#I recommend going to places other than Budapest if you can

[galoogamelady]

Some photos from our trip to Hungary (2023)

[ranbling]

Not anything 911 related, but any recommendations for things to do in Budapest? I'm trying to get my husband to do a train trip to Hungary in 2025 :)

Okay, so I've thought a lot about this 'cause I don't live in Budapest and when I go up I usually do typical touristy things and wanted to recommend more "special" things too

The Fisherman's Bastion! It's a really touristy place, but very beautiful (and you get can see the Parliament on the other side) and you can walk from the Buda Castle. Also I recommend taking the "Budavári Sikló" (Budapest Castle Hill Funicular), the view is beautifull from it.

Margit-Island is also a good place, but it's nothing special. You can walk through it and there are ruins of an old temple, and a cool fountain

Hősök Tere (Heroes Square) and Városliget are also great placesy they're next to eachother. Hősök Tere is one of the most iconic places in Budapest and there are multiple museums around it (also museums sometimes offer free entry on certain days) and in Városliget there is the Castle of Vajdahunyad which is a replica of the real Castle of Vajdahunyad (which is in Romania, but belonged to the family of Mátyás Hunyadi, a king of Hungary). If you go during the winter, they have an ice skating ring. Also the House of Music is there, it's a pretty cool museum and they give you headphones to go through it and offer multiple languages

The Füvészkert (Botanical Garden, but the ELTE botanical garden to be precise, there are multiple ones in the city and this is the best). Also the Natural History Museum is near it, I've been here before and it was cool

I'm also a big fan of escape rooms (and they're the main reason why me and my family go up to Budapest lol) and there are great ones that offer English option too

Also, it's not in Budapest, but Szentendre is less than an hour with train and it's a beautifull city

(also when you go, I recommend buying an "országbérlet", it's a ticket you can use on all trains (but have to pay if you want to reserve seats) and all public transport inside Budapest and it's much cheaper than any other options

[xxxdreamscapexxx]

OMG ARE U FR IN BUDAPEST? I LIVE THERE! Oh my god okay I’m giving you some recommendations. There is this american cookie shop or something like that called “Cookie Beacon Brunch” where you can buy handmade cookies and they are just so fckn delicious. You can find it on the corner of Arany János Street and Hercegprímás Street. And just to try some hungarian foods you could visit the “Hungarikum Bisztró” and it’s on the corner of Nádor Street and Steindl Imre Street. The staff is really helpful and kind but just a thought. :) YOU MUST VISIT THE MARGARET ISLAND and it’s really easy to approach with tram number 1. The most popular street in the whole country is Váci Street and Fashion street and they are just so vibing in the evening. You have to try the hungarian mcdonalds and I promise you won’t be dissatisfied. And some advice. You should avoid Blaha Lujza Square, Széll Kálmàn Square and Deák Ferenc Square and its surroundings after 10 pm :DDD The public transport is one of the best here in Europe so feel free to use but buy tickets 😭But other than that I hope you’ll have a wonderful time here. Some people are trash but it’s common everywhere. Our foods are the best just sayin’ :DDDD Have a wonderful week <3

Waw! That's so cool! I love Hungarian food, so I'll definitely try your recommendations. I especially love the chimney cakes (kürtőskalács) you guys make! I can't wait to try one again. I even learned how to make them at home because they're so good!

Margaret Island sounds amazing! Can't wait to go there.

I have an apartment in the city center, because I like to walk when I'm in a new place. It's the best way to really see it, so I'll probably be going everywhere by foot, but it's good to know that the public transportation is good and reliable. Worst case, I do have a car, so I'd probably drive.

Thank you for all the recommendations and for the lovely message! It's very sweet of you! I can't wait to get to know Budapest better.

[shenanigans-and-imagines]

What movies have you seen this year, and how would you rate them?

I can't remember every film I saw this year, but these are the ones I actually saw in the movie theater.

F9

I had never seen a Fast and Furious movie before. I did not get any of the references. It was so dumb, but weirdly what I needed in that moment. Will likely never see it again. 2/5

In the Heights

This was fun and it made me wish I could see it live on stage. I know why they decided to give this a summer release, but I kind of wished they wanted just a bit longer, maybe to next spring, to get it properly hyped. It has its problems, but the cast is stellar. 3/5

Godzilla vs. Kong

So dumb, but you saw the title. Only really came for the spectacle, which make the human characters even more useless then they normally are. Godzilla: King of the Monsters is still the superior film. 2.5/5

Black Widow

This really felt like it was the third movie in a trilogy we never got. The opening is solid and Yelena is seriously one of the best new additions to the MCU. I would have liked to tweak a few story beats Alexi as he's a character who's arc is left dangling, but it's not distracting. Not my favorite MCU film, but a solid entry. 3.5/5

Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

The acting in this films has no right to be as amazing as it is. Everyone in this cast is amazing. The fights scenes are great, the core relationship between Shang-chi and his father is complicated and compelling, and it's just plain fun. I would have liked one more pass at the script to tighten it up in some areas and cut out a few jokes, but otherwise top tier MCU material. 4/5

Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Every bit the train wreck I hoped it would be. A true disaster. Awful. I loved it. I honestly wish it was more of a disaster. If you liked the first one, you'll like the second and if you didn't like the first one, this one won't change your mind. This is for fans of Venom (2018) and fans of Venom (2018) exclusively. 2.5/5

Last Night in SoHo

Honestly one of the the most jaw dropping movies I've seen so far. The look of this film is amazing. The soundtrack is perfection. The acting is top notch and the story thrilling. This may be a case of style over substance. I could sit down and pick at the plot holes, but I was there for the ride and it took me on one. 4/5

Eternals

I think I respect this film more than I like it. I love the different tone and look of the film. I like the more quiet and introspective moments. The characters aren't so much characters as vehicles for themes and ideas. There is a lot there you can sit down and think about, but I do think they bit off more than they could chew. At the very least, it got me curious to see more. 3/5

Belfast

Just a solid movie all around. If small stories about people just trying to figure things out while the world seems to burn around them, then this is the movie for you. The acting is top tier all around with all the characters having their own charm and life. Special shout out to Jude Hill specifically who handled a film basically being placed on his shoulders with ease. There are a few things that bothered me about the film, namely the climax, but it wasn't distracting. I'm not sure if I'll go out of my way to watch it again, but I would recommend it. 3.5/5

The French Dispatch

Classic Wes Anderson from top to bottom. This collection of short stories aren't as frenetic as something like The Grand Budapest Hotel, but they have their own low key charm and humor found in all of Anderson's work. There are some stories I certainly like more than others, but the over all quality remains consistent. 4/5

Encanto

Very sweet and just a solid family film over all. I don't think its breaking any new ground in animation or music, but there are plenty of fun characters to get attached to and a story solely focused on the complicated relationships between them. That all being said, of the animated films I saw this year, Luca is still my favorite. Still, be sure to catch this one if you get the chance. 3.5/5

West Side Story

The more I think about this movie, the more vI love it. I want to go back to the theater and rewatch it just so I can get all of my thoughts in order. The cast is just so incredible and I'm so mad people have been avoiding it because of Ansel Elgort. It is clear from every frame that nothing but love was put into this adaptation. It still have it's problems here and there, but at the end of the day they're nit picks. Nothing will replace the original, but finally, a really fucking good musical adaptation. 4/5

Spider-Man: No Way Home

I just got home from watching this one actually. I don't want to give any spoilers, so I will simply say; this movie has no right to be as good as it is. 4/5

[sushireads]

yoongi fic recs

this is a list of yoongi fics i’ve read and loved very much! enjoy. <3

ps. all fics with 🍙 are the ones i loved a little bit more.

“Where’s my kiss?” by @mintseesaw​

fluff | drabble | 1.6K words

A Wish Out of Water by @jimlingss​

🍙, fluff, humor, fantasy | two shots

A genie could solve all your problems. Though you wouldn’t even know exactly what to ask for - money, a warmer house, a better job, a better life? But Min Yoongi is no ordinary genie. He’s here to make your life a living hell. Too bad it was hell to begin with.

GENIE au

All I Want for Christmas by @hayjeon​

🍙 | one shot | 13K words

CEO, CHRISTMAS, SECRETARY, SINGLE DAD au

an out of bounds umbrella by @yoonsgiggle​

fluff | one shot | 10.2K words

you’re apologetic about almost blinding your university’s star point guard with the broken tip of your umbrella until you share a class with him and find out he’s a three star recruit but a four star dick or min yoongi doesn’t find your high school musical puns amusing.  

BASKETBALL PLAYER, COLLEGE, ENEMIES TO LOVERS au

aquiver by @floralseokjin​

🍙, fluff, angst, smut | series

Yoongi can’t remember the last time he was able to successfully bring himself to the point of orgasm, then Namjoon gives him a business card advertising ‘Healing Hands’, and that’s where he meets you; pretty and innocent looking, who gets paid to provide hand jobs for a living…

IDOL au

bad boys bring it to you by @yuengi

smut | one shot | 7.1K words

TATTOO ARTIST au

Black & White by @akinnie75

🍙, fluff, angst | one shot | 24.7K words

You finally confessed to Yoongi after he asked if you like him. His response is to give you a contract to sign. However, you soon realize that Yoongi manufactured your emotions and manipulated you to like him all for the sake of his senior project.

SLOW BURN au

Blackthorn Manor by @kpopfanfictrash 

one shot | 7.5K words

After becoming the assistant of professional recluse Min Yoongi, you begin to notice strange things. Noises which shouldn’t take place, shadows which shouldn’t move like they do. You’re almost convinced that you’re crazy - until something happens, something unbelievable to make you realize you’re not.

GOTH au

Blow by @inkofyoongi

smut, fluff | one shot | 5.5K words

Yoongi loves you, even if he’s never said it… but gestures sometimes speak louder than words.

BOYFRIEND au

budapest by @junghelioseok

smut | one shot | 11.1K words

over many years and across several dozen cities, you fell in love.

SECRET AGENT au

Clair De Lune by @yoonia

smut | one shot | 23K words

You were ready to leave a part of your life to move on to the next, and he is willing to give you a chance to end it glamorously. But at what cost? And will he be a part of the life you are leaving behind or will he be there for the next part of it?

—part of @bangtansmutcentral‘s In The Mood Project

ESCORT, MUSICIAN au

Cut Me Open by @hayjeon

angst, smut, fluff | two shots

—a spin-off from Cardio Palpitations

MARRIED COUPLE, SURGEON au

dancing with the devil by @minnpd

smut | one shot | 6.8K words

Easy Rebound by @ditzymax

smut, angst | one shot | 6.5K words

Yoongi is one of the star players on the college basketball team. You are the head of the cheerleading squad. The pair of you would make the most beautiful (if most cliché) couple on campus, except neither of you have ever wanted anything more than the frequent, casual fuck. Yet somehow Yoongi finds his emotions straying towards dangerous territory.

BASKETBALL PLAYER, CHEERLEADER, COLLEGE au

ego: hoe chronicles by @suga-kookiemonster

smut | one shot | 7.2K words

he was messing with you again. he was messing with you, trying to get a reaction out of you simply for his own amusement. but you refused to give it to him—refused to give him the satisfaction of playing right into his hands.

—an alternate universe of ego

COLLEGE, FRAT BOY, FUCK BOY au

eight by @cupofteaguk

🍙, fluff | one shot | 5K words

or, Eight times Min Yoongi tells you he loves you

IDOL au

First-Date BAIT! by @jimlingss

fluff | two shots

First dates are embarrassing. First dates are awkward. I’ve been through countless ones, sitting across from people who bored the living daylights out of me. It was less exciting than watching paint dry. Some dates were so utterly rude - I think you and I both know what it’s like to be on the receiving end on that. But now we both don’t have to waste our time anymore!

With First Date Bait they went out for me! Afterwards, they informed me if it was recommended to go out on a second date. It’s amazing with a 99.99% accuracy rate! That’s how I ended up meeting my husband!

First Date Bait.

Why waste your time with awkward first dates?

—part of the Service Series

Hades by @littlemisskookie

horror, smut, angst, fantasy | one shot | 9.4K words

You meet a rather dreamy- albeit annoying, new kid who sweeps you off your feet. Too bad it’s in the middle of a series of murders around town.

GREEK GOD au

heavy sugar by @kinktae

smut | one shot | 8K words

The Roaring Twenties were a time of great economic wealth and social change. But beneath the jazz music and colorful speakeasies were mafia led organized crimes and bloodstained cash. You knew this well, but try as you might, you just couldn’t ignore the dark and enigmatic gangster whose eyes lingered on you from across the room.

—part of the rewind series

1920s, GANGSTER, FLAPPER, MAFIA au

i’m not your daddy by @scriptaed

🍙, fluff | one shot | 2.5K words

learning that his daughter no longer wishes to wed him but rather his now-arch-enemy jungkook marks the most soul-crushing day your husband has ever had to endure. no one, and he means no one, is more deserving of his angel than daddy min himself, and he’s willing to do anything to earn his daughter’s heart back.

DAD, PARENT au

Ink Nemesis by @scriptaed

🍙, angst, fluff | series

As an aspiring writer drowning under the public’s radar, a click of the pen is all you need to accept your supervisor’s offer to co-write an article for the SS - Secrets Spilled, a regular section of your company’s weekly tabloid; but fabricated stories and invasive details aren’t all that you write when you discover Min Yoongi’s dirty little secret. 

FAKE DATING, IDOL, PAPARAZZI au

La Douleur Exquise by @cinnaminsvga

ON-GOING | fluff, angst, smut, fantasy | series

in which you accidentally summon an incubus in the middle of your shitty apartment and he won’t leave until you agree to have sex with him. until then, min yoongi, incubus extraordinaire, is now your sexually promiscuous and grumpy roommate. aka, the incubus au no one fucking asked for.

INCUBUS au

Melody companion by @prisczero

fluff | one shot | 3.6K words

“A soulmate story where Yoongi can hear everything that you listen to, but only if it is music.’’

IDOL, SOULMATE au

Miss Dial by @versigny 

ON-GOING | 🍙, smut | series

[11:31] You: okay so i’m texting you now like I promised instead of drunktexting yoongi and telling him how badly i want his cock tonight. Arent you proud?

[11:32] unknown number: this is yoongi, hi

FRAT au

Mixtape by @jungblue

🍙, smut, fluff, humor | one shot | 15.6K words

Two mystery students from your college run the podcast dubbed ‘mixtape.’ It’s become a sort of phenomenon around campus, listened to by almost everyone. In their most recent episode they discussed various study methods… One of them being oh so tempting.

COLLEGE, PODCAST PERSONALITY au

Next Door by @personasintro

smut, fluff | one shot | 10.3K words

Your neighbor doesn’t respect your complaints about him being loud, but you don’t let it slide so easily.

ENEMIES TO LOVERS, NEIGHBOURS au

petals by @yoonia

🍙, fluff | series

IDOL, PARENT au

see you soon by @cupofteaguk

fluff, angst | one shot | 7K words

In which you live in a world where one stroke of a pen against your skin is a signage of forever, and Min Yoongi just has really good timing 

SOULMATE au

She’s Testosterone by @jimlingss

🍙, crack, smut | series

Drop dead gorgeous, cute and sassy - you adore your best friend. But is there more beneath the surface? Who exactly is Min Yoonji?

YOONJI au

so i heard you like bad boys by @scriptaed​

fluff | one shot | 4.7K words

while others see min yoongi as the resident heartthrob of the school - quiet, resilient, and mysterious - you can’t see him as anything other than your dorky best friend since childhood; but what you don’t know is his long desire to be anything but that, even if it means becoming the bad boy in town… or at least try to.

COLLEGE, FRIENDS TO LOVERS au

stay high by @personasintro​

smut, angst | one shot | 16.5K words

You’ve to stay high to keep your ex out off your mind when he comes back into your life.

EXES au

Studio cuddle by @mintseesaw​

fluff | drabble | 1.8K words

Tired from work, you went straight to Genius Lab in the hopes of being able to cuddle with Yoongi. You did not hesitate to press the passcode of his studio, knowing he might get pissed off for interrupting him from his work.

IDOL, PRODUCER au

Sweeter than Sweet by @gimmesumsuga​

fluff, smut, angst | series

“You never would have expected someone like Park Jimin to notice you. As handsome and beguiling as he is deadly, you’re enthralled from the very moment you meet. Addicted to his kiss and his bite, Jimin opens up your eyes to a whole new world of love, lust and seduction.”

VAMPIRE au

the blue coat and cerruti 1881 (a flash fire) by @yuhdongsaeng​

angst, fluff, smut | two shots

that’s the thing about flash fires. they’re intense outbursts of flames that reach their maximum heat quickly and don’t last a long time. hell, they don’t even get to fade before they cease to exist. however, flash fires may be intense and short, but the floor beneath them is ruined forever.

IDOL au

The Truth Between Us by @jimlingss & @gukyi

🍙🍙🍙, fluff, angst, fantasy | series

a book deal should be the most exciting time of your life, but there seems to be a constant and omnipresent damper on your mood in the form of a certain min yoongi, who you would just cut out from your life, if he weren’t your editor. but then, the world shifts beneath your feet, and you begin to wonder if maybe you’ve always been looking at life from the wrong angle.

ENEMIES TO LOVERS and loads more aus— just stop what you’re doing and read this masterpiece!

want a taste by @suga-kookiemonster​

smut, humor | one shot | 18.3K words

pretzel pro. most skillful tongue in the food court world. allegedly. that’s what yoongi keeps telling you, anyway. of course, you’re reasonably skeptical of his claims—but if there’s one thing that motivates the notoriously-lethargic man, it’s proving skeptics wrong.

—part of the you never shop alone collaboration

FRIENDS TO LOVERS, SHOPPING MALL au

what you did last summer by @winetae​

smut | one shot | 33.8K words

Yoongi was fine with a lot of things—you maxing out his credit cards to buy ridiculously expensive items of clothing that you never wore more than once, you taking out his newest ride for a spin without permission, you spending an extra thirty minutes on your hair and makeup when he was running late for a dinner function.

What he was not okay with, however, was you sharing your pussy with barely-out-of-college boys who were incapable of going five seconds without creaming their pants.

No, that was where he drew the line.

↳ alternatively titled; How to Get Dick - an autobiography written by (you)

TROPHY WIFE au

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[cobbbvanth]

help I'm super emo after finally getting to see a Black Widow movie

if you can watch this at a cinema, i highly recommend you do so ♡

[spoilers ahead. beware!]

- seeing the Marvel title card on a cinema screen after two whole years is so exciting, it feels like coming home <3

- Ever Anderson was a great choice for young Natasha, i was crying just 10 minutes in wtf

- THE OPENING CREDITS. major Bond film vibes, excellent song choice and some heartbreaking exposition all in about three minutes

- i really like how it bridges the gap between Civil War and Infinity War, this is peak MCU in my opinion so yes give us all the story (did Ross just let her walk again though? that guy is not good at his job lol)

- seeing Nat wearing her arrow necklace always makes me so happy

- fight choreography throughout was so good, especially with pretty much all of it being close hand to hand combat!

