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christinaroseandrews · 3 years

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Looking for a Romance this Valentine’s Day?

So, every publication and blogger is putting out a Valentine’s Day romance list, and we are nothing if not followers. We’ve assembled a large list (33 Books) of a mix of traditionally and indie published books. All of the books on this list are ones we’ve read and feel comfortable recommending. And they all fit the definition of romance - a story where the relationship is central to the overall plot and features a happy for now or happily every after ending.

We’re going to break this down into several categories because not everyone reads Regency romances (but we are going to start there).

Regency Romance

These are books set between 1795-1837. While the Regency itself was only from 1811-1820 most people use these dates including Wikipedia. This was honestly one of the hardest for us to narrow down, mostly because it’s the dominant genre in traditionally published romance -- even Contemporary doesn’t hold a candle to Regency right now.

Sweet Disorder - Rose Lerner - M/F Romance (Steamy) - Election hijinks ensue when the local election hinges on who the widowed wife of a newspaper printer marries. Other Notes: Plus-Sized Heroine, Family Drama, Disabled Characters, Everyday People Falling in Love, Marginalized Author (Jewish).

The Baroness Affair - Jean Wilde - M/M/F Romance (Steamy) - A desperate noblewoman enlists the help of a male courtesan to help her get pregnant... no it’s not what you think. Other Notes: Equal Triad Polyamory, Period Appropriate Homophobia, LBGT Romance, Family Drama.

How To Start a Scandal - Madeline Martin - M/F Romance (Steamy) - A wallflower and secret society reporter reconnects with the Earl Next Door who’s recently returned from the war. Other Notes: Plus-Sized Heroine, Family Drama, Positive Mental Illness Portrayal, Cute Plot Animals.

Project Duchess - Sabrina Jeffries - M/F Romance (Steamy) - A duke returns to his family after the mysterious death of his stepfather, yet another duke, only to be enchanted by a woman who has a connection to the last person to see his stepfather alive. Other Notes: Older Heroine (the whole series features these), Romantic Suspense Series, family drama. I’m really enjoying the whole series and it’s worth a read.

The Rakess - Scarlett Peckham - M/F Romance (Steamy) - This is a love it or hate it kind of book that flips so many of the conventional romance tropes on its ear. It features a hard-drinking, hard-smoking, highly sexual woman who authors progressive literature and causes a scandal just by living her life meeting up with a mild-mannered reputation conscious Scottish Architect with two small children. Even the cover flips the script on the classic clinch cover. I loved it. A lot people didn’t. Other notes: Period appropriate sexism/hypocrisy/etc., CW: alcoholism, neighbors to lovers, adorable plot moppets.

Paranormal Romance

These are romances that feature a fantastical element. This can be anything from vampires to shifters to time travel. These also will often be series which may or may not continue with the same relationship throughout several books.

Hot Ghost - Annika Martin - M/F Romance (Steamy) - A waitress finds love with the ghost who haunts the pier near her family’s restaurant. Other Notes: Major Character Death (It’s a Ghost Romance...), Everyday People Falling in Love, Novella.

Accepting Fate - Deanna Chase - M/F Romance (Steamy) - Fresh from a bad break up, a woman meets her soulmate at an art gallery opening. Together they have to work through their trauma and find out if they can be happy together. Other Notes: Childhood trauma, Fire Fighter Romance, Soulmates, Artists.

Gretel - Niamh Murphy - F/F Romance (Steamy) - A retelling of the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel with a very interesting twist. Other Notes: Age-Gap Romance, Novella.

One Shade of Grey - Monica Corwin - M/F Romance (Steamy) - Dorian Grey, yes that one, has a bit of a problem. He keeps seeing a woman who he thinks is the reincarnation of his lost love. But is she really? Or is he going insane? Other Notes: Positive Portrayal of Mental Illness, Classical Story Retelling, Billionaire Romance, Immortality

Tangled in Time - Barbara Longley - M/F Romance (Steamy) - Cursed to see spirits, Regan is approached by the spirit of a cursed Irish warrior. Now they must work together to lift his curse and fall in love along the way. Other Notes: Fae Romance, Time Travel Romance, Ghost Romance.

Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites - Joy Demorra - M/M/F Romance (Steamy or Fluffy) - A vampire, a werewolf, and a magic user walk into a plot to end the world. Of course they have to fall in love along the way. Other Notes: Vampire Romance, Werewolf Romance, Magic User Romance, LBGT Fantasy Romance, Bisexual Romance, Postive Mental Illness representation, Marginalized Author (Disabled, Queer, Neurodivergent).

Erotic Romance

These are books where the sex is as much a part of the romance as the rest of the story. The plots here tend to be thinner, but they’re still present and important. This is not smut for smut’s sake. The relationship is important too. All of these are going to rate high on the steam.

After Hours - Lynda Aicher - M/F Romance - An executive assistant accidentally observes an after hours orgy in one of the boardrooms. Rather than be repulsed, she’s aroused. And up for more. Other Notes: Workplace Romance, Voyeurism, Exhibitionism, Mild BDSM, Boss/Subordinate Relationship.

Loving Maddie from A to Z - Kelly Jamison - M/M/F Romance - An outwardly happy couple looks to add something to their relationship by inviting their friend into their home and bed. Other Notes: Polyamory, BDSM, Big City Romance.

Ever After - Eden French - M/M/F Romance - An erotic modern retelling of the Cinderella fairy tale featuring billionaires, celebrities, and lots of hot sex. Other Notes: Interracial Romance, Polyamory, Billionaire Romance, CW: Child Abuse.

Test Drive - N.S. Johnson - M/F Romance - A so-called good girl finds that she’s really not when she falls for the leader of a street racing crew. Other Notes: Polyamory, CW: Infidelity, Interracial Romance, Reverse Harem, Recreational Drug Use, Author of Color.

Other Historical Romance

These are romances set outside of the Regency but not during contemporary periods. A lot of old school romances tend to be this because medieval was big then. But it also includes everything up to 1990 too... Yeah... I know... I feel old.

Let It Shine - Alyssa Cole - M/F Romance (Steamy) - Set during the civil rights movement, this story follows two young people struggling to find their voice and love amidst the turmoil of the 1960s. Other Notes: Interracial Romance, Period Appropriate Racism, Period Appropriate Anti-Semitism, Author of Color, Sports Romance, Novella.

In Pursuit Of... - Courtney Milan - M/M Romance (Steamy) - Set immediately after the American War for Independence it features a British soldier falling in love with a Black man who fought for the American side. Other Notes: Interracial Romance, Romantic Comedy, period appropriate racism, author of color, Novella.

Bringing Down the Duke - Evie Dunmore - M/F Romance (Steamy) - A rare female scholar tries to keep her scholarship going while also crusading for the rights of women in Victorian England. Other Notes: Alpha Hero, Clueless Heroine.

Contemporary Romance

These romances are set in the last 25 years and run the gamut of tropes.

Get a Life, Chloe Brown - Talia Hibbert - M/F Romance (Steamy) - Sick of living her life wrapped in tissue paper, Chloe Brown sets off to live a little. And to do that, she needs the help of her building’s manager. Other Notes: Plus-Sized Heroine, Interracial Romance, Disabled Characters, Positive Portrayal of Mental Illness, Marginalized Author (Black). As a note the sequel Take a Hint, Dani Brown is just as good and features a Bisexual Woman of Color.

Beg, Borrow, or Steal - Susie Tate - M/F Romance (Fluffy) - A medical student has to juggle the needs of being a single mother, a student, and paying the bills. And if that means she’s got to take off her clothes to do that, that’s what she’s going to do. Too bad she keeps falling asleep in class. Other Notes: No Sex (No really), But also Super sex positive, Student/Teacher Relationship, Adorable Plot Moppet.

