Midnight in Paris

It was more like 4 nights in Paris! and while we didn’t meet the great artists and writers during late night strolls through the lovely streets of Paris, we did manage to go back in time and also to enter a whole new magical world during our visit. La vie en rose  (French for "Life through rose-coloured glasses", literally "Life in pink") by Edith Piaf was playing in my head most of the time as we walked in Paris, just like in the movie, so that’s why I decided to call this post ‘Midnight in Paris’. The song really seems to suit the character of the city! I think Paris is the most romantic city in the world and its lovely to share it with my husband.

We arrived Thursday afternoon and after dumping our bags in the hotel, went straight to Arc de triumph. Then we strolled along that very prestigious lovely avenue Champs Elysees, dropping into all the designer stores and checking out lots of stuff which we could never afford to buy! We had dinner at one of the cute cafes on Champs Elysees and continued to walk up to the Eiffel Tower by which time it was almost 10pm. At the beginning of each hour the lights in the Eiffle tower start flickering like millions of little fireflies and it was soooo beautiful. The view from the top of the tower was breath taking seems as if you can see the whole city from up there all lit up.

The second day was my favourite when we entered the enchanted world of Disney!  With my usual crazy planning schedules we managed to be at the entrance even before the park opened with ticket in hand, and made a bee line to the big thrill rides as soon as we were let in! I'm a huge fan of the big exciting rollercoasters (especially the ones that turn you upside down) like Indiana Jones Temple of Peril, Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain… of course even the other kiddy rides were so cute like the Small World with little dolls from all over the world dancing to the song ‘It’s a small world’ while we floated by on the boat and Snow White, and Peter Pan.

Another reason why I loved it so much was as it has been a childhood dream of mine to visit Disneyland for as long as I can remember. One of those crazy things on my ‘bucket list’  (well to be honest I think I’ve already done a lot of things on my bucket list!) And ofcourse I loved the parades too. It literally was out of this world. I loved the last Parade when all the major Disney Characters float by including my personal favourite 'Pooh Bear!'. I felt like a little kid too!

What really struck me was how as soon as you enter in its like you've entered fairy land with the lovely pink and purple castle at the entrance and all the rainbow shaded buildings. Everything fitted into the fairy land fantasy, including shops and restaurants. Talking of shops another thing that struck me going in now as an adult is how much it has been commercialised. Everywhere you look there's toys, candy, clothes all to imitate Disney characters, and neatly arranged just outside each store to tempt the kids. So you can see so many kids who are really enjoying being in this fairyland but at the same time miserable cos their parents won't buy everything they asked for...

We went to a number of lovely restaurants where the food was delicious and even tried Snails! (they actually taste nice, like muselles i think). Another plan of mine was to practice my basic French while in Paris, but it was almost impossible! I kept trying to speak in French at Cafes and Restaurants and the waiters and waitresses kept replying in English!

On the third and fourth days we visited Louvre, Versailles Palace, Miraculous Medal Church in Rue du Bac, Sacre Coeur, Montmartre (Basilica of Sacred Heart), Notre Dame Cathedral. They were lovely but I guess since I had seen most of them, and seen so many museums and churches by now, they all seem almost similar to me. We also went to Nevers where St Bernadette's body is still intact without being decayed and in a glass cage. Even though it was the second time I was in Nevers St Bernedettes life made a huge impact on me, her simple life of humility and love and how God chose the simple over the rich and powerful…You can see more about it in my previous  Easter in Lourdes post.

All in all we had a lovely time in Paris, and here are some pictures we took there. More can be found on https://picasaweb.google.com/roshanthi.lucas/Paris2011#

Circle of Life

After over a year away, I decided to visit my second (now my third!) home Cambridge, to catch up my old friends last weekend. I found the experience very different when going back on a vacation while earning compared to the starving student experience! It was wonderful meeting my old friends who were still in Cambridge, some continuing their phds while others working. Just thought of including a few pics here.

I even managed to squeeze in a performance of the Lion King at the west end during very short visit of 4 days (next time it will be atleast a week!). The Lion King was simply amazing (or brilliant as the Brits say). I loved the costumes the music, the singing and the dancing! From a distance, you could barely see the people acting, but the animals, and their movement was so graceful and fluid it really felt like being in a jungle. This is a clip of one of my favorite songs, you can see the way they have depicted the animals, they look real! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utq8oft7btQ&NR=1

I also loved the theme of Circle of Life… How we are all part of the one circle of life, and how we have to take care of each other in order to take care of ourselves…King Mufasa, gives his son some really good advice “Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance. As king, you need to understand that balance and respect all the creatures, from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope.”

