Kate

10:34:00 AM

VENICE DURING ACQUA ALTA (1/2)

10:59:00 PM

How did 'not-finishing-college' change my life

Okay, it might seems I am a quitter. Well, I don't think I am. I just stopped doing things just because I thought I should and because of other people.

When I passed my maturita exam and successfully ended my studies at high school, I didn't want to go to college, at least not straight away. I needed some time to think about my life, about my next step, however, this discussion was impossible with my parents, because they knew I was smart and not going to college would be a disaster. I lived with them, they paid my bills and I was affraid to leave my safe place and go living on my own.

So I went to the college and studied. One year, two years, three years and then it came. I didn't pass one exam and I knew I would have to study one extra year to get my bachelor degree. Maybe this unsuccessful exam was just what I needed and at that very moment I realized I was doing something I didn't want to do and I wasn't enjoying this student's life - no parties, no pubs, just school. From Monday to Friday. Somedays from 7 in the morning, somedays to 8 in the evening. And I hated going there. I was nervous from my coming exams, I was doing homework all the time, some subjects I didn´t even fully understand and I enjoyed only some of them. Well, not many in fact. In most of them I enjoyed more spending time with my friends, than actually enjoying the subject itself.

I found out that not studying gives me freedom. I had more time on things I actually liked and I could learn only things I want to trully learn. For example languages. I felt there was more space in my brain. I even started learning Russian (again) and I loved it. Okay, to be completely honest and fair, I met some good friends at school and of course, learnt a bunch new things, I just didn´t feel like I need to go there. I didn´t even wanted to do this job I would be able to do after finishing school, but instead of quitting right away, I found a part-time job, then another part-time job and then I quit. And didn´t tell my parents. I pretended I was going to school and told them like 3 months after quitting.

My mom´s reaction surprised me completely. She wasn´t sad, dissapointed, angry or anything. She really supported me and understood my decision. On the other hand, my dad, he´s still pissed. Even nowadays. Years after I quit. Everytime he has a chance, he tells me how stupid I was not to finish school. I get it. I don´t have a ´traditional´job from 8 to 5. I do things differently. I do them my way. I live with my girlfriend right now, I am capable of paying my own bills, rent, food and everything. I am self- sufficient and behave as an adult.

I never regreted my decision about school. I know there is no way of coming back and I´m fine with that. I´m happy. The only thing I sometimes regret is not quitting sooner.

Kate

By the way... if you wanna know more about my part time job, one of them was working in a little cafe and I wrote a whole post about it.

1:56:00 PM

2020

Hi,

it´s been quite a long time since I wrote a proper post. So, I guess this means I'm back. Or maybe not. I don´t know. I just felt like writing, so I opened up this blank page and started to write down this.... So we´ll see how this will turn out...

Let me start again...

Hi,
it´s nice to be back. Writing a new post, sum up last year and write some bits and pieces about my life. Last year was hell of a year! I mean WTF? The year was full of ups and downs and full of fuckups and amazing things, literally all mixed up! I started the year single and ended it living with my girlfriend. Never thought this could happen. Yet, it did happen. Crazy, I know. Me, a person who can perfectly work on their own fell in love and couldn't do a thing about it. And somehow it ended it up well. So, this was how the first two months of 2020 was like. I was living in a new appartment with my girlfriend, everything seemed to be just about right, finally, and then, two weeks ago... corona virus came and infected first few people in our country. It all started slowly... My girlfriend Annie and I, we were staying at home, because she had a spring holiday and I took a week off to be with her. We had big plans about going somewhere abroad, but then we changed our mind and stayed home and wanted to travel just in our neighborhood, we also planned going out to restaurants, have brunches and just chill together. Well, we did go out, have brunch and stuff, but on Wednesday, all schools in our country were closed, ok, more time to be together, but during the next days things started to escalated quickly - fist concerts and theathres were closed, then restaurant and cafes after 8 p.m. and during the weekend almost everything got closed (all bars, restaurants, cafes, shops apart from grocery shops, pharmacy, drugstores and flower shops). So, here we are, starting the second week of quarantine together and still feeling positive and happy about living together with my girl and spending literally 24 hours a day together. And because there are plenty of things you can do during quarantine, I also decided to write more and apart from writing about our trips from last year, I will start a quarantine diary and share it with you guys. So get ready, because YES, I 'M BACK!

