April 2011
1 post
the big day - t-minus 154 days
September 2010
1 post
Happy 30th Birthday Rita!
July 2010
1 post
going back
i’ve been going back through the old pics and this blog and i’ve realised that i’ve not actually posted very many pics of the house, so over the next few weeks i’ll be posting some random old photos, which may shed more light on how we got to where we are. i almost forgot how long the journey was but these pics bring it all back. the one above is from sept 08 when the...
June 2010
3 posts
piano piano
maybe we’re making some progress after all. picture on the left is from sept 2008, picture on the right june 2010.
the fridge is almost in the same place though!
the other slice of heaven
we’re totally spoilt/blessed in having many amazing places to spend our holidays. at the end of may we went rita’s family’s place in the algarve for a couple of days of sunshine. pictures here if anyone wants to see some pale people on the beach. the gang was me and rita plus ed, sarah, jim and andrea.
it’s a close run thing whether i prefer portuguese or italian food...
light on the horizon
we had a very productive trip back to platania last weekend. sadly it was a very short visit and i didn’t really get to spend time with gianfranco and the other great people of platania but it was great to get to see the cappellos (including maria) ever so briefly in rome enroute and to be completely spoilt by their hospitality.
ulf and his girflriend jana (below) has returned from mexico...
April 2010
1 post
67°40'12"N
our week in lapland exceeded all expectations. except for beaching a snowmobile in 1.5 metres of snow, it all went very smoothly and we had a ridiculously good time. it was great to see everyone enjoying the skiing/boarding so much, despite about half of the group of 12 being complete beginners. besides the skiing, we spent a lot of time in the sauna and had a particularly memorable evening in a...
March 2010
1 post
Winter
It’s been a while… All good, except almost sad to see the end of the winter. I’ve really rediscovered snowboarding and have had a few amazing days in the mountains. Epic, in fact.
Tomorrow we’re off to another adventure to Lapland with a big group of friends, 12 of us in all. We’re flying straight to Kittilä (waaay up north) and then on to Ylläs for 7 days of...
February 2010
1 post
a trip down memory lane with jim and ed
jim and ed have finally managed to upload some pictures from calabria/sicily last summer!
we’ve all invested thousands of pounds on virtually the same, expensive (and heavy) camera gear which we lug around the world together so that we can take the same pictures!
i wouldn’t have it any other way….
anyway, it brings back some great memories so here they are.
jim’s...
January 2010
2 posts
taking bribes
i’m in austria somewhere. a lighting company invited me on a free (!) ski trip so i couldn’t really say no… sometimes life is kind to you.
if anyone is looking for somewhere to go and relax, stay here, it’s amazing. it’s got the best sauna outside finland.
2010
2009 was a fantastic year, i can only hope that 2010 is half as good.
my only regret of 2009 was not being able to spend more time in calabria. having spent a summer of just living there, it’s difficult to adjust to normal working life. with me and ulf doing different things now it will be different for us both to be there at the same time to finish the house but hope we can find time....
December 2009
2 posts
merry new year
and felice anno nuovo, gott nytt år, hyvää uutta vuotta, feliz ano novo.
it's christmas again
i’m in japan. it’s great. i will be taking lots of pics.
merry christmas / buon natale / god jul/ hyvää joulua / feliz natal / メリー クリスマス
September 2009
2 posts
summeries
i was reading the book high fidelity on holiday, so now i’m making lists of everything. today, the top 10 holiday moments (mostly eating/drinking…):
1. eating pigs head (and tail) at gianfranco’s house
2. walking around the steaming (and warm) crater of mount etna
3. eating at e turre agriturismo (4 times!). whatever we ordered, the bill was always 15e per head…...
aaaargh.
double aaargh.
1. i’m not on holiday anymore. i want to be.
2. tumblr is playing up and i can’t post pictures at the moment.
lots of updates in the coming days from the calabria/sicily adventure.
for now, have a look at some pictures on my flickr. thought i’d try something different so i’ve written a bit about every picture as well. the pics can also be viewed as a...
August 2009
2 posts
english summer rain
i went to the football tonight, a fairly insignificant game between fulham and some lithuanians. it was raining constantly during the match and on the way home- the much talked about hot summer never really arrived here. so it’s a good thing i’m finally about to get a chance to see the sun… :)
going to the algarve this weekend to catch up with rita and her family. then finally...
a piece of calabria...on holloway road!
we were driving down holloway road in north london last weekend and suddenly rita spots a lamezia sign. i couldn’t quite believe it but there it was, the lamezia cafe/deli!
naturally, we had to go in for a coffee. it turns out the lady owner and her daughter who worked there were from nicastro, just down the road from platania!
i explained about the house in platania and they thought it...
July 2009
1 post
corked
not sure why we went to cork. was an odd destination perhaps but as is often the case there were ulterior motives involving concerts. seeing bands in different countries adds a dynamic; what will the crowd be like, will the bands perform differently, do they also serve red stripe beer? was a grreat gig made better by the nice cocktail of people- jim, andrea & sam and virva. it was just a...
