Saturday 6 September 2014

Austria

At the end of July my mother and I went to Austria for a week. We had previously been five years ago and stayed on a lake, so we stuck to what we knew and did the same again but this time at Fuschlsee, a crystal blue aqua coloured dream near to the city of Salzburg. 
Fuschlsee (first three images) • My long lost tan • Selfie? • The cable cars that take you to the top of the Zwolferhorn • Me twatting out on top of a mountain • Paragliders preparing for lift off • Salzburg • The motherland: Mozart's House • I repeat, the tan • Pretty lamplights in the town

Being fresh (or rather the complete opposite) off the plane from Zakynthos, I was a little taken aback by the tranquillity of the area. Nonetheless, it didn't take long for me to appreciate the scenery. The lake has a trail all the way around its perimeter so the picturesque view is never far. Every so often we would come across a little alcoved 'beach' that that the locals had already found. And let me tell you, Austrians love a good lake when the sun shines. Situated just on the outskirts of the Alps, I was also able to take in the view from a higher vantage point on top of a mountain; specifically the Zwolferhorn that overlooks Wolfgangsee (a lake named after Mozart). There are five lakes all within close proximity so a short bus ride will take you from one to the other in no time. However, this journey can be easily complicated with the addition of two Brits trying to speak German with no knowledge of the language whatsoever: enter me and my mum. Like the well cultured people that we are, we used good ol' Google Translate to ask for our tickets. We were practically locals. Now, learning phrases is all well and good until the bus driver turns to you and asks "Kind oder ein Erwachsener?". Yeah, I had no idea either.

Measuring 1522m high, we took a cable car to the top of the Zwolfer, after successfully making it on the bus. It slowly ascended out of the trees and you could see the lake open up in front of you. At the top, there are various trails that we walked along to get a view from all directions. The most fascinating thing in my opinion was the paragliders. The sunny, docile conditions were perfect so it was hardly surprising the amount of daredevils that were taking off from the top. I have to say, aside from the perennial fear of falling to your death, it did look pretty peaceful to be swirling around up there.

We also visited Salzburg. The city's architecture displays such a majestic history, it reminded me a lot of the Piazza dei Signori in Verona. I was really excited to see Mozart's birthplace; it's very location in the city has inspired a burgeoning music student population. Whilst the history of the city was fascinating, there was something else that had captured my mind: GIANT CHOCOLATE PRETZELS. There was a bustling food market that sold all sorts of wonders. Every so often you'd walk past someone with brown chocolate smears over their face and you just knew what they had been up to.

All in all it was a lovely trip. On our final post-food bonanza stroll in Fuschl, we were treated to a youth orchestra from England playing in one of the squares. It reminded me of when I used to play, even though I never went on tour. Furthermore, we were lucky to only have two days when the weather turned stormy. I remember one early evening sitting on a lounger by the lake reading and slowly the grey clouds rolled in. You could see everyone preparing by putting on their clothes one by one. As soon as the first drop of rain hit, everyone darted. It was pretty comical actually. When it wasn't raining, however, the sunset over the water was unreal.

Monday 1 September 2014

Tango En Vogue

There's one thing I love more than ASAP Rocky and that's ASAP Rocky with Chanel Iman. Posing in various dance stances, the couple are looking gorgeous in Vogue's September issue. In a world where "get money, fuck bitches" is the ubiquitous message propagated through much of the music we hear, these two are helping upkeep the standard set by Jay Z and Beyonce and publicly showing their unity and loyalty to one another (whilst looking mighty fine in the process). Preach.

Friday 22 August 2014

Success Is Liking Yourself, Liking What You Do And Liking How You Do It

SO I'm pissing off to university in three weeks! Eeeeep. After much deliberation on the whole 'gap year' thang and much confusion about what the hell I was going to study, I have finally accepted my place at Manchester and I am (surprisingly) really excited.

I think the main reason I wanted a gap year was due to the financial aspect of university but with a year off to 'travel' I would have spent any money I earned on that anyway. Plus I will have much longer holidays to do things. To be honest, the excitement that I would have found travelling is easily found with the prospect of meeting a bunch of new people and exploring the city of Manchester! Whatsmore, I get to spend six months in a French-speaking country and six months in a Spanish-speaking country in my third year which I can't wait for. Hopefully by that time I'll be able to hold a somewhat normal conversation as opposed to discussing Europe's immigration policies and the death penalty.. Whatever happens in the next few years, I think we should all remember the wise words of Ms Angelou:
"Success is liking yourself, liking what you do and liking how you do it."

I'm currently writing out my never ending list of things that I need to take but, judging by the size of it, I am yet to realise that I can't take my whole bedroom with me. I think I've also forgotten that they do actually have shops in Manchester. If you're either at uni and have any tips for us freshers or if you're a newbie first year like me, I'd love to hear your take on the whole university topic. If anyone is going to Manchester that would be even better!