Kate

3:03:00 PM

PARIS, JE T´AIME

The last weekend in September I spent in Paris.

Romantic, iconic, overcrowded, colorful city.

I was there before. Once. When I was much younger...I guess 13? And I remember some bits and pieces, but some memories faded away. I remember seeing Sacre Coeur, La Defense, being on a Tour Eiffel, seeing Moulin Rouge and visiting both Louvre and Musee D´Orsay. I forgot some details, for example how magnicifcent Le Grande Arche is, or how tall Tour Eiffel is.

While booking plane tickets, I found out, there are actually 3 airports in Paris : Orly, Charles de Gaulle and Beauvais-Tillé Airport. Orly and Charles de Gaulle airports are situated in Paris, however, Beauvais-Tillé Airport is 80 km away from Paris. Guess which airport I landed at...Yes, exactly. Luckily, the journey from the airport to the city centre took about an hour and a half, so I was able to get some more sleep.

For my stay I booked two airbnbs. First of them was a typical Parisian apartment - small, cosy, with two french windows and in a typical old building with a wooden staircase inside. (Love at first sight, I have to admit.) The minimalist in me was admiring how small apartment it was and that there were no other things, only essentials. I would really need to cut half of my belongings. The view from the window was lovely. A typical Parisian street with a little cafe at a corner. What else I could have asked for!

My second accomodation was a small hotel room, however, very nice and trés chic! There was also a coffee maker, so I was 100% happy.

I came to one of many patisseries and bought croissants and baguettes and while drinking coffee and eating croissant, I really felt like a true Parisian.

I also ate outside a lot... mostly sandwiches I bought in Carrefour or M&S... so on one hand I looked like a homeless girl, on the other hand, I had lunches and snacks with the top views... Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Les Invalides and lastly also on the plane. I literally spent the whole journey from Paris to Prague eating. I bought so many snacks and didn't have time to eat them. so I had a very pleasant way back home.

However, enough of talking about food and come back to Paris. I made a list of places I wanted to see and I luckily made it to all of them.

(Of course I chose classics.)

Arc of Triumph
the most photogenic piece of art in Paris (according to me, of course)

I mean, just look at it! It looks absolutely stunning from every angle!

Champs Elysée
Do you know the song 'Les Champs-Élysées'? I was singing it the whole time I was walking down this street. I didn' t go to a single shop, I just went from the Arc of Triumph towards the Place de la Condorde and was absorbing the atmosphere, the noises, observing the people, the buildings,...

Place de la Concorde
This view? Cliché, I know, but I adore it. The sun was slowly setting and the romance was filling up the air.

Eiffel Tower
I forgot how tall and majestic Eiffel Tower is. When I got of the Paris Métro, I was shocked. And I may be a really bad photographer, but it's really challenging to take a nice picture of it. Or maybe it' s because I prefer to see it in reality, then in the photo.

Notre Dame Cathedral
I was affraid how it would look like after the fire, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found out, the main part of the building is still there!

La Défense
Business district with modern glass and steel buildings. Although it seems like it has nothing to do with Paris we all think we know (from the movies and books), I love this part of the city.
I think it's because of the contrast... the difference between the Grand Arche and the 'Small' Arche couldn't be bigger.

the Grande Arche
This piece of modern architecture became my background picture on my phone, because I love how simply it looks and how magnificent impression it made.

Louvre
When I visited Paris for the first time, I was reading Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown), so Louvre was without a doubt a #1 place to visit! This time I was admiring these buildings only from the outside and was lucky to have a romantic sunset lighting.

Fun fact:
Minutes after this picture was taken, it started to rain, I was already on my way to the station of the Paris Métro, so it was pointless to use an umbrella... or at least that's what I thought... I couldn't have been more wrong- I ran to the station looking like I just left the shower.

Sacre Coeur & Montmartre
Second most visited landmark in Paris (therefore it's crowded all the time), but the view really worth it.

