The life aquatic!

 The frogs are back! Ribbet! It's good to hear some frogsong for the first time this year. Not as much as the first year I was here when the whole mountainside was thrumming with frogs. The long drought of 2021-23 decimated the amphibian populations but I hope they'll revive.

Mind you, it's been so wet this winter that it's been a bit like living as a frog myself. I'm worried my trans nature might make me instinctively hop off to spawn somewhere. My income won't feed 500 tadpoles so donations please to Sue's Pondlife Nightmare Fund, link below.

And talking of pondlife ... no, actually, we won't take a look at the other side of the pond today. Instead, I'll just report that carnival time here in Southern Europe has produced some interesting costumes, floats and parades with ample opportunity for alternative presentation for those who want an opportunity to crossdress that is culturally sanctioned. 

 

This weekend, by contrast, it's the Flower Festival. One of the main industries here on the Riviera of Flowers is out-of-season horticulture that provides cut flowers throughout the winter months. Tomorrow, 11 local towns and villages will parade themed floats covered in flowers. It's the first time the parade has reverted to the pre-pandemic route so that anyone can watch for free and I hope I'll be able to see it properly.

 

The good stuff

In contrast to the transphobia that oozes through the airwaves these days, I wanted to share three items of trans-positive news from Europe that may have been overlooked by mainstream media in their quest for controversy and sensation.

- Poland has just opened its first dedicated LGBTQ+ museum in Warsaw (website in English: QueerMuseum Warszawa). Its communist and catholic past has suppressed and sidelined LGBTQ+ people and it's good to see queer confidence emerging in Eastern Europe in ways like this.

- The tiny country of Liechtenstein has quite good gay rights. Last year the 25-member parliament voted 24-1 in favour of marriage equality for same-sex couples, which came into force at the start of this year. This despite the ruling prince's personal disquiet about this. The country lags behind on trans rights but this adds to pressure to improve these. And it also puts a bit of pressure on that similar tiny principality, Monaco, to do something to improve its poor LGBT rights.

LGBT Liechtenstein flag. It's a map of the country. It is.

 

- LGBT and body positivity advocate and singer, Big Mama, who made a great impression on so many last year at the 2024 Sanremo Music Festival, is to be co-host of the Italian televisation of this year's Eurovision Song Contest. I have little interest in her music but as a boldly 'out' queer advocate, I think she's amazing, so I'm pleased to see her public profile increasing. 

Away

Last month I spent a couple of days in nearby Monaco to avoid the crush of the Sanremo Music festival. Next week I am spending a couple of days in Nice, the nearest big city to me, to do some shopping, including buying makeup. 

It may seem extravagant to stay overnight just to visit the shops but I should explain that, although it's a mere 25 miles from home as the crow flies (or more like the eagle soars, or the seagull skims the waves), Nice takes a very long time to travel to. The winding, narrow coast road and corniches are stunningly beautiful but very slow; motorway driving is straighter but hampered by three toll gates; local buses and trains are inherently slow; and everything is further slowed by three border crossings. So a trip there and back needs 4 - 6 hours of travel time, which takes up a lot of one's day. And given that cross-border trains dry up by 8:30 pm, I've decided to take advantage of the time of year when hotels are offering great rooms and very low prices. I've booked a whole suite for two nights in the old city centre for less than you usually pay for a tiny single for one night in summer. 

And a change of scene is always good. 

I hope to see some more history, too. Nice was founded by Greeks originally from Phocaea about 350 BC who named it after Nike, the goddess of victory. Phocaeans were the first Greeks to attempt long-distance sailing and colonised much of the coast of what is now Southern France. I want to see what, if anything, remains of their original settlement.

Sue x