The Kimg's Lair

ideas, inspiration, addictions and useless stuff / for more: searchingforkim.wordpress.com

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Minion Joshie goes to NY

Traveling solo is one of the hardest things to do when you are in a Long Distance Relationship. On one side your mind gets somehow hooked on the idea that if you are getting on a plane for over 5 hours, you’re bound to meet your other half on your destination. So it’s always a weird feeling, the one of arriving to a cold, empty hotel room. 

On the other hand, it feels like cheating. You visit…

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Minion Joshie goes to NY

Traveling solo is one of the hardest things to do when you are in a Long Distance Relationship. On one side your mind gets somehow hooked on the idea that if you are getting on a plane for over 5 hours, you’re bound to meet your other half on your destination. So it’s always a weird feeling, the one of arriving to a cold, empty hotel room. 

On the other hand, it feels like cheating. You visit…

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Sunday Jacket

I woke up at 12.37 today. Normally I’d feel bad for waking up at such a late hour, but not today. It’s Sunday and to be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to anything specific today. No family lunches, no friends gathering, no nothing. Just a regular, plain Sunday.

However, I did have to go out and look for a jacket. My poor brown leather jacket looks beat up after a 2-year exclusive relationship…

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This year I will not be having summer vacations. While everyone will be out and about, jumping from cliffs into clear blue waters, relaxing in beach bungalows and sipping drinks with colorful umbrellas, I’ll ne seating in front of this MacBook doing some important work and trying to figure out how to survive (once more) in the land of no man that Milan turns into during the month of August.

But that is fine. I chose it that way and I am happy with my choices. It also gives me sometime to actually look back on last year’s vacation, something I hadn’t had much time to do in the last year. God, it’s been a year already. Time does fly.

Last year, me and my cousin Amanda set out on a great adventure. Explore Morocco! We had all this great plans: try all the food, ride camels in the desert and get to know this amazing culture. Let’s just say everything was set… timing was all wrong though.

As you might already know, here in the North Hemisphere, August is a summer month, I’d say THE summer month, when temperatures are borderline unbearable if you are not on the seaside (or on the poolside). Here in Milan temperatures can go as hot as 40 celsius. Pretty intense.

So, picture Marocco during the high summer… We’ll that’s what we got.

It didn’t stop us from traveling all over though. We kept to the original plan and went all over. We started in Marrakech, spent a night in the Sahara desert, went to Fes, Chefchaouen and then crossed the Straight of Gibraltar to enjoy some sangrias on Spanish beaches.

With Marrakech being the first leg of the trip we were super excited. I would leave Milan the day after Amanda would leave Rio and would get there before her, meeting later in the day at the hotel. I remember our last call before the trip. Excitement is a mild word to describe our feelings. We were pretty much screaming to each other over the phone.

I barely slept that night and I could barely contain myself while waiting 1 hour in line for immigration at Marrakech airport. I jumped in the cab and the surroundings hit me hard. Arid. Hot. Spicy. On the way to the Riad I couldn’t help but feel I was in a Ducktales episode. By the car window I could see a world completely different from my own.

Before Amanda arrived i set off to map the area. With my camera in hand I was Indiana Jones exploring undiscovered lands. The yellow sandy streets, the fully clothed women in the scorching heat and the suspicious looks from men sitting on doorsteps immersed me in this parallel universe I had only read about in books.

And then. Bam. The small sandy streets opened into this great space and there it was, Jemaa El-Fna. Snake enchanters and monkeys with crazy looking eyes shared the space with an infinite number of orange juice stalls. I bought some juice (some of the best I’ve ever had) and made my way into the maze that is leather markets.

Taking pictures was not an easy task. More than once i received a splash of cold water in my back (not unwelcome in that weather) and shouted warnings of “no picture”, accompanied by some ugly stares. For the rest of my trip I made sure to be more discreet with my camera handling.

