Good to be here: Cambridge / Great Britain (English)

Hello everyone,

today I would like to talk about a trip I already did a couple of months ago.
Somehow I didn`t managed to publish this post earlier but now it is time to share 
my impressions from this day with you.
Back in November friends of mine and I decided to set off and explore Cambridge.
On account of the season the weather was quite lousy what for sure is not the best condition to spend the day outside and do some sightseeing. 
Because of this at first we had some scruples whether we should go or not but at the end we fling the fears off and went to Cambridge. In retrospect, I think it was a good decision as I really enjoyed the trip and the fun time with the girls.

However, it is time to start talking about what we did all day long.
Firstly, we were quite surprised that it takes only about an hour to go from London 
to Cambridge by train. During the journey we recognized that we didn`t really had a plan about what we can do in the city.
All we knew was just that there is this famous University, ranked as one of 
the best worldwide. Well, as we should figure out later on, actually there doesn`t exist only one big University but several colleges which are extended over the whole town.
Anyhow, as soon as we arrived in Cambridge we perceived the high among 
of young people around us. From that moment onwards we were constantly asking ourselfs whether this or that person might be one of the lucky and moreover intelligent ones, who are attending this educational institution.
Besides that we were wandering out with the intention to see this popular place.
As we got told that most of the colleges were closed at this time, we ended up doing 
a boat trip to see the sights at least from the outside.
Although there was not much space inside the boat, I have to admit I enjoyed the ride.
The tour guide provided us with information about the buildings along side the river 
and even the sun came out for a while.

Afterwards we just went for dinner and than already headed off towards home.


See you soon.

Best wishes.

Mareike

Exploring: Greenwich & Canary Wharf / London (English)

Hello everybody,

last weekend I finally mangaged to do some more exploring again.
My friend and myself decided to head over to Greenwich, a part of London located 
in the south-east of the city and opposite Canary Wharf and its Skyscrapers.
I had already been there a couple of years ago but only for a short period of time 
and without having seen that much. 
Looking back, it definetely was a good decision to return as Greenwich is a really 
lovely area. You might have heard about it earlier in association with the prime meridian, which is based at the Royal Obervatory in Greenwich. 
The attraction is situated on top of a hill, from there you have a magnificint view 
over London. The hill itself is in the middle of a huge and beautiful park, a perfect place 
to escape the hustle and bustle of Londons town center. 
Besides, that Greenwich offers a variety of very nice shops (well, basically like everythere in London...). I particularly fell in love with a shop called "Oliver Bonas". 
I literally could have bought half of all the things in the shop but unfortunately I haven`t won the lottery yet. They have some more stores all over Britan, so if you are keen on scandinavian design, fun post cards and other cool stuff pay them a visit.
By the way, yesterday I discovered that they are about to open a store in the town 
I am living - what a coincidence!
Anyway, as the Old Royal Naval College and the National Maritime Museum 
are both setted in Greenwich, there is also a shop specialised in selling items with 
a maritime design. You know what? I immediately felt a bit like being home.
I grew up in Hamburg, a city mainly popular for its port and the Elbe river. 
In addition, the North- and Baltic Sea are just like around the corner. 
Therefore, I am used to maritime design and like most stuff with this kind of patterns.
At the end I didn`t bought anyhting in the shop but it was a good feeling to see 
all these things, which reminded me a lot of home.

One of the reasons we actually went to Greenwich was the local food market. 
We arrived there when the market was about to close but it wasn`t such a pity. 
Don`t get me wrong, the market is worth a visit but we couldn`t find the kind of food 
we were searching for like Pizza or Pasta. Well, the good Italian food. 
What else you can get there is mainly tradional food from either Asia or South America.
Beyond that you can treat yourself with some selfmade cupcakes or something completely different such as clothes or a nice piece of art. 
As you can see, there is a variety of stalls. I am sure at the end of the day, you will leave Greenwich with less money. For the ones, who are not afraid of heights and would like to do something special,I have another recommendation for you:

The UK`s only urban cable car! 

