#LIKEACHALLENGE 

Dubai turned up the heat once again with the 2025 Dubai International Baja, the grand finale of both the FIA World Baja Cup and the FIA Middle East Baja Cup. The event, based in vibrant Dubai Festival City, drew adventurous crews from across the globe to tackle challenging desert terrain, from the rocky heights of Hatta to the sweeping sands of Al Qudra - a true test of driver skill, machine resilience and pure grit in the middle of the UAE’s stunning landscapes. Competition

#ThrowbackThursday You know how much I enjoy visiting football stadiums (and opera houses;), don't you? I thought you'd like to see a few vintage photos from my first visit ever to a stadium and live football match: it was a Champions league game at Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid back in 2003 (!). I still vividly remember that Real won 4:2 against Olympique Marseille. I was there with my parents, and with Ronaldo, Zidane, Beckham playing on the field. Feels very special now, exa

If you're looking for an incredible skiing experience, I highly recommend skiing in Tyrol, west Austria. Tyrol is known for its fantastic skiing pistes and reasonable prices (compared to France or Switzerland), and a wide range of other winter activities. Here are some more reasons why skiing in Austria is a great choice! Fantastic Skiing Pistes: Tyrol offers a wide range of pistes suitable for all levels, from beginners to advanced skiers. The region is known for its well-m

Photos from my latest visit to a football match at Porsche Arena in Stuttgart. Unfortunately the home team lost 3:1... but let's forget about that minor insignificant detail ;) didn't get to see much of the city on this occasion, but least I ticked off another stadium off my list!

Just a few photos from my visit to the FC Barcelona stadium. Barca won and I got to see Messi (from far away, but still counts). Great thing to add onto your 'to do' list when visiting Barcelona :)

Hmmm.. it's been two weeks since the final match, so I feel better now ;-) I survived the 30 days training (just about), but long story short: I lost the final match. Happens to the best and to be fair, writing about it is a nice closure :) Week 4: I played my usual daily tennis, did a lot of walking on the beach (went south of the island for a few nights) and mostly focused on stretching. Nothing to strenuous. Nevertheless, I didn't have much left for the final match itself.

Slightly belated summary of week 3. It was tough. I felt super tired beginning of the week and to be honest, most of the workouts were very forced and I stopped enjoying the full-on schedule I imposed on myself (good news: I'm fine again in week 4, hurrah!) . Mid week I forgot how to play altogether, nothing was going right with the forehand or backhand. Around Day 17 I just wanted to cry and give myself a break BUT I've committed to 30 days, not 18, and I intend to keep it t

It's Monday and I've just kicked off week 2 of my tennis challenge. But first of all, quick summary of week 1 : I’m alive. My energy levels were going up and down during week one. I felt excited to start off with, day two was totally agonising and my whole body was in pain, day three I was back on track, then down on Thursday and finished on a high on Friday. I didn’t do any tennis at the weekend, as I badly needed some rest, but continued with HIIT exercises, pilates and a r

It’s already been a challenge doing (only) 2-3 hours training daily during the prep weeks. I have moments when I can clearly see progress and then there’s a day where I can barely hit the ball. My legs are in pain and need a solid rest – it’s also because I’ve started doing proper footwork on court and it’s so physically demanding (yes, I used to be one of those players that never moves around). I’m taking a day off tomorrow and having a sports massage. I’ve earned it! ;-) I’

For 30 days starting Monday, 5thApril 2021, I’ll be training like a pro tennis athlete. I want to see how my body and technique are able to improve over this short period of time, and treating this challenge a bit like a self-experiment. Once I survive the 30 days, the bonus goal is to play a match against the toughest opponent that my coach can find in the island of Fuerteventura. I’m expecting roughly 4 to 5 hours daily training. It will be a mix of 1 to 2 hours training o

It was supposed to be my second proper season, but the world had other plans... Last year I took part in all the stages of the Interia Drive Cup and managed 3rd place in the ladies, which was a great achievement for a first timer. I really wanted to take my racing skills up a notch this year, but... it's already September and only this Saturday will I do my first race again. Either way, looking forward to it, seeing my coach Adam and hoping for some more go-karting action to

I've been (more or less; )successfully competing in the Interia Drive Cup this year. It's a semi-pro competition for classic style racing cars, taking place in Poland, with 6 stages in total. Each one takes place at a different track around the country and I've got one more final stage to complete in November (which I hope I can make). I'm currently holding the 3rd place in the Ladies Cup and I hope it stays that way. Just wanted to give you some photo highlights from my firs

This year I’m hoping to take my race driving skills to the next level and starting in the Interia Drive Cup in Poland. It’s targeted at (good) amateur drivers but also experienced ones ready to leap into the world of pro championships. That’s exactly why it’s a good mix, I have space to improve competing against others who are much better than me at this stage of my ‘career’. Interia Drive Cup is formed of 6 races held at various racecourses in Poland plus a bonus cross coun

I've had 8 lessons since the start of the year. It might not seem like much BUT I’m very consistent doing it every fortnight. Let’s not forget how much time I spend in the edit with the history series I’m working on. I go to the ice rink every other Wednesday and do a one to one 30min lesson with my coach. After that I stay on to train on my own. It’s an adult session with not that many people around usually, recommend it if you want to practise without bumping into kids ;-)

Where do you start. Is it possible to be happy and unhappy all at the same time? Yes. That's exactly how I felt at the top of Ben Nevis. We did it together with my friend Flam (ironically, we met on a A Place in the Sun where it's always sunny and plus 25'C …). I'll be honest, we hated the whole experience UNTIL later on that evening when we ate everything of the menu at the local pub and realised what we’ve actually managed to achieve. We felt happy again. And very proud o

I’ve certainly had a lot of fun with my ice skating outfits during the pirouette challenge. There’s been some funky sparkling berets, long taffeta skirts and polka dot dresses. I took a lot of inspiration from old photos: back in the days people used to merrily skate in Royal Ascot hats, fur coats and Oscar gowns. I didn’t quite reach that level, but not far from it. Most of the items come from my local charity shop (God Bless this British institution) and flee markets. Day

If you’ve read my previous blogpost, I was giving myself another few weeks to complete this challenge. I was stuck at three revolutions and struggled to do more. I just couldn’t quite get the ‘feel’ for the right speed and body position that would allow me to spin for longer. I went for another practice yesterday. It was an ice rink at the Polish National Stadium, normally used for football matches and concerts, but during wintertime it becomes the biggest skating venue in W

The moment of truth. It’s 31st December 2017. A few hours till the New Year. Where am I at with the spin after 4 weeks of training? I’ll be honest, even though I’ve been practising several times a week, I’m still on three revolutions. I did manage four a few times. I’ve even started doing it on one leg if that’s any consolation. Trust me, it’s REALLY HARD to do five turns and I frankly didn’t realise how big of a challenge I’ve set myself here. I’m still learning how to get

Straight to the point... after two weeks I’m still at around two to three revolutions in my two foot spin. A lot of ‘twos’ in that sentence, but these are the current figures. I’ve been practising a lot of other ice-skating moves last week, which will eventually help me improve the spin. I wrote it in the previous post that without solid basics I won’t be able to go much further with my pirouetting. I was obviously hoping (wishful thinking..) that it would all happen a bit q

I just came back from a preview screening of 'I, Tonya', the film about the Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding, who, in 1994, was involved in a plot to harm her biggest rival, Nancy Kerrigan. I was only 10 years old back then but I remember the news headlines very well. I was a massive figure skating fan (I still am, hence the pirouette challenge) and together with my grandma I used to be glued to the telly when the skating was on. Probably like most people, I saw Tonya as