Wednesday 24 December 2014

Christmas Spirit. Expectations vs. Reality

Every year we have certain expectations towards Christmas. It's nothing strange since it's a very special time of the year when we not only share gifts and wishes but also spend more time than usually with our loved ones. We decorate the house, cook delicious meals, go shopping, prepare beautiful gifts. The crowning achievement is a dinner party, when we sit and enjoy each other's company. At least that's how it's supposed to look like. The fact is that usually many things are far from perfect. Check out my "Expectations vs. reality" compilation and try not to draw any conclusions from it. Just sit back, relax and enjoy.

1. Christmas tree

EXPECTATIONS


REALITY


2. Christmas presents

EXPECTATIONS


REALITY



3. Christmas fashion

EXPECTATIONS


REALITY


3. Christmas photoshoot

EXPECTATIONS


REALITY


4. Christmas food

EXPECTATIONS


REALITY


5. Christmas carol singers

EXPECTATIONS



REALITY



6. Christmas scenery

EXPECTATIONS


REALITY


7. Christmas cards

EXPECTATIONS


REALITY


8. Christmas dinner party

EXPECTATIONS


REALITY



I guess this pictures pretty much sum up my annual Christmas celebration. Sometimes the expectations are fulfilled, sometimes the reality is brutal and I have to accept it. Well, when I think of it more thoroughly, I can't think of any tasteless Christmas dishes or inappropriate Christmas cards. The only thing that could be improved is probably the scenery which 'failed permanently' when it comes to Christmas atmosphere. We usually have no snow and when we have, it instantly blocks the street or, what's even worse, turns into mud. 

Anyways, Christmas is not about complaining. It's about love, joy and forgiveness. Let me wish you all the best for this year's Christmas. Try to have this quote by Charles Dickens in mind: “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” 



I don't claim the ownership of these pictures. They were found in the Google search. If you feel in any way offended, don't hestitate to contact me and I'll delete them from this post as soon as possible.

Monday 17 November 2014

Greece part 3- Athens

Oh, guys... You have no idea how I've missed blogging. It has been a huge part of my life. It has helped me express myself and overcome my fear and shyness. Why did I give it up then? The truth is, I didn't. Not completely. Since I posted the last photos on my blog, I had this persistent thought: 'Come back. Do what you love.' However, it wasn't  as easy as it may sound. 

On the 1st of October I started to study applied linguistics in Warsaw. It wasn't like a snap of a finger, but a long, long process- preparations, saying goodbye to my house, family and, last but not least, my great, irreplacable friends. The thought of leaving it all behind was unbearable, believe me. Now I sound like a hypocrite. I wanted this, right? All of this mess, transformation from a high school girl into an indepentent woman. Well, that will have to wait. I'm a student getting most of my money from my parents, which naturally makes me dependent on them... But I'm away from home. I have to do everything on my own, which wouldn't be so bad if not for the fact that I also have to prepare for my studies, which sucks.

High school was a pure pleasure in comparison with what I have to deal with now. It's a shame that we appreciate many things when their gone. I'm experiencing it now myself. On one hand, I chose the subject of my studies, but on the other I've always considered languages a hobby. Hobbies are supposed to be fun, right? Studies are too, to some extent. Meaning: parties. The rest is just a hard work. The first shocking thing for me was the great amount of text that I was supposed to print. In fact, at the beginning all I did was print, copy, print, copy... And I thought that it was enough to be an excellent student. Ha.

Now I'm kinda used to this whole system of studying. Being a future linguist, or whatever, has one major virtue- I have much less tests in comparison with my friends who study scientific or economic subjects. However, I'll never be perfectly, thoroughly educated. I'll always lack a certain amount of knowledge on the subject. 

Enough of my complains. Let's finally get to the point of this post- Athens- city of contrasts. We visited the capital of Greece last July. It was really hot, so I found it really hard to upload a photo without my face looking like a tomato. Even though the warmth was more warm than it should be, I found our day trip really pleasant and I can't say I didn't enjoy it. 

First of all, GRAFFITI. How could I possibly not mention it? Well, graffiti fans, great news for you- in Athens it is basically everywhere, maybe except for ancient buildings. Greeks are really creative- they know how to create something from nothing (meaning: jobs), but most of all, they are awesome artists. I'm not talking just about the architects and painters but also musicians, photographers, writers. Here are some awesome street photographers: Eric KimSpyros PapaspyropoulosAndreas Paradise. Check out their portfolios to find out how Athens's diverse cultures meet on the same wavelength. I also hope that you will enjoy my humble portfolio in this post ;)
























PS
Check out my 2 other posts about Greece:

Wednesday 24 September 2014

Milan

Remember when you were browsing through the the fashion magazine recently? There is one city name that is always there, next to London, Paris and New York. Did you guess correcty? Yes, it's Milan! And I was lucky enough to be there during this year Milan Fasion Week! I even get a chance to see famous Kendall Jenner twice (doing her interview and then visiting the city).


