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Diana Kot's travel journal. Some pictures www.instagram.com/catidiana Articles www.facebook.com/catidiana Videos https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHI8QPW7XQDwz4hwN2B7z-A
Traditionally let’s summarize the book results of the year. Unfortunately, much less was read this year, for 2 reasons: I started reading books in English and I started buying paper copies.
1. Markus Zusak “The Book Thief”. This book made me fall in love with historical fiction. It is both adult and childish, hard and light, it makes you cry and laugh. Released in 2005, it has already become a classic and received a film adaptation (rather weak). I liked it very much and recommend reading.
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. So, I decided to finish the entire book series of Harry Potter and it’s magical.
3. Khaled Hosseini “A Thousand Splendid Suns”. Khaled’s book “Kite runner” I recommend to everyone. It's hard to find a book that makes such a strong impression. Of course, after Kite runner, expectations from the author are very high, but this book is simply very good. It tells about the fate of Afghan women during the Taliban's seizure of power.
4. Vladimir Nabokov “Luzhin’s Defense”. Nabokov's early works are honey for the ears. Naive stories but an incredible level of mastery of words. You feel as if you are immersed in a jar of your favorite jam. This is the last work by Nabokov in the list of those that I wanted to read. I guess that this is the last work in the list of russian authors as well.
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I know it's on everyone's mind but everyone is afraid to say it - David Yates ruined the Harry Potter franchise. Therefore, read books.
6. John Steinbeck “The Grapes of Wrath”. I'm always suspicious of classics and all sorts of awards, but this book is simply incredible. Steinbeck restored my faith that realism could be interesting. During the Great Depression, many families from the northern United States were forced to migrate south in search of work to survive. Our reader has never been close to the theme of the Great Depression, but now that we are all refugees, you will find many echoes in it.
7. Neil Gaiman “American Gods”. And again I fell for pop culture. Shantaram’s story repeated itself. The book is also huge. The idea of new gods versus old gods is really good. But there are a lot of questions regarding implementation. I don't like it when the volume of a book is inflated with side stories that have nothing to do with the main plot. I don’t like it when there’s dirt, sex and dirty sex. I’ll say this: if you didn’t like the first 50 pages, you shouldn’t read further.
I really hope that next year I'll read more. At least 1 book every month. Meanwhile if you also like books, join me on GoodReads
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144732589-diana-kot
New day - new adventure.
Prices in Barcelona kill me! But recently I found out about app ToGoodToGo. Bakeries, cafes, hotels and shops give away food at the end of the day with a 70% discount. And in my area, a lot of places participate in this program.
Its mainly bakeries, pastry shops and cafes with Spanish fast food. You also can't choose what to take away - you are given a "surprise-bag". I didn’t want to take sweets buns and fast food and decided to buy a surprise-bag from an organic grocery store.
Most of all I was afraid that they would give me meat. And yes, my "surprise" included buns and 2 packages of meat products. Although everything looked very good, I was upset and asked if there was anything without meat. The boy at the checkout was confused because they were not allowed to change the packages, but “especially for me and in secret,” he put together another order. Wich I also didn't like 🥲
Its fish spaghetti and a bag of greens for 3€. In general, no healthy diet...
Couple of words about recycling.
This is a ticket I just bought from tickets machine at Mallorca Airport.
Idk if I should regret choosing city center as a location for leaving. We have this second evening straight
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My neighbors were just discussing a 2003 movie and one of them exclaimed: “Oh, I love old movies so much!” 😐
Like if the films from 2003 are not old.
Maybe I'm a bit wild but first time see it. Contactless chargers in Barcelona McDonald's.
Of course my phone is too old and cheap for these.
Madeira is... when you are proposed to move to the earlier flight, because both flights are delayed but the earlier one is about your time. So I'm in duty free now waiting for my "earlier" flight.
Poncha is a traditional alcoholic drink from Madeira, made of rum, honey, sugar, and some juice (mostly lemon).
There is a true cult of poncha on Madeira and everyone showed me their favorite poncharia on the island.
Did I drink it? Of course not.
Madeira is served by 4 bus companies. And only one is on Google maps. Where are the schedules and stops of others - you need to be born with this knowledge.
Of course this had to happen sooner or later. I was waiting for the bus at the wrong stop. The route of the bus that brought me to Porto Moniz from Funchal was different from the one that went back.
As a result, I hitchhiked and stopped a rare jaguar. There are only 2 cars of this model in Madeira.
I love hiking and Madeira is definitely one big hike.
