Valencia, Spain

Hello guys; I’m sorry that it’s been a while, but to be honest sometimes life is made to lived outside of routine. At the end of the month of May, I spent a week in Spain, more specifically in Valencia. The last time that I visited was fourteen years ago, so it was surprising how much of the main sights that I remembered from that previous visit, although that said, it was nice to have a proper camera to capture the memories on. One of things that I loved about where we stayed was that it was in a village rather than a town; a lovely way to see the area without feeling like a stereotypical tourist. There was a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains and rural countryside, which I enjoyed attempting to capture whilst on a walk every day, morning and evening. It was definitely better using my DLSR than my iPhone, simply because the colour range, depth of field and general tools made the image look as close to the view as possible, whereas my iPhone only managed to capture the overall details rather than the full details. Alongside visits to the beach, the town, local shopping centres and wandering the streets, one of my favourite sights that I visited during this trip was the Collegiate Basilica of Gandía. I read, slept and ate a whole lot during the week break and I have no regrets, even though I feel heavier than ever, oops. 

I said in a blog post right at the start of this year that I wanted to travel more, which I do feel as though I’m managing to meet that life target, having explore two countries this year so far and looking to end of this year and beginning of next year, there are three more countries ready to explore in my plans. Spain is a country that I wasn’t desperate to visit, as I have visited before, but having now revisited, I can say that for sure I would like to explore the country further; there’s something lovely about the people, the food, the sights and the lifestyle in general that appeals to me. I enjoyed exploring the streets, the markets, the central squares and seeing little independent shops and cafés at every corner, but ultimately I loved the slower pace, the chilled atmosphere. My favourite pastime was watching the sun set over the mountains, which I spent literally days attempting to capture correctly on my camera; there was something so calming about sitting and watching. I have a habit of trying to do too much of everything, such as work, blogging, reading, etc and so it was nice to slow myself down and simply appreciate life. I didn’t do as many of the tourist-like things that I generally wold when exploring as I was travelling with an older (and physically disabled) person, but actually I didn’t mind too much. It was nice to slow down and enjoy company the world rather than tick off a list. I’ve definitely caught the travel bug now. Until my next trip!

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Hello guys! I know that I’ve previously spoken about wanting to explore the world on the blog, as my goals for this year heavily featured wanting to travel and capture memories for years to come. For a few days in April, I celebrated my 25th with my boyfriend in Amsterdam and it was such an experience; after having some issues with the original hotel, we ended up staying in a completely different place and not quite in Amsterdam, but in the overall region so it was easy enough to travel into the center with minimal hassle. As much as I’d read up about the city, I do feel like it’s definitely a busy city to the point that even as a Londoner I was a little overwhelmed! Two things: bikes and strange road layouts. Being from London, I’m used to seeing bicycles but this was to the extreme! Literally thousands of bikes line the streets and because of Holland using left hand drive I was so confused by simply crossing the road at times because of bikes, people, trams and buses being seemingly everywhere. I feel like myself and Piotr managed to pack a lot of activities into 4 days but at the same time, I do wish we had seen more as there’s just so much to see and do in Amsterdam. That being said, I don’t think I’ve taken so many landscape photographs in months; everything about the city just transfers so well into imagery, perfect for good memories!

Arguably the best thing that we did was a Canal tour at sunset; it was such a lovely way to see the city and it was great to hear about the city from a local guide as you learnt not only about Tourist hotspots but also everyday life. We also visited the Rijksmuseum, Tulip Museum, Van Gogh Museum, Red Light District, Sandvoort Gallery (inside Amsterdam Centraal Station), Cheese Museum and the Hash, Marihuana & Museum and Gallery. It doesn’t sound like much, but honestly it felt like a lot alongside various cafés, restaurants and wandering the streets. The Library in the Rijksmuseum literally took my breath away, as did Odelle’s dollhouse, the inspiration for one of my favourite books, The Muse. The museums in general were insanely good. I was disappointed that we couldn’t visit the Anne Frank House as there were no tickets available, but that does feel like a good excuse to revisit the city again as Piotr fell completely in love so I know that we’ll definitely be visiting the city again at some point. We were also there for Kingsday, a celebration of the Kings birthday which results in a massive street party in the centre of Amsterdam with street performers, dancing, drinking, music and more. It was an experience to say the least; the Dutch definitely know how to party hard, whereas I just found it exhausting! The city is so photogenic and there is so much to do that it was completely worth the ridiculous price of food, attractions and travel but if you do visit the city, try and take more money than you’ll think that you will need as it is very expensive, unfortunately. It was a lovely way to spend my birthday and spend time with Piotr; however I’ve definitely caught the travel bug so I can imagine travelling a lot more over the rest of this year, which I’m not sure my bank balance will love, haha. Until my next trip! 

