Fencing: BUCS Nationals

Cheers folks!

Today I'm doing a quick recap of yesterday's BUCS Nationals tournament in Sheffield.
The day started really early for me: At 9 am, I met one of my team mates to take the train to Sheffield. Before, I bought some munchies for myself (mostly chocolate bars and cheesy pasta, as a reasonable athlete would do).
When we arrived in Sheffield at around 11 am, we quickly reported our presence at the entrance of the competition centre, then went inside the hall for warm-up. After we had finished warming up and trying out the pistes, it was almost time to begin. We hurried inside the hall to see which groups we were in and then got ready for the poules (first round: usually groups of 6-7 people of which you have to fence everyone up to 5 points). At that point, my excitement was probably at its highest, I felt like I could barely breathe.
My group was quite a hard one, there were many fencers with a top ranking in the UK, so I didn't think I would make it at all. But when I stepped onto the piste for the first time, my excitement was gone and all of a sudden, I felt like I could actually have a chance. I did really well in the poules, winning one match and scoring quite a few points. After everyone was finished, there was a lunch break and we had to wait for the results.
I met my other team mates, we had lunch together and discussed our expectations for the next round. Everyone was really proud of me which made me really happy. My hopes and chances for getting into the knock-out round were really high, but unfortunately I didn't make it. Still, it wasn't too much of a bummer for me. For my first tournament, coming in 62nd place out of 73 is not bad at all, considering how many experienced fencers participated. After I had been cut, I went along to watch my other foilist team mate's matches. She did really well, coming 7th in the end- so all in all, the day had been really successful for us.
After we returned home, I just quickly ate dinner and went straight to bed.  I still wonder how I made it to morning training today...

Well, I guess that was it for today! See you again soon.

You are beautiful, like a dream come alive, incredible.

Hey folks!

With today's dramatic caption I want to introduce my current 'hometown' to you. My description boldly states that I'm currently living in the UK so I thought why not provide you with some pictures of the beautiful historic city that is York? (Also, what better way is there to procrastinate than to blog?) 

 First of all, a picture of me and some of my precious flatmates- I love you so much guys, you can't even imagine... (stolen from Stephanie's facebook, sorry!)

 Next up is a slightly surreal photo of our very own campus lake. These days it's either frozen or looks like a brown puddle, so this is definitely more beautiful.

 Strolling through The Shambles with my flatmates. Some houses there are from the 14th century and they look as if they've been taken right out of the set of Harry Potter. It is also said that J.K. Rowling got the inspiration for the Diagon Alley from this site.

 Would you expect that this regal entrance houses the best place for hot chocolate in York? I definitely didn't but I was proved wrong after I stepped over the treshold. When you're in York, definitely go to the "York Cocoa House" and try their "Quite Dark" chocolate, it's glorious.

 Another must-see when you're in York is the beautiful Gothic Minster. It's actually the second largest cathedral in Europe and I can well see why- it's huge. The whole complex also houses a garden and a beautiful ancient library. 

 Another characteristic feature of York's architecture are the numerous  city gates and little gatehouses. In some parts of the city you can actually walk on the old city walls which is fun and exciting, plus it gives you a nice view.

 This, however, is by far my favourite place in the city- the ruins of St Mary's Abbey. I go there every so often, even if it's just to drink coffee and stroll around the majestic remains of the church. There's a certain atmosphere lingering around the whole site which draws me in every time...

 Also, for those interested in archeology there is a large excavation site showing how the buildings were disposed when they were still there. 

 Not only is York the home of numerous lovely buildings and streets, it's also situated in the middle of a breath-taking landscape. Can you imagine that this meadow is right behind campus? 

 Moving away from serene architecture and landscape, let's take a look at my humble residence. This was from my flatmate Aileen's and my birthday party, in the background you see me trying to open a bottle of champagne without injuring anyone. In the end, the cork flew right out of the window so I'm glad we took safety precautions. 

 Another shot from my birthday party- casually showing off my tattoo while holding a bottle of wine. Probably I liked the design? 

 The party crowd-it was a fun night with lots of food, drinks and shenanigans. 

 From the more secular aspects of life, back to the ethereal beauty of architecture. Often when you're just casually strolling through the city, suddenly a church you've never seen before pops up in front of you. This is paradise for an architecture lover like me, I tell you...

 Now on to something more spooky- apparently there are quite a few restless souls roaming around York, hence the numerous ghost tours. This picture was taken in the most haunted pub in the city which also has the best pub food around. It's called "The Golden Fleece" and there are more-or-less friendly skeletons all over the place.

 Remember when I talked about walking on the city walls? Here we go! 

 One would maybe not expect it, but the walls are really high! I felt slightly nauseous looking down from all the way up there, but the view was definitely worth it. 

 Casual pre-Christmas outing with my flatmates (almost all of them). There's a lovely pub called "The Charles" near our college, so we often go there for dinner and to catch up on each other's lives.

