After a few minutes, I started thinking “Hmmm, we’re kind of penned-in by the crowd right in the middle of this area…” (I had an inkling what was about to happen), then people started whistling, and all the people around us started wrapping bandanas around their faces, dousing themselves in water, and pulling hoods (& welding masks!) up over their heads, and putting glasses on. I had two 3-4 year old girls on their parents’ shoulders in front of me, they also began pulling large hoods over their heads.

Then suddenly these ‘creatures’ dressed like devils poured forth through the gates of hell, held up all manner of explosives over our heads and lit them. It was absolutely insane. I had foot-long sticks of explosives exploding one metre from my head, I could feel the shockwaves hitting my head and my ears popped immediately. I tried to get out but couldn’t. Panic! People were trying to come towards us, others trying to escape, I though there would be a crowd crush and people would die…it was all a bit intense, but that’s the Spanish/Catalan way. Fun, fun…Except if you work in a hospital .

This video explains rather well what it’s all about:

Read more about the Correfoc on Wikipedia.

This video gives you an idea about the yoga teacher training course I did with Chaitanya Nitai Das at Yoga Inbound in Cuzco. I really loved the training and can truly say that yoga has had a life changing effect on me.

In this video you will see parts of the lessons – yoga philosophy and training and Chaitanya will tell you about his training and the idea behind Yoga Inbound and finally I will tell you why I enjoyed it so much.

For more information about Yoga Inbound in Cuzco – please visit the website: http://yogacusco.com/

Kanyakumari is the ‘Land’s End’ of the Indian subcontinent, where the Bay of Bengal meets the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. It is the place to experience simultaneous sunset and moonrise over the ocean.

Kanyakumari has great spiritual significance for Hindus, and is dedicated to the goddess Devi Kanya, an incarnation of Parvati. Pilgrims come here to visit the temple. Kanyakumari is worth a visit 2 days/1 night.

In this video I have filmed Kanyakumari and the temple on my arrival day. Next morning we got up at 5 o’clock to watch the sunrise while the moon was still in the sky. It was very special.

Lisbon to me was a maze of gorgeous panoramic views from the hillsides overlooking Rio Tejo and the city itself. Gothic cathedrals, majestic monasteries and interesting museums are all part of the colourful cityscape, but the most amazing part is just wondering around the narrow lanes of Lisbon’s lovely backstreets.

Tiny coffee and cake shops are found everywhere and in Bairro Alto you can enjoy evenings with fado – the traditional Portuguese melancholic singing. You will also find dozens of restaurants and bars line the narrow streets, with jazz, reggae and electronic and any day of the week you can party until dawn. Yet, while history is very much alive in centuries-old Lisbon, its spirit is undeniably youthful.

The Lisbon experience encompasses so many things, from enjoying a fresh pastry and bica (espresso) on a petite leafy plaza to window-shopping in elegant Chiado. It’s mingling with Lisboêtas at a neighbourhood festival or watching the sunset from the old Moorish castle.

Just outside Lisbon, there’s more to explore: the magical setting of Sintra, glorious beaches and traditional fishing villages.

I absolutely adored Lisbon – but the city would not have been half the glory or fun without my darling friends there.

Thanks a million Francisco for spending a whole week with me and showing me every single bit of Lisbon…all the beautiful, peculiar and hidden places. You are the best tour guide ever.

And thanks a million Joao for showing me what supreme hospitality is and sharing your home with me for a whole week. It was wonderful!

Qualquer momento e onde quer que eu vivo – a minha casa é sua casa.

Com amor Tina

Summerhouses are a core part of Danish culture. We just love them and they are an essential part of our lives.

There are 220,000 second homes in Denmark: 203,000 summerhouses, 14,000 allotments and 2,300 other types of recreational properties.

44 percent of holiday homes situated in Jutland, 16 percent of Fyn and other islands, while the remaining 40 percent is built on Zealand.

One cottage is an average of 3.5 rooms, a living area of 67 square meters and a land value of 700,000 crowns (2004).

Over half of the country’s homes were built between 1960 and 1979. It was built as many houses in 1973, where also the building of houses boomed.

Summerhouses can be divided into three groups: Over half of higher quality houses are built of wood, a quarter of the second homes are older homes in poor quality, often lacking bath and appropriate heating, while the last group consists of large and expensive homes.

6.8 percent of households in Denmark own a summerhouse. The majority of summerhouses are owned by 50+- generation – especially older couples without children.

Two out of three homes are located more than 50 kilometres from the year-round dwelling, and every third house is more than 100 kilometres away.

84 percent of second homes have a bath, 80 percent of owners can easily heat the house in the winter, almost all (93 percent) have a television, two out of three have a washing machine and /or dishwasher, and one in four have Internet in the summerhouse.

78 percent of owners have a summerhouse to get away from everyday life and relax. Therefore they prefer the house to be in nature or close to the sea.

The video above shows you my mum’s summerhouse in Ebeltoft. It is really lovely and I spend quite a lot of time there…I love being close to the sea and the house is 5 minutes walk from the beach

Source: Center for Housing and Welfare: ‘Holiday in Denmark. Who has them and how are they used?

Delhi – with its dusty air and millions of people and cars seems overwhelming to many travellers. It is very confronting and in your face.
But give it a few days…if you can see past the dirt and get used to the noice and huge amount of people around you all the time, there is a good chance that you will actually really like Delhi.

I really like Delhi…it feels to me like walking through a history book when I parade around in the old part of the city which is sprinkled with glittering gems: captivating ancient monuments, magnificent museums, and colonial buildings. And when you go down south you will find everything a modern city has to offer…fancy high-rise buildings, any kind of restaurant you can dream of, fancy cafees and clubs etc. Delhi is a truly multidimensional metropolis.

For those of you who have only scratched the surface and seen people doing the toilet thing along the railway tracks and been confronted with seedy characters in Paharganj…trust me – there is a lot more to Delhi!

The video above shows you a few places in Delhi: the Red Fort, Connaught Place, Janpath market, Delhi metro and Paharganj.

I took the tourist cruise from Alappuzha to Kollam (400 Rs for 8 hours). The boat departs at 10.30am and arrives at 6.30pm. On the way you will see many beautiful things such as: shallow, palm-fringed lakes with Chinese fishing nets, small settlements where fishermen and their families live and narrow, palm-fringed canals.

It is a really beautiful trip (as you will see from the video below) and I would definitely recommend it.

I spent my days doing yoga in the morning on the empty beach, going for walks during the midday sun or drinking chai in a restaurant while reading my books and going to the beach in the late afternoon and enjoying the beautiful sunset.

In Varkala you find both travellers and families. It’s not a party place, but a place to really relax.

The video below shows you a bit of Varkala. Enjoy

The temple complex is 6 hectares and has 12 very decorative gopurams (towers) ranging from 45-50 meter tall. These towers are decorated with rich carvings of celestial and animal figures.

Inside between the statues and finely sculpted columns, you will find a frantic activity of tailors and shops crammed into crevices.

There is a free admission to the temple, but there is a camera fee and a relatively large video camera fee. However, the temple is an unforgettable experience whether you take pictures or not.

The video below shows a few glimpses of the spectacular temple.

However, unlike many capital cities, Delhi actually feels pretty safe to me. This might be an illusion of course, but I like Delhi a lot and I also like the Main Bazaar. I have stayed there three times now and feel both comfortable there and quite at home. It is also the cheapest place to stay in Delhi and has lots of cheap restaurants, travel agencies and shops.

This video gives you a small idea about the character of the Main Bazaar – heaven or hell? Judge for yourself.