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Bye 2020

2020 has been the toughest year for me to endure, for so many different reasons. It took from me what was supposed to enrich my days, my year, my life. It stole months in London from me, concerts, adventures. It took time from me, but also gave me some back in exchange. If a year could ever be described as the most chaotic ride on a rollercoaster, then it would be this one.

At the end of 2019, I had just moved to London three months beforehand, had just started at a new university, and was just about to finally grow roots in my favourite city on earth. I was running from one concert to another, also thanks to my job as a bartender at a concert venue. Obviously, it wasn’t always easy and obviously, there were things I would’ve changed, but I was probably the happiest I had been in long. 2019 filled me with an amount of love and utter happiness I hadn’t felt in a long time. I couldn’t have imagined what was about to come, what was waiting around the corner. But I was happy, that was what mattered the most. And surrounded by people that I loved more than anything else.

Now at the end of 2020, I feel like I’ve just run a million marathons at once. And still, I am here, with a smile on my face, because as with every rollercoaster, there are countless ups and downs. And let me tell you, 2020 had a lot of downs. For everyone. But it also had a lot of ups. Ups I never expected to come. Ups that make me eternally grateful for everything that happened. I’m only a few steps away from being 25 (yikes). I’ve survived a pandemic that will hopefully fuck off soon. I finally made London my home by making it my own together with the bestest friends. I’ve said yes to a lot of adventures and have said no to paths that I knew weren’t the right ones for me. I put up fights that weakened me at that moment, but that I only came out stronger from. Now I’m the owner of my music magazine, something I’ve been dreaming about for years. I’m head over heels stuck in a crush for a guy I definitely cannot have (how surprising of me). I’ve met the most incredible people, have built up the most loving friendships, and have received opportunities I wouldn’t have dared to even dream about. I feel like I have finally found myself and my place in the world (just about). I’ve changed a lot and everything around me has as well. But I’m still me, just older, maybe wiser, definitely more confident, and still surrounded by people I love and cherish more than anything.

There’s no way I can tell what 2021 has in store for me. In store for the world. The only thing I can do is hope. Hope for a better future. And a year that will give back what the last one has taken and fill my life and the planet with love and happiness. If all goes right, it will be the start of something great, a truly better future, one that I will be proud and excited to look back on when I’m old and grey. That is what I’m hoping for. To sit right here in a year, filled with even more gratitude, joy, and love.

2021, please be good.

Hola everyone. This is my take on a short essay-ish text on 2020 and the start of the new year. I can only hope that 2021 will be a lot better for all of us, so I’m staying positive all the way. How was your 2020? I hope despite all the chaos and destruction it was still nice and gave you a lot of lovely memories. I truly hope you enjoy my text and please don’t hesitate to leave your feedback and comments down below or to get in touch with me to discuss it further. And until then, I wish you all a very exciting happy new year again, an amazing week, and, as always, thanks so much for reading. x

Bella Venezia

Hola everyone.

And welcome back to my blog and also a new week. I hope so far your Monday has been nice and that you enjoyed the past weekend. I personally spent most of the weekend exploring London and working on our uni magazine LDN. So far, I’m honestly super proud of what my team and I have achieved with the mag so far and I truly can’t wait to finally hold the first print issue in my hands. Although this is technically not even my own magazine, the past few weeks have felt like I’ve been building up something that is mine. Something I can pour all my heart and creativity into. And although I spend almost every free hour either working on or thinking about the magazine without really getting anything back in return, by which I mean money and such, it has made me happier than I could have ever imagined. It almost feels like I was meant to be the editor of the paper. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.

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On the other side, it could also be that I’m spending so much time working on the mag to get my mind off of missing my family and my home, especially my cat and my dog. Unfortunately, both haven’t been doing super well, which has left me feeling completely useless and helpless. Thankfully my parents are doing the most amazing job at looking after both my babies and I can’t wait to be with them again in two months. I think it’s just also been very tough for me to live without a pet for the first time in what feels like an eternity. It’s like a piece of myself, of my soul was left behind when I moved away from home. Actually, my flatmate Elena was meant to come with her feline friend Gatto, but getting him to London from Italy has proven more complicated than we thought. So getting our new furry child has been our number one mission ever since. So that might be another reason why I’m busying myself with the magazine and also basically burying myself in plants. It’s as if my brain and soul are looking for anything that is alive besides my flatmates for me to look after and give my love to. To be honest, you could probably do some psychological study on this, because, I’m not gonna lie, this is a bit weird. But hey, it’s what’s keeping me sane and happy these days, so there we go.

