Let me tell you something about ongoing travels that you can't see from the always-smiling pictures tagged all around different places.
Travelling is tough.
And no, I don't mind being tired, I don't mind sleeping in a lot of new places, having to
figure out things all over again and again, or standing in a supermarket and wondering
whether a funny looking box you're holding in your hand is actually what you wanted it to
be.
Travelling is tough when it comes to maintaining relationships.
Whether it's family, friends, or a partner; all your relationships are jeopardised when you're
abroad.
Lately I feel like all I hear are stories of people who broke up or have serious problems
thanks to the distance between them. And one may say that distance is just a number, but
the truth is that whatever you had before, you will have to learn to re-create it, almost from
scratch, in a new, long-distance edition.
Family will, hopefully, always stay on your side, even if a lot of times you're too tired to stay
in touch properly, or just too busy trying to preserve the relationships that, if you don't take
a good care of, they will turn into an ugly and unwanted problem, which is likely to be
abandoned by one side sooner than fixed by both of them finally being in the same place geographically...
Friends will also adapt. A true friendship lasts even if you don't talk to each other as often
as before. Over the years I learnt that it comes in waves, sometimes you're more in touch
with one person, some other time you might talk more to someone else. And all I've got is
hope and trust that my friends know I care about them deeply and think about them
waaaaay more than I ever reply to e-mails and texts.
But the trickiest part proves to be a long-distance partnership.
Skype and whatssapp become your daily companions. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a relationship with my laptop's screen, rather than a real person on the other side.
Seeing each other after a longer break, I need a day or to to get back to the 'real person
mode'. And just when you start to feel comfortable with each other again, one of you have
to leave.
So next time you plan and book in advance, you make time and decide to meet
for longer. But even then, at the end of a 10 days long visit you will realise, that it will never
be enough. Doesn't matter if you see each other for 3 or 10 days, it will never be enough.
Never until the day you get back for good.
I can't count how many times we said it out loud. That long-distance sucks. Because it's true. And this problem touches more and more people...
If you know what I'm talking about, watch the video below. A project for all involved in a long-distance relationship.
If you haven't experienced it - be warned ;)
Straight from Hamburg,
ready to turn my Skype on,
-Kat.
"Pillow Talk is a project aiming to connect long distance lovers. Each person has a ring sensor they wear to bed at night, and a flat fabric panel which slots inside their pillowcase. The ring wirelessly communicates with the other person’s pillow; when one person goes to bed, their lover’s pillow begins to glow softly to indicate their presence. Placing your head on the pillow allows you to hear the real-time heartbeat of your loved one." (You'll find more info by clicking here)
* "Hamburger" is actually a German adjective coming from the name of the city. I did not mean a meaty sandwich here ;-)
Long time no post!
It's time to change that.
I arrived in Hamburg two weeks ago, at the worst time of the day - 6AM.
6AM is never a good time. Neither when that's when you start your day, nor when it is when you finish it.
And after a long sleepless night on the coach I did not know whether my day was finishing or just starting...
And neither did Hamburg.
It was a Sunday morning, so the city hasn't quite woken up yet, but the streets were actually full of people - those on their way back home.
I had some time before I could move in to my new home, so I left my luggage at Hauptbahnhof (central station) and decided to explore my new neighbourhood a little.
I was quickly reminded that the European Futball Championships were to end the same day, Germans still all-heartedly supporting their team, even though they recently had lost. (Which was a real shame, really. I was so looking forward to seeing Germany celebrate, like I was lucky to see Spain two years earlier. ;])
Being me, the first thing I had to see was where will I go to work the next day. It turned out that my new office is located in a really pretty area :)
Finally, I went to see the nearest park (nearest looking from both my work's and my new home's perspective). I am pretty sure I will be going to Stadtpark more often on the weekends... when it finally stops raining all the time. ;-)
Those were my first impressions of Hamburg. I will try to update more regularly, but I am making no promises... not any more ;)
When we came to Tarifa it was raining cats and dogs. We run to our hostel and got under blankets as soon as we came to the room. Luckily, we're the kind of people who, when exposed to unfortunate evens, such as rain during your holidays by the beach; instead of getting nervous, we react with laughter. And so we laughed and laughed, beds being comfortable weren't helping with motivation to get up. But after serious discussions about what is happiness (Stephanie said it's sitting in the dry room, eating an apple) we decided that what we need most is chocolate. So only after some serious chocolate hunting (Lidl was at the other side of town), we decided to go to the beach.
