My Mummy Is Always With Me

My Mummy is always the whisper of the leaves as I walk down the street. She is the smell of certain dishes I’ve tasted and have still remembered. She the flowers I’ve picked up. She’s the fragrance of life itself.

She is the cool hand on my brow when I am not feeling good. She’s my cool breath in the air on a winter’s day. She is the sound of the rain that lulls me to sleep, the colours of a rainbow. She is my every day.

Christmas Sense of Humour

Christmas is the time we spend with our family and beloved ones. The time when we feel warm at home when it’s bloody cold outside. Warm because we’re surrounded with love. We don’t think about work and worries and our only duty is to keep the Christmas spirits ON, taste nice traditional dishes, and talk to beautiful people. Well, even joke with them. Why not? Speaking about Christmas humour, here are several things people are accustomed to joking with.

If you’re kidnapped and put in a bag by a white-bearded guy with a sweet round belly on Christmas Eve, don’t get panicked. It’s because lots of people have sent Santa Claus a letter asking him to bring them a nice friend like you as a Christmas present.

July Morning

Have you ever thought why sunrise celebration tradition exists on the 1^st of July? This celebration is known as July Morning in Bulgaria. By the way, if you think that the sunrise feast has come from the New Continent, I will tell you that you are completely mistaken. Maybe it will sound strange and extraordinary to you, but as a matter of fact, this tradition was born namely in Bulgaria. And the question that arises is how and when. The story goes like this.

Our Journey

All of us will fly away one day. We will take a journey free of charge. Our seats have been reserved since the very first day. The flight is always on time. Our good deeds will be our luggage. Humanity will be our passport. Love will be our visa. Do your best to fly in the first class.

LOVE YOU and MISS YOU …

Happy Saint George’s Day from Catalan Sant Jordi

Jordi is the Catalan equivalent of the name George in English, Giorgio in Italian, etc. He’s the patron saint and protector of Catalonia. The legend associated with him is quite similar to the Bulgarian one related to Saint George and the dragon but not exactly. And here is how it goes.

Once upon a time there lived one dragon that tormented and tortured the locals of Catalonia by eating up animals and human beings alike every day. The princess’s turn came one day, too. But Jordi decided to rescue her. Immediately after he killed the monster, a very beautiful rose bush grew from its blood. Jordi picked up one rose and bestowed it to the princess rescued by him. Well, as a matter of fact, I don’t know the end of the story but there’s no doubt it had a happy end, and most probably they got married and lived happily forever and ever.

The Romantic Stories Of Cuba

When you hear about Cuba, what comes to your mind first? An isolated but very exotic island in the Caribbean basin …. Blue sea and long sandy beaches with palms … colourful retro cabrios and cars … thick Cuban cigars and rum …. Sugar …. So far, so good. However, Cuba and its capital Havana mean much more to young Freelance writer Marisol Ferrera. She’s the main character of the novel “Next Year in Havana” by Chanel Cleeton.

The young woman is a Cuban-American who is brought up with numerous romantic stories of the Island before and during the revolution recounted by her beloved grandmother – Elisa Perez. Elisa is a daughter of a rich sugar baron and lives a very luxurious life with her three sisters and parents as part of the Cuban high society. Unfortunately, the end of the 50s of last century are marked with a growing political unrest which makes their family head to the United States and find a shelter there.

Wine and Love

Wine and Love. 🙂 Vino e amore. 🙂 May you be always drunk on love. 🙂

We, the Bulgarians, are really very lucky on February 14. We have two celebrations which we respect equally. We celebrate both Saint Valentine’s Day and the Vine and Wine Day which is better known as Saint Trifon Zarezan. So, you yourselves see that ancient Greek Goddess Aphrodite (Venus in Roman mythology) and ancient Greek God Dionysus (Bacchus in Roman mythology) go hand in hand in Bulgaria on that day. One of my Italian friends found it very interesting and exclaimed once upon a time: “Great. Wine makes love easier”.

Intergenerational Friendship, Love, Passion and Betrayal

Donkeys in the Trodoos Mountain. Donkeys are a symbol of stubbornness both in Hellas (Greece) and on the Island of Cyprus 🙂

Do you remember the intriguing book by Nadia Marks that told us the story about that summer of growth and change? If you have already read it, you will remember that the storyline jumped back to the pre-World War II period, bringing us on a very welcoming and sun drenched and magical Mediterranean island in the Aegean Sea. Well, there is another book by the same author that brings readers to another extremely beautiful and wild as well as very interesting Eastern Mediterranean island which is a place of different faiths and cultures. You might have already guessed which this Mediterranean island is. Of course, it’s Cyprus while the name of the book is “Between the Orange Groves”.

Sicilian Nasreddin Khoja

Giufà (Jusuf in Arab and Giovanni in Sicilian) is a famous character from the Sicilian oral folklore, who actually, came from Jewish literature. Other characters, such as Meneghino in Lombardy, Vardiello in Naples, Giuccà in Rome and Tuscany, “were born” from this Sicilian folklore protagonist. Owing to Giuseppe Pitrè’s writings (a writer who studied traditional folklore and that of Sicily in particular, of 19^th century and the beginning of the 20^th century) the first historic witness of Giufà arrived to us.

The historic origin of Giufà dates back to the period of Jewish-Spanish Diaspora in Sicily. In fact, he appeared for the first time in the anonymous Arab stories of the 9^th century. Some think that this guy was even a true historic person who lived in Sicily at that time. Others are of the opinion that he is famous Nasreddin Khoja who was an 11^th century populist and philosopher in the Anatolian Region. No matter who Giufà was and where he came from (Turkey, Bosnia, Herzegovina or Israel), it’s a fact that numerous stories reached us. They all have been inspired by this guy’s adventures. Moreover, they are recounted in a great number of countries in the Mediterranean basin and beyond as well as in the Balkans. And who was he, as a matter of fact?

La festa dei sette pesci (The Feast of the Seven Fishes)

Definitely, the Italians are very smart. When they prepare the festive dinner for la Vigilia di Natale on December 24 they abstain from meat. Instead, they prepare fish dishes and seafood which are lighter without any doubt. Thus they care for their belly and leave enough room for the big Christmas Day. Meat-free Christmas tradition’s a good idea, indeed. Family members prepare various fish dishes whose number can reach 7 (at a time even 10 in some Italian regions).That’s why it’s often called la festa dei sette pesci (or the Feast of the Seven Fishes). Fish varies from il capitone which is fried eel, baccalà (dry and salted codfish), calamari (squids), scungili (conches) as well as rich seafood meals. Apart from fish meals, Italian mamma prepares also sweets and puddings with nuts and almonds. Of course, cakes, biscuits and traditional Panettone and Panforte never miss at the table.