Milan the Fashion Capital of the World Day 1

Fashion and Milan are made for each other. I had a chance to go and explore this wonderful city Italy. I took my camera and had a wonderful time shooting excellent pictures of locales and iconic buildings. The place is seriously historic.

Milan was once the capital city of the Roman empire and it carries some in its culture even today. The first thing I saw was the Gothic Cathedral popularly known as “Duomo”.

The view from the front is truly majestic. It not only catches the eye but also leaves you spell bound. I admired it for 15 minutes looking from every angle before I took the photo.

The interior is even more enigmatic. It left me speechless with its colours and hues. Since it takes time to get permission to take photograph inside I am sharing this photo taken by G J King. I spent the full day here observing the beautiful architecture and the unique art on glass.

Theater in this place is another beauty and a visit to the famous La Scala Opera theater is a must. You can soak in the music with the legacy of opera in its purest form. The golden interior will take you back in time. I ended my first day with a real opera show with the real grandeur.

Travel to Florence the artistic city

I have been contemplating for long to visit Florence and see the Renaissance art live. I also wanted to visit the famous Cathedral of Florence. There are other things also; most famous is the male figurine “David” by Michelangelo.  Florence has historically been a democratic place with freedom for creativity, and gave rise to exceptional inventors and artists. One of them was a genius par excellence. He was an inventor, and artist and painter and a designer too. Yes I am talking about the enigmatic Leonardo Da Vinci. You can see his work “Annunciation” here too.

I started off by seeing the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Flore. Even from outside the structure took my breath away. It was difficult to take my eyes off the magnificent structure. The guide pushed me inside and behold, the inside was like a dream. It was two-hour tour inside but the time passed as if it was 10 seconds. I was awestruck by the artistic murals and the glass paintings. It is indeed a great work of art.

The next stop on the first day was the Academia museum the home of “David”. The first male nude sculpture is a wonderful piece of art. It is not erotica but simply art. I visited the whole gallery and saw many great pieces of art in White marble. It was a day I will always remember. It is imprinted on my soul. I took some wonderful photographs.There were many things to see, but that would be the second day in the wonderful city Florence.

Why the puppy bowl is the best thing to have happened?

Everybody knows I’m a cat person. But do not for a minute think that my heart is not going to utterly and completely melt the moment somebody walks up to me and tells me that there is a Superbowl…played with puppies! You’d have to be heartless if that does not move you.

I had no idea what I was expecting. I tried my best not to Google anything about Puppy Bowl beforehand and I was thoroughly surprised. It promised and it delivered everything it promised!

Were there puppies?

Yes! So many puppies!

And the cheerleaders? Baby goats! (To be honest, I had no idea baby goats were this cute).

And for the half time show, for the first time in history, ladies and gentlemen, a kitten named Katy Furry!

Just look at them! I have no idea how people actually managed to see the actual Superbowl. I could not have cared less about which team won (but, Patriots, congratulations any way).

There are two things the Annual Puppy Bowl of 2015 has taught me. Number 1, there is always beauty and light in the world. You just need to look for it. Number 2, I now know my dream job.

Anybody know how to apply for a role as a Puppy Bowl refree?

The People you Bump Into While Shopping

I’ve started making resolutions again. I’m in my thirties and single and one of the things I’m planning on doing in the new year is to make some quality friends and to spread my friend-catching net wide enough so that I don’t have to settle for below-par friends.

One of the other resolutions I made was to make sure my two kitty cats are getting enough water. The splish splashing of a toy fish in their water bowls would hopefully tempt them to drink more water. While out shopping at the local store for my cats, I was wondering through the supermarket looking for the toy but also for fresh packaged dates to prepare for friends I was having over. Having trouble finding the packaged dates, I asked the sales manager, a guy that I was getting to know, if he knew where I could find packaged dates. The guy looked at me rather oddly and replied ‘maybe you could try the Yellow Pages under ‘escorts’. I know women often buy into the stereotype that cat owners are more sensitive and caring, but I immediately knew with this guy that he couldn’t possible own cats and that I would certainly be removing him from my dating profile.

Bah Humbug..

It is that time of the year every single girl loves – a chance to live your own Bridget Jones moment, or just sit there with the cats and ice-cream watching endless re-runs of it (wait, that’s not just me, is it?).

Christmas does give rise to some great social media, such as all the spoof versions of the Christmas ads. One of my favourite buzzfeeds this year was the lonely sister-in-law christmas cards – if only I had the guts to send this out, I’d die laughing at the reaction. Of course there are some down right scary cards out there, this one made the cats run and hide, I think in future I will threaten them with bringing him home.

This year I have refused to take part in any Christmas activities and the associated guilt that surrounds them, the you’re putting on weight, why aren’t you talking to Auntie Joan, what happened to that nice young man, type conversations that surround the day. This year I’ve decided it’s me, the cats, endless looping of the worst Christmas songs, and a boozed up version of Christmas pudding Ice Cream– if Colin Firth wants to pop round I might share. Ho-ho-hum

Instagram profiles for when you are depressed

You know how it happens. Sometimes, you wake up and you feel like the world is out to get you and you just want to throw something really sharp at anybody who wants to talk to you. It might seem like nothing can make you feel better on a day like that- but you are wrong.

No, of course I’m not asking you to go call your friends. What good are they, when you have Instagram profiles you could stalk?

These are Instagram profiles that are so funny, they need their own website. And they are guaranteed to make your day better!

My personal favourite is baddiewinkle. She’s a grandma who knows she’s funny and you’re damn right she’s going to show it to the world just how cool she is.

