Even though the first “coffee machine” was invented in Turin, the artisans of Naples found a new way to put water under pressure, in order to boil the coffee powder in few minutes. Part of the credit goes to Queen of the Hapsburg Empire Maria Carolina, wife of the King of Naples Ferdinando Borbone, who imported coffee from Austria; moreover, coffee goes hand in hand with the traditional Italian breakfast a croissant, invented by Austrian bakers as a gift for the King of Poland.

Città Italian Cafe (Photo credit: SimonQ錫濛譙)

Naples is the birth place of the moka, and the domestic espresso machine. The evidence of the importance of coffee in the local lifestyle is the “suspended coffee”. Even though Naples has always been a poor city, in the famous quarter called Sanità, the customers, after a lucky day or a fortunate event, used to pay for two coffees at the snack bar, (while consuming only one) one for himself and one for another customer. So, every now and then, the poor people of the area, passing the bar, used to ask the barman for a suspended coffee and the barman would served it. This was a great show of solidarity for the less fortunate people. Nowadays, it is still common to find some bars where it is possible to ask for a suspended coffee.

English: Historic center of Naples – Italy (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Another famous place for coffee is Trieste, at the border between Italy and Slovenia. Trieste is one of the most famous ports of the country, indicated by the Wall Street Stock Exchange as a reference point for the international commodity price of coffee, due to its geographic position. In this town, the espresso is called “black coffee”, but the cappuccino resembles the “caffè macchiato” of the rest of the country, and it is served in a glass and not in a cup. In addition, the customers have to order their drink using the local idiom.

Trieste (Photo credit: Morton1905)

Trieste also became famous for the birth of the Literary Cafès: artists like Franz Kafka, James Joyce, Italo Svevo were usual clients.

Every year, in December, the authorities organize a series meetings, theatrical plays, concerts in the bars. One of these circles, the Cafè Tommaseo, situated in the downtown area, was also one of the first places in Italy to serve ice cream, another important part of the national cuisine.

Cafe Tommaseo (Photo credit: A.Currell)

Why is it that an English male on the other side of the planet can be drawn to cry when he can’t find a good local pub to hang out at?

The English pub is the cornerstone of English culture. Where they socialise and meet, where they unwind with a nice warm or cold beer, and where they are entertained, through pub sports, darts and pool, and all of this can happen while enjoying the favourite beverage Beer.

Great Britain’s pubs, formally known as public houses; because they are of course public, are a place to gather and relax for all.

Pubs are usually close to most places, and offer a variety of entertainment: Including quiz nights, karaoke nights, and bingo nights, amongst some also providing live bands too. Not to mention the darts and dominoes nights.

English: The Neptune pub (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There is 60,000 pubs still going in the United Kingdom, but apparently two are always closing every single day of the week. Imagine that. Also, 22,459 pubs have been listed to date that have closed and never reopened, which is quite a shame.

But, the atmosphere of a public house is a great get away for so many people, and is also a reachable meeting point to start the night, end the night, or stay the night; depending on your preference.

It is also a home to socialising with not just people you know too, as well to the popular pub grub like sausage and mash, pie, the classic burger, fish and chips and lasagne. It is rare that there isn’t a good menu to entice the taste buds. Pubs want to make money, so they want to give you quality and the best service possible, right. Right.

English Pub – The Taps in lytham (Photo credit: friskierisky)

So you’ve played a game of darts, got some food. But what’s that in the background you hear… music; it’s almost natural for most places to have it on in the background. It’s hard to imagine a pub without a tune playing these days. Sometimes a song that you adore just might come on, then, it is only a matter of time before you get lost in it, and start to sing and bop your head to the beat. Happy days.

Finally, the reason most people come to a pub, is to have an alcoholic beverage. In England, lager, wine, and gin and tonic are probably the more classic drinks people associate with pubs. I think it would be hard not to find someone who doesn’t like any of the three classics, which is probably how they came to be such things… makes sense.

Cotswold Morris dance with handkerchiefs, Oxford, 2004-05-01. Copyright © Kaihsu Tai. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The other great think about English pubs are the names. You visit great local bars like “The Office”, The Jolly Taxpayer, The Blood and Bucket, The Carthaginians Mathematics Base, The Spitting Into South Harrow, The Pope and Anchor. Any great names you can think of ? Otherwise check out this link to many of the funniest pub names in England.

Switzerland. The one thing in common the people of this country share are their great cheeses. And language is one of the great dividers in the country. Not all Swiss are German speakers, yodel and play alpine horns.

English: Rösti, the Swiss potato dish. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

While German is by far the largest language group in the country, French, Italian, and a latin dialect called Romansh which is similar  to Italian are all official languages in the country. Not only are there the differences in language but the culture within those regions.

The Röstigraben which translates as the Rösti (a Swiss type of hash brown) ditch, is the line between the German speaking Swiss and the French speaking Swiss. On either side of the line marks some large differences, but these are culture differences, because deep down no matter what the language they are all proud to be Swiss.

