Sunday, December 23, 2012

The Wellness That Wasn't

Friday was a pretty big day. I was looking forward to it for about two or three months. With my choir, we had a pretty important concert at the Chateau Appony, the beautiful hotel with the best restaurant in Slovakia (I kid you not, that's what my man said after we had a dinner there and let's face it - we tried a lot of good restaurant here in Slovakia). The place is really gorgeous and even though I have been there many times I still    can't get over how beautiful it is. The last time we were there was just last Sunday for their Christmas market where we sang few Christmas carols for the people on the courtyard who were enjoying mulled wine or punch or hot chocolate (me - designated driver again).
But this Friday the concert was for 120 of "big cheese". It took place in the beautiful concert hall in front of a Christmas tree and we sang with the organ and string quintet pieces by Bartolluci, Rutter, Frisina, Bach and also Gregorian chant and, of course, Christmas carols.


It was perfect. The dinner afterwards was perfect.
BUT the main event for us, the choir, was supposed to be the whole night spent in the chateau's wellness. The Jacuzzi, Finnish, herb and steam saunas, the pool...and all of that with my best friends. It was supposed to be a dream in the last hectic days before Christmas.
But after 15 minutes in the wellness, one guy jumped into the pool, unfortunately hurt his nose and we were thrown out by the owner without having a chance to explain what happened. To say that we were upset, disappointed and mad is an understatement.
And I am still mad as hell!

And all of the sudden - Vienna

Sometimes the weirdest things happen. Like on Thursday. We went to our "lovely" capital - Bratislava for Slovak - Taiwanese reunion. (That's not the weird part, yet. My man's parents lived in Taiwan for two years and he stayed there for two summers to study Chinese.) So we were on the list, we were greeted by Taiwanese ambassador and his wife and we ate and drink passable dinner (Dearest Hotel Devin, where did you get those four stars I have no idea.)
And afterwards with our two friends we decided that night was still young and we went to check out Bratislava's Christmas market. I had the best potato pancake in the EU - that was their advertisement and they weren't kidding, it was so delicious. I gobbled it so quickly I hadn't a chance to take a picture, so there is a generic picture from world wide web:


And all of the sudden Martin asks: "Do any one of you plan to go to Wien this Christmas? Cause I would like to get my parents Sacher torte as a present." And I am not 100% sure who said it, but it went like this: "Well, let's go now". And so... we went. One has to take into account the fact that Bratislava and Vienna are two capitals closest together in the world. And that means about 50 minutes by car.
First we managed to catch the last minutes of Christmas market in front of Rathaus (Town hall). My friends got the typical Austrian Gluhwein and Punsch while I, the designated driver, enjoyed my Jugendpunsch.
It was Frohe Weihnachten:



And then we went to the best place for everything sacher - Sacher Café. We bought several cakes to take home and also ate two pieces at the café. They're open till 1 am and if you ever come to Vienna, I recommend it wholeheartedly.


 Just yummy. :)

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Life lessons learned

I have spent the last few days running around a little bit crazy, trying to "get done" everything before the big trip. But yesterday I got to calm down a little and I had an amazing chat with one of my guy friends. About life, love, marriage, expectations and men and women. While we were talking, I realized that I had to share this picture:


It really is that simple. :)

PS: The author is Jesse Cline.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Six years ago, on 16th of November 2006, this cute guy, whom I have absolutely and shamelessly friendzoned in the last few months, finally asked me: "So are we DATING or NOT?

Simple question but oh so difficult to answer! There was a HUGE number of cons. He was three years younger. I have just finished university. He was only in the second year of his. I was just starting my business in Slovakia. He was studying in Aberdeen in Scotland with four more years to go. I've just got my heart broken and shattered, few months ago. He never dated anyone before. And so on. 

But on the other hand - there was a serious BUT - I couldn't have imagined my life without him. 
So I did something nobody sane would do and I said - Yes. 
After that I went through horrible 24 hours when I was raging at myself and at my decision. But after that I calmed down and I decided to just go with it. 