Solina Lake, Poland

So far, during this holiday my boyfriend has honestly taken me to the most beautiful places; growing up Poland was never high on my list of places to visit, I'll admit but having seen places that I'd hadn't even heard of my mind has definitely changed. I want to see so many more things that I'd never thought of before now... He drove us to Lake Solina which is surrounded by the Bieszczady mountain range. Piotr actually visited with his family in the summer of last year and he sent me some postcards of the views then and I do remember thinking I'd love to see it for myself one day. Well, somehow he knows me so well that he took me during this trip. It's not a natural river, it was created during the construction of the Solina Dam in 1968. It's actually the largest artificial lake in Poland and is home to some beautiful mountain scenery. We visited when it was out of season so it was more or less dead, with barely any stalls open, which was a good and a bad thing. It was lovely to have the place empty and ready to explore, but it was a shame to not use a cafe and get the whole experience. The water was a lovely clear blue and seemed to stretch on forever, surrounded my nature.

 

 

 

We've been lucky enough to have some gorgeous weather since we arrived, which for late march is simply amazing. Piotr attempted to show me how to bounce stones across the water but was completely unsuccessful... I'm too clumsy and not gentle enough to manage it, I literally throw a pebble and it goes smash into the water, oops. I loved simply walking around and enjoying the views and his company. It's so easy to feel positive about life when you're surrounded by views like these; it was so peaceful, calm, clean and clear. I've always liked nature, but it's very different to experience nature in places you've never been to before. Solina Lake has well and truly captured my heart, I'm dreaming of the day I can return and rediscover it's beauty alongside Piotr. It's a strange experience seeing everyone look confused as you speak in English, but I like it too as it's so nice to experience different cultures, including languages. I've definitely fallen in love with Poland 💗

 

Łańcut Castle, Poland

I feel like I've often mentioned that my boyfriend is from (and grew up in) Poland and that we visit sometimes. The first time that I travelled to Poland with Piotr we literally visited for a weekend and I felt like I saw so many things; this time we're visiting for ten days and I definitely feel like I didn't see much at all last time. He's not from the city of Łańcut but it's a close drive away. He knows me well enough to know that I love architecture and parks, having grown in Greenwich, London - which has arguably some of the most beautiful architecture and surrounding park views at least in London. I don't know the Polish language so it was hard to understand the information boards, but Łańcut Castle was very lovely to visit. Piotr drove us there and he loves driving so that was nice, it's relaxing watching him enjoy cruising along. Łańcut is actually close to the borders of Poland with Ukraine. The castle is rather huge and the architectural style is very different to British architecture so I loved it. I enjoy different cultures and seeing different places. I feel like it would be even more beautiful in summer, especially in the surrounding park a it has various statues and plants that can be seen from all areas of the vast land.

 

 

After the visit I had a google search to try and understand more of the history of Łańcut Castle, rather than simply enjoying its physical beauty. It's an originally sixteenth century set of buildings with surrounding park. During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century the Duke and Duchess Lubomirski transformed the buildings based on a love of baroque architecture, which then transformed the castle into a palace. According to the internet, Łańcut Castle is one of the most famous aristocratic buildings in Poland which has become a museum full of art and stunning interior design. It has a long history and one that reflects the Polish culture of Pre World War Two; if any of you ever visit Poland, its definitely worth a visit. I definitely wild visit again in the summer months when the Parks are in full bloom. I also visited only the Parks, not the inside of the castle so I want to see inside too.