Swiss Alpine Horn Players – Pilatus Kulm, Luzern, Switzerland (Photo credit: Juan_Carlos_Cruz)

Equally the German speaking Swiss could call the line the Fondugraben, or in French le Rideau de Fondu, for the well known Swiss French dish of melted cheese which they dip bread into called Fondu

For many people the only thing that they will notice is the change of language as they go on a train between Geneva and Zurich. You will start your journey listening to French and end with German the spoken language as you enter the Roschtigraben.

But the differences are much more than language, and worth the discovery. The contrast in food culture and gastronomy is just as marked as the change of language. While in the Italian part polenta and pasta might be common fare, fondue and quiche in the French part, the distinction is the German part is the Röschti and Muesli, that are common there.

Language distribution in Switzerland —– French (Romandy) German Italian Romansh (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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English: Entrance to an underground station in Buenos Aires (line A – Station: Perú). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

These days Argentinians and porteños are decidedly more Argentinian than European. The legacy of their rich past makes the city somewhat of a standout in the region. After the marked devaluation of the peso in 2002, the city has had a revival of what. What has been left behind is the infrastructure of better times.

A porteño may have had  Italian, Spanish, German, French or British blood amongst other nationalities. Suburbs that don’t really sound Spanish exist here. Belgrano, Palermo, Coughlan, Temperley to name a few thanks to the influence of the former immigrants. They brought with them their music and archictecture. You could be forgiven for sometimes thinking you are in France with some of the archictecture, but reality sets in when you see a local, sipping on his yerba mate and speaking a Spanish somewhat akin to the Italian- Neapolitan dialect. The European immigrants brought to life a style of music of their own. The tango; a sensual dance that reeks of porteño style, which became popular in the 1930′s an 40′s as far afield as France.

English: Juan de Dios Filiberto (1885-1964). Tango musician. Argentina. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

No city in Latin America has seen the wealth that Buenos Aires, and it shows in the cities architecture and infrastructure, albiet a little outdated. So much so that the city would be perfect for a movie set in the 1940′s. The Subte, Buenos Aires underground rail system still has it’s old train carriages; repainted and keep looking somewhat fresh but still outdated compared to other cities. Same with some of the train stations, like Peru station, with it’s tiled mural walls. This is what makes Buenos Aires so special.

Subte Buenos Aires (Photo credit: Luis Ramos)

Porteños love their sport, and participate in many varied sports. The English and other British immigrants founded more than just the football clubs in the city. River Plate and Boca Juniors are icons of the cities football fanaticism famous around the globe. Boca Juniors was formerly home to Diego to famous football players like Maradonna and Lionel Messi. A true local experience is to experience the atmosphere at a Boca Juniors or River Plate home game. The British also brought sports normally more popular in English speaking countries rather than Spanish ones. Polo clubs and rugby are also important sports here, and always have been. The Pumas the national team are these days one of international rugby’s big teams.

Boca Juniors campeón Libertadores 2007. (Photo credit: Joaco_Fer)

Discovering this city, especially in Spring and Autumn and you can visit such places as catch live tango displays in the streets of San Telmo and La Boca, but hold your nose there. La Boca near the riverside can smell a bit like a desemboca (sewer outlet). Puerto Madero the old docklands have been given a modern touch and are a great place to go visit and have a bite to eat or a coffee.

Español: Plaza Dorrego Bar, ubicado en una de las esquinas de Plaza Dorrego, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Barrio de San Telmo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When it comes to food Porteños really have a good feed. They are meat crazy and make a great barbeque which is called “la parilla”. Argentina arguably has some of the best beef in the world. Other great gastrononical treats you can give yourself is to head down a leafy street in Belgrano or Palermo, and sampling some of Argentina fine wine with some great local food.

Parilla (Photo credit: willposh)

Buenos Aires has a great mild climate in the southern hemisphere and a gateway to other great places to visit in Argentina, and is good to visit 9 months of the year. It’s also a great place to sample great food, great local wine. The Paris of the south definitely has a lot to see and do.

While in Buenos Aires go down to La Boca to catch some live tango displays, have some yerba maté, have some great meat at a parilla, go to a River Plate or Boca Juniors home game, or have some great Argentine wine. Whatever you do your sure to enjoy it.

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La Carnival de Barranquilla, Quien lo vive, quien lo goza
The Carnival of Barranquilla, Who lives it, is who enjoys it

When it comes to parties or fiestas the latinos are 2nd to none. They love a good party and like to make it last as long as they can. Colombia is one such country that is good for a party. Among the many fiestas in Colombia, like the popular fiestas of Blancos y Negros in Pasto and La Feria de Calí; Barranquilla is the largest. The special twist of this carnival is that it recognised by UNESCO as a Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

The Carnival of Barranquilla in Colombia, takes place an area that is known to have the most relaxed, fun-loving and party loving people. An area known as la Costa, whose inhabitants are called the Costeños often heard as “Lo Cotenyo”. The city is that which raised such Colombian beauties as Sofia Vergara and Shakira both having hips that don’t lie.

