Zuzu went Americaning

Lots of good and bad things have happened since I last posted here. I moved to the USA, survived first year's culture shock, abusive relationship, domestic violence and got divorced. Also changed profession and job, made friends and tons of memories.
Also, found the love of my life, fell in love and got engaged (again!).
I spend less and less time with my camera and on editing pictures, and that's a shame. I am farthest from home I've ever been, so far that I accepted the fact that idea of "home" does not apply to me anymore. I am where I always wanted to be.
I am where sea lights touch the sky.

Sylt

On the very last day of Summer we took a trip to Sylt, a fancy rich tourist island on the east side of North Germany, at the North Sea. To have a good weather there is close to impossible (and I mean "good" in popular meaning of that word, not the North German meaning, which is anything but the hurricane), but we were lucky.
Not only we caught the last hot sunny day and a day of warm water in the sea, but we also found a nude beach, where we spend the whole day.
It was truly beautiful, relaxing experience and made one of this little memories you tell over a cup of hot tea in the ugly Fall evening: "Remember when we went to Sylt and found a nude beach?"

Polish Summer

This Summer was my last Summer in Europe. It came later than ever and was truly and satisfying hot. I felt it intensely with every sunny day, breathing with a fresh air every early morning and enjoyed its every summer storm. This time was special for many reasons.

In July my family came to visit me in Hamburg and we went together to Poland to spend few weeks there. We rented a car and a cabin at the lake, took a trip to the seaside and went to see lots of places from my past, which have a meaning to me. Although loosely planned, we ended up following my own emotional map of special places - small corners of the world I wanted to show to my husband and see for myself once again. Places like a lake where I went for Summer holidays with my family as a kid or a camping site I went for my first young adult holidays with a boyfriend or a little village at the seaside where I went with my grandparents when I was six and fell in love with the sea for life.
In the end I went with my best friend to the Fluff Fest, small, vegan, hc-punk scene festival in Czech Republic, where I "grew up" ideologically in a sense.

That was also a goodbye. To the past that shaped me and to the memories I will take with me. The huge chapter of my life is going to close and I appreciate every person that came across my path, every love, every friendship, every life event and decision I made and that all this things were great in the end, because they made me who I am.
I am a different person and the only thing I expect is more changes.

Love Life.

Very old Amsterdam

Once upon a time in a cold May we went for a two-day trip to Amsterdam. Just to get away a bit and make it cheap. We booked some special offer bus ride and the only available cheap hotel where we could pay with PayPal.

Amsterdam turned out to be even colder, windier and more expensive than Hamburg, what was no surprise. But what surprised me, was how small and narrow, even slightly claustrophobic this city is. Tiny little narrow streets with wide bike lanes, leading to tiny bridges over tiny canals, bikes everywhere, beautiful, old buildings and again streets, bridges, bikes, streets and so on. No squares, no open space, almost no parks! We took a bike ride and I got stuck in a bike-traffic jam for the first time in my life!
Plus hundreds and hundreds of tourists.
Yet everything was so classy, old and sophisticated that it just couldn't be real. Like an "Old World's Town" amusement park. Even the Red Light District was nice and cozy.
Sure, just few blocks away from the fancy center one could see a bit of a true, multi-cultural reality, familiar sounds and smells, Asian and Middle-Eastern food, big, noisy market with the cheapest everything, the locals. The Real, temporary Europe.

One of the things I saw fell deep into my mind: after the market was closed and the street was full of trash, cranes came in to feed on the waste. Real, live, proud and beautiful cranes, the majestic birds from Chinese paintings; a bit dirty, with scruffy feathers, instead of contemplating on a shore of a beautiful lake, walking around on their long legs through piles of plastic bags and eating from the trash cans. Freezing without a movement. Flying around in a slow motion so great and huge, too big for a city birds.
Nature always finds it's way, I know, but how sad and unreal that look was!

On some art installation I saw a note "I feel like a tourist in my own country". I could easily imagine that. And although I could never live there, this place has a secret charm.
And has also bed bugs... We've been bitten hard during our only night in a hotel and nasty bites were itchy even six weeks later!

happily everafter

On windy, cold day in the beginning of March I got married.

Bureaucracy forced us to proceed and we set up the date "for next week!", feeling excited, crazy, chaotic and a bit disappointed.
We regretted that our families couldn't be there, that we didn't wait till real, flowery and sunny Spring, that it didn't turn out to go "the way we planned".

It was an amazing experience in the end without any doubt.

Denmark merged in North Germany, peace and quiet, village and a beautiful, comfortable house we rented on the sea side, sea, forest and raw nature waking up for Spring, which we could see right through glass-walls.

Spending a day with couple of best friends, cooking, talking, sharing hearts and celebrating, no better way imaginable.

A bit of magic, amazing landscapes and some of romantic, emotional symbols I like to think of as a good omen.
A boat, a gate, a majestic tree, sea, even lighthouse was there.

All-mighty calm, strength, comfort and love I felt that day I will keep in me forever.

So this is beginning of my new future, I'm enjoying every second.

February and yoga-is-the-new-skating

New year started extremely intense. Not only I kept to my New Year's resolutions in 120% and survived most of the Winter being in excellent mood. Last month I spent in city trains going places and running errands, healing my weather resentment with litres of coffee, books, Spanish, good food, being social and... yoga!

Due to my "I'm 30 now:let's serious" resolution I decided to seriously start exercising on a regular basis as a habit and part of my life. Just a year ago I was sure that I found my ultimate passion and perfect sport with skating, but little I knew.
After knee injury I was off ALL sports for months and as the time went by and a healing progress was disappointingly slow I knew I'll never dare to skate again on a full volume.
I had to find something new, a sport that does not feel like a chore, is involving, challenging and fun.
Yoga is everything I need and more. After 2 months of not too intensive exercising I feel how my body changes, calibrates, somehow adjusts to it's real, proper shape and condition. It makes me want more and every session is like a little adventure, trying out new things, noticing the connections between moves, seeing if I can do it and how I improved since the last time.
I'm staying with it.

February was exhausting but rewarding.
I was totally involved in wedding preparations, which surprised me in so many ways that I need a separate post only about it.
I was having more fun in my job than ever before, what is not a normal state of my mind.
I was unexpectedly starting a new friendship I'm happy and warm about.
I did not take a single picture with my camera since the mountain trip in December, so I'm just instagraming. It's all because of the weather, which is, by the way the only thing I can't stop complaining about.

Today I found a cheap source of lupin beans, one of food-loves of my life, I haven't been eating since last year's Euro-trip and Portugal.


Life is good.