Meet GEM

Hola everyone.


God, it’s been so long since I last wrote down those two words. Way too long, to be completely honest with you. But I guess that happens when you are in the middle of your last year at university and also doing something very important and exciting on the side – the special something that I want to tell you all about today. First of all, I want to take the time to say that I hope that you all had a lovely Christmas and that, despite all the chaos that’s happening right now, you’re having a nice time with your loved ones. I’ve been back at home in Austria for two weeks now, spending some quality time with my family, but now we’re also back to a full lockdown, so I guess we’re all in the same boat (except for a few special ones… looking at you, Australia and New Zealand). Anyway, it’s been quite nice so far, but I’m also praying that I’ll be able to go back to London once the time has come, I really miss it. It’s actually pretty cool to have not one, but two places that you can call your home. I feel very lucky. Which also brings me back to what I wanted to show you all today.

I’m incredibly proud to present to you my very own magazine – GEM. Yes, I really did it. I went and launched my own magazine, with the help of my incredible friend Lauren, who is also my co-founder and co-editor, and our fantastic bunch of super talented writers, creatives and journalists. To be honest, even while I am typing this out, I cannot believe it is really true. I can’t even begin to explain how insanely excited and thrilled I am to share this with all of you. I have been dreaming about having my own magazine for so many years now and now it’s really become true.

So far, the whole experience has been nothing short of an insane dream. All of a sudden, I have this thing that belongs solely to me and that gives me the opportunities and freedom to interview my favourite bands and to review gigs and albums and so much more. It’s become my ultimate creative outlet and basically one of the most important parts of my life – even in such a short amount of time. And I mean, I’m not going to talk around the bush for long… having freaking Wallows on our first cover and then Nothing But Thieves, my ultimate loves, on our second one is just… I mean, that’s the material my brain usually comes up with during a dream at night or when I create a nice scenario in my head during a mellow ride on the top. Basically, it’s the stuff you usually make up, not the stuff that just becomes reality all of a sudden. But now it has become reality for me and I still can’t believe I’m now living a life where I can say I’ve already interviewed most of my favourite bands, and all of that for my very own magazine. Peak craziness, I’m telling you.

Naturally, I could spend all day and night telling you about the interviews and the overall insanity of this all, but I guess that would take a bit too long for all of us. What I can say though is that I loved every single one of them and that Conor, the lead singer from Nothing But Thieves is probably the most incredible person I’ve had the honour of talking to. Best interview of my life so far, without a doubt. Which makes me even prouder to have the guys on our cover – a band that has meant so much for me for so many years already. Not to mention that their album ‘Moral Panic’ is easily the best album of the year for me. What a gem (pun not intended… or maybe, yes).

As with all things that take up such a big part of your life, the magazine has kept me and Lauren busy all throughout the past months and also through the Christmas holidays, but it’s always been good busy. Of course it can sometimes get a bit much, especially if the world around you has been in flames for way too long, but I would never complain about the magazine. It means way too much for me to do that. And now that our second issue has been out for a month, we’re already busy working on the upcoming one, which will be out at the end of January. I already can’t wait to share it with the world and every single one of you, it will be a great one.

And now the moment has finally come for me to share the magazine with you all. The excitement is real, honestly. First of all, here are the links to our website, our Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. And here is the link to where you can read our latest issue online and here is a link to our shop where you can buy a print copy of the magazine if you would like to support us or if you are just a paper person, like me.

I truly hope that you like the magazine and enjoy reading it just as much as I do. Naturally, I would absolutely love to hear what you think, so please don’t hesitate to leave your feedback and comments down below or to get in touch with me to discuss it further. I’m excited to hear from you. And until then, I wish you all the best time and already a very exciting happy new year. Let’s hope 2021 will be a lot better than 2020 in a whole bunch of aspects. And yeah, sending you all the tightest hugs and, as always, thanks so much for reading. x

Everything You’ve Missed

Hola everyone.


Holy hell, I can’t believe it’s been almost three weeks since my last post. I’m so so so sorry for being gone for so long, but trust me, once I get everything off my chest and have told you everything that has happened the past few days, you will start to understand why I was gone for so long. To be honest, I don’t think I’ve been this busy in my whole life. I guess that comes with getting older, right?

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Anyway, I hope all of you have been well the past few weeks and that the dread of life and the upcoming lockdowns (they’re everywhere, even here in London) hasn’t been pushing down on you all too much. I know it’s a rather difficult time for us all right now and I think I’m not the only one currently wishing for everything to get better soon. Actually, it’s quite freaky, because the past few weeks have been the best and kind of also some of my worst in my life and, not to be dramatic or anything, but my mind has been rather confused. But let me start right at the beginning.