June 2009
4 posts
catch not break
i’m being forced (but not against my will) to become more tech-savy.
one day i’ll even start twittering but for now i’m proud to announce that this site can be reached from: www.timukun.com!
thanks to my brother for the help.
unreal
it’s been a bit silly lately with trips every couple of weeks, i could get used to it…
this time it was to lucca, tuscany to stay at dom’s family retreat. it was one of those pinch yourself moments as the whole place was just a little bit too perfect to be true.
i could describe it but the pictures do it more justice, so have a look here.
visiting different parts of italy...
the usual suspects
i was going through my photos today and found this photo. i think gianfranco took it with my camera after i had gone to bed.
despite this bunch of people looking like they were about to rob a bank (vincenzo probably still has the key…), they are some of the kindest and warmest people i have ever met and i can’t wait to see them all again.
this summer’s trip back to...
ESW VIII
every year for the past 8 years, me, ed, and jim do a trip together on one of the may bank holiday weekends. it’s a tradition and whatever we’re doing with our lives, we always reserve a weekend for this trip, the ESW. ESW stands for ‘extreme sports weekend’, although it never really includes any exterme sports but the name has stuck after ESW I when we went surfing (which...
May 2009
2 posts
summer
the summer holiday is booked - 15-31st of august. i’m starting to realise how lucky i was having all summer in calabria last summer, but this year 16 days is all that i can do. :(
at least i’ll be there for the ferragosto weekend which is the height of summer in italy and the peak of all the festivities in platania. i really miss the atmosphere in platania at that time of year as...
lucky
summer is here. well, if you live in the algarve, it is. had another wonderful weekend away.
it has been a bit of a ridiculous spring with lots of little trips, can’t seem to stay in london for very long… it’s highly addictive, this travelling business. i think i’m just trying to compensate for not being ‘free’ like i was last summer in calabria.
anyhow.
...
April 2009
5 posts
this time - lisbon...
three on the trot. last weekend it was lisbon and surrounding coast. we stayed in rita’s parents apartment in a place called santa cruz which is a windy little seaside town which isn’t pretty but the nature around it more than makes up for it.
surfers were already out in force, especially just up the coast at a place aptly named supertubos! i’m looking forward to going back...
the big 4-0!
today my very good friend gianfranco is 40. so, happy birthday gianfranco, buon compleanno. tanti auguri a te!
since the moment i arrived in platania gianfranco has been a great friend. he is the heart and soul of platania and a big part of the reason why i love the place so much
i suspect there will be a big party to celebrate his birthday and I’m very sad that i won’t be there,...
in bloom
madrid was great. i’m not the biggest fan of the city, wouldn’t want to live there, but it was great for the weekend.
the whole city centre has a great cohesiveness as it all looks to be from the same time period and doesn’t suffer from the mish mash of new and old that makes most post war european cities a fairly uneven experience. london, for instance, like so many other...
off again...
off to madrid for the weekend tomorrow. will try to take some more photos.
in the meantime, have a look at all the calabria pics from last weekend here.
still have a few more funny videos to post, so will try to get them online next week, but here’s one of wai lan enjoying some home made salami in the cappello house. nobody appreciates fat like wai lan…
in the mountains...
me and wailan went for a drive in the amazing fiat panda that we borrowed from Vincenzo. All was great and we were enjoying the stunning scenery, Gizzeria above, until the road we were on got narrower and narrower and narrower… We were actually a little bit scared, as it was dark and the road was seriously bumpy, see video below…
March 2009
3 posts
a walk through the house
for those who haven’t been to the house, here’s a walkthrough of the top 2 floors. through the house from Tim Bystedt on Vimeo.
a wintry platania
the same, but colder. more parkas and pluming chimneys.
a great trip with my buddy/driver/hammer driller/sweeper/fire starter wai lan.
many stories to tell and pics (and videos!) to share. there will be updates over the coming days.
but for now i just need to get some sleep and recover from an impromptu sunday night in the cappello house. wai lan was well and truly beaten by the platanese...
returning to platania... 26-30 march!
updates to follow…
January 2009
2 posts
goodbye tokyo
i’m leaving tokyo in 7 hours; it’s been a great 2 weeks here as always, the perfect combination of spending time with family and friends. and tokyo/japan is a bit special too…
today we wandered through the old town of tokyo looking at old houses on narrow lanes. we also stopped by my favourite coffee shop called koguma (pictured below), an old pharmacy turned into a cafe that...
out with the old...
happy new year. it’s 2009 now, somehow.
a lot has happened here, been to the countryside, then spent time with london friends, wailan (pictured below), kent and zoe here in tokyo. and then there was new years.
we started the evening in an izakaya and then ended up at this bar/club/restaurant on the 14th and 15th floor of a building with great views of tokyo, lots of merry fun was had....
