#mancrushmonday

January 25, 2016 by Katenkt Leave a comment

Every Monday at least one photo of Mariano Di Vaio or Ian Somerhalder pops up in my Instagram feed.

Not because I’m following them – eventually I got tired of tapping on Di Vaio’s abs and unfollowed him – but because it is #mancrushmonday.

Which, according to Urban Dictionary, means that you have to reveal who is your man crush. And it must be done on a Monday.

Well, I have a Top 5 when it comes to man crushes:

#1 – Mr. Darcy

Oh, sorry it’s Colin Firth.

The One About Kissing on First Dates

January 8, 2016 by Katenkt 4 Comments

A friend of mine (who hopefully will not come after me in case she reads this post) recently went on a date with a guy. They met through mutual friends – Christmas holidays: connecting people. According to her assessment of the date, it went pretty well. Even though they were two relatively different people with regard to lifestyle and interests, they seemed to get along; no lengthy uncomfortable silences.

The Edinburgh Diaries

November 29, 2015 by Katenkt 2 Comments

What do you think of #yolo?

I think it’s something young people tell themselves to justify stupid decisions.

On the other hand, I wholeheartedly believe in good timing. Aka the kind of timing when you are young with

a) a week of no class,

b) some savings, and

c) one of your closest friends just a short Ryanair flight away from you.

So this is pretty much the story of how E. and I decided to visit Edinburgh.

Edinburgh is …

… where the skyline of the city is fairytale-like…

MCR Confidential: Federal Cafe & Bar

November 27, 2015 by Katenkt Leave a comment

I’m a simple woman. I like handsome, dark-haired men and breakfast food.

And Federal Cafe & Bar in Manchester’s Norther Quarter does the second one exquisitely.

The One About Oxford

October 7, 2015 by Katenkt Leave a comment

True to my flâneur nature, I decided to wander a bit within England. And my footsteps – or should I say a 3-hour bus ride – led me to Oxford.

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The “oh, the sun is finally out excited” look.

Christ Church College. #1 of the 38 colleges in Oxford (tour guide lady made us repeat it until we had learned it by heart). In Oxford, unlike the rest of world, the word college stands for a residence hall or – in US English – a dorm, not for an educational institution.

A first glimpse of Radcliffe Camera.

Hertford Bridge, which joins two parts of Hertford College over New College Lane, is often referred to as the Bridge of Sighs because of its supposed similarity to the famous Bridge of Sighs in Venice. Another Bridge of Sighs (what is about bridges and sighing?) that I had the chance to walk though and photograph about two years ago is the one in Cambridge.

Fun Fact: According to our lovely tour guide lady Cambridge locals/ students/ academics call Oxford “the other place.” Oxford locals/ students/ academics call Cambridge “the other place.”

If you find yourself in Oxford, do yourself a favor and visit the beautiful Covered Market, which is located right in the heart of the city. The Covered Market was officially opened in 1774 in an attempt to keep untidy, messy and unsavoury butcher stalls from the main streets of central Oxford. Nowadays it is home to numerous traders including everything from butchers and greengrocers to gift shops, bakeries and cafes.

The Cake Shop: Where Magic Meets Sugar.

Here’s a bubble tea shop covered in post-it notes of gratitude.

Take this one for example.

We decided to spend the last hour of our trip strolling along Thames. Okay, we were initially looking for the Botanic Garden, but we got a bit lost along the way. The view was very rewarding, nevertheless.

It reminded me a bit of Queich, the tributary river of Upper Rhine that flows next to Germersheim, which made me realise that I’ve missed it a little.

Dear Lykke Li,

I followed rivers as you suggested (Thames to be exact) and it brought me to Oxford, where I had a blast. Still prefer Cambridge to Oxford, though. Considering that so many places in Oxford where used as setting for the Harry Potter movies, what does this preference suggest? Do I still deserve to be considered a loyal HP fan, or not?

Sincerely,

Facebook, Instagram and tumblr, now you know where to find me.

A Fresh Start

September 25, 2015 by Katenkt Leave a comment

Aloha.

It’s been a long time since the last time I blogged. Lots of things have happened since, right?

First of all, I visited Hamburg. And fell in love with it (I hope that I’ll be able to share some photos and tips from my trip very very soon).

10 Inspiring Quotes About Traveling

September 1, 2015 by Katenkt Leave a comment

Summer is over, but that does not mean that traveling adventures should stop. Here are some quotes to inspire your travels!

Productivity Tip: The 90-Minute Writing Block

July 21, 2015 by Katenkt Leave a comment

To pick up where I left off with my post about the things I learned while writing my thesis, I would like to share a trick I learned from Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project:Or, Why I Spent A Year Trying to Sing In The Morning, Clean My Closets, FightRight, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun. Gretchen Rubin, who is a writer, blogger, podcaster, and many more, thought that she couldn’t sit down and write productively unless she had several hours with no interruptions, which was something hard to arrange. As a result she decided to track the writing work that she was putting in every day in order to examine when she was more productive.

It was then that she noticed something particularly interesting and decided to put it in good use.

#instalove: Favorite Instagram Accounts

July 18, 2015 by Katenkt Leave a comment

Instagram was love at first sight. To some extent, I even like it better that facebook, my all-time favorite social media network. Not a week passes by without me following a couple new accounts.

For more photos of me pretending to have a clue about things I can’t actually do (s. cooking), follow me on Instagram.

5 Things I Learned While Writing My Thesis

July 14, 2015 by Katenkt Leave a comment

…mostly through trial and error. Always consult the supervisor of your thesis before following any writing advice you shall come across online. This general information is not intended to give you an A or to replace your (insert the degree you are studying) professional. Consult your sense of logic – and humor – and adjust accordingly. If you experience any pain or difficulty with these suggestions, stop and consult your provider.

Now I am done with my medical translation exams, I am entitled to a pun, right?