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As mentioned in my past few posts, I’ve recently taken on the role as the editor-in-chief of my university’s magazine called LDN and, to be honest, it has probably been the most fun but also hardest work I’ve ever done. Working a shift until 5 am at a bar is nothing compared to this. Because after the shift, you’re at least done with work, but with a magazine the work just never stops. Ever. I remember the night we had to hand in the finished first issue, Lauren and I stayed up until 7 am to finish the mag in time for it to be printed by the day we wanted. And although this probably sounds really horrible to many, it was so much fun. Because I was actually spending time doing what I love the most – writing about music and sharing that love with the world. And this whole process has kind of made me realize that there is a potential there that needs to be utilized. So now, Lauren and I are actually thinking about creating our own magazine, which is extremely exciting. We’re still in the planning phase, but I’m so excited I had to share it with you.

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Included in all this excitement of the past few weeks are also the three amazing interviews I’ve had with Wallows, Boy Pablo and, believe it or not, Nothing But Thieves. Before I get all serious about them, please excuse me for a short fangirl moment…

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HOLY FREAKING SHIT I INTERVIEWED CONOR FROM NOTHING BUT THIEVES. AND BOY PABLO, THE CUTEST GUY EVER. AND WALLOWS, A BAND I’VE BEEN ABSOLUTELY ADDICTED TO. HOLY MOLY. OH MY GOD.

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As you can probably imagine, all three interviews were absolutely freaking fantastic. And it’s not just about me meeting the bands I love, but also about having real conversations with real people and I will truly cherish all these moments that I got to share with these phenomenal human beings for my entire life. Not to mention that my chat with Conor was without a doubt the best interview I’ve had so far – he’s truly the smartest, most self-aware person I’ve ever met – and their newest album “Moral Panic” is without exaggeration my favourite of the whole year (long-ish and very exciting album review to be posted on Friday, so please stay tuned for that). Please all go listen to it, it’s so so so good. And there are so many stories hidden in the lyrics, I’ve been listening to the album for a month now and still find hidden meanings. But apart from that, all these experiences made and still make me feel so lucky to be doing what I’m doing and to be spending my time like this. Talking to PRs, getting albums sent to me before the official release, talking to my favourite humans. It’s all truly insane. And although none of it is really my job yet, I know that I’ve found what I want to spend my life doing. I haven’t found anything in my life that fulfills me as much as that – and if gigs were actually a thing right now, I probably would be so happy, that I’d annoy the hell out of everyone. Not even joking.

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Obviously, there is also the dread of said lockdown that is coming up, but with all this work and our plans of starting a magazine up and uni work on top, I feel like I won’t even notice that much of a change. That might sound stressful, but in times like these I feel lucky to be busy, otherwise I would probably spend my days watching one tv show after the other and that’s not really something to happily look back to, right? On top of that, I’m lucky enough to be living with my friends, so we are still able to have a good time, even if we can’t go to restaurants anymore or the cinema. Also, I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t expecting another lockdown. I remember when I talked to Conor, he mentioned having the feeling there might be one on the come up and I couldn’t really believe it, but here we are. Told you, a very smart man.

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And yeah, besides that nothing much has been happening. I think all of us have successfully settled into the flat and after our trip to Ikea a few days ago, it now truly looks and feels like ours as well. And although the past month definitely can’t be compared to what life was like last year – one filled with trips to the cinema, my job at Electric and countless gigs – I can’t really complain. I’ve loved my time back in London so far and it’s been nothing but pure bliss to live with Lauren and my friends. So I think I’m truly lucky.

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Naturally, I hope you also feel a sense of happiness, despite how crazy life is right now. I know the current global situation can drag anyone down really easily, so I just hope you’re all alright. Please remember I’m always here if you need someone to talk to – I’m a good listener. And until then, I hope you enjoyed this post and me babbling on about work and my interviews. As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions, so please don’t hesitate to leave your comments down below. Oh, and I wish you all a happy belated Halloween. And I wish you all a lovely week and, of course, thanks for reading. x

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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Brad Heaton – The Man Behind The Pictures

Hola everyone.


Welcome back to my blog. How are you doing today? I hope you all have had a great week so far. I’ve been once again jumping from one thing to another, like a ball in one of these old pinball games – from my job to the new role as editor in chief for LDN to the cat shelter I’ve started working for to the stuff I need to do at home and lastly to stuff I would like to do in my free time. I know, I already said it once, but I really enjoy it. I just feel like I would really enjoy a good holiday now. But that will come too.

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Anyways, I hope you’re all great and excited for today’s post. For all of those who’ve been following my blog the past few weeks and have had the chance to check out the design I made for my own magazine ‘Lemon’ – click here – you will probably feel like this post seems a bit familiar. Because it is. For my mag, I wrote an article on Brad Heaton, the boys’ (Twenty One Pilots, ofc) official photographer, who I absolutely adore and admire. And as I love the piece so much, I thought it would be nice to upload it separately. Unfortunately, I couldn’t reach out to Brad to ask him for an interview, so I used quotes from past interviews and his Reddit Q&A.

