As I’m writing this late in the night (early in the morning?), I’m listening to a mixtape by Scottish-born DJ Stillhead. It’s a super-chill mix to start with and perfect background music to write about this week’s collection of stories and links. I’m a natural sharer and with each new discovery, I bookmark, tab, highlight relentlessly with the diehard intention to share. Sometimes I get a common theme going and other times, it’s a literal, verbal hot mess or brain dump. This week’s edition is a collection of Sound Bites, focusing on 2 of my favorite themes: Music and Food on a global stage. You see, after living in Europe, Asia and the USA, I would be hard-pressed to ignore the different cultural influences pockmarking my musical and gastronomic tastes. I hope you’ll check out some of these special finds, enjoy listening or reading about them and maybe, just maybe, seek them out in your piece of the world. Because, dear readers,
the world has so much to offer and what’s life without a bit of adventure?
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Intentionally Mysterious: A Freunde von Freunden mixtape by DJ Stillhead (AKA Alex Cowles)
A couple of years ago, I attended a blogger conference in Berlin, a city that visitors either love or hate. I’m one of those travelers who enjoys the cultural mix that makes Berlin unique and alive, more so than other cities in eastern Germany. Two of the conference speakers came from Freunde von Freunden, an international publication that introduces different cultures, cities, industries from around the world. I learned that mixtape talents often came from the local Berlin music industry, which is just as much a melting pot as the city itself. Stillhead’s mixtape for FvF is best listened to while traveling. Plug it in to unplug from your crazy morning commute.
FvF mixtapes found on Mixcloud or iTunes are unique and you can count on a new one every 2 weeks.
Mixcloud link: https://www.mixcloud.com/fvonf/freunde-von-freunden-mixtape-90-by-stillhead/
Freunde von Freunden Mixtape #90 by Stillhead by Fvonf on Mixcloud
Discover Paris with Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos
I won’t lie to you; we love Paris. Heck, we love France. My husband is a bonafide Francophile although I think he could live anywhere in the world and be happy. When I stumbled on this little video after having visited Paris at the end of June, I had to share it here. While we do make a point to visit typical tourist spots, we also prefer to mix up our itinerary with a lot of wandering, preferring to enjoy the overall experience as much as possible. You’ll see a lot of the Paris I love when you watch Eve Jackson’s video with 3 prolific British artists (a singer, portrait artist and actress). You’ll get a look at a food and music lover’s walk around Montmartre, wander through a favorite Parisian museum housed in an old train station, and visit an artist’s studio. (You know I paused it a few times to catch the names of a couple of the food shops they visited for our next visit to the City of Light!)
Did you know that July is National Ice Cream Month in the USA?
It’s no secret to anyone who’s lived in Germany that the Germans love their ice cream or “eis”–the creamier, the better. And the Italian gelato ice cream truck is a favorite sight to see year ‘round. (Eis Tony comes to the bottom of our driveway at 1700 or 5pm, every day, rain or shine.) There are so many yummy flavors in this world from personal favorite Goma or black sesame ice cream in Japan to straciatella in Europe.
Here’s a lovely and yummy recipe from chef and author David Lebovitz for Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream.
And to top off your ice cream dreams, a more recent writeup on an adventurous ice cream shop in Australia with luscious and experimental flavors and toppings
Another great list from Matador Network: 9 Things that only happen when you travel solo
If you caught last week’s ChitChat Pack, I mentioned that I only recently started becoming comfortable traveling solo. Why? When I was in the Navy, at one point while assigned with the 7th Fleet in Japan, I always needed a travel buddy to leave the ship whenever we pulled into a foreign port. Before then, I’d only had a chance to wander around a new city a couple of times on my own timeline with my own checklist (or non-checklist). Of course, I quickly figured out with whom I was comfortable traveling around a strange city and I have fab memories of those visits! But there’s a lot to be said about traveling solo. This quick list of 9 things is so very true… I’ve met some of the most interesting people and collected fantastic memories that would not have happened if I wasn’t traveling solo.
Profile: German Violin maker Frank Rittwagen
A couple of weeks ago, our child decided that she wanted to learn how to play the violin. I thought maybe it was just one of those fleeting whims that every young child gets. (Natch, she’s still very much obsessed with it so we have a trial class at a local school soon.) Neither my husband nor I play the violin (he played briefly as a youngster before switching to trumpet). I’d hoped perhaps she would want to learn the piano or keyboard first. I don’t normally subscribe to “signs” but when I was listening to FvF’s mixtapes earlier, I found their profile on German violin maker, Frank Rittwagen. Maybe it’s a “sign”…
MAKE WINE NOT WAR
We live in wine country (that’s my child running through a nearby vineyard) and I love learning about the different wines produced in this region, especially when the local vineyards open up their businesses and offer dinner a couple of times a week in the summer. Imagine my surprise when I learned about a pair of brothers who, against all odds, are continuing their family dream of making wine in a Syrian war zone.
International Mashup:
We (my child and I) are fans of YouTube musical artists. I’m also a fan of mashups. Here’s a crazy fun mashup from uber-popular Kurt Hugo Schneider’s channel from earlier this year when he and his buds traveled to India. Enjoy!
Thanks for reading! Comments are always appreciated (unless they’re totally snarky and rude or you’re a spammer, then you’ll get the big D).
Cheering you on,
Melody
Photography Credits:
- Britney Brown, Des Moines-based photographer. You can find her at Britney Brown Design or follow her on Facebook
- Morguefile. One of my main go-to free stock photo sites.
- Canva. I use this fantastic and free/low-cost site for simple and beautiful graphics for use here on my blog, my business site Global VA Connect, and on social media.
The post ChitChat Pack 1.2 – Sound Bites appeared first on Global Family Treks.