Saturday 9 August 2014

The Sun's Gonna Shine For The Last Time

Is anyone pining for the sunshine, sand and sea? But, alas, with a weather warning for this weekend it seems like these pictures and listening to Radio 1 in Ibiza sets on repeat will have to do until next year. I can't believe that more than a month has passed since we were on our favourite Grecian island (I've only been to one but that's not the point). Following Jenah Yamamoto's escapades in her native Hawaii and Erika Bowes' Ibizan getaway on instagram hasn't helped either but they have offered me a slice of the sunshine that almost every other country in the world is experiencing in...wait, what was it called again? Oh yeah, SUMMER.
 
The first image is one I took in my beloved Zante and the last is taken from Erika's instagram. Ibiza is defo on the places to go list. If you really want to get emotional over the fact that summer is almost over then listen to 'Unmissable' by Gorgon City or Secondcity's latest song called 'What Can I Do'. But MK and Duke Dumont's sets will probably do the trick; when he lays down 'I Got You' that is really the tipping point man.

Thursday 17 July 2014

Zante Playlist

Lots of house music; that was all they played at the white party, and in many of the bars in fact. I bought the Pure Deep House album before I went back and played it non-stop while we were getting ready to go out. Yeah that's right we went back.

Met some Brazilians who taught us the Ai Se Eu Te Pego dance which was like a dream come true to be honest.

Anything Professor Green will remind me of the immense White Party on Cameo Island. Although, if I hear Read All About It I will most likely break down in tears. That was his last song and we were singing our precious hearts out to it.

The Sam Smith song reminds me of Hannah; we played it once during round 2 and she said she liked it. It was towards the end of out stay so it was a bit emosh.

Infinity is our song.

PS I can no longer sing the Wiggle song by Jason Derulo without changing the words to "Sizzle sizzle sizzle" - the name of a bar where I met my one true Scottish love. It's okay, I'll be alright.

If you want to see some of my pictures then you can go to my instagram which I started again.

Sunday 8 June 2014

Waste Land

With the World Cup in Brazil looming, there has been an innumerable amount of documentaries focusing on the South American country over the past few weeks. I've always been fascinated by Brazil but with this bombardment of images and information my interest has increased tenfold. The most recent of these is a documentary film titled Waste Land in which Brazilian artist Vik Muniz delves into the lives of the catadores (the pickers of recyclable materials) at a landfill called Jardim Gramacho near Rio de Janeiro.
 Although the landfill was closed in 2012, the work of Tiaõ and the other members of the ACAMJG (Association of Recylcling Pickers of Jardim Gramacho) remains an exemplary model for Brazil's future plans for sustainable development.

By no means an art how-to, the film displays the capacity of people, no matter what their status may be, and the character that provides the inspiration for such masterpieces. The result of this exploration is not only these beautiful portraits made entirely from recyclable materials but a stirring film that displays the power of the human spirit and the promise of transformation.

Also, how gorgeous is the Portuguese language? I love it.

Wednesday 28 May 2014

Mr and Mrs West

You may think the wedding (and the numerous extravagant circumstances surrounding it) between Kim Kardashian and Kanye West was a crass display of their riches. Palace of Versailles and an ancient Italian fort? Of course it was. But what else do you expect from these two with one of them being a self-professed 'God' (ref. "I Am A God") and the other being television's biggest reality star? However, you cannot deny that this family's combined wardrobe has turned many faces a shade of green. Their escapades around Paris in the week before the enormous colossal monumental big day certainly made me envious of the sisters' style and don't even get me started on Kim's killer body.

Thursday 8 May 2014

Met Gala Faves

Rihanna stole the show. A$AP Rocky and Chanel Iman look damn good together. And I still love Frank Ocean a hell of a lot.

Sunday 4 May 2014

Jimmy Franco

My crush on A$AP Rocky has returned with almighty force after watching this video. And after a few skeptical first plays, I can say that I do like the song; the mish mash of sound effects in the background is actually quite schnazzy. But I guess I'm a little biased seen as everytime I hear it I imagine A$AP Rocky looking terribly handsome in his shades.

Wednesday 23 April 2014

Coachella

And the award for the latest Coachella post goes to Mols. #degas.
Coachella is not at the very top of my list of festivals to go to - Tomorrowland obviously holds number one spot, hello, followed by Creamfields and Outlook - but it is by far the most stylish. It seems like most people (at least the ones who are photographed) care more about what they wear than what they hear; I imagine it to be like "Dance? Oh no honey not in these new garbs". But as usual Vanessa Hudgens looked perfect. She is Coachella personified.