 

Happy Things #13

 

1. So for the next week I'm in Rzeszów, Poland where my boyfriend grew up. I like seeing his culture and spending time with him, especially now that we're not working together, it makes the time together really important to me.

2. A holiday is always a good excuse to eat and drink whatever you want, particularly with his mums amazing cooking skills... I swear all I do in Poland is eat! (Oops)

3. I worry a lot less when I'm in Poland, although I suspect that's most likely because I struggle to understand anything. Piotr's translating skills are pretty good, but I still struggle a lot with the language. I've been attempting to learn but it's a really hard language for me, I don't even know why, but it is.

4. Since making an effort my mood swings are a lot better and I've been having panic and anxiety attacks, but I think having Piotr by my side for the weekend and upcoming week is what truly made a difference to my mood; I really enjoy spending time with him and especially in his country.

5. So far I've seen quite a bit of the city but I do really love seeing it, every single time. It doesn't feel like a massive tourist place which is great as you can explore freely without millions of people around you. I'm looking forward to seeing more things and spending time with family, it's always nice to relax every so often.

 

Visiting Poland

In the last week of November my boyfriend and I went to his home country of Poland for a few days. Being terrified of heights the thought of flying was fairly horrible... Especially as I hadn't got on a plane since I was 11 years old and I'm 23 now, so you can imagine how much I didn't even want to think about the flight, plus I had an added pressure of meeting his family for the first time. The flight went as badly as expected, I didn't like it at all. The take off was particularly scary. On the way to Poland we ended up landing in a different airport to the one that we had booked, which added to my stress as it was due to bad weather conditions. Piotr found his friend in the airport and we ended up in a car for roughly 3 hours in the biggest fog I'd ever seen to get to his home city and family house. A 3 hour journey ended up taking around 7 hours... It was a stressful start, as my anxiety isn't always the best on a regular day in a regular situation.

 

However, once we arrived in the right city it was a really pleasant trip; it was so cold outside. It was mostly a family based trip, so we didn't see too many of the typical tourist sights. It actually was snowing a little, which I hated as it made everything so slippery... From the photos you can see the Market Square, with Piotr dancing around and being funny; the start of Christmas coming with the Christmas decorations and lights already in place. The Market Square reminded me a bit of Trafalgar Square with the podiums and decorations, but slightly cooler with cobblestones and interesting architecture. Everything seemed to be either a bank, pub or kebab shop, which was a interesting array of places. There was also a massive shop devoted to alcohol only; definitely conforming to the British stereotype of Europeans having alcohol available at all times. That said, I saw much less drunks around than I would in London, so they obviously know how to control themselves.

 

On another note, I don't think I've ever eaten so much in my life... I literally ate roughly 4 or 5 times per day, whereas at home I eat maybe twice? I was actually struggling to finish plates of food, oops. Seriously though, all of the cakes in Poland looked so appetising, to the point where I just want to buy them all. I didn't, I took photos instead. I wasn't sure what to expect or what the country would be like, I went with an open mind as it was more of a family orientated trip, but the parts that I did see I did really like. Now I'm back in England I just feel as though I want a permanent holiday for the next month. Because Christmas has suddenly started to appear, there were Christmas decorations being put up in the town so I have started to feel a little festive, which is nice but also a bit exciting as it's the first Christmas I'll be spending with Piotr as well. But a bizarre ending to this post, sorry about that, haha. If visiting Europe is something you want to do, definitely check out Poland as it's fairly inexpensive and has a nice atmosphere. Plus the majority of people manage to speak English, which is useful :)

 

My Blog Redesign!

Hello again! :)
You may have noticed that my blog has changed a little in the past couple of days; ever since I've been getting more into blogging I was starting to get tired of my original blog design, although when I was starting out I really loved it and I have kept a copy just in case I ever want to use it again. I'm not amazing at HTML and coding so the best option was to purchase a blog layout. I bought this one from Etsy (buy here) and I really love it. The pastel pink headers look so nice and I like the Instagram integration feature at the bottom of the page.

