River Danube parts the city that was once part of a kingdom ruling central Europe and was long ago divided into Buda and Pest. With historical buildings dominating the city scape, a centre of culture and religious diversity, Budapest has worked its way back into the spotlight, being praised and loved by people all over Europe. 

Stunning Architecture

With Buda Castle and the Citadella throning on the hills of the city quarter of Buda, overlooking the green forests on the one side and the stunning skyline of Pest on the other, Budapest is an actual heaven for those who admire a great view. Conquering the steps up to the top of the hill, ending up right below Liberty Statue, is definitely worth the sweat and exhaustion of the small hike, just like Buda Castle further north up the riverside. An extraordinary palace that was once home to royals and is now home to exhibitions with artefacts of Hungary’s art history - and the paintings of Frida Kahlo that have been brought to Budapest directly from Mexico for a temporary exhibition. Getting lost in the country’s art is always something I thoroughly enjoy because it is another visual representation of how society and history shaped the country in long lost times. 

Not far away from Buda Castle one of the architecturally most beautiful sights spreads across another hill, Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias Church. The bright white stone almost sparkles in the sunshine and thrones over a part of Budapest reminding the visitors of an old Italian town with streets made of cobblestones and flowers decorating the window sills. 

The city of Hungary can be explored almost entirely by foot as the city centre is rather compact and the most important sites are situated close to each other. Just by walking through the city centre one will stumble across cute cafés, shops offering local specialities and small boutiques selling unique clothes that will make every fashion lover cry of joy. 

Even though the Hungarian currency Forinth does need some time to get used to but compared to average European prices, food and drinks in Budapest are almost ridiculously cheap. The general price for beer is around the two euro mark, which is an absolute bargain. Due to us living in an AirBnB we were able to fill up our fridge with snacks from one of the many grocery shops in our area, which gave us the opportunity to save some money in the process.

Nevertheless it is definitely recommendable to pay one of the many cute, small, independent cafés all around the city a visit as they put a lot of effort and thought into their interior and menu. Our favourite spot was called Zoska and was located in a small side street close to the National Museum. They offered sandwiches, porridge, dips and veggies but also scrambled egg, pancakes and croissants so everyone’s taste buds could get satisfied. Side note: Their coffee was absolutely delish. 

The bar and pub culture in Budapest is a fairytale for the young generation and can

We also had lunch at the big market hall right next to river Danube where farmers sell their food and a part of the first floor is dedicated to food stands that offer local specialities that are mindblowingly tasty.  

Culture & History

We also had a look at the inside of the Hungarian parliament and took a walk through the building, where we were introduced to the vast history and culture of the country that goes a lot further back than just to the point of becoming a part of the Habsburg monarchy. 

Budapest still is an underestimated, hidden gem in the list of Europe’s capital city but is slowly growing to become a hotspot for culture and lifestyle once again. People from all over the world are coming to Budapest to not only embrace the Hungarian culture but also let go of all their sorrows in the blooming night life, enjoying their lives to the fullest. Budapest combines the young, the modern and the old and historical in a unique and mindblowingly beautiful way and all the prejudices one might have beforehand are entirely washed away by the beauty of the former Habsburg city. 

Being able to live ones dream is a feeling that cannot really be described with words. It’s surreal, mind-blowing, overwhelming and intoxicating and it fills your heart and mind with so much pure and genuine joy it feels as if it was close to bursting. 

As a lover of fashion and all things style, fashion week has always fascinated me and left me in awe multiple times a year, when the new trends for the upcoming year were presented on the runways of the world. I have had my blog for four years and originally started it as a platform to improve my writing and to share my thoughts and opinions on all things life. 

I do believe that all of us have this secret bucket list inside our heads that we try to work off throughout our lives, some points rather manageable, others more difficult to achieve. Sitting front row at a fashion show at Fashion Week always seemed to be unreachable and more of a dream than reachable reality and if someone had told me a couple years ago I’d end up not only sitting front row at Berlin Fashion Week but being introduced to multiple highly influential members of the fashion community, I would have probably laughed at their face. 

But… admittedly, the last two years have left me in constant disbelief on what amazing story my life has become and I never get tired of emphasising just how grateful I am. I would have never believed that such a small, irrelevant person like me could achieve all the things she’s always dreamed of doing as a kid and teenager and my life has really only just started. While writing these lines I can already feel myself tearing up again because I just cannot comprehend how lucky I am to get to be living this kind of life.

A Form of Art.