 - but damn everybody has a Cap shield these days, do they grow on trees now or something?

- Florence Pugh is beautiful, talented, amazing, incredible. the dynamic between Nat and Yelena is fantastic and feels so much like a real sibling relationship even if they haven’t seen each other for years. their constant bickering in their first escape scene, “any day now” “shut up,” “what was your plan?” “i was just going to drive us away!” lmao big fan of these two

- you can tell this movie had a female director because the women HAVE THEIR HAIR TIED UP! ESPECIALLY IN FIGHT SCENES!! this is so important to me, we love to see gals being practical

- on a similar note i adored Yelena mocking Nat’s “pose fighting.” the movie itself is making fun of how Natasha has been unnecessarily sexualised for so many years and it’s so refreshing

- Alexei being the butt of every joke was so funny to me. he’s got the spirit, that’s for sure. the girls explaining what happens to their reproductive organs in the red room after rescuing him from prison was one of my favourite scenes for sure

- oh and Yelena’s vest! it has so many pockets!! some she even added herself!!! and she gives it to Nat and it’s the one Nat wears in Infinity War NOBODY TOUCH ME

- i liked the little dysfunctional family so much more than i thought i would. from American Pie singalongs and awkward reunion dinners to trusting each other with unrehearsed super spy plans, they’ve got it all

- plus Nat calling the Avengers her family so many times?? and us finally getting to know what went down in Budapest?? now that’s some good content

- this movie really illustrates why Nat broke the Sokovia Accords: she really does care about saving people, and will do whatever it takes

- have to give some props to Mason for getting Nat all the stuff she needs AND at such short notice, really pulled through at the end there. (AND THE AVENGERS THEME OVER THE JET AT THE END. yes just that piece of the original theme is enough to make me cry again)

- not wild about the villain dude, but he’s not really what the movie was about! Taskmaster pulling out Avengers fighting moves (Winter Soldier knife flip!) was SICK though!!

- i really don’t care how many times we’ve seen the face shifting mask thing before i’m excited about it every time!

- there's just so much girl power in this movie and it's so nice to see. And it's genuinely badass women, not just pandering. Also it's just fun to see the ladies getting the classic action hero treatment, even if it gets a tad out of hand at the very end

- Secretary Ross, sir, please take a vacation

overall i thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and it was worth the wait. it was well paced, the score was great, and such a perfect place in the mcu timeline to have a Nat-centric moment. i love her so much, it’s been like 3 hours and i miss her already :’)))

- END CREDIT: i’m hyped. poor Clint still cannot catch a break, but i’m so excited to see these guys together

[athenasbloodyspear]

Say Something to Stop Me: Chapter 9

Writing Master List | Say Something to Stop Me Master List

(There’s a double asterisk ** at one point in the story, I recommend playing the song I mention “Every Step You Take” by The Police as you read if that’s your thing! It’s what I wrote the rest of the scene to and I think it just makes it feel like a movie.)

Dr. Cho did end up having to put a few stitches in Bucky’s eyebrow and it turns out he was hiding some nasty bruises under his shirt. He looked like he’d gone through a meat tenderizer. The bullet proof vest he wore kept most of the shots from being fatal, but the smattering of bullet shaped bruises on his chest nearly tore you in two.

You sat in a chair across the room and watched as Helen finished his stitches and felt around on his chest for any broken ribs or potential internal bleeding. You found yourself just staring at him while they ran various diagnostics. He was definitely worse for wear, but he was so unbelievably beautiful that you felt your heart squeeze in your chest.

It was funny, this dynamic between you two. A push and pull that you hadn’t experienced before. It was like when you worked together on missions. When one of you moved, the other adjusted to fill the space you had left. When he had needed your calming touch and level head, you’d been able to provide it for him.

It struck you then, how long you’d been living in a relationship that was only push, no pull. You’d let someone dictate your emotions, your reactions and responses to nearly everything. You had shoved yourself into a box for him, trying to fit exactly how he wanted you.

Bucky let you be exactly how you needed to be in each moment. He stepped in to fill holes and support you where you needed it, but stepped away and let you go when he knew you could stand on your own.

He trusted you.

You trusted him.

You loved him.

After they’d finished, Tony told him to get his ass cleaned up and to bed.

“And I mean sleep Barnes. If you rip those stitches because you can’t keep your hands off her, I won’t let anyone come close them and you’ll have to restitch them yourself.”  

You let Bucky rest most of his weight on you as you helped get him back to his room. At this point you knew that there was no risk of Bucky ripping those stitches. He needed sleep badly.

You assisted as he peeled his bloodied pants and boots from his body, then held under his arms as he slowly lowered himself into the bath, being careful to keep his right arm above water. Everytime he winced in pain you felt a sting in your own chest.

He’d be fine, you knew. He healed abnormally fast. That didn’t make the moments of his pain hurt any less to watch.

After he’d finally lowered himself into the steaming water, you’d told him to lay back and relax while you rinsed and lathered his hair and scrubbed at his neck and chest to remove the layers of sweat and dried blood. Then you’d gotten him dried off and dressed in pajamas before helping him curl up in his bed.

He was asleep before you could even pull the covers up to tuck him in.

~0~

The next few weeks passed quietly. Sam was mostly bed ridden, so you and Bucky spent a lot of time in his room generally bothering him and making him wish he could heal faster just so he could get away from you both and your endless supplies of one-liners.

One night, you both helped him make the long trip to the common area under the guise of a change in scenery. Really, Peter wanted to keep watching the Fast and Furious movies and making Sam watch his least favorite movies when he didn’t have the ability to leave on his own was hilarious.

Were you terrible people? Maybe.

Sam did admit he would have done the same thing if given the chance.

Pretty much everyone joined in. Steve had helped Nat up from her room. She was in much better shape than Sam and was pretty much 100%, but Steve stayed close to her most days claiming that just because she seemed better didn’t mean something couldn’t happen to her.

Wanda and Vision came to watch the movies as well, which ended up being the best part of the experience. Vision kept pointing out the flawed logic in many of the action scenes and Wanda kept trying to patiently explain to him that the movies weren’t intended to be logical. Vision's distress nearly made Peter pee his pants laughing.

When you were taking a snack break between Fast Five and the 6th installment, Tony wandered into the kitchen slowly. Looking at his hands.

“Hey kid. Can you come chat over here a second.”

“Uh. Sure Tony.”

You stood from the couch, having to untangled yourself from Bucky’s hold, and sauntered to the kitchen island.

“How you feeling, kid?” Tony asked.

“Fine…” You murmured. “What’s going on?”

“Uh. Nothing major. Just trying to gauge how you’re doing emotionally before I say what I have to say.” Tony was looking at pretty much anywhere but you, fiddling with spoons and forks that were on the counter.

“Out with it Tony.”

“Uh…” Tony hedged. “Well I just want you to know that Elijah…” He trails off.

Saying his name is enough for everyone in the room to suddenly quiet and look in your direction.

“Just say it Tony. I’m fine. What about him?”

Bucky gets up from the couch and takes a few steps toward you before stopping a few feet from the two of you. The rest of the group stays where they’re seated, staring.

“Elijah’s dead.” Tony finally finishes.

It takes a moment to fully process that thought. You really hadn’t been prepared to hear anything about him today, let alone that he was dead.

“He’s what?” You whisper.

“I’ve had an agent tailing him since that day in Brooklyn.” Tony says softly. “I just got word that he’s dead.”

You whip your head up to look at Bucky.

“I swear to god it wasn’t me.” Bucky says, holding his hands up in surrender. “But when I do find out who it was, I will probably give them a kiss on the mouth.”

You grab a wooden spoon off the counter and whip it at Bucky’s head. Bucky ducks easily and Steve reaches up and grabs it out of the air behind Bucky before it can smack into the glass wall behind him. You also let out a small chuckle. You can’t help it.

“I’m thinking you won’t want to, Barnes.” Tony remarks. “Considering the cause of death was the dumbass getting himself good and drunk and wrapping his fancy sports car around a tree. So unless you’d like to kiss the man's corpse, you’re shit out of luck.”

Bucky huffed and crossed his arms, rolling his eyes at Tony.

You sat down abruptly at a stool at the kitchen island. Bucky took a few quick steps toward you and laid a hand on your back.

“Sweetheart, are you…?”

“I’m fine.” You whisper. “I’m fine.”

And you were, you realized. You basically felt nothing. Of course, you felt some twinge of sadness at someone you had spent so many years of your life with dying in a horrific car accident.

But you felt fine really. No shortness of breath, no panic at the thought of him. You were clear headed and calm.

There was no threat of the sea of emotions lapping at your heels. You didn’t feel like you were about to drown.

“I’m fine.” You murmured again. Looking up at Bucky. “I’m fine, Bucky. Does that make me a monster?”

Bucky stepped in to you then and wrapped you in a warm hug, kissing the crown of your head. “No. It does not make you a monster sweetheart.”

“So. Not to bring up a touchy subject or anything…” Sam piped up from his spot where you and Bucky had propped him on the couch. “But, this man was your fiance, no?”

“Yes.” You murmur back. Bucky’s arms tensed a bit around you, you felt his head shift and you assumed he was leveling Sam with a death glare.

“And, we’re totally fine with him being dead? Like don’t get me wrong, I’m on your side no matter what I just feel like I’m missing something.”

“Sam, she doesn’t have to…” Bucky started.

“No, Buck. It’s okay.” You said, placing a palm on his chest and giving him a little push so you could turn to look at Sam and the rest of your family in the living room.

“Yes. He was my fiance. I knew him for most of my life. I kept him a secret from you all because he hated SHIELD and all of you. He hated that I worked here.” You started. Bucky was watching you carefully, with a hand placed on your back. He seemed poised for attack, like if there was any indication that your heart rate picked up or you lost your breath he would snag you in his arms and run out of there like a bomb was going off.

You loved him.

But it was time for your family to know.

“We ended things when I got back from Budapest. He was abusive, to say the least, and manipulative. I was angry at myself for letting it get that far which was why I isolated myself from you all for so long.” You sighed and offered your family a small smile. “But, I’m feeling more like myself again.” You looked at Sam then. “So, no. We don’t really care that he’s gone, beyond normal human discomfort with death. Even if that makes me a little evil, I kind of don’t care.”

It was quiet for a moment. Then Sam spoke. “Well good riddance then.”

Nat spoke up next. “I am a little disappointed you didn’t take a crack at him Barnes.”

“Trust me I wanted to.” Bucky chuckled. “But my priorities were elsewhere.” He snuck a look at you with a little smile.

“Thank you for telling us.” Wanda said softly. “You didn’t have to.”

“I know. But you’re my family.”

Steve stood up then from his spot across the room and crossed to you. He wrapped you up in a big hug. The next thing you knew, Bucky, Nat, Wanda, Peter and even Vision were joining in. You teared up a bit standing in the center of all of them.

“Get in here Tony.” Steve muttered.

“Sorry pal, I don’t do group hugs.” Tony quipped from where he leaned against the kitchen island.

You peeked through the holes between arms and saw Sam sitting on the couch smiling at all of you. You pouted a bit as you looked at him, offering your apologies that he was stuck on the couch.

“I’m there in spirit, gorgeous.” Sam smiled at you. “When I can stand on my own I’ll give you a better hug than any of these assholes could dream of.”

You giggled then. The whole group devolved into arguments on who gave the best hugs.

Right as Nat and Steve were going toe to toe (arguing vehemently that the other gave the best hug) Tony spoke up. “What do you all say we go to the bar down the road and celebrate?”

“Celebrate?” You chuckled.

“Yeah kid. I think it’s about time we let loose as a family. I’ll give Sam the bottom half of a suit or something so he can walk on his own in the bar.”

“You mean to tell me these past few weeks I could have just borrowed a suit? What kind of sick bastard are you?” Sam yells incredulously from across the room.

“Don’t push your luck birdboy.” Tony looks at you again. “What do you say? Fancy a night out with your family?”

You couldn’t think if anything you’d love more. “Hell yes.”

~0~

You all piled into various vehicles at the compound and made the short trek down the road to the bar. (Not before Sam finally gave you a big hug. He wasn’t kidding, he was a really incredible hugger.)

You all made quite a scene rolling up as a unit and pushing a bunch of tables together. Luckily, most of the patrons at the bar seemed to be wise enough not to cause a scene with the entire Avengers team in one spot.

You sat and marveled briefly at everyone laughing and drinking and enjoying themselves. It was still amazing to you that all of these people, who had seen so much and suffered so much could be together here now, laughing and joking with each other.

You were proud to be one of them.

Peter was slinging spitballs through straws in Sam’s direction which Sam was artfully trying to dodge, his iron legs supporting him now. Tony, Steve and Bucky were sniping back and forth at each other. Vision and Wanda had gotten up from the table to dance to the songs playing on the jukebox.

“Hey hot stuff.” Nat said, dropping down next to you at the table. “Whatcha thinking about all quiet over here?”

“Just amazed I’m here, is all. It’s everything I always wanted, but really didn’t think I could ever have.”

“I know what you mean.” Nat said softly. “I didn’t know if I’d ever really have a family like this. I didn’t think I could.”

“I tried so hard to make it work with Elijah, nearly destroying myself in the process, because I wanted to belong somewhere. For somewhere to be home.” You muttered.

“I know.” Nat said. “Seems silly now doesn’t it? I fought for years against belonging here. It scared the hell out of me. Still does most days, especially when one of you gets hauled through those doors all messed up. Emotionally or physically.” She looks at you pointedly then. “But I’ve learned I’d rather be terrified of losing you all than never having you, you know?”

“Totally.”

You both sit in silence for a bit, sipping on your beers and just taking in the scene. Just then, “I Ran” by A Flock of Seagulls came on and you bubbled up with laughter.

“What’s that giggle for?” Nat asked.

“Nothing. I just got an idea.” You drained your beer and stood up from the table you were sitting at. “Hey, can you turn it up?” You sent the bartender a smile. He nodded and spun to turn the volume up in the bar. “Wanna join?” You tossed over your shoulder at Nat as you placed your hands on the bar and hopped up. You started moving your hips to the music, the same way you did a year ago in Budapest.

Nat glanced over to where Bucky was still mostly oblivious to you standing on the bar, his back facing you as he talked to Steve and Tony. “Hell yeah I do.”

Nat hopped up on the bar with you and sidled close to you, moving her hips with yours.

Wanda saw you and quickly hopped up on the bar. A few other women in the bar looked up and watched, and you three waved them over to have them join. The bartenders quickly moved the glasses on the bar out of the way so you all had a clear space to dance.

There were a few whoops and hollers from some of the men sitting at the bar on the other end, and you spun, ignoring your real prey and sending flirtatious smiles and giggles toward the men down the bar.

The attention of the other men finally got the attention that you had been looking for in the first place.

Steve’s head popped up from their conversation and his eyes widened at the sight before him. You, Nat and Wanda dancing tightly together, hands in the air. Without tearing his eyes from you he quickly punched Bucky in the shoulder. You could tell Bucky had probably asked what the hell Steve’s problem was when Steve just pointed in your direction. Bucky turned slowly to look.

You weren’t looking directly at him, you were still making eyes at the guys down the bar, but from your peripheral vision you saw his jaw drop open before he quickly shut it, grinding down on his jaw. He leaned back against the table, resting his elbows on the surface and spreading his legs out to assume an arrogant laid back stance. Clearly intent on enjoying your show.

It took every ounce of will not to hop down off the bar and climb him like a tree.

As the bridge of the song sped up and the electric guitar started shredding Nat, Wanda and you really turned it on. You saw Steve put his face in his hands as he released a long groan. Bucky just leveled you with an arrogant smirk. As the final tones of the song played you finally looked fully at Bucky, giving him a haughty smile as if to say What? I’m not doing anything.

Bucky just rolled his eyes at you as the song ended and the first notes of “Every Breath You Take” by the Police started**.

It was just like that first night in Budapest. You, up on a bar dancing, and Bucky staring at you from his place at the table, a dark heated look in his eyes.

Except this time, it would end differently.

Bucky stood up abruptly from the table and stalked toward you. Nat and Wanda took that as their cue to step away and off the bar, leaving you standing there alone. When Bucky reached the bar he wrapped his hands around your waist.

“C’mon babygirl. Let’s go home.” He chuckled as he lifted you up off the bar. As he stepped back he started to lower you down from where you towered over him. You slid down the front of his body as he set you back to your feet. Once you were safely on the ground, he kept his hands on your waist as you looked up at him. You smirked at him and batted your eyelashes innocently. He groaned low in his throat and leaned down so his mouth was even with your ear. “You’re killin me sweetheart.” He rose back up to his full height and looked down at you. His eyes raked over your whole body and you flushed and bit down on the corner of your bottom lip. “Fucking hell.” He growled.

He picked you up, tossed you over his shoulder and made a beeline for the door. You squealed.

He snagged your coats off the back of his chair as you passed the table that everyone was sitting at.

“Got someplace to be, Barnes?” Natasha crooned as Bucky rushed past where she now sat next to Steve.

You blushed and giggled, waving to everyone from your place on Bucky’s shoulder as he continued out the door, not slowing down for anything.

As soon as the door clicked shut behind you he dropped you back on your feet and roughly grabbed both sides of your head, crashing his lips against yours. You pressed your body against his, your hands grabbing two fistfuls of his t-shirt and yanking. You wanted him closer.

He finally ripped his mouth from yours and stared down at you as his chest rose and fell rapidly, he was as out of breath as you were. “I love you.” He breathed.

You didn’t answer him. He knew.

You just launched yourself into his arms, your legs wrapping around his waist and your hands tangling in the ends of his hair when it curled against the back of his neck. You dragged his lips back to yours. His hands caught you around the waist, his metal arm lowering down to hold you under your hips and keep you from slipping.He started to walk you backwards toward where his bike was parked across the parking lot.

You devoured him, nipping at his bottom lip and running your hands through his hair. You had one hand gripping the back of his neck to keep him from moving too far away from you.

Suddenly you heard a voice call out from near the door of the bar. Sam, standing on his own with a pair of iron legs assisting. “Fucking nasty. Get a room!”

You heard the chorus of chuckles from your friends, your family, as they all spilled out the door of the bar.

Bucky pulled his head back just enough so that there was enough space between you that he could yell back “Trying to!” before smashing your lips back to his.

Once he reached his bike, he set you down before quickly mounting the bike and hitting the kickstand. As soon as he was stable you giggled and jumped on the back, wrapping yourself around him and burying your face into his neck.

He revved the engine twice, yelled “hold on” over his shoulder and took off.

You lifted your head to look at everyone as Bucky ripped out of the parking lot. A huge grin on your face, you lifted a hand to wave at your family. You could just make out the sound of Nat yelling “See you at home!” At the same time that Sam yelled “I’m gonna need a different floor to sleep on tonight.”

