lovely lund

And on a pale blue Monday, three of the four friends hopped on a train to Copenhagen, leaving Lund behind.

ystad in grey

the art of smoking fish

Ah Scandinavia, where smoking fish is an art form. Smooth, salty salmon, crumbly fish eggs and creamy mackerel, all washed down with a beer by the sea. Who knew heaven was in Smygehuk?



Smygehuk is famous for being the southernmost point in Sweden, but to me, it's all about the harbour's fiskrökeri— the fish smokehouse!

the friends you fly for

Ever since we moved to the outskirts of Istanbul, things have been quieter and increasingly isolated. Friends were now two hours away, and the idea of facing the brutal traffic keeps everyone where they are. But then there are the dear friends, the ones you will fly for. The ones from home, the ones who know you— and I've been lucky to gain a whole host of new friends through Pedro. Pedro has good people.



You need good people.

order and calm

Lund's sense of order and its spotless streets left us in awe—everything was so clean and precise! We had taken a little trip to Sweden back in the autumn to visit our dear friends P and P, and were blown away by how everything just worked.



Even the town's university pranksters managed to select the most appropriately sized cucumber to fit in the hand of Carl Linnaeus, outside the public library.



And the library was actually quiet! Lattes at a nearby café were decorated with foam animals and hearts (mine was the bear). How simple and elegant everything looked, and how calm! Sweden felt really good.

where to now?

Now that the exhibition is over and I won't be travelling for a while, I can try and get Harika all caught up. There's so much I haven't shared— the dark alleys of Porto, the moonscape of Cappadocia, and a lovely little visit to Sweden. I don't know where to start...



Where would you like to go?

colourful creatures

The last thing I expected to see at a natural history museum was the wonderful work of famed Italian street artist Ericailcaine. I have long been a fan of his colourful creatures, and was thrilled the first time I saw one of his pieces in real life on the streets of Lisbon (the crocodile). Imagine my surprise and delight in discovering more of his work here! In a show titled Potete di Fuoco/ Puissance de feu, the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de Toulouse is currently showing a series of drawings by Ericailcane that recreate his childhood artwork.



As an added bonus, one of the stairwells is beautifully painted with a mural of beasts, and you can watch the process of their creation on Vimeo. The show ends in May, so if you happen to visit Toulouse and want to fill an afternoon with science and art, you know where to go!

the birds and the bees

...or rather the beetles, butterflies, moths, stick insects...

the poetry of evolution

How beautiful to see how similar we are to some creatures— and so wildly different— and to know that we all came from the same place, so very long ago! The Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de Toulouse is truly a wonderful place to visit for curious minds and lovers of the natural world. What struck me most was their skeleton window— species of all kinds, reconstructed in lifelike poses against the backdrop of the botanical garden.



I would have loved this place as a child, and certainly it brought back that feeling of wonder, awe, and discovery...