albazilla

Beautifully scary, but for sure my link of the week! Muahahahahahah

And yes, time went by quick: already a month passed! Can I already consider myself a Nissard? Nah. However…

…although I went through many of the touristic things, I am for sure more than a tourist. I commute by train every day to work in Monaco and I’ve got used to the delays and accept the strikes. I tried to fight it (i.e. catching an alternative bus with the promise of getting out at my flat’s doorstep) helaas just to be deceived. I also start to get my head round the fact that any service you want to get, subscribe or change, from phone operators to nurseries, from banks to cleaning ladies, it takes at least 10 days… even after signing in via the Internet! Everybody complains about it but nobody thinks this could change: “zis is ze South of France, u know?”

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Fast! One week went by in a flash… and I consumed my shoes by walking around the city centre and visiting potential apartments to let.

One week ago I was leaving Aberdeen and moving down to Nice. Achievements so far:

- opened a French bank account that I can’t use yet (apparently it takes 10 days or so to get it running)
- bought useless groceries (mainly pain au chocolat)
- discovered French old ladies enjoy spending the afternoon in supermarkets at the cashier paying 14.72 euro by using all the coins they have in the purse (and creating massive people-jams)
- got a French mobile number
- spent a day with an old friend (although he’s younger than me )
- enjoyed dinner in the city centre (REAL FOOD!)
- bought a train abonnement and tried to go to work and back (although I got lost few times)
- walked along the promenade des anglais (and got my forehead all pinkish)
- went to the cinema (Sucker Punch, I don’t know what they smoked but I would like to try it)
- watched street-dancers performing at midnight in the main square
- visited numerous apartment to rent and decided to go for one otherwise I’ll never make up my mind…

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WAAAH! It’s so warm in here! When I left Aberdeen I was sure in Nice would have been warmer, but it turned out my clothing is truly conservative and far too wintery. Basically I’m living the difference in expecting something and experiencing something  Even when it rains, it’s warmer than I thought. Actually, I have to get used to everything, again…

Now, looking for a flat for my family… it’s not easy. In a place where 1) you’ve got money and 2) you wait until you find the right thing, I’m here with a week time to find something ready enough to start living in within days and, well, ACAP (as cheap as possible). Basically, did I underestimated the task, or did I expected a lucky strike? Again, the difference in between expecting and experiencing…

Anyway, shortlisted flats on the run are: Nice West – far from the center, but in a residential area, need a scooter to go working and the family needs a car for anything else, but oh so calm and posh; Nice Center – bang on the strip on the beach, walking distance to the train station to go to work, but in old burgeois buildings that need so much help to be brought up to Petracci specs, plus no parking hopes; Nice East, the Chelsea of Nice, but 1980 style, expensive and not really delivering. Which side to pick?

Plus, learning point after day 3: in Nice, everybody is MAD about the sea view. I mean, proper crazy about it! A flat can look shit and have rooms of 8 m2 each (I’m NOT kiddin!), but it’s worth 3x as much as the others if you can spot the sea from its windows! For me that was used to see the Aberdeen harbour from my flat, and that was considered quite a panorama, imaging when here in the maternity hospital, the delivery room has got view on the Promenade des Anglais (and beach): class…

How different is the crowd boarding to Nice from the one boarding to Aberdeen! Most shockingly, it looks like the people boarding for Aberdeen are going towards a tropical climate, wearing just a t-shirt, while the people boarding to Nice are surely going to face a fierce weather, wearing those fancy coats with fur…

Anyway, I’m landed safe and tired, and I’m in my studio/temp accommodation unpacking. Internet is free and fast, and this helps a lot in starting a new life in this XXI century. Now, time to go hunting across the block for some snack before crawling to bed. Tomorrow, everything starts.

Time’s up. And time to blog. This is my last full day in Aberdeen and probably the best moment to start blogging again.

After almost four years in the Granite City, capital of the Oil & Gas industry, in between kilts and whiskeys, I’ve accepted a job in Monaco. And so the Petracci’s are moving to live in Nice, France.

It’s a full blown adventure for us: new jobs, new country, new friends… new baby as well, since we’re expecting Matteo’s brother or sister. All this deserves a little diary, something for me to keep the plot, for our friends to feel close, and for us to remember one day… Welcome then to Les Petracci’s on the Méd!

Today my to do list is shorter then ever: it says simply ‘haircut’ and ‘luggages’. Tricky question: what to put in the suitcase for the next 3 months? That’s because our big move (the one with a zillion boxes) will not happen before my 3 months of probation in the job are over… hence I need to take with me all I will need to start a new life, and look good in it: at the end of the day, we’re moving to the Côte d’Azur!

Once upon a time, people were taking pictures, 24 or 36 on thin films rolled in tiny tubes, that were then sent away, while your images were coming back within a day…

Nikon still makes one of these, actually they still make their flagship film camera and best SLR ever appeared on the market: the Nikon F6. I remember drooling over the shop window, staring at that professional tool for photojournalism and fine art.

Apparently though, not everyone knows what we’re talking about here. Hence, if you browse in Amazon.com you’ll find a lucky fellow that may have misunderstood a couple of things:

But still, there was the need for a breakthrough to make all this happen. Only three years ago phones were what we would now consider Cenozoic. Then this:

http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/12/27/rim.thought.apple.was.lying.on.iphone.in.2007/

And that’s why I buy Apple!

May all of you, my friends and family, wherever you are,
enjoy a very special Christmas eve and start looking forward to a
brilliant new year!

When you have a flight to catch in few hrs.