Soft Hands - Ariel Bishop - M/M Romance (Steamy) - A professional Hockey Player ends up falling for the team trainer and massage therapist. Other Notes: Bisexual Rep, Sports Romance, Interracial Romance.

The Year We Fell Down - Sarina Bowen - M/F Romance (Steamy) - Two people who’ve suffered from accidents which have left them disabled find each other at a Harvard Expy. While one of the characters only has a temporary disability (broken leg) it still fucking counts. Other Notes: New Adult Romance, Disabled characters, Sports Romance, College Romance.

Small Town Romance

A subgenre of Contemporary Romance, these are books set in a small town and often the stakes tend to be pretty low. They can run the range of no-sex to lots of steam. They are also often VERY WHITE. While many are set in America, they can also be set elsewhere with Australia and the British Isles being the most common other settings.

Falling for Her Brother’s Best Friend - Noelle Adams - M/F Romance (Steamy) - Who doesn’t love a small town romance featuring characters that used to be childhood friends becoming more? Other Notes: New Adult Romance.

The Last One - Tawdra Kandle - M/F Romance (Steamy) - Meghan, an art student, and Sam, a farmer, and how they meet in small-town Georgia when Meghan comes to teach art over the summer to the kids in town…and ends up staying with Sam and his family. Other Notes: Alpha Male Hero.

If Wishes Were Horses - Caitlyn Lynch - M/F Romance (Steamy) - When an Aussie woman inherits partial ownership in a horse ranch in Ireland, sparks fly. Other Notes: Novella, Irish Romance.

Old School Romance

These are romances that were written before the rise of indie publishing where white men had the power and it shows. These are what people point to when they reduce romance novels to just “bodice rippers” but even then they weren’t just that. BTW none of these books feature Fabio so suck it!

Skye O’Malley - Bertrice Small - M/F Romance (Steamy) - Daughter of a small Irish lord, this book follows Skye through her life and romances across England, Ireland, and even Algeria. It’s wild and all over the place and is not your typical romance novel. It ends on a HEA but there is a JOURNEY. But gods it’s one of my old-school faves. Other Notes: Major Character Death. Non-Con, Pirates, Interracial Romance, Historical Domain Characters, This is not your typical romance. I like the whole series... but that’s a me thing.

The Traveling Matchmaker Series - Marion Chesney/M.C Beaton - M/F Romance (Fluffy) - A housekeeper inherits a large sum of money and decides to use it to travel about England. Along the way, she makes matches for the other passengers of the stagecoach she’s traveling on while getting into all sorts of adventures. This series is pure fluff and I love it. Other Notes: Period appropriate xenophobia, Age Gap Romance.

Remembrance - Jude Deveraux - M/F Romance (Steamy) - A romance novelist discovers that the reason she hasn’t found love is because of an issue with her past life. So she decides to do something about it... only to find it’s just the very tip of the story. Other Notes: Time Travel Romance, Past Lives, Meta... so very meta.

Desire in Disguise - Rebecca Brandewyne - M/F Romance (Steamy) - Look this is set during the French Revolution and features duelling (quite literally) pirates. This is a wild ride and it’s so old school it hurts. Other Notes: Alpha hero, mistaken identity, enemies to lovers, spies, pirates, But oh so many problematic tropes. This looks to be out of print... so check your local library.

Gentle Warrior - Julie Garwood - M/F Romance (Steamy) - Set right after the Norman Invasion of England, this features a Norman Lord who was granted an Anglo-Saxon wife and all of the drama that comes with. Note... this is the first Romance Novel I ever read.. My mother bought it for me when it was newish -- in 1987. Other Notes: CW: Rape, Arranged Marriage, Non-conventionally Attractive Hero.

Books that check all of the boxes of Romance but aren’t Labeled as Romance because Sexism.

Romance isn’t about sex. There’s lots of books with explicit sex in them that aren’t Romance and several with a strong romantic relationship that drives the plot which ends happily and satisfying. But sexism is a thing and so here we are.

The Princess Bride - William Goldman - M/F Romance (Fluffy) - You’ve probably seen the movie. The book is also fun. And since the romance is central to the plot AND the ending is a happy one (especially in the movie) it qualifies.

The Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins - M/F Romance (Fluffy) - Look who would have thought that in a book about kids killing each other and the violence of war that Romance would play that big of a role? But it does. And it is. And it’s important.

Katherine - Anya Seton - M/F Romance (Fluffy) - This could feasibly go into Old School Romance, but apparently the publishers have decided to downplay the actual romance and try to sell this as literature. It follows the real-life Romance between Katherine Swineford and the Duke of Lancaster.

Did we leave off any of your favorites? It’s probably because we haven’t read them! We always like recs, especially featuring marginalized authors or main characters with marginalized identities.

If you like this kind of thing, consider leaving us a tip in our Ko-Fi!

#Romance novels #romance recommendations #romance books #romance #valentine's day #historical romance #regency romance #contemporary romance #small town romance #paranormal romance #old school romance

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tripstations · 5 years

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Episode 1: How I’m travelling 52 countries in 52 weeks

52 weeks and 52 countries, travelling around the world at random on the cheapest ticket every Tuesday? Some call it crazy. We call it ex-STA staff member and all-around solo backpacker extraordinaire Finding Alexx.

Ever hear of those crazy adventures that you’d LOVE to do but have no idea how? This is one of those adventures, and I’m going to show you all the ins and outs of how I’m making it happen.

I’m Alexx. A Kiwi, long-time STA Traveller, and now a full-time travel blogger at Finding Alexx, and I’m exploring the world solo for a whole 365 days! I’m visiting a new country every week for an entire year, and my route is based entirely on the cheapest flight available each Tuesday. Yes, I am crazy. Here’s all you need to know about my 52 in 52 adventure, and how you can follow the journey.

How’d you come up with the idea?

I’ve just been living in London for two years on a working holiday visa, working at STA Travel’s head office in the global marketing team, but unfortunately my visa expired mid-June (sob!). Not quite ready to make the 18,000km move back to my little corner of the world in New Zealand, I knew that I wanted to travel long-term, but had no idea where to go! I suffer from major analysis paralysis (it’s a thing, okay…) so having to decide where to spend my limited funds to visit was super tough – it just forced me into an endless downward spiral of Google research, going around and around in circles looking at travel costs, flight logistics, events that I wanted to see and trying to prioritise my wanderlist (Which is impossible, by the way!)

Then I thought, why not just book the route based on the cheapest flight available each week? That means I avoided decision-making anxiety, kept costs down, AND added in some places I wouldn’t have gone to otherwise. Win, win, win!

Won’t you just be going round in circles?

My route is to a new country each week, so once I’ve been to Paris for example I can’t fly into any other French airports. If France is the cheapest option from a future destination, I just skip past that and choose the next country that I haven’t been to on the trip.

Why are you doing it?

Aside from the fact that I think it’s a super cool way to explore some new places, I’m doing it to show how flexibility can massively keep costs down! If I had decided on a route that I needed to stick to with specific dates then that means I have no room for movement when I’m looking at flight costs, but by just checking out all the options and not having a set idea of where to do, I’m able to stick to a super tight flight budget.

I’m also obsessed with building out ultimate itineraries when I travel, like the absolute best things to see, do, eat and experience in each destination, and I love the challenge of finding the things that are totally worth spending your money on in 52 random destinations. Sometimes that might be an experience to splurge on, like a hot air balloon ride in Cappadocia, but sometimes it could be just a specific meal at a funky cafe, like the breakfast sharing plates at Holybelly in Paris. Divine! No one likes wasting money on their trip so I’m here to share some tips on what I reckon was worth the money (and what wasn’t!).

