O Rhaeto-Romans, what the hell were you thinking?

Largest ski resort in Switzerland, highest city in Europe, widely recommended for lung disease patients, host of the only European Bandy Championship ever played, in 1913, inspiration for painters and writers throughout its history. Today, May 31, 2010, I am in Davos. And it's snowing.

sledding for beginners

before

during

after

quando o carnaval chegar

O Sambódromo, where the big Rio carnival parade takes place, is definitely one of my favourite places in town. Niemeyer just took a 700m road, in peace times called Marquês de Sapucaí, and added the arquibancadas that hold up to 100,000 people, and the double arc of Praça da Apoteose. For about 300 days a year, you can still pretend it was just a normal street. But even if you just rush through it to catch a bus, or drive by it on your way home, or stumble upon it while exploring that part of the town, you can't avoid to raise an eyebrow and think all that concrete is only waiting for this:

The page with all the Escolas de Samba do Grupo Especial (the Premier League of the Rio Carnival), with their 2010 sambas de enredo. Here.

one good thing about commuting

same hour, same track, same train, same trip.

becoming aware of days, seasons, colors, light.

becoming aware of weather, becoming aware of time.

(in this period, in Geneva, every day is about 2' 15" longer than the previous one)

down

Waking up to a sun so unbelievable it feels even warmer.

Then, being swallowed by the brouillard.

Horse & cart, an inflated tire, dérapages.

Stones, poles, branches - white doodles on a grey page.

My breath is everything. The rest is a silence never heard before.

Of course I am a city boy.

up

Today I've seen a frozen sea.

And I've seen a white continent.

I've seen a border from above, and there was nothing to see.

But the line where sea and land met was so clear. Liquid water, solid water.

And I've gone through gaseous water. It could have been solid air, no way to tell.

I've seen how uncreative and predictable are the shapes that humans draw. We couldn't have invented the ear - we made a gramophone instead.

I've seen a sun in which nobody would believe.

And I've been wide awake, despite the lack of sleep.

So much for a delayed flight, in a cold winter morning.

come una grande nave che solca le onde del mare

Did you know that every Danish church has a replica of a sailing ship hanging from the ceiling? There are around 1300 models hanging all over the country, the oldest being exactly 300 years old.

Since before the Christian era, belief was that offering a ship to the Gods would guarantee a safe trip to the crew. Once the Christianity spread in the country, the tradition was kept and the miniatures started being offered like any other ex-voto. Didn't expect to find such a thing in a reformed church though.

The symbol is especially powerful since the Church's history is full of marine metaphors. The life of a Christian is considered a journey over a tempestuous sea, with Jesus guiding him as a pilot. The Church itself is said to be a ship, with Christ as captain. A church, as a building, is divided in naves. And in Denmark the church ceilings were traditionally made of wood beams, as to represent a ship turned upside down.

Can anybody figure out what the anchor means?

glittrande havets silverne stjärna

Quick update.

- Christmas markets: candies, wool socks, wool pullovers, wool ponchos, wool hats & gloves, mist, fir branch decorations, flowers, very swedish t-shirts, nuts, smoked herrings, sausages, MSC certified fish&chips. and this ->.

- Candles: on the grass in the main square, all around the open-air ice-skating ground, on the trees in the main shopping road, on a conical structure simulating a christmas tree. more lights on the buildings, on the benches, on the bridge. Malmo looks like a peaceful wooden village.

- A girl acting live mannequin for a lingerie shop. Crowds of COP15 participants taking pictures.

- Music: a marching band of punkish-looking youngsters (with cheerleaders and banjo) playing swing and dixieland - absolutely entertaining. a cappella choir singing traditional Santa Lucia songs from the balcony of what I think is the town hall. A Peruvian band playbacking "el condor pasa" over and over again (must be some kind of extreme sport). 6 girls with candles revisiting traditional christmas carols to protest again COP15, and the world leaders, and the UN. Everything very spontaneous. The musicians were clearly having fun (except the Peruvians, I reckon), and the public was enjoying it.

What I learned today.

- The music that should be made is the one 3-year old children like to listen to.

- If you want to ask a live mannequin, you'd better be quick. The shop might close.

prospero è il vento

End of week 1

Most of this entry has been written while we were locked in the Bella Centre. Protestors marching outside were apparently blocking the exit.

This blog doesn't seem such a good idea when you realize you don't even have the time to check at what time SSC Napoli's next match is. But it's Sunday and I'm taking a day off - with apologies to the third edition of the Forest Day. This place is exhausting.

Highlights of the last days:

- 3 treemen, polar bears, 2 meter tall chickens, dogs standing on two legs.

- Indios, North-American natives, Samis, Fulanis, other non identified indigenous peoples.

- outside the Bella Centre Greenpeace activists serve free coffee every morning.

- outside the Bella Centre right behind the Greenpeace activists a man serves "wind-powered coffee".

- outside the Bella Centre, adepts of the Supreme Master distribute "my life with the animals", describing (i guess) the role of animals in the Supreme Master's life. Also available (for experts only): "my life with the birds" and "my life with the dogs".

- the queue to get in the centre at 9:20 was 25 minutes long, including airport-like metal detectors, "please take a sip of this liquid" and a quick computer check to make sure your face is really yours.

- flash mobs everywhere. red people for "pay the climate debt", green for "seal the deal", blue for "350 ppm", orange I'm not sure.

- next week ministers and heads of State will be here - for security reasons every organization will only be allowed to attend with a part of its delegates. The system will be enforced distributing a second type of badge. Now we have the normal one, the one we have to show on the train to get the ride for free, the extra one, plus the card to get in the hotel. I always have the impression I'm losing something.

- speaking of badges, yesterday evening the traditional NGO party. I sweated so much my badge got corroded while dancing balkan music. Unfortunately, almost no IUCN people came - seeing your boss getting wasted is a significant experience.

Plans for today:

Lucia celebration in Malmo. Basically a procession of virgins dressed in white with candles on their head singing "Santa Lucia" (venite all'agile barchetta mia etc) in a slightly revisited version. The idea is that Lucia brings back the light after the darkest period of the year - which is not too dark here, by the way. A pagan feast with neapolitan sailor songs to celebrate a sicilian saint. The Lord's ways are not our ways, for sure.