Two is a crowd...

Currently my boyfriend is "inbetween apartments".
Has left the old one, but the new one needs to be cleared and renovated before he can move in (hopefully by the end of this month).

He threw away a LOT of stuff (had been living in the old place for 10 years or so) but still has a bunch of things.
It's all in my garage now - actually, I can't put my car in there anymore!

And he is staying with me for the moment. I have a 2 rooms apartment that is very nice for 1 person. But with two people (and all his clothes, the computer, the bed etc.) it's getting crowded.
Also, he has installed his "office" on the kitchen table...

Maybe it's a good thing that we both don't spend too much time at home!
It's not basically bad to have him living with me - if only we had 2 more rooms... But as it is, I am looking forward to his moving out again.

How do you define "friends"

So, I have 60 "friends" here on tribe.

Some people have over 1000 - which I find quite ridiculous.

Actually I have deleted 10 "friends" last week because I could not remember at all where I should know them from and have never been in contact with them.

I might delete some more because I like to know who my friends are...
I also regularly deny friends invitations if I can't figure out who the person in question is.

Are you a friends collector? Or do you prefer to stick with a few persons you know?

The other new tango shoes

Hello, my dear shoe-loving friends.
You didn't really think that I could just order ONE pair of tango shoes, did you?

Ha! Here's the other one, black patent leather.....

And yes, I already found an inspiration for next year.... You can see me sitting in milongas, staring at other women's feet and scribbling into my agenda. Or standing in front of shoe shops, taking pictures of great designs.
Then I mix it all up, shake it, and out come the new shoes - with the goal of having all the other women in the milonga staring at MY shoes! :-)

Smoke on the water.... a fire in the sky!

Last Friday, August 1st was our Swiss national holiday.

So I packed up my Willow (my friend from Honolulu) and drove her to Montreux.
If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know about the villa on an island there where we usually stay.

In the evening I did something I had wanted to do for ages:
When the fireworks started (and the fired them off a boat in the lake) I connected my iPod to the loudspeakers and played "Smoke on the water" by Deep Purple.
Read the lyrics and you will know why :-)

www.thehighwaystar.com/rosas/...ke.html

It was a great combination to hear the music and watch the fireworks and smoke at the same time!

On Saturday we did nothing much. Just hanging around the terrace - and catching up on sleep.
In the evening we went to the Palais Oriental, a very nice Oriental restaurant in Montreux.

Oh, I should mention that walking along the lake, you feel like stepping into the Middle East. There were soooo many Arab tourists! The women were wearing their idea of Summer fashion - covered but colorful. It didn't always work well.... Anyway, after 10 minutes one felt naked without a head scarf :-)

On Sunday I took Willow to the Château de Chillon - a little culture is always good.

We finished the day by driving home and going to a milonga in Zurich.

Maybe I just wanted to escape the mess in my apartment... My boyfriend is moving out of his old place but can't go into the new one right now. So he put most of his things in my garage (I have to park the car outside...) and all his clothes and more stuff into my bed- and livingroom.
It feels a bit crowded...

It's time for new tango shoes

I got these a few weeks ago but last night I used them for the first time!

I gave the material to a friend who took it to the shoemaker in Istanbul to make the shoes. And I made a matching top! There's also a matching skirt but it's not finished yet.

Willow has come to Zurich, so it's Tango Every Night time!

But before that I took her down to the lake with a friend. She swam in a lake for the first time and found it - cold :-) Ts ts, those Hawaiians are too spoilt...

Berlin - part three

I call it the shortest Summer holiday I ever had :-)

So on Sunday we met up with Willow and a photographer who is associated somehow with the festival.

We went to the Pergamon museum. They have a special exhibition on Babylon there. We had to wait in line for about 30 min. just to get tickets! In the hot sun....

But it was very much worth it. The exhibition is very impressing and huge. I think we ended up walking around for 3 - 4 hours.
There were audio guides to explain everything.

