Little Weekend Links 8

From the sunny blue skies of Spain to the rainy grey skies of London, it’s back to normalcy after this weekend. It’s been a wonderfully refreshing break with a healthy dose of vitamin D to kickstart 2014.

I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.
-J. B. Priestly

Photo: Driving into the foggy forest in the middle of La Gomera in the Canary Islands, Spain, for my 30th birthday weekend at the end of December.

Here’s a few links for you:

• I love stopping by Diana’s blog exPress-o daily as I always stumble upon something inspiring. Yesterday, she shared a link to Kinfolk who posted people’s new year rituals from around the world: Macedonian, Iranian, Danish, Colombian, American and others.
• Have you been following the #followmeto project? Here’s the latest shots of a Natalia Zakharova leading her photographer boyfriend Murad Osmann around the world.
• On the topic of photography, check out these stunning black and white images from Jerusalem based photographer Guy Cohen. It’s all about shadows, light and lines.
• 5 recipes to try: Dip n’ Share Eggs; Mick’s Easy Peasy Pumpkin Soup; Torta de Santiago; Salty Honey Pie; Broccoli and Parmesan Israeli Cous Cous. Also check out Fusion Cuisine Around the World from my favourite travel mag, Afar. Have you cooked or baked anything tasty lately?
• Nothing like whiling away an hour or so in a quirky bookshop, especially the independent ones. Here’s 10 bookshops around the world that are worth a visit. Where is your favourite?
• What do you think of moving London’s cyclists up to the sky? From my travels, I’d say the Dutch and the Danes have it best, but I guess that requires a full culture shift and plenty of space.
• Do you have any new year’s resolutions to learn another language? One of mine is to drastically improve my español. Here’s a fun post from Matador: 7 Signs You’ve Made It In A Foreign Language.
• 5 of my favourite fashion bloggers to follow: Face Hunter; Atlantic-Pacific; College Vintage; Street Style Aesthetic; Garbagelapsap. Leave other recommendations in the comments please!
• Copenhagen was one of my favourite places to visit in 2013. Here’s some photos of beautiful reflections of the city on a rainy day. Some Copenhagen fog photos. Plus, a lovely Copenhagen photo diary post by Kris Atomic.
• And, the top 5 posts on Little Observationist from 2013: Artist Interview: Francois Nielly; Street Art in Amsterdam; Recipe: Chocolate Chip Banana Bread; Author Interview: Siobhan Wall; Olive Picking in Kardamyli, Greece.

Enjoy the first weekend of 2014!