And oh boy, was that an awesome decision! It didn't took me long to realize that I met my Mr.Right, the love of my life! And six years later, here we are. Still together and still very much in love. On our anniversary, we have this little tradition - we always go to the opera. Unfortunately my man is right now in Prague and I am alone at home. So I got this "little" box today with these beautiful flowers.



With a note - You have my whole heart for my whole life. I love you.


Lucky me :) 


Thursday, November 15, 2012

Around this city or around MY city, Nitra, Slovakia

Few days ago, when the weather was especially nice and autumny, I decided to cut my work short (the perks of being self-employed :)) and I invited my man to a new Chocolaterie in our city. To enjoy one of the last warm days of this year, we took a little stroll by the river. Along the way, I snapped few photos.




 Our gorgeous castle / Roman-Gothic-Baroque church




 Duckies, yeaaay, exciting! Ehm..not?


This river path is perfect for running or rollerblading. Or just strolling with the love of your life, holding hands.

PS: The hot chocolate was delicious and chocolate bonbons (I LOVE the world bonbon, it exactly describes the feeling of eating one. You got that right, French! It is bon times two!) were yummy, especially the ones with chili - they had a serious kick to it! Unfortunately, no pictures. I can't restrain myself when I have food in front of me. And nobody wants to see an empty cup, right?
The Chocolaterie is called Guteva choco & cake

Thursday, November 8, 2012

A gorgeous new coat


A few months back I put together my autumn wish list. About three weeks ago I was browsing Victoria's Secret's online shop when I found out that the coat I dreamed about for years and years... (OK, only one year to be precise) was on sale. I had no other choice - I had to get it! (I also got this sweet lip-gloss called Minty Kiss, so I could get some serious discount!) It arrived yesterday and today I literally begged my man to take the pictures. 
It's fluffy, white, military, gorgeous and I can't wait for the winter to begin so I can wear it. Meanwhile I'll just wear my lip-gloss and annoy my man with minty kisses he can't rub off. 




Pants - H&M
Booties - HUMANIC


Sunday, September 30, 2012

Slovakia Love

Slovakia is a tiny country somewhere around the center of Europe and it's kind of gorgeous.
It looks something like this:






Zdroj: fotky.sme.sk
                                       
I absolutely love to travel and I must admit that I have seen more beautiful countries. But what makes Slovakia my most favorite piece of heaven is the fact that it is my home. Always, when I am returning to my hometown, there is this last curve on the road, after which I can clearly see this hill:



and I swear my heart starts to beat a little bit faster and the corners of my mouth go up. (It feels strange and I test it every time and every time the reaction is the same).

But I wasn't always such a 'Slovakophil'. When I was younger I was absolutely convinced that grass was greener on the other side and I couldn't wait to leave Slovakia behind. I spent my share of time in England, USA and Russia, but I always eagerly returned back home. In just a few years I realized, that no matter where I live, my life will be practically the same. In the morning I will wake up, eat breakfast, go to work, eat lunch, go shopping, cook dinner, tidy up, do some extracurricular activities, meet some friends, go to sleep, repeat. The only thing that can change are friends and extracurricular activities. And boy oh boy, are those perfect here in Slovakia. So instead of trying to decide where I am going to live and writing down pros and cons of London, New York, Moscow, Sydney, Paris or Taipei, I decided to stay here, where I was born and try to make the best of it. 

It is true that sometimes I despair of not having good sushi restaurant or new clothes stores or superb ballet performances or exciting festivals to choose from. But that is also the beauty of living here, in the center of Europe - everything is so close. It takes only two hours to get to Vienna or three hours to get to Budapest by car, and most of the European cities are only two hours away by plane. 
So I am going to dedicate a lot of my time to showing how amazing Slovakia can be. And when I'll get sick of it, I will pop out of the country, discover new exciting cities, and then I'll happily return back here. 


Saturday, September 1, 2012

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my autumn wish list







































1. black leather jacket 2. red Hunter wellies 3. cognac suede booties 4. ivory lace dress 5. grey jeans 6. cognac suede hat 7. red crossbody bag 8. black booties 9. Clinique moisturizer 10. white military coat