Attending fashion week was an amazing opportunity given to me by work and I knew that it was a chance I had to take to show how much passion the subject of fashion is to me. Before leaving I was determined to create quality content not only our readers and my colleagues would like, I also wanted to prove to myself that I could do this. 

The level of anxiety this whole project gave me when I realised that I was really going to Fashion Week is indescribable and I was profoundly terrified of maybe, eventually messing up. But all of the fear was unfounded. I might even go as far as saying that I had the best time of my life. Obviously, it was work and stressful and tiring and exhausting, but it still was the best time of my life. 

I was surrounded by people who are just as passionate about fashion as I am, who consider fashion an incredibly diverse form of art and who have a unique appreciation for the matters of how much you can define yourself as a person with the items you choose to wear. I met young, aspiring people with a vision and strength and willpower to fulfil their dreams and I was allowed to speak to numerous inspirational members of the fashion industry that still haven’t fallen for the dangers of mainstream. 

Nevertheless, it’s undeniable that a very large area of the fashion industry is ruled and defined by superficiality, jealousy and arrogance that I truly cannot support in any way. For me fashion is a beautiful way of creating a new You every single day and showing your inner self to the outside world. Money doesn’t define if a person has style or not, all it takes is the ability to create new looks no matter the price. But the majority of those who have grown into the fashion business and have shaped it with their opinions and their actions are those who still live for what fashion really is. 

What I have noticed though is that the bigger the designer the bigger the show. I was thoroughly impressed by what Austrian designer Marina Hoermanseder created on the grounds of E-Werk in Berlin. On arrival, guests were welcomed with drinks and a small fun fair that had been built on the area, including a smaller version of a ferris wheel. Designers do have the pressure of offering extraordinary things to keep people talking about them and doing it in such a creative and fun way rather astounded me in a positive way. Also, bring on the drinks at 10:30AM. 

Fashion Week can be described as some sort of real life Wonderland, far away from reality but still so connected to the world outside of fashion business that designers aspire to impress. Dipping into this experience was incredible, fun and rather opened my mind, showing me that fashion is still about what I enjoy most about it, when you meet the right people. 

The following text was inspired by the movie/book "Love, Simon" or "Simon vs. The Homosapien Agenda" and the fact that it is Pride Month. No matter if one is part of the LGBT community or not, supporting it and standing up for human rights is something I will always get behind and speak up for because we all deserve support and appreciation when it comes to things that are important to us.

This is about love. About all kinds of love. About love as a force, love as a magnet, love as a 

keeper, a rock and the wild sea shaking the shore in its core. About how love is diverse and different and something that has been attempted to be described but has never been fully mastered. About love as something that is the closest thing to actual magic that humanity knows. Because as much as people have tried, the answer has never really been found - why love is stronger than any force on earth. 

When looking at the generation I’m growing up in, I look at a powerful group of human beings, full of bright ideas and visionary minds. Open minded and curious, accepting and courageous, willing to stand up for their own beliefs. And within this bright community with a better future in their minds and hearts, within this force, something new was created. Lives full of pride, reckless strength and new found confidence. 

This month the world celebrates those who have been thought different for as long as records reach back, those who have had to face boundaries and hatred, injustice and resentment. They used to live their lives silent, or were immediately shut down, they have had to fight for what’s right and for a world without inequality. 

Who are we to define what love really is – a force that is more than we will ever be. We don’t get to decide who we love and who we don’t, the only thing that does in the end is our heart all along. Love is diverse, a spectrum we can impossibly grasp, so who are we to decide for someone other than ourselves. Love doesn’t come easy for anyone on earth, it’s a challenge and adventure, sometimes makes our hearts burn. 

The beauty of this moment, the time that we’re in, is that it’s our turn to change it and unite forces within. Because what I notice more and more amongst my peers is astounding support for each other and those we’re in love with. 

I have to be frank and rather honest too, I did indeed have to educate myself on LGBT matters and everything that’s involved because as sad as it is, standing on the outside sometimes makes you oblivious to what people go through. It’s still a privilege of the straight to step outside and just BE and only the friends I have made over the last couple of years who are an active part have actually opened my eyes about  the real issues they have to deal with. 

But even though life for them is still hard, as I mentioned before, times are slowly changing. People are open about who they really are, encouraged by a world that’s started to accept. Accept that love is diverse and not just black and white, a rainbow of people, quite literally. Although this has not been my fight I feel like everyone should stand up, stand up for what’s right and for a bright future to come.