Amanda arrived to some mint tea and moroccan sweets and off we went out again. She did loose her mind a little bit when confronted with leather bags offer and their respective prices. Almost as if the vendors were enchanters and her, a snake, following the smell of leather. Needless to say, we almost missed sunset.

Let me tell you this: when the sun sets in Marrakech, that’s when the place really comes alive. Families are out and about. The number of women in the streets drastically increases and there is music, spicy smells and light everywhere. The Jemaa El-Fna changes completely and the orange juice stalls and crazy monkeys make way to food stalls. The place is a cauldron of smells and flavor, once in you can’t help but want to try everything. Well, maybe not everything… I surely stayed clear from the goat’s heads.

We came back more than once to the square at night and during our inroads we tried all the best local cuisine had to offer. From snails in broth to harira soup, couscous, merguez sausage to tagine and some spicy sweets, sticky fried dough and spicy shots, ending always with a good, sweet mint tea. The night market was definitely our favorite place. Loud with music, fragrant with spices and lively as these places should be.

During the days we explored the ins and outs of the Medina (and some of the outer Medina spaces), constantly getting lost in small streets and colourful market corridors. Seriously, once inside the market’s corridors, it is impossible to find a way out.

Marrakech is a vibrant city. Full of color and people, but for tourist it can be too much sometimes, with locals offering help and services all the time. It is impossible to open up a map without being engulfed with locals trying to offer directions in exchange of some money. I could have done without that for sure. They are not dangerous at all, but it would be nice to walk around without being constantly approached.

Luckly we had a local that brought us to some really cool places, including this hidden gem of a restaurant, not fancy a all, who had the best tagine in town, plus the home made yogurt for dessert… I could have it everyday!

And a special mention goes to our Riad, with its killer breakfasts and super relaxing rooftop with a small but functioning jacuzzi. And they had beer, which was definitely a plus given how hard it is (impossible) to find beer inside the Medina. If you are looking for a place to stay, the Riad Karmela is your place. Best staff I’ve ever seen.

All in all, Marrakech was the perfect gate opener to our trip and a place we won’t forget, in part because of the heat, which was only about to get worse on the second leg of the tour. But that is material for another post.

Summer in Marrakesh This year I will not be having summer vacations. While everyone will be out and about, jumping from cliffs into clear blue waters, relaxing in beach bungalows and sipping drinks with colorful umbrellas, I'll ne seating in front of this MacBook doing some important work and trying to figure out how to survive (once more) in the land of no man that Milan turns into during the month of August.

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Can I close 2014?

Can I close 2014?

As the year comes to an end and my 6:30 am flight to Berlin approaches, I couldn’t resist the urge to look back on the past year and remember how great it was. Blame it on the pile of dishes I had to wash and a lot of free mental real state.

Will I miss 2014? Not really, even though it was definitely a year to remember fondly. It was a year of constant changes and as each change made its course…

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My 2-year relationship with Italy (or the Pizza and Beer post).

2-year anniversary

On 11 November 2012, two anxious and nervous people boarded the midnight British Airway flight from Rio to Milano (with a connection flight in London). We arrived late at night, with 5 heavy bags, carrying pretty much all we possessed and thought necessary for the 1-year journey we were about to face. The first night was a complete disaster, as you may recall from this post, but it was…

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Searching for... Binti

Searching for… Binti

 “For the first time I couldn’t just curse out someone who had cut me in line at the Post Office! Well, I could but they wouldn’t understand it … and that was very frustrating,” 

Wanjiku Margaret Wainaina

Introduction: The Kenyan Snowflake

The Kenyan snowflake

Most people think of snow as something fluffy, white, soft to the touch and easy on the palate with its watery, insipid taste. But if you…

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#morning #tea #redscale

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Milan woke up different today. There is nothing particularly different about the day, but I can’t help but feel the overwhelming difference.

It’s not in the world outside. The subway continues running at irregular times, I still haven’t bought my tie for the wedding and the pollen is flying wild outside my office window, like tinny spring snowflakes. So yes, the world continues on its path of everyday engulfing me.

