Napoli's Golden Boy

Making nearly 200 appearances in a golden era for Serie A side Napoli, Diego Maradona was affectionately named "El Pibe del Oro" or "The Golden Boy" and it's not hard to see why. With 81 goals for the Italian giants, garnering two titles and a Coppa Italia, Maradona shone with Partenopei, becoming one of the greatest players in the club's history. It was in Naples that Maradona’s status as a footballing deity, at least as far as the inhabitants of this gritty southern Italian city were concerned, was confirmed.

Nowhere was Maradona's hypnotic talent and personality more adored than in Naples helping the unfancied club to usurp Milan and Juventus. It really was a match made in heaven, the diminutive street urchin from the wrong side of the tracks in partnership with a dramatic, chaotic city in southern Italy that felt undervalued and looked down upon from the great cultural cities further north, of Rome, Turin and Milan.

"Napoli non e Italia" (Napoli is not Italy), Maradona used to say. He felt right at home in a city where wealth, poverty, violence and football all co-existed on a daily basis.

He might have partied hard and with the wrong people, but the good memories are stronger and here Diego Armando Maradona will forever take his seat next to God under the "cielo azzurro" of Napoli.

It took Napoli mayor only 24 hours after Maradona's death to rename the San Paolo's football stadium in his honour: Diego Armando Maradona stadium.

Forza Napoli SEMPRE!

Curva B, in infamous fan club area of the stadium turned into an improvised Christmas shrine.

This mural dating from 1990 by Argentine artist Francisco Bosoletti has turned into a shrine since his death on Nov 25th, 2020.

The adoration is plastered across the city.... literally!

Little does it matter that Maradona played for Napoli over 30 years ago... he is still omnipresent...

... in every nook and cranny of this city...

... where even Japanese Napoli fans welcome!

This mural by street artist tvboy lasted only a few days back in 2018.

Souvenirs, souvenirs!!!

La Parisienne No.9

Fine, I need to get my head back into the game. La rentrée has begun in France and I am back in Paris. Yes, let's get real.

What better way than to kick-start myself into Parisian routine than a run around town with 25'000 other ladies? It's called La Parisienne. It happens every year and is considered the biggest female running race in Europe. Beyond the sporting challenge, La Parisienne is also a charity race, raising money for breast cancer research.

This year's theme for some bizarre reason was the American Far West.

Way back in 2011 it was the first activity I plunged myself into when we had just moved to Paris. I figured I might as well start with a bang.

I ran the race alone the first couple of years because I do prefer to run by myself. However, over the years it has become the perfect excuse for my girlfriends (who have since moved to their next destination) to return to the city of lights and visit. We make a girlie weekend out of it and it has become one of the highlights of my year... along with the rooftop yoga!

The Far West comes to the heart of the French capital

Early bird to register

Ready to go!

Iconic start beneath the Eiffel Tower

Mums and daughters this year... so chuffed Expat Girl is joining me

A few lost cow girls

A well-deserved Parisian lunch "entre copines"

Lucky Swiss girl

Lucky, lucky me... I am STILL skiing and the sun is STILL shining! My friends are starting to wonder if I will ever return to Paris. Let's just say I feel blessed and spoilt for having had such a wonderful and long ski holiday with family and friends. I feel at home and it feels good!

The only one missing was my hubby but I have a strong suspicion he planned his business trip in order to avoid the slopes?!?

Hashtag: I love skiing in the sunshine

Early risers get the best slopes

When the gondola is too steep to look down....

Nature in all its force

Feeling on top of the world

No words, no filters, no noise... simply perfect!

... until you get stuck on the chair lift...

La Parisienne 2018

Seven years ago I decided to start my Parisian Expat adventure with a bang by signing up for Europe's biggest female race La Parisienne. I dove into my new home city and have been immersing myself into it ever since.

The highlight of the year, however, must be La Parisienne when the city center shuts down for traffic and 30'000 women invade the streets... and all are smiling!!!

This year we were all particularly happy since the organization and coordination at the starting line seems to improve every time, going from 2 1/2 hours three years ago to roughly one this Sunday.

This year's theme was New York and even though we haven't really figured out why or how, having been born in the city that never sleeps I felt I belonged!

La Parisienne stands for a good cause and for many it is a yearly appointment with their girlfriends or lady colleagues. Some run, others walk but we all cross the finishing line after a 7km circuit. We are all cheered on by dads, kids, music bands and tourists. We all arrive exhausted but happy and we all receive a lovely rose along with our medal. Running for research never felt so good!

What a backdrop for a ladies' race?!?

Spot the intruder! 

Lady Liberty at the Champs de Mars

Rallying under the Eiffel tower ready to go

Warming up with a view onto Trocadero 

This view rocks!

Behind the scences of a football stadium

What to do with three teenagers on a hot sunny day in Madrid? A museum visit was out of the question and we had already surrendered to the heat during the panoramic bus tour through the city centre. 

A sudden brainwave: a tour of Madrid's football stadium home to the world renowned Real Madrid Team. 

The Bernabéu tour took us around the club’s most iconic spots and gave us a spectacular view from above the stadium, from the Presidential balcony, from the players' perspective, from the pitch itself, and from the coach’s viewpoint, sitting in the heated ergonomic seats in the bench area. The tour route included the players’ dressing rooms where the RM star player’s locker had already been cleaned out since he had officially left the club the day before.

We explored the history of Real Madrid through the Trophies Exhibition, which houses the club’s trophy collection plus thousands of items that are part of its heritage, including shoes, shirts, balls, photographs and documents. 

However, to witness the Bernabéu in its full glory you'll just need to be lucky enough to catch a ticket for "El Clasico", the yearly Real Madrid vs Barcelona game!

Named after the club’s legendary president who headed Real Madrid between 1943 and 1978, the Santiago Bernabéu stadium was opened in 1947. It has a capacity for 81,044, 245 VIP boxes and four restaurants

Real Madrid's Golden Book

Those were the days... nobody had ever heard of Nike or Adidas 

The history of a logo. Its merchandise today grosses more than any other football club in the world!

Spot the mistake!

24 hours and Real Madrid's star team player has been eradicated from the locker room;

How many tweets in 3 hours?

Trophy after trophy after trophy!

A glorious stadium

A glimpse of the city

Your typical Parisian morning jog

Starting my morning jog below the iconic Eiffel Tower.

There exists no picture of the Eiffel Tower that has not been taken already.

The quais all to myself.

Peniche boat owners with a sense of humour.

The French Lady of Liberty

Feeling uplifted ... 

 Things you find along the roads of Paris.

When you can't wait to hit the slopes...

Last time Paris saw this much snow was in 2013 when an inspired skier posted a video of himself skiing down the front of Montmartre. Needless to say it went viral.

This year there have been quite a few copy cats hanging around Montmartre's "slope" waiting for their 15 minutes of glory.

However, I was surprised to find two fully equipped skier attempting to ski the Trocadero gardens yesterday?

I guess these two just couldn't wait to hit the slopes... oh wait, is that my daughter?!? Just kidding.