I guess if we humans respected and lived according to this advice from the beginning we wouldn’t be having Global Warming, or the fear of extinction of some animals, or fossil fuel shortages. I think that now it’s time to respect the nature and remember that we’re all part of a delicate balance. Of course we need to use energy and fuels, and water, and all other resources, but what’s important is to use them sustainably, and to avoid wastage, and hopefully our children will still have a world to live in… This reminded me of the famous letter by Chief Seattle and would like to finish this post with his words…

This we know: The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood which unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

Improv at the CERN!

Who would have thought that I would take part in a comedy improv workshop at the CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research)!

On Saturday there was a comedy improv workshop at the CERN conducted by Charna Halpern who is the founder of Improv Olympic Theatres where Mike Myers has studied! I just heard about it from a friend and thought I'll check it out and see, since it was open to anyone.

Actually it was like killing 2 birds with one stone, cos ever since I had read Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, I've been fascinated by CERN, and wanted to visit it, and ofcourse I've been trying to get involved in theatre here as well…

Charna and her 2 assistants conducted a really great workshop. I learnt so much about improvisation. I hadn’t really done much improvisation before this, though I had done a few improv exercises at the theatre classes. One of the first things I realized was that improvisation can be more difficult than scripted plays as there is no predefined plan and you have to think on the spot and react to the other actors on stage. So it leaves you more vulnerable as it is your thoughts not some script that you are putting into action…Which can lead you to think Am I funny enough? Would they think I’m stupid?...

Today most people who meet me don’t believe that I might be worried about what others think or that I may feel inhibited, but the truth is that it has taken over 15 years to get out of that shyness and it still sometimes comes across in certain situations and I have to continually keep working at it to have confidence in myself. One of the reasons I really love theatre is cos this is what brought me out of my shell. More about that long story can be found here

That is another reason why I decided I should attend this workshop as it is the perfect setting to act and ‘let my self go’ even if I make a fool of my self all of us are here to learn, and not professionals. It was pretty cool cos most of the others there were physicist from CERN. And being with people from a different background was really fun cos we all bring a little bit of ourselves into improvisation.

I also realised that it really is a 'team sport' cos for improv to be successful there cannot be any shining stars! With each word or action the actor creates the scene maybe by giving another character a name, setting the location… and it is important that the other actors accept this initial offer and build on it. As they call it the ‘Yes And’ attitude.

Actually there’s a lot that you can take from this into life as well. Especially the ‘Yes And’ attitude where you try to build on what others have done, rather than breaking them down…

Back in Sri Lanka!!!

I'm back in Sri Lanka now. Feels great to be home... Even though I really enjoyed the MBA and the experience, I missed my friends and family... Most of last week was spent catching up with all my friends and finding out the latest gossip, going out for dinners and coffees.. As my cousin puts it, it's like Christmas for me!

This pic was taken when we went to a karaoke bar and sang our hearts out!
I've been catching up on more reading and movies lately too. Just completed reading the Zahir by Paulo Cohelo. Most of his books have the message that if you really want something and work hard to get it the whole universe will conspire with you to help you obtain it... It's so true...

Cosi Fan Tutte

One of the best things about Cambridge is there are many performances, theatre, opera musicals... where the actors and singers are of 'West End' quality, but the tickets are much cheaper. I guess part of the reason is cos though most of the actors and actresses are students they are all studying classical arts and maybe I've seen the stars of tomorrow performing here!

So these days I thought of catching as many performances as possible since I've got the time. Yesterday I went to see my first Opera with a friend, it was Mozart's comedy, 'Cosi Fan Tutte' sung in English. According to the Wikipedia the title literally means "Thus do all [women]"

It had the theme of "fiancee swapping" where the two main characters disguise themselves and try to seduce the other's fiancee in order to prove to themselves that their women are faithful as their when friend proclaims that all women are fickle.

I thought it had a rather silly story line (and I totally disagree with their idea that all women are unfaithful), but the music was beautiful and the singing was brilliant! [hey am turning British, they're the one's always calling everything brilliant!] All in all it was an enjoyable evening.