You giggled again and faced forward in the seat, squeezing Bucky again as he turned onto the asphalt and hit the gas.

You hurtled down the road toward the compound.

As you were flying down the asphalt you decided that you were going to finally just start living without fear that someone was going to take it away from you. The fresh air was pelting your face and it was so strong it wiped away any doubt. It wiped away the thought that you didn’t deserve to have moments like this.

You wanted to feel it all. The pain of the whipping wind, the sting of the air on your eyes, the smell of gasoline in your nose.

You wanted to feel every moment you could with Bucky. The good, the bad and the boring. You wanted to spend time with your family and be there for every moment in their lives and never miss a month with them again.

You wanted to be totally free.

You started to peel your arms away from Bucky’s chest. One of his hands left the handlebars and he grabbed your wrist.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“I wanna feel the wind!” You yelled back. “I wanna feel everything, Bucky.”

He paused only a second before patting your wrist twice, and dropping his hand to your thigh to hold on to you. You squeezed your legs together, gripping him tighter as you released your hands from his waist, slowly lifting them so that they were above your head.

Your hair was flying wildly around your head and the only things you could hear were the sound of the engine and the wind. It was the most amazing feeling in the whole world.

You let out a loud whoop as you just let yourself go, laughing at how absolutely wonderful it was to just feel.

Against your chest you could feel Bucky’s back rumble as he laughed with you. He squeezed your knee once, put his hand back on the handlebars and pushed the bike a little faster.

You wanted this forever.

Just you, your man and the wind.

@vicmc624

@austynparksandpizza

[lunavadash-creates]

Woah Babe! I am in awe seeing your Altair in Sims! How is it even possible? Did you create him with the help of some skins? His clothes are not that bad! I have seen worse. Have you made Amara too? I don’t remember when I played Sim last time! I got a new computer so I can finally do anything on it. I thought about buying Sims 4, because of their latest expansion pack. Like.. Imagine having a cow! But in the end I bought The Witcher games, because I have never played them and I enjoyed the books and soundtracks. To be honest, The Witcher soundtracks are my favorite amongst other game soundtracks and if you didn’t pay attention to music I can recommend you many fantastic songs!

My first thought at your story was.. You were attacked by what?! It took me a few moments to process how it was even possible. Think of it bears are not popular “animal mascots” if I can put it like that. But then it made me extremely sad. Bear on a chain leash. I know the story is exciting on its own but the thought that people are this cruel to animals makes me want to cry. I understand your aversion tho. It must have been a really scary experience, especially because you were a kid then!

Bulgaria! I have never been there, but I would love to. They are known for their rose cosmetics and I love its scent! How many times have you been there already? What makes you love this country this much?

Turkey is beautiful! I have been there and it was an incredible experience! If I had the opportunity I would go back there without a second thought, so if you ever have the opportunity to visit this country - GO! Egypt? Maybe it’s because I had really high expectations, but it disappointed me a lot. It’s dirty, people are pushy. But the coral reef is worth seeing! For sharing adventures I can say that I almost had a heart attack and collision with a sea turtle!

As for my travel plans - I have a lot! I don’t know if I could ever make it to some places tho! I would love to see Japan too! Since I remember I've wanted to go to Takarazuka theatre! For sure I would love to go back to Iceland. And I will go back, even if it were my last and only one journey. I am in love with this country with all my heart! And I am hyping over it as much as over my dog lol. I love hot weather, even when it is extreme for most people. But if I have to choose, I would choose to see the Arctic and Scandinavia. To see northern lights. To see milky way once again. And maybe go to Labrador Peninsula and find labradorite stone of my own! And Costa Rica just to go to Territorio de Zaguates and adopt all the dogs. Eh, some dreams have to remain just dreams.

Is there something particular you want to see in countries you would like to visit one day?

As for spicy food - I admire such skill! I guess you like spicy food and spicy content <winks>

Heavens, I can’t believe I respond to all messages! Sorry for divide our conversation into so many threads!

🔪

I'm glad you like him! Yes, I have like 20GB of CC for sims 3. Skins, eyes, make-up, sliders, clothes, objects. I spend a long time on him, especially that HIS FACE. THERE IS NO PIC OF HIS FACE AS A WHOLE. So I used to picture of the Altair figure I found. Honestly, If they made Altair in modern graphic he would be the sexiest of them all. I used to have Amara too but I don't have a picture ;; But if you want I can make one for you! And I have a cow in sims3! And it gives chocolate milk! ANd in all honesty. I won't but sims 4 because... I'm waiting for sims 5 >.<

The Witcher series is really great tho I haven't played Witcher 3 yet. YET.

As for bear yeah, it was not too nice. Anyway. Yes, I love Bulgaria, I was there twice but I could go there anytime I love that place. Idk maybe it's the weather, the people, the food, the sea, maybe everything. It's just so amazing. I love it so much more than for example the Canary Islands. People there was rude ;;

OMG SEA TURTLE?! Amazing! Tbh I don't really want to go to Egypt anymore. I used to want to go but I'm a bit afraid. But turkey! I think ill go there next year! Also funny thing. When I was in Albania I caught a sea turtle. I was like 14 I think and there was a turtle so I just... grabbed it. Took a photo, make people gasp and then let it go. I hope he's still alive and well ;; KNifeeeeyyyy. I love your plans and gods you are so amazing. I honestly wish you will visit all those places and one day tell me about them! I think that except Japan I also would love to see the northern lights and the milky ways. It sounds so nice when you're talking about it. I would be more than happy to see it with my own eyes. Also maybe you want to visit bunny island in japan? It's called Okunoshima. Yes, I love spicy in my life :D I want to see rabbit island in Japan, the cherry tree alley, the key-hole graves and the museum. I want to see the famous things in china. Like the army and the Chinese wall also I want to see Chinese and Japanese festivals. I want to see Petersburg and Moscow in Russia, the ruins of Masyaf castle, the Pyramids... there are a lot of places, you know? Or ruins of the shrine of Quetzalcoatl. The world is such a fascinating place I want to see all creations of the great, ancient civilisations ;w; And I want to do to Budapest again! And the famous water part in Slovakia! Hbu Knifey? tell me more?

[zhannabelle-eng]

How to prepare for the New Year and resist the coronavirus?

Challenge of Good from Zhannabelle: 5 steps that will change your life

2020 has been a challenging year for the entire world. But let's not let things get us down! A higher power gives us nothing we can't handle and survive. The important thing is that each of us can make the world a better place, and therefore we can make ourselves better too. This is what Zhannabelle's New Year's Challenge of Good is all about. Discover the 5 basic steps you need to take to become happy.

This year has brought a lot of unpleasant news and bad events. First of all, there's the new COVID-19 virus, which has already sickened millions of people. And some people are still waiting in fear to get sick. But should we be afraid so much? Spiritual mentor Zhannabelle recommends everyone to join the Challenge of Good consisting of 5 steps. Performing each step, you will make your life and the lives of your family and friends better, and you will be able to protect yourself from all illnesses. 

Step 1 – SAY THANK YOU

At this difficult time, many may say, ‘I have no one and nothing to be thankful for’. But think carefully before you say this. It has been a difficult year, but have you never had a single event for which you can say thank you? 

Let's proceed with the first step of the Challenge of Good. Take a blank sheet of paper, a pen and write down all the events for which you want to thank God or a family member, a friend, an acquaintance - it does not matter who. Most importantly, remember and write down all the good moments in your life during the year that are worthy to be thanked for.

Some of us may find it difficult to remember everything at once. If this is the case, ask Zhannabelle for a magical amulet. It will awaken your memories and focus on the most important things. After all, so many positive things have happened during this time, and some things are still forgotten! Hold the amulet in one hand and write your list with the other.

Keep this sheet of paper once you have written down all the events. Reread it on days when you feel bad and when you are in a difficult situation. It will give you strength and an opportunity to move on, to live and think only about good things, to believe in a better future and in yourself.

Step 2: BE JOYOUS

Joy is an invincible force. While despondency, sadness and denial can destroy everything, joy inspires and encourages everyone who comes into contact with it. Nowadays, people have protective masks on their faces and you can't tell if they're happy or sad. You should smile in any case! Know and believe that joy can heal any disease and help in difficult situations.

There is one monastery in the world, where almost all diseases can be cured, but on one condition: while you are there, you have to smile all the time. Otherwise, the monks will point out your fault and even punish you. The punishment is carrying heavy buckets of water up and down the hill. Having done this a couple of times, one decides that smiling is much easier and keeps smiling even when no one sees it.

The things is that smiling sends special impulses to the brain, which can even heal the body. Since not everyone can get into that monastery, we must try to awaken our joy on our own.

The easiest way is to stimulate joy with cheerful labels and smiley faces. These should be hung up around your house and/or in the workplace. You can draw a funny face and write: ‘Smile urgently!’ or "You're not naughty, you're a smiley’. Basically, let any little thing that makes you smile be in front of you all the time.

If fun stickers don't work, there is another way. It will fit more for home than office. Turn on your favourite music and dance without thinking about anything. Give yourself over to the dance like children do. You will feel the positive energy pulsating inside you after 2-3 minutes.

Zhannabelle has a special amulet for you in the form of brightly coloured feathers. Just looking at it will make you smile! There is a cheerful spirit inside of it that will energize you with positivity every day.

But if you still can't rejoice anything, then signing up for Zhannabelle’s retreat and doing a ritual there is the only way out. You need to do this, because without the feeling of joy you cannot move on to the next step of our Challenge of Good.

Step 3. BE FRIENDLY 

You now have gratitude and joy. These feelings can be multiplied by sharing them with others through friendliness. But it is important for you to do it from your heart. Think about it: which person's picture you have in front of your eyes right now or who you are constantly thinking about without keeping in touch with this person? Maybe you have dreamt about that person more than once for no reason. Often it is because they need your help or support. Call, text, or meet this person! Even if you haven't communicated for a long time or had a grudge against this person, it's all in the past.

A friendly chat with an old friend would bring you joy and excitement. Send her the link to the article about group classes at Zhannabelle's online school. Let her read it and decide to give it a try, too. Maybe she needs individual consultation, then tell her how to make an appointment. Provide help, be a guide for someone to the world of opportunity, and new resources will open up for you.

Be a friend to people, don't give up on them in difficult situations, and inspire them. Then goodness will return to you. If it is difficult, amulets with assistant spirits will always help you. Put this amulet to your heart - and it will immediately help you be friendly towards others.

Step 4. Be Generous

Generosity isn't only material, although it's also important. For example, sharing money, clothes, and food with those in need. However, the most significant is generosity of your heart and soul. You can not measure it, but it is always immense. You can show it by sharing your joy and giving a good mood to others. But the highest degree is to share knowledge with people. It's especially important to pass on sacred wisdom.

Share information about seminars at Zhannabelle's online school, invite them to join mentor's YouTube channel, where every woman is sure to find a useful and relevant video for herself. You already have this knowledge, so share it, be generous!

Step 5: START BELIEVING

Faith should never leave you: believe in the future, in the best, in yourself. It's the feeling that allows you to move forward. Without it, you can't live life to the fullest.

Write down on a sheet of paper everything you want for your family and yourself. Next to it, write down the things you wish for the world. If you want to have a good life, you should write your wishes on a piece of paper with a huge faith at heart that everything will happen the way you want it. You are recommended to read your wishes to the music of transformation. 

Faith of each of us is very strong, anything is within our power! Faith can heal the whole world and every person. Pray not only for yourself and your family, but also for our planet.

Communal prayer has often saved cities and countries from enemies. It will also help against the common enemy of humans, the coronavirus. Write Zhannabelle via her website where you live, and we will tell you how to contact the women of Power in your city. You can't imagine how many of us there are all over the world! Women unite in prayer for the future of the whole earth. You join us too.

Dear ladies, together we have taken 5 steps towards a new year, a new world. Share this knowledge with your family and friends; send them the link to this article. Invite new people to our seminars, and you will be lucky, prosperous, healthy, you will love and you will be loved. 

Mariika (Budapest)

‘I have been studying at Zhannabelle's online school for a long time. I attend group classes and seminars. It helps me a lot in life: I got rid of fear of communication with strangers, overcame the fear of saying something wrong, as a consequence I met a good man and we are dating. But recently I started dreaming about an old acquaintance with whom we had quarrelled a long time ago. It's funny to say: once, 10 years ago, I considered something she did a betrayal, because she told my parents that I was going on dates instead of going to classes. It seems so silly now, but then it was a tragedy and a dirty trick from Elzbieta, whom I considered my best friend.

When I made an appointment for individual counselling with Zhannabelle, I asked her why I was dreaming about my friend almost every night and what it could mean. She explained that Elzbieta probably needed my help and recommended me to call her. I didn't really want to reconnect with someone with whom I had lost contact long ago. But, following Zhannabelle's advice, I called her.

Elzbieta was pleased to hear my voice. After a couple of minutes of conversation, she admitted that she had been waiting for my call, she was afraid to call, afraid that I would slam the phone on her. It turned out that a couple of months ago she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and the recovery from a course of chemotherapy was very difficult for her. My former friend had no one to have a good talk with. She remembered our friendship, we trusted all our secrets to each other, and no one but me had ever supported her like that. Elzbieta missed me very much and constantly regretted the mistake we had made at a young age, which had caused us to stop communicating. After talking to her, I knew that I had to act immediately and I made an appointment for her for a consultation with the mentor.

After a month of continuous study at the online school, my friend had a sustained remission. She could even keep her breasts, and now she feels great! This is all thanks to Zhannabelle. I showed my concern by doing my part to save Elzbieta, for which I gained a firm friendship.

[amphtaminedreams]

My Amateur European Travel Guide

Hi to anyone who’s reading!

I spent just over a month in Europe over the summer and have far too many good food pics that deserve more than sitting in my camera roll untouched and thus I thought I’d do my very shitty, amateurish version of a travel guide, basically a run down of my favourite things that we did in each city. From touristy shit like the Colosseum and the Roman Forum to some equally beautiful but lesser known places, getting an inter-rail pass gives you the time to see everything whilst not spending an absolute fortune. 

I went with a friend and we did the basic, first-time traveller route: Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Ljubljana, Venice, Rome and Milan. The pass, which allowed us to use domestic and international trains on 10 separate days within a month, for students only cost £230. We did then have to pay extra for the Eurostar from St.Pancras to Paris, and additional “reservation” fees to get seats on the trains in Italy and between France and The Netherlands, but all in all this didn’t cost us anymore than about £50. The flight back from Milan to Southend Airport cost £30, though be warned that it’s actually pretty hard to get from Southend to central London; if we hadn’t been able to get a lift, we probably would’ve spent an extra £30 getting home from there. 

We were away for 3 weeks and 4 days in total, and on top of the approx. £700/£800 we spent on hostels and air b&bs, I spent about £1500 whilst I was away. You could probably get away with taking about £1000 with you if you’re willing to cook while you’re away. We did a couple of nights whilst we were in air b&bs, but on the whole, we usually ate out. The hostel kitchens were a bit of a nightmare, though I’m not going to pretend it was anything other than a combination of laziness and gluttony that stopped me from cooking, lol. HOW CAN YOU GO TO ITALY AND NOT GO OUT FOR PASTA EVERY NIGHT?! It can’t be done. With my non-existent self-control anyway. 

Once I got back from inter-railing, I also then spent a week with my family staying in the cutest seaside town about half an hour outside of Barcelona, Sitges, which we’ve visited a few times before. For that reason, I thought I’d write about some of my favourite things to do in and around Barcelona, not just from this trip but from all the times we’ve visited over the last few years.

I’ll start, though, with the first place we visited on our inter-railing trip: Paris.

Paris, France

It might be because it was the first place we went and the place where I had the most energy and drive to explore, lol, but Paris was my absolute favourite of the cities we visited. I know a lot of people seem to be disappointed with it but there’s just so much to do and so much culture; gorgeous architecture, art, fashion, food, I feel that it lives up to its reputation in every way if you really utilise your time there properly. The public transport is easy to understand and use and my only gripe with the hostel is that it was a little far out. This didn’t really limit us in any way though, so it didn’t bother me. 

The Hostel

Our first hostel, Jo&Joe’s in Gentilly, was a really cool place. I believe it was around £30 a night (one of the more expensive hostels we stayed in) to stay in a room like the one I've included a photo of. The beds were comfy and you had a decent amount of space, and the wi-fi was good. My only issue is that there wasn’t much privacy in terms of the bathroom; there was one toilet room and one shower room in the actual bedroom to be shared between the 6 of us. There didn’t really seem to be much about in Gentilly but to be honest, we didn’t venture very far and there’s more than enough to do in central Paris.

Paris Top Things to do:

1. Palais de Tokyo

Probably my favourite art museum we visited our entire trip, Palais de Tokyo was...an experience. 

Costing £8 for a student ticket, almost every piece of artwork in there was strange as hell. That being said, it was all very immersive and interactive and like nothing I’d seen before which is why I liked it so much. 

Well, apart from the dirty sock. Literally. There was a dirty sock on display. Art, right? 

2. Musee D’Orsay

I’d say if you only had time to do one of the “big” art museums in Paris, do Musee D’Orsay, not the Louvre.

 It’s a lot more compact and has a wider range of styles, plus a lot more modern art, including some Van Gogh and several Degas. I had so many favourite pieces from Louise Abbema’s Allegories of Spring and Winter, to Thomas Couture’s Romans in their Decadence:

Plus I’d take Amaury Duval’s portrait of Marie-Anne Detourbay over the Mona Lisa any day. The staring into your soul game she’s got going on is unparalleled.

3. Eiffel Tower 

I think the level of dumbassery involved in my decision to wear heeled boots to make the 500 or so step journey up the Eiffel Tower cancels out any smarts that went into us saving €3 by booking in advance and walking instead of getting the lift, but it’s all about the experience, lol, and I would do it again for the view. It only cost €5 in total and by booking online about a month before, we didn’t have to wait in what is usually about a 3 hour queue if you turn up on the day.

4. Yves Saint Laurent Museum

It only took us about an hour to do the Yves Saint Laurent museum but it was definitely worth the £10 for entry if you are interested in fashion. It was pretty quiet when we went which I liked as it made for a much more peaceful experience than say, the Louvre, and the museum is very well laid out. There’s a load of original pieces in there and I feel like I learned a lot about Saint Laurent himself too. I also learned that I am very unsophisticated (I really didn’t feel posh enough to be walking into the building, lol) but we been knew.

5. Sacre Couer 

Warning: The Sacre Couer is a very steep walk from the nearest tube station. I internally died. Several times. But it’s very beautiful once you get up there.

6. Monmarte

I wish we’d had more time to explore Monmarte as it was one of the prettiest places I saw on our trip, with so many cute restaurants and cafes. Top things to see in the area are the Wall of Love and though we didn’t actually go there, Montmarte Cemetery too. I found out when we got back that the latter is supposedly inhabited by a load of stray cats and now I am severely disappointed that we didn’t have a look. I guess I’ll just have to go back! You know, just to check if it’s true about the cats. And also eat some more of the food, ofc.

