The Military Jacket

 

Now that the weather is getting a little warmer, a whole new range of wardrobe options have become available to me and that is something I am so happy about.  I'm a really cold person (inside as well as out) so it's not really until this time of year that I feel like I can start to really get my style on.  There's only so much you can do when you have to wear a jumper and coat over the top of everything...

And one of my new found loves has to be this jacket - which is actually relatively old.  I got this late November last year when Missguided had one of those extra special 50% off everything for students events.  I'd never actually ordered anything from the site before and so thought it would be a good opportunity to try...  although this was not the most practical purchase for the time of year, as it really is quite lightweight and not very warm!  But luckily I'm getting some wear out of it now.  It's not on the site anymore now but I did find this other military style jacket which is just to die for.

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Another thing I've got really into recently is culottes (again!). 

 

 Top - Urban Outfitters (old) / Culottes - Zara (similar) / Shoes - Adidas Stan Smiths (v similar)

Bag - Fiorelli @ TK Maxx / Zip up hoodie - Primark / Jacket - Missguided

These ones are from Zara, and they're probably one of the comfiest items of clothing to ever have graced my wardrobe.  They've also got a rather sexual split down the side of each leg, which I haven't managed to get in these pics - but probably best left to the imagination anyway.  

Finally I have to give some air time to the latest addition to my wardrobe, which are this beautiful pair of trainers.  I picked these up on a whim in the Adidas outlet store in Gunwharf Quays - and weirdly enough, I can't find them online but these are very similar.  I was so unsure when I first saw these, but a couple of weeks in and I'm bloody loving them.  They're so versatile as trainers go, and I'm obsessed with the textured look of the shoe. 

Hope you've all had a fabulous weekend.  Love,

Ruby x

Berlin: Episode I

Towards the end of February I embarked on another German adventure (following January's excursion), this time with my family, and this time to Berlin.  Having visited around 4 years before on a school trip, I was more than excited to go back and see all the sights with an extra bit of life experience in tow, and no teachers to set the itinerary.

We arrived to a beautifully bright and bitterly cold day, making our way out of arrivals and onto the train station platform where we attempted to make some sense of where we were and where we needed to be - the apartment we had booked for our trip which was located in the region of 'Bernauer Straße'.

 

A train, a tube, some (very) broken German and a short walk later, we arrived at our destination: a simple but spacious apartment filled with afternoon sun and complete with balcony.  

After a much needed cup of tea (you'll never catch my mother without her own teabags when we're abroad) we ventured out to the first destination on our rather lengthy list - Checkpoint Charlie.  This was one of the most famous crossing points between East and West Berlin during the war. 

There wasn't a great deal to see around Checkpoint Charlie, but it's worth a quick visit for sure, especially as there are on-street photo booths to have fun with...

... you can see my enthusiasm really peaks in the latter half of the shots (haha).

 

From there, we took a short walk towards another landmark, the Brandenburg Gate.  

A neoclassical monument, suitably impressive by day or night.

The next day was grey and drizzly.  Which meant, of course, we had golden buttery croissants and fresh fruit for breakfast.

Before gearing up for the rain and checking out our most local tourist attraction: the Berlin Wall Memorial located on our doorstep at Bernauer Strasse.

Plenty of audio visual treats here, including recorded testimonies from residents who had lived on Bernauer Strasse during the time of the Berlin wall, and huge images of the street during the 60s and 70s.

Then we headed towards the tram to go and visit the Stasi Museum.

Unfortunately, there was a no photo policy inside, unless you paid for a photo pass, which I thought was probably reserved for the hardcore photographers, ie. not me (however I did take a couple of sneaky snaps on my phone - see below)! But the Stasi museum is also well worth a visit if you're in the city.  The building itself used to be part of the headquarters of the Ministry for State Security, and there's quite a few rooms laid out exactly as it would've been back in the day. 

And that completes episode 1 of my Berlin diaries.  There'll be another one or two coming your way soon - but you'll have to bear with me, I've also got a couple of dissertations to write.  The life of a student, eh!

Ruby x

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A Day in Austria

Part two of our girly weekend in Munich didn't actually involve Munich, funnily enough.  Instead, we again heaved ourselves out of bed and hopped in the car to drive south east into Austria.  And then back over the German border briefly to make our first stop at the Dokumentation Obersalzburg, above, a museum which 'serves to reflect on the National Socialist past'.  It's free for students, takes around 1-2 hours to look round, and is well worth a look. 

Following the museum, we drove another 40 minutes or so to get to Salzburg in Austria, where Chiara's grandparents live.  

We were met with a thick, fresh blanket of snow and a mountain range backdrop.  

After filling up on steamy goulash for lunch, we headed into the town for a look around.

Salzburg seemed to me to be one of those places where you can easily spend a couple of hours just walking around and taking everything in.  

Again, there are some pretty impressive churches, if that's your thing.

 And a rather fancy Spar?!  Who would've known that in Germany these are borderline luxury convenience stores.  This one featured a deli counter, selection of fine wines, sold fresh pastries and fruit... a far cry from the UK's Spar offerings. 

 

We finished the day by walking across one of the bridges in the city, which was covered in love locks, before heading home, ordering pizza, and watching a film - classic.  

Ruby x

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