A close second is peejet (no, I do not understand why you would want that as your handle either). He understands just how redundant and morally corrupt a tool Photoshop is, and uses it to photoshop himself into photos with celebrities. Needless to say, he does it much better than most celebrities!

Satiregram is probably one of the finest Instagram profiles on the planet- it’s a profile that mocks all other profiles. There’s something rather meta about that, don’t you think?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, our last entry is cashcats- an Instragram where people post photos of cats with cash. You gotta agree- nothing better than cats to make your day brighter!

TV time

As I mentioned the other day, I’ve gone into Autumn shut down, the beauty of this means more quality time with the cats at home. And that means TV , while the cats enjoyed my attempts at audience participation with the Great British Bake Off (see below), that was just the warm up for the show that will take us through to winter – yes, that’s right, its Apprentice time.

Each year I like to imagine that the cats get quite excited when the theme tune starts, as they surely know by now that means consistent couch time. Possibly the fact that I turn all phones off, meaning no interruptions, meaning no movement, meaning plenty of time to knead your way to that perfect spot puts them in cat heaven. So, I do like to be fair to them, all necessary accessories are organised way before we sit down. TV set up with remote at arms reach, check, tea  organised, check, live blog on Ipad running, check, and most importantly vodka shots lined up for every time Lord Sugar points that wise old finger off doom.

So, far this years crop seem a bit bland, no crazy inventors and the most daring dresser has one already. There’s not much in the way of eye candy either, I think I’ll keep my eye on Nick for now, let’s face it no major show on BBC is now complete without a silver-haired fox.

 

A Winters Tale…coming soon

Autumn is finally coming, and I can’t wait. I find the curious asymmetry between the trees losing their layers and the rest of nature diving for theirs reassuring. I can spend hours in the park sipping a Flat White watching the squirrels do their mad ‘must get everything now’ panic dance. I don’t have to rush between the latest pop up event and the new must see bar, but can stroll through the city taking my time to look up and around on the eye out for interesting angles to photograph.

On the home front the cats start becoming less about throwing a hairball up and more cozying up, they’re not so inclined to spend days lazing in the sun which leaves them restless at night eager to have their own version of going out on the town looking for prey, they’re much more in the feed me hold me love me mode that will serve them well in the months to come.

For me,  Autumn means for the first time in months I don’t have to constantly diet, wary of that moment I have to put on a bikini. I can go out dressed up knowing that the summers’ heat wont frizzle and melt everything in 10 seconds flat. And I’m caught in that lovely point where it’s just as easy to go out as stay in.

But, possibly the best part is that, like those squirrels, the men of this fair city are also doing their own version of bedding down. Most nights they’re out are no longer about just being with the mates and eying off the cutest girl – no, they too can sense the approach of winter, and are now turning their thoughts to making sure that they’re prepared with the right girl to spend those couch comforting months with.

A Travellers Tale

So, I’ve been on holiday recently (thank god for Loans from Ferratum), meeting up with my fellow singleton member KG in Berlin. Normally not one to love leaving my cats let alone the comforts of my stash of Ben and Jerry, the recent warm weather and its endless opportunity for others to display their love has got me in motion.

KG has assured me that Berlin will supply all that a girl like me needs – bountiful hipster boys newly arrived from all over the world with their ever so rough facial hair, endless cheap cocktails and a city that shares my love of photography. Having survived the trip without drooling on the shoulder of my in flight neighbour (oddly enough, not a way to entice a man), I arrived raring to go. First stop fashionable Prenzlauer Berg, and what better way to show me the view than from the roof of a shopping centre. Seriously though, Deck 5 was amazing, I managed to get off some wonderful sunset photos while admiring the cassette of hipsters sipping their whisky sours.

Over the next few days we got into a holiday rhythm – exploring the amazing graffiti and galleries of Berlin ( I highly recommend the Berlin Museum for Photography), and trawling the numerous bars at night. Berlin is a refreshing change from the cleanliness of home, seemingly unconcerned with making an appearance or the right outfit for the occasion.

I came home exhausted but reassured that I wasnt the only single girl in the city – and that Ben and Jerry do wait.

Amazing talk on why we fall in love

So as you all know I’m constantly on the lookout, scouring the internet for anything that will make the Gordian Knot of love, life and relationships a little less perplexing. Seeing as I can’t follow in the footsteps of the Great Alexander by simply destroying the knot with a swift swing of a sword, I’ve got to look to other means of untangling it.

So imagine my delight when I happened upon this ted talk entitled ‘The Brain In Love.’ I ignored the fact that a talk entitled ‘The Brain Out Of Love’ would probably be more appropriate for me and went ahead and watched it anyway. Boy I’m glad I did. Helen Fisher brings up some comforting facts. 95% of all men and women answered that they have either A) dumped someone who really loved them or B) been dumped by someone who they really loved. That sort of statistic doesn’t fill me with a lot of confidence but it at least suggests that my plight isn’t one I have to suffer alone! It seems everybody is bound to suffer in singledom at some point in their lives.

Fisher goes on to give some analysis of why men and women seem to be so different citing our evolution in small tribes as a strong shaping factor. Men evolved to sit side by side and not meet a gaze directly, women evolved nurturing and caring for their kids, looking into their faces constantly, and so seek this eye to eye contact more than man.

I hope that’s why cute guys don’t seem to want to meet my gaze when I’m on the subway! Anyway, I found this article which I hope is going to give me some useful tips. Expect to hear of my progress in upcoming blogs!