Although it officially starts on the Saturday before Ash Wednesday, the life in Barranquilla is said to be one big carnival.

The party really starts with the month-long Christmas celebration. Orchestras playing vallenato cruise through the streets and get the locals into a party frenzy.  It amps up on Christmas and the locals tend to party for 3 days. Unofficially the festivities start with the festivities of the New Year. Other parties called precarnival, are the crowning of the Queen of the carnival, the crowning of King Momo the king of the carnival, la Lectura del Bando a declaration of the opening of the festivities, followed by the Taking Over of the City, the Coronation of the Queen, the Carnival of the children, the Gay Parade and most importantly the Guacherna, a great party of cumbia dancing, costumes and parades on the Friday before Carnival.

Carnival Queen (Photo credit: Aalborg Carnival)

As a carnival it traces its origin to a party before fasting for Easter. The special feature with this Carnival is the patchwork of folklore and music that it brings together from all of Colombia. Unlike in Rio which is essentially a samba based theme party, Barranquilla is recognised because it displays many different styles of music from what is a musical rich country. The carnival is a celebration of all the popular music from the Caribbean coast of Colombia. It is also because this music brings such a multicultural diversity to the fore.

City of Barranquilla, Colombia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Each music genre has its costumes and people. Cumbia one of the dances which traces its origin from Colombia is the most popular in this region. From Colombia it has spread through all of Latin America. Mapelé is a type of music mostly popular from the black community, from the far corner of the Caribbean coast, with the adjacent Pacific Coast. Chandé another style of music came about from a mixture of native Indian and black people who uses drums, flutes and flutes performed by travelling orchestras. Another important cross cultural type of music is the popular vallenato, which has fused the music from the indigenous, african slaves and europeans to form a music, which brings all Colombians together.

For this big reason the Carnival of Barranquilla has attained its status as not only a Carnival but one of cultural, folkloric significance to its country and the rest of the world. Other types of music the porro, bullerengue, pajarito, merecumbé, guaracha,  jalao, salsa, merengue. While salsa and merengue are not native to Colombia, they have been adopted by Colombia, and in certain regions of the country are the most popular forms of music in the region, but also remain popular in most regions, and in the case of salsa, Colombia’s  contribution to the music is significant.

Cumbia dancing in the  Carnival of Barranquilla. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The carnival goers dress up in costumes traditional to Colombia, whether it be music orientated with the white shirt and pants, and a Sombrero Vuelltiao, or the popular Marimondo

Sombrero vueltiao (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Strangely enough even the most party hardy must bring their festivities to a conclusion. Upon the burial of the famous Joselito Carnival, and the crowd crying over the death of joselito, the Barranquilleros with their guyabos- hangover, give in to the fasting of Lent and think about the great times that they had, and  the next party in December.

Brush up on your Colombian Slang on our site by clicking the link.

For those who speak Spanish this is a great song from Cuco Valoy telling about what really goes on at the Carnival and the Fruits of the Carnival which are the children born from the various couples who meet at the Carnival

A Sou is a colloquial French word which can translate to penny, money or cents

The most common introduction to the word sou is when someone is penniless and they will say “Je n’ai pas de sou“. I don’t have a penny/cent. The currency sou has not been in use for many centuries so, mnay foreigners might not know what a sou is. The word is a derivation from the former Roman currency a solidus. The word continued to be used as a  coin  in France and changed form many times until it reached its current form. When the French currency was decimalised and changed to Francs, the word fell out of official use. From that time on the sou continued to be used colloquially  meaning a coin of little or small value.

English: Denarius featuring emperor Marcus Aurelius (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In Quebec, the word sou is still used colloquially for cents, and the quarter dollar(30 cents) is known as trente sous.

Some common sayings with sou are:

Grippe-sou- scrooge

Pique sou- scrooge

Il est un tel pique sou, il ne m’a meme pas un peu de pourboire- He’s such a scrooge, he didn’t even give me a tip

ne pas couter un sou- not cost a penny/dime

Ça ne m’as pas couter  un sou. It didn’t cost me a penny

Propre comme un sou neuf- shiny as a new penny

Sans le sou- no money at all

Other uses and sayings of the word sou:

Sou par sou- literally penny by penny or bit by bit

Je vais le rebatir sou par sou- I’ll rebuild it bit by bit

Un sou est des sous- every penny counts

Pas un sou en poche- not a penny in the pocket

Pas veinard pour un sou- to be down on your luck

English: 1958 10 French Francs coin (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When it comes to other money matters click the link to have a look at our other French Slang pages. Otherwise you might have some other sayings regarding the word sou

Although the colloquial form is common through the Spanish speaking world it is in Spain that it has it’s widest use.

The most widely understood meaning of the word rollo is as in English- a roll- something round. A roll of wire, of bread or pastry, spring rolls, rolls of money, a roll of film.

rollo (Photo credit: downloadmac2007)

In colloquial speak, the main meaning of rollo is a story. Usually it has a negative meaning; like a fabricated, false or unbelievable story. But using the right words it can mean a good story.