I actually managed to create the overall blog header that is pictured above myself so I'm feeling fairly proud of myself for that. The floral wreath fits in really nicely with the overall theme of pink and white. Personally I'm loving the new layout and hopefully whoever is reading this does as well. It looks much more professional and I think it's easier to read, too. There are so many blog designs available to buy or for free online and so many tutorials to help you through the more difficult parts such as Instagram integration and making clickable picture links to other social media, which I've finally managed to work out how to use for Facebook and twitter. I'm so excited to see where this blog will end up and I'm enjoying getting more into blogging. See you soon x

A month in Instagram - November

Overall, November has been slightly unexpected; it feels as though it has literally disappeared, it's gone so quickly. On a positive note, this means Christmas is coming  and therefore so is all of the fun stuff that comes with holiday time. At the start of the month of November I watched the bonfire night celebrations with my boyfriend who hadn't been before. His comment was that fireworks are always nice but didn't understand why we celebrate omeine who tried to blow up our parliament buildings. Fair point, I suppose... Especially as I couldn't even give him an answer. Clearly didn't pay enough attention in history lessons in school.

 

During this month I've definitely eaten far too much and naturally with that comes far too much weight gain, oops. But to fair, living with someone who has a good appetite is the perfect excuse to eat nice things, like pancakes with golden syrup, cream and fruit. Plus, I've learnt that the only way to love your life is to appreciate every part of it, and that definitely includes good food. I went on the night tube a couple of times, which was a fun experience I suppose. Most people are either drunk, begging or on the way to or from work. It's a bit like getting on a shit night bus, but faster. I bought some uggs which have literally saved my life in this cold weather... My feet suffer the most of my whole body during the winter months and after using my brain for once I finally decided to look after the, with comfy and warm shoes. 

 

The end of the month brought another unexpected journey, Piotr and I went to Poland for a few days. The country is nice, but the flight really wasn't. The positive side to flying is that it wasn't too long a journey but the downside is that it made my anxiety absolutely awful... Like really, really bad. I spent much of the time really confused due to the language barrier, but thankfully I did have a translator with me all the time. It was so cold, to the point that even wearing uggs all the time I struggled to keep warm but it was nice, the view of the city lights from the hills was amazing. I tried to take pictures but wasn't successful, sadly. I've never seen such pretty cakes and sweet things in my life!

 

November Playlist!

 

1. Hot 'N Cold - Katy Perry

2. Dancing On My Own - Calum Scott

3. I Follow Rivers - Lykke Li

4. Closer (feat. Halsey) - The Chainsmokers

5. Locked Away (feat. Adam Levine) - R. City

6. The One That Got Away - Katy Perry

7. Give Me Novacaine - Green Day

8. Sorry - Justin Bieber

9. With Ur Love - Cher Lloyd

10. Franklin - Paramore

Let it be

 

 

A couple of years ago I started suffering from severe panic attacks... Severe to the point that I was afraid to leave my house. This was during my second year of university and I felt like no one believed that this was how I was feeling, or that no one else understood how I was feeling. These attacks actually calmed down a lot during my third year of university, which was a massive relief but I was still having about 4 a week I guess. Once university was over, I stopped having them altogether. At first, I thought there was a correlation between finishing university and the panic attacks stopping.

However, there clearly wasn't a correlation as the panic attacks started again this year. I was in an abusive relationship, to the point that I was having daily panic attacks that affected every aspect of my life; my work, my friendships, my personality... Now the panic attacks are much less but I'm afraid of being alone, in case there's no one to be there to help me, to calm me. I'm afraid of dying. (Dramatic as it sounds, I know.) When you have a panic attack, it literally engulfs you. You can't breathe, can't move... You feel physically sick, as though someone is strangling you, or punching you multiple times in the stomach.

Slowly it will get easier, and I know that. It got easier before. Right now, I have amazing support in my life but I just can't control these panic attacks, no matter how hard I try to, no matter how hard I try to let go of the hard feelings. I suppose the only thing that I can do at the moment is let it be. Everything will be ok, in time. It's a hard lesson to learn, but a true one. I'm finding that going for walks is really helping to clear my head, to feel more calm. Finding the beauty in the outside world, helping me to find the beauty in staying alive.