To the nearest small supermarket I descend 100 meters, which I then need to pick up on the way home with bags of groceries.
But still it's very rewarding. Can you guess all the fruits on my plate? Neither can I.
Map of my flight. We flew to Madeira and circled around the island.
At first they wanted to send us back to Lisbon, but our captain changed their minds :)
Landing in Madeira was the most memorable of my life. At first you see only the ocean, then rocks, then a concrete runway appears out of nowhere. The adventure begins!!!
UPD. 44 flights were canceled on Madeira that day.
What are we going to joke about:
- about the grain crisis
- about the Russian language on Ukrainian carriages
- about the place for vibrator?
Some additional information about the fifth part of Harry Potter. Starting this part, films started to have lots of moments that were unclear to those who had not read the book. I'm also adding txt file for those who don’t want to read in English - paste the text into the translator :)
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Air raid alerts 3 nights in a row. I feel like a zombie.
Update: kamikaze-drone flew over my house
Update 2: I can hear more.
Tried today cycling class for the first time.
Got a not very gentle reminder why I was avoiding bicycles for that long.
When I complained to my trainer she said: "No pain no gain".
Well, I can't relate more.
Tió de Nadal is a Catalan Christmas tradition.
The idea is: on the day of the Immaculate Conception, a wooden “tio” - uncle - is brought into the house. Before Christmas, he is “fed” in every possible way, and on Christmas Eve he is beaten with sticks to make it easier for uncle to “poop.” Then tio "poops" with gifts. Of course, I couldn’t resist such a beautiful tradition and bought myself my tio.
I wished him to poop me some nice boyfriend. So the Christmas noche will be dificil noche para tio.
While ago I got addicted to flat white. I'm not a big fan of capuchino's foam and caffe latte is too weak for me. Also due to the stomach problems can't drink espresso anymore.
But the is no flat white in south Europe (except hardcore hipsters places).
On Madeira I discovered coffee called "chinesa". But it seems like today I found my new love for the rest of my days in Spain - cortado.
Would be glad for your advice if you know some other coffee types I can try:)
Today I gave my fingerprints to the police. I was already prepared that they would smear my hands with ink and I would go around getting everything and everyone dirty.
And this situation has been repeating itself for 10 years in a row: I think about ink and every time I am disappointed when I see electronic scanner.
Picasso museum in Barcelona.... It's so overcrowded I can't stand it and want to leave.
Do you like Picasso? (Me - not really, honestly)
I just paid 40 euros for develop and scan of 2 films in Barcelona.
I did my best to keep a poker face while paying but probably failed.
Maybe I should gather films and wait till I'm in Ukraine....
Yesterday was All Saints' Day. Today I came to my favorite cafe for lunch and guess what. They are already putting up the Christmas decorations.
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There are several iconic tracks on Madeira. And while some of them are still closed after the storm, PR 8 is overcrowded as usual. In this short video I filmed my route and my impression of this beautiful place. I hope you'll enjoy it too.
https://youtu.be/8gqW5lMtjNs
The airport in Madeira is named after the football player Cristiano Ronaldo. He was born here. The airport was renamed in his honor after Portugal won the 2016 European Championship, when Cristiano was 32 years old.
Many critics suggested that a more prominent historical figure would be more appropriate. And what do you think? Does Cristiano Ronaldo deserve it? Or was this done to lure tourists?
While ago I read John Steinbeck's short book "Of Mice and Men" and the story struck me so much that I wanted to read his other works. And of course, the first place on my wishlist was “The Grapes of Wrath,” for which Steinbeck received the Pulitzer Prize.
For some reason I was convinced that since the book received an award, it should contain very complicated English.
But it turned out that no, the original language is not complicated. But Ukrainian translation is difficult for me. There are many words that I don't know. And it seems that the translator did this on purpose, to show the richness of the Ukrainian language, because there are simpler synonymous words, and simpler words better reflect the original text (but it's just my opinion).
So, in the end, reading American literature turned into learning the Ukrainian language for me.
Well...I write you about books I'm reading a lot, but what about you? What are you reading right now? Or read recently? Maybe you also have some wishlist of books?
Got a picture of my boobs today.
This is a kind reminder to all women to do a regular medical check-up.
Me: I need to settle down to solve all my problems.
Also me:
Sep 30 - Oct 7: Kyiv
Oct 8 - Oct 14: Warsaw
Oct 14 - Oct 21: Lisbon
Oct 21 - Nov 19: Madeira
Nov 19 - ???: Barcelona
"The source of my life today is coffee." Makes you think about the necessity to fight caffeine addiction.
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