The difference comes from within, everything feels different since I boarded  tram 14  right before midnight last night.

Since I said those last goodbyes.

I knew people were leaving, All my friends that became so close that they started to feel like family… All Leaving. I also knew I was gonna feel sad. But I wasn’t expecting this kind of sadness. Other then the tears cried last night, there haven’t been more to tell a story. I continue to go around my day as usual. But here and then a darkness comes over this lovely spring day and the pollen coming through the open windows,causing reddening allergies on my eyes, become flakes of memory.

And when I start to recollect the last year and a half, holding on hard to it, anxiety hits me and I get caught in a mesh of thoughts that blur all future planning. What about tomorrow?

Who will I call for a last minute beer at Colonne? Who’ll join me for picnics in the park? To whom will I owe money from last nights dinner? Very few were left to bother on Whatsapp and I guess from now on I won’t need to book a table for 14 at La Vineria under the name of Marco Pellegrini.

It doesn’t feel like I’m closing a chapter of my life. Instead it feels like reaching the long planned end of a book, filled with open endings, marriages and a lot of moving on. And it’s a weird feeling, because I am  still here, one of the main characters of this story,and I can’t do more than just observe this big, heavy, leather book cover take its place on top of the ragged, wine soaked, laughter filled pages.

Even though there are still some stubborn people who chose to cling to Milan as a resting place for a little longer, the ones that are gone leave a hole in my daily life that cannot and will not be filled soon. The only thing I know is I wouldn’t choose other people, other place and other circumstances to have spend these last 532 days  together.

You were my family. A family of penniless, unreliable, multicultural misfits, who couldn’t afford to buy extra drinks at aperitivos, but always had at least 2 euros to cheap in for a bottle of wine and chips. And for that, I love you. And for that my heart mourns, for in our misfitting and hard times we found a place where we were all equals and happy. And damn it, that is something hard to find.

I’ll miss the good moments. I’ll miss the bad ones. I’ll miss the moments we never had. I’ll even miss the tough and real hard times.

Truth is, I’ll miss you.

And here come the tears, so well hidden since last night.

See you soon. Arrivederci. Hasta Pronto. Angalia hivi karibuni. Ще се видим скоро. Bis bald. Се гледаме наскоро. Nähdään pian. Até logo.

And obrigado…

  A Gypsy with High Standards

532 days. Milan woke up different today. There is nothing particularly different about the day, but I can't help but feel the overwhelming difference.

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Searching for... Niko

Searching for… Niko

 “Because little by little, the people around you will eventually bring you down to their level of existence.” 

Nikolay Shatarov

Introduction: A Gyspsy With High Standards

A Gypsy with High Standards

Niko is a gypsy. Before you call me racist, understand that he really is a gypsy. Not because he is Bulgarian. It’s just that he is a gypsy. He is a traveler, a nomad. He’s been everywhere and has…

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Searching for... The Interview project

Searching for… The Interview project

I named this blog Searching for Kim because I do believe that the search for myself is endless. It will take a whole lifetime to figure out who I am and why I am the way I am. I will change habits, stick to some, acquire some new ones… It’s just the way life works.

And one thing that I realize is that I am not alone in my search. People come and go in my life and they leave behind pieces of them:…

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Now, that was a pleasant morning surprise at work #afraidofmyinbox #work

[darksideinyou]

Visit Original Link

Áudio: Shakira - Chasing Shadows

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Just in love with this song

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The Fellowship of the Ring (or just some guys on snow)

Sometimes you just need a feel good weekend. One of those when you are surrounded with people that make you feel good no matter what. Where you go someplace you feel comfortable to be, without the added pressure of being bored at home or being in a city…

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Thank you #henkel #smuffer

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This is WAR and I plan on winning it. #mold #henkel #iwantmywallsback

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#kindersurprise keeps spoiling #disney #thebeagleboys #bigtime