Que rollo!- Bullshit!, What a drag!

Que buen rollo esa tia!- She’s a really interesting(cool) chick!

It also has the idea of ambience- both personal ambience be it your moods, or general ambience with a crowd, to be in good cheer for example
un buen rollo- good ambience, or atmosphere, a good mood or a cool person
Oye tia! Que buen rollo la fiesta anoche.
Hey girl! What a cool/great party last night

It can be a negative story, in general, an issue, problem

mal rollo- load of crap, a bore
hay mal rollo entre ellos- they have bad blood between them

Cuida cactus espanta pajaros (Photo credit: Ivan Rumata)

It has also come to mean a love encounter, something like a fling, one night stand
un rollo de una noche- one night stand
Creo que esos dos tuvieron un rollo

Hacerse tanto tollo- why  make such a big issue
Porque tienes que hacerse tanto rollo de mi corta pelo
Why make such a big issue about my haircut

the back (Photo credit: threedancingmagpies)

There is plenty more Spanish Slang and colloquialisms on our slang pages so just click the link, for some more good lines. Just remember to share the love and click the Facebook like button and/or leave us a comment

The haka is undoubtebly best known for it’s use before a rugby game, and New Zealand are very proud of their team and national sport. Every New Zealand father’s dream is that their son play for the All Blacks, the national rugby union team. And that one day means to show pride in the haka and know how to do it correctly, for your country.

The haka has become internationally famous from it’s use by the New Zealand rugby team, the  All Blacks. Then their is the international respect for such a fearsome and professional team, doing a traditional dance, and every player feels the emotion right down to their hearts.

Originally, the haka started as traditional dancse from New Zealand which were performed by the native Polynesians of the island the Maoris. There are various forms of the dance, depending on what emotion you are trying to display. While many of the dances are war dances, there are some performed by women, at funerals to express respect for the deceased. The various types of dances are used to express courage, intimidation and also happiness by achieving a good result, and welcoming guests of honour and therefore can vary in form depending on the occassion.

The manawa wera haka is performed at funerals as a sign of respect to the deceased.

War dance, New Zealand (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Off the rugby field, the haka is an integral part of New Zealand (Kiwi) culture and above all the Maori culture. A special haka has been adapted for the New Zealand army, that both men and women can particpate in. Also when Maori gather, it is used as one of the main ways they express their culture too each other. Every year in New Zealand there is a haka championship

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It’s well-known that Australia is a hot dry land. Most of the country is desert. And deserts are the hottest places to live. This summer (2012-2013) in particular has been a hot one. Ever since spring places like Melbourne and Adelaide have been consistently hitting temperatures above 35°C. Even the island of Tasmania has been recording temperatures.

Heat Haze Highway (Photo credit: The Puzzler)

Since December Mother Nature has upped the ante, with Melbourne and Adelaide having temperatures above 40°C. Given that these cities are on the coast, some inland areas can easily reach temperatures of 46°C+. The the desert areas which commonly receive these temperatures are, the inland areas in the subtropical region below the Tropic of Capricorn.

Alice Springs Australia’s largest inland city and closest city to Ayers Rock has had consistent temperatures around 44°C. And while further down south in the often mentioned cities of Melbourne and Adelaide, can at least get some respite fluctuating between 21°C and 45°C

While every sane community of human beings is asking mother nature to turn down the temperature Birdsville in Queensland is looking to break the record. With the weather forecast to hit 50°C plus on the 9th January, 2013, Birdsville wanted Australia’s record high temperature to become theirs.

Australian Desert near Uluru (Photo credit: The Rocketeer)

Australia’s highest ever recorded temperature of 50.7°C was at Oodnadatta in the warm north-west of South Australia. Sadly on that same day while the residents of Birdsville walked to the swimming pool with their flip-flops (they are called thongs in Australia, so I changed the name for better understanding) melting on the bitumen, the temperature peaked at 49°C

To add salt to their wounds Moomba in South Australia reached 49.6°C beating Birdsville on that day. The only record that came on that day when was Sydney recorded its highest ever temperature of 45.8°C

The strange fact is that the further south you go on the mainland of Australia the higher the highest recorded temperature, given that the south is cooler than the north. The main reason for this is that the warm northerly wind in the north comes from the ocean keeping things cooler. And in the south the northerly reaches them by crossing the desert.

Birdsville Hotel on Christmas morning, Birdsville QLD (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

To give you an idea of  this phenomena we have made a list of Australia’s main cities in order of latitude from highest (south- closest to the south pole, but still not very close) to lowest (north and closest to the equator)

Melbourne 46.4°C

Adelaide 46.1°C- the amazing fact is that Adelaide is in the driest state on the driest continent on earth

Canberra 42.2°C- the only inland capital city

Sydney 45.8°C

Perth 46.2°C- completely surrounded by desert, warm weather is not unusual and more consistent for Perth than Adeliade

Brisbane 43.2°C-  unlike the other cities Brisbane is set inland on a coastal plain, so we’ve included nearby Gold Coast 40.5°C to show the compare the difference

Darwin 38.9°C

Strangely enough the highest recorded temperatures ever were at Furnace Creek Ranch in Death Valley, California at 56.7°C and 55°C at Kebili, Tunisia. But with most of these warm areas in Australia very sparsely inhabited, there is a good chance that Australia’s record could have been broken.