Montmarte

District well known for its artistic history (during the Belle Époque, many artists lived and had studios there. Modigliani, Monet, Renoir, Degas,Picasso, Pissarro,Vincent van Gogh...name any French artist and I bet he used to live there!) And if you're a film fans, as I am, I bet you know Amelie de Montmarte, romantic comedy with adorable main female character.

Some bits and pieces I want to share

The Paris Métro is a really huge system of 14 lines and I loved traveling by it. The tickets are not very expensive and it's a real time saver. I used it everyday and there was no problem. the only thing you need to do, is observe and control stations, however, their names are written and csn be spot easily from train.

Baguettes & croissants are two things you HAVE TO taste when in Paris. They taste like heaven.
Midnight in Paris (directed by Woody Allen) is one of my favorite films. And when I was in Paris, I felt like being in this film. Paris really is a romantic, sentimental, beautiful in rain, and it´s not possible to decide whether Paris is more beautiful by day or by night, because it's Paris- charming from the morning to the night and I'm definitely coming back again.

Kate

10:49:00 AM

NEW YEAR, NEW ME

2:36:00 PM

Holidays in Rhodes

When I first visited Greece I was 2 years old and I don't remember anything. So I decided to make new memories and go to Greece again... after 23 years.

(And I apologize in advance for too many photos of the sea. I don't live near the ocean or the sea and I just love the feeling when you're standing on the beach and watch the waves. #sorrynotsorry)

Rhodes

I visited Rhodes-west coast of the island and the capital. The beaches on the west coast are pebbly, with rather bigger waves and the weather is windy most of the times. Not ideal for families with little children, on the other hand, suitable for me, because the beaches were almost empty. (Yeees!) And the sunsets! Every night, people gathered on the beach with their phones and took tons and tons of photos with their beloved ones and with the sunset in the background. Ok, I did that once or twice too, but the rest of the evening I was just sitting on a sunbed and watched the Sun goes down.

These photos don´t even show how insanely beautiful the sunsets looked.

Everyone loves something different, I adore sunsets.

Little bit of history and mythology

Okay, back on the track. The only thing I knew about Rhodes was that one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World was standing there - The Colossus of Rhodes. And I also read a myth about Helios. Back in the days, when the world was rulled by Gods, Zeus decided to divide the Earth between the Olympian Gods. Unfortunately, during this dividing, one of them was busy and Zeus forgot about him-Helios (Sun God), however, when Helios found out, he wasn´t mad or anything, he just said that the island that would emerge from the sea the next morning would be his. And this island that emerged from the sea at dawn the next day was Rhodes - an island of Sun (300 sunny days/year).

Past and Present

After 54 years of protecting the city of Rhodes, The Colossus of Rhodes was destroyed during an earthquake and fell into the sea. That is why nowadays, instead of huge Colossus, you can see a deer and a doe. If you are wondering why, the fallow deer is a symbol of Rhodes.

Another significant part of the city of Rhodes is an old town. It´s surrounded by medieval walls and has seven gates. These gates separate two different worlds. However, these days, the Old Town is full ou tourists, shops, bars and restaurants. Luckily, there are still tons of romantic streets and old buildings.

And did I mention we drove to Rhodes City twice? We wanted to see the city at night...

and it was absolutely worth it!

And I also shouldn´t forget about our accomodation. I spent hours and hours reading and searching the best hotel and I thinks I found it. I didn´t know what to expect, but it turned out just fine. Even great! We had one of the best rooms in the hotel, the staff was amazing, the food was delicious and on our last day we were soo emotional and didn´t want to leave.

And one last thing: Greek donuts! Oh. My. God. I miss them so much. And also Frappé. Of course, you can buy coffee almost everywhere, but drinking Greek Frappé in Greece, on the beach it´s perfect.

I am already looking forward to next summer.

Take care and have a great day,

Kate

P.S.: Soon after my arrival home, I decided to visit as many Greek islands as possible.

because Greece really got me!

Kate

VENICE DURING ACQUA ALTA (1/2)

First day in Venice

How did 'not-finishing-college' change my life

2020