So, are you travelling on a budget?

Ab. So. Lutely. I do have some savings (around £12k total after accounting for all my flights) but you can run through that incredibly quickly while overseas. I’ll be doing a little bit of remote freelance work on the road which can help with free stays and day tours, but in each stop I’ll be sussing out the best ways to save money too.

How much will it cost in total?

It’s impossible to know, because I don’t even know the full itinerary yet! From some test itineraries it looks like the flights for the whole year will cost between £4,000-£4,500, but that includes a check-in bag (and would be about £1,500 cheaper with cabin luggage only, if you’re a packing wizard). Accommodation will range drastically depending on the location, but dorm rooms probably won’t be any more expensive than Paris, which was £35 a night. Some places, like Cambodia and Vietnam, will be more like £5 a night!

To keep costs down I’ll be cooking my own food as much as possible, taking public transport or walking instead of private transfers and taxis, and constantly searching for the best deals on activities and experiences.

How do you prepare for a trip like this?

To be totally honest, I’m probably not prepared enough! I like to say that I’m winging it with confidence. I’ve travelled a decent amount, have moved abroad solo and I really thrive in fast-paced and slightly stressful situations which is usually a curse, but in this case, it’s been really helpful. I have my inter-country transport booked up until January but only have a small amount of accommodation booked so far, this is something I’m working on at the moment. I’m a mega-nerd for organisation so this is one of my favourite parts!

In terms of preparation tools, I can definitely share some secrets. I’ve got a Google MyMap for every single recommendation that people have given me for each different destination, colour coordinated into eating places, photo spots, activities and accommodation. Airtable is also a lifesaver, it’s a spreadsheet/database hybrid with some amazing functions that are ideal for itinerary planning. Then I use Google Calendar to plan out my days and make sure I’m making the most of my time in each place, as well as setting aside some down time for recharging.

Are you travelling solo?

I sure am! I do have some friends and family coming out to see me at various parts of the trip, but for the majority of the time I will be literally flying solo. Always keen to have travel buddies though so if anyone is crossing over with my itinerary please let me know!

Any solo female travel tips?

Ask me in a year and I’ll probably be able to give you LOADS more, but I have previously written a blog with some of my solo female travel tips right here.

Will you be staying in the city that you fly into?

Not necessarily! In some places I will be staying put and exploring my arrival city in depth, but in some places I’m really keen to explore further afield.

Where is it taking you?

I’ve booked the first 26 weeks so far, so I know where I’m going to be until January 2020! Flight tickets are normally only released 11 months in advance so I can’t book all the way up ‘til the end (July 2020) just yet, but will be doing that in the next few months. I’m currently writing this from my hostel in Zaragoza on the second week of the trip!

So far, the itinerary is as follows:

Week 1: Paris, France

Week 2: Zaragoza/San Sebastian/Bilbao, Spain

Week 3: Brussels/Bruges/Ghent, Belgium

Week 4: Warsaw, Poland

Week 5: Vienna, Austria

Week 6: Milan/the Dolomites, Italy

Week 7: Budapest, Hungary

Week 8: Jordan (exploring the whole country on a tour)

Week 9: Cyprus (the whole island)

Week 10: Crete, Greece

Week 11: Sofia, Bulgaria

Week 12: Hamburg/Munich, Germany

Week 13: Porto, Portugal

Week 14: Zurich/Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

Week 15: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Week 16: Dublin, Ireland

Week 17: Bucharest, Romania

Week 18: Israel (various stops)

Week 19: Turkey (various stops)

Week 20: Baku, Azerbaijan

Week 21: Dubai, UAE

Week 22: Delhi & the Golden Triangle, India

Week 23: Bangkok to southern Thailand

Week 24: Malaysia

Week 25: Singapore

Week 26: Bali, Indonesia

Week 27: A week off for a family wedding back home in NZ

Week 28-52: No idea just yet!

And where will the second half of the trip go?

It’ll go through Australia and the Pacific Islands, more of Asia, North and Central America, and back over to Europe. Unfortunately, flights to Africa and South America are never really the cheapest option so it probably won’t take me there. Oh well, they can be for another trip!

What are you most excited for?

It’s impossible to choose one but I do have a couple! Incredibly excited for Jordan and Israel because those are two places that I never dreamt I would visit, super keen to finally get to Budapest and Cyprus, and I LOVE Indonesia so I was stoked when that came up for my New Year’s Ever stop!

Anywhere you’re not looking forward to?

Not at all, I’m a firm believer that all countries have something amazing for you to discover no matter what you’re into. I’m also not visiting anywhere with a serious safety warning because of insurance and also my parents’ mental well-being, ha. You’re welcome, Mum!

Where are you going to stay?

I’ll stay in a mix of hostels, hotels and guesthouses, depending on the destination and living costs. In Europe it’ll mostly be hostel dorms to keep costs down, maybe a private room if I need a bit of a health kick and quiet time, but in Asia the guesthouses are super cheap and ultra-authentic which I love.

What about your environmental impact?

This is a really important topic for travellers right now, and something I’m definitely keeping in mind. First of all, I’m not actually flying every single week! I built the route off the cheapest destination to fly to but then checked each week’s journey on trains and buses too, and booked them if they worked out logistically. In the first six months I’ve got three trains and two buses in there.

Secondly, while a flight every week does have an impact, it’s important for me to share that these flights are short-haul, mostly on low cost carriers who have newer fleets with more environmentally-friendly engines, and that I’m offsetting every single flight throughout the year. I use myclimate.org to check my carbon footprint and the first 21 flights actually have a 25% smaller footprint than a single return flight from London to New Zealand!

We all need to be very aware of our impact on the planet when travelling, but I also think it’s about minimising your negative impact (offsetting carbon credits, watching plastic use etc) as well as maximising your positive impact (shopping local, opening your mind to new experiences and ways of life, and doing good wherever you travel). While carbon output is a necessary evil, I reckon we should all be using travel as a force for good.

Some other ways I’m trying to be more sustainable are:

Using eco-friendly shampoo, conditioner, body wash and laundry bars instead of travelling with those little plastic bottles. I use the ones from Ethique here. I travel with Huel powder which is a nutritionally complete meal, you just add water and you’ve got a shake with all the vitamins and minerals you need! I have this for breakfast each day just to ensure my digestive system has some consistency while I’m travelling to places with totally different cuisines each week. Huel is vegan and sustainably-produced, it avoids food wastage (ideal for hostels!) and it’s super easy to take with you for an adventure day, meaning there’s no need to buy plastic-wrapped snacks. Taking my Bobble filtered water bottle everywhere I go and never buying a plastic water bottle Travelling with tour companies with strong sustainability policies, like G Adventures and Contiki

I’d love to know your tips on sustainable travel as well, tell me in the comments below!

How can we follow along?

I’ll be writing some STA Travel destination guides for a variety of cities and countries throughout the trip, which we will be linking to just below! If you’d like to check out all my travel photos you can find me on Instagram @findingalexx, or read more about my adventures at www.findingalexx.com

The post Episode 1: How I’m travelling 52 countries in 52 weeks appeared first on Tripstations.

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mikemortgage · 5 years

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Argentines return to Europe to escape economic uncertainty

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Tomas Ruiz embraced his father one last time at the Buenos Aires airport before he boarded a plane in search of a new life in Ireland. His sister recently did the same when she moved to Spain.

Like many other young Argentines, the siblings hold European passports by descent, and they are returning to the home countries of their grandparents — far from Argentina’s sizzling inflation, high unemployment and sharp currency depreciation.