7. Vintage Shopping

We had a quick look in two of the vintage shops whilst we were in Paris, Kilo Shop and Tilt Vintage, and I saw a lot of really cool things. Unfortunately, because I couldn’t really fit anything else in my backpack and was being pretty tight with money at that point in the trip (an attitude my bank balance probably wishes had been sustained throughout, lol), I didn’t get anything. Still, I’d definitely recommend checking the shops I mentioned and the other vintage shops in that area out if you are interested in buying some clothes whilst you’re away. The only thing I’d say is to avoid them if you have trouble with crowds and/or small spaces as there were a shit tonne of people in pretty much all the ones we went in and because of the layout, not much room to move. And protip: if you like breathing non-body odour tinted oxygen, don’t venture in any of them in the middle of heatwave. Not fun. 

8. Champs Elysees 

I think it’s kind of a given that you see the Champs Elysees whilst you’re in Paris, but last time I was there, I only really saw it from an open top bus and was quiet underwhelmed. On this trip, we walked from the Louvre through the Tuileries and then slowly made our way down towards the Arc de Triomphe, having a look down the streets that run perpendicular to the Champs Elysees on our way, which were all very typically Parisienne. At the bottom, you have Aventue Montaigne which has all the fancy, designer flagship stores, and then down Avenue FDR (where we went for lunch) there are plenty of places to stop and have a bite to eat. I thought I’d been all French getting a baguette from down here before realising it was from a glorified Paul which we have all over London, BUT, if you’re into açai bowls, my friend had a really good one at a place called Cojean.

9. Versailles

Before we went to Versailles, a lot of people told me that it was really crowded and not worth going to but I couldn’t disagree more. It was so beautiful both on the inside and out and there’s so much to learn! I’ve always been fascinated by Marie Antoinette so I might be slightly biased but I was totally in my ex-historical nerd element. I would definitely recommend arriving as early as possible if you’re not paying for skip the line tickets, since we got there for around 10 and had to stand in a very long queue to get in. It did move quickly but looked very daunting at first and I imagine it only gets worse as the day goes on.

10. Disneyland Paris

I mean, we didn’t got there this time and technically, it’s not Paris. But come on, it’s Disney. I couldn’t leave it off the list.

Future Paris Bucket List:

Moulin Rouge

Musee d’Orangerie

Jardin du Luxembourg

Louvre Highlights Tour

Louis Vuitton Foundation

Paris Museum of Modern Art

Get dinner in Trocadero

Centre Pompidou

Paris Catacombs

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Amsterdam is one of my favourite places ever. It’s picturesque, easy to find your way around, and full of amazing food. It was my second time here and my friend’s third so we had a pretty chilled out time but still did a lot. I definitely wouldn’t say no to going back again.

The Hostel

The hostel we stayed in in Amsterdam was called ClinkNoord and was a short (and free!) boat ride away from the city centre. Also at around £30 a night, the rooms were basic yet comfortable and the place as a whole had a modern, utilitarian vibe to it which I really liked. The bathrooms were a short walk down the hall, a more private alternative to the bathrooms in our Paris hostel, and were pretty much always free. As for the showers, they were a wet room kinda situation and a little bit grim at times but as long as you bring flip flops (I didn’t, another example of dumbassery, lol) you’ll be fine. Maybe this is the 10 year old in me leaping out but I really loved the bar area at this hostel too: drinks were cheap, but more importantly, it had table football, pool, AND a ping-pong room. WITH A BLACK LIGHT MIGHT I ADD!

Amsterdam Top Things to do:

1. Electric Ladyland

The edibles had already began to kick in a little bit by the time we got to Electric Ladyland so this might be a bit of an overstatement but this place was, in a good way of course, very trippy. It’s basically a mini fluorescent art museum and exhibition in this guy’s basement (not as weird as it sounds, lol), and for £5 you can go in and see it and then, if you hang around, watch him give a demonstration on how it all works and where he sourced his paint from. It says on the website that it’s by appointment only but we just turned up on the day just as a slot was about to start and were allowed in. In terms of taking an edible before you go in, maybe don’t, lol. It was a bit of a surreal experience; in a very dark room, listening to an old American hippy talk about how he explored caves in Utah to find mineral rocks, the weed-induced paranoia low-key kicked in. I did, at points, momentarily forget that there was a room around the point I was immediately focussed on and started panicking that we were just drifting through space. And then there was the occasional fear that I was trapped in some kind of eternal time loop where the man would just keep on talking in circles and I would be stuck down there forever, not wanting to be rude and leave whilst he was mid-sentence, as part of the universe’s karmic punishment for my impractical level of politeness and need to people-please. Climbing the ladder up out of the basement was...a little tricky, to say the least.

2. Pancake House

You have to have pancakes in Amsterdam and my friend recommended this place as the original one. I had a pancake with ice cream, caramel sauce and chocolate sauce and whilst a little sickly, it was tasty af. If I went again, I think I’d just stick to one sauce; it was so sweet that I had to admit defeat about halfway, something I do not look back on with pride. Next time, I will be victorious over one of these beasts of a pancake. Speaking it into existence.

3. Hire a bike and visit Vondelpark

There are plenty of ways to get about in Amsterdam and the trams are super easy to use but hiring a bike for the time you’re there is probably the cheapest and most Amsterdammy (I know, not really a word) way to get around. We hired our bikes from Starbikes by the central station and it was a very simple and affordable process which I would definitely recommend; their shop has some of the best reviews on Trip Advisor for bike hire. Riding along the canals is quite chilled but if you’re not super confident, the best place to go is probably Vondelpark, as it has wider lanes with the added bonus of not living in semi-permanent fear of being yeeted off your bike into the canal by a car coming up behind you. It also has friendly ducks! How can you say no to that? I mean, ignoring the fact that male ducks have like, 9 inch corkscrew penises which apparently spin when they mate. Thank Reddit for that life-altering and mildly disturbing piece of information.

4. Mannekin chips

The BEST Belgian fries which I spent the entirety of the rest of our trip craving. Best sauce combination is ketchup and samurai sauce, and I recommend going for a regular portion. The large is insane and I am very much in awe of anybody who can finish it.

5. Van Gogh Museum

We didn’t actually visit the Van Gogh museum on this trip but I went on my first visit to Amsterdam and you really can’t miss it. Not only does it have a lot of Van Gogh’s most famous works, including sunflowers, it has a lot of the work of the artists who inspired him as well as pieces from some of his contemporaries. 

7. Stedelijk

Really cool modern art museum with an interactive room where you can take part in activities relating to the current exhibition too. Though I guess it really depends on your art preferences, if you do only have time to do either this or The Rijksmuseum, I would definitely say Stedelijk. 

8. The Rookies Coffeeshop

So I can’t say I’ve tried a lot of the coffee shops in Amsterdam as on our first visit we only really went to this one and The Bulldog chain, and this time we didn’t go as much, but they do the best space cakes. They’re genuinely really tasty but they can be quite intense if you haven’t smoked in a while or don’t do so regularly so make sure you’re in somewhere you feel safe and have other people with you.

9. Amsterdam Dungeons

Though the Amsterdam Dungeons were more similar to the London Dungeons than I thought they would be, with less of a focus on the dark history of the area and more on general dark European history such as the Spanish Inquisition and witch trials which also came up a lot in the London run through, I would still thoroughly recommend them. The Dungeons are definitely a tourist trap but they’re also just hilarious and you genuinely do learn a little, so I think worth the money!

10. The Blonds Cafe

I wasn’t crazy about the menu here as I’m a ridiculously fussy eater but I think most people will easily find something they like, and the actual cafe and presentation is really cute. The grilled cheese sandwich I ended up having was really good and even if you end up just having a cake, I’d recommend it. They had lemon AND mint infused water dispensers, which, now I’m writing down doesn’t seem very exciting at all, but I got hyped up, okay? And worst case scenario, it’s not for you, there are loads of other cool and very hipster-y looking (lol) independent cafes in the area. 

11. Anne Frank House

Again, this was something I did on my first trip to Amsterdam, but you can’t miss it. From a history standpoint and as someone who read Anne Frank’s diary several times when I was younger, I found it very surreal to actually visit the house I’d heard so much about. You definitely get a sense of just how stifling and claustrophobic living in that annex was and even if you’re not into your history, I do think a lot of insight can be gained from taking a trip here! 

12. Go to one of the Pastry Shops

If you go to Amsterdam, you’ll see them everywhere, the little slightly shabby-looking cafes with all the amazing waffles and donuts and crepes and cupcakes in the window. Go to one! I had a waffle covered in white chocolate and Oreos and it was 1000% as good as it looked. 

13. Moco Museum

The last thing on my Amsterdam list and another thing we did on my first trip, the Moco Museum is one of my favourites I’ve ever been to. It’s pretty small and doesn’t take you that long to look around but it’s full of contemporary, provocative art based around the theme of political and social commentary. Given that description, it’s probably no surprise that it houses a lot of Banksy, but there’s also a fair bit of pop art too, and a very cool gift shop. Because I can never resist a good gift shop.

Future Amsterdam Bucket List:

A day trip to the tulip fields

De Poezenboot

Eye Film Museum 

Swing at A’dam lookout

Canal Cruise

Berlin, Germany

Berlin definitely wasn’t what I was expecting it to be. As a capital city, I expected it to be this very built up, bustling, commercial place, but it was actually pretty quiet and very spread out. In a way, it almost seemed a bit left behind and completely deserted in parts. That being said, from a historical point of view, it was probably the most interesting place that we went. It’s easy to forget that just a few decades ago the city was completely divided and you can definitely sense that it’s still rebuilding itself.

The Hostel

We stayed in a hostel that was tucked away in the basement of the Aletto hotel, just a minute’s walk away from the Zoologischer Garden station. I believe it was around £20 a night for an 8 person mixed dorm. The beds weren’t the comfiest and the room itself was a bit dark and dank, given that it was below street level, but all in all, the hostel was decent as a stop-off point. I liked that there was a kind of a small communal area in the kitchen and the bathrooms were spacious and clean, and fortunately, it was pretty quiet when we were there so we usually had them to ourselves. 

Berlin Top Things to do:

1. Never Ending Love Story

A really lovely little cafe in a pretty, quiet area, the service here was exceptionally good! I’m not one to complain when workers don’t seem overly enthusiastic, I work in retail so I get that you sometimes can’t be arsed with all the over-the-top politeness, but I do appreciate friendliness and the waitress here was so sweet. I had delicious scrambled eggs on sourdough toast and my friend had pancakes and we both really enjoyed our food. 

2. East Side Gallery

I wish I had more to say about the East Side Gallery, but to be honest I was pretty drunk and had half an edible-I thought we were going out out after, don’t judge me-so I can’t remember much. Judging from my very shitty and my friend’s very good (this is one of hers, lol) photos though, it was really interesting. Good street art is up there with the best of them imo and given the context of the gallery, it’s no surprise that a lot of the art is politically charged, which just adds an extra layer of appeal to it. There’s also a lot of good photo ops, or so drunk me clearly thought. 

3. Topography of Terror

Built on top of the former SS Reich Main Security Office, the Topography of Terror is a museum I’d say you need to set aside at least 2 and a half/3 hours for to properly do. There’s so much information to get through and I’d say I ended up skimming half of it towards the end because we were short on time; I later found out that there’s even more to see outside which we didn’t even touch. 

4. Jewish Museum

Unfortunately, a lot of the Jewish Museum was closed when we went but it’s still a very physically impressive building with exhibitions that are equal parts daunting and thought-provoking, relating to both the Jewish experience during the Second World War and Jewish culture in general.

5. Museum Island

We didn’t actually go in any of the museums on Museum Island but we walked around and sat at a nice little green spot nearby; t’s very pretty to explore, especially as the sun is going down. There were plenty of bars around and people drinking, sunbathing and listening to music by the river. Generally a really relaxed vibe.

6. Fritzies 

I know dirty fries aren’t the classiest thing ever but the ones from this place tasted really fucking good. How can you go wrong with a fast food restaurant dedicated to chips?

7. The History: Brandenberg Gate, Reichstag, Checkpoint Charlie, Hitler’s Bunker, Jewish Memorial

Most of these places are within walking distance of each other and we did them all within a couple of hours. Like I said, the best thing about Berlin is the history so I think making an effort to see all these things is really important. On our last night we managed to find out, via a nearby poster, about a free show on the river (with English subtitles obviously; as the basic monolingual bitch I am, anything other than dankeschön and hallo went right over my head) which covered major points in the history of the Reichstag over the last century; it was the perfect way to round off our trip.

8. KW Institute for Contemporary Art

This museum was half the overly pretentious contemporary art that makes classicists roll their eyes:

-though I do actually like it, sue me-

And half the simple, but millennially-inspired kinda stuff that I love. Like, that top collection got me feeling like the new Van Gogh every time I accidentally screenshot my home screen. 

So obviously, I rated it. And side-note, the building in general, which had an old, unused warehouse kinda thing going on, along with a shady little courtyard outside, was very cool.

9. Pizza Nostra

Look at this photo. Do I need to say any more?

Future Berlin Bucket List:

Historical River Cruise

Return to the Jewish Museum

The Story of Berlin Museum

Berghain (even just to see it from the outside)

About Blank, Suicide Circus, i.e one of the tamer, more mainstream clubs

Anne Frank Zentrum

Hackescher Hof

Oranienburger Strasse and Kunsthaus Tacheles

Prague, Czech Republic

I absolutely adored Prague. From the second I stepped out of the metro station into Old Town Square on our first evening, I felt like I was walking into a fairytale. All the buildings were so ornate and beautiful, everywhere you look is like a postcard. There’s so much history there which we only really had time to scrape the surface of and I can’t wait to go back.

The Hostel

We stayed at Hostel Dakura which was only around £15 a night and a few metro stops from the city centre. As you can see, it’s a little outdated but all in all, still clean and comfortable. The dorm and bathrooms were very spacious and there was an outdoor seating area with benches and ping-pong too. I’d definitely say it was good value for money.

Prague Top Things to do:

1. Explore Old Town

The Old Town part of Prague is definitely the main attraction, from the cute and very typically European seating areas outside the restaurants, to the Trdelnik shops, to the gothic statues, and the colourful buildings that surround them; you'll feel like you’re walking through a mix between a shopping mall and a medieval time capsule. There’s not really all that much point me putting Old Town on the must-do list as it’s pretty much unavoidable but I liked it so much I just couldn’t leave it out. I really haven’t been anywhere like it before. It’s part Westeros, part Fantasyland at Disney (with some stag dos thrown in), and that’s saying something; Disney World comparisons do not come easy from me.

2. Letna Hill

A bit of a steep walk uphill but totally worth it for the view of the city.  Lots of cool bars and places to get cheap beer and cider too, if that’s your kinda thing. Spirits, to my dismay, are pretty much the same price as they are back home. Not that it was on Letna Hill but I paid €20 for 2 doubles one night. €20. PRAGUE IS CHEAP FOR ALCOHOL, THEY SAID. YOU CAN GET PISSED FOR A TENNER, THEY SAID. IT’LL BE FUN, THEY SAID. Sigh.

PROTIP: Make sure you have cash on you, especially if you’re heading up Letna Hill, as they don’t take card at any of the bars and there aren’t any cash machines. There also aren’t any water fountains and the tap water isn’t drinkable, apparently. You know what there are, though? Rats. 

I’m going to stop before I put anyone off. Our experience wasn’t the best but done right, I think you could have a really chilled evening here. Go to Letna Hill. It’s lovely.

3. Prague Castle

Also a bit of an uphill walk, Prague Castle is a gothic dream with live music, tantalising food stalls (hehe, tantalising, somebody hire me to write their cookbook ASAP) and insane views. Half the time I felt like I was in King’s Landing and the other half Hogwarts, and that is the kind of 50/50 split I live for. 

4. Walk across Charles Bridge and walk alongside the Vltava River

I thought our day peaked when I came to the realisation, whilst crossing the Charles Bridge, that we were in fact surrounded by vaguely religious and mildly creepy Jesus-looking statues but then we reached the other side and soon after, became one with nature. We saw ducks! Otters. Swans. Inject that wholesome shit into my veins. 

Also, a pigeon landed on me! That’s right, if you stand there with your arm out for long enough whilst walking alongside the Vltava River, you too can experience the fleeting terror that comes with the possibility of being pooed on but then the earth-shattering realisation that comes after: that pigeons, maybe, aren’t so bad after all. That they’re actually kinda cute in their own weird, scavenging way! That maybe the pigeon lady in Mary Poppins made some points! I mean, can’t we all relate to wanting to steal other people’s food? I definitely can. Consider me a changed woman.

5. GOAP Museum

Though I’m not much of a Salvador Dali fan and I have a sneaking suspicion that some of the “artwork” in this museum was actually just prints from google blown up on A2 photo paper, I thoroughly enjoyed the Alphonse Mucha and Andy Warhol sections of the GOAP. 

-Untitled Salvador Dali-

The former is one of my absolute favourite artists so I definitely had to take a moment when I walked in and saw that not only did they have several of his original lithographs, but also a whole wall dedicated to him. I wish I had good photos but the lighting was a bit too artificial to really do it justice. The lithographs came out pretty well though:

Obviously Andy Warhol is an icon too; his exhibition in particular was hugely informative and well laid out, definitely a people pleaser. I couldn’t find all too much online but it seems like the exhibitions mentioned are permanent, so definitely go and check them out. 

I also feel the need to mention that it was here I ascended to an elite level of art hoe by buying a Mucha lighter. Jokes on me because it doesn’t work very well, like...at all in anything windier than a very, very mild breeze, BUT it looks pretty, so points for that. 

6. Cafe Chloe

Seeing the size of the queue outside Elan Cafe in London, it kinda blew my mind that considering its flower wall, you could just walk into Cafe Chloe and get a table straight away. Obviously the flower wall is a draw for Instagram purposes (yes, I’m a shallow human being, *insert Ariana Grande “and what about it?” gif here*) but the food was really good too. The perfect place to stop off for brunch. 

7. Pedalos

Again, the pedalos under Charles Bridge are kind of a tourist trap but it was only around €12 between us to rent one for the hour; most of them appeared to be 4 seaters so you could get 2 more people in there and split the price again, making it even cheaper. Plus, it was really fun and we got to go right up to the ducks! 

8. Karlovy Lazne

I’m not gonna lie, tackiness aside, I love a club with multiple rooms and this one had FIVE. There were a lot of English people in there and it did cost about 12 euros in cash to get in (take the cash out in advance as the machine outside charged quite a steep fee), but they played ABBA on more than one occasion so I have zero regrets. I mean, apart from drinking maybe a bit too much once again, but that’s kind of a given at this point. I can only apologise to my liver and what’s left of my dignity.

