Nice, France Is Better Than Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo

I have a huge fascination with breakdancing (also known as b-boying or breaking).  Each time we see people dancing somewhere, I can’t help but stop and watch.  I love the sheer athleticism of it.  It evolved from almost every dance, acrobatic and martial arts style including: tap, jazz, capoeira, Balkan, ballroom, folk, shaolin kung-fu, circus and swing.

Breakdancing is popular in France.  When we were in Nice, we strolled the Pedestrain Zone of the Place Masséna.  It’s essentially the main square of Nice and center of all the action.  We encountered some break dancers (videos are all over YouTube) on checkerboard pavement and stopped to check them out.

Each time I watch break dancers, I am struck by the communal spirit that surrounds them.  It makes you want to learn how to do it.  Forget ballroom dancing, we’ll be taking this dance class instead.  It looks like a pretty good workout.

Being a former gymnast, I loved the power moves because they are particularly acrobatic.  It requires momentum, speed, endurance, strength, and control (like the flare, windmill, swipe, and head spin).

Downrock (also known as footwork or floorwork) describes any movement on the floor where the hands supporting the dancer as much as the feet.  Common downrock moves include: the foundational 6-step, and its variants such as the 3-step.  Basic downrock is done entirely on hands and feet.  It didn’t take long for their moves to get way more complex and too fast  for the settings on my camera.

Freezes are stylish poses, and the more difficult require the breaker to suspend  himself or herself off the ground using upper body strength in poses.  How can you not love these creative displays of agility and physical strength set to music?

Well done gentlemen.

I Made The Queen Of Sweden Smile…And Met Camilla Parker-Bowles

We weren’t the only bigwigs in Sweden last week.  Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles (the Duchess of Cornwall) were also visiting.  I caught a glimpse of a fancy motorcade on the way to a museum.  A local told me that it was probably for Prince Charles who was in town visiting the King and Queen.

I was walking through Gamala Stan and saw him come out and sign a couple of autographs on the way from one palace building to another.

The next day, we were on the way to the Vasa Museum when a fancy motorcade sped past.   We were hoping that they weren’t headed to the same place because we didn’t want delays.  We were able to enter the museum when it opened and began touring it.  It is awesome!  So impressive.

We were asked to step back by some guards to make a path for King Carl of Sweden, Queen  Silvia of Sweden, Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles to pass. We stepped back and I got the camera ready.  I was able to snap a couple of pics before they got too close (I didn’t want to blind them).  The King and Queen stood back, letting Charles and Camilla work the crowd.  I caught the Queen’s eye, smiled at her, gave her the thumbs up and whispered “great country.”  She cracked a smile.  We had a moment.

Camilla came up to me and asked me where I was from.  I told her that I was from the states, but lived in Geneva.  We chatted about the impressive ship and the well-curated museum.  She asked if I was enjoying my time in Stockholm.  I said “immensely, it’s a wonderful place, but you have a very nice country as well.  We had a fantastic time there.”  She smiled and wished me a nice trip.

Surprisingly, she did not invite me to tea later.  Perhaps it wasn’t so surprising…I’d just eaten smoked salmon and downed a couple of cups of coffee.

Related articles

• Prince Charles makes first official visit to Sweden (cbsnews.com)
• His Royal High-nets: Prince Charles plays basketball… and other awkward Royal photo opportunities (mirror.co.uk)
• Swedish Royal News Regarding Their Majesties King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden as well as Prince Daniel and Prince Carl Philip (royalcorrespondent.com)

 

Baby, Baby, Baby, Oh

Our friends are having a baby so a bunch of us got together for a baby shower.

Baby showers in Europe are not like in the US in that, well, they don’t have them. People may send or give a gift after the baby is born, but don’t get together to celebrate of give presents before the baby.  Since you can’t go to the stores here and purchase baby shower invitations, I made the invitations.

It was a couples shower so we focused less on games, decorations and incredible cuteness.  Instead, we had food and drinks.  I made and individually wrapped Rice Krispie Treats for favors.  Some of our European guests had never tasted them before.  We were proud to introduce them to a new guilty pleasure.

Since we are American and can only adapt so much, we had one anyway.  In deference to the multicultural nature of this shower, we did not play any of the following games:

• Guessing the circumference of the expectant mother’s tummy
• Smearing melted candy bars in diapers and have people sniff to guess the brand
• Tasting jars of baby food to guess the flavors
• Collecting baby pictures of guests, putting them in a slide show and have guests guess whose picture it is
• Making guess drink from baby bottles. Yes, I realize this is technically not a game.  They may have drunk from other types of bottles.
• Have guests guess how much an assortment of baby supplies costs.  In Switzerland, I think this would only scare the parents to be…and everyone else.

In fact, we didn’t play any games (unless you count the impromptu Chartreuse tasting as a game).

The parents-to-be opened presents, many of which had an adorable Swiss theme.

Congratulations and best wishes guys.  We can’t wait to meet her.

Tebowing in Switzerland

We have heard that Tebowing is in the news over there.  It has made it across the pond.  Try explaining that to curious onlookers hiking Switzerland’s Lavaux vineyards in French.

  

Mad Channels

We have Swiss Cable through Swisscom.  It was part of our wireless package and wasn’t much more expensive than basic wireless. I wanted to be able to watch the French channels to practice my French, so we got it.  I am astounded by the number and variety of channels we have. We get over 160 TV Channels, over 130 national and international radio stations and thousands of internet radio stations.

When he leaves for work in the morning, I turn on French TV and watch the news in French. To practice, I try to have French TV on whenever he’s not here. I hope it helps because one afternoon, I watched a bad French soap opera.

If you have favorite French (or British) shows, please let me know. While I am asking, if you know of great international radio or internet radio stations please let me know those as well.

Here are some of our favorite viewings thus far:

• Coming to America
• A British show where they check in on people restoring an old property and do detective work to learn about the house’s history
• Autrefois (a show that shows Geneva through the history with interviews, photos and old film clips)
• The French history channel’s 2 hour show about historical figures
• Carson from the Queer Eye‘s new show dubbed in French, please don’t judge. It’s definitely cheerier than the constant news of the dollar dropping.
• The French like to combine their love of food with their love of love. This yields some bizarre dating shows.
• Horrible Histories. Yes, I know it’s a kids show, but it’s just so funny.