Monthly Reflections #3

 

It feels as though Christmas is getting ever closer at the moment, which therefore means that the new year is coming not long after. In all honesty, I'm not the most social of people, but during this time of year, I do actually enjoy going out more and spending time with family and friends. That said, I hate the cold but somehow, it's bearable because everyone seems to be fairly upbeat and friendly. With this in mind, I feel as though it's time to think about my personal goals. I'm not one for ever sticking to New Years resolutions, therefore I want have goals that I can work on overall, regardless of the time of year so to improve my life.

One of the most important goals I have is to look after my health as I haven't been in the best state for a while. I want to improve my health physically and mentally. I tried going running and actually that did help to clear my head as well as getting my fitter physically and I'm thinking that doing some  exercise will help me, alongside actually making an effort to concentrate on the good things in my life and not constantly focus on the negative things. I want to focus on pushing forward and keeping forward, my intention is to get better and not go back down again.

As a result of focusing on my health, I also want to focus more on my relationship, my boyfriend is literally one of the most patient and supportive people I've ever met and I need to appreciate him far more than I do. I need to spend more time building friendships new and old, even if it's just sending a text or meeting up for a quick coffee. I have a terrible habit of not looking after my health and therefore neglecting other aspects of my life, such as friendships and relationships in general. 

During the past few months I've really been enjoying blogging more regularly; it's been a therapeutic experience for me. I've been pushing through my low moods to keep going and actually make an effort to continue doing something. It's an enjoyable hobby for me, and I'm really loving it at the moment.  In the future, I would really love to meet other bloggers and generally push myself to be more sociable as I do have a tendency to shut myself away. I feel as though I've been pretty consistent with my blog these few months and I'm planning to continue posting regularly. 

On a final note, I want to have a holiday as soon as possible, or at least some time off from work. I feel as though I'm literally frying my brain; I'm currently working a ridiculous amount of hours a week, as well as getting few hours sleep a night. Insomnia has always been a problem for me, since my later teenage years, but recently it's begun to spiral out of control and has started to affect my health. With this in mind, I just feel as though I need to relax, recharge my batteries and find myself again.

Exploring London #1

 

 

One of my favourite things to do at the moment is go for a walk. I find it really helps me to clear out my mind and actually relax. Alongside that, it also gives me time to take in what I see around me, as well as do something other than work, eat and sleep. Growing up in London meant that I took many things for granted that many people actually spend considerable amounts of money to travel and see. For example, there is so much history around. Museums, art galleries, landmarks, live music venues, cathedrals, churches, palaces, parks and even huge shopping streets and centres. As a result of my boyfriend not being British, it's actually a nice excuse to think of things to do and see.

The first thing we've done is go to Greenwich Park, arguably one of the best Parks and has the most beautiful views across the city. It's home to the Greenwich World Hertiage Site and includes the Royal Observatory, the National Maritime Museum, the Old Royal Naval College and the Queen's House. There is so much history in this park, particularly from British Royal history, first as a hunting park during the Tudor era and it was also home to the Tudor and Stuart palaces as well as Greenwich Hospital. Greenwich is also home to Greenwich Mean Time, and at night you can see a laser that goes across London that lets you know where time begins. Even some of the plants in the Park are associated with royalty, such as the Queen's Oak (Elizabeth I) and the Wilderness which alludes to its hunting days, complete with wild deers. The flower garden and the garden of the Astronomer Royal are also lovely parts to visit, dating back to the 17th century.

The nicest thing about the park is probably the views of London however. You can see literally so many landmarks if you walk up to Flamsteed House. Canary Wharf, the o2 (The Millenium Dome), the Gherkin, the Shard, the old gasworks, ferry ports and docks. Piotr and I went in the afternoon, as it's now autumn and getting much darker, much faster in the evenings it meant that we saw the view in twilight, definitely my favourite time of say to take in such a nice view. I'm definitely liking sunsets a lot recently, I like the colours and how the lights of buildings twinkle and glitter in the darkness. I'm liking the decision to travel around London and enjoy what tourists pay money for, it's nice to discover new things on a budget. 