I always thought that this magical italian sense of style and interest in fashion is just accurate a couple of fasion freaks or rich people who have nothing else to do but since the very first day in Milan I've changed my mind completly.
I saw hundreds of average people like me wearing things I thought I would never in a million years wear and looking amazing! I have to admitt I spied some new trends which I'm going to try in Poland ;-).


Unfortunately I can't share any streetwear fasion photos with you because usually when someone dressed in a way I liked was passing my by in the street I was just looking at him or her and thinking: 'Woooow! How did you do it?' and usually it was too late to take a photo. That's a shame to admitt it but usually people who are dressed in a traditional normal way are just tourist and you can always recognize them in a crowd of well-dressed, unusual looking people. I was surprised to see a lot of older people and men (!) experimenting with fashion which is hardly seen in Poland and in many other countries. Milan is a city full of contradictions - old architecture mixed with modern fashion, Chanel or Versace boutiques just a few steps from shops like ZARA or H&M. That's the thing I've always wanted to happen in my city - Kraków.



Another beautiful thing about Milan is its architecture.
(Not to mention the food that has already made me gain some unexpected pounds...)

Sunday 7 September 2014

Greece part 2- Small town charm

To mój drugi, wyczekiwany (tak *bardzo* wyczekiwany) post o moim pobycie w Grecji. Pierwszy był o morzu, zaś w dzisiejszym poście udamy się na północ, w głąb lądu. Ponieważ nie jestem zbyt dobra w opisywaniu miejsc uznałam, że wstawienie dużej dawki moich ulubionych zdjęć będzie lepszym pomysłem. Zostały one zrobione w naszym "rodzimym" Nea Makri i w Maratonie, który odwiedziliśmy pewnego upalnego, leniwego popołudnia.

This is my second, highly anticipated (yeah, so highly) post about my stay in Greece. The first one was about the seaside and now comes the time to go north and make an attempt to describe the country, small towns in particular. I'm not very good at describing places, so I guess that uploading some of my favourite photos is a better solution. They were taken in Nea Makri where we lived and in Marathon which we visited during one very hot and lazy afternoon. 



Z naszą wyprawą do Maratonu wiąże się pewna całkiem zabawna historia. Otóż planowaliśmy ją od tygodnia- wiedzieliśmy co, gdzie, jak i... spóźniliśmy się na autobus. Przybyliśmy na przystanek około 10 sekund za późno, bo widzieliśmy jak nasz środek transportu odjeżdża :'(. Kolejny miał przyjechać dopiero za parę godzin. Więc co zrobiliśmy? Postanowiliśmy udać się na inny przystanek, gdzie autobus innych linii (chyba) miał być za godzinę. Jak wiecie, grecki alfabet jest 'nieco' inny od łacińskiego, więc nie było sensu patrzyć na tabliczki z nazwami ulic (część napisów na znakach drogowych jest także po angielsku i nie hieroglifami, ale tylko na głównych drogach). Zdecydowaliśmy, że najlepiej iść na wschód. Oł jea. Po około pół godzinie szybkiego marszu dotarliśmy do przydrożnego straganu z warzywami i owocami, gdzie siedział jakiś rolnik, który mógł nam wskazać drogę. Przepraszam, mógłby, gdyby mówił po angielsku albo gdybyśmy rozumieli coś z jego greckiego słowotoku (był święcie przekonany, że wiemy o co mu chodzi). Po naradzie rodzinnej i zerknięciu do rozmówek doszliśmy do wniosku, że chyba chciał nam przekazać, że na autobus mamy czekać właśnie tu- chociaż nie było żadnego przystanku albo chociaż znaku BUS. Nie mieliśmy nic do stracenia, więc postanowiliśmy zostać na miejscu i czekać. Po kolejnej pół godzinie i pięciu skonsumowanych pomarańczach nadjechał autobus.

There is actually kind of a funny story depicting our short trip- we were planing it for almost a week- we knew exactly when, where, how and... we came to late to a bus stop. About ten seconds too late because we saw it leaving. The next bus was due to arrive in a few hours. So what did we do? We decided to find another bus stop where the bus was supposed to arrive in an hour. As you know, the Greek alphabet is 'slightly' different from the Latin alphabet so there was no point looking at the names of streets. We made up our minds and headed for East. It was a good decision- after about 30 minutes we finally got to a stall, where there was a guy who could tell us WHERE ON EARTH WE WERE. Yeah he could- if he had spoken English or we ad spoken Greek. Anyway, from his gestures we assumed that a bus stop was here- next to the stall, even though there was no sign. We decided to, let's say, entrust ourselfs to his hands. We had nothing to lose. After another half an hour and five consumed oranges a bus came.