love
Three globalised couples share their expat love stories
It’s normal to move abroad for professional or financial reasons. But why leave your country sto be with that special someone? Familiar reservations, a new culture and linguistic barriers are all problems often dealt with, from Australia to Canada via France and Germany
love, expatriation, expatriates, relationships, multiculturalism, family, society
Dear Reader via Johannesburg and Berlin: 'We’re all just geeks really'
Cherilyn MacNeil, 24, the charismatic singer and pianist of South African indie trio Dear Reader, speaks to us from the fringes of the Berlin Festival about her home country’s mix of danger and new beginnings, faith and spirituality, broken hearts and summer in Berlin
love, brunch, religion, concert, label, multiculturalism, south africa
Unrequited love: are you a 'pagafantas'?
Boy is in love with girl best friend who wouldn't look at him twice that way. In Spain, a 'pagafantas' ('Fanta-buyer') is that boy who is relegated to always footing the bill of girl's soft drink. The expression of the week bows in from Spain
love, best of cafebabel.com, friendship, relationships, spain, culture, europe
A traveller reads up on the history of nationalism
'A sudden wave of satisfaction envelops J. He recognises his happiness to have been born this millennium in a peaceful Europe'. This short story, set in a Brussels train station, was runner-up of the 2009 German Youthreporter award, ‘Verliebt in Europa’ (‘In Love With Europe’)
love, kiev, transport, friendship, travel, brussels, belgium
Love story: a German teacher deals with an autistic child in Wales
German language assistant Alissa tells the story of a separation in the Welsh valleys in Glamorgan. This article was second runner-up of the 2009 German Youthreporter award, ‘Verliebt in Europa’ (‘In Love With Europe’)
love, health, friendship, school, travel, united kingdom, language
All's fair in love and war
The stories of lovers from times of war are the subject of countless numbers of books and films. Why are love and war so fascinating and why are they always shown together? Tour of Europe's expressions
I love you my dropping
My bunny-bear, baby, cabbage, sugar slug - just like Europe, love knows no boundaries. Yet some terms of affection for loved ones vary from being rather unsavoury to overly sickly on the continent – romantic sayings of the week, with audio
Miss Marion: the French burlesque star will 'tease you until you die'
The 32-year-old from Normandy performs a 'slowed-down' version of burlesque. A dance historically popular in eras of depression, her latest show updates the genre, combining nipple tassels and an iPhone - an accessible escape for Europeans in recession
love, dance, women, economical crisis, feminism, brunch, tradition
Interview with actor Paweł Szajda: ‘I was used to a kind of dictatorship on the set’
On 13 February, the Polish film Tatarak by director Andrzej Wajda closes the Berlin Film Festival. The 27-year-old lead actor, a sort of Polish-American David Kross, tells us why he wants to return to his European roots
love, andrzej wajda, berlin, paweł szajda, poland, berlinale, usa
Music editors pick: Valentines songs
As Valentine's Day swings round (again), cafebabel.com editors provide a selection of old classics and new electronics for your 14 February playlist
My story: mixed-race couples are Europeans by half
St Valentine celebrates love. And love, as everyone knows, has no colour, or language, or race blah blah blah. But what happens when we marry someone from Africa rather than fall in love with someone with a European passport? If love is blind, is bureaucracy stupid? A couple tell their story
Six-minute romances: speed dating in Paris
In the capital of fashion and romance, there’s a chic way to relax after a hard day’s work and to party for every wallet. And there’s no better time for an (early) night on the town than Thursday, when Parisians head straight to one of the many trendy bars which offer so-called ‘afterwork’ evenings
love, party, ocio, contactos, labour, paris, eu debate on the ground
Meetic: Europe’s ideal woman
The dating site aims to hook up marriages, but is also trying to uncover the story behind seduction in Europe
love, enquete meetic, femme europeenne , seduction, sondage, society
Putin did not pull a Sarkozy love story
On 21 April, ‘Moskovsky Korrespondent’ apologised after reporting that Putin was to marry athlete Alina Kabaeva, 24. A look back at a story he termed as ‘snotty noses and erotic fantasies’
love, men and women, uzbekistan, video gallery, nicolas sarkozy, moscow, russian federation
Turkish love story on Danish shores
With 3.8 million Turkish immigrants in the EU, we head to Denmark with the seventh largest Turkish population in Europe. Aydin Ozturk, 50, settled in Odense with a Danish partner and found his place in society
love, identity, odense, turkey, integration, western eu, denmark
Putin: a (filmic) kiss for Valentine’s Day
Two weeks before his handpicked successor takes over, a Russian film released on DVD on 14 February shows a rather different side to a fictional, unnamed outgoing Russian president
love, non-eu countries, post-soviet states, cinema, moscow, russian federation, world affairs
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