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I really really really hope you enjoy the piece. As always, please don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts and comments down below, I’d love to hear them. And, of course, I wish you all a lovely weekend and thanks for reading. x


 

The man behind Twenty One Pilot’s stunning pictures

Interview with Brad Heaton

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To a gig, there are several parts that make or break a good concert experience and turn it into the special events we all know and love – the live music (obviously), the hyped crowd, the sometimes very pretty, sometimes a bit tacky merch and, last but certainly not least, the photographers. They are the ones running from one corner to another in the pit behind the barricade, hands stuffed with cameras the size of their own heads. And while we as the concert-goers usually overlook those busy bees, to the musicians and the industry they have always been a vital part. More often than not, the photographers and the artists build up a bond during the weeks or even months they spend on the road together. Their workflow changes and soon enough they become one. Brad Heaton and the oh so popular pop-rock duo Twenty One Pilots are the prime example for such a symbiotic relationship. Among the group’s fandom, the clique, Heaton has acclaimed a popularity status that could easily compete with Tyler’s and Josh’s, with fans greeting him at gigs all across the world and selling out thousands of his prints within minutes. For the community, there is no Twenty One Pilots without the beautiful shots by Heaton. But it wasn’t always like that.

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“When I was playing in baseball tournaments as a teen, there’d be photographers taking shots. I’d always end up watching them instead of our games. That sparked the interest,”, states the Ohio- based photographer, “A few months later, my niece received a camera for Christmas. It was so neat that I told my mother, ‘I want something better than that’. It was partly out of jealousy, but luckily enough that first camera would transition into a full-blown career.” Having grown up in a blue-collar family and as the only not interested in literally climbing trees for a living, choosing photography as his future career felt like both an insane risk and the most exciting step in Heaton’s young life. It wasn’t until the age of 16 that he finally started shooting bands and artists, mushed in a local music scene that was packed with small venues and musicians trying to become the new real big thing. So instead of paying five dollars to be able to attend those gigs, Heaton decided to simply offer the bands his skills as a photographer. And back then, in an era when the internet had just started to flourish and MySpace had become the coolest platform on earth, having a few nice pictures on your band‘s page was definitely worth more than five small dollars.

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But it wasn’t until 2012 that Heaton finally met Twenty One Pilots – the band that would later lead him to a level of popularity and fame that only some of us can call their own. After Mark Eshleman, the band’s creative director and childhood friend of frontman Tyler Joseph, had introduced them, Heaton went on to shoot more and more of their shows, until he finally became their official photographer in 2016, which he still is today. Suddenly, he had gone from being a guy with a mediocre camera shooting his favourite bands from somewhere in the back of the pit to being the exclusive music photographer of the biggest bands of our time and one of the most admired artists today. There is only one thing that hasn’t changed – he’s still shooting his favourite bands. “I’ve always lived by the motto ‘you’re a photographer, not a fan’, just so I don’t distract myself with the celebrity status. But music is a different story entirely. I’ll get lost in the environment of a concert, but still do my job. That’s why I’m there.”

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But in an industry that is nearly overflowing with talent and people trying to make it, sticking out of the crowd and making it to the top hasn’t been easy, but it seems like Heaton has achieved the one thing so many of us strive to get to – he has found his own voice in a world that is nearly deafening and has turned his photographic style into his trademark. He has made it, he has become one of the special ones. But obviously, that didn‘t come on its own.

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“I have never considered myself strictly a concert photographer. I’ve been well-rounded with photography since the day I picked up a camera. I started with darkroom and film photography, worked as a sports photographer, done studio work for some major brands, spent weeks studying light and compositions from films, created conceptual stories and narrative tales through photographs. I like to treat every single concert like it’s a sporting event. The shots of the players standing around are cool, but the photographs of the player making a diving stop at third base and tossing out the runner at first is the one that’s going to make the front page,”, explains Heaton while talking about what makes his shots so special, “I do my best to do something different at every concert. The more unique perspectives you’re able to tackle, the more your work is going to stand out.”

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And truly, as crazy as it might seem, for Heaton, the shows can turn into sporting events really quickly. “During shows I think I run around 12,000 steps according to my iPhone. Add the weight of the cameras and it‘s quite a workout.”

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The one thing that has made Heaton’s work shine like a bright star on a clear night’s sky is the closeness he has developed to the fans, and especially the clique. More often than not, the crowds and fans have turned into the photographer’s favourite objects to turn his lens to, which has sparked many different reactions and slowly turned into great story material: “If I‘m taking a photo of a fan, they see my camera, then completely freeze up and awkwardly smile. I think some of the most genuine photos are the ones where I can catch a fan completely enamoured by the show.” This is one of the reasons why his photos have become something like infamous artworks among the members of the clique and are lining the walls or radiating from thousands of phone screens of devoted Twenty One Pilots fans.

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It‘s this mix of passion for photography, love for music and a huge amount of talent that has made Brad Heaton the popular, sought-after photographer that he is now, while he still stays the grounded, open person he has always been. Together with Twenty One Pilots, he has created photos that should rather be considered pieces of art and have become prime examples of the magic music photography can entail.

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