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Additionally, looking back on my amazing summer – despite Corona and all that crap – has helped me a lot with staying positive. And part of that utterly beautiful summer was the trip to Venice with my mum, which is what I want to share with you guys today. Finally. I know, I’ve been talking about this for so long and never got around to showing you the pictures of our phenomenal trip, but I guess better late than never, right? So here they are, finally. My favorite shots from Venice.

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To be honest, my mum and I both came to the conclusion pretty quickly that a trip to Venice could never possibly have been any better than ours. Although it was a risk to go to Italy in the middle of Corona, we knew that it would be worth it all and it truly was. I don’t think Venice will ever be this beautiful again. We all know what Venice looks like in the summer – now imagine that same city but just without the people. Because that’s what it was like. Empty. Not like Zombie Apocalypse empty, but empty for Venice standards. And gosh, the weather was just so amazing. And the food was even better. I remember not really loving the city the first time I went there, but that trip definitely made me fall head over heels in love with it. It is definitely a trip I will never ever forget. And one that rewarded me with memories and pictures filled with some much beauty that they will prolong into eternity. But, just see for yourself.

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And yeah, now we’ve already reached the end of today’s post. As always, I hope you enjoyed the pictures and me babbling a bit about my life and my time in Venice. I truly hope you’re doing good in these rather stressful times and that maybe this post helped you get your mind off stuff for a short while. I’d really love to hear all your thoughts and opinions, so please don’t hesitate to leave any comments down below. And until then, I wish you all the best week and, of course, thanks for reading. x

There’s Nothing Like Film / Part 2

Hola everyone.

How are you all doing today? I hope so far you’re having a lovely Friday and that your week has been nice. Lots of good and bad stuff happening right now, huh? On the one side, there’s the world being in literal shambles, dumb politicians and us being stuck at home, on the other one there movements finally changing the world, Taylor Swift releasing a surprise album and us finding new ways to connect. When I look at the world, I often remember what I read online about a month into quarantine – if this never happened, this version of you right now would never exist. And I see that as both something good and something bad. And it makes me wonder a lot, mostly about which version I would prefer. I think it makes you reflect on life, which I think is really important.

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What a philosophical start, huh? But truly, I think taking a good look at the world is so important right now. Which is probably why I love photography so much, because it makes you look at the world, and in most cases in different ways. It makes you see the beauty in things that you never saw before. And now that I have this film camera, that I’ve been carrying around with me basically all the time, I see this beauty in the world in a way where I have the power to capture it in that very second that I’m taking a picture. Including the surprise of not really knowing how the picture will actually turn out. Which makes me feel a bit nervous and super excited at the same time. And it has kinda also made me love imperfection. You know, with a digital camera you can just perfect every shot, because you can change just about everything. But with a film camera, there’s only so much you can do besides just taking the picture. So when a picture turns out to be blurry, that’s just what it is. That’s how you captured that moment. And it might not be perfect in the way we know it, but it’s still that moment in a picture, so full of life and creativity, and that’s what I love about it.

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So last week, I finally got my second roll of film developed and I’m just so happy to share the finished pictures with you all today. I haven’t been photographing with film for that long now, but it’s already been such a learning curve. I’ve been trying out different types of film for now and I think with the roll I’m currently shooting on, I think I’ll try out different stages of light, just to see how the camera really works with that. But so far every shot has been super fun and I love seeing how the pictures turn out depending on how I’m taking them in those very moments – the pictures down below were taken at home, during a holiday, when we went hiking, at all kinds of places.

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I think compared to the first roll you can clearly see how both the type of film and me getting acclimated and more used to the camera have changed the quality of the pictures (here’s the link to my first roll of pictures). Which again is super fascinating. I’m already super excited to see how the next one’s going to turn out and I can’t wait to show the pictures to you once they’re developed. And until then I hope you enjoy the pictures down below. As always, I’d love to hear your opinions, so please don’t hesitate to leave your comments and thoughts down below. As always, I wish you all a lovely weekend and, of course, thanks for reading. x

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Let’s go for a hike

Hola everyone.

