#LIKEACHALLENGE 

Bit of a personal one from me, straight from Fuerte. I’m feeling a bit under the weather today, hence the mood. I mean, who hasn’t had these days in 2020/ 2021. I’m trying to figure out what is actually ‘home’ for me nowadays. In official documents I figure as Polish-British. I really enjoy(ed) having a base in both UK and Poland, and then flying around the world. One thing was constant in my life: moving around. That's changed a bit now...and I'm trying to think what's next

I never thought I’d be living through a sci-fi film script. I happen to work in TV, so I don't say that lightly. A couple of months ago I was re-watching Steven Soderbergh's film Contagion. In a nutshell, the story is about a deadly virus, the worldwide struggle to curb its spread and the panic that ensues. Sounds familiar? I had popcorn and all the trimmings. The coronavirus was just beginning to crop up in the news, but it was all happening somewhere far away. But fast f

A few weeks ago, pre-coronavirus lockdown, I headed for a 36h city break to Munich. I ticked off my first ballet of 2020 and looks like it might be my last for a while (Covid incoming...) . I got to see Lady of the Camellias set to the magically melancholic music of Frederic Chopin - a nice Polish touch to this Bavarian trip. The story behind Lady of the Camellias was created by a 23 year old French writer Alexandre Dumas, and the ballet version is set to the piano masterpi

I was planning to stick to Europe this year, but ended up watching Misty Copeland in New York, followed by United Arab Emirates. Dubai: a very last minute trip and a perfect pre-xmas present. It's my childhood city, which until now, I only knew from photos my mum keeps in the family albums. I was too little to remember anything. Well, apart from random flashbacks of the swimming pool at Hilton Hotel... I had selective memory for good hotel pools as I baby, clearly. Just li

I’ve seen Tchaikovsky’s ‘The Nutcracker and the Mouse King’ at least a dozen times. Usually around December, as it’s a very Xmassy affair. This year I managed to tick this box twice, in Dubai and a few days ago in Warsaw. The Grand Theatre / National Opera in Warsaw is the very first opera house I ever visited, so it holds a special place in my heart. I don’t remember what I went to see and when exactly it was, but my classical music upbringing is strongly rooted in Warsaw,

Just a few highlights from seeing the amazing Misty Copeland live in New York (sorry in advance, I have no big close ups as was sitting higher up, but she is magical, trust me ;) Surprisingly she was dancing to the…Beach Boys on this occasion, which was a whole new ballet experience for me to say the least, but thoroughly enjoyable. And I loved the lavish architecture of the David H. Koch theatre, open back in 1964, which is the home for the New York City Ballet and the Ame

I have a back log of posts I’d like to share with you, starting with Mallorca. It’s one of my fave places in the world and if you haven’t been there yet, here’s 10 very best things about the biggest island of the Balearics. You get the best of both worlds : beautiful beaches and mysterious mountains all on the same island. You get a great city vibe in Palma and the scenic, untouched countryside in the north, east and south. Luxurious hotels or rustic, quirky hostels, wh

The Prague National Theatre, Narodni Divadlo , is a fantastic 'to do' when in Prague. The neo-renaissance building stems from the second part of the 19 th century and is a real pleasant treat for the eye! Enjoy the photos :) I went to see The Love for Three Oranges (quite the title;). It’s an opera by Sergei Prokofievwith a French libretto based on the Italian play with the same title (internationalJ. The opera actually premiered in the USA, at the Auditorium Theatre in Chi

In amongst doing shoots and pitching shows, I found some time to eat NY. It’s impossible to cover such a massive foodie scene in a few days (frankly, even a whole life is not enough), but I gave it a shot. Here are my top faves from the last weekend, in no specific order. I was based in the heart of Manhattan, not far from the Empire State Building, so started with what was around my hotel. I ended up at one of the local Korean joints, Samwon Garden ,apparently one of the

It was my first time in Prague. I've covered a lot of the world in the last 10 years, but surprisingly not much of Eastern Europe despite being originally Polish. Prague was love at first sight! Genuinely refreshing and way more exciting compared to seemingly more popular European capital cities I’ve lately visited. It also felt close to home, to Poland. That’s geographically speaking, but also in terms of its Slavic vibes. It does have a subtle Germanic touch (well, Prague l