“My country’s situation prompted me to take this decision,” Ruiz said as he finished packing his bags for his trip to Dublin surrounded by photos of his family and friends on the wall. “It was a constant frustration to live constantly on the edge, barely making it to the end of the month.”

Ruiz studied gastronomy and was employed as a cafe manager in Argentina’s capital. But even when he worked extra shifts, he couldn’t manage to save money, and for months he had been living with his mother to save on rent.

Outside his room, family members left him and his sister farewell messages on a chalkboard. “I love you and I’ll miss you,” his mother wrote. Others said: “The best is yet to come,” and “Crpe diem,” Latin for seize the day.

It’s not the first time Argentines have sought shelter in Europe in times of economic uncertainty. Hundreds of thousands emigrated to the old continent to escape hyperinflation in the early 1990s and an economic meltdown in 2001 and 2002.

Now, Argentines are losing purchasing power to a nearly 50% annual inflation rate — one of the world’s worst. Many have also protests President Mauricio Macri’s decision to cut subsidies, leading to a spike in the costs of utilities and public transportation.

Last year, the Argentine peso lost more than half its value to the U.S. dollar following a run on the local currency, causing the government to seek a record $56 billion bailout loan with the International Monetary Fund to try to come out of the recession.

“As a result of the economic crisis and the devaluation, more young professionals are thinking about a future in Europe,” said Alejandro Servide, director of professionals and recruitment process outsourcing at Argentina’s branch of Randstad, the world’s second-largest staffing company.

As part of the austerity measures aimed at balancing the budget, Macri’s administration has laid off thousands of government workers and slashed funding for dance, science and other programs. Hundreds recently protested outside the headquarters of the National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Argentina’s main agency for science and technology.

“The science sector is suffering because these budget cuts ordered by Macri endanger the continuity of scientific activity,” said Alberto Kornblihtt, a molecular biologist. “This is undoubtedly contributing to a brain drain that we’ve suffered at other times (of crisis) in our country.”

There are no official statistics available on how many Argentines have moved to Europe. Argentina’s immigration directorate said it is nearly impossible to keep track of the number because Argentines leaving the country don’t have to provide information on their destination or how long they’ll stay.

But academics, research groups and consulting firms agree there has been a rise in the number of people leaving, especially among young, educated Argentines — just as there was during the nation’s worst crisis 17 years ago.

Back then, millions were plunged into poverty, more than 20 per cent of the population became unemployed and many reportedly went hungry in a country that is one world’s biggest producers of beef, soy and wheat.

“When Argentina goes through these profound crises, people search for options, and just like it happened in 2001-2002 when nearly 800,000 Argentines went abroad, today we’re living through perhaps the initial phase,” said Ariel Gonzalez, executive secretary of the Center for International Studies at the Catholic University of Argentina.

“That means that there’s a sector of society — the middle and high class professionals — who are eyeing a Plan B, which is that if the crisis deepens, one of the options would be to go abroad.”

Servide said Randstad Argentina carries out about 160 daily interviews for surveys. One of the questions they ask is whether if given the chance, they would be interested in living abroad. “About 80 per cent tell you yes,” he said.

Manuel Miglioranza, a 26-year-old lawyer, is moving next month to Toulouse, France. Although he doesn’t have dual Argentine-French nationality, he’s going to take French lessons and find a job through a temporary work permit allowed through a treaty between the two nations.

“The economic situation in Argentina is not helping. You can’t progress unless you work for the state or you have dollars,” he said. “I know many people who are leaving.”

Millions of Europeans flooded into Argentina in the 19th century to escape war and poverty back home, which has been a source of pride for the country.

“Argentina gave peace to those who were escaping war, freedom to those escaping religious persecution, and bread and work to those escaping hunger,” said Horacio Garcia, director of Argentina’s National Migration Directorate.

“Of the last six presidents, four of them were first-generation sons of immigrants,” Garcia noted. “Their fathers came to Argentina with a cardboard suitcase, and they saw that their children in a short amount of time became presidents of the nation. That hardly happens anywhere else in the world.”

By the 20th century, a strong workforce along with export earnings from agricultural products and beef had helped turn Argentina into one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

Argentines were also among “the most Europeanized and educated people in Latin America,” Gabriela Nouzeilles and Graciela Montaldo write in their anthology “The Argentina Reader: History, Culture and Politics.”

“Their literacy rate (about 90 per cent) was the highest by far. Until 1945, the country boasted the highest per capita income on the continent, the most extensive urbanization, the largest middle class, as well as the best newspapers, universities, and publishing houses.”

But political mismanagement and lower prices for agricultural products that form the country’s economic backbone have for decades led to cyclical booms and busts.

The Spanish government recently launched an initiative that allows a limited number of descendants of Spaniards living in Argentina without a Spanish passport to seek a special three-month work visa. Once they find a job, they can request Spanish nationality and bring their families. There were 76,328 Argentines officially registered by mid-2018 in Spain.

“There are many, many Argentines living here. We’re like pigeons — everywhere,” quipped Paz Pucheu, an Argentine now living in Spain.

The 25-year-old radio and television announcer went to Barcelona in 2017 when “things got really complicated” in Argentina. She began working at a restaurant and eventually landed a job at a local radio station.

“Like other Latin American countries, Argentina was a Spanish colony. With friends now we joke around that we’re colonizing our colonizers,” she said.

—-

Associated Press journalists Paul Byrne and Demian Bio in Buenos Aires, Aritz Parra in Madrid and Renata Brito in Barcelona, Spain, contributed to this report.

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aroundtheworldin18years · 5 years

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Well….we have only gone and won £100k on a scratchcard!!!!

That’s right…ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND smackaroonies!

Lynne went out yesterday morning to drop Lily-Belle at school and popped into the local shop for ‘essentials’. As she queued she thought, ‘do you know what, if that couple down the road can win £115 million, surely we might get lucky and win a few quid that could pay for our next holiday’. A few scratches later, winner winner chicken dinner…£100k…we’re still letting it all sink in! Madness!

Now, some of our readers already know that Mummy is the budget Queen but lover of all things holidays! Not content with the cold-cash making a cosy home in our bank account, she has come to the conclusion that life is far too short and has decided to blow the lot on seeing those places that we have dreamed of for so long. After a long night checking out villas on Clickstay, we now have our TOP 10 TRAVEL GOALS 2019 plans in place.

So here goes, our TOP 10 TRAVEL GOALS 2019…..excited!

February

It’s the middle of winter here on the island of Ireland and snow has fallen across the province, so we’ve decided the first trip of 2019 should be to somewhere warm, a place where we can rid ourselves of our pasty white skin…Australia it is then. Our first trip will take us to the beautiful town of Cairns to see one of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World; the Great Barrier Reef! Sea Temple 205 Palm Grove looks stunning and the girls are going to love the pool. Mummy is looking forward to some R&R in the onsite Spa, and daddy, well…I’m just hoping to join up the freckles to get a ‘ginger’ tan!

Sea Temple 205 Palm Grove: click to view Cost: very reasonable at £3,857 dingo dollars.

March

March 2019 is a BIG month in the Callaghan household; it’s Mummy’s big 4 0 birthday and also our 15th wedding anniversary! We spent our honeymoon in the Maldives so the beautiful Olana Beachfront Apartment that we have chosen is right on the beach in the Black River region of Mauritius. Perfect location to explore the beautiful Black River Gorges National Park. There are so many wonderful things to do on the island but we are especially looking forward to snorkelling in the crystal clear water and watching the dolphins go by whilst eating breakfast!

Olana Beachfront Apartment: click to view Cost: prepare to be amazed…only £3,108 which is equivalent to a large bucket of sea pearls.