In the end it’s all love, no matter what kind, love doesn’t change or differentiate. We love who we love with all its beauty and pride, so why don’t we all stand together and unite as what we are in the end: An incredible  bunch of humans growing up in a world full of diversity and beauty. To end this with a quote of a person I love: You now have the chance to be whoever you wanna be. 

To love. To diversity. To an open minded world.

Be proud. Be strong. Be you. Always. 

Happy pride month to all those who have found themselves, are still yet to find themselves or are just in it to support it for the long run. 

Ever since I started working full time, weekends have become a time I cherish. Meeting friends, going out for breakfast or lunch, strolling through the city centre, going on an adventure and just enjoying life has turned into something rather special because of the little spare time life offers you. For these special occasions I try to come up with not only comfortable but stylish ways of displaying my style and extraordinarily patterned trousers are a part of my personal fashion-go-to just as much as one of my various hats.

A large amount of my trouser collection consists of patterned items in all shapes and colours, simply because I think that mixing a good quality pair of trousers with a plain t-shirt or blouse immediately turns a simple outfit into an actual look. What I had been missing in my wardrobe were trousers with a gingham print and the perfect fit. Gingham has been on my radar for quite a while but I wasn't sure if I could pull it off. Stepping out of one's comfort zone is not only a challenge but also highly important and healthy for one's personal growth and becoming a stronger, more confident person already starts with small things such as daring to step up your style game a notch every once in a while. 

Courage and confidence that is won in a certain area can easily be used in every other part of daily life as well. Most people are too scared to take a step forward and give themselves the chance to outgrow themselves because their anxiety stops them or society makes them believe that they will never amount to anything. Trying something new shouldn't be about anyone but oneself. People still care too much about what their environment thinks of them but at the end of the day all that counts is how one felt within themselves.

Trousers

Shirt

Bag (similar)

Shoes (similar)

(pictures are ©TheStylePolaroid 2018, the brands are mentioned beneath the pictures, credits to the designers)

Travelling changes your mind, your perspective and your perception of your own world. Everywhere we go and anytime we explore places we have never been to, we take a part of this place with us and lock it up in our hearts, for eternity to keep. 

Paris is one of those cities everyone puts on their bucket list because you think you’re missing out on something if you don’t at least see the Eiffel Tower once in your life. When you live on mainland Europe you sometimes start to believe that you have all the time in the world to explore those cities that seem so close but are still so far away. It’s remarkable how much we take the “little” distances on our relatively small continent for granted and forget that travelling still takes time. Ever since I came back from Manchester I decided for myself that I would visit at least one place a year that I had never been to. While Scandinavia is rather highly ranked on my list of places I want to see, Paris  had been at the back of my mind for quite a while as well. The French language has always fascinated me and I used to take French classes at uni so I was exceptionally excited for actually getting to know the French capital that I had heard the most magical stories of. 

My expectations were exceeded. Paris is one oft those extraordinary cities that engrave themselves into your mind and make you fall in love with their atmosphere and pure, simple beauty. 

The City.

As a lover of architecture Paris was nothing less than paradise for me. Historical buildings shaping the city grounds, old facades with fascinating embellishments and the dominance of exceptionally fascinating creme coloured brick work made one wonder if one had entered a fairytale, letting forget the dark past of a city that now presents itself as the vibrant centre of a country full of pride. The long lost kings’ love for symmetry, elegance and splendour is still undeniably visible in 21st century Paris no matter if walking down Esplanade des Invalides or strolling through the gardens of the uncountable palaces that are embedded into an otherwise modern metropolitan.

Montmartre.

Entering Montmartre, located in Northern Paris, is like entering a different world. Hidden in the shadows of majestic Sacre Coeur that has been throning on a hill overlooking the city since 1914, Montmartre is a gem that should not be missed. A tiny version of the calm of the Provence resting in the north of an otherwise lively city makes you feel like travelling back in time. Small shops and aspiring painters that are crowded together on a market place and present their art to the public while hiding under sun shades from the burning heat. The houses are colourful and packed with the most exotic flowers tingling your nose with extraordinary smells. Montmartre is a place that you could spend your entire day in, just strolling through the tiny alleyways finding yourself discovering even more of these tiny shops and cafés that have people sitting in front all day. 

The Food.

Even though the French are known for their exquisite cuisine and one might think you might want to splash out on a fancy dinner at some point, you are immediately taken aback by HOW HIGH the prices are. I had heard that Paris was expensive in terms of food and drinks but the prices were indeed horrendous. I wish I could give you a proper review on where to go out for food and which cafés and coffeeshops were cute to enjoy brunch in but as a matter of fact, we didn’t go out for dinner once. I usually don’t look at prices when I’m on holiday but as soon as I have to pay 15 to 20 euros for a simple dish that would cost me a third of said price at home, I am sort of appalled and my appetite is gone. We helped ourselves at the local bakery and supermarket just around the corner of our hotel that offered everything we needed and actually enjoyed trying out local pastries for a reasonable price.