 Here's the campus lake at night- truly magical, isn't it?

 However, York is not only about studying, partying and living la vida loca. The university has a lot of cultural events, mostly organised by students, as this wonderful exhibition which was curated by one of my coursemates and friends. I was clearly fascinated by it, as you can see.

 Adding to the cultural part of life, York also has a really exciting history! It was first established as a Roman city, then conquered by Vikings and then finally by the English. Currently there's a Viking festival taking place and yesterday I went there with one of my flatmates.

 We had the chance to see an epic battle re-enactment completely with weapons and armour from the Viking period and we got really into the spirit of a fierce Viking battle.

"For there can be only one with glorious hair!"

I hope this post was entertaining at all. See ya next time!

I think I'm turning Japanese...

Hey folks!

Seems like this post is turning into a collection of overdue travel photos... oh well, nevermind! Let's just remind myself of the glorious time I spent in Japan last year with my babe, lots of friends and shenanigans. It was a crazy, happy, nostalgic, memorable time and I hope to be able to meet everyone over there again someday in the near future.

 Like I know this looks disgusting, but my face shows the sheer amount of delight that was this wonderful chocolate pudding.

 Looking rad on the first day- I convinced a bunch of Japanese girls that I was actually a man (in the girls' bathroom, how pervy) . Well if that doesn't explain my smug face of accomplishment.

Please appreciate this wonderful ambient shot of a chandelier in a shisha café. Endless kudos for my friend Y. to showing me this delightful place- I mean, smoking plus free coffee? Here I am!

 What would Beyoncé say? Never drop that (cherry-flavoured) alcohol!

 I'm still not entirely sure why they put chickens up on a sign saying "The garage shop". Anyone have any suspicion or clue what that might mean? 

 A typical sunny day in Nishi-Ikebukuro. Looks like the setting of "Ikebukuro West Gate Park", right? It probably is as well.

 I was trying my luck becoming friends with a cat- the cat didn't approve.

 In Japan, even the construction sites are cute. Well I wouldn't be angry about a pathway diversion if it was presented to me as cute bunnies either...

 Probably shopping in Shibuya or Harajuku... I mean, what else would a culture-lover like me do in Japan? /irony off

 Does anyone here even appreciate my new make-up? I'm afraid not...

 Occasionally being a good "boyfriend" and showering the babe with love. 

 Shinjuku at night- what else do I need when I can sing karaoke up above the streets and watch the city lights until the morning comes?

 Occasional culture/nature influx- Kyoto. 

 You better wear good shoes when you're there, so much uphill walking to do... the view is worth it tho.

 I scream for ice cream! Even if it's artificial...

 Kind of proudly showing off my hair styling. I'm surprised it lasted through the horrible downpour of rain that day.

 Another awesome view of Kyoto- how can one not love this city? 

 Anyone feel reminded of the Ghibli film "Mononoke-hime"? I do. 

 Back in Tokyo, trying to drink peach-flavoured water and terribly failing at looking cool. Well nevermind, possibly peach water is not the manliest thing to drink.

 Cherry blossoms at night in Ueno... just magical.

 This is even more magical, if that's even possible.

 Moving away from the serene beauty of cherry blossoms to... hanami(a.k.a. getting pissed under the cherry trees in good company)! In our case, I'd rather say we ate so much that we literally rolled back home...

 That's not all of the munchies! My friend Y. got us a whole other bunch of stuff, including fried chicken and sausages. Take a whole lot of alcohol accompanying all this and you can imagine very well how the evening ended. 

Rain, rain, falling down... even that can't stop us from looking smug. I have no idea why I look so tall on this picture but I won't complain.

That's it! Looking back at this always makes me nostalgic, but isn't that also a good thing? 

Augustissima Venetorum urbs quae una hodie libertatis ac pacis, et iustititiae domus est...

Hey folks!

Today I'm going to show you some long overdue pictures from my journey to Venice last year in August. For those who read Latin, I hope you recognised the hymn on Venice by Petrarch where I nicked the title of this post from. That being said, I think that he's well right in expressing his fascination for the lagoon city- once you've been there, it's not a place you'll easily forget. I'm still impressed with the magical beauty that floats around in the city, it's just not from this world... But enough with the rambling, on to the pictures now!

 View of the city from the Canal Grande

 Strolling around on St Mark's Square

 Impressive sculptures at Arsenale

 A view of Murano

The Ducal Palace

View of a canal 

 Casually matching the flowers near the Università Ca Foscari

A little shrine for the Virgin Mary on the wall of a house 

The gorgeous interior of the Basilica di San Marco 

 Having fun at the beach in Lido

An amazing glass sculpture in Murano, next to a belltower 

A small street with private houses 

Modern installation by Heinz Mack near the church of San Giorgio Maggiore 

"The sky over nine columns" installation by Heinz Mack, architecture biennial 2014

Now I'm asking you: Are you feeling the magic?