1. The 2 hour flight rule. Anything above that makes for a whole day of travelling and you really want to avoid this when you've just a weekend to spare. Make sure you’re also not driving for another couple of hours on the other end, especially if you happen to be unlucky and the plane is delayed... Right, if you have 3-4 days off, fly as far as you like. But for 2 days, keep actual travel time to the minimum. 2. Cheaper flight options Fridays or Mondays can be super cost

One thing you might not know about me: I studied German at Uni. Not sure how that happened, but it did. Applied Linguists to be specific, Deutsch zusammen mit Englisch (though to be honest, I never really ‘applied’ any of my language skills during that 5 years stint). I wasn’t that interested in the technicalities: delving deep into grammar rules, reading medieval literature (well, I didn’t read much back in the days anyway, so it took a few attempts to pass that exam) or the

To get to Rotterdam, it took me twice to lock myself out of my flat, two missed flights and a non-refundable hotel booked for the wrong weekend. I nearly had enough of this spontaneous trip before it even started. Mind you, I was booked to fly somewhere else before I decided to hop on the Rotterdam bound train. In the end, it was well worth it. A sunny day-trip to a city made for a foodie like me, but also a great insight into Netherland’s history, especially the maritime on

I’ve been spending a lot of my time in the Netherlands lately so I thought I’d find out a bit more about this small, but very robust country. I promise not to write about bikes in Amsterdam or Gouda cheese. In no specific order, these are my top quirky facts: 1. If you know me a bit, food is always a solid starting point. There’s a few popular American dishes and desserts of Dutch heritage. Cookie (from koekje), waffle ( wafel or wavel from an 18th century baked crisp cake

For more info on each place click on the name. Most of these spots are located in the district of Jordaan and a couple around De Pijp. HUMMUS BISTRO D&A BREAKFAST, BRUNCH, LUNCH My go to breakfast place. Serves an amazing Shakshuka. I usually take the spinach and feta one, but they do a lot of specials. They’ve also got fantastic coffee which they serve with halva (I am obsessed with halva!) WINKEL 43 APPLE PIE, ANYTIME The home of the traditional Dutch apple pie (with fre

Normally it takes a few days or weeks till I get my head around writing about my latest adventure, but this time I decided to jot everything down while it’s still fresh in my head. I’m also on the train right now, so there’s a couple of hours to spare. On Monday I jumped on the Eurostar from London to Paris. This time the goal was to visit the Palais Garnier. The Garnier Opera House stands in the middle of a very busy road intersection with an ocean of people running acros

A couple of photos from my last opera visit, this time in Rome. Another one for my Opera&Ballet challenge :)

1. Girls, you can properly get dressed up (some of the outfits I buy are only good for a ball or...the opera house) If you've got the swagger, just go and pull off an Oscar gown. And guys you can do a bow tie! 2. Drinks at the bar, usually set in a chandelier filled lobby or a stunning terrace with a view during summer. 3. Great idea for a not-a-bog-standard date! 4. Mediation: operas & ballets usually last around 3-4 hours, so there’s a lot of time to ponder about life. 5.

I’ve never actually heard about Frankenstein performed ‘en pointe’ until I looked up what’s on in the Royal Opera House in London. The ballet is based on the famous 1818 book written by Mary Shelby, but only came to life in 2016. It was adapted for the stage by British choreographer Liam Scarlett with music composed by American Lowell Liebermann. It's a lavish performance with the score reminding me a bit of Prokofiev, being fairly traditional in terms of harmonies and struct

My latest opera trip ended up being in…Palma de Mallorca. Not the obvious choice, but I happened to be visiting my best friend over there and thought, let’s just see what’s on. It turned out to be Don Giovanni. First of all, Don Giovanni is not for amateurs. It’s long (goes on for nearly 4 hours) and it can be tedious at the best of times (I closed my eyes and dozed off a few times, like a pro;). Nevertheless, it’s a staple of operatic repertoire and if you’re open minded pl