April

It’s still cold on the island of Ireland so we are sticking with a warm sunny destination. Well, why not, we have just won £100k on the lottery! Although we love our holidays, neither of us have done the backpacking craze, and in all honesty, we are not about to start! Thailand is one of those places loved by backpackers so we thought we must pay it a visit! Booking a Villa in Koh Samui seems to be very popular and now we can see why! Absolutely stunning, and we’re sure you’ll agree that the Exclusive Five Bed Beach Front Villa on Koh Samui is also absolutely stunning too! What are you planning on seeing and doing I hear you ask…SO MUCH! Swim with turtles at Koh Tao, check out the Big Buddha shrine and take in the spectacular Namuang Waterfall.

Exclusive Five Bed Beach Front Villa on Koh Samui: click to view Cost: definitely not for budget conscious backpackers, £17,412. That’s a lot of wonga!

May

For those of you who follow our blog, you will know that we amor Italy and find it impossible to stay away. Winning so much money on the lottery is never going to change that! Last year we stayed in a fantastic campsite in Tuscany. We also spent an afternoon in the beautiful city of Florence which was far too short. I remember driving up to Piazza Michaelangelo and going past the most amazing houses so we thought, ‘why don’t we stay somewhere like that’. Not the cheapest but how amazing does this Florence Dream Villa look…Mummy is really hoping it comes with a live-in Chef to make her favourite Penne Arrabiatta..don’t ask! The ‘Penne Arrabiatta’ is a whole post by itself!

Florence Dream Villa: click to view Cost: not campsite rates at a whopping £18,475

July

As parents we try our best to not have the girls miss school so we plan on making the most of the 2019 summer holidays! The girls have always wanted to visit Disney so we’ve seen that there’s a great Villa To Rent In Four Corners, Florida. It’s my (non-disclosed age) birthday on the 1st and of course Independence Day is on the 4th July, so I’m sure it will be a truly memorable holiday. Disney is definitely on the ‘visit’ list and we also need to head over to Clearwater Marine Aquarium to see Winter from Dolphin Tale. Lily-Belles ultimate dream is to swim with rescued dolphins Winter and Hope!

Villa To Rent In Four Corners, Florida: click to view Cost: cheap(ish) at £5,232, we aren’t going to spend much time here apart from chilling in the pool.

This next trip isn’t terribly exciting but we have been asking Mummy’s parents to have a holiday with us and the girls for quite some time. Mummy really doesn’t understand why they don’t want to travel with us; but if I was them, I wouldn’t want to travel with us either! The Callaghan Posse are ALWAYS late, The Maclaine Crew are ALWAYS early! And who needs the added stress of being late when on holidays (Lynne, she thrives on it). Anyway, her Dad finally agreed that we would all go on a short holiday to Scotland! If we are going to Scotland I have decided that we should become King and Queen in a Timeless Castle. What do you think of this beautiful Scottish Castle located in the Scottish Borders? Perfect for us all to have our own space; if you know what I mean, and for Father-in-Law to enjoy the rolling hills and local heritage.

Timeless Castle: click to view Cost: this trip will empty the sporran of £8,567 but I’m certain it’ll gain me a few Brownie points!

August

Historically, most August’s in Ireland the weather is shocking and wet! Irish summer is normally over before it has even begun, so we have decided that we will probably need to catch a few rays after our trip to bonnie Scotland! Greece is a country that we have never been to; it looks absolutely stunning in photos and we love the beautiful white washed villas. Oh yes, we are also very fond of falafel, so where better than Greece to get the authentic deal! As we are not expecting for the ‘in-laws’ to have had a change of heart about travelling with us after their Scottish stay, a little villa for four is all that is require.d or desired. The Zephyros Guesthouse in Santorini looks perfect with it’s white-washed walls and tiled terraces. We especially love the outdoor seating area and I think you will agree that it is definitely ‘insta-worthy’. In a word…wow!

Zephyros Guesthouse: click to view Cost: £6,270 I’m getting seriously concerned about what is left in the ‘scratchcard’ money pot!

Our Top 10 Travel Goals 2019 list would not be complete if we didn’t live it up in the South of France. The town of Molleges is calling to us and we have totally fallen in love with this rustic villa named Water Lily House. Picture perfect! This ‘gorgeous gaff’ is just how we would expect a dreamy French villa to look. Astonishing and just perfect to relax in before the start of the new school term. The grounds are like something from a 1930s movie and have you seen the cooker…not that I/we plan on cooking! Lily-Belle and Matilda can’t wait to take a dip in the pool and tackle the climbing frame. No trip to the South of France would be the same without ‘rubbing shoulders’ with the rich and famous in Saint-Tropez…don’t mind if we do!

Water Lily House: click to view Cost: £14,561, well it is the South of France. Not known for cheapy-cheapy!

December

I have to admit that I’m not a big fan of Christmas or New Year. Personally I would prefer to go away for 2 weeks at this time and come home when it’s all over and normality has returned to the home. Mummy always refuses to holiday at this time due to the excessive cost. There’s no excuse now, we’ve just won mega-bucks on a scratchcard. Val d’Isere here we come. This delightfully characteristic French ski chalet is what dreams are made of; just look at those views!

Chalet Mont Blanc: click to view Cost: £18,733 so I don’t think Santa will be coming this year….he’s skint!

Last, but by no means least, New Years Eve in (drum roll please…drrrrrrr) NEW YORK CITY! What better way to end 2019, fabulous year of travel; than by ringing in the New Year in Times Square. There are no villas in NYC but we have are really lucky to have found this Gorgeous 2 Bedroom Duplex In Manhattan. A lovely apartment that is centrally located. There will be lots of clothes shopping of course; not by Mummy, but me, one can never have too many shoes you know…that is if we have a penny left in the pot!!

Gorgeous 2 Bedroom Duplex In Manhattan: click to view Cost: Saving for the shoe shopping spree so £3,093 all in…bargain!

Ok, if you’ve got this far we have a HUGE CONFESSION to make…….

….we haven’t actually won the £100k on a scratchcard…fooled ya! This post is our entry into the Clickstay Travel Blogger Competition for the chance to win a £600 Clickstay™ voucher!

We apologise for trying to pull the wool over your eyes, harmless fun, but we also hope you enjoyed reading our Top 10 Travel Goals 2019 post. Rest assured, if we do win £100k or more, then these ‘fantasy’ trips will become a reality. If you tally up above, these trips come to £99,308… a little left over for Daddy to buy shoes in New York City. Win a £100k on a scratchcard…if only…in our dreams!

Around the World In 18 Years would really appreciate your VOTE for us to be in with the chance of winning a £600 holiday voucher from Clickstay. It’s not going to pay for that stunning Italian Chateau or the beachside villa in Koh Samui, but out of this world accommodation is not what is important to us for our holidays. What is? Spending quality time together as a family when we travel!

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TOP 10 TRAVEL GOALS 2019 Well….we have only gone and won £100k on a scratchcard!!!! That's right...ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND smackaroonies! Lynne went out yesterday morning to drop Lily-Belle at school and popped into the local shop for 'essentials'.

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postbreen16-blog · 6 years

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Ways to Station An Auto.