The Small Cafés. 

As France being a wine nation I was able to drink a deliciously tasting, reasonably priced glass of  wine in one of the cafés right around the corner of our hotel. What I love about the French is how much they enjoy their life and how much appreciation they have for being able to spend time socialising. The streets of Paris all day round are packed with people sitting in woven chair

outside tiny cafés having food and drinks. 

The Hotel.

Our hotel was located in Avenue de Tourville right in between Champs de Mars and the Dome des Invalides. The hotel we stayed in was called Hotel Le Tourville, a tiny four star hotel that exceeded all our expectations. The staff was exceptionally friendly and helpful and they appreciated my attempt of speaking French more than I had expected them to (Parisians in general are delighted when you at least try to speak French even if you have to switch to English then, the effort counts). Our room on the fourth floor might have been tiny but the views and the furniture were incredible. We had booked a stay with breakfast included and as it was a tiny hotel everything from breakfast to service felt personal and genuine. A bar in the lobby provided free drinks and snacks all day.

We booked our stay via Secret Escapes, which has always been one of my tips when wanting to travel luxuriously for little money. Even a boat trip was included in our booking. 

The Transport.

The metro in Paris is reliable and enables you to get around the city super quickly as there's a train every couple minutes. I suggest you buying a so called Navigo Decouverte which costs less than the standard tourist Paris visite pass and you can still use the public transport all around the city. All you need is a passport photo as the card will be personalised. 

Another tip for everyone under 26 is a day ticket for 4,10€ with which you can travel around the city for 24 hours on weekends and national holidays.

The Shopping.

Shopping in Paris can be described with a single word: heaven. Everything one could possibly imagine can be found on one of the various shopping streets and centres all across the city. 

When going into Saint Laurent we were treated like actual princesses with multiple staff members offering us drinks while we were waiting for our purchases to be wrapped up in bags you didn’t even want to open because they looked like art themselves. I had never done anything like that before as high street brands like Topshop and Zara have always been my primary go-to but experiencing such special treatment was a nice change for once. 

My Highlights. 

The whole trip was remarkable in every single way possible and I am still so grateful about the fact that I get to experience such amazing things at such a young age and that the world has become so accessible. 

Eating pizza in front of the Eiffel Tower, watching the sunset until the whole tower started glittering at 10PM was one of the most breathtaking experiences I have ever experienced and I still cannot fathom that this actually happened to me. 

I could to immerse myself into the culture and got to witness the ups and downs of Paris in the historical centres and museums all over Paris. What I consider amazing is that you can enter most churches for free and Musée d'Orsay is free for everyone under 26 as well. 

I have fallen in love with the city of love and am definitely planning on coming back. 

Paris, mon amour, je t’aime.

You don’t always need to travel far to experience world’s beauty, sometimes it can be found right around the corner only a short bike ride away. Humans tend to have the urge to get away and leave their homes behind in order to find peace of mind and discover new places. 

Ever since living abroad in the UK I have realised how little we care about the beauty that surrounds us on a daily basis. We start taking our environment for granted forgetting to consciously look at the wonderful place we’re living in because everything inside of us is just constantly urging for the far away lands of unknown mysteries. 

When living in the UK I tried to get around as much as possible because I wanted to get to know the country and its people and encounter things I hadn’t seen before. When talking about my trips with my UK friends, the answer that I most frequently got when asking if they had been there was “No”. This fact made me realise how much we take our home countries for granted. We don’t see the point in exploring what is around us everyday, we don’t make the time for a 30 minute drive to leave the city behind and go on adventures in the forests and mountains we call our home. Instead we make time to plan trips abroad, for the sake of crossing things off our bucket lists and for the sake of telling friends that we’ve travelled the world. 

Travelling is one of the most amazing inventions mankind has ever had. But travelling, in my opinion, does not only involve those trips we look forward to for months and which take us places that are so different from what we are used to, it’s also the trips we spontaneously decide to do. Those trips to castles embedded into the skyline of your own home town that you haven’t come around to visit in five years of living here. 

Travelling far is exciting, and important. But exploring what one calls home is just as important. You develop a newly found appreciation of the world around you and suddenly you notice all the small details that make your home special that have been overlooked for years because our mind has gotten so used to seeing them every day.