It wasn't raining any more, but it was very windy. My shoes had gotten really wet during our run to the hostel earlier, so instead of freezing in wet shoes I went in my flip flops. So, looking really pretty with a scarf all over my neck and head, and flip flops on my feet, I went to meet the Ocean.
It was amazing.
All the rain and wind in the world would be totally worth it. The Ocean.
The long, wide, sandy beach. The waves that don't have neither beginning, nor the end. The sound of the incredible mass of water. The breeze. The air smelling like it can only smell on a beach.
And then, when you look up, behind that wonderful water, there is Africa. Looking like it's too close to be a different continent. It's hard to believe, but it is true.
You go a bit further, closer to a little peninsula, which is the southest south of Spain there is, and there you see the place where Atlantic meets Meditarrean Sea.
When we were on the beach and the sun was going down (behind the clouds, but still giving us beautiful light) Stephanie said 'it's better than an apple'. Then Hannah said 'it's better than chocolate'. And so I say, It was wonderful. Life is beautiful.
Does every story about a night which you later recall with your friends have to start with "dude, we were sooo drunk"? It seems like ours would more likely start with "oh my god, remember that night in Porto when we got sooo soaked". But let's start from the beginning.
I went on a trip to Porto and, since we arrived late in the afternoon, our first walk around town involved dinner and a night photo-session from a bridge. And it is important to say that Porto has 8 beautiful bridges joining both parts of the city. We crossed one of them, looking to "get the feel" of the true, non touristy Porto. We were ready for all kinds of weather - we had jackets, scarfs and all that. We did not, however, expect any serious change of conditions, as the sky looked "very pretty":
Night sky in Porto
Very pretty soon turned out to be very misleading. It was starting to drizzle, so we decided to head back through the closest bridge. Entering it we were still taking pictures, as the city of Porto has various beautiful views to offer from different perspectives. It was rather windy, but so what? ;)
More or less in the middle of this unlucky bridge, all of a sudden, it started raining cats and dogs. And I mean CATS AND DOGS. We got completely soaked. At some point you just stop caring any more if there is water running through your shoes...
A day later, now we claim rain was hitting us almost horizontally, and the wind did NOT help...
Although the true story might never be revealed, as all our accounts are a bit "influenced" by the bottles of Porto we bought after dinner and enjoyed during that walk;]...
First of all, I'm not gonna start writing my blog in German from now on, so don't worry. I wouldn't have written this piece if it wasn't my assignment. ;)Secondly, if you're a German native speaker or just know the language better than I do and you spot any mistakes, I apologise. I'm still learning. :)And last, but not least, if you don't know German at all, come back tomorrow for some fresh blogging in English! =)
ENJOY!
Unbedingt empfehlenswert: die Kathedrale
Das Markenzeichen der Stadt Salamanca ist eine zentral gelegene Kathedrale, die sehr groß und beeindruckend ist. Man sieht die Kathedrale aus der Entfernung, wenn man sich der Stadt nähert. Aber nur mit der Annäherung an das Gebäude kann die Kathedrale voll gewürdigt werden.
Was wir heute als Kathedrale bennenen, besteht eigentlich aus zwei verschiedenen Kathedralen. Die Alte Kathedrale (La Catedral Vieja de Santa María), die zwischen dem XII. und dem XIV. Jahrhundert gebaut wurde, und die Neue Kathedrale (La Catedral Nueva de la Asunción de la Virgen), die zwischen dem XVI. und dem XVIII. Jahrhundert gebaut wurde. Für das ungeübte Auge kann es so vorkommen, als es nur ein Gebäude gäbe, aber die beiden sind „zusammengewachsen“ und formen ein kohärentes Ganzes.
Beim Vergleich der beiden, La Catedral Nueva ist mehr repräsentativ und ich werde mich jetzt darauf konzentrieren. Die Fassade ist handgeschnitzt und von Anfang an macht einen großen Eindruck. Nach dem Eintritt erspürt man den riesigen Raum der Kathedrale, die sich durch den gotischen Stil kennzeichnet. Die Durchgänge sind breit und das Gewölbe ist hochragend. Es ist interessant, dass der Hauptaltar sich nicht auf der Rückseite der Kathedrale aber in der Mitte des ganzen Raumes befindet, und deshalb kann man den Altar umgehen. Auch die Orgel ist nicht typisch lokalisiert, weil, statt an der Eingangswand zu hangen, gibt es
zwei, die an den beiden Seiten des Hauptschiffs in der Mitte lokalisiert werden.