English vehicle drivers encounter greats if they drive into Paris beginning on Monday, as the French capital rolls out anti-pollution stickers for all autos, including international cars. Imaginative profiles include severe abbreviations from what truth will definitely force after our company. A guidebook may inform our team, for example, that the narrator journeyed with the mid-day to reach the hill town from X and after a night in its medieval monastery awoke to an unclear dawn. The enjoyment expenditures in traveling and also amusement expenses are actually not tax deductible travel and subsistence costs. That is actually also to Somewhat Mad Studios' credit history for featuring such a large number from vehicles on the right track in addition to such a large occupation setting. For top-end tours led by interacting lecturers assisted through excursion supervisors, Martin Randall Travel (020 8742 3355;) takes special treatment of solo visitors and provides a selection from over 250 social tours and music festivities. While taking a trip along with a significant other could be trying, that can easily likewise be actually very satisfying. From brand new driverless technologies, to power cars and truck statements, I'll be actually looking into the basics of the future of cars and trucks, and its implications for the remainder of culture. You will not possess accessibility to your UNITED STATE phone number in this manner, but that is actually the absolute most cost-efficient solution-we encourage locating trusted Wi-Fi foreign and also using FaceTime or Skype to keep in touch with loved ones back property while traveling. Honda's brand-new hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle made use of to be called the FCV (Energy Cell Car), and is actually now the Clarity, yet you still won't be able to acquire it outright when that shows up in the UK later this year. Definitely there are actually numerous advantages to traveling along with pals or relatived, but other individuals can easily commonly serve as interruptions coming from the place you are actually visiting. Obviously, the Dragon capsule (visualized) made use of within this objective was actually disposed of after utilization, and that is actually the next major hurdle Odor wishes to conquer in his proposal to reduce the cost from area trip. If you are actually a 25-year old in a city region with great public transportation, automobiles are actually a significant expenditure and also completely unneeded. Commuting into Birmingham is currently split 50-50 in between auto and public transportation; that, as well, needs to modify - in London, just 15% from commuters utilize an automobile. There is actually the ability to tell if you are actually wandering off coming from the lane, and if you're turning up also rapid on the automobile ahead as well as probably to plunge right into that. Emma's Travel Stories is actually primarily intended for the under-30 tourist, but certainly not essentially a backpacker. I also carry out a bunch of tutorials for trip ideas and tricks, like how to make use of the pliable possibility in order to get numerous dollars off air travels, how you can pack a carry-on, as well as ways to utilize a GoPro to get photos like mine! That is actually FINE for areas like Copenhagen to outlaw cars however they don't possess an auto field. As a result, if you require a accurate and truly reputable trip alarm system appear a tiny deal, this may just be the excellent trip alarm system clock partner you are actually seeking. Yet a lot of the slips off my traveling arised from the other expenditures, like foods, taxi price, money ideas. Accountable Travel stated there was actually no justifiable reason" to keep animals in captivity, in an announcement backed due to the Born Free Base and star and also creature welfare advocate Joanna Lumley. You need to decide on career setting then select tier 8. Play via your initial season and also at the end of of this, a handful of agreements will definitely open up. Be sure you decide on the one that is actually the most ideal. Over unmodedeviesain stopped my job as well as determined to travel around the planet This was both a goal Ten Years in the making as well as some of the most ideal decisions I have actually ever before produced. With Apple playing its own memory cards near its chest nevertheless, our experts'll reside in the dark concerning the Apple Cars and truck style for rather some time. Local area representatives priced quote absurdly high rates when I had to transform my leasing in Munich. They are actually total as well as practical dating internet sites that most certainly give an online forum to satisfy interested singles (as well as there are great deals of these incidentally). A trip photo may be picture or landscape, colour or black-and-white, narrative or even fine art - but whatever this is that has to be actually outstanding to make an impression on the courts of the yearly British-based competition, which started in 2003. Main marketers of this job are actually INFAC India Group, UNITED STATE and also Axes Technologies Inc, USA. Again, just like the sound speakers, our team suggest using terminal bits or various other connects so that the head unit is actually quick and easy to remove when you sell the car or upgrade. Janet (JournalistontheRun) is an unusual permanent trip blogger from Ireland who is actually actually regularly on the trip! There are actually some signs of cost-cutting, though, as well as if it's driving delights you're after, this really isn't the auto for you.

Taking a look at places from the cars and truck currently open to strike, Moiseev highlighted 2 seemingly innocuous features found on many contemporary motors - auto parking help and in-car mics. Prescott is actually the house from the Bugatti Owners' Driver, which possesses a brand-new screen devoted to the daily life and also auto racing job from Louis Chiron, that was just one of Ettore Bugatti's very most popular works chauffeurs. Entirely independent automobiles drive those corrections in to the workstations from pc programmers, at our danger.

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addcrazy-blog · 7 years

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New Post has been published on Add Crazy

New Post has been published on https://addcrazy.com/online-lives-meet-food-blogger-katia-valadeau/

Online Lives: Meet food blogger Katia Valadeau

Katia Valadeau balances out the stresses of labor along with her passion for food on her weblog, properfood.Ie.

“I lead an anti-cash laundering group in a financial group in Dublin and to loosen up I like to cook dinner for my cherished ones.

“I’m additionally preventing with my garden attempting a to develop some courgette vegetation.”

From Paris, she moved to Dublin in 1998, and this experience has had an influence on her writing.

“I blog conventional French recipes with an Irish twist. I we blog about the local food industry and the top notch smallholders around Ireland and I additionally blog about the drink.” The Irish running a blog network has been one of the highlights of Katia’s enjoy as a food blogger.

“It’s the network and the feel of belonging to a vibrant and innovative movement,” she stated.

“It is strong and united and I love the Irish Bloggers Group on Facebook. There is an extraordinary feel of ethics within the community and I love to look extra established bloggers giving their time and know-how to the more moderate ones for no other reason than they want them all to do well.”

Katia is thrilled to have made many friends due to the fact that she started out running a blog. Blogging has also provided her the possibility to test her very own obstacles. “It’s allowed me to meet people I might have never crossed paths with otherwise and a number of those I am very lucky to now call pals. It has also pushed me to explore my innovative side and step outdoor of my comfort sector,” she says.

Getting to grips with the internet and the English languages were challenges for Katia to conquer, but she credits her fellow bloggers and her pals for seeing her through.

“I grew up with out the net and so generation has been and is still my largest assignment. I examine and progress, however, it’s miles fast shifting that is wherein the running a blog network may be specifically helpful. We swap competencies and construct each other up and I’ve always acquired assist wherein wanted. “The other assignment I face is clearly writing in a language that isn’t my mother tongue. I overcome this one by way of just being very cautious and I’m lucky to have lots of inclined pairs of eyes to check my paintings before I post it.”

Unsurprisingly, she would advise all of us starting out as a blogger to reach out to the Irish blogging community for help and guidance.

“Have a laugh, please don’t place any pressure on yourself, do be a part of the diverse Facebook groups and ask for help in case you need it.”

How to Build Your Email List through Guest Blogging

Whilst web sites need visitors to continue to exist, blog websites do too. Bloggers are constantly seeking new ways to improve visitors to their web sites. Popular methods encompass advertising and marketing, search engine marketing, syndicating articles, and filing posts to authoritative sites, inclusive of eHow.Com and ezine articles

But this kind of takes time, value money, or each.

As an end result, increasingly Internet marketers are turning to guest running a blog to pressure visitors to their own web pages. Guest running a blog is whilst you write a blog put up and offer it to any other blogger to put up on their blog. While this arrangement doesn’t value either celebration any money, it could be highly beneficial to both.

So why might you need to write on anyone else’s weblog for free? And why might a longtime blogger want to post your blog on their website? The solution to that query is easy: Traffic.

Build Your Email List with the aid of Guest Blogging

Win/Win for Blogger and Guest Guest running a blog advantages each the weblog’s host and the individual writing the visitor blog. For the visitor, posting on a long time weblog can cause a variety of hobby from the host’s readers. If the visitor blog provides high-value content material, readers may also want click the hyperlinks to the guest bloggers website, products, and services.