The only heat record truly Australia belongs to the remote town of Marble Bar in north-western Western Australia.

The world heat record for consecutive days goes to Marble Bar in Western Australia, which recorded maximum temperatures equaling or over 37.8°C on 161 consecutive days, between 30 October 1923 and 7 April 1924.

Until then we’ll just have to make do with cooking ours eggs on the pavement to save electricity for the air conditioning, ad find the nearest billabong or ocean to keep cool in.

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If you spend any time amongst English language students you might hear them commenting on how they have a terrible time, trying to cope with English phrasal verbs. As a native you don’t understand why they have this problem, nor even know what they on earth these little creatures might be. Take a normal verb, get, put, give for example and just think of how many variations with completely different meanings they have.

‘Partner’ as a verb, and tense confusion (Photo credit: engineroomblog)

The main understanding of the verb examples given , get- is to receive, put- is to place and item in a place and give- to pass on. If we used get in it means to enter; put up with- to tolerate; and give up- it means to surrender. The problem for those students is that while they look similar to the original verb, you can’t always assume that you will find a logical meaning for each one. So you have to learn them one by one, increasing the amount of time you have to study.

It’s not so hard for all students. People from countries who speak Germanic languages, those from Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Germany etc will have less problems with the idea. Given that the original base of English is Germanic their languages are riddled with similar examples. Many of the English examples might be new to them, but at least they are prepared for the difficulty. Many of these countries also start learning English from a young age, when you are not concerned at how long it will take you to learn the language.

But from these exact languages you can find the culprits of the dilemma. English itself originally comes from an area of Germany roughly centred around the northern city of Hamburg. Then came a huge wave of Norse settlers, while 300 years of Norman French spoken as the language of government started to cure English of the problem, the Norse settlers became the next influence bringing back the good old phrasal verb.

Latin speakers are some that find the going tough. French and Latin has heavily influenced the English language , and the similarities of shared vocabulary is quite useful. Latin words used in English are usually confined to educated speakers and office documents, which are used for a more precise defintions. Phrasal verbs are most commonly used in colloquial talk, when we are relaxed and on the streets.

So as not to keep you in the dark for much longer, Wikipedia have come a good explanation of what they are:

a verb and a particle and/or a preposition co-occur forming a single semantic unit. This semantic unit cannot be understood based upon the meanings of the individual parts in isolation, but rather it must be taken as a whole. In other words, the meaning is non-compositional and thus unpredictable. Phrasal verbs that include a preposition are known as prepositional verbs and phrasal verbs that include a particle are also known as particle verbs.

This is only a small part of the explanation to clarify the complicated situation from Wikipedia- Phrasal Verbs, so to view it in entirety click the link. The keywords that describe a students hardship are  can’t be understood and unpredictable.

But it’s not all stormy weather out there on the language front. With time and persistance, one day you’ll think about the stress they have put you through only to think and smaile that you have mastered the difficult. And then if you are a Latin speaker you might realise that some of your refelxive verbs are actually just as recalcitrant as those phrasal verbs. Makes you think what those students of your language might be going through.

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Valparaiso, Chile. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The story of the city of Valpo started as a small town for the young Spanish colony. When Chile gained independence it grew as the port city for Santiago the capital and largest city of Chile. It was a major stopover and first port of call from boats rounding the Straits of Magellan when entering the Pacific Ocean.

From its quick growth Valparaiso received many immigrants from Europe, mostly from Britain, Germany, Italy and France and all of these communities left their mark on the city. There are not many cities in the region with so much cultural diversity, and is what makes Valparaiso unique. As a UNESCO city, the migrant communities lived in their own locals, today illustrated by the Zonas Tipicas, which can be visited to see the different styles of architecture. At one stage the larger British community tried to annex Valparaiso for Britain but obviously didn’t succeed. Many current day residents still have their European names, but are these days less identifiable in the way they look as someone with a surname like Smith, Schulz  or Dupont but rather true Hispanic Chileans.

De Antaño (Photo credit: Weas Frikis)

To get to the zonas tipicas, funiculars were built to make it easy to get up the hill instead of climbing up the windy road network.

A trip to Valparaiso is not complete without a ride on the funicular. You can ride up the hill and just take in the amazing views. The ocean, the archictecture, the hills and the old town.