Die größte Attraktion ist jedoch die Besichtigung des Turmes der Neuen Kathedralen. Man darf bis zu einer Höhe von ungefähr siebten Stock hinaufgehen, aber keine Sorge, es ist nicht ein anstrengender Aufstieg, weil man unterwegs stoppen wird, um die Ausstellungen über die Kathedrale und ihre vierzehn Glocken zu besuchen. Wir können nicht auf die Spitze des Turmes emporsteigen, aber die beide Aussichtsterrassen, die den Touristen zugänglich gemacht worden, liegen hoch genug, sodass wir den Rundblick über Salamanca
genießen können. Aus der südlichen Aussichtsterrasse erstreckt sich der Blick über den Fluss Tormes, und bei schönem Wetter – auch über die Bergen (Sierra de Francia), die 70 km von Salamanca liegen. Es ist auf dieser Terrasse, dass wir erkennen können, wie die beiden Kathedralen verknüpft sind.
Um sich zu der Nordterrasse zu begeben, müssen wir durch die Balkonen der Neuen Kathedrale, die uns ihre riesigen Räume mit einer anderen Perspektive betrachten ermöglichen – diesmal im Voraus, gehen. Nachdem wir auf die andere Seite hinübergegangen sind, müssen wir noch ein paar Stufen erklimmen und die zweite Terrasse wird sich unserer Augen bieten.
Von dort können wir genau La Plaza de Anaya, die Fakultät für Philologie und dahinter die schönen roten Dächer der Altstadt von Salamanca sehen. Wenn man sich an der schönen Architektur der Stadt aus der Vogelperspektive sattsieht, bleibt einem nichts weiter zu tun, als langsam die Treppe hinunterzuklettern.
Manche Ereignisse bleiben lange im Gedächtnis, andere hingegen nicht. Als Verehrerin der Betrachtungen von verschiedener Städte aus hoch liegenden Aussichtspunkten muss ich zugeben, dass Salamanca nichts zu schämen hat und eine Mischung von Sonne und die Blicke der roten Dächer, der Flüsse und der Bergen werden sicherlich lange in meinem Gedächtnis bleiben.
It's a busy, busy time... but there will always be plenty of excuses!
So I'm making a promise to myself that I'll write down one thing a day, one thing about Spain, places I've seen, interesting observations made or anything worth sharing. Until I run out of those ideas. Or until I leave Spain at the end of May, whichever comes first ;)
Not to prolong anything... since I came to Spain at the end of February I've seen Madrid(several times), Sevilla, Cádiz, Tarifa, Gibraltar, Zamora and, of course, Salamanca. The last one is where I live now. But since we're on the subject of travelling, there is a place in Madrid where a lot of travellers go, which has a very unique feeling about it... I don't know if Scheldon Cooper would like it, but he would definitely come across A RAINFOREST in the middle of a giant "waiting room", had he tried to catch a train at Madrid Atocha Train Station.
When you enter the area, you can instantly feel the difference in air's temperature and humidity. There are plenty of seats around for you to enjoy the wait for your train, but don't be mislead - you won't have to wait long. The trains arrive punctually and passangers keep coming in and out... The only people more interested in the unconventionality of this place than an occasional tourist seem to be children, as at the entrance to the rainforest there are plenty of lazy turtles that seem to be waiting for a train that never arrives... Nevertheless, Madrid Atocha brings your train travels to a new level. (ESPECIALLY to anyone who knows how great PKP can be.[PKP is a polish train's company])
Dear lovely people who are impatiently waiting for a post, opening my blog as a way to procrastinate on things you wish you didn't have to do,
I think I'll write to you again soon. I mean: properly.
Meanwhile I'm off to Madrid Boyfriend Central, as someone today rightly (and I want to say BEMERKT, but I'll stick to...) noticed. ;)
On a 'let's catch up' note: My head is a field for a constant language battle at the moment.
Try going to a party and talking in four languages. I dare you. (Unless you're a native in more than one, then for each additional one add one you'd have to learn from scratch.)
Moja głowa cambia las lenguajes en la manera que I can't control anymore. Ich weiss, wie dumm das klingt, aber ja już tego nie ogarniam. Arrête!
This is how I think nowadays. It's a bit confusing at times, must admit.
So go on, do whatever you've been procrastinating on so eagerly :)
Patience will be rewarded. (at least mine, tomorrow at 6:45PM UTC+01:00)
With the post about the most famous Opera House still awaiting its creation, I'm writing to say:
I'm done.
Me and Vienna. It's time for us to part.
My suitcase is packed. And how I've managed to squeeze 35kg of stuff into it's BEYOND ME, not to mention I don't know how to manage in the underground now... But this is it.
