animals
Big city life: Europe’s pigeons
Doves and pigeons are one and the same except that the former got the 'symbol of peace' gig and the latter became the grey critters affectionately known as ‘rats with wings’. Whence the flight of fancy?
animals, italy, tower of babel, germany, languages, europe, united kingdom
Yvonne the cow, Germany's summer Joan of Arc
After closely escaping her fate at the slaughterhouse, Yvonne heroically wandered through the Bavarian countryside for 98 days. Caught on 2 September, the smart, headstrong animal was destined to be burned at the ‘stake’ like a certain famous maid of Orleans – until an animal sanctuary bought her for 600 euros
Romania's stray dogs, souvenirs of a communist past
On 26 July, the European court of human rights criticised Romania’s inability to deal with the stray dogs roaming its streets. Legislation introduced by parliament to allow the euthanasia of the stray dogs has however provoked controversy. How have the strays, known as ‘maïdanezi’, become mired in political debate?
animals, protest, euthanasia, bucarest, romania, human rights, european court of human rights
Ljubljana gets the luscious green light
Glance at a night-time satellite image of Europe, and you might notice that the entire continent is illuminated except for Slovenia, where a unique light pollution law was introduced in 2007. When it comes to green, the country outshines its EU neighbours. Slovenia's first ever green party successfully included environmental growth policies into the fabric of the new state on 25 June 1991. The good care of the country’s dense wealth of nature taken during its former Yugoslav era also meant that when Slovenia joined the EU in 2004, 35% of its territory was declared under the Natura 2000 programme, conserving its biodiversity. Take a bicycle south of the city, and in twenty minutes you’re in peaceful bear territory. Though Slovenia doesn’t have the same environmental problems as other European countries, other green problems can be overlooked; a heavily vehicled valley city, the capital suffers mainly from air, water and waste issues. Its citizens are notoriously active, hiking after work, ‘slacklining’ in parks or spending weekends in the surrounding forests or at the coast. Yet over the twenty years that the country has existed, the presence of a green party dwindled and green activism is slow-burning amongst its 2 million citizens, even about the country’s sole nuclear plant. From the streets to the hills which squeeze Ljubljana like a corset and the forests which tie it up like a ribbon, read the eighth edition in a 2011 monthly series, ‘Green Europe on the ground’ (Image: © Lucille Caballero/ lucillecaballero.com/)
Theatre: French director Pierre Notte’s Bidules Trucs in Paris
A variety of characters from every corner of the world have come to life in French theatre director Pierre Notte’s fairytales. Rendezvous: the Theatre La Bruyère in Paris
animals, theatre, culture, culture calendar, pierre notte, family
[TRANS] - Attenti al gatto: la letteratura europea finisce nel cassonetto
Ha raggiunto in un lampo i 43mila membri, il gruppo su Facebook che ha permesso di identificare la donna che ha gettato senza motivo un gatto in un bidone dell’immondizia a Coventry, in Inghilterra, qualche settimana fa. Il video, girato dalla telecamera dei proprietari del gatto, ha fatto il giro del mondo e la donna, preoccupata per eventuali ritorsioni degli animalisti (e non solo), ha chiesto protezione alla polizia. Pentita? Nel dubbio, le ricordiamo quanto è stata importante l’immagine del gatto per la letteratura europea e quanto abbia contribuito al nostro immaginario comune.
animals, literature, europe, culture, culture calendar, reading, european tour
Catalonia vs bulls: prohibition of Spanishness?
When the Catalan parliament voted against bullfighting in the community on 28 July, the bullfighting world grouped together to defend their interests. The political opposition has announced that it will promote a law in congress to avoid further rulings of this type. The ‘Plataforma Prou!’, promoter of the popular legislative initiative that gave a place to the vote, announced that they would not give up in their fight to free bulls from martyrdom
animals, nationalism, culture, barcelona, politics, spain, society
Interview with psychic Paul, the German octopus
A slew of tanned, ageing football commentators aside, he was the only one to correctly predict Spain's glory and Germany's shock defeat at the 2010 world cup. He's also an octopus, hatched in 2008, who lives at the Oberhausen aquarium in a North Rhine-Westphalia zoo. Three questions for the eight-armed prophet
animals, football, world cup, sport, netherlands, germany, best of cafebabel.com
Polish elections: Jaroslaw Kaczynski, hamster candidate
A second Kaczynski mandate would be going back to the Middle Ages, warns Artur Kurasinski, owner of Polish new media agency Revolver Interactive. He brings politically incorrect 'hamsters' back to life on his 2005-launched website chomiks.com. The presidential elections take place on 20 June, after late incumbent Lech Kaczynski was killed in April
animals, jaroslaw kaczynski, best of cafebabel.com, artur kurasinski, poland, internet, warsaw
Private parts
We stand on the doorstep of a subject which is a lot more intimate than we think. Here is the key to another dimension of European integration - a small dictionary of sexual terminology
animals, parity, tower of babel, paris, sex, languages, sexuality
Dominika Nowak: 'I want to stay unusual, even if I've had to become more commercial'
The designer untames convention with her 'Nunc' shoes, insisting that her furry fabric fantasies are made to be adapted to daily life. We discuss Paris-Krakow, fashion uglies and what it's like to go it alone as a one-woman brand at 27
animals, university, business, paris, expatriates, brunch, poland
Catchy songs
Creepy-crawly expressions for the irritating musical attacks of the ear-worm in Europe. Expression of the week
animals, tower of babel, music, health, ohrwurm, languages, henning studte
The organic army: joining the WWOOFer volunteers
It’s wet and it’s muddy, not to mention the slugs. I've come to England, where World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms first began, to find out what's behind the mysterious appeal of the green holiday alternative known as WWOOFing...
animals, green, wwoofing, organic, environment, united kingdom, travel
Europe's fugly munters and mingers
'Ugly' is relative. Europe is creative with names when someone is ‘offensive to the eyes’. Tuna fish, veils, mussels or middle-aged pop stars beware - when Europe maligns ugliness they all have to pay the price…
animals, tower of babel, music, audio, expressions, translation, language
Describing a graduate all-rounder in Europe
The Germans have coined young, entry-level employees in Europe 'the egg-laying woolly milking sows' - rundown of other timely nicknames for other young European graduates in these times of crisis
animals, tower of babel, henning studte, translation, job seekers
'You'll get a fat bitch for that'
When dogs are mentioned in European sayings, it can range from anything to being related to money, your inner self or the weather in Poland - idioms of the week, plus audio
animals, tower of babel, europäische sprachen, translation, language
by
