I was missing chaos when I found Doel. After a recent trip to Indonesia which gave me a crash course on how chaos can look like, Brussels seemed a tad too orderly and sober by contrast. No monkeys on the roof, no motorcycles that carry whole families together with their belongings, no passengers on top ofContinue reading “Don’t let Doel die”
Author Archives: Silvia Martin
East side to the West side
I have never thought I’d be reading books about volcanoes one day. There’s hardly anything I hate more than earthquakes and related catastrophes. But when you’re travelling to Sumatra, Indonesia – situated somewhere in the Pacific Ring of Fire, it only seems appropriate. And if I was to get into it, I wouldn’t have settledContinue reading “East side to the West side”
Peru: Preps ‘n’ Early Beginnings
The idea of going to Peru has stressed the life out of me. For two full months I roamed in circles like a lion in a cage before I finally did the irreversible and booked. Root of the problem: I wasn’t perfectly sure whether I was fit enough to tackle the Inca Trail. In myContinue reading “Peru: Preps ‘n’ Early Beginnings”
I’m wrong therefore I am
The fact remains that getting people right is not what living is all about anyway. It’s getting them wrong that is living, getting them wrong and wrong and wrong and then, on careful reconsideration, getting them wrong again. That’s how we know we’re alive: we’re wrong. (Philip Roth – American Pastoral) Whenever I feel lostContinue reading “I’m wrong therefore I am”
The Lisboa Experience
Lisbon is destined to be a very lovable city. To begin with, it has an exquisite geographical position: it is the only European capital set along the Atlantic coast. Summer there lasts for about six months and the average temperature in the coldest months of winter is +/- 15°C. This alone won my heart completely.Continue reading “The Lisboa Experience”
Where is the European Union?
“What is that?” asked the man when I said that I was coming from Brussels, headquarters of the European Union. The couple I’m talking to comes from the US, so that justifies the question. We met on a boat to Amalfi, the name of which they cannot really pronounce either. But generally speaking they knowContinue reading “Where is the European Union?”
Hell of a May Day
May 1st is, no doubt, a public holiday in Belgium, too. Labour Day or Easter – who cares about the underlying significance of the event, as long as it is a day off? I was once asked by a seemingly mature person why Easter was supposed to be a sad occasion. True, if you growContinue reading “Hell of a May Day”
Childhood: made in concrete
I grew up in a concrete environment. During communist Romania, blocks of flats emerged from the ground and spread across cities like mushrooms after a fresh rain, with no architectural purpose other than squeezing people in. Glued one next to the other and separated by thin walls, we could hear our neighbours putting a glassContinue reading “Childhood: made in concrete”
August: Osage County – Women Got Nerves
The world has been swarming with problem-loaded families almost for as long as the Earth has been revolving around the Sun and rotating around its own axis. But for all the amount of problems one sole family can possess, it is the Westons’ that seem to own the record by a far margin. John Wells,Continue reading “August: Osage County – Women Got Nerves”
12 years a slave – One to see. Once
12 years a slave made me go two years back to the very first lesson that my SEO teacher sent me in the inbox when I took to being a copywriter: relevancy. This word that rules my professional and personal writing experience is glued to the low left side of my computer screen as a reminder,Continue reading “12 years a slave – One to see. Once”
Explorer of the Everyday 
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