PPM 2023

341512459_1455918538278149_9185444930607691383_nWorse than a Renfe train, this time we have truly accumulated an unforgivable delay, and precisely for an article that I wanted to publish quickly.
It happens that the deities of information technology are not benevolent, and indeed, as I reported in post previous, a serious problem with the computer motherboard had left us stranded. Unfortunately the replacement could not be found, and after some failed attempts to repair it we decided to carry out a revamping of the car, an update of thehardware essentially, replacing the card, processor and memories. Certo, we would have done it sooner by buying a new PC, but our nature always pushes us towards recovery, and this computer is also a kind of patchwork electronic, without forgetting the advantage of having spent less than a third of what we would have had to leave at the checkout of a computer store.
P1050230
Bene, let's move on to the narrative of our expedition to Moravia.
Actually no, we stop first in Vienna. Continua a leggere

HELLO! (to)

CARTEL PATCHWORK SITGES 2023And then here I am, to tell you something about this year's Sitges exhibition. It may be objected to me that more than a month has already passed, però, sapete com’è, I like to take it easy, and the management of this blog non fa eccezione. After all, I am sure that many images of the works exhibited in Sitges have already been posted on Facebook, some with exhibitions still in progress, so a few more weeks makes no difference.
At this point one might wonder what this could be for post, e, I will tell you, I have doubts too, but when I happen to review some photographs that we have taken, the temptation to describe arises irresistibly, to comment, conjecture, deciphering what a distracted glance might miss. You do it for the benefit of those who, for various reasons, they were not present, it is done to offer an original interpretation (and hopefully authentic) of what there was to see, it is done to give a further reason for satisfaction to those who have created those works, this is done to encourage a "person" visit to future editions of the exhibition, and finally it is also done for personal pleasure, almost as if composing this post was also making a patchwork, not cloth, questo è ovvio, but by stitching together images and words.

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Not long now

Gerlinde Merl biscuit

Gerlinde Merl – Biscuits

Il 21 April still seems far away, ma, take heed, are little more than 60 days, therefore it is time to look around to organize the visit to PPM2023 in Brno.
The right compromise between prices and availability is around two months, before it is useless, there are no discounts, but waiting too long risks having to settle for what's left. My personal travel agency knows it well, and so he always finds a way to surprise me (pleasant, ça va sans dire) discovering characteristic and suggestive places.
P1010555Know that getting to Brno is quite easy. Vienna is only an hour and a half away, with the availability of well 15 trains and 12 autobus, and the Austrian capital is widely connected with the rest of the world.
If you still have doubts about the opportunity to travel to the “distant” Brno, I report below the presentation of this edition of the exhibition. See if it's still not enough.

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Val d’Argent 2022

P1140639And this time too we did it!
To do… what?
Not to catch Covid, and what else. We have been to France and Switzerland, countries where masks are not mandatory, and therefore their use is very limited and absolutely discretionary. Not to mention Turkey, especially in Istanbul, where the famous lady "There is none Coviddi" should be conferred honorary citizenship.
About our organized trip to the Erdoğan Sultanate, of its lights and shadows maybe we will write about it in the future since this post is dedicated to the expedition exhibition in Alsace, cleanse, as always, from my personal tour guide.
Just to get off to a flying start, I want to put a full stop right away, or that this trip was the last nail planted in the coffin of my train journeys for which a connection is scheduled in Milan. NO MORE.
Not to compete with his Frecciarossa for Paris, Trenitaglia has decided well to let Thello die, the night train on the Venice Santa Lucia - Paris Gare de Lyon route. Too convenient for us to get off in Dijon in the morning and from there get on a TGV to Strasbourg, really too comfortable. So we were forced to take an arrow to Milano Porta Garibaldi, arrow so to speak since it arrived late, and then scramble to figure out where the train for Basel would soon be leaving from. In fact, the station is very lacking in information on the platforms, situation made even more complicated by the fact that to move from the passing tracks to the leading ones, you have to undertake a labyrinthine and poorly marked path. Just so as not to be proven wrong, on the way back, the train platform for Venice was specified only a few minutes before departure. Already us with two children trolley we struggled hurrying up and down corridors and stairs to the platform, so I wonder if those warmers hired for competition realize how complicated it can be to move there with a baggage that is only slightly more bulky and perhaps with some mobility difficulties.
When I happen to return to Alsace, I will leave Austria, from Villach via Mannheim or with the beautiful nightjet Wien - Strasbourg, or again, extreme reason, with Flixbus from Venice (plane also no, thank you), and the same anathema also applies to all the other trips that I will have the good fortune to make in Europe.
Bene, now that I have taken this pointed pebble out of my shoe I can move on to more pleasant things, ovvero il European Patchwork Crossroads 2022.

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Si va

CEDP2022Or so hopefully.
Although Trenitaglia made Thello die, the comfortable night train that took us to Dijon, my personal tour agency found a way to get me to Sélestat e, ça va sans dire, make me go home. So much so that we know, it is not easy to leave for Europe from cul-de-sac where I live, at least by train, and even if you were tempted by the plane (that I don't love) direct flights to Northern Europe can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Allora, see you up?