9. Joy Burger

NGL, the service here wasn’t the best and I kind of felt like I was annoying some of the staff literally just by trying to order my food BUT to be fair, I’d probably be annoyed by me too considering my upholding of the British tradition of asking everywhere if they speak English and hoping for the best rather than actually learning the native language. Anyway, back to the point: look at this burger. Fit. 10/10 would demolish again.

Future Prague Bucket List:

Museum Kampa

Petrin Hill

One of the free city walking tours

Pub crawl

Vienna, Austria

Honestly, of all the places we went to, Vienna was the one I was most pleasantly surprised by. Before going, I’d heard that there wasn’t much to do there and I thought that 24 hours would be more than enough to see the main attractions, but aside from Paris, it’s probably the city I want to revisit most. On every other block there seemed to be some kind of beautiful flower garden or sprawling palace or stately home or elegant cafe, but at the same time, it still had a very modern feel to it. A lot like Paris but more compact, and with a slightly Germanic twist. Plus, I had one of the best Maccies of my life here, so I really can’t complain.

The Hostel

For around £18 for the night we stayed in a 6 person dorm at the Wombats Hostel by Naschmarkt. Because we weren’t there too long, I didn’t get all that much of a feel for it but the communal areas and bar seemed very cool and the central part of the city was in walking distance. The dorms were a little small and outdated and we did get woken up by a fire alarm in the middle of the night but it gave me a kind of primary school trip type nostalgia so I didn’t mind too much. I’d probably look for another hostel if I went back to Vienna just because I think if you were staying for a while, you'd start to feel a bit cooped up in the room. For the one night, however, it was ideal.

Vienna Top Things to do:

1. Museum Quartier

We really only walked through Museum Quartier but there seemed to be loads going on and definitely lots to look at. There’s also a giant astroturf covered waterbed which sounds kinda wack but was actually super fun when I wasn’t fearing my head was going to be squashed like a watermelon by the kids quite literally throwing themselves around on it. So yeah! Check it out!

2. The Traffic Lights

It sounds silly but the traffic lights in the central part of Vienna are super cute. Have a stroll around and see how many of them you can spot. Berlin’s Ampelmann wishes. 

3. Belvedere Palace Grounds

Boujie. 

4. Schonbrunn Palace Grounds

Even boujier.

5. Volksgarten

I really felt like I was walking through the Red Queen’s gardens. Minus the crochet and threat of decapitation of course.

6. Max and Benito

SO GOOD. And a really funky seating area outside too. Probably best for a quick lunch and I also imagine would make great drunk food if you need an excuse to day drink. 

Future Vienna Bucket List:

Natural History Museum of Vienna

Wien Museum

Leopold Museum

Belvedere Museum of Contemporary Art

Cafe hopping

Further explore MuseumQuartier 

Naschmarkt

Budapest, Hungary

It might be an unpopular opinion but I didn’t adore Budapest as a city. To be honest, my expectations were probably slightly too high as I’d heard so many people rave about it. I can see why people like it so much: there’s loads of great places to eat, drinks are cheap, and ruin bars are very cool. My issue was just that I thought there’d be more to do in terms of daytime activities. The one art museum we went to was completely deserted and there didn’t seem to be as many historical places to explore as in some of the other cities we visited. Of course it’s all a matter of personal preference and I might have just not done enough research/planned enough, plus that’s still not to say I didn’t have a good time. We had some lovely chilled out days and the city kind of comes alive in a different way in the evening; the boat party we went to was by far the best night out we had throughout our trip and I had some insanely delicious food. We also hired an Air B&B here for about half the price of some of the hostels we stayed in, and so got to actually settle down and spread our stuff out for a few days; something that was much needed after living out of lockers for 2 weeks.

Budapest Top Things to do:

1. Mr.Funk’s

Look at this bad boy and tell me you don’t want to go to Mr.Funk’s and try one of their freakshakes. Tell me that freakshakes being banned in the UK wasn’t a devastating miscarriage of justice and an attack on my human rights. Tell me that I’m not a failure for leaving a donut behind. Pls. Validate me. 

2. Street Food Karavan

Street Food Karavan is such a cool little spot with so many delicious looking food stalls, I honestly could’ve eaten there for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. Plus loads of vegan and veggie options too.

3. Boat Party

I believe we booked our night through budapestboatparty.com and honestly it was so fun and such good value for money. It may have partly been down to the alcohol and the edible I had before, lol, but everything felt so surreal; I spent 90% of the event just being amazed by how beautiful our surroundings were and the combination of the breeze and the scenery and the music made for the absolute best atmosphere. Everyone we spoke to was so friendly and if I went back I’d love to do it again, maybe slightly more sober (unlikely) so I can take even more of it in. That being said, bear in mind that these kind of things can probably be a bit hit or miss. The friend that recommended the boat party told me that she spent the first half of the event avoiding being hit on by men twice her age, so clearly it depends a lot on the company, lol!

4. Kiosk

We didn’t actually have proper meals at Kiosk but we did find some deck chairs to sit on whilst we ate ice cream from one of the stalls they were running outside. The restaurant itself was inside but the outdoor seating had a stunning view of the sunset and the river and the area in general was really buzzing. 

5. Shoes on the Danube

It’s a simple monument but the story behind the Shoes on the Danube makes it one of the most important things to see in Budapest.

6. Szechenyi Baths

Before we actually went into the baths, I was a bit grossed out. Like, it sounded great in theory but then we got there and I realised we were about to step into what is essentially a steaming pit of bodily fluids. BUT, put that minute, mildly repugnant detail aside and you’ll have a brilliant time. Start with the whirlpool in the outdoor area and by the time you’ve done that, you’ll be feeling wild enough to bath and sauna hop to your heart’s desire. Unless you are a real, compulsive germaphobe, pissing yourself at the sight of little kids and adults alike getting uncontrollably whisked around like a bunch of sweaty egg yolks is enough to make you put any (don’t get me wrong, warranted) hygiene concerns to one side. You can shower when you’re dead. That’s what they say, right?

7. Margaret Island 

I think we had one of our most relaxed afternoons at Magaret Island, lying out on the grass by the dancing fountains; it’s definitely a great place to sunbathe, read, or grab a cheap alcoholic drink. There’s options for if you’re feeling more adventurous too: on our second visit there, we paid €10 between us to hire a pedal car for the hour and decided to cycle round the island. It was by the grace of god (or for the most part my friend’s very necessary backseat driving) that there was only one casualty of my steering. Angry Hungarian man, if you’re out there, I’m very sorry our pedal car almost knocked you off your bike. My bad. But yeah, my catastrophic attempt at doing the bare minimum physical activity aside, go and chill on Margaret Island. It’s super pretty.

8. Buda Castle and Fisherman’s Bastion

Just a heads up that we paid around €4 or €5 each to go up to the top of Castle Hill with one of the companies giving out flyers at the bottom, so have a look and see if you can find a better deal before paying to ride the funicular. Once we did get up there we could hop on and off, and the ticket included a ride down as well. In terms of what to expect when you get up there, spectacular views. Though I found the castle itself a bit disappointing, Fisherman’s Bastion was really beautiful and had some great photo spots. If I went back to Budapest, I’d probably spend more time in the area as I think that’s where a lot of the history actually is.

9. Szimpla Kert

Probably the most famous ruin bar in Budapest, I really loved Szimpla Kert. It was a bit chaotic and very crowded but the eccentric interiors and open air courtyard gave it an almost magical feel that only a tiny number of bars I’ve been to have anything on. Vaulty Towers and Bar Elba in Waterloo I’m looking at you. Missing you and your overpriced drinks always xoxo

10. House of Terror

The House of Terror was my only real history fix whilst we were in Budapest and I found it really interesting. In particular, I liked how all the visitors took sheets of information in each room to read in our own time rather than us all trying to crowd round one sign. The basement part of the museum is presumably the main draw, and I understand why given how unnerving it is, but I enjoyed the whole museum. Obviously there are things you have to take with a pinch of salt and (our Air B&B host warned in our welcome package that it was slightly biased; I couldn’t find much about public opinion of the museum online so if by the slim chance somebody who knows more is reading this please let me know! Educate me!), but at the same time, if just for walking through the site of the past atrocities, there is definitely something to be gleaned by visiting.

11. Parliament Building

There was really no need for the Hungarian Parliamentary building to step on Westminter’s neck like that but...I guess she did what she had to do.

12. Ludwig Museum

Like I mentioned, this museum was pretty deserted but they did have some cool contemporary art and in particular an exhibition dedicated to the fashion designer Kiraly Tamas which I really enjoyed. His are the pieces in the photo above!

13. Donut Library

Oreo donuts. Need I say more?

14. La Fabbrica 

A very boujie but surprisingly affordable Italian restaurant right opposite St.Stephen’s basilica (pictured), I had one of the many top tier spag bols on this trip here. The toilets are also stylish af and made me feel very much like a peasant so maybe wear something nice so you can get those good good HQ bathroom mirror pics. I was certainly not in any shape to do so. Those toilets were really wasted on my scruffy ass that day. 

Future Budapest Bucket List:

The Hungarian National Gallery

Műcsarnok

Museum of Fine Arts

Budapest History Museum

Hungarian State Opera House

Flippermúzeum

Instant

Great Synagogue 

Memento Park

Secret Walking Tour

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Though we mainly went to Ljubljana so that we could visit Lake Bled, it was still a very cute little area. Pretty small for a capital city but there were loads of day trips out from the centre and for the evenings, a whole range of lively bars and restaurants along the river. 

The Hostel

We stayed at Hostel Kva right in the city centre and paid around €20 a night. The hostel itself was lovely and kind of felt like more of a young people’s B&B than hostel; the communal area in particular had a very cosy, personal feel to it and the staff were incredibly friendly and helpful. That being said, the actual rooms were very small and I did feel pretty cramped whilst we were there, more so than in any of the other hostels we stayed at. 

Ljubljana Top Things to do:

1. Meselkova Mesa

About a 15 minute walk from the city centre, Meselkova Mesa is a very interesting place. I'm not going to lie, I did feel a little on edge whilst we were there, lol; it was pretty deserted apart from a couple of men having a very loud argument. Nevertheless, there’s some very cool buildings and street art so if you’re in a group, check it out.

2. Lake Bled

Our day trip to Lake Bled, a half hour coach journey from Ljubljana Station for IIRC €8 return, was one of my favourite things we did whilst inter-railing. Not only is it absolutely magnificent to look at but there’s so much to do that I feel like you could have your whole holiday there if you wanted to. Assault courses, hikes, swimming, water sports, rowing, tobogganing, chilling on the (yes, artificial) sand, whether you want to relax or thrill-seek, you’re going to have plenty to do.

3. Puffy

These mini pancakes were so good that I didn’t even notice the chocolate sauce was Nutella and that’s saying something because WHY DO THEY PUT IT ON EVERYTHING IN MAINLAND EUROPE!? PEOPLE WHO DON’T LIKE NUTELLA HAVE RIGHTS TOO!

4. Pop’s Place

The best burger of the entire trip, hands down, and the whole menu looked delicious. Would I fly to Ljubljana just to have another one? Probs. 

5. Tivoli Park

A great place to sit down and read a book or go on a bike ride, or alternatively, if you’re me, awkwardly hide from a bunch of people from your hostel you irrationally believed were judging you earlier that day in the bathrooms.

6. Castle Walk

The uphill walk did kill me a little but I am mildly asthmatic so let’s put it down to that. Nothing to do with the fact I haven’t been to the gym in a year. Nothing at all. Anyways, the view was very pretty and though we didn’t go inside the castle, there’s apparently an escape room in there as well as a museum, a restaurant and a jazz club so definitely worth the minor hike.

7. Flower Market

If you go to the square where the food market is, by Dragon Bridge, you’ll find endless stalls of some of the most beautifully arranged flowers I’ve ever seen. It might be a seasonal thing, I’m not sure, but if you’re there in the summer, I’d recommend seeking the market out. They’re a very reasonable price and yes, I did specifically buy a sunflower for a photo op for 50 cent, guilty as charged. When vanity is that cheap I really can’t resist, lol.

8. Illusions Museum

I would definitely recommend going with at least one other person to get the most out of the Illusions Museum and €10 is pretty pricey but if you want to get a cheesy oh-look-I’m-standing-on-the-ceiling photo, here is your best bet.

9. Grefino Frozen Yogurt

I’m not gonna lie, I don’t actually like frozen yogurt myself but I can appreciate good food when I see it and my friend’s portion looked FIT. Plus, I always get excited when anything’s make your own; there will always be a part of me that feels incomplete without regular trips to Pizza Hut to overdo it with the ice cream factory (which this is basically a frozen yogurt, grown up version of). Miss you always. 

Future Ljubljana Bucket List:

Escape Castle

Ljubljana Castle guided tour

Tobogganing at Lake Bled

Row to the Pilgrimage Church of the Assumption of Maria at Lake Bled

Škocjan Caves

MSUM

Venice, Italy

Everywhere you look in Venice is picture perfect. It literally looked exactly how it did in all the photos I’d seen beforehand. There’s so much to do and so many amazing looking places to eat, I could easily spend a relaxed week here. Emphasis on the relaxed because getting around does involve a lot of walking and a surprising amount of stairs, and we had to pack as much as we could into the short amount of time that we had. By the end of our first day in Venice alone, the word exhausted had a whole new meaning. In terms of public transport, there’s only really the boat system, and that’s a steep €18 for a day ticket. Probably partly due to my moaning, we did end up getting one of these on our last day, but that meant that we also got to go to the islands of Murano and Burano which are included. I definitely wouldn’t say no to going back but it’s quite an overwhelming space: a bit disorientating, crowded, and very expensive! You’d have to give me a few years, lol!

The Hostel

Whilst in Venice we stayed at the Wombats Hostel in Mestre, for around £13 a night. We were lucky in that it had only opened the week before (they were actually celebrating its opening at the Wombats in Naschmarkt when we were there!), and so it was super cheap. I imagine by now the price would’ve increased as it was a lovely hostel. Being new there were obviously some teething problems: queues on the front desk were pretty long, the free drinks vouchers given out had mistakes in that you couldn’t redeem them for one of the drinks that was listed, the kitchens were apparently very overcrowded with 2 faulty hobs between about 50 people, and our room as well as the bathroom in the lobby frequently ran out of toilet paper. Other than that, the dorms were the most spacious, modern and breathable of all the hostels we stayed in and the bar and communal areas were great. The only thing to bear in mind is that you do have to get a train into the main island of Venice, but it’s only about €3 for a return and it’s a short journey. 

Venice Top Things to do:

1. Peggy Guggenheim

A really beautiful museum and garden right on the waterfront, there were all kinds of modern and contemporary art and even a piece (pictured above) by Jenny Holzer who is one of my favourite contemporary artists! I definitely fangirled a little! Some other standouts were by Jackson Pollock, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Max Ernst, Joan Mitchell and Willem de Kooning which I’m going to offload here to free up some space on my camera roll, lol:

Composition by Joan Mitchell (1962)

Silver Bedhead by Alexander Calder (1945-1946)

Untitled by Willem de Kooning (1958)

Circumcision by Max Ernst (1946)

2. Liberia Acqua Alta

An eclectic little bookshop tucked away down some Venetian side street with tower upon tower of some of the most random combinations of books I’ve ever seen, my favourite thing about Liberia Acqua Alta was the cat chilling behind the counter. It’s shameful the vigour with which the crazy cat lady in me jumped out but I actually did start tearing up at the sight of it. I hadn’t seen a cat in 3 WEEKS! I missed my babies okay:(

3. Takeaway Pizza 

There’s loads of fresh takeaway pizza places around Venice but this particular slice was from a place called Farini. I think there might be more than one of them, and to be honest, when there’s pizza that delicious looking in the window, it would be a crime not to at least seek one out.

4. St.Mark’s Square and Basilica and Bridge of Sighs

It might be a huge tourist trap but you really can’t miss St.Mark’s Square. The Basilica is one of the most magnificent buildings I’ve ever seen and even as someone who is not at all religious, you can appreciate the thought and craftsmanship that went into it. The astrological clock right next to the basilica is also absolutely stunning, just as much so as the one in Prague, imo:

Getting dive-bombed by a flock of pigeons in the square was fun too. My life flashed before my eyes just for a moment. It was a humbling experience.

5. Leonardo Da Vinci Exhibit at Palazzo Zaguri

Basically, this exhibit was a collection of Da Vinci’s drawings of the anatomy of the human body side by side with the corresponding plasticised body parts. Really interesting and not at all as gory as it sounds, which was really the only disappointing part for me, lol.

6. Fondaco de Tedeschi 

If you want a good view of the city without paying a fortune, Fondaco de Tedeschi is your place. It’s a fancy mall with a rooftop area that you can, by booking a time slot online, go up for free. 

7. "Get Lost”

I’m not really someone that enjoys walking around aimlessly but if you’re gonna do that anywhere, Venice is your place. Every street and bridge and balcony is postcard worthy and there are pizza and ice cream and just generally good food places everywhere. You’re bound to stumble across at least one authentic, non wholesale mask shop whilst you’re wandering, and although there’s something vaguely creepy about a load of these blank faces staring out the shop windows at you, some of the displays are totally bewitching:

The middle display is from the shop window of the place that made the mask for Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut which I thought was very cool!

8. Get a boat pass and visit Murano and Burano

As I said, on our last day we bought a boat pass (€18) and visited the nearby islands of Murano and Burano, Murano being the island famed for its glass, and Burano for its rainbow houses. Burano was definitely my favourite of the two; it was a buzzing place full of charming little stalls and shops and boats, and of course, colour. Plus, we even got some close cat encounters in there! Murano was pretty but a lot quieter and seemingly more spread out. The glass shops get a bit old after a while as most of them all have the same things in and so I think finding out where you can see a glass blowing demonstration or visiting the glass museum is a good idea if you are thinking of visiting.

9. Osteria Trattoria Al Nono Risorto

This was a super affordable little restaurant with a really lovely outdoor seating area, recommended by my friend’s mum. The service wasn’t amazing (they forgot about my friend’s pizza, lol) but I had what was probably my number one spaghetti bolognese of the whole trip here, and the garden was very pretty. Finding spots to eat a proper meal in Venice that aren’t going to charge you, like, €12 for the privilege of sitting down in a nice place is hard so I would definitely recommend checking this one out.

Future Venice Bucket List:

La Biennale di Venezia

Lido di Venezia

St.Mark’s Campanile

Chiesa de San Giacomo

Gondola ride

Doge’s Palace

Punta della Dogana

Bugno Art Gallery

Palazzo Fortuny

Rome, Italy

Our final overnight destination, Rome was a lot more cosmopolitan than I expected it to be. I was so focussed on the historical side of things that I kinda forgot it’s a capital city and thus, is going to obviously be pretty commercial. Still, it’s strange to just be going down a very pedestrian street on a tram, turn to one side, and see the bloody Colosseum there. I’m not going to lie, by the time we got to Rome I wasn’t feeling my best and was physically pretty exhausted so I don’t feel like I got to appreciate it as much as I should have done; I ended up going back to our Air B&B a couple of the days, largely due to the heat. It was almost 40 fucking degrees! I was honest to god DRIPPING in sweat on the tram back at one point! But I definitely want to go back again, maybe some time when we aren’t feeling the effects of the planet withering and dying as much, and explore even more. Rome is undoubtedly a very cool place.