I'm moving to Spain.
It's funny how I'm actually changing +43 in my phone number into +34. Seems like a little detail, but to be truthful, in order to change that I'll have to travel plenty of miles first...
So for the next two weeks I'll be on the road a lot. Buses, trains, cars, planes... Anything, really. I'm not spending more than two days in one place it seems. But it's not a complaint, no way! I'll get to see a lot of familiar faces at last ;) And then... Salamanca, here I come! :)
Red: I'm going home. Green: I'm moving into my new home for the next 5 months. Yellow: that's... a certain kind of expedition ;)
Having three days of break between exams, on Friday I decided to visit Bratislava. As it was a rather spontaneous decision, I took a train without a map or any idea where I will go once I arrive at the train station.
Having arrived in Bratislava it actually took me about 15minutes to leave the station. Not that it was so big, but it turned out to be a rather hard task to find someone who could tell me how to get to the old town. To a question "do you speak English?" people were shaking their heads and leaving in another direction. When I tried in Polish (Slovakian and Polish come from the same family of languages, so in theory we could try to communicate like that), then the lady in the information asked me if I was from Czech Republik... and then in half-English/half-Slovakian added that she's the train information and she claimed she didn't know how to get to the old town. But frankly, I think she just couldn't be bothered to explain... Finally, I found a girl who to my question answered hesitantly: "little" and she told me to catch a tram number 1 and showed a direction of the tram station. I went there, but it was completely empty with a note which, I'm guessing, said the trams are not operating at the moment. But I decided to follow the tracks down the hill and ask for more directions later.
Luckily I found the sign showing which way was the historical centre, which also told me how to say it in Slovakian, so that later I could ask for it without scaring people off... Having caught a bus I arrived to the President's Palace, had a lok around and found another sign with directions to a castle and the old town. I decided to see a castle first. Unfortunately, this was the only sign on I've spotten, even though there were many crossroads on the way... But common sense was telling me I should keep walking straight and finally I reached the castle.
Behind it there was a little terrace with a beautiful view on the river, the bridge with an UFO-like structure above it and the other side of the city. The weather was brilliant for pictures - the sun was shining and there were absolutely no clouds. The only minus of that day was that the temperature was on minus too and therefore my fingers were freezing to the camera.
Having seen the river, I walked through a gate in defensive walls and into the castle's grounds. There was another terrace there with a little park and a playground full of children. It all looked really nice and you could see the old town below you. I must say this park by the castle is my favourite place in Bratislava.
I enjoyed walking around, listening to music and taking pictures there.
I walked down the hill to the old town (thanks to directions of a woman who's dog was trying to attack me... and directions were crucial, otherwise I wouldn't think about going THROUGH a construction site) and then around it. Nice, really small. When I thought I've seen enough I found a tourist information point and went in to ask what was the shortest way to get to the train station from there. The lady working there gave me a map and showed a way.
Having checked my train's timetable I decided to have a cup of hot chocolate which was truely delicous and then I went back to catch a train home. Interestingly, I've managed to have a closer look at that map in the cafe and it turned out that my 3h walk covered basically all the most important features of Bratislava! And I've managed that even though in the morning I had no idea where I was going.
As you can see, Bratislava is a pretty intuitive capital city. I can recommend visiting it. Or just having a 3h walk ;)
I cannot tell you how many times have I heard from my friends (young and let's-change-the-world people that we are) that they would like their names to appear somewhere in the pages of history. And here is an idea how you could make that happen (regardless of age!) =)
In October 2010 I went to Barbican, London, to a concert by LSO and LSC performing Eric Whitacre's compositions under his conduction. Little did I know how many consequences this will have on my free time... ;)
Eric Whitacre is a modern composer, conductor and lecturer and during this concert he presented a project that he was working on - and everybody was invited. The charismatic person that he is, I was immediately convinced that this was something that I could put on my one-of-a-kind-experiences list and, therefore, should definitely try to participate. And so I started practicing, even though I had had a little break from singing...
A year ago I took part in the second edition of Eric Whitacre's project called "Virtual Choir".
And believe me, this was one of a kind experience.
Over 2,000 people from 58 countries has recorded and uploaded their performances of "Sleep" and after months of work all the tracks have been put together to create, as the name suggests, a VIRTUAL choir.
When I saw it... when I heard it... I had goosebumps:) I had taken part in something very unusual and beautiful: Everyone was united.
The day it was released also became a day when journalists were messaging me on Facebook asking about the project (as I was one of only 13 people who took part in Poland) and my mum informed me that some people approached her with an "I saw your daughter on tv" news.
