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My two dear friends Kristin and Filip got married in Stavanger, Norway earlier this spring and I had the privilege of capturing them saying yes and celebrating the day with their friends and family. I was pretty much the only non-Norwegian speaking person there so I didn’t understand much of the words but actions are often louder than words (duh), so this time round I got the idea by just observing people. My camera gave me the perfect excuse to do just that.
I’m sitting outside a bar in Stavanger, Norway right now, the sun is shining on my face and on the pink, blue and orange houses across the street. A delicious craft beer is fuelling my creativity (such a cliché travel blogger moment) and boy, apparently it has been three months since I last said hi on here. Wait, what? Yeah, and I absolutely can’t promise it won’t happen again. Somebody evidently took a bit of a break from blogging and tried to get out of their Berlin media bubble. I stayed offline whenever work allowed me to (thanks work!), went on tons of crazy adventures that could and perhaps will one day fill entire books. Of course I never stayed off Instagram for that long. So, here’s a long overdue selection of snaps from November until April.
It’ll be like this: You’ll sit in a hot tub under the starry sky that night and talk about the months and years and dreams to come before cuddling up in that wooden room in the attic. That night someone will wake you up just before midnight and say, “Err, Northern Lights!” two hours before you leave for the airport, and you’ll throw a scarf and jacket over your pyjamas, clumsily walk down the stairs and maybe swear a little.
2016 is currently getting a hard time and guess what, I’m also very relieved it’s over soon! But while looking through photos of this year as I always do in December, I was surprised by how many happy memories there were. It’s easy to join in with everybody’s 2016-bashing but a lot in life is what you make of it (even if you don’t feel like it), so I’m very determined to use that little change of seasons for planning a few long-overdue, new beginnings.
I’m travelling to Curacao and Japan this month (eeeeek!) and also find myself (and about five different notebooks) in the middle of two very exciting and intense projects, so my mind has already forgotten about anything that happened between August and September. Luckily dat ol’ iPhone’s photo roll hasn’t. Here are a couple of snaps from Austria (Alps), Bavaria, Austria again (Carinthia), England and mild summer days in Berlin. Also, I’d actually like to show you extracts from David Foster Wallace’s speech “This is Water” which has inspired me in so many ways recently. Here is the full piece.
Summer’s still not over in Berlin but as the days get shorter and everyone’s agendas and lists are filling up, now feels like a good time to reflect on those happy days spent in Brandenburg. Days that smelled like hot waffles, freshly cut grass and no plans for the near future. This is a collection of photos I took between July and September and up until now, I didn’t actually realise how much time I spent out in the countryside. I rediscovered the fun of trampolines with my cousins, had long conversations about love and age and how both affect each other with my wise great aunt and uncle and then cycled to the closest lake which had the perfect temperature (in September). I spent a weekend with friends near Werbellinsee, dipped my feet into Liepnitzsee while having a sunset beer or two, barbequed in a hidden spot by Wannsee and cuddled with a lot of dogs. Looking back, I didn’t need spectacular mountains or white beaches this summer, friends, waves and overgrown bike paths were enough.
My friend Klaudia’s style is effortless and uber-cool and I don’t just mean her looks. She has that certain air of laid-back Berlin chill that I wish would rub off on me. Klaudia grew up between Poland and Germany and lived in Warsaw for three years before making the move to big B. She’s been studying history here for four years and I’m one lucky girl having bumped into her this summer and getting to know her a bit better.
