KEX Hostel

I can say it plain and simple - this is my favourite hostel. To date. It really doesn't seem like I will be finding a better one any time soon. And believe me, I had a chance to sleep in many hostels. I'm telling you, KEX hostel is perfect :) - or very close to it.

When I first started to look for a place to stay in Reykjavik for our group of 8 restless Iceland explorers the fact that attracted and intrigued me most about KEX was that this hostel is housed in an old biscuit factory ('kex' means a cookie in Icelandic) - which overlooks Reykjavik's waterfront. The place looked good so we booked it. And then, one brisk June morning after a landing on a lava field, we found ourselves in Reykjavik at 3AM with the sun high up in the sky. And we entered KEX...

The hostel opened last April and it offers you something I could even call 'a better home away from yours' :) A very cool, stylish and cosy place, it is almost entirely furnished with hip secondhand furniture, which what it seems was very carefully selected and matched to create a spacious but comfy and relaxing retro environment for people staying over or just dropping by for a drink in their amazing bar.

I will stop talking now and let you see by yourselves. And if you are in Reykjavik - don't miss a chance to stay in KEX, it's totally worth it :)

tourist info desk

the bar

the reading meeting room





my favourite detail

the elevator...

... with some elevator music





the 1950s barber shop



photos by Olga and Arek except for the top one

In Pursuit Of Passions

photo from google

So I watched 'Julie and Julia' today for the first time - what an amazingly positive film about people pursuing their passions! Really great stuff - I can't stop smiling. No, I really can't :). So here is a smily picture for you too today.


image by Arek

P.S. And I will cook something really delicious tomorrow :)

O·V·E·R·T·H·I·N·K·I·N·G

I think I'm THINKING really too much these days. 'Thinking' and 'too much' are probably not your best combination of phrases, yet this is exactly the feeling I'm currently having about myself.

And I hate the fact that you kind of realize this, but can't do much about it anyway.

Do you have any good recipes on how not to overthink things? :)


image via my Tumblr

You Me Bum Bum Train

An experience...


image via Bum Bum Train

... a collection of strange experiences - which question and redefine reality.

... like passing through different lifetimes all in one and being reincarnated
... like having a multiple personality disorder
... like being in a dream and having no control of what is happening in front of you
... completely disorientating - physically and geographically
... feeling incredibly real ... yet somewhat magical
... you find yourself doing things you'd never dreamed yourself doing before
... you might be living your greatest fears or on the contrary feel extremely important
... you find yourself surprised with coming up with the things you say and your reactions
... a grand game of make-believe.

It probably can be best described like going down the rabbit hole.

..and the hardest thing of all is not being able to tell anyone about it! As all the participants had to sign non-disclosure agreements. Seriously.
The above is I guess what you call being involved in interactive theatre :). Check out You Me Bum Bum Train show in London. I'm looking forward to buying tickets for their summer show.

Что день грядущий мне готовит..?

images via my Tumblr

The Nutcracker

We went to see The Royal Ballet's Nutcracker last week. The ballet is truly like a winter fairy tale - with lots of snow and magic. The decorations were created taking into consideration the play of light and shadow and they change very dynamically during the performance - which really makes it a very special experience.

Here is my favourite moment from the ballet - after the clock strikes midnight magic happens and everything is moving. I was amazed at how quickly things changed on the stage. You could see the Christmas tree increase 3 times in size - and that all just happened out of the blue without any visible human help.



Obviously the music was incredible too. Almost every piece of the ballet was very familiar and hence it felt so beautifully comfortable to be the lucky viewer of this performance. Here are some pictures from the theatre, unfortunately we couldn't shoot during the performance:






photos by Olga and Arek except for the top one

SLEEP

Every day I'm going to bed after 2am and every morning at 7 I promise myself this won't happen again. ...Do you know the feeling?


image via Tumblr

Year 2011

I hope 2012 is being very good to all of you so far!

Here is an attempt to recap what 2011 was like - maybe a little late, but why not? :) Now that I think of it - 2011 was truly a year of change and lots of exciting moments, revelations and accomplishments. And you have no idea how much your comments and visiting my blog mean to me. Thank you for encouraging me last year! Here are some highlights from 2011 which you may recall and also some which I didn't really post about.

SO... LAST YEAR I:

1. ...celebrated Christmas and New Year in India. Definitely an unforgettable experience - having a proper New Year's Eve party in a tropical palm grove with proper Christmas lights, mojitos, a swimming pool and freshly opened coconuts :)



2. ...had a chance to see elephants and leopards in the wild and even live among them in the jungle in Sri Lanka where we went straight after New Year's celebrations.



3. ...went to Maldives - my dream destination of many years :). The biggest highlight was diving about 25 metres deep and seeing 2 stingrays 'flying' by like birds. Seeing sharks completely uninterested in you was pretty awesome too.



4. ...lay awake through my knee surgery. I was curious to experience this. It kind of gave me things to think about through the painful days afterwards.



5. ...reinvented my Tumblr.



6. ...spent Easter back at home in Belarus, which is lovely in spring..



6. ...discovered Berlin as a true city for young people, young artists and art appreciators.



7. ...went all around Iceland by car with a group of 7 friends. Seeing whales, bathing in termal spas surrounded by lava fields and going in a boat on a glacier lake full of icebergs are just 3 tiny reasons to visit this amazing island - there are many more!



8. ...visited Athens, but most importantly spent a 'pre-honeymoon' on Greek islands, which I'm yet to post more about, I promise! Those Milos beaches accesible only from water, Santorini volcano and non-stop parties on Mykonos are great highlights of the Cyklades.







9. ...got married! Which was the most emotional day of my life.



10. ...moved from Gdansk to London to live and found a new job.





11. ...celebrated my pet's birthday :)))) Ralph is 4!



12. ...celebrated Halloween - haha, this is the influence of living in the UK :)



13. ...celebrated my birthday for the first time in 7 years ;). (actually celebrated lots of other great things as well)

14. ...went to see Tchaikovsky's 'The Sleeping Beauty' performed by Royal Ballet. Totally amazing!



15. ...had the most beautiful Christmas tree of all times!



16. ... and finally switched from PC to Mac :))).



The year 2011 was a pretty amazing year for me. Hopefully 2012 turns out somewhat similar! Have a really exciting year ahead!

photos by Olga and Arek except for the top and the bottom ones

... Missing Winter

I never thought I would actually say this... But, I miss Eastern Europe's proper cold and snowy winters... 'Proper' as winters from my childhood - with lots of crisp snow, -20 and lots of sun and glitter all around. It almost seems these days that those winters were a fairy tale made up by my imagination. I guess I miss winter so much because this wasn't a particular snowy Christmas in most parts of Europe - apart of course from the countries where it usually snows (like Bulgaria ;)).. and our last winter was very short too and mostly tropical - as we spent most of it in India. And here in London one does not even feel cold and doesn't need any proper winter clothes - I could literally survive walking in my ballerinas and a raincoat all winter long. And... you might not believe it, but the trees are in bloom here now - I can see one right in front of my window...

So I am giving up and posting this couple of snowy pictures from 2 years back from Belarus where I very much wish I could be right now enjoying some sun and snow. Hope you would enjoy them too :). Have a good winter!








photos by Olga