Picture of Valparaiso (Chile), focusing on one of the funiculars (ascensores in Chilean Spanish) that link the harbor region to the hills. This is the “Artillería” funicular (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What’s special to see in Valparaiso:

• of course you can pick one of the many funiculars and go up the hill
• the colourful market area (Mercado Central) and it’s produce. One thing that is especially amazing about Chile is that it is probably the best quality and also value money seafood in the world
• the old town, with it’s architecture legacy of the various immigrants and their large instutional buildings. Also the squares Victoria, Sotomayor and Anibal Pinto squares, Iglesia San Francicsco in El Baron
• the port area
• beaches, it’s January now, summer time. To cool down from a hot day, head down one of the beaches and take a dip a Playa Ancha or Playa Canelo to name a few
• nearby the beautiful towns of Viña del Mar, and the town of Concon
  

  another architectural masterpiece

Like many port cities Valparaido has its gritty side. The port area and some areas on the hillside can be a bit rough, so if the tourist information office suggest something listen to them. They mightn’t tell you why, but it might help you leave the city with a good experience, rather than a bad one. Heed warnings from locals about what not to do and where not to go. You can take a guided tour from long term resident originally from German known as the German Pirate, whose knowledge of the city is uncomparable.

Nowhere in Chile will you get such a varied past meets present experience, and with the right experience this city will at least leave you with a camera full of amazing photo’s.

Go ahead and enjoy the summer in Valpo.

If you want some of the local lingo don’t forget to view our Chilean Slang guide, and of course thank us for our hard work in compiling it with a nice Facebook like.

The Concretes- these guys have been around since the mid 90′s an 8 piece band that also features Victoria Bergman singing in one of our favourite Swedish songs Young Folks from Peter, Bjorn and John. The Concretes have been sampled by Australian band the Avalanches, and had the song Say Something New feautured on an ad for Target in the United States

El Perro del Mar- a solo artist from Gotheburg, who produces soft melancholic music

The Knife- this brother sister duo won a grammy for the best Swedish pop group of 2003. One of their most popular songs is “Pass This On”

The Sounds- play new wave music- “Painted By Numbers” and “Living In America”

Hello Saferide- an indie singer/songwriter from the Arctic circle- “My Best Friend” and “If I Don’t Write This Song Someone I Love Will Die”

Håkan Hellström- an indie artist that often sings in Swedish, ” Can No-one Feel No Sorrow For Me Gotheborg”

I’m From Barcelona- these guys are from Sweden not Barcelona- “We’re from Barcelona”

Sambassadeur- “Memories”

Moneybrother- a multi genre musician Moneybrother combines rock, soul, punk, reggae and pop- “Falling In Love (with Christmas Time)“

Those Dancing Days- a girl group that play soul and pop- I’ll Be Yours and Hitten

Club 8- Everything Goes and Blue Skies

Teddybears Sthlm- Cobrastyle

Sugarplum Fairy- 2 brothers of Mando Diao member, this band is Sweden’s take on Britpop- The Escapologist and She

Air France- this popular electronica band decided to split up in March 2012- No Excuses and Karibien

The Sound of Arrows- electronica band- Magic and Wonders

Melody Club- synthpop- I Don’t Believe In Angels

Looptroop- Swedish hip-hop-Fort Europa

If you liked our collection of music don’t forget to comment or press the like button. We also have a large collection of Swedish slang for you to practice and have a laugh, so just click the link.

To listen to any of the music in this post simply click the play button of the playlist below, you can listen to a single song or the whole playlist. Enjoy

Eiffel Tower and the Champs de Mars (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The result of this misrepresentation of what the true Paris is like is called Paris syndrome, mostly suffered by Japanese tourists. In Japanese it is called Pari shokogun. Coming to the city with false expectations, the problem is caused by an extreme culture shock. The fact that French and Japanese culture are completely different, doesn’t help. Often on the first day of their travels a tourist may, be overcome by the differences. Some gritty streets. People from the service industries, indifferent to people who can’t speak the language, gritty streets, people who put no thought or care into how they are dressed, the list goes on. The truth is Paris is a big city and like all cities it has its good sides and bad sides.

Metro de París (Photo credit: Maldark)

Japanese media are not the only culprits. Hollywood is also the culprit of this idealisation. Just take Woody Allen’s latest movie Midnight in Paris. How many bad parts of Paris did you see in the movie. They went to museums dressed as chic as the idealised Parisian, went to chic restaurants, went to expensive antique shops, and went to exclusive bars and met, rich and famous people of Paris; from the past. There was no hint of the grittiness of a balanced Paris. Like walking through the red light district, or dodging doggy poop in the Champ de Mars  the park below the Eiffel Tower.

Moulin Rouge (Photo credit: paul m. floyd)

After having problems with the language barrier, cultural difference, unease at being able to reconcile the difference between the media image of Paris and the true image, and couple with various forms of fatigue, a tourist can experience things from hallucinations, anxiety and feelings of being victim’s of French indifference to other cultures, the Japanese Embassy in Paris is no stranger to calls for help from their citizens in the city. As many as 6 people were sent home, in 2011 suffering from acute Paris syndrome.