Rome Top Things to do:

1. Colosseum and Roman Forum

Before we went to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, I kind of expected it to be something you looked at, went “wow, that’s cool”, and then moved on, lol, and I was low-key a bit pissed off that we were paying €20 to do so. When we did arrive, though, I was blown away by the scale of both the landmarks and how much there was to see and do there. The Roman Forum in particular went on for ages and there were signs regularly dotted about to tell you what it was you were looking at, what it used to be, and who built it, amongst other things; though I’d love to go back with a tour guide, it’s really not necessary. I can’t tell you how starstruck I was to see the foundations of a temple that Julius Caesar ordered to be built; the Romans have always been fascinating to me and I genuinely feel like I learnt SO MUCH on our visit. We booked a last minute whistle stop tour that got us in and out of both venues with allotted time slots, meaning that we couldn’t stay too long in the Forum, so I’d say if you can afford it, just go full out and buy skip the line tickets in advance. You could definitely make a day of it.

2. Fattori Ice Cream

From a really cute little independent shop near the Air B&B we were staying in, this ice cream was SO GOOD that my fussy-ass-self didn’t even mind that I’d accidentally picked a flavour with lemon in. It’s a bit out of the way but I’d say worth the journey, and there’s supposed to be a lot of good street art nearby so there’s non-food related excuses to make the detour too.

3. Vatican Museums and Basilica

Honestly, the Vatican is worth going to for the ceilings alone. Raphael’s frescos are some of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen, and if anything was going to turn me (to Christianity I mean, lol), it’d be them. I love contemporary art and on the whole find classic art to be a bit repetitive and same-y in its themes but some of the work that can be found in the Vatican is just an example of the level of passion and dedication and patience that can be found in so many pieces of the period and is something that I think modern art can occasionally lack.

4. Aventine Hill

You’d think that a spot with such a good view of the city would be absolutely mobbed but Aventine Hill is just as serene as this photo makes it look. Do-ably uphill, amazing place to watch the sunset, and heads up: I can’t think of anywhere more romantic to propose.

5. MamaEats

One of many lively restaurants in the Travestere area, I had (surprise, surprise) another glorious spaghetti bolognese here. IIRC, they also specialise in gluten free food which is very forward-thinking!

6. Travestere and Riverbank

As I mentioned, Travestere is known for its host of buzzing bars and restaurants, but one thing we didn’t know about until we got to Rome was all the stalls and activities down on the riverbank. Though it didn’t seem to be a year-round thing, there was a whole strip of amazing food places and clothes and jewellery stalls and even some kind of VR experience down there which I would definitely recommend checking out if you are in Rome for the summer months.

8. St.Paul’s Outside the Wall

A really beautiful Church both inside and outside that's lacking absolutely nothing of St.Peter’s Basilica except the queues, my protip for visiting St.Paul’s Outside the Wall is to WEAR SOMETHING COVERING YOUR KNEES AND SHOULDERS. I mean, I’d say the same thing for all of the Italian Churches, but specifically this one because they WILL force these blue sheets of tarpaulin masquerading as “ponchos” upon you and you WILL feel like a complete and utter twat. You have been warned. 

9. Street Art 

We didn’t quite walk far enough to get to the cluster of street art by St.Paul’s Outside the Wall, but what we did see we found easily through the StreetArtRoma app, which marks out the various murals and professional graffiti points around the city. I think a really interesting day would be to hire a bike or a scooter and use the app to explore those various clusters that are dotted all around the city. 

10. Largo di Torre Argentina

The site where Julius Caesar (yep, him again) was assassinated, but also the site which is now populated by a group of very cute, and also very friendly cats. We didn’t get to go in the daytime when the actual cat sanctuary was open but when I went down the steps to get a closer look at the site one of the evenings, several of them came to say hello! No offence to any Christians out there, but if there was one point on this trip when I felt I was truly in the presence of something greater, it was here. And they were furry and adorable. With whiskers:3

11. Parthenon, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona

Basically, you gotta do all the big tourist spots. Yes, the Trevi fountain felt a lot like an overcrowded kids’ swimming pool, and yes, I did fear I was about to get yeeted into the fountain like a coin at some points too, but it is undeniably a very captivating sight. Along with the Parthenon, it’s a prime example of Rome not really being what I expected, because there’s no big clearing for either of them; they’re literally just slap bang in the middle of the street like they’re NBD, which is kinda wild considering they're hugely important pieces of history and architecture. Piazza Navona is very pretty too and a great place to sit down and get something to eat, even if it was just boxed pasta from one of the supermarkets round the corner in our case. 

Future Rome Bucket List:

Galleria Borghese

MAXXI Museum

MACRO Museum

Cinecitta Film Studios

Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna

Capitoline Museum

Milan, Italy

We only visited Milan for the day as that was where we got out flights home from but I still really enjoyed it. I went once in 2018 and I think the appeal back then was lost at me, but this time I get it: shopping, lol. There’s also a lot of art and fashion museums which are a huge part of the draw, and of course, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle; I think if you’re a person with *ahem* a fucking shitload of money, that’ll be enough to occupy you for at least a day or two.

Milan Top Things to do:

1. Galleria Vittorio Emanuele 

The oldest shopping mall in Italy and undoubtedly the most beautiful, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele might be the boujiest place I’ve ever stepped foot in. Sure, the shops are too intimidatingly expensive to consider even attempting to enter but they’re fun to marvel at and the general area has every typical high street store you can think of. Even the Zara in Milan looks like a fashion Haus inside! The same shop that in my local town centre resembles a jumble sale a good 50% of the time! So yeah, despite not having any money to spend and the fact that I was *supposed* to be on a shopping ban until October, I still like wandering around the area.

2. Novecento Museum

With several floors of modern art, interactive exhibitions (which you had to sign a RELEASE FORM to participate in), and an amazing view of Il Duomo upstairs, I really enjoyed the Novecento Museum. I thought it was going to a be a disappointing alternative to the Armani Museum, which was closed at the time, but it ended up being one of my favourite museums we visited on our whole trip.

3. Sforza Castle 

My friend that we met up with whilst in Milan (she has a flat in the city! I’m very impressed!) took us here and we sat down in the grounds for a bit, which was a nice way to chill out for an hour or so. There was a fountain out the front that people were paddling in to cool off too and there seemed to be several exhibits going on inside the castle as well if you did want to get a bit of background.

4. Starbucks Reserve Roastery on Via Cordusio 

The fanciest Starbucks I’ve ever seen in my life. Again, intimidatingly so. But if you like your coffee you will probs be in heaven.

5. Gallerie d’Italia

So me and my sister went here the last time we came to Milan and IIRC, really liked it. The modern art section was a bit sparse but the rest of the museum continued into some kind of grand old building and the usual stately home staples that I love were of course there in abundance: intricate ceilings, palatial stairways, opulent chandeliers, beautiful flower gardens, the place is basically a labyrinth of decadence and we lapped it up, lol. People being rich enough to own buildings like this? No. Them being open to the general public so we can go wild in them? Yes. 

Future Milan Bucket List:

Armani Museum

Navigli

Go in the Duomo

Barcelona, Catalonia

I’ve been to Barcelona about 4 or 5 times now and aside from Paris and London, there is no other European city that compares. It’s so huge, full of character and unique beauty, and endless things to do, that I could return probably about 10 times more and still leave with an incomplete bucket list. With stunning architecture, a laid-back coastline and bustling commercial areas, it’s a city with such a consistent vibe and sense of history. The only thing they could do to make it better? Take down the Christopher Columbus monument. Because having a giant statue of a man who facilitated the genocide of a whole country full of native people is a bit...yikes. Sorry, had to drop that in there. But on the whole I adore the place.

Barcelona Top Things to do:

1. CosmoCaixa

We didn’t actually go to CosmoCaixa on this trip to Barcelona, but we went a few years ago and it’s without a doubt, the coolest science museum I’ve ever been too. There’s information in Spanish, Catalan and English so most people can probably follow the exhibitions and even if not, there’s a whole interactive area with a load of contraptions that you don’t really need to understand to be entertained by. You could definitely make a whole day of it too; we went for about 3 hours and still only scratched the surface.

2. Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC)

2 things!

Firstly, this is a portrait of Colette, the French novelist, which me and my sister got really excited about because we kinda stan after watching that Kiera Knightley film!

Secondly, and probs more importantly, the modern art section of Museum Nacional d’Art de Catalunya is one of the most ingeniously laid out I’ve even seen. With the sections separated into different eras of Catalonian art, it kinda reads like a whistle stop tour of the cultural history of Barcelona, and so not only did I see so many gorgeous paintings, I got educated af!  Also, the building which the museum is housed in, the Palau Nacional, is stunning. Plus, there are escalators most of the way up. Iconic.

3. Portaventura

It was my sister and I’s fourth time visiting Portaventura this year and it was as amazing an experience as ever! The park is split into different themed areas, kinda like Disney, and has everything from thrill rides to Sesame Street Land (which is low-key super fun). It has what is probably one of my favourite rides ever, Shambhala, and also randomly the best theme park food I’ve ever tasted. One thing I would say is that the accompanying park, Ferrari Land, isn’t worth the extra money as the queues are super long, and there’s only really one ride worth going on, which is basically just a replica of Stealth at Thorpe Park. Same goes for the neighbouring water park; unless you’re going to pay for express passes there, give it a miss. The lockers are €10, the queues are ridiculous, the wave pool didn’t work (not that the staff bothered to tell everyone who was just stood there waiting for an hour) and the “lazy” river is pure anarchy. Literally, kids half-drowning themselves for the lols, popping up under your rubber ring when you least expect it, and then being screamed at by their parents. I live for a bit of chaotic energy but that lazy river...

4. Visit Sitges

A small city on the coast about half an hour from Barcelona, I really cannot recommend Sitges enough. There’s a ton of cute little art museums, delicious restaurants, heavenly beaches (the waves are INSANELY GOOD! You WILL get knocked under water half a dozen times but you also get to watch it repeatedly happen to other people too and it’s great), and a fucking ridiculously hard assault course out in the sea that me and my sister tanked at, hard. There’s incredible food places everywhere but favourites are Pom D’Amour and Dino for ice cream and sweet treats, and Beach House, Big Al’s American Kitchen, and Soca for mains . There’s also a really prominent LGBT community, plus lots of bars, pubs and clubs. Honestly, if you’re going to Barcelona, I really recommend staying around here as you get away from the the majority of the tourists but can still easily get in to the city by train.

5. Walking with Gaudi at the Gaudi Exhibition Centre

A very cool, very interactive exhibition that dives into the life of Gaudi, his creative process, his projects and his influences. My sister particularly liked the replica of El Drac. Like, she for whatever reason thought it was cute. Named it. Made us walk up to Parc Guell to try and see it. Wouldn’t leave the area til she got a keychain of it. Sigh.

6. Passeig de Gracia

Down Passeig de Gracia, you can both wistfully gaze through the windows of the designer shops you pass by, and actually spend your money (too much in my case) in the high street ones. Best of both worlds, bby.

7. Casa Battlo 

So it’s on Passeig de Gracia, pretty much opposite the metro station, but I had to give it its own little bit because it’s my favourite Gaudi building. Kinda looks like something aliens would build, kinda looks like something that sprang out of the ground, but that’s pretty much what Gaudi did best. 

8. Park Guell 

Just a warning, Park Guell is VERY uphill, and we somehow ended up getting off at the metro station right at the bottom of that hill, only to find out once we got up there that you had to book a slot and that all the slots for the rest of that day were sold out. My sister didn’t get to see her dragon and I was pissed off that I’d just nearly busted a lung open and regretted throwing my inhaler away for 20 minutes straight whilst getting up there, but it was still a pretty good view and we did get to see a bit of the park. Moral of the story though is to obviously book Park Guell before you go. 

9. Sagrada Familia

We’ve never actually been in to the Sagrada Familia, again, because we’ve never thought to book it (I want to absolve myself of responsibility here since every time I’ve gone to Barcelona before this trip, I’ve been a baby and let my parents organise everything), but it is an absolutely magnificent building even from the outside. I would one day love to go in and go up the spiral staircase though, because it looks fucking terrifying and I’m one of those strange people who likes being scared every once in a while.

10. Buenas Migas

I’m pretty sure it’s a chain thing but it’s the first time I’ve ever seen a focacceria, and maybe I’m just uncultured but...I got pretty excited. That being said, my sister and I both ended up getting pizza; it was as tasty as it looks.

13. Las Ramblas and Plaza Catalunya

The most typically mediterranean looking square you’ll ever see, Plaza Catalunya is the perfect place to stop off and get some tapas whilst you’re exploring Las Ramblas.

14. Mount Tibidabo

“I was backpacking across Western Europe, I was just outside of Barcelona, hiking in the foothills of Mount Tibidabo”...yes, I got excited to go here because of the Friends reference (I’m a basic bitch who likes friends AND has other personality traits, smd), but equally so by all the adorable old-timey fair ground rides once we did get up there. It was a few years ago now, so I’m not sure exactly how it worked but I do vaguely remember it being a bit of a rip off in that you had to pay to ride them all individually, so it’s good to know that the view from the Church and the Church itself is more than enough of a reason to go up. There’s also places to eat on the walk down and plenty of ice cream and food stalls up there.

Future Barcelona Bucket List:

Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA)

European Museum of Modern Art (MEAM)

El Jardin del Gats

Port Cable Car

Carrer de la Neu de Sant Cugat

So, that was my summer! 100% the most eventful one I’ve ever had! I’d love to go back to every one of these places, at least for a day, and am so grateful I got to have this experience. I definitely missed home a lot and maintaining your wellbeing whilst out of your comfort zone is hard, I’m not going to lie, but I hope that a year from now I’ll be feeling even more adventurous. 

There are so many places in Europe I desperately want to go to, some even more so now that I’ve visited the country. Now that I’ve been to Germany, for example, I’d be really interested in seeing somewhere like Munich or Cologne, as they’re supposed to have a completely different vibe from Berlin. It also really inspired me to get back into Spanish and possibly even learn French. 

I don’t know if anyone who is going inter-railing will read this but if they do, feel free to message me if you have any questions. My friend did pretty much all of the organising so I’m not the most knowledgeable person ever but I will do my very best to answer! Similarly, if anybody has any recommendations of other places to go whilst in any of these cities, food places and art museums especially (lol), let me know. 

Thanks for reading!

Lauren x

[r1ku]

@notchy tagged me! 🤗

🎂: May 28 !

Zodiac: Gemini ♊

Height: 5'3

Last Song I listened to: Gurenge - LiSA

I woke up thinking of this song today lol, because I'm still shocked Brendan Urie from Panic! At the Disco sang to it and watches the show lmao

Hobbies: talking to gaming pals on discord, playing mobile games, working on that webtoon recommendation document on Google doc, playing toontown rewritten, day dreaming, always typing down ideas and dreams to write or draw ONE DAY, in Google notes on my phone.

Favorite color: Purple ! 💜

Favorite Book: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Tis the only book I have read a few times for sure. You know, I often thought I'd love to be a bookworm and wholeheartedly have several favorite books, but I'm not. I like the idea of it tho, I haven't read books in a long time. I mainly read manga and webtoons.

Last film I watched: The Grand Budapest Hotel by Wes Anderson

My friend and I have a lot of movies to check out, mainly horror flicks of korean or japanese films or martial arts films to watch. But that day he dropped this film to watch and I was able to and had never watched before actually. And we enjoyed it, it's very whimsical and comical.

I almost debated putting the last episode of kanata no astra, since it was like an hour long finale and One can watched several hours of 30 min episodes and not think of it as a movie, but when u think of an episode longer than 23 or 27 minutes, it FEELS like a movie lol even if its not 2 hours long. But nah lol

Dream Job: I haven't really, really thought about it. I've seen a few inspirational, thought provoking posts and tweet threads.

About how for some people you shouldn't make your passion your job, cuz you might end up hating your passion.

Or the one post that said they admired the character, Garry Gergich from Parks and Rec, for choosing a job that's decent pay and few but full hours, that allows him to spend time with his family.

Or the one tweet that talked about you should have several passions to look forward to like boxing or some other activity so you can spread out your feels and not be in a pit of negativity.

That said, I find myself to be a jack of all trades kind of person, I adapt well and if taught well, learn quickly to do just about anything right.

If anything, I will not think of the chains of reality and honestly answer this question focusing on dream part of dream job.

And thats to be a CEO of my own company that I made and create an animatiom company that can revolutionize the animation industry and crack the hammer of justice in various places that mistreat and mismanage and poorly pay hardworking animators and give them the lifestyle they deserve and lift people up and support them and not become a gate keeper. Da Drem *drops mic*

Meaning behind my url: I've had various urls, this url came from my bestfriend cat, who wanted the namine url, when i got her into kingdom hearts, but it's in limbo hell, I remember she waited 9 months for its release but its still like unavailable to obtain, idk now tho, that was a year ago.

I forgot what my url was before, maybe it was hong-seol and I finally, after 8 years, moved on from the spiel I had in firmly loving the character Sul, I still and always will even tho I dislike the comic's last season and how heavily the author suddenly gave us flashbacks all at once.

I told cat that KINGDOM HEARTS IS LIFE, I LOVE RIKU SO MUCH and she said "oh i was typing around and found r1ku is available" and i was like WHAT and i typed it and surely enough, it was available to my great surprise. And I am forever grateful for her and her mind. I ain't letting this go, as such its a personal blog and riku appreciation blog, I'll reblog all that I see and like.

I recently updated the mobile look, desktop look is perfect so i wont change that, but i had destiny islands gif from khnyctophiliac and that riku icon, that I have sources for in my about l sadly dont have time to update my about pages.

But I updated the icon to this destiny islands trio that has amano's kh3 manga art since it has riku in it and i love trios, from the khinsider website that posted icons ro choose from.

The bg is Phoenix Ikki from the Netflix Saint Seiya adaptation's ending, I love how dramatic that shot was with the song. I wish it could be longer, but I have no idea how people edit out credits for gif segments. I only used a quick gif making website that requires the video and can make cuts and speeds.

As for my sideblog, pink4walls, I am still, to this day enamored by f(x)'s - 4walls and especially their pink outfits in their live performance. This blog ia dedicated to hopefully making a thorough navigation system to find specific posts that inspire me to create. A creativity blog, if you will with things that caught my eye and references I want to use.

Thank you Notchy! A well deserved break from routine, helped me try to get more reblogs put there from my enormous 22k drafts, and gives people an update of sorts of me.

I tag @antheiafemme @ughliegirl @alfiethesnip

You may if you choose to, and its okay if you don't ! But first three mutuals to tag off the top of my head.