For the host blogger, permitting a guest blogger to submit on their weblog allows them to offer high-cost content to their readers without having to do some thing themselves., They revel in the equal degree of traffic while not having to research and create unique content material.

Creates New Backlinks Blogging on a bunch weblog also allows guest bloggers to achieve new one way links to their landing pages. Readers who find the content of the visitor blog of cost can follow the hyperlinks back to the guest blogger’s landing page.

These links also increase the price of the touchdown page within the eyes of the engines like google – along with Google, Bing, and others. If the host weblog website online is considered to be an authoritative site with a superb Alexa rank, Google in particular likes this. This authoritative back link will increase the guest bloggers page ranking in their touchdown page.

Google desires to provide value and importance to websites which have a number of links from authoritative web sites. They distinguish these websites as reliable and trustworthy, in order that they rank them at or close to the top of the SERP (seek engine effects web page) for his or her niche.

Selecting Guest food Blogger to meet the criteria. Established bloggers want to pick who they permit to write down guest blogs on their pages cautiously. They need to make certain the visitor goes to offer their readers beneficial and informative content.

If the host blogger is not acquainted with the guest blogger, they can study them, and take a look at with other writers in their community. The host blogger can also ask the guest for credentials consisting of academic levels, or beyond enjoy. They also can ask for hyperlinks to preceding guest blogs.

Choosing the Best Food for Your Cat

Everyone identifying to convey home a cat or kitten needs to decide what cat meals are high-quality. What most of the people do not realize is that cats have precise wishes to be met much like people. Let’s have a look at what your cat wishes to live wholesomely.

Cats are certainly carnivores. This method they are geared to consume primarily protein in their food plan. When a cat hunts, it’s going to get protein from the muscle meat of the animals it eats. This meat also provides them with taurine, a critical nutrient had to preserve suitable health.

A cat also wishes to be nicely hydrated similar to we do. They do no longer evidently drink plenty of water. Outdoor cats normally get the maximum of the moisture they want from the prey they eat. Inside cats want our assistance to ensure they get all of the fluids they want. Always go away a clean bowl of water out for them to drink from however remember this can no longer provide them enough fluids thru out the day. An accurate cat meals will assist with this.

An accurate mixture of wet and dry ingredients is satisfactory. Canned cat meals typically have an excessive moisture content, between seventy-five% and seventy-eight%. This is a superb manner for them to get the moisture they need to stay properly hydrated. Serving approximately three/4th of their food regimen in canned food will assist maintain their correct fitness. Giving the additional 1/4th in their meals as a dry food will assist hold their teeth wiped clean and in top shape.

Choosing the proper meals is very crucial. Not all canned foods have the vitamins needed to maintain your kitty healthy. Check the label for the principal components. Chicken, pork or fish should be listed as the primary element. Check for a great attention of the meal within the product. Many manufacturers use smaller quantities so read the label nicely to make certain the protein is the primary component. If the label lists “method” or “dinner” it will normally have a lower concentration of the principal aspect. Likewise, reading the label on dry food is just as vital. Many dry ingredients have high plant-based totally proteins. A cats digestive gadget isn’t designed to digest the cellulose determined in flora. Look for the same most important elements as in canned food for excessive excellent dry meals.

Proteins must make up approximately forty% of your cat’s weight-reduction plan. Fats have to be around 1/third of it. This is why it is so critical to pick out food with excessive protein and additionally the right quantity of fats. It is also essential to check the carbohydrate level and source. Look for the carbohydrate level to be much less than 50%. The main supply of carbs needs to come from veggies and rice no longer corn meal. You also want the food to have true amounts of nutrients and minerals like omega-3, taurine, and fiber. Look for meals that use natural preservatives rather than synthetic ones. Vitamin C and nutrition E are proper preservatives and are precise to your cat’s health.

If your cat is used to consuming dry meals now, introducing wet meals can be a task. Never make drastic modifications to your pets weight-reduction plan. Introduce new meals step by step. There are numerous varieties of moist foods available consisting of pate, flakes, and chunks. The texture is crucial to cats so finding one they prefer make be tricky. Experiment with the different varieties to discover the only they like pleasant. While adjusting to moist foods, attempt adding small quantities of water to their dry food to increase moisture ate up as well as lessen the crunch.

Just remember, the health of your cat is depending on their weight-reduction plan. Providing a good mixture of dry and wet food will assist keep your cats right fitness. This will give you many satisfied healthful years with your beloved bushy pal.

Meet The New E-commerce King

It looks as if Walmart is the brand new metonym for eCommerce.

Sorry for that tone-deaf statement, hoping it failed to hurt the emotions of organizations A, B, and C.

It’s just that the primary zone of the financial 12 months noticed the retail large in full swing and conspicuously edging out its competition.

Calling the agency the new marketplace massive would not be an exaggeration now, would it not? It has actually received floor in eCommerce.

Walmart’s total revenue from the preceding area reached $117.Five billion, that is 1.Four% higher than its income in the equal duration closing yr.

It’s eCommerce business is getting more potent by means of the day, exhibiting a 63% growth in sales, which have been driven organically notwithstanding its variety of acquisitions, and a 69% boom in gross products quantity.

Taking gain of the beneficial situations on bettering their clients’ shopping revel in, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said they are running difficult at combining their virtual and bodily property.

“We need to scale our eCommerce business similarly and spot extra extra electricity in our keep comps to supply the outcomes we understand we’re able to – so that’s what we’re focused on,” he stated.

Taking Giant Leaps

Since it revived its eCommerce platform remaining year, Walmart has garnered a lot of attention from shoppers and been perceived a danger by other marketplaces.

Earlier this yr, it supplied free two-day delivery for objects worth at the least $35, which Amazon quick countered with a decrease loose shipping threshold.

If Walmart is just trying too hard, that wouldn’t be the response of an established market-minimize-innovator; simply thinking aloud.

Walmart also got here up with a Pickup Discount program for clients who could order objects online and pick out them up in-store.

Aside from that, the range of human beings shopping on Walmart.Com is speedy-increasing as the items which can be being sold here have extensively shot up to 50 million from 10 million at the equal time the ultimate year.

Consumers favor a shop, or market for that depend, that doesn’t stop to provide them more alternatives every day.

“The majority of our increase is and will be natural. The acquisitions are supporting us pace a few things up. So ordinary, we are making development in imparting the seamless buying enjoy our client’s desire and we are able to maintain transferring alongside this adventure,” McMillan defined.

After it received Jet.Com closing yr, Walmart went directly to increase its eCommerce area by purchasing on line retailers ModCloth, Moosejaw, and ShoeBuy.

It’s presently in talks to shop for on line men’s clothing retailer Bonobos, so anticipate Walmart’s empire to develop even larger inside a subsequent couple of months.

Who would have an idea it could overtake lengthy-time eCommerce gamers in a span of just one year?

So in case, you acquire an email from Walmart inviting you to promote on their marketplace, leap on the threat, for we virtually don’t see any purpose why you shouldn’t.

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fleurtyherald · 7 years

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Did Starbucks know they were paying homage to a 7th-century Italian motif when they chose their logo? The first one below, on the left, is a melusina (melusine) or mermaid in the facade of San Michele, Pavia, Italy. The second one, on the right, is from the crest of the Colonna family.

I’m taking some time off from my hometown and am on a three-month cross country trip. If you’d like to see some of the stops I’ve made feel free to visit countryboycitygirl.com to read about them.

For now, I’m in Washington State and boy do they love Starbucks. I’ve been here for three weeks and what is that saying, “when in Rome”? So, I’m at Starbucks right now and wondered a little about their logo. I know the name comes from Moby Dick but I wonder where the mermaid with two tails came from. Did a little digging and found a cool Italian connection that I thought I’d report on.