The Emirates Air Line runs between North Greenwich and the Royal Docks. 
The tickets are not that expensive and while your journey from one side of the thames to 
the other, you can enjoy a brilliant view over London. 
Unfortunately, I haven`t been able to try it myself so far but I would love to do so! 
Preferable to watch the sunset.


picture: 
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/emirates-air-line-cable-car-opening-hours-extended-to-offer-night-flights-10130933.html

Another advise from me for you is to stroll around Canary Wharf.
This is perhabs not the prettiest part of London but if you have some time left,
you could consider to go there. 
In the last decade a lot of modernization took place in this area, what has led into 
the fact that you can now spot some of Londons highest buildings and newest 
train stations around there. 
Subjectively speaking, I had a few moments, where I was greatly impressed by 
the architecture but not only with the newer buildings. 
My friend and myself also discovered some older parts of the disctrict, what we were 
really happy about. It is funny how you could be in the middle of one of Europes 
biggest cities and depending on where you are, it feels like you are in a small town. 
Surrounded by lots of flats and people jogging next to the river, we enjoyed the quiet 
and the view onto the Thames. Only the airplanes, which were about to land at the 
near by London City Airport disturbed the athmosphere from time to time.

However, I assume you can tell that I had a great time while exploring Greenwich 
and Canary Wharf and hope that I could have inspired a few of you to go 
and spend some time there as well.

See you soon.

Best wishes.

Mareike

Musical Recommendation or how I met Leo Stannard

Hello everyone,

the time has come to share my first blog post in this category with you.

The cause for me finally writting a recommendation happened a short while ago.
As you probably know due to the title, this is going to be about music or better saying 
a particular singer, whose music I would highly recommend you to listen to.

I discovered Leo Stannard at the beginning of the year.

I was searching for something on facebook, when I stumbled across his page. 
In the following I listened to his songs on YouTube and added them immediately to 
my playlist. From this day onwards I have been keen on his music, 
what is not really a surprise as I tend to listen to british musicians almost only.
Therefore, Leo is another proof for Britain being a country with lots of talented musicians.
Besides that it is especially his unique voice and the way how he is playing the guitar,
what makes his music absolutely worth to to listen to.
Moreover, he is also writing the lyrics himself!
In terms of the genre, it is quite hard for me to describe it so I think it might be the best, 
if you just get yourself an impression of it.
You are about to find some useful links further down this post but first let me tell you something else and exciting.

I was on facebook again, when I discovered a post of him (or more likely his management). He / they invited everybody to take part in a spontanous competition, 

with the option to win tickets for his sold out concert taking place in London the next day. 
I thought that I had nothing to lose and so I tried my luck.

Although I usually never win anything, this time I had a good feeling. 

Lo and behold, about an hour later I opened my facebook account and indeed I had 
a message, saying that I am one of the lucky ones, who are invited to visit the concert.

Fun fact: I was listening to his music in the moment I read the message.

So the day after that, a friend of mine and myself head off to London.
The venue, where the concert took place was quite small, what I really liked! 
There might have been only about 200 other people and amongst them a surprisingly 
high amount of men, who attended the event.

As Leo doesn`t have so many songs yet, his perfomance wasn`t that long. 
Nevertheless, the concert was fantastic!
Not only is his voice in real life as good as I used to know it from the records 
but he also has a great stage presence. 
It appeared to me that everybody really enjoyed listening to Leo as I noticed 
from the amazing athmosphere in the room and the applause he got after each song.

Subjectively speaking, I felt very lucky to be able attending the concert. 
Leo seems to be an interesting and charming person and I am sure we will hear a lot more of him in the future.

Right now he is still on tour, so it might be worth to have a look, whether he is coming to your town and if there are still tickets left.

To get more impressions from the concert and Leo himself check out these articles:

http://www.wonderlandmagazine.com/2014/09/new-noise-leo-stannard/

http://www.coolmusicandthings.co.uk/2016/02/mahogany-show-leo-stannard-23216.html

My favourit songs are these ones:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlbL6udXmf4&list=FLJxaGk54nRrBDrTkIKKVwmA&index=22

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4h-lIZgaEg&index=3&list=FLJxaGk54nRrBDrTkIKKVwmA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzMDof0WG1s&index=7&list=FLJxaGk54nRrBDrTkIKKVwmA