla Cross Siggiewi Walk (13) copy

20150319 - Laferla Cross Siggiewi Walk (34) copy

20150319 - Laferla Cross Siggiewi Walk (38) copy

20150319 - Laferla Cross Siggiewi Walk (41) copy

I wonder…

Sometimes, I wonder why I used to spend time with certain people, even when they gave me so much shit….
Is it perhaps, because I did not love myself enough, or is it because I was in love with the idea of someone?

I wonder…

We love heartbreak, and we love putting it on ourselves. We’re more nostalgic for things that never happened than we are grateful and present in the things that are. We start missing things we never had, that we just created in our minds, in this false, alter-reality.

Brianna Wiest

Solar Eclipse

Have you managed to see the solar eclipse?

Are you stuck at work?

Is it too cloudy where you are?

This is what I managed to capture in the not so sunny Malta:

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20150320 - Sun Eclipse (9) copy

20150320 - Sun Eclipse (12) copy

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My Pimped up Aglio, Olio & Peperoncino

Today, I decided to take a well known recipe and pimp it up to make it more tasty. It turned out divine and thought I will share it with you. Besides… I have not shared one of my recipes with you for a while 🙂

This can be served as either a main dish or as a starter…

Ingredients (for 2)

  • 200g pasta of your choice
  • olive oil
  • garlic, crushed
  • chili oil  (optional)
  • chilies, de-seeded and chopped thinly
  • mushrooms, chopped
  • butter
  • fine herbs
  • parsley, chopped thinly (optional)
  • spring onions
  • salt and pepper
  • cheese (grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano, optional)

Method

  1. Start with cooking the pasta of your choice according to the instructions on the packet. Make sure that you leave them al dente. Drizzle some olive oil and fine herbs.
  2. Reserve 3 tablespoons of the cooking liquid in a glass on the side.
  3. In a frying pan I melted the butter and sauteed the crushed garlic and soon after, added the mushrooms.
  4. Once golden and not yet browned, I’ve put in the thinly chopped chilies, and added chili oil for the extra hot spice.
  5. Add the reserved cooking liquid.
  6. I didn’t want the spring onions to be fully cooked which is why I added them at this point. I wanted the bits to remain crunchy-ish.
  7. Once ready, add the pasta and season with parsley, salt and pepper.
  8. Toss to make sure that the pasta is covered in the mixture and everything is combined.
  9. Serve immediately with grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano.

20150319 aglio olio peperoncino pimped upBon Apetit!

Tattoos of Famous Paintings

As part of my on going research to find my next tattoo, I’ve indulged into researching tattoos of famous paintings, starting with my favourite painters/artists of course. Art has been a part of my life for years, and whenever I am on holiday, I do my best to visit art museums to learn more about this subject. My favourite museum to date is of course in Amsterdam since Van Gogh is my number 1 artist 🙂

Here’s some tattoos I come across, in no particular order:

  • Banksy

art_banksy art_banksy2

  • Hokusai

Art_The Great Wave off Kanagawa,” by Hokusai

  • Pablo Picasso

art_“War and Peace,” by Pablo Picasso

  • Salvador Dali

art_“The Elephants,” by Salvador Dalí

  • Michelangelo

art_“The Creation of Adam,” by Michelangelo

  • Van Gogh 

art_“The Scream,” Edvard Munsch  art_van gogh starry night

Of Age and Maturity

(no, I am not talking about aged wine here…)

During the weekend, I always try to find some time to go through the posts written by the bloggers I follow, which I might have missed during the week, when I was too busy to catch up. One of the articles I came across, was the one in relation to age.

I must say, that most often than not, I fool too many people I meet. There’s an assumption that I am still very young, so they wonder how could I have accomplished so much at such a tender and innocent age. It’s almost funny. Sometimes, it doesn’t feel like  a compliment. I am 27, and will be 28 in October. That’s why I have purchased a house, that’s why I own a car and that’s why I am so mature. When you are at a certain age in life, you have certain commitments and because of this you need to grow up. You can’t just waste all your money on every little thing you see and want. You have to think it through. Do I actually need this? Will I use it? Will I make it to end of the month? Sooner or later, you accept this and you just deal with it without getting annoyed at yourself and the limitations. To an extend.

To me, being mature is a good thing, as long as you know how to loosen up and have fun when the situations require you to do so. What is life without a bit of an adventure, without drinks with friends and without doing things at the spur of the moment? Sure, I am a bit of a planner and I hate it when things I planned don’t go my way. But when you sometimes go out without making any plans and go with the flow, when you least expect to enjoy yourself… those are the times which you will remember and which you will treasure.. Nothing wrong with being spontaneous, as long as you keep your feet on the ground and not do anything irrational!

Along the lines of age and maturity, I really do not appreciate people who can’t be mature during times of need. They just like taking the piss out of everything, and all they deserve is a slap in the face, or their head smashed into the wall…Point taken, I think? With this in mind, what I am about to say comes with no surprise; This is why I am no longer interested in guys who are my age or younger. They just stress me out, and I feel like I am their mother; having to tell them what to do because they don’t know any better… or teach them how to be mature, and save up some money in case hell breaks lose. You can compare it to a mission impossible. Is it so much to ask to be responsible of your own actions and to be able to deal with your own crap?

Seems like it.

So until then, I shall remain a cat lady……… Maybe one day, one great guy will sweep me off my feet once and for all.

Kurt Cobain – ‘Montage of Heck’ – The Documentary

Kurt Cobain has left us just over 20 years ago, and still he is a musician which is to this day talked about and not at all forgotten.

The singer’s anger, frustration and depression was very well documented, cobainand it is finally time for it to be made public in a documentary. This will capture his life on the road and success with Nirvana, his his life as a family man as well as his beautiful daughter who was just two when he passed away. It will contain several unseen home movies as well as more of Kurt’s art whilst growing up.

There’s also a rumour about about the fact that  the soundtrack of ‘Kurt Cobain – Montage of Heck’  is actually an unreleased acoustic song by yours truly.

Have a look at the trailer below:

Courtney Love has cooperated during this montage and his daughter, Frances Bean is one of the executive producers for the film. This documentary has already aired on Sundance Festival and been reviewed as the best film in the festival by Entertainment Weekly. It is expected to be aired on HBO on May 4th.

I can’t wait for this… Can you?

Thoughts, Travel, Food & Lifestyle