confession #000030

... or, throwback thursday

yeah! i hit the big 3-0 in terms of posts on this blog.  i guess it is somewhat of a milestone seeing as i'm not one of the most regular of bloggers.  today also calls for another little celebration: it's my eighth year at my current workplace and thanks to this job (which i truly have a passion for, as i suppose my colleagues can confirm), i get to visit quite a few places around europe.  and in celebration of this, i've decided that today's post will be all about one of the cities i visited quite recently for one of my meetings: paris. let's say that in pure hashtag fashion, this will also be the first #throwbackthursday and let nostalgia lead the way. 

i visited paris last december for the first time.  to be quite frank, i'm not actually sure if i would consider going again.  i suppose i had a mild bout of paris syndrome or it was just a collection of occurrences which came together to make me somewhat disillusioned about the city.  but let's not start on such a negative note. 

i spent a total of four days, arriving on saturday and leaving on tuesday, with the last two days being taken up by my work meetings. this allowed me almost 2 days to see the sites.  admittedly, this was not much time, but it was enough to get a good impression of the city of lights. i opted to stay in the montmartre area, with the aim of being inspired by all the artists who walked along the same streets i would be traipsing on, and also because it was the closest arrondisement to the meeting venue just outside paris. 

i first headed to the sacré-cœur basilica and the famous steps leading to it where practically all parisian youth congregate, and not just.  the place was replete with tourists enjoying the sun in the otherwise cold day.  i must admit it was quite a struggle making my way down the steps to reach the heart of montmartre and its quaint shops and cafes.  the next place which i visited was the cafe des deux moulins, which any amelie fan must, absolutely, visit.  this was my personal little mecca and i wouldn't have left paris before visiting it. the place is exactly like it was in the film, save for the fact that it was full of tourists who were obviously as intent as i was to have a coffee there.  

following that i walked on to galeries lafayette and the shops around boulevard hausmann.  honestly, i was not prepared for what i was to face.  i'm not sure if it was the louis vuitton christmas shop windows or the fact that i timed my visit to galeries lafayette when all the coach tours were visiting but it was a nightmare to get in, a nightmare to shop and a nightmare to get out.  i had to queue for a good twenty minutes at the longchamp shop to get the pliage totes which i was intent on laying my paws on. over the years, i've come to the realisation that i'm not good with crowds.  despite being in the mecca of luxury shopping, all i could think of was to get out. not one for going out in the evenings on my own, that was pretty much my saturday done. 

sunday called for my personal grand tour du paris. i caught a taxi from my hotel to the notre dame area and headed off to the shakespeare and company bookshop, which much to my dismay was still closed (that's what you get for being an early bird).  i returned there at the end of my tour and i could feel the spirit of kerouac and other great literary figures still present there. i then headed off to the notre dame  du paris itself and strolled along rue de rivoli until i got to the louvre. unfortunately there was no way i would manage to go in with all the visitors queuing but at least i could peruse the grounds. i kept on walking along rue de rivoli until place de la concorde where i then turned into avenue des champs-élysées.  i don't meant to lessen any of its charm and allure, but most big cosmopolitan cities have big, high-end shopping streets.  champs-élysées is yet another one. 

once i got to l'arc de triomphe, i found i needed to give my feet a rest and took a rick-shaw ride to trocadero to see the eiffel tower and then got dropped off at the invalides.  a quick tour of the grounds and then i headed off to the rodin museum where i enjoyed an hour or so, touring the museum and gardens. following that, i decided to start heading back to my starting point and walked along the rive gauche or southern bank of the seine.  i loved the little vintage books and prints stalls all along the bank and my two regrets are (a) not getting a vintage print of paris and (b) not queuing to go into the musée d'orsay when i walked by it (there was a fashion in 18th / 19th century art exhibition going on). when i decided to call it a day, i found a taxi to take me back to the hotel to prepare for the next two days full of meetings. 

