Milos

I'm always tempted to post about summer holidays in winter.. All these sunny photos remind of the good times and make me more and more hopeful that another vacation is only a couple of weeks away... (keep the fingers crossed...) Here is a glimpse of the Greek islands, Milos in particular, a beautiful volcanic island, not very crowded and strangely enough not that popular among tourists as other islands of The Cyclades range - the fact I really enjoyed.

The island was blessed with all the picturesque views and all the amazing things one can come across here, just a perfect place to give birth to Venus de Milo - in fact, there couldn't be a better place. The warm volcanic sea waters and the hot volcanic sand where the locals can cook their food, the colourful fishing villages, the secluded beaches with access only from the sea, the amazing volcanic ranges of all colours imaginable - and of course the hospitable people.

I will always remember the emerald water of the Aegean seas, the rocky beaches and well hidden caves, the typical bleached houses with doors and window frames painted all the imaginable hues of the sea - blue, aquamarine and turquoise - the colour of Greece..., the beautiful sunsets best watched from Plaka, the old town and the highest point of the island, and of course the little tavernas with a huge variety of tasty Greek food grown in the sun kissed fields and cooked traditionally. And if you went there once - you will come back.. Anyone would.

Every Greek island is different, it is really hard to pick the favourite one. I have still not decided for myself...























all photos by Olga&Arek

Today

London SNOW

image via my Tumblr

image via Super Mega Action Plus

Yesterday evening when I looked out of my window I almost couldn't believe my eyes - everything suddenly turned white all around and little snow flakes were peacefully landing on the balcony. It's the first snow in London this winter. The lawn in front of our building is now full of people having fun in the snow :).

Yesterday it was magic and today it started to melt away, so I am pretty comfy here watching this from the inside of my warm flat with a cup of hot liquid in my hand.

It's going to be -30 this week at home - now that is a real adventure. Oh, and it reminded me of this - still very funny! :)

Warm

What can be better than an great book and a good movie during these long cold nights..? Keep warm!

Chinese New Year

Happy belated Chinese New Year!!

They say this year will be especially good to those born in the year of Dragon ;).
Well, being just a modest rooster (not to say chicken:)) I'm very happy for all the dragons.
I've just learned some pretty curious things about those born in the year of rooster, which even were surprisingly spot on (I'm usually very cynical as far as astrology and those type of things are concerned).
And now please tell me - what 'animal' are you?

















all photos by Arek

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