10. This Dog Doesn't Eat Gluten
Final days in lockdown, London.
Here’s five wonderful things I found this week.
1. Ordinary Habit
The quiet joy
of opening a book
of peeling an orange
of lying on grass
of listening to rain
of breathing deep
of planting seeds
of making tea
of taking time
of doing less
of an every day
at any moment
2. Opening a hotel during COVID-19
One of my favourite cities in Japan just got a new hotel. The Ace Hotel group have just opened in central Kyoto.
213 rooms, hotel design by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma with interiors by LA firm Commune Design.
“Opening a hotel during these times requires us to let go of 'business as usual' and approach it as an opportunity to think creatively,” says Kelly Sawdon, Ace’s chief brand officer, one of numerous Ace staff unable to get to Kyoto for the opening due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
I can’t wait to visit.
3. La Dolce Vita
Support NGO Choose Love Help Refugees by ordering a gorgeous Italian print from the Lucy Laucht online shop.
A portion of each sale goes to Choose Love Help Refugees, a NGO providing humanitarian aid to, and advocacy for, refugees in Italy, Calais, Greece, Lebanon, Serbia and the UK. Proceeds are dedicated towards child and youth education, mental health services and support for women and girls.
Positano, Italy. [buy the print here]
Perfect Ten. [buy the print here]
Summer Mood. [buy the print here]
4. The Literal Meaning of Every Country’s Name
This map shows the historical meaning of each country’s name, as far back as their earliest literal translations go.
Love that Botswana is ‘Those Who Went Away’ and Benin is known as ‘Land of Argument’. I can attest that Namibia most definitely is ‘The Vast Place’.
Less delighted about Kenya’s translation ‘ Mountain of Whiteness’.
LOL Italy ‘Sons of The Bull’ and Spain ‘Land of Many Rabbits’.
Nauru may be my fave - ‘I Go To The Beach’.
Me too, Nauru.
Also, allegedly the most beautiful language in the world is Italian with Arabic as a close second.
Italian
Let’s start with one that most of us can agree on, the language of Dante, da Vinci and Pavarotti. Italian has long been known as one of the foremost languages in the world of art, opera and, of course, romance – even the spoken version of it sounds like a song to non-native speakers. Nothing sounds as passionate as when it is said in Italian.
5. Watching
This beautiful documentary on Netflix called A Secret Love.
- you kinda broke the rules your whole life
- yes I have, and that’s why I’m happy (laughs)