Paris Montmartre Place du Tertre dsc07247 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you are having troubles with the Parisian culture, the best way to bridge the gap is trying to speak some of the language. Don’t try to get into conversations, just merely try simple transactions, like buying or ordering your food, in their language. But from my experience, French people are overcoming their arrogance to non-speakers. Realising, money in the pocket is better than none at all, they are becoming better equipped at speaking foreign languages and also the will to do so. Also, many are trying to use any chance they can on practising their English.

chic, Chanel and cute, all the signs of giving off Paris syndrome

If you are looking for some vocabulary for your trip to Paris, click on our French slang pages. But the best way to avoid Paris syndrome is to be realistic at what you are likely to see. After all it is a city of 10 million people, you can’t expect everything to be like in a Hollywood movie

Related articles

• Notre Dame, Paris
• The Paris Syndrome – A Bizarre Psychological Condition Affecting Japanese Tourists?

Mudejar wooden ceiling (Photo credit: Andrea Kirkby)

Mudejar art developed during the Reconquista-reconquest of Spain, melding the best parts of the Arabic and Christian art of the time. Arabic Spaniards were still present in the newly christianised land, and were often contracted as artisans to decorate new construction work with the new form of art. What often makes mudejar style stand out amongst other styles is the use of colour in the tiles often found in Spain.

Architecture mudejar, Cathédral de la Seo Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The most recongnisable traits of Mudejar art are the intricate geometric patterns found in things like tiles or ornate stucco around archways and ceiling borders and the typical multilobed arches. Bricks are commonly used in the style, used around archways and to form the intricate stucco.

multilobed arches of Malaga alcazabar typical of mudejar style

The ornate borders have been made by using plaster, cement rendering, custom made bricks, and wood carvings (around exterior doorways, and often found on ceilings). Also common but more noticeable in Portugal are the similar tiles used on facades of buildings called azulejos, which combine the intricate tile patterns created by mudejar art.

azulejos tiled building in Lagos, Portugal

Mudejar art found its way onto the American continent due to Spanish colonisation and is found in places from Mexico down to Argentina and has had it’s effect on archictecture in public places such as town halls and churches in particular, while interpreting it in their own way, sometimes melding the newer fashionable style baroque with the former mudejar style.

Church in Cartagena combining mudejar arch and pillars with baroque and vibrant colonial colours

In Mexico for example talavera style mostly from the state of Puebla has replaced the mudejar style by changing the predominant, greens and blues of mudejar style, for the more vibrant oranges and reds of Mexican and other hispanic style art.

Talavera de la Reyna (Photo credit: CHRISTOPHER MACSURAK)

To get around and communicate in Spain slang and Mexican  why not check out our slang pages by clicking on the links. Any comments or extra information you have on the subject we would like to hear from you

Haggis displayed for sale (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For those of you that don’t know, haggis is a savoury type pudding, made from the left over parts of the sheep after dissecting all the other good meat from the body. Hearts, liver and lungs aren’t always the first things considered to serve up on somebody’s plate, but the thought of it is less appealing than the actual flavour. While these parts of the sheep’s body form the bulk of the dish, the meat is minced and then combined with onion, oatmeal, body fats of the sheep called suet, and finally herbs, spices and stock added. It is then encased in a sheep in the sheep’s stomach and cooked slowly. The result is a dish that is more appetising than it sounds.

Don’t knock the haggis before you consider what actually goes into a sausage, salami or even black pudding

While haggis is not entirely a purely Scottish invention, they are one of the few countries that have kept it in the gastronomy repertoire to this day. The dish is claimed to have been prepared back as far as Roman times, and it seems even the name seems to have come from afar, some claiming that the word is Scandinavian in origin. The Scandinavians were also noted to make a similar dish which doesn’t seem so unlikely given that many of them settled in Scotland over time.

Haggis neeps and tatties (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dishes like haggis and sausage came about to consume every part of the animal when food was scarce and also to preserve what they had because food was not readily available during the long winter months. The people of the times, would just invent ways to make something not so appetising more appetising.

These days haggis is traditionally served with “neeps and tatties”, Scottish slang for potatoes and turnips, and it wouldn’t be Scottish without enjoy a nip of fine Scotch whiskey to wash it down.

Well I did say the many ways to enjoy haggis, so while in Scotland you might be able to see a haggis hurling competition, just be careful not to get hit in the head by one, it could be messy. Also, while in Scotland you could enjoy a haggis burger or a haggis pakhora.

Taken in the Original Lolly Store, of all places. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Just remember don’t knock the haggis until you have tried it.

The only way to get rid of that hunger is a tasty haggis

Christmas celebrations start on1st December each year. Many households have their Christmas calender, which counts down the days until Christmas. But one of the most common a fun parts of Christmas in Germany speaking territory, is the Christmas market, known as Wiehnachtsmarkt or Christkindlmarkt. Where? It is common in Germany, Austria, South Tirol in Italy and Alsace in France.