[aupairadventures]

Retracing my Ancestors’ Footsteps in Budapest, Hungary

I promise that I have a good reason for not writing and publishing a blog post in over a month! Since the beginning of April, I’ve been away traveling, exploring new places, making memories, and having a blast.

After spending a little bit of time in Paris, I set off for my first destination: Budapest, Hungary. Due to my grandmother’s Hungarian family ancestry, visiting Hungary has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. I’ve always been very close and had a special connection with my grandmother. Ever since I was young, I always loved hearing her funny, touching, and wild stories about her childhood and growing up in a Hungarian immigrant family. I especially love my grandmother’s stories about her grandmother, a strong, bold, and colorful woman named Anna Zvolanek. As my grandmother’s story goes, Anna left Hungary when she was only 16 in search of new opportunities. She immigrated to the US, passed through Ellis Island, and then began a new life in Long Island, New York. She soon fell in love with my grandmother’s grandfather, another Hungarian immigrant named Edward Cheslock, and the two began a family of their own. According to my grandmother, Anna was a phenomenal cook and pastry maker, and was famous in the neighborhood for her incredible apple strudel, poppy seed roll cakes, and apricot “rugelach.”

According to my grandmother, Anna grew up in a small village just outside of Budapest. My grandmother says that when she was a child, she remembers seeing Anna often returning to Budapest to visit her extended family. My theory is that during my time in Budapest, I must have unknowing walked down the same street that Anna once did or visited the same place that once was familiar to her. It’s for these reasons that my journey to Budapest didn’t feel like any regular trip, but rather like an important spiritual pilgrimage. During my time in this beautiful city, I feel that I truly learned the importance of returning to your roots, learning about your family’s history, and retracing your ancestor’s footsteps. This experience made me feel even closer to my grandmother and gave me a better understanding of everything that has led to my existence and made me who I am. 

I was so happy to have my friend Gabriela by my side during this journey, and I have her to thank for this amazing time spent in Budapest. Several months ago, after Gabriela read in one of my blog posts that it was my dream to one day travel to Hungary, she reached out to me. She told me that she also had been wanting to explore this country and asked if I would want to travel there together. I responded that yes, of course, I would, and a plan was created!

I’ve known Gabriela since we were tiny students at Morris Elementary School in Lenox, Massachusetts, and our houses were on the same street. Gabriela and I both attended high school at Miss Hall’s School in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where we grew close while participating in our school’s Theme Committee. Since Gabriela is a year older than me and was in the grade above me, I’ve always looked up to her as a role model and thought of her as a hardworking student, compassionate community member, strong young woman, and great friend. After traveling with her, I’m glad to add “Amazing travel companion” to that list! After our time together in Budapest, I’ve become convinced that we’re a traveling-match made in Heaven. Years ago, who would have thought that Miss Hall’s two girls from Lenox would one day be living abroad, one in Italy and the other in France, and would decide to meet up in Hungary? 

Throughout the trip, the two of us had an absolute blast together. Almost every moment that we spent together was filled with the best conversations. We talked about everything from  how our adventures abroad have been to the 2020 American presidential election. We talked politics, feminism, had deep philosophical conversations that made my head hurt, re-lived old Miss Hall’s memories, shared silly stories, and laughed non-stop. I always love the conversations that the two of us share. We could talk for hours about everything and nothing all at once, and somehow never run out of things to talk about. 

The moment that I fell in love with Budapest, I fell fast and hard. While I had never visited this city before and everything was unfamiliar to me, I simultaneously felt so comfortable and so at home. Every ray of sunshine or gust of wind seemed to be calling out to me, “Welcome home, Shanti. We’re so happy to have you back.” Budapest is without a doubt one of the coolest cities that I’ve ever visited. The streets are filled with such distinctive character, and the city radiates an intriguing, funky energy that I’ve never encountered anywhere else. Whether you’re exploring the Jewish quarter, visiting a stunning cathedral, trying a new kind of traditional Hungarian food, watching a breathtaking sunset, or seeing the city’s sparking lights at night time, there’s always something new and exciting to try out. There’s never a shortage of interesting things to do, and “boring” is the last word that anyone would ever use to describe this place. This city always keeps you guessing, and there are surprises waiting around every corner. 

It goes without saying that I highly recommend visiting Budapest to my fellow travelers! Here are some of my favorite places that you absolutely have to visit:

Not too far from our hostel (a lovely little spot called “Meander Hostel” that I would recommend that my fellow travelers on a budget,) was St. Stephen’s Basilica. While this building might look a little surprising and not like a traditional church, (“Oh! I thought it was a government building!” exclaimed Gabriela when she saw it for the first time), it is nonetheless a beautiful and fascinating piece of architecture. If you think that the outside is gorgeous, just wait until you see the interior. With its colorful, golden, mosaic ceilings, the inside of this basilica was so beautiful that it made my jaw drop. On Sunday morning, I joined Gabriela as she attended an 8 am mass at St. Stephen’s. While I am not at all religious myself, I still greatly enjoyed this experience. I thought that the ceremony was so interesting and beautiful, and it made me understand why attending mass each Sunday morning is so important to so many people around the world. While I still don’t consider myself a religious person and don’t think that attending weekly mass will be a part of my life,  I will happily join my religious friends when they attend mass, if I’m invited. Thank you, Gabriela, for sharing this experience with me and answering all of my many questions!

One of my favorite places in Budapest is Fisherman’s Bastion, an absolutely gorgeous terrace located on the Buda side of the Danube river. Featuring 7 fairy-tale like towers, this site offers the perfect view of the beautiful city of Budapest. While standing on the terrace, you can see a panoramic view of the city and see some of Budapest’s most famous sites, such as the Chain Bridge,  St. Stephen's Basilica and the Hungarian Parliament Building. Budapest is beautiful at all times of day, but it’s especially breathtaking in the evening. I recommend going up to Fisherman’s Bastion to see a beautiful sunset and then watch nighttime fall over the city as the lights come up and the city begins to sparkle. 

One of the most beautiful places to visit at night time is the Parliament building. When the sun goes down, this building is lit up with gorgeous golden light and looks like a star shining at the edge of the Danube river. I highly recommend taking a stroll along the river next to the Parliament building in order to see this magnificent sight. Remember to walk to the back of the building to see the reflection in the water mirror, as pictures below:

Just behind Fisherman’s Bastion, you’ll find St. Matthias Cathedral. This cathedral, with a gleaming white exterior and an intriguingly unique and colorful roof, is another beautiful site. A short walk away from Fisherman’s Bastion, also located on the Buda Hill, you can find the Buda Castle. (We didn’t visit this site this time around, but we saved it for our next trip to Budapest!)

When in Budapest, you absolutely have to visit one of the thermal baths. Gabriela and I visited the Szechenyi Thermal Baths, and I can say with full authority that it was worth every penny. The warm, healing water felt absolutely incredible; our poor feet were so sore after all of the walking we did in the city, and the water definitely helped! The baths that we used were located in a large outdoor courtyard surrounding by a stunning, buttercup yellow, palace-like building. Going to the thermal baths was a great way to spend a sunny morning, and I highly recommend this activity to my fellow travelers. My only complaint was that this specific location was very touristy and quite crowded, as it’s the main thermal bath spot in Budapest. While we didn’t visit it, I’ve heard good things about another thermal bath location called Gellért, which I’ll check out the next time that I visit Budapest.

On my last day in Budapest, I went on a free walking tour about the history of Budapest’s monuments, which I found to be very interesting. During the tour, I learned a lot about this city’s rich and complex history, which further deepened my understanding of this place. Our tour guide was lovely and enthusiastic, and the tour was a blast. I highly recommend doing one of these tours on your first day in Budapest, as it will help you get a good understanding of the layout of the city, and your tour guide will give you great recommendations for things to do, places to see, and delicious food to eat. You can find these daily tours with the organization “Budapest Free Walking Tours”  on the steps of St. Stephen’s Basilica.  If you want to join a tour, don’t worry about signing up, just show up!

The organization offers tours about the history of Budapest, communism in Hungary, and the Jewish Quartier in both English and Spanish; just check the website to find out the schedule. And of course, remember to give your tour guide a well-deserved tip!

One of the many great things about Budapest is that the food and restaurants are super cheap, making it an ideal city for travelers on a budget. The food in Budapest was seriously amazing, and Gabriela and I truly ate our way through this city. As a result, we have lots of recommendations for must-have traditional dishes and great restaurants. Here are some of our favorite spots:

Lion’s Locker: One of the absolute best places we went to was Lion’s Locker, an adorable little cafe and breakfast spot located on a tiny side street. We were so glad that our wanderings lead us here, as the food was great and the staff were almost as sweet as the raspberry jam “Hungarian crepes” that I had for breakfast.

Espresso Embassy: If you’re searching for the perfect coffee shop, look no further than Espresso Embassy. I swear, I had the best chai tea latte of my life there, (which is really saying something as I’m quite addicted to them and tend to order one everywhere I go.)

Hummus Bar: On a tight budget, but still craving something delicious? Try Hummus Bar, a super cheap yet very healthy and insanely good hummus and falafel restaurant. This place is quite popular in Budapest, and you can find their different locations all around the city.

Làngos: Another great option for travelers on a budget are langos, a super-not-good-for-you-but-so-good traditional fast food made of fried dough, sour cream, copious amounts of cheese, and vegetable or meat toppings (A bit like a deep-fried pizza!) If you’re looking for something cheap and quick for dinner, try a langos food truck. So unhealthy, but so delicious! Just a warning: Food truck langos can be a bit difficult to eat with your hands sometimes, and can result in sour cream ending up all over your face and pieces of cheese spilled all over you: This is probably not the best option for first-date food.

If you’re craving langos but want to feel a bit fancier, try the Langos Papa restaurant. It’s just as delicious, but with toppings like arugula, goat cheese, honey, and walnuts, it feels a bit more gourmet.

Another great restaurant, located just a few doors down from Langos Papa, is a traditional Hungarian restaurant called Kantin. There, we tried some traditional dishes like goulash, creamy mushroom soup, paprika mushroom noodles, cottage cheese dumplings, and cherry strudel, all of which were incredible.

Karavana Food Truck Market: Located in the Jewish Quarter, this lively food truck market is perfect for a casual night out. Here, you can find lots of different kinds of cuisine: everything from traditional Hungarian dishes to french fries and burgers. (Or, the perfect combination of the two: Langos burgers!) My personal favorite was a food truck called Las Vegans, which offered delicious vegan veggie burgers and healthy fruit and vegetable smoothies.

Szimpla Sunday Farmers' Market: You can also find this awesome farmer’s market every Sunday morning in the Jewish Quarter. Located in an old “ruin-bar,” this was without a doubt the hippest, coolest, and the most interesting market I’ve ever been to. Gabriela and I came here for breakfast after mass on Sunday morning and ended up spending hours here. There are lots of stands with fresh, local vegetables, freshly baked bread, cheese, mouth-watering pastries, and traditional Hungarian cuisine. At the ruin-bar counter, you can also find coffee and tea, of course. The tables set up in the courtyard in the back make it the ideal place to grab breakfast or lunch, try some delicious food, and get lost in conversation.

The Great Market Hall: If you want to go to a market on a day that’s not Sunday, try the Great Market Hall. Here, you can also find lots of vegetables, meats, and yummy pastries. This is also a great place to pick up some souvenirs, gift, and postcards. However, speaking honestly, the Great Market Hall doesn’t come close to the Szimpla Sunday Farmers' Market. After hanging out in that adorable, picture-picture market, the Great Market Hall, unfortunately, felt a little bit underwhelming. But, that doesn’t mean that it’s not worth a visit! 

Gelarto Rosa: For some dessert, try the Gelarto Rosa gelato shop. The rose-shaped treats are almost too beautiful to eat, but oh-so-delicious. Located right next to St. Stephen’s Basilica, you can enjoy your treat on the church’s steps or by one of the fountains in the square. 

Chimney Cakes are another popular dessert that I highly recommend. These pastries are made of dough, cinnamon, and sugar, or chocolate, and are baked in a cylinder shape with a hollow center. When you pull a piece off, the cake begins to unravel and resembles a slinky toy. Cool, right? A cinnamon and sugar chimney cake was the perfect afternoon snack for Gabriela and I after we got caught in an unexpected rainstorm and were in need of some warmth and cheering up.

My journey to this city was nothing short of magical. I left this city feeling in love, deeply moved, and closer to my family’s heritage than ever before. I boarded my return flight to Paris with a happy heart, dreaming of my next trip to Budapest; I can’t wait to come back to this city and learn even more. I feel so proud to say that my family comes from this beautiful and fascinating place. Thank you for everything, Budapest!

[gingerlexi2897]

You would think after Tabor and our time in Hungary we would be ready for a bit of a  break. We were. However, instead, after a nice evening in Budapest with the Scottish team, we boarded a bus bound for Vienna.  For as much apprehension I had and as much smoke had been chucked by certain individuals about the bus, the 3-hour ride from Budapest to Vienna was great. In fact, that bus ride was nicer than some flights I’ve taken, and oh so much cheaper.

Now this being my first time in Vienna, I had very little idea of what to expect and pretty much all of it was based on the WWII reading I’ve done in my life. I expected the city to have modernized over the years, but I was genuinely surprised to see how it has almost split into two cities; Old Town with its historic buildings, narrow streets, and a wide variety of architecture, and the skyscraper-filled, steel city built further down the river.

We got off the bus and immediately set out to conquer the metro system and make it to our Airbnb. Everything was going smoothly, we bought our tickets, we caught the correct train going in the correct direction, and we had only wanted to fight one rude person. Now see here’s the thing, in almost any other European city I’m able to use the wonderful, magical app that is CityMapper. It’s clear, it’s easy, it tells you the exact time your bus/train/boat/space ship will arrive, it tells you exactly what colour the line is and it even tells you how many croissants you’ve walked off. Seriously, it’s great. Vienna however, for whatever reason, is not included in the list of cities which means we had to rely on the somewhat spotty service of Google Maps. This is where we ran into a small hiccup in our quest to find the flat. We rode the 3 or 4 stops to Schwedenplatz where we needed to switch lines to ride another 3 stops. It’s important to remember that wonderful, magical CityMapper tells you the COLOUR of the line to get on. Well, Google Maps does not. No, instead it tells you some random colour for the line with the name (ie U1) in very tiny letters that easily gets overlooked in the madness of trying to navigate public transport in a city you’ve only just stepped foot in. Oh, and it tells you that that specific train line doesn’t come into that station and you’re going to have to change stations. Lies. So we drag our bags, which thankfully were fewer and lighter because the AMAZING Scottish team took our two big bags back with them and we crammed just enough clothes and toiletries for 5 people for a week in backpacks and carryons, out of the station, over the tram tracks, and across the street to the river just to realize that we were actually supposed to be in that station. So I’m sure much to the amusement of those around us, we drug our stuff back across the street and the tram tracks and once more found ourselves standing in Schwedenplatz Station. So here is my shameless plug for CityMapper: get it. From there we had no major issues getting to the flat (well except for the fact that I apparently kept booking places on the top floor in a building with no lift…) and were soon showered and ready to go again.

As much as we love touring and seeing the sights, our main reason for coming to Vienna was to see friends. Becca, Phil, and their adorable kids have been living and working in Vienna for almost two years.  I’ve known the two of them since I was in late middle/early high school but it had been almost 6 years since I had last seen them. It was special to be able to spend time with their family in the city they now call home as well as hopefully be an encouragement to them as living overseas can oftentimes feel lonely and unrewarding. We were able to do dinner with them our first night in Vienna and met them the next day at Schonbrunn Palace.

Just like in Budapest, we grabbed a bus tour that Monday morning and used it to take us out to the palace and to get a feel for the city. Unlike our bus tour in Budapest however, this one I would not recommend. While you did get to see a decent amount of the city on the two routes it ran, the audio tour went into very little detail of the actual history of the city and instead went on and on about the same two composers. That’s all well and good, but there is a lot more to a city than two or three famous people. The best part of the whole tour was getting to see the architecture and street art on the way out to Schonbrunn. The palace itself sits at the base of a hill with the city sprawling out into the distance behind it. Even though it was an incredibly hot day (by European standards), we wandered around the grounds and climbed to the top of the hill to see the views.

After our time looking at the various sculptures and manicured gardens at the palace, we caught the hop-on-hop-off bus back to Old Town where we could change routes. Here’s where the already meh tour got worse: It was only supposed to be 6 or 7 stops back to where we needed to switch routes but because our lovely bus driver decided to get off and smoke a cigarette or twiddle his thumbs for 15 mins at every stop, it took us nearly an hour and a half. By this point, we were all tired, hungry, hot, and ready to be back at the flat. We eventually made it to the stop where we needed to switch buses and then had to wait another half an hour before it arrived. Slaphappy is the only way to describe how we were feeling. Backstreet Boys may or may not have been sung in the street and a tear may have been shed. We did finally make it back to the flat and were able to cool off and relax a wee bit before Mum and Dad headed off to watch the boys for Phil and Becca while Erin, Itty, and I made our way back to city centre.

We spent the next day just hanging out and finally made our way to a body of water to relax at, which is something Erin, Itty, and I had been trying to get to since we left Budapest. That evening we said farewell to Vienna and caught a flight to Paris and the next part of our adventure.

Things we learned during our time in Vienna:

Itty is not a fan of the fact that Erin and I not only enjoy walking cities but that we have a tendency to power walk everywhere we go. Erin and I are more than happy to walk for hours if need be in order to find the perfect place to sit down, which is exactly what we did. Itty, on the other hand, would have preferred that we take the 15 min metro ride and skipped the whole walking-through-the-city thing. 

Public beaches are a God-send when you’re in desperate need of a body of water and a place to relax. At €2 a person, a nice nap on the riverbank in the sun is the perfect way to enjoy Vienna without running around like a crazy person.

If you have time, try to see something arts-related such as the Lippizaners at the Spanish Riding School, the Vienna Boy’s Choir, or one of the many art museums throughout the city.  Schonbrunn is worth it but the bus tour isn’t. 

See you in Paris,

Lexi

    Strauss, Schubert, and Beethoven You would think after Tabor and our time in Hungary we would be ready for a bit of a  break.

[lizziethereader]

a bunch of 11 questions tags

I was tagged in a few 11 question tags over the last few weeks and am finally getting around to them. I hope you don’t mind me putting them all together in one masterpost under the cut. 

thank you so much  for tagging me @anassarhenisch, @thereadingchallengechallenge, @books-are-portals, @maddie-mux and @bibliophilecats! I really do appreciate getting tagged even though it takes me a while to doing the tags. 

