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Hello friends,

This type of a blog post is nothing new in the blogosphere, but I realized it's time I made one (two, three...) when I noticed there are way too many things I stumble upon and want to share on Facebook, that it's almost rude - I'm sure many people already hid me from their News Feeds because I'm an oversharer. But when I find something nice, interesting, intriguing, funny... I just cannot help it, I want to share it with the world! So why not share it with you guys as well?

7 Things You Need to Do in Venice

Venice is actually in a way responsible for my Italian trip, because hadn't there been for a conference everybody from my master's program attended, I'm not sure I would have decided to do it. I didn't know what to expect, because I know a lot of people who visited it and didn't really like it very much, so I was impatient to see it myself. Long story short - I loved it! I found it extremely charming (one would perhaps say 'romantic'), I loved the architecture, the cute bridges and alleys, and, oh, the water! Maybe it has to do with the fact that my hometown doesn't have a river, a lake, anything (just a canal... not a very interesting one); in Venice (and around Venice) I realized not only how much I love the sea, but that I love water in towns in general. I remembered how much I liked Saint Petersburg and its canals; or Berlin; or, after all, the town I now live in (Netherlands = canals). So it really didn't come as a surprise that I absolutely enjoyed my hours in Venice. They were few - we did attend the talks and poster presentations after all - but they were enough to wonder why on Earth somebody wouldn't like this place.

A Day in Florence

I finally got some time to write about my Italian adventure again! As I said, I will not be writing in the exact order I visited places - and I actually wanted Rome to be the next city I would be writing about (it certainly did precede Florence), but I've got a problem there, the city is so beautiful and I want to say so much about it, that I feel I need A LOT of time to do that, and also fear that nothing I say could really compare to the jewel Rome is. But anyway, back to Florence!

I spent more than a day there, but it is a relatively small town and everything worth seeing can be seen in one day. Well, except for the museums - which I missed, and which are the exact reason I will be coming back to Florence one day. Don't repeat my mistakes and book the tickets in advance!

Klunkerkranich - Berlin from above

Never in my life have I waited in line to get somewhere during the day (if we count out banks, post offices, doing administrative and paperwork at uni... you get the point, I'm talking about coffee places & bars & such). Well, ok, I rarely even waited in the night (I would usually not go to places that are so popular you have to wait to get in there). I cannot even remember what the last time I waited was... um, maybe six months ago in Paris? So as long as I can remember it seemed to me that these two things go together - actually, I wouldn't ever, not for a second, even think otherwise - lines are for night clubs, and that's it. Then I went to a place in Berlin I read about, and I couldn't believe my eyes when I got there and witnessed a line of about 50 people. At 7 PM. It seemed just crazy. Again Berlin-themed blogs and websites I'm following found a place to tell everyone about - apparently I wasn't the only reader... My flatmate and I weren't sure whether we should stand in the line or not, because I only had time for like one drink. But then we decided that's it, we're getting in after coming all the way there ('there' being Neukölln, not really a neighborhood you visit daily).

How to Pack in a Carry-On for Three Weeks

I was strolling through Venice with my friend Chaya, and then I saw an old-ish couple struggling with three enormous suitcases and a number of smaller bags. "What do they need so much luggage for?!", I asked Chaya in a disbelief. She laughed: "Tihana, I wonder the same thing about you!"
Almost three weeks before I was packing for my Italian trip. I don't own a big backpack, so I had to pack a suitcase, and I was aware of the fact that I would have to drag it around every time I change city - which was like every two-three days. I have two sizes: a small one, carry-on, that I use for weekend trips, and that can be in fact used for up-to-five days' trip, so that one I didn't even consider; and a big one, that I use for summer holidays, trips home, and well, moving countries. So I had to pack wisely, pack only things I will definitely wear, bear in mind that I don't want it to be too heavy... the usual things. I failed miserably, and it was during the very first half of the trip that I realized it. And now I'm here to share the wisdom.

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Belated Birthday Post - 30 By 30

When I left for Italy, I had a solid number of almost-ready-to-post blog posts here. Some were totally ready, others required a little bit of photo editing, or a little bit of writing, but I thought I could totally manage with posting regularly. I also planned to post about Italy on the go, and I was silly enough to think it would be possible to go out in the morning, spend a day outside and then come home and choose and edit photos and tell you about my days. Well - didn't happen! Travelling is beautiful, but also exhausting, so when I would get back home in the evening, I just wanted to s.l.e.e.p. Also, not to mention the internet thing - when you're travelling, you're highly dependent on wi-fi, which I hate. So anyway, one of the things I planned to post was sort of a bucket list, but not really, only things I plan (=wish?) to do before my 30th birthday*, and I wanted to do that on my 26th birthday, which was two weeks ago. I've always loved my birthday, and somehow I don't think 30 is too much - at least I changed opinion when a close friend of mine turned 30 and she was still the same person! But still, as I said here, one more year and I will have to refer to myself as being in my late twenties, which is crazy - especially when it comes to how I feel (and look!). And I feel like a teenager. OK, I shouldn't have told you this :)

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So, if you want to get to know me better, keep on reading. And enjoy your age, whatever it is!

Tasty and Wild - Benvenuti a Napoli!

Finally I am settled down in one place and have time to start re-living my big Italian adventure here on the blog. For those of you who missed it (how could you?!), I was travelling through Italy in September for almost three weeks. September is the time off in my master's program—except for the conference Science of Aphasia that we are supposed to attend. The conference is held in a different place every year, so this time it was Venice we had to go to. We've known about this for a year and I was very excited, because I had never been to Italy - even though it is rather close to Serbia. But it never bothered me too much because I've always known I'd go to Italy someday—who would miss this gem of a country anyway? So as the summer approached, I decided not to go to Serbia in September - that's why I went home in July, I wrote about that on the blog—but to Italy. From Rome up north! But then a dear Italian friend of mine told me to go to Naples. Naples? Ummm, I've heard of it, of course, but why should I? "They have the best pizza there," he explained. "Naples is the home of pizza. You will not have better pizza anywhere else. And you should trust me on this, because I am from the north, Naples is in the south, and we're not each other's favorite people... so when I tell you pizza is the best there, you know I'm not lying." Well. Pizza indeed has been my favorite dish since I was a little child. Didn't take much until I booked my ticket to Naples.

I am here!

Hello lovely people,

I wanted to quickly say hi and excuse myself for not posting anything these days. This is in fact the first chilled out day I have had in almost a month! I have tons of blog material, but I haven't had any time so far to make it postable :). You might have noticed that I was travelling through Italy in September for three weeks and that was one of the best trips of my life! Italy is amazing, I had a blast, I fell in love with Rome like with no other city and I think I need to live there at least three months in my life. I celebrated my 26th birthday in Milan (one more and I will have to refer to myself as in 'late-twenties', urgh!), flew back to Germany and two days later I moved to the Netherlands. I am now living in a beautiful town of Groningen in the north of the country. This is my first time in the Lowlands so I'm very happy, I haven't had the time to explore the town yet but I'm looking forward to it. Of course, I am also looking forward to visiting a very dear friend in Amsterdam, and I hope it would happen soon. 

I don't have any photos of this cute picturesque town I'm in, so I'll just leave a photo of one of the wonderful perks of living in the Lowlands: stroopwafel!