They have reconstructed the Gate of Ishtar - and that alone is worth the visit, it's so beautiful!

www.smb.museum/smb/babylon/show_text.php

Picture: that's Mr. Boyfriend in the Aloha shirt in front of a giang column.

But after seeing so many things we had to take a break. That meant a walk along the river Spree and finally chilling out here: www.sandsation.de/index.php
A collection of sand sculpures - and everything is on sand of course, so we could relax in deck chairs looking out at the river and the main station which is quite amazing too.

We ended the day having dinner in Prenzlauer Berg with a bunch of friends.

Then we got home too late - at least considering that we had to get up at 5:00 today to catch the flight...

And I went straight to the office.
Summer holiday over.

*yawn*

And we will be back! There are still so many things to see!

Berlin - part two

Today - Saturday - my boyfriend's friend took us on a 6 hours bicycle ride through Berlin. This was an excellent way to get an overview of the city. And since everything is flat, and there are many bicycle lanes it's also very convenient.
It's also great to see how there are so many different sides to Berlin!

We didn't go inside any museums though, will save that for Sunday.

Oh, and more excitement! The Lufthansa personel announced a strike for Monday. That's when we are supposed to be back in Zurich in the morning!!!
But we double-checked our booking - it's with Lufthansa Cityline, and those workers are not in the strike. Lucky us!

OK, gotta go now. There's barbecue on the terrace (5th floor, above the roofs of Berlin...) waiting for me!

PS: That's me with Marx and Lenin on that picture...

Berlin for the weekend - The arrival

a) My boyfriend's friend has a big new appartment in Berlin and says we should come sometimes.
b) Don Tiki, one of my new favourite bands plays at a festival there. And hey, they're from Honolulu, so it's a unique chance!
c) Willow Chang sings and dances with them. (We stayed with her in Honolulu)

3 good reasons to catch a plane on a Friday afternoon.

Of course we don't want to be boring, so I added a bit of excitement----

At the check-in the lady tells me that my ID card has expired last month and I am therefore not allowed to fly. Goodie!
I send the boyfriend off and run over to the counter for emergency passports. 150 CHF (plus 10 for pictures) later I have my passport, run over to the Lufthansa counter and book the next flight for Berlin. Fortunately the man there is very nice and doesn't charge me anything for it!

So finally I arrive at the festival at 20:00 - the concert starts at 20:30! Right on time!

I have my first ever Mai Tai. It's the only correct drink for a Don Tiki concert!
And it's a great show with about 12 people, the musicians, a male singer, several female singers/dancers and innumerable costume changes.

I even got a second Mai Tai.... Mind you, I am NOT a drinker and I ended up being quit tipsy... But hey, I CAN walk on high heels when I'm drunk!

After the concert, Willow came to greet us and also gave the happy news that she prolonged her stay and will be in Zurich from July 31 to August 4. Big joy!

Pictures!!!

Oh my, what a weekend. We had the honor of having the famous Michael Baxter here and do two 12 hours photo sessions with us (me and 3 other dancers).

I am still exhausted but extremely happy with all those gorgeous new pictures!!

Too tired to update the English version, so here you go:
meissoun.ch/galerien.htm

Check out Raqs Sharqi, Fusion and Bollywood Dance.

Now I need some beauty sleep...

Planning my next vacation...

Yes! Can't have enough!

And this time it's something all new!

For YEARS I have been dancing in Moroccan restaurants and at Moroccan parties (see picture).
There wasn't a single Moroccan person in Zurich who didn't know me :-)
But I've never been to Morocco!

I kept saying that "one day" I'd like to go, but never did. Although, as you might have noticed, I quite like to travel!

Now I have finally decided that it's time for me.

So this November, I am going! I'll start with a week and if I like it, I'll go back for more.
4 - 5 days of surfing in Taghazout and a few days in Marrakech.

Oooooh, I'm excited already!