And welcome back to my blog and also, depending on when you’re reading this, another lovely start of the weekend. I hope you’ve all had a great week and that you’re doing well. I, for my part, am doing pretty good. I’ve been spending the past few days tinkering about either in the garden or the kitchen and I’ve also recently taken on doing yoga again, which is making me feel at ease, thank god. I seem unable to get this feeling of like I’m hanging in the air off of me. One second I feel great, and the next the realization of everything that happened the past few months and the longing for the summer that should’ve been hits me like a train, which always drags me back to that sad hole I was stuck in for so long. I guess that’s what all the newspapers have been saying – this whole ordeal hits and affects us, the youth, way harder than anyone would think. But I know that we as a whole are strong enough to get through this together. I will do too.

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Anyway, spending a lot of time surrounded by nature has helped me quite a lot in processing all of this, and thankfully I went on another little hike a few days ago with my parents. Actually, I visited them on their holiday for a day to wander across the mountains together, which actually wasn’t that far away from where we were on our last trip (click here), and I’m so glad I went because it was just so damn beautiful. There are only so few things that can beat the view you have when you’re up on a mountain and looking down on the world. It kinda makes you feel infinite.

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And as I knew the trip would be absolutely magnificent, I obviously took my camera with me to take a few shots, which I would like to share with you today. Basically, the whole hike consisted of lots of greenery, little to no people but even more cows. It was lovely. And I hope you think just the same about the pictures. The only bad thing that came from the whole day was that I had immensely underestimated the strength of the sun, which lead to a little surprise in the form of an intense sunburn on my shoulders that I’m still coming off of. I’ve now moved onto the shedding phase, I feel like a snake.

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Alright, and now I’m gonna stop oversharing again and let the pictures do the rest of the talking. As already mentioned, I hope you enjoy the pictures and please don’t hesitate to leave your comments and thoughts down below, I’d love to hear them. And until then I wish you all a great weekend and, as always, thanks for reading. x

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The Incredible World of DARK

Hola everyone.

How are you all doing on this fantastic Friday? I hope so far you’ve had a great week and that you’re all feeling well. Personally, I’ve had a super busy week, juggling free time with my new job at my mum’s company and my also new job as editor-in-chief of our uni magazine LDN (link here), which the team and I have been trying to give a huge makeover and thereby rejuvenate it and turn it into the amazing paper it can and should be. And I know it sounds a tad stressful as a whole, but, actually, I’ve really been enjoying it. I’d rather be busy and happy doing more stuff, than wandering around the house, not knowing what to do with myself. And it kinda makes me enjoy and savor some chill and free time even more, which is actually what I want to talk about today – a very specific, but incredibly amazing TV show that has been ruling most of my free time the past two months. As seen from the title and the cover picture, you can probably guess which show I am talking about. Exactly. DARK. Probably the best show I’ve ever watched in my life. But let me start from the beginning.

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For those of you who don’t know DARK yet – my god you’re missing out -, here’s a short intro: DARK is a German sci-fi thriller series co-created by the great Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese and produced by Netflix. Set in the fictitious German town of Winden, the show starts right during the aftermath of a child’s disappearance, which exposes the secrets of, and hidden connections among four estranged families as they slowly unravel a sinister conspiracy which spans several generations. Throughout the series, DARK explores the existential implications of time and its effects upon human nature.

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I’m purposely not going to reveal any more about the plot, as literally everything is a spoiler and as this is literally one of the best, if not even the best series I have ever seen, I don’t want to spoil this perfection of a show for anyone. What I need to add though is that the show is in German (although it has been dubbed and translated into many other languages), so if you don’t speak German, I would highly highly highly recommend watching the OV version with subtitles. No dubbing can come close to how perfect the voices of the German actors go with the show and with the overall feel of it. Seriously.

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I think what makes this show even more special for me, is that I got to watch it with my best childhood friend Maria, who I usually very rarely get to see as I obviously live in London and she lives and works in Vienna. But – and this is going to sound super insane – thanks to the quarantine (crazy, I told you), we were both forced to stay at home and as we only live minutes apart from each other, we spent most of the quarantine watching movies and tv shows together. And DARK was one of those shows – or more like the one show that ruled our weekly and daily tv marathons. I remember googling which shows to watch on Netflix and DARK immediately seemed like the most promising and interesting one, even before I had watched the trailer, which then sealed the deal. Usually, I am not that attracted to German-produced movies and shows, so I think both Maria and I went into that first episode with a bit of uncertainty.