as you may have noticed, i practically walked all the way or caught taxis.  the reason i opted for this approach is two-fold: firstly, i generally enjoy seeing places i've never been to on foot as i find that that's the best way to experience the real city (i wouldn't have spotted half of the space invader graffitis had i caught a site-seeing bus!).  secondly, i'll quote the various taxi drivers in their description of my hotel's area: "oh, dangeur! wahrninng! 'ot, 'ot area!" (you have to imagine these being spoken in a thick french accent to get why i purposely misspelt some words!) i had chosen the hotel purely on the basis that i would be in the same place as one of my foreign colleagues; however, i had not paid attention to the fact that the area was not the most savoury.  the hotel as well, turned out to be rather disappointing.  upon my arrival, i was told that the elevator was not working and had to get help to take my luggage up three flights of winding stairs.  there was no way i would go out alone at night and there were no restaurants in the hotel or nearby so sunday night i ended up calling pizza hut! my breakfast on the last day was cut short because the receptionist could only help me with the luggage (yes, the lift was still out of order) in a 5 minute time window where his shift overlapped with the next guy's.  i suppose, the elevator issue can be overlooked as a case of bad timing, but i certainly would not recommend the area nor the hotel to anyone i'm afraid. 

all in all, my trip to paris was as full of ups and downs as the streets in montmartre.  if i close my mind's eye to the negative bits, i did get to 'see' all that i wanted to see and in all truth and fairness, the central arrondissements are truly charming.  i doubt there's an ideal season when it's best to visit paris if throngs of tourists are not your cup of tea.  but if you do go, my little recommendation is to plan what you want to see in the time that you have, and to walk.  there are little gems round every corner and you won't get to see them otherwise, trust me. 

confession #000027

... or, the reckoning

now that i have somewhat come back to my senses after a much needed sleep and morning lie-in, after a late night flight from berlin back to krakow, i am fulfilling my two promises: (a) that of getting back to  my diet regime and (b) that of writing a bit more about my trip. 

so, starting with (a), this morning was back to a calorie-counted breakfast of crackerbreads, low-fat cottage cheese and soy-based sausage slices.  the latter might not sound very appetizing, but for vegetarians who were not brought up as such and who do reminisce about the tastes of ham, mortadella and salami, these are a very good - and tasty - substitute, with the advantage of being very low in calories.  luckily in poland there is this brand which produces them and i've recently discovered a health food shop close to the flat which supplies them so i've no excuse!  i do hope to manage through the day with this resumed stamina as i've a whole truck-load of cup-cakes to bake for a party tonight.  lord give me strength to resist the party food and alcohol!

looking back at my stay in berlin over the past couple of days, i confess that by the end of it, i was dead tired and just wanted to get home.  it's not that i don't like berlin. far from it.  but since i had only a few hours to spare, i hadn't planned any sight seeing of any sort and just strolled up and down friedrichstrasse ad nauseum.  yes, i did get nauseous at one point just aimlessly looking at clothes and trying them on.  i never thought it could happen but it did.  i'll admit that by my standards, i may have over-shopped, but it was mostly little things so hopefully i didn't blow my budget (i still have to do my calculations on that ...).  friedrichstrasse is excellent for shopping primarily because of its two main department stores - quartier 206 and galeries lafayette - which stock mostly designer and high-end brands.  to complement these department stores, there's about 3 h&m stores as i had mentioned, as well as brands such as esprit, gerry weber, massimo dutti and zara which may be more affordable for us common mortals.  there is also a cos store, which, admittedly, as a brand, i had never paid much attention to.  i ventured in and fell in love with their minimalist, easy style.  since one of my staple looks is a buttoned-up shirt peeking from underneath jumpers / sweaters / dresses, i couldn't stop myself from buying a scallop collared mock-shirt.  i could immediately envisage it worn with most of my outfits and accessorized with one of the statement necklaces i have.  

to give myself a little break from shopping, i walked up to checkpoint charlie which is one of the main landmarks in berlin's topography, and history.  there are still remains of the berlin wall in this area, and i actually came across a very strong open air exhibition consisting of murals on remnants of the wall.  these depicted the world's dictators, including muammar ghaddafi and kim jong-il, who, albeit deceased, their negative legacy is still very much present.  the exhibition is the type of art that i enjoy - art with a purpose, with a message to impart, art which triggers that uncomfortable emotion which shocks you out of the inertia of mundanity. the title of the exhibition itself - more walls to tear down - was very fitting.  this exhibition alone, made my stay complete. 

as you might have noticed, i've once again changed the look of the blog to a cleaner, fresher one, with a hit of neon which is something i'm obsessing about at the moment (more on that on another day!).  i hope you like it! but now, i'm afraid i have to get going with my baking or there won't be any cup-cakes for tonight's party.  

getting bored waiting for my flight to berlin

art, art everywhere ... even in the food presentation

nice and snowy berlin

a little treat for myself - macaron day at galeries lafayette did not help!

just 'some' of the haul

upper east side berlin, like walking on a gossip girl set (well, not quite!) 

