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It was a shocking sight, one that we have not seen before and that goes against all our established ideas: white people begging in the streets of a city in Africa. It may not be politically correct to express it in those terms, but I find no other way to be so clear. We are used to seeing poor indigenous people begging in African cities, or homeless people in their own European or American town,…

Rome is in shutdown. All the shops are closed except for food markets, supermarkets and pharmacies. Bars and restaurants were ordered to shutdown on Wednesday night, and people to stay at home as much as possible.

Empty piazza della Rotonda and Pantheon closed down

What is it like to live here? We limit our outings to shopping for food, which we can still find in abondance, walking dogs (if we…

Mum, I got a job!

My eldest daughter is a university student and like many students of her age she is always trying to get a summer job. This year, she came back to Rome particularly enthusiastic because she had found a summer job there. Anywhere else, it wouldn’t be worth mentioning, however, in Rome, jobs are so scarce and so badly paid that it becomes news. She knew nothing about the job itself, except that it…

Deux jours avant le premier tour des élections, présidentielles, j’ai reçu une invitation par mail pour un apéritif France Insoumise. J’hésitais encore sur mon vote et j’ai donc pensé que ça serait intéressant d’aller y faire un tour, que peut-être les militants romains du mouvement pourraient me convaincre de leur donner ma voix. En plus, l’apéritif se tenait dans un café-librairie du quartier…

A surprise birthday…

For my birthday this week, I thought I would treat myself with an Ayurveda massage. I didn’t want to go to a regular gym where they tend to offer this type of holistic massage at an inflated price, so I started searching online for an alternative here in Rome. It didn’t take me long to come across an ayurvedic centre offering all sorts of treatment by a certified practitioner from the Kerala…

Is Rome an old city?

Last night marked my first cultural outing since I moved back to Rome a year ago. I went to see a contemporary dance performance by established Israeli choreographer, Hofesh Shechter, who was selected to open the annual Roma Europa festival. Beside the highly-enjoyable dance show, which kept me engaged without a single moment of boredom drift-away, what seriously amused me was to watch the…

Visiting Rome in the summer?

If you are visiting Rome in the height of summer, here are a few humble tips from a seasoned resident

1. DO NOT VISITRome in the summer. It is hot and overcrowded with tourists. You will be stepped on in Piazza Navona and Fontana di Trevi, you will stand in long lines outside the Vatican and you will for sure get your wallet stolen. Whenever I have been to my national Consulate, I invariably met…

1960s architecture in Addis

For readers interested in Modernist architecture in Addis from the 1960s, I thought I would share here a story I wrote earlier this year for Selamta, the in-flight magazine of Ethiopian airlines.

https://www.selamtamagazine.com/stories/a-modern-capital-in-the-making

As I got a few queries on this blog about the new Dashen, I can confirm that it has re-opened a few months ago in a new location in Kasanchis very close to the Swedish school. The menu is the same with high quality traditional Ethiopian food, however the venue has been updated with a mix of modern facilities and antique Ethiopian furniture. The staff has also followed the owner Tsege in the new…

It happened. After months of uncertainty, the decision fell for Dashen restaurant to close down. The whole process didn’t take long, we had a goodbye lunch on a Sunday some three weeks ago and by the following Saturday half of the house was already gone. As I drove past it, it was reduced to four bare and broken walls just about standing still.

The remains of Dashen house

The closing of Dashen…

A new form of tourism is all of a sudden developing in Ethiopia: the helicopter ride. Last month, I went back to the Gheralta lodge, one of my favourite retreats in northern Tigray, and to my great surprise a helicopter was parked on the lawn. It belonged to wealthy tourists (I don’t know where they were from but they spoke Russian together) who were on a three-day tour of Ethiopia, which…

New lodge in Bale Mountains opens up area to more visitors

The Bale Mountains National Park is famous in Ethiopia for its unique biodiversity, being the only remaining afroalpine environment in the whole of Africa and the home of the rare Ethiopian wolf, a species of canine whose very existence is now under threat. However, for many international visitors, the Bale Mountains are being overshadowed by better known sites such as Lalibela and Lake Tana, or…

Northern Light in Addis

What a great opportunity to have Olafur Eliasson’s work exhibited in Addis for the first time ever! The Danish artist Eliasson needs no introduction, he is a very established international artist, known for his installations using light and visual effects and shown in the best contemporary spaces around the World.

Eliasson’s trademark light

  Now in his 40s, he came to international fame in 2003…

The Armenians of Addis

People who have lived in Addis for a while know that the Armenians have a strong presence in the city, even if today very few of them remain in Ethiopia. The Armenian church in Piassa is still a landmark as well as the Armenian club in the Siddist kilo district. Now, a new book just released in French: “La Fanfare du Negus”, tells the story of the Armenian community in Ethiopia over the 19th and…

A city without parks

Addis used to be a green city full of lush gardens and flowers, with tall palm trees, thriving avocado trees, forever-purple jacaranda trees, deep red and fuchsia bongainvilles, aloe vera plants, etc…..All these gardens are fast disappearing with the current urban development plan, entirely focused on building as many tall concrete towers as possible. Any remaining green area is seen by avid…