English: Cologne Christmas market lit up during the evening (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Some of the more well known markets are huge toruist attractions for their respective cities and can bring in over 1 million visitors per year. But one of the coolest things you can do is, as in Stuttgart, go ice-skating inplain air in  one of the central parts of the city.

People go to the markets to buy typical German christmas decorations, food and beverages common in Germany to Christmas celebrations, the large decorated Christmas tree, some gifts to give to people for Christmas, and fun park attractions for kids and adults alike, like  plain air ice skating rinks, ferris wheels and other things associated with having a good time.

Gluhwein- Mulled wine (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One thing that is common to Christmas markets is mulled wine called Glühwein, which is a warm red wine, mixed with cinnamon cloves and sometimes flavoured with orange peel. You can visit these stalls while walking around in the cold German winter and partake in a warm wine. The result is a complete warming effect of the body which can help overcome a cold day. The more you partake in the more layers of clothing you need to take off.

English: A Christmas market in Toulouse, France. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Although they occur in almost every main town in the beforementioned areas, the most well known Wiehnachtsmark are found in Augsburg, Stuttgart, Dortmund, Erfurt, Dresden, Strasbourg, Vienna and Nuremburg.

If you’re looking for something to occupy a cold winters day in December in Germany, head down to the local Wiehnachtsmarkt, abit of Gluhwein, iceskating and shopping for the German artisan Christmas decorations, and you’ll have kept yourself warm.

Related articles

• Germany’s Oldest Christmas Market Opens in Dresden

I was listening to our national radio station Triple J the other day when I heard the comment about what are the main exports Sweden gives to the world. Their largest export strangely enough for a neutral country is weapons. But also strangely enough Sweden’s 2nd largest export is music. Can you believe that? A country making large amounts of money on music. They don’t have the largest population, but to make it the 2nd biggest part of your GDP, there must be some talent in the music scene in Sweden.

English: Swedish House Mafia @ WMC 2009, Miami. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Back in the early 70′s Sweden hit the international music stage with the very popular group ABBA ( Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny and Frida starting with an A). Ever since then there has been a steady stream of English language popular music coming out of this non English speaking country.

Following on this success came Roxette and in the independent scene came Millencollin. More recently the Hives have been bringing us some good music, described once by Andre 2000 of Outkast as the best band in the world in the mid 00′s (naughties)

So let’s go through the decades and bring you the best of those 10 years before we bring you our best picks of previous Swedish music and our picks of the last year/s.

Also Swedish are big on their heavy metal music scene

Lapp-Lisa sings “Glöm aldrig bort de kära” (Photo credit: Barrie Sutcliffe)

The Seventies 70′s

Blue Swede- Hooked On A Feeling-, and ABBA who have Sound of Musicesque list of music to the Generation Y

The Eighties 80′s

Roxette dominated the 80′s in Sweden with songs like The Look, and musically have been the 2nd biggest success in Sweden. Aha had a big hit with “Take On Me”

Heavy metal band Europe had a hit with “the Final Countdown”.

The Nineties 90′s

The Cardigans were popular with their song Love Fool. While in the independent scene Millencollin were very popular. Eagle Eye Cherry. Ace of Base had a few dance music hits with songs like “All That She Wants”

The Naughties 00′s

Acoustic guitarist Jose Gonzalez – Heartbeats and Crosses are great acoustic songs, and the Hives became the biggest Swedish act of the time, Robyn- Dancing On My Own, and Peter, Bjorn and John with the catchy song Young Folks

The Tens 10′s

Currently these bands or DJ’s are whats hot in the Swedish music scene

The Hives- they have put out a new album this year with the song Tick Tick Boom

Miike Snow- Paddling Out

First Aid Kit- Emmylou

Icona Pop- I Love It

Adrian Lux- Teenage Crime

Basshunter- All I Ever Wanted

The Tallest Man on Earth- The Gardener

Mando Diao- Dance With Somebody

Lykke Li- I Follow Rivers

The Tough Alliance (TTA)- Koka Kola Veins

Studio- West Side

The Embassy- It Pays To Belong

Jens Lekman- I Know What Love Isn’t

Niki and the Dove has achieved some good success- DJ Ease My Mind

The Radio Dept- Heavens on Fire

Swedish House Mafia- Seek Bromance

Kent- 999

Loreen- Euphoria

Our 5 choices from the past

1 Eagle Eye Cherry- Save Tonight

2 The Cardigans- Love Fool

3 The Hives- Hate To Say I told You So

4. Roxette- The Look

5. Millencollin- Use Your Nose

Current Goodies

1 Adrian Lux- Teenage Crime

2 Swedish House Mafia- Seeking Bromance

3 Peter, Bjorn and John- Young Folks

4 Miike Snow- Paddling Out

5 The Embassy- It Pays To Belong

It’s possible that we’ve just scratched the surface of this great music scene. And we’d like to hear from you to let us know your favourites and bands that have flown under our radar. So don’t be shy let us know. Anything else related to Swedish you can also visit  our Swedish Slang files

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• Swedish House Mafia in Stockholm farewell