I found an article from 2015 by Angelica Calabrese that explains it all titled, ” The Siren on Your Starbucks Cup Was Born in 7th-Century Italy”:

Three two-tailed melusines with mirrors. (Photo: cea +/flickr)

ON A LATE OCTOBER MORNING, the wind howls through the winding streets of ancient Otranto. Whitecaps curl up from a bright blue sea, smashing against the fortified walls of the southern Italian city. Otranto was once considered the easternmost tip of Western civilization, with just under 50 miles of Mediterranean sea separating the city from Albania. From the city’s bay, Crusaders left on missions to the Orient, early Christian travelers returned from pilgrimages to Jerusalem, and in the 15th century, the Ottoman Turks launched their attack on the city. All of these parties passed by the Otranto Cathedral at some point during their journey.

In the sunlight, the exterior of the cathedral is golden. The structure, built in 1088, is simple, with a few arched windows and carved capitals. But inside, wild animals, biblical characters, and fantastical creatures cavort across the cathedral floor. A monk named Pantaleone and his team of artisans created the enigmatic mosaic in the 1160s. It’s one of the largest in Europe and depicts all the important stories and figures of the time: the Tree of Life, the expulsion from Eden, Alexander the Great, elephants, sphinxes, centaurs, and much more.

How all of these stories and images from distant cultural traditions made their way onto the mosaic is still a mystery. But most intriguingly–at least for the contemporary coffee consumer–is a detailed image of a long-locked, sweetly smiling, twin-tailed mermaid.

The interior of Otranto Cathedral. (Photo: Lupiae/WikiCommons CC BY-SA 3.0)

Indeed, she looks a lot like the stylized green lady gazing staring serenely back at you from the white cup on your desk holding your cooling coffee. Though Starbucks claims that their image was originally drawn from a 16th century Norse woodcut, a little exploring reveals that the world’s most famous mermaid was famous long before the 16th century–and long before Starbucks.

On the backs of a male and female elephant, the Tree of Life stretches towards the apse of the church, with various stories documented on the branches of the tree. One segment is a medieval calendar, depicting every month of the year with its zodiac sign and related activities: for example, in September, a peasant pounds grapes with his feet underneath an image of Virgo. Another segment depicts heaven and hell, with punishments similar to those that would be described 200 years later in Dante’s Inferno. The fabled King Arthur rides his horse next to Cain and Able, laborers construct a soon-to-crumble Tower of Babel, the Roman goddess Diana shoots a deer, and in the mosaic version of a medieval bestiary, sphinxes and lions claw at one another.

With stories and symbols drawn from the Bible, the Koran, Greek mythology and medieval stories, the mosaic is a testament to the diversity of ideas that circulated in southern Italy during the Middle Ages.

The exterior of Otranto Cathedral. (Photo: Angelica Calabrese)

Inhabited since in the 8th century BC, with a strategic position at the center of a rich trade between the East and the West, Otranto would clock time as a part of the Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Norman empires. The Cathedral, commissioned by the city’s Norman rulers for completion by local Greek-Italian monks, combines early Christian, Byzantine, and Romanesque styles. Otranto was also home to a thriving Jewish community from its inception, and some hypothesize that Kabbalah is the key to understanding the unusual mosaic.

The twin-tailed mermaid is located in a section of the mosaic typically thought to represent virtues to aspire to and vices to steer clear of, in the form of various mythical creatures and historical figures. Along with a unicorn, a leopard, an elephant, the Queen of Sheba, and others, the mermaid likely served to remind the many travelers who passed through the cathedral to beware the temptations, carnal and otherwise, that might lead them to stray from their path.

The twin-tailed mermaid mosaic at Otranto Cathedral. (Photo: Angelica Calabrese)

But in cities such as Otranto, with long histories of various rulers, cultures, and belief systems, no interpretation is certain, and it’s nearly impossible to trace the precise origin of an image like the twin-tailed mermaid. In many different ancient civilizations, from West Africa to Mesopotamia, the mermaid was a fertility symbol uniting man and nature. The first recognizable mermaid image appears on an Assyrian palace in 800 BC, with later cameos in Homer’s The Odyssey, and Etruscan funerary urns from 300 BC. Others claim the mermaid is related to Sheela-Na-Gig, a fertility symbol found in Ireland and Britain, and still others say that she may have been inspired by the allure of women from Eastern countries.

The particular split-tailed and long-locked mermaid whose descendants populate coffee cups all over the world first appears on the mosaic floor of a cathedral in Pesaro, Italy. This mosaic was created during the Byzantine era, in the 7th century. Five hundred years later, she became a focal part of the mosaic in the Otranto Cathedral.

It’s difficult to know where else she might have been depicted in the centuries in between, what mosaics and sculptures and frescoes may have been lost over time. But Otranto was a highly trafficked port city at the time, and it is possible that the image in the cathedral may have inspired other artists and travelers.

The mosaic’s depiction of Satan in hell. (Photo: Angelica Calabrese)

Also popular in port cities like Venice, by the 13th century the twin-tailed mermaid began to travel through Europe. She became a crucial member of the medieval “bestiary,” a collection of animals used to decorate church capitals, porticoes, and religious texts. These fantastical figures served to warn men and women against the vices condemned by the medieval church, like temptation, greed, and pride. In the 14th century, a French text was published that described the story of Melusine, a beautiful queen whose bottom half became serpentine while she bathed; this character soon became associated with the twin-tailed siren.

When Starbucks was preparing to open its doors in 1971, the founders were in search of an image that could represent their fledgling Seattle coffee company. “There was a lot of poring over old marine books going on,” Starbucks staff writer Steve M. wrote in a 2011 blog post, and “suddenly, there she was: a 16th century Norse woodcut of a twin-tailed mermaid, or siren.”

The original Starbucks logo. (Photo: Blanca Garcia Gil/flickr)

While some have tried to track down the “16th century Norse woodcut” from which the original image was culled, others, like blogger Carl Pyrdum, argue that such a woodcut never existed. “By the time woodcut images on paper arose in medieval Europe, around 1400 give or take a decade, there weren’t any people that you could properly call ‘Norse,’” he writes in a post on Got Medieval.

The “woodcut” was likely drawn from an image of Melusine, who was popular in France and Northern Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. This first siren had bare breasts, a plump stomach with a belly button, and promiscuously splayed tails, though redesigns have hidden these features. Howard Schultz, the businessman who transformed Starbucks into a contemporary global coffee empire, described her as “barebreasted and Rubenesque,” in his book Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time.

Today’s Starbucks logo. (Photo: Noel Reinhold/flickr)

The mermaid was supposed to be “as seductive as the coffee itself,” he writes. Seductive, yes–but a medieval consumer confronted with the symbol would have known that she was a reminder to resist temptation, rather than to succumb to it. According to the company’s website, Starbucks also believed the siren’s image could “capture the seafaring history of coffee and Seattle’s strong seaport roots.”

Seen on the logos across the world as well as in the mosaic of the Otranto Cathedral, the siren is a potent symbol of globalization–but a globalization that was thriving long before Starbucks came around. With her roots (or rather, her tails) in the Mediterranean basin, she is the inevitable production of the countless cultural interactions and exchanges that took place in the region–like coffee itself, and, in fact, like Starbucks. After all, it was Italian coffee culture, its espresso drinks and leisurely cafés on every corner, that inspired Schultz to create his own coffee behemoth.

Maybe someday the mermaid on the mosaic of Otranto will be face to face with her modern reincarnation on a glass-walled coffee shop on the other side of the church’s piazza.

Italian Connection: Starbucks Logo Did Starbucks know they were paying homage to a 7th-century Italian motif when they chose their logo?

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