The wonderful L @VivaCarlos has added another limb to her Magical Unicorn Blog Hop.
Like many of us she wants to know the story behind blog names - we often stumble across peoples stories (blogs) that are already established and may never find out the reasoning behind blog names. This makes this BH such a cool question to answer. :)
What is the story behind your blogname/url?
My blogname/url has changed since I started blogging; initially it was just Kika & myself I was attempting to keep track of, so the url was her registered name of Lyssatra and the blog itself was called Kika's Kingdom: Living the Luxurious Life in Luxembourg.
However early in 2013 Nancy arrived to join our equine family and the blogname changed to Pampered Ponies - Living the Luxurious Life in Luxembourg; with the blog url (finally) changing to reflect this last month and is now pampered-ponies.blogspot.com
I am in no way overly flush with cash; the blog title itself is more about the alliteration with the L's for me, well that and the fact I realise that I am über-lucky to be able to own not one but two horses and m truly blessed with where they are on livery.
Plus Luxembourg exists in a lovely bubble that we are lulled into a sense of luxury from our surroundings & by the wealth surrounding us - example the amount of convertible cars that only appear on warm weekends...That and the city/country itself is luxurious & stunning, lovely mix of old & new plus greenery everywhere in spring/summer - I always wish I was better at photography & could capture the beauty I am lucky enough to see.
While on the topic of names, I know my given name AOIFE is not a given for people outside of the Emerald Isle - in case anyone was wondering how it is pronounced; EEFA or when meeting people for teh first time I often say Eva - just to save on confusion ;-)
Fear not if you had something completely different in mind when you have seen comments from me; having lived the majority of my life outside of Ireland no-one gets the pronunciation right from seeing it written down unless they have met another Aoife before...in which case they are cheating, :p
PS: Check out Lauren @Shemovedtotexas' super contest for EquestrianCoach Giveaway - although I am only bringing it to your attention, I don't really want you to enter as I WANNA WIN!
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Interesting. I won't even admit how I pronounced aoife in my head.
ReplyDeletePlease do!
DeleteI love hearing new takes on my very strange name, I wouldn't expect anyone that has only ever seen it written down to have an inkling as to pronunciation as unless Gaelic is known there is no logic to sounds of letters in this order ;-)
Sooo ... I just realized that I've totally been to Luxembourg before. It was LOVELY. I remember running into language issues at a little shop, and a wonderful older woman took me aside and really helped me out. She and I ended up chatting about ponies, as she had done some show jumping in the past. It was pretty awesome. You are totally right about the wealth aspect, though. I remember seeing a bunch of RIDICULOUSLY expensive cars there!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I actually knew how to pronounce your name. As a kid I was super nerdy when it comes to Irish/Welsh things, to the point of trying to learn Welsh and Celtic on my own. That didn't work out well, but some of the pronunciations stick with me. :) My father's family was of extremely close Irish heritage (Hartnetts, anyone?), and I was enthralled.
Cool stuff!
No way - that is amazing!
DeleteWhat a small world, what brought you to Luxembourg? A lot of people pass through, hardly anyone stops here and it really is a pity as it is a beautiful country - although I know I am completely biased having been lucky enough to grow up here!
Also really cool your drive to learn old/native languages - I think Rosetta Stone does an online/CD-Book learning of Gaeilge if you wanted to take it back up. I'm hoping to find the time to do it some day, I adored Irish in school and was so sorry to not continue learning it when i went to uni as I was terrified my level of Irish would be too far behind all those who grew up in Ireland :(
I wasn't there long, it was really just a day out of a trip through to Switzerland. I was there was a bunch of German kids from my high school, back when I spoke German fairly fluently. I'm trash with it today. Too bad, I really loved speaking German -- no one I know can speak it so I have no practice. :(
DeleteDay trips & passing through is how most people describe their visit to Lux unless specifically visiting someone here. Pity as as you said it is a beautiful country steeped in history due to location & world wars.
DeleteSuch a pity you have no one to practice German with, sadly i shan't be offering my services as I have tried & failed to learn German 3 times now and have no desire to attempt it again. I get so far and then all the rules & declinations etc just get my goat and I can't be bothered. *blush*
I didn't even have a guess on how to pronounce your name! Now I'm glad I know! :)
ReplyDeleteHahaha, figured if these blog hop brings new readers to my blog i'd be best to help you guys out with pronunciation:)
DeleteI ALWAYS wondered how to pronounce your name, I still am looking forward to meeting you and person and hearing you say it. :)
ReplyDeleteOoooh I really hope we can make that happen sooner rather than later!
DeleteWell, I always pronounced it as "ow (as in the first part of ouch) Fee" It's good to know how it is supposed to be pronounced. :) I would absolutely love to visit Luxembourg someday. It sounds amazing.
ReplyDeleteYay, love hearing/seeing what people think of my weird-assed name.
DeleteIf you do get to visit Luxembourg (which you totally should, as mentioned above I am biased but think it's awesome) be sure to let me know. I lkve playing tour guide & showing off my city! :-D
Totally wondered how to say your name, also :) All I knew is that it looked cool!
ReplyDeleteAw thanks Em! *hugs *
DeleteIt is a special name alright - coolness is in the eye of the beholder. This name has been my blessing/curse since childhood - but I do love the uniqueness of it (when I'm not in Ireland...very common there ;-) ) at least people remember me once they see the name written down if knly that I'm-the-one-with-the-weirdly-spelt-name :-D
I too have a uncommon-Paola-that some people have trouble pronouncing(some say Paula). I never knew how to pronounce your name when I read it and always thought something along the lines of Ow-fee
ReplyDeletePaola is a pretty common name here as we've lots of Latino/Mediterranean expats in Lux. I've always thought it a beautiful name :-D
DeleteI always just stumbled through your name... it basically went like "ae-ow-fuh" in my head. What a pretty name when said properly! ;)
ReplyDeleteA little off-topic, but I have to know as I'm getting ready to go out tonight for St. Patrick's day - do people in Ireland actually celebrate this holiday, or are we just creating a holiday to get drunk on?
That's pretty much what most people do for Paddy's day ;-)
DeleteIt is a bank holiday in Ireland, lucky beggars with a long weekend. There are Paddy's day parades with floats & bands etc but I think they were inspired by NYC. Although to be honest I can't really comment as I grew up outside of Ireland as an expat & St Patricks has always been a big deal to us and is almost a two week celebration as everyone has parties on diff nights to extend the party and see as many friends as possible.
For example, my irish colleagues and I hosted a Paddy's party last night for our non-irish colleagues. Today we went to a shopping center which has a load of irish stock in and had trad dancers & music in to entertain the masses. Tomorrow there is a traditional ceili (dance) being histed by trad group where everyone can go along & join in the fun and merriment. Monday the Irish judges have invited the Irish members of staff for a party and Tuesday the Irish embassy is hosting a party to gather many expats. For me paddy's day has always been a chance to share my culture with others (music, dance, food and yes drink) and an occasion to meet up with friends that we might not always cross paths with during the rest of the year.
I hope you've a great night out with your friends. :-D
Too cool! I pronounced your name eef, so just missed the a sound on the end lol. I think sometimes I made a w sound at the beginning, but I don't know where I got that lol. Anyway it's cool to know how it's actually pronounced. :D
ReplyDeleteYay, love hearing how people thought my random Gaelic name is pronounced - it is great craic when Francophones attempt it as "oi" is a certain sound in French which doesn't really lend itself to the actual pronunciation of my name hahaha - really confuses them!
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