Lessons from Amsterdam

1. Everything comes at a price

There are so many beautiful flowers out there. Some come with a vibrant colour, others with an elegant smell. They 're not for free; you see,  everything comes at a price. The most precious ones are usually the most expensive. But you can't afford all of them. And you can't choose which one you prefer. 

2. Capture the moment
One moment and the birds fly above you. There's a yellow bike parked. The clouds take funny shapes. Look above and in front of you. Capture the moment of this beautiful picture and move on.

3. Cheese makes you fat
You can't have all the cheese in one go, you need to taste it in small portions at a time. I know it's delicious and smoky and bit of salty and creamy, but you needn't be greedy. If you eat too much, you'll get sick of it and your cholesterol will hit the ceiling.

See right through me

On the flight back from a business trip in Brussels, feeling exhausted and drained, I put on the iPod to listen to the songs offered for free download by U2. I closed my eyes, put the earphones on and blocked every thought away. I was missing you but didn't want to think about it.

You've got a face not spoiled by beauty

I have some scars from where I've been

You've got eyes that can see right through me

You're not afraid of anything they've seen

I was told that I would feel

Nothing the first time

I don't know how these cuts heal

But in you I found a right

If there is a light

You can always see

And there is a world

We can always be

If there is a dark

That we shouldn't doubt

And there is a light

Don't let it go out

And this is a song

A song for someone

This is a song

A song for someone

You let me into a conversation

A conversation only we could make

You're breaking into my imagination

Whatever's in there is yours to take

[Lyrics by U2 "Song for Someone" from the album "Songs of Innocence", 2014]

Γεια χαρά

Ejekted in music

First time I attended a music festival in Greece. Having been spoilt in attending music events in the UK, I had high expectations and many doubts of how worthy it would be. Ejekt festival in Athens proved me wrong. A great time was had; fast track at the ticket booths, smooth entrance to the place, the scene was set by the sea during sunset, good service in terms of foods, freebies and toilets!

The Editors absolutely rocked it with their lead singer (the clone of Jude Law with the voice of Morissey) giving an almost insane performance. Kasabian were amazing and closed their session with a remix of "Praise you" like they should. Paul Kalkbrenner and Darkside led by Nicolas Jaar reminded me of how much I love, and always will, electro music.

Being sexy and eco-friendly

To all those Nespresso users out there, lovers of good coffee and probably fans of George Clooney who stars in the said adverts: please remember to recycle your aluminium coffee capsules. Don't get me wrong;  I am addicted to this coffee machine and its flavors but let's not forget the planet and how we can best be green.

These capsules, made especially to preserve the coffee's taste and flavour and protect it from light and air, are made of aluminium and should be recycled; too bad Nespresso is not using Clooney's sexiness to encourage this a bit more... 

Make a rough calculation, two capsules of coffee per day per person  as a minimum makes:

• 14 capsules a week
• approximately 420 capsules a month or, 
• about 5,000 aluminium capsules in a year; 

this is just the coffee waste of a single person! Imagine what this number looks like if there are two or three members in a household.

It is very easy to clean and recycle: after using the capsules, tear the top and clean the coffee from the capsule under running water, then let dry and put in the recycle bin. It is worth the effort and it will only take 5 minutes of your time.

Food for thought

Two of my favourite meals for this month;  easy to make and healthy, yet delicious and light.

Rice noodles with sweetcorn, carrots and green beans sprinkled with soy sauce and stir fried with garlic.

I have used very little olive oil to stir fry and cooked in a wok; using a wok is a dead-fast way to cook healthy. I have used some soy sauce and water to steam my vegetables in which I added the vermicelli noodles.

Preparation and cooking time: 25 minutes.

This one goes well as a Sunday brunch and is my favourite healthy start to a day usually full of sports and leisure activities.

It is a scrambled-eggs type of omelette with salmon, served with fresh cherry tomatoes with salt and pepper. My leftover grilled salmon was used in a stir fry with eggs in a wok to make this delicious dish.

Preparation and cooking time: 15 minutes.

Enjoy :)