to cities around the world
[We write this in honour of the bells of Notre-Dame returning to service earlier in November, with 3 new bells also, for the first time since the 2019 fire that threatened to destroy the Parisian landmark which is celebrating its reopening this weekend.] We at Madeleine’s love the Gulou area of Beijing with its many hutongs Read more
(continuing from Part 1) As for Anne Frank and her diary-writing, the story of the 13-year-old who documented her thoughts and observations in daily diaries from 1942 onwards while hiding in “the secret annex” in what is known today as Anne Frank House, putting her skills of observing things around her and writing them down Read more
Many know that Madeleine the travelista shared her inspirations while a 6-year-old that she wanted to “travel around the whole wide world”. Our very own travelista loves Paris, a city with a lot to like: art, design, culture, gardens, food, history, architecture. Then, there’s London: yes Paris has buildings wrapped with plants, but London has Read more
Did you know there are vineyards in various places in Paris? I guess they can be called urban vineyards? (Yes, we at Madeleine’s have been thinking about vineyards as we’ve recently spent some time on an island vineyard in Italy, even if course we have also been thinking about Paris, the Olympics taking place right Read more
It’s November, and it’s time for the art-meets-islands festival in the Saikung area of Hong Kong. The “Sai Kung Hoi Arts Festival” is a three-year arts project that started in November 2022 and focuses on some of the islands and villages in Saikung with the idea that “isles can be the place where people meet, Read more
Did your London friends tell you about the Green Park’s Underground roundel turned into Green Planet (as it did in January 2022 to celebrate David Attenborough’s TV series?) First, you will have to have a park called Green Park, then you’ll have a station named after it – a feat that neither Hyde Park nor Read more
The romance of “April snow” and “May snow” The Tung Blossoms (油桐花) (Latin name: Vernicia fordii) that line mountains and hillsides around the country in April and May are very popular in Taiwan. Taiwanese people often refer to Tung Blossoms as “April Snow” or “May Snow” (depending on when they are in full bloom) and their Read more
We love the “oo-ing” and “ah-ing” we somehow allow ourselves to do when we see beautiful light pink blossoms in the midst of an urban cityscape – cherry blossoms in Tokyo, roses in Paris (“the roses in Paris are worth waiting for”) – and doing a pink-flower-and-scent-walk using our secret gardens in Paris map is Read more
We went walking around town in London early this December. And what did we find? First was the wonderful Christmas atmosphere at Trafalgar Square. While the “Christmas market” itself is relatively small and nothing to write home about (the top 3 by our word-of-mouth research is “Christmas by the River” at London Bridge, Spitalsfield Christmas Read more
Now that autumn coolness has descended upon us (at least those of us in the northern hemisphere), we can definitely remember the very hot Europe we were in this late summer, London followed by Paris followed by Antwerp, and before then we were in “southern winter” in Sydney. “The world” as we found in these Read more