Blogging Anniversary - 10 years

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A while ago I checked when I did my first blog post, in order to celebrate with an anniversary post. Well, that day came and went without any reaction from me. Better late than never, so here a reminder of my very first blog post from 24 October 2012.  The book was New Finnish Grammar  by Diego Marani. Marani is an Italian novelist, translator and newspaper columnist. While working as a translator for the European Union he invented a language ‘Europanto’ which is a mixture of languages and based on the common practice of word-borrowing usage of many EU languages. It was a suitable book to start with, being a book about letters, languages and memories. With a beautiful prose, the novel went directly to my heart.  "One night at Trieste in September 1943 a seriously wounded soldier is found on the quay. The doctor, of a newly arrived German hospital ship, Pietri Friari gives the unconscious soldier medical assistance. His new patient has no documents or anything that can ide...
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Bookmark Monday

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This meme is hosted by Guiltless Reading and it is all about bookmarks. I tend to buy bookmarks while travelling. It is perfect. You have a souvenir and they do not take up a lot of space. While cleaning out a box full of scrapbook items recently, I found three bookmarks that I had totally forgotten about. And, they are really nice ones. I bought them when visiting Oxford more than a year ago.



The top one is wooden and of Oxford Castle & Prison. On it reads: A Norman motte-and-bailey castle was built by Robert d'Oilly in 1071, incorporating the Saxon St George's Tower. It saw two civil wars and, in 1142, the escape of Empress Matilda. The church on site was the birthplace of the University and legend of King Arthur. A gaol from 1531, holding some of Britain's most infamous criminals, it was reformed by Daniel Harris from 1785 and later expanded. It remained a prison until 1996.

 Unfortunately, we missed one of the guided tours. But there is a lot of other things to see in Oxford. We walked around the city to grasp the atmosphere. It was the time of the exams, so a lot of student celebrating in the streets.

The other two are made of material, almost silky, and beautiful to touch. Will look very luxurious in any book. The Oxford Old Boys shows where the famous boys where studying. At Wadham - Christopher Wren, at Magdalen - Cardinal Wolsey and Oscar Wilde, at Christ Church - Robert Peel, John Wesley and Lews Carroll, at Jesus - TE Lawrence and at Merton - JRR Tolkien.

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