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But after like the first five minutes, that was more than forgotten. I can’t remember the last time I had such a fantastic, thrilling, and exciting TV/movie experience. We fell in love with the main character Jonas in an instant. And the amount of times this show has made us do multiple facepalms, made us cover our faces in shock, even made us jump off the couch out of utter surprise. It’s truly insane but in the best way possible.

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So far, we’ve seen the first two seasons of the show (I even watched it twice) and as the third and last season has been released last Saturday (happy apocalypse day btw, for all my DARK lovers out there), I couldn’t be more excited to finally get behind all the mad secrets and hidden stories of Winden. But as much excitement I feel towards the prospect of finally getting to see the new season, the thought also gives me this somber, even sad feeling. It’s sad to see this show end. But I know the last season will be a hell of a ride. And I’m more than ready for it.

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I probably don’t have to mention that I HIGHLY recommend watching this show, I think I’ve made it very clear that you all need to watch this show right now. Honestly. You will not regret a single second of it, I promise. And for all of my fellow DARK fans, I’d love to hear what you think about the show – but no spoilers, please – so don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts and comments down below. And until then, I wish you all the best weekend and, as always, thanks for reading. x

A Holiday at Home

Hola everyone.

And welcome back to my blog. And a new Monday. And with that a new week. I hope that you had a lovely weekend and that you’re looking forward to this week. I’m sorry for not posting anything last week, but I’ve got a good excuse – at least partly. Last week, my parents and I went on a little holiday trip to Styria – about a two-hour drive away from us – for their birthday, so I didn’t really have enough time to post on here. But on a positive note, I finally have time today to share all the beautiful snaps with you that I took during the trip, so let’s get right into it. I hope you enjoy them.

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The first stunning place we drove to was what we call here “der grüne See”, which basically translates to the green lake. I know, we Austrians are a very creative folk. But actually, it’s a very fitting name as the lake really is green. Basically, the lake is surrounded by the most amazing, super fake looking mountains, which are usually covered in snow in the winter. But once that ice melts, it naturally flows down the mountains into the lake, which until then is completely dried up and just a huge trough in the landscape. So the whole lake consists of melted glacial ice, which is completely clear, and the flora and fauna that consist in it, which give it its green colour as soon as the sunlight hits the water. Honestly, it’s definitely one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited and I’m not surprised that it was once voted the most beautiful spot in the whole of Austria.

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The second location we visited – one that came with a lot more exhaustion and time consumption – was the “Bärenschützklamm”, which I have no idea what that translates to. Basically, a “Klamm” is a gorge in the middle of one or two mountains, filled with trees, waterfalls, lakes, and anything else you could dream of. About 100 years ago, the Grazer Alpenclub made the gorge accessible with suspended ladders, which has become one of the most beautiful, thrilling, and most well-known hiking trails since then. Overall, the trail consists of 164 ladders and I think about 4000 steps and from beginning to the end takes about 90 minutes to go through. I’m not going to lie, it was definitely one of most exhausting hikes I’ve ever been on, but also one of the most beautiful because once you reach the “Klamm”, there’s literally nothing else but nature. I mean, once you’re in there, you don’t even have reception anymore, so it really feels like you’re turning off the rest of the world and going to a place that has never seen anything industrial. Even the ladders are made from wood. I truly truly truly loved it and regardless of how done I was after it, I’d totally do it again.

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There you go my lovelies, those are the two highlights of our holiday trip. To put it short, I really really really loved everything we saw and did during the trip and if there’s one good thing to come out of this whole quarantine, “you’re not supposed to leave the country”-thing, then it’s definitely getting reunited with my own home country and being reminded of how truly beautiful it is. In the past, I never really got to appreciate its beauty, so I’m glad I do now.

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Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pics just as much as me. If you’re ever in Austria or even live here, I’d highly recommend visiting both of these amazing sights. They truly are worth the drive. Also, if you do go there, don’t forget to take your cameras with you, because if you’ve ever needed them, it will be there. And until then I once again hope you enjoyed this post. As always, please don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts and comments down below. And I wish you all a lovely week and, of course, thanks for reading. x