December 2008
6 posts
mona at the temple
yesterday we took mona (my niece) to the temple in her kimono. was very cold but she braved the cold and the hoard of family photographers in her face very well. more pics on flickr, again…
off to the mountains now for a few days. looking forward to sitting in a hot spring and the sauna. how simple life can be sometimes…
a big hello to everyone in platania, hope you have survived...
christmas presents
hope you all had a nice christmas. we had a traditional finnish christmas dinner which is quite a novelty, seeing as we are in japan.
more interestingly, i want to write about a christmas gift today. my brother bought/made this little video camera for me. it’s really compact and easy to use, so good thing to carry around. just need to work out how to strap it to a kite now. :)
you can...
different ways of looking at the same thing
my bro took a nice picture of me taking pictures (if that makes sense) so i thought i’d post it so you can imagine me taking the pics as well as seeing the pics. :)
lots of great pics on his flickr so have a look. he’s just bought a new camera, an Eos 5D Mk2 (bastardo), so obviously the quality of the pics is purely down to superior equipment.
oh, and happy/merry christmas to all...
first bunch of tokyo pics
have posted some pics on my flickr. not really had much of a chance to go out and take pics so hopefully some nicer photos soon…
me and planes don't get on at the moment
this year has been a year of problematic flying. some of you have heard my ridiculous tales but i think what happened to me on my way to japan is my second best travel story of the year (won’t tell you the best one, too embarrassing…).
thursday night i fly to paris to catch my flight to tokyo, all goes smoothly and i catch the 11pm flight with time to spare (for once). we take off...
festive time of year
time is passing quite nicely here, a strange in between period as christmas nears. already platania seems like quite a long time ago, i feel i must visit soon…
sad to be missing christmas in platania, christmas celebrations are taken very seriously i hear, sounds like even more drinking and eating than the august festas, if that’s possible.
the platanese don’t really take no...
November 2008
12 posts
reflecting
just thought i would post some pics from calabria to ease us into december… i hope you all have better weather than us here in london. it’s grey and and rainy but still happy to be here and working. for now. can’t wait to visit calabria though, hopefully january.
as always, you can view these pics (and others) at high resolution on my flickr.
new page, chapter, or even book...
24.11.08 - was my first day of work today.. almost 7 months of not working comes to an end, i feel like a different person now from when i was doing all that house work.
was a really good day, so nice to be working again (never thought i’d say that!). everything with the job and the company is more than i could have hoped for, so i’m very hopeful that it will work out well.
at home,...
caposaldo
so little going on here that i couldn’t possibly write about it unless you want to hear about what i bought at the supermarket (my daily highlight).
so, going back a bit in time… about a month ago when vincenzo came to platania, he brought with him a present for us. somewhere on the internet he had found a finnish flag for us! we often talk with vincenzo about having our friends...
steps
ulf got back on friday night so we are now fully decamped to london, quite odd i must say! we’re still talking and thinking a lot about the house, so it’s still a bit like being in calabria. we need to go back soon and finish some things off, it’s bothering us that it’s not quite there. how to find the time if the problem.
ulf also brought with him some photos of the...
I'VE GOT A JOB!!!!!!!!!
what a relief… i was getting a bit worried, the economy here at the moment is terrible, a lot of people are losing their jobs and there is hardly anyone hiring.
in the end i think i found a job that seems perfect for me, only downside is the lack of japanese restaurants near the office. after the interview i was really hoping that i would get it, so a massive relief when i got the call this...
going back a bit
not much going on here, just enjoying a bit of time to myself and waiting for someone to get back to me on something. a strange time but i should enjoy the peace and quiet while i can i think…
i’ve kept promising to write about our finland trip at the beginning of october, but never got around to it. i’ve done a lot of promoting calabria, so i should now promote my other...
stats
for the last six months i’ve been tracking the hits of the blog, which has proved to be fairly interesting reading. i definitely didn’t expect so many people to look at it, let alone read it regularly. i’ve had over 11,000 page views from almost 700 unique visitors. of course, views are registered when people look at it in different locations, but i’m still baffled that...
friends
sitting at home in london, finally. this afternoon is the first time since the end of may that i have been able to enjoy my own space and it’s great. don’t get me wrong, i love spending time with people and have been lucky to have stayed in some amazing places but after 6 months one starts missing one’s own space.
speaking of spending time with people in places, i wanted to...
new beginnings
i have arrived in london. it’s cold and raining, of course. still quite happy to be here, for now… just had a curry with jim and andrea, what a perfect way to mark the beginning of the next chapter.
going to bristol tomorrow to the opening of the school that i was working on before i left for platania. it’s a happy coincidence; i get to see the end of what i left behind. then...
thunderstorms, literally
my last night in platania (for now), the heavens opened up and there was lighting, very appropriate.
very sad to be leaving but really looking forward to london, time for a change. i have so many people to thank for the last 6 months, it would be the longest blog ever, but for now i would like to thank the cappellos (all 4 of you!) and gianfranco. a comprehensive list of thank-yous will follow...