I’ll put my own questions and the people I’m tagging up here and the answers to all your questions under the cut ;) 

my questions: 

1. What are you looking forward to most when it comes to the upcoming holidays? (whichever holiday you want to refer to) 2. Have you been to a concert lately? Which one?  3. Which piece of media (book, movie, video, etc.) are you looking forward to consuming next?  4. If someone wrote a fictionalized (and heavily embellished) novel of your life, which genre would you like it to be? 5. What’s the last song you had stuck in your head?  6. What’s the weather currently like where you are? 7. How many open tabs in a browser is too many? (asking for a friend) 8. Are you good with money? (if so, teach me your ways!) 9. What’s the coolest thing a teacher of yours has ever done? (I wanna become the cool teacher, so I need to do some research, haha) 10. If money, space and time didn’t matter, which animal would you like to have?  11. Share a random fact about yourself! (please?) 

I’m tagging @bookvoyage, @lilymaidofgallifrey, @dreamingofreadinggoals, @aliteraryprincess, @flamingmirrorbookish, @the-forest-library, @manuscripts-dontburn and @thelivebookproject (no pressure though)  and anyone who just feels like doing this, of course! 

sooo, let’s get crackin! 

here’s @anassarhenisch‘s questions: 

1. Celtic rock, yes or no? 

I have honestly never listened to it... I’m not averse to give it a try though!

2. What’s the last book you quit reading?  quit as in abandoned? I don’t really do that... The last book I finished reading was ‘Big Mouth and Ugly Girl’ by Joyce Carol Oates

3. What’s your favourite fall activity?  baking and drinking cider! (yes you can do that all year round, but it just feels cozy, right?)

4. Do you believe in ghosts?  I’m probably a ghost agnostic. I don’t know if they exist but I’m not saying they don’t

5. When’s the last time you went to a circus or carnival?  There’s this big children’s festival in my town for two weekends every August and there’s always a circus, too. They did a special performance for all the volunteers who help with the festival and I went to that. So, long story short, like 2 months ago?

6. What does your favourite shirt look like?  hmmm good question. If we’re talking about T-shirts then it’s probably my Portal shirt. 

7. Do you like eating fish?  hahaha, not at all actually! I rarely meet other people who don’t. But yeah, I actually don’t like any seafood. 

8. Who’s your favourite artist?  oh man, this is a very difficult one! I’m not sure I can name a favorite. I like just being in awe of a piece of art (be it a painting, piece of music or something else) and I wouldn’t say I have one person I like better than all the others. Sorry for the lame answer!

9. Do you have any celebrity connections?  none whatsoever (that I know of) 

10. Are you a sports fan?  only equestrian sports and even then I don’t need to see every event there is. But I do enjoy watching the occasional tournament

11. How comfortable are you embarrassing yourself in public?  NOT AT ALL. Good thing I became a teacher then, eh? :P 

next up: @thereadingchallengechallenge‘s questions: 

What are you currently reading?  I just started reading Children of Blood and Bone!

Favourite snack?  I can’t pick just one, so: popcorn, macadamia nuts, chocolate covered raisins and all things chocolate :D

Do you set yourself a reading list or pick books by mood?  half/half. I have some types of books to read each month (1 poetry book, 1 classic, 1 nonfiction book) and then choose one of those based on my mood. And then I randomly select 3 books from my tbr. Those are always a surprise! 

Have you travelled anywhere so far this year?  Yup. I went to Germany 2 times (to a theme park), flew to London for book shopping and musicals twice, and went to Budapest with two friends for a weekend 

Reading anything spooky before Halloween?  Not really. I’m not a spooky books (or movies) person. 

Binge watching anything at the moment? I just finished binge watching Star Trek Discovery yesterday but I’m sure I’ll find something new soon. 

Who’s the author you’ve read most?  Douglas Coupland, apparently

What’s your favourite season and why?  Spring! Everything is getting warmer and greener again, my depression gets better and things are just generally looking up (usually)

Are you looking forward to any new releases?  I don’t think I’m waiting for anything at the moment...

What’s a quote you love?  “No, we are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars” from Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere's Fan

Recommend a book?  With pleasure! It Devours! by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor 

then we have @books-are-portals‘s questions: 

1. First thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “waffles”?  the amaaaaazing waffles at my town’s children’s festival each year. Also Leslie Knope 

2. Have you ever knitted anything? What was it?  When we learned to knit in school I knitted a scarf but I haven’t knitted anything since and I’m not sure I still could

3. What’s been the weirdest book you’ve enjoyed?   idk, what’s a weird book? Welcome to Night Vale is purposefully weird, if that counts? I’m not sure I’ve read any proper weird books...

4. Pick a random book from your shelf and recommend a film based on that book.  book: Tin Man by Sarah Winman - movie: Third Star (totally different storyline, but similar vibe, maybe?)

5. Top 5 clothing items.  - not really clothing but my riding boots (I love them. They fit me perfectly and weirdly give me so much confidence??)  - my new Pikeur breeches (yup, riding stuff again)  - the black business dress I graduated in (both High School and university)  - my Dirndl (you gotta have one if you’re Austrian :P )  - my (fake) leather jacket because it makes me feel cool  not sure this is an accurate list since I don’t really think about clothes much... 

6. Name the first song that comes to your mind based on your current read. Why that song?  hmm, I’m only 50 pages into my new book, this is very difficult! maybe ‘Battles’ by Hudson Taylor? The lyrics just seem to fit and I have a feeling the book will be harrowing, which the song definitely is. 

7. Would you rather visit the Moon or Mars?  I kind of want to go to Mars and see if Curiosity Rover is alright. 

8. What’s your favourite scent?  top three: freshly cut grass, new tires (I know, this one is weird), and the smell of tress like cedar, fir, and pine 

9. What’s the last thing you ate? Was it good?  kinder Schoko Bons and YES. 

10. Name 3 positive things you’re good at.  don’t do this to me! uhmmmmm reading? singing? maybe cuddling cats? 

11. What’s the strangest word from your first language(s)?  Well, I don’t really know what would be strange to you but I’m really fond of ‘oida’. It’s sort of an exclamation that can be used in a lot of different ways and its meaning depends on how you say it. So it could mean you’re really disappointed, angry, shocked, disbelieving or it could just mean something like ‘dude’. I love it and use it way too often considering it’s sort of lower class slang, I guess. 

aaaand here’s @maddie-mux‘s questions: 

1. First fictional crush?  I’m not entirely sure. Maybe Ziegenpeter from Heidi? :’D 

2. 11 authors (dead or alive) who you would want to spend a night in a haunted house with?  oh no, that’s a) way too many people and b) not something I would ever want to do 

3. Kiss, Marry, Kill - authors  I don’t really feel qualified to answer this. I don’t really get into people as much as I get into their characters and fictional universes. Doing this with real people feels weird, too, because I don’t want to do any of those actions with anyone.... I’m sorry to cop out of yet another of your questions!

4. One author whose books you automatically buy, of no matter what?  either of the Green brothers

5. Favourite fictional place?  maybe Night Vale? But not because I want to live there, just because it’s so wacky. 

6. Kiss, Marry, Kill - characters  this one is easier!  kiss: Poet from Trick (before he is spoken for, of course, I’m not a home-wrecker!)  marry: farmer Oak from Far From the Madding Crowd  kill: there’s so many to choose from! but I really really hate Aaron from The Knife of Never Letting Go!!

7. Favourite place to read?  on the go 

8. 11 characters who you’d take for an eternity on a tropical island?  nope nope nope - there’s nobody I would want to spend eternity with 

9. Hands down, all time favourite book and why?  you should be ashamed of yourself! you know most readers can’t answer this question :P (well, I can’t anyway)

10. Favourite fictional nonhuman animal character?  is it too basic to say Black Beauty? 

11. Fiction or nonfiction?  both! I read more fiction, but I wouldn’t want to live without nonfiction in my life! 

last but not least, @bibliophilecats‘ questions: 

Your favourite word from your first language.  I’m gonna use one of my previous answers for that and say ‘oida’ just because it’s so fun and versatile. Do you know ‘oida’ in your part of Germany? 

And your favourite word in any language.  Not sure I’d pinpoint it as an absolute favorite, but I quite like ‘alas’ because it sort of embodies my view of life, haha 

Name 5 positive things about yourself.  5?? It took me 10 minutes to come up with 3 for one of the questions above! Unbelievable...  - I try my best to keep an open mind  - I try to also get my students to do this  - but I also like to question things  - I’m not blind to my shortcomings  - and I do want to become a better person, though I need to put more effort into it 

And now 3 things you are good at (I kept that one from @books-are-portals list because self-love is important)  I am NOT coming up with more because I am absolutely unable to do so. Sorry! (yes, I have issues, I know)

What’s your “Patronus”-memory, i.e. the happiest moment in your life?  ooooh good one! maybe the day I got my degree and graduated from university. (because leading up to this point my mental health was so bad I wasn’t sure I’d live to see that day...) 

Recommend a book which you think I should read.  maybe ‘Welcome to Night Vale’ or ‘It Devours!’? 

Do you set yourself a reading list or pick books by mood?  both! see above for a more detailed answer

Did you make friends on tumblr that you met (or want to meet) in real life?  I would love to meet quite a few of you! (sadly I haven’t, yet)

Last book you read that was completely outside your normal reading preference. Why did you pick it up and did you like it?  Probably the Kite Runner? I picked it up because sooo many people and many of my friends love it. I, however, did not. 

Favourite christmas book?  I haven’t read many so far, but Dash and Lily’s book of Dares!! 

Favourite christmas movie?  I’ve always loved Miracle on 34th street but I haven’t rewatched it in years so I don’t know if it hold up

[bitsandbobsandstuff]

So I can't help asking... book recs?

Oh god. Listen, I love this ask. So much. This will get long, because I’m a nerd, but here are some of my favs. I included links on Amazon so people can read the descriptions, but please try to buy local when you can!

Feel free to come to my inbox anytime with recommendations or book chatter!

The Song of AchillesBy Madeline Miller

My current obsession. Search the #patrochilles or #tsoa on my blog. I’m a sucker for Greek mythology and this story broke me - it stayed with me for weeks. I keep re-reading the ending and legitimately sobbing. The language is poetic, the metaphors are brilliant, and the love story between Achilles and Patroclus is breathtaking. 150/10 would recommend.

A Tree Grows in BrooklynBy Betty Smith

I first read this when I was 11-years-old – in fact, the librarian eventually gave me her copy, because I checked it out so often. Since then, I’ve read it at least once a year (this means more than 20 years) and I have a tattoo with my favourite quote. It’s not a story about anything specific, but rather a look at what it means to be human, told through the eyes of a young girl named Francie Nolan, growing up poor in a 1900s Brooklyn tenement. 

The HelpBy Kathryn Stockett

Abileen Clark is one of my absolute favourite characters. She’s an incredible human being and her courage in the face of the racism and personal tragedy she endures is astounding. She’s the wheel that sets the entire story in motion, and I find her to be so inspiring.

1984By George Orwell

It’s terrifying. Especially considering how realistic it feels in the world today.

The Book ThiefBy Markus Zusak

The narrator of this story is Death – how ingenious is that? Liesel’s story is beautiful and filled with suspense and her relationship with Rudy is one of the most heartbreaking things I’ve read. 

All the light we cannot seeBy Anthony Doerr

Another WW2 story, I can’t get enough. It compares the experience of two people on opposite sides of the war – one tragically as part of the Hitler Youth, the other who is a surprising participant in the Resistance. The path that leads them toward each other is complicated.

The Versions of UsBy Laura Barnett

Told through different story arcs, it’s a story full of ‘what ifs’. It explores how different your life story could be based on the smallest changes in the beginning. Again, I cried so much. On a boat. In front of strangers.

My life in FranceBy Julia Child

This was a random book I picked up at the library and to this day, it’s a go-to when I need something comforting. Julia Child led an incredible life – after WW2 she went to Paris where she became a chef, wrote a cookbook with her friends, met so many famous people, and travelled the world with the love of her life. I wish I could be her.

The HistorianBy Elizabeth Kostova

I’m an avid reader of fictional history and this book delivers. It follows a young woman searching for her missing father, who has a mysterious connection to Vlad the Impaler. They travel through four of my favourite cities – Amsterdam, London, Budapest, and Istanbul – which would be enticing enough, but the vivid imagery and the complex mystery bring it to another level.

The FountainheadBy Ayn Rand

I know Rand is a polarizing author and I understand why, but regardless – I love this book. I was at university the first time I read it, and the raw emotion in Howard Roark’s struggle and his relationship with Dominique Francon was unlike anything I had read. 

The Thorn BirdsBy Colleen McCullough

This is one of those epic novels that sticks with you. The rugged harshness of life on an Australian sheep farm, the bitterness of family obligation, and the illicit love affair between a young woman and a Priest, this story literally has it all. 

OutlanderBy Diana Gabaldon

Sassenach. Hands down, this is one of the greatest love stories I’ve encountered. There’s no place in the world I love more than Scotland and Claire and Jamie have the kind of love we all want to find.

East of EdenBy John Steinbeck

This story is sort of brutal. It was surprising in the way it made me connect with – and root for – certain characters that I did not expect. 

The Fault in our StarsBy John Green

At this point, I’m sure everyone’s either seen the movie or read the book and John Green is a national treasure, but I have to say – I remember finishing this book in the middle of the night, thinking ‘wow that was really good,’ going to the kitchen for a glass of water, and then collapsing into a pile of tears. I had to wake my husband up and wail about Augustus Waters and Hazel Grace Lancaster and to this day, he still makes fun of me. If you haven’t read this book, what even are you doing with your life.

A Wrinkle in TimeBy Madeleine L’Engle

I’ve had a copy of this my entire life. I love the beginning of this story – it was a dark and stormy night – and I adore the awkward elegance of Meg Murray. 

The NightingaleBy Kristin Hannah

More tears. The relationship between two sisters during WW2, one who finds a place for herself in the Resistance and the other who quietly tries to survive, is tragic and tense and a wonderful demonstration of what people do to stay alive.

Anne of Green GablesBy Lucy Maud Montgomery

Anne Shirley is one of my favourite characters in all literature. She is spunky and sassy and so full of life – she inspires me to live more fully, I’m grateful I found her growing up.

[tom5ive]

The 2018 Moments

Hey, let’s break the silence in this blog with a review of 2018, shall we? Hereby I’ll try to list some significant moments/things/ones that I consider influential in 2018. Something that in the future --maybe when I’m waiting for my flight-- would randomly pop up and “Hey, I remember that!”. That does not mean that these things are only temporary moments; it’s the opposite. They might have lingering effects that may influence me for the upcoming years…

Here goes!

Friends

I started off 2018 in Budapest with my friends as part of a week-long winter trip. Of course we had a lot of fun, but we also had some up-and-down moments. We started off our trip visiting the concentration camp in Auschwitz. It felt dark, sad and depressing...but it was such a valuable lesson of history. We often slept on the train or bus while navigating to different cities: comfortable beds were not our everyday thing during the trip. Also, Eastern Europe was dazzling cold. As it was our first ever European trip, we were quite ambitious to visit 6 cities merely in the span of 7 days...so indeed, our energy was drained. As you can guess: with that condition, conflict arose, everyone got more sensitive (including me). But don’t get me wrong, Eastern Europe is so beautiful!

All in all, those moments were the ones that tightened our bond. We learn to understand each other’s character and we didn’t stop hanging out ever since. We even went for another trip to Italy in the summer and I think it was one of those so-called moments of lifetime. Although we won’t meet that often again, I hope we’ll retain our bond even after we graduate 😊

Geoscripting

Geoscripting is a course title. Probably the best course I’ve ever taken during my master study. This traced back further into late-2017 though, when I decided to take the Python class. You know, programming has always been a daunting subject ever since I was in my bachelor study. I know it is important, but no matter how hard I tried, I always gave up. I really want to be able to code.

Among the recommended courses that I can take during the first period of my study was Python. I hesitated at first, because sometimes you would want to take the ‘safe’ path, especially when it is among the first class you take abroad; not to mention its relatively low passing rate (less than 60%). But then, screw the safe path! I took it anyway and I think it was one of the best decisions in my life.

Early 2018 was the time when I took the continuation course: Geoscripting, where you also code, but specifically in the wonderful geo-domain. I felt scripting has opened up a novel path in my life, a broad lane that I’d like to pursue. I know for sure, that my future, my career, would follow that path 😊 The future of geo-information is in scripting. Desktop GIS would get outdated pretty soon.

Spatial modelling and statistics

With the best course comes the toughest course. I think it was in this period that I felt the lowest, frustrated and fed up. I just could not comprehend the material. The sentences in the reader felt too long and complicated to understand. At some point I just skipped a class and went to the park just to calm my nerve.

But again, I am glad that I took this class. The professor, Gerard, was the best professor I’ve ever had. I know he is an expert, but it is amazing how he can just put himself among the students. His patience and the way he explained was super clear. I think it was him that kept me going; without such motivation I wouldn’t be able to pass the course.

Such figure is the kind of person I would like to be. I want to be an expert in my field, and when I do, I’d like to be able to put myself on other’s feet. Explain something as simple as possible, stay humble and hungry. I think that’s one way to show the significance of my expertise as well 😊

Reunion

My family came to visit me in Europe. It was 1997 when we left Paris, and after 21 years, the three of us came back. Gare du Nord was the place that we reunited. It was so memorable. My parents stayed for about 3 weeks in Europe, but we dedicated 10 days merely in Paris. And I still felt it was not enough..or maybe just the right amount. Every corner of the marvelous city has special story for us: that my parents can tell the name of each stop of RER B because it’s their everyday commute, that we used to eat at Flunch often because it was cheap and delicious (and still is!), that my mom and I used to wait at that Monthuchet bus stop when it’s time for my dad to come home, and a lot more. Countless.

I still shed my tear everytime I remember this. It is not an exaggeration that Paris holds such a special value for us, both happy and sad. And I feel really blessed that the three of us were able to walk down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées last year.

Thank you, God.

Cousin

Yup, my cousin, he came! He is also starting his study in Wageningen last year. It’s great to have a family while we’re living abroad like this. It also means more adventure. In fact, we went to Morocco last year. Hopefully more adventures would come!

Thesis

I started working on my thesis after the summer break last year. Looking back and seeing my progress now, I feel that a lot of things can be improved, particularly my time management. When I’ve been working with them for several straight days, I find it difficult to concentrate. Also, I got tired quite quickly. Usually at 9-10 I already went to the bed...although I have this weird habit of sleeping exactly 6 hours, so I always wake up around 4 in the morning. But I didn’t went straight working again, so I thought I should be able to use my time more effectively.

However, I am really happy with my supervisor. I feel like this is my first time doing ‘real’ research with a supervisor. We meet regularly and we always have a lively discussion. We think and we solve problem together. That’s amazing. Sorry to say, but it is unlike my previous experience when I worked with my bachelor thesis: I had to work super independently, with no one to discuss with (because my topic was quite weird anyway). At that time, I think I only met my supervisor about 2-3 times..for the whole thesis! It’s crazy if I think about it now.

I’m also glad about my thesis topic choice. I worked a lot with coding, with R… Combining spatial analysis with data science, which is the direction I’d like to follow for my career. Frustration popped up at times, but it’s part of the process!