Hello, October

 

Finally, it's staring to feel like real autumn; there's a chill in the air and it's getting darker earlier in the evening, I love it. I've always loved autumn, I love how the seasons change and the colours that the leaves and trees turn as they begin to disintegrate. Photography wise, I adore taking photos in the autumn months, especially sunset landscapes. This month I want to try and live more, go out exploring and enjoy seeing and experiencing new things. I've been living stuck in a rut for about five years, so I feel like it's time to branch out and live. I intend to really push myself to go out and actually enjoy myself.

Blogging has actually been like a kind of therapy for me and I'm grateful that I pushed myself to get into a routine of it; it's encouraging me to out, to have something to write about and enjoy. After studying creative subjects for so many years it's also a good way to pushing through with my creative side. Growing up in London I've always taken interesting things for granted, for example there are so many museums and breathtaking city views visible from where I live and yet I've never really taken the time to go out and actually experience things that tourist travels across the globe to do. My boyfriend isn't from London so it's such a good excuse to go out and explore like a tourist in my own country! 

Favourite Instagrammers - September

Hello again! As you will definitely know by now, I am what many would call a complete Instagram addict, to the point where I scroll through the home page many times per day, just to ensure that I've seen literally everything that I can in from that day. I follow people that I know and that I don't, from all areas across the world. Every month I follow a few more people that catch my eye and I take a liking to. I've always liked seeing how other people live and their passions and instagram is a fantastic way to explore others visually. All of the images below are from a simple Instagram google image search, the usernames are detailed below the images.

 

katyannestuart

I really love Katy's photographic style and her Instagram is full of lovely autumnal coloured views of flowers, horses and herself. Her vibrant red hair makes her stand out, especially against the soft greens of the landscape. She definitely has a passion for florals, animals and fashion as well as anything in between. Plus, her wedding photos look so nice, complete with a dog and a beautiful river landscape. She's one of the people I followed recently but I really like seeing her posts.

 

sarah_nunn

Her love for travelling is what made me follow her, her effortless style and love for the beauty found in new places and the little things. I liked how when she's exploring she documents even the smallest of details, whether that is tiled or mosaic flooring, or simply landscape views of cliffs and the sea they're always nicely framed and make me want to travel more often. She also posts photos of food and drink, even basics like coffee somehow look super interesting and that's why I like her posts so much, the small moments are just as important as huge moments.

 

girlandcloset

A lovely lady living in Vancouver, her posts are always very foresty and rather whimsical, whether intentionally or not. Soft autumnal lighting and deep hazy sunshine makes her posts photographically so pleasing to see. This month I've really been loving her posts because she's definitely in tune with the Sedona, going pumpkin picking and documenting leafy woodland walks. Her love of nature really shines through in all of posts, even her outfit posts are taken outside and embracing the changing seasons wearing boots, jeans and comfy cardigans; Veronika is more than worth a follow.

 

littlevoiceblog

I love how Georgia documents all parts of her life, from new house keys, moving cities for university, her pets and her travels. Her posts are often pretty minimalist, with close ups of coffee cups, travel cards and books. That said, I like that she captures things from an unusual perspective; it's nice to see how other people see things. Her views of exterior architecture are both interesting and photographically beautiful, regardless of their unconventional framing techniques. Her captions to the images are always both sensitive and direct to the point, which sometimes are more interesting than the images themselves and the reason why I followed her this month.

 

shotfromthestreet

I recently followed Lizzy, and I don't regret it at all, I liked how she showcases both herself and her taste in fashion using the city as a canvas. However what I really liked is that the captions to her images, she talks about life, for example what books she's reading, her life and her travels, not only fashion. Her personal style is fairly androgynous but somehow classics and co-ordinates well with her 'Instagram theme'. Usually I'm not a fan of accounts with all images of the self but she's definitely made an exception to the rule.