And as nice as this all is, it was only this semester in Vienna when I realised those who participated are part of the history ALREADY.
I'm doing an exchange programme at University of Vienna and one of my courses deals with a part of modern history of music, namely music videos. Dear Mr.Whitacre and Virtual Choir 2.0 participants, let me tell you that we are part of the curriculum of Universitӓt Wien!
I have exam coming up next Wednesday, but this is the first time in my life that I'll be writing, amongst other things of course, about something I was a part of. Now how cool is that? :-)
And to those of you who might've not heard about Virtual Choir until now: if you haven't seen it, you definitely should! Here is a link: Virtual Choir 2.0 - 'Sleep'
Eric Whitacre and Virtual Choir 2.0 performing 'Sleep'; Source: ericwhitacre.com/the-virtual-choir
To sum up this little choir story of mine I would like to notice that there is a Virtual Choir 3 project running and you can still record your videos! It's very simple and there is a lot of material to practice, so do not worry. Furthermore, this time it's going to be different, it will not only appear on YouTube, but there will be an audiovisual installation with surround sound and people will be able to visit in cities all around the world. What are you still thinking about? Go! Practice! Record! Write your name in the pages of history.
For more info on the project and how to participate go to: Virtual Choir 3
And if you liked what you read do not forget to pop back in, next I'll be writing a manual on how to see a performance in the world's most famous Opera in Vienna for the price of a small coffee in Starbucks... and survive it. :) Coming up soon!
I find it amazing how many different things can be inspiring, if we only let them. I was asked today how I feel when some kind of inspiration ‘hits me’. And with me it’s like that… I almost always immediately start making plans, I see those things happening with the eyes of imagination and I wonder how exactly I would want it to be. And so yesterday I watched a movie ‘2 days in Paris’ and I’ve realized that I haven’t spoken French in 2 years and I feel like I’ve already forgotten everything I ever knew... And with that thought, I started planning a trip to France for September. Let it be! =)
Portets (near Bordeaux), where I lived in 2008, June-August
Last week I went to London. And although I've been there many times before, this time surprised me in a way...
It was 2 A.M. and
it was pitch dark outside. We were just outside of London,
near GatwickAirport. And right there, on top of a
hill I could see all the London’s
lights in front of me. There was this amazing orange-redish glow above the
city. Above our heads you could see the stars and there was a group of rabbits
running around.
And this was the only sound one could hear there at that
time. Well… maybe an occasional bird that couldn’t sleep. But the rest… There
was just silence.
And if people say New York is the city that never sleeps, as Frank Sinatra
used to sing, then I must say that I saw London
sleeping. And it was amazing…
It's Sunday in Vienna. Shops are closed. BECAUSE it's Sunday - the day of rest. And yes, we're in 21st century, I'm not talking about some old, old times...
With time I've learnt to accept that with almost 2millions inhabitants, when it comes to the 7th day of the week there are only 3 shops open - 3 exeptions from the rule.
For example, there is BILLA on Praterstern - the train station not far from where I live.
And so I went to BILLA to buy just a couple of things that I really needed. (It's not worth trying to do proper grocery shopping on Sunday, because there every week feels as if Christmas was to come tomorrow and the store is full.)
To my surprise, some shelves turned out to be totally hidden behind the bars.
I've never really noticed, but today - here is what I read on a note on one of such shelves:
The 'store opening hours' refer to all other stores, I presume. But as someone who's not a true Viennese I was most surprised to see this:
So, according to the Austrian law, not only do I have to spend plenty of time queing on Sundays (as a punishment for not having bought whatever it is I need on Saturday?), but also I should tell my runny nose to wait for Monday, because apparently it's against law to buy Kleenex. (!!!)
This short video from a Pixar movie made me incredibly happy and, eventually, unavoidably sad.
Watch it if you ever think about what happiness is. Do you think that someone to share our life with is a condition for it? Like... if we wanted to be.... deliriously happy?
I hope this year will be, for everybody, a year of dreams coming true and goals being achieved.
And remember the old saying that "Even the longest journey must begin where you stand". So don't be afraid to take the first step.
I have one resolution that I can share (if anyone cares to listen ;P). I intent not to blow problems out of proportion. It's so easy to do it without even realising... Let's stay positive! :)
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Behind it there was a little terrace with a beautiful view on the river, the bridge with an UFO-like structure above it and the other side of the city. The weather was brilliant for pictures - the sun was shining and there were absolutely no clouds. The only minus of that day was that the temperature was on minus too and therefore my fingers were freezing to the camera.