gorgeous building on friedrichstrasse 

another gorgeous building, quite different from the one above, but which shows the melting pot of cultures and architectural styles this city can flaunt

murals on berlin wall remnants

such an evocative mural exhibition

keeping cosy at starbucks

not a landmark, but surely a sight synonymous to the city

studded collar and statement necklace - more is more

2 great days which resulted in my mind brimming with ideas.  my colleagues will kill me. 

victoria beckham dress at quartier 206 - the stuff of my dreams

this guy has style - neon lime socks popping out of a very preppy look

confession #000026

... or, breakfast like a queen

oh god, i've done it.  i've done that which i was so hoping to avoid doing.  i pigged out in that most typical 'maltese family at an 'eat as much as you like' buffet'.  and i'm feeling the worse for it. 

i've just got back from the breakfast at the maritim proarte berlin hotel where i'm staying for these couple of nights.  in all truth and fairness, the abundance and variety at this breakfast somewhat triggers you into indulgence.  whether you're a carnivore, herbivore, health freak or sweeth-toothed individual, you're sure to find something to tickle your taste buds. 

as a lactose intolerant vegetarian, i could have opted for soy yoghurt and soy milk.  instead, i decided to have one of my lactase pills which help me digest milk products and had my way with the 'real' dairies on display.  well, i did opt for the bio / organic yoghurt, goat cheese and brie versions ... but still.  tomorrow morning, i promise, i will opt for the soy versions - and other healthy stuff, i.e. less or no bread, more fruit, no fried mushrooms or baked beans ... and no pancake with nutella to end on a sweet note.  promise.  

as some of you know, at the moment i'm conducting a little find-out on where i should take this blog.   if you haven't yet answered my little questionnaire, i would greatly appreciate if you do so here.  from the feedback received so far, more outfit and travel posts are being requested ... so i'm going to be pro-active about it and let you in on a few travel points about this trip, as well as some outfit shots.  hope you enjoy them!

basically, this is the second time i'm visiting berlin and i'm lucky enough to be here for a practical seminar on social media which i need for my full time work, and which honestly speaking, interests me very much from a personal perspective as well.  i'm staying at the maritim proarte which is on friedrichstrasse - the main shopping street in berlin.  i couldn't have asked for a better location! the hotel is just a 5 - 10 minute walk from galerie lafayette and 3 h&m stores so i'm pretty much in heaven! 

having just a few hours to spare during this stay, i don't have much time to visit the sites.  i had done that about a year ago when i first came to berlin, though i must admit that in such a historic and culturally diverse city, i'm sure i haven't managed to cover them all.  i'll write an entire post on the 'must-go' sites in berlin another day as i soon have to go to register and start my first day of the seminar.  some little points about the hotel and its location though before i go ... the hotel itself is pretty fantastic:  the room i'm in has just about everything you can ask for (though i did request an additional, firmer pillow!) and the front desk staff are very kind and friendly.  i think the only thing i'm not keen on in this hotel is the over-abundance of art pieces which welcome you in the lobby and as you walk along the floors to the rooms.  i mean, i love art, especially modern and contemporary, but the sheer abundance of pieces, battling for attention, render it more of a cluttered art shop than a contemporary art space.  i'm not really sure which look the hotel designer was going for, but i suppose s/he wanted to live up to the 'proarte' tag in the hotel's name.  

as i said earlier, i'm here on work-related training, so while the atmosphere at these events tends to be a little more relaxed, an element of professionalism still needs to be retained.  that is why i chose to wear dark skinny jeans and a boxy tuxedo blazer for the first day.  i find the blazer-jeans combo to be such a 'safe' combination that you just can't go wrong with it.  i teamed these with my burberry brit vest - since i'm in the so called 'upper east side berlin' - and leopard print flats.  being (very) short, i could have done with some heels but lately i'm opting more for flats and saving heels for occasions which really call for them.  i decided to pull my hair in a low ponytail, to retain a little air of professionalism about the look (and not give much prominence to my more hipster dip-dye!).  also, i find that blazers tend to look better with hair pulled back or in a top knot, thereby emphasizing structured shoulders and making the look an altogether cleaner one. 

blazer: miss selfridge; vest: burberry brit; jeggings: suite blanco; leopard print pumps: h&m (i'm not proud of the black stockings peeping out but a girl needs to keep warm somehow!); leopard print earrings: h&m; ring: independent store

ok, it's actually time for me to start heading off to the welcome coffee but i promise to write more about this trip later today or tomorrow. have a good day my lovelies xx