A cafe for eating pies

Due to my looming international move I have been forced to sort through the pile of magazine cut outs. I stumbled upon an article about a pie restaurant from an estonian women's magazine Anne and Stiil. I have kept this article as I love the classical estonian and russian pies. Next time in Estonia this place is on my list of places to be checked out.

Cafe Nikolay

They have restaurants/ cafes in Moscow and Kiev and now also in Tallinn.

I wish they would deliver abroad....

The Duck Race

Luxembourg is a place with a lot of activities. Some might seem rather strange to the innocent tourist or expatriate who happen to be in this country. Most are however activities that one should participate in at least once to make their stay in Luxembourg really local.

In April you have the change to take part in the Duck Race, first held in 2002, where thousands of bath ducks 'swim' down the Petrusse in Luxembourg City. It is a nice event usually starting around lunchtimewith of course vendors for cremant, beer, snacks ... some entertainment ... and then the grand finale!

You can purchase a duck (or several) to participate. They are all gathered together and then released.

Here they come! 

Excited onlookers

The ducks are numbered 

and the duck that reaches the finish line first wins a prize. As far as I know, the profits go to a good cause.  

More information about current year's event can be found by searching online for Luxembourg Duck Race...

Shop in Berlin

I'm going through my old Elle Decoration magazines and came across this recommendation for a design furniture store for my next Berlin trip:

Original In Berlin (originalinberlin.com)

2 concept stores in Paris

We are building our first apartment. So far our moto has been: "to rent means to remain free" but the property ownership bug reached us too and we caved in. This also means that I regularly dig out my Elle Decoration magazines to get new ideas and also just to unwind and hope that someday maybe (if the construction company does not screw up) we will also have a beautiful home.

In February's ED I found a reference to a concept store in Paris. So far I have visited Merci, which I absolutely adore and now the magazine recommends also Caravane. I cannot wait to visit. Their website is very promising but there is no reference on the website to the address that the magazine refers to: 6, rue Pavée, Paris. Now I have to go and find out...

Some photos from in front of Merci from 2012:

My father-in-law with my son

A couple Estonian webshop sites

unika.ee - wood, textile, ceramics, paper, etc. products for your home
lespetites.ee - many estonian designers - clothes, shoes, etc.

Theatre - Punchdrunk

In 2007 I went to see the Masque of the Red Death at Battersea Old Town Hall. We chose a show that ended with a ball.

I have never been quite the same. No, edit that, my expectations of theatre have never been the same again. For 5 years this performance has stayed with me and I cannot wait to see another one. I might just book my travels in order to see something, anything done by Punchdrunk.

Check them out! www.punchdrunk.com

Gubbio - a perfect daytrip

As I am sorting my photos of 2011, I came across this one. I got drawn in. And then I remembered the softness of the air, the smell of spring, the birds, and the smell of the stone.

It's taken in a town/city called Gubbio. In Italy, Umbria.

During Easter of 2011, we were looking for a daytrip destination and this was rather perfect distance from Urbino. The place is beautiful! It's nestled on a hillside and is the perfect old italian town.

We had not done much research as to what to do there and where to go so we just wandered around. The streets are small and narrow, with a lot of ceramic shops. Seeing older ladies and gentlemen in their studios practicing their craft was inspirational. There was some kind of satisfaction about them and peace with the world. Like as if they would never need to get to New York or Milan or ... to show their work in big galleries but were perfectly content doing what they love, and doing what they have probably done their entire life, in this little place in the middle of Italy.

We also found this thing - a lift to take us to the top of the mountain.

And the scary experience was totally worth it. The view was breathtaking.

I later read that this town has a great history and has been an important location. The history goes back to pre roman era and is evidenced also by the ruins of an amphitheater.

After the trip to the top we had a nice cafe near the Ducal Palace

and wondered a little more...

I cannot say I would recommend going there to spend your entire vacation (I apologise if anyone from Gubbio is reading this). But I definately recommend you stop by if you are in the area. The place is beautiful, the ceramics are fantastic and you feel like you have been transported in time to a different world.

I loved this trip!