Visiting Mocak - Modern art gallery in Krakow

While in Cracow, we visited a bunch of galleries, because most of the usual exhibitions are now available at a reduced price for students, what a cool perk! Modern Art Gallery called MOCAK is the first one that I will be talking about and sharing some photos.

What caught my eye immediately after we left our coats in the cloakroom were the exhibits that we could see in the main corridor of the gallery, before even entering the exhibition part of the building. Guess it is all one big piece of art. There were vending machines standing in the hall, each of them in different color, filled with canned drinks of some kind. As I came closer, it struck me that it was indeed an art piece "Satisfaction Guaranteed" by Joanna Rajkowska, a provocative work involving vending machines with elements of her body for symbolic consumption.Each drink type was something unusual. Representing a human need, things somehow so appealing, yet sadly not achievable by some liquid in a can. That was a very cool project in my opinion. "melon flavored drink with an extract from the retina, strenghtening the vision. edition limited to 500 cans."

travel diary: kraków

You know what indicates you have just had a great trip? When you come back home and all you want to do is to start planning another one. 

This is honestly the first photo I have taken in that amazing city. It wasn't well thought over, just a capture of the first thing my eyes saw when I entered the Main Square of Krakow. See the wall on the left? I just refused to wait until we pass it by completely. As always the camera that accompanied me was Canon AE-1 Program and photos in this post were shot with Agfa Vista 200 film, Fuji X-tra 400 & Kodak Ultramax 400.

We did a bunch of things during that trip. We visited a Cat cafe, oh what a horrendous experience.  We did lots of sight seeing and museum visiting, which I loved. We grabbed Japanese fast food - takoyaki, which are made from batter and squid - also called Octopus balls :) I finally saw the Lady with an ermine painting, which is a life must see I guess. I will definitely split the whole story into a few posts at least! So if you are interested, click the read more and let's start!

going on a journey

Beginning of the year brings me much thought about life, choices and love. I would always say that I live for the little moments of happiness and true emotions running through my veins and causing shivers down my spine. It is so good not to be blinded by love. I feel like it is such a bliss to be able to look clearly at the people who are now in my life. Have you ever felt proud of the progress you've done? It's like being in a situation and being able to relate to it, knowing how your old self would react. And here I am today, with my grown up self behind my eyes, and I am no longer scared or weak. I am no longer needy and I don't have to settle for anything I am not sure of. And if I am not sure of something, maybe it's not entirely up to me to decide. What lasts lasts, what doesn't doesn't. Even if it lasts only for a minute, I want to hold onto that feeling for as long as it can be. And now the word entirely is stuck in my head, as I guess I have always liked how this one is pronounced. Weird thing. But that wasn't what I meant to talk about in this post... We were supposed to talk about my journey, so let's do it!

Indonesia by Diana Rahim (Verkur)

I was in Bogor not too long ago. The room I was in faced the mountains and the air was clear. I don’t think any two people are looking at the same mountain. I remember how a lady once complained about the way her best friend exclaimed at the beauty of a sunset, gushing about the beauty of life, the earth and spilling with love for humanity. Annoyed, she told her best friend – “why do you have to make everything so spiritual!” She found it a bit much and I found the incident funny, precisely because I am prone to such excessiveness. The lady found the sunset’s beauty in its colours not in projected abstractions; in the way they struck the eye and everything it hits. A beauty from simple reality divorced from the world of spiritual abstraction.

expired Ferrania travelling south

Łódź is a city located right in the middle of Poland, just a two hour train ride from our capital, Warsaw. Another dental conference was held there, and I found it super exciting to visit it again. The look of the town is somehow disturbing. There are abandoned houses right in the middle of it. Abandoned, falling apart, frankly speaking - gross, dark and depressing. It still makes me wonder why those are kept. Some have apparently been torn down, leaving big walls of their neighbours bashfully exposed. Some of these are now covered with street art, which Łódź is pretty famous for. As little time as we had, walking in rain, we explored some places to get a general feeling of this city. 

Ferrania Solaris 400, expired, was my film choice for that trip. It is very hard to get a Ferrania film nowadays. I got mine - to gain some experience, before it disappears from the market completely. If you want to try it yourself, you still have a chance. Just contact Katie for it! :) That roll was expired in 2008, making me 7 years late :) Sure you can see lots of grain, and I can only blame it on being expired, since I truly hope it's not my camera's freshly gained feature. Come on, it has just been fixed and it was so hard to live without it during that time! I'm positive we can all appreciate the colors though! Time of restocking came again, and after publishing this post I will finally order some new rolls to work on. What is your experience with expired film? I have got bugs and lots of grain so far. Wondering what's to come! x

Also, moving day is coming and I couldn't be more excited! It's time to start from scratch, find myself new space and four walls to call home in this city. Ahhh yes. I sort of have a home in your eyes, but one wise thing was written at some point - you cannot make homes out of human beings, so I will actually need a real bed, floor and everything that comes with it. Soon enough you will see for yourselves, I promise!

winter is coming

Myself in my new winter hat.

eng♥

I have always liked travelling, I loved the idea of moving some place distant, the preparations, the train ride, and all those fun perks. Last year was full of moving from place to place. And through all that travelling I realized that I do not have a real home. I would feel good in any place, where I had my love and something to eat. Oh and at least a half satisfying sleeping place.

Welcome to Banana Garden

One of the most important items in my travelling bag is a camera. My sister knew it all too well, when she gave it to me along with three rolls of film and commanded not to disappoint her. Three months after our wedding, we went on the long anticipated trip to a Greek island - Crete. I still have memories of myself, with two cameras hanging on my neck - compact digital cam and lomography one from Kasia, looming over an abyss and trying to take this one shot, allowing me to show off. However, more interesting was actually the view of people staring at how I was photographing basically everything that drew my attention.

Jedną z ważniejszych rzeczy w torbie podróżnej jest dla mnie aparat fotograficzny. Dobrze wiedziała o tym moja siostra, dając mi go przed wyjazdem wraz z trzema kliszami z przykazaniem, że mam jej nie zawieść... Trzy miesiące po ślubie wybraliśmy się w długo oczekiwaną podróż na grecką wyspę Kretę. Wciąż mam w pamięci siebie obwieszoną dwoma aparatami - kompaktową cyfrówką i analogowym lomography od Kasi, nieraz wiszącą nad przepaścią usiłującą zrobić popisowe ujęcie. Ciekawszy był jednak widok ludzi patrzących się na mnie, jak fotografowałam dosłownie wszystko, co wydało mi się co najmniej ciekawe.

falling in love with the city

Four days in the capital gave me a chance to experience its light touch upon my heart. It was nice for the first time not to be weighted down by my luggage, but instead walking freely, taking photographs and enjoying myself. I had a list of places to visit while in Warsaw, places recommended by friends and picked while browsing the internet opinions.

what we brought from Budapest

Hi there!

Last year I told you that spending money while being on holiday is my weak point. Well it certainly is. Not in a way anyone would think. Hungary was no different. I tried to spend money wisely. We bought essentials (and wine of course) and at last started to look for extra stuff, like keepsakes for our families and little treats for ourselves too :)

Once we were back in my apartment in B, we got everything out on my bed and I photographed those little souvenirs thoroughly. We came back with:

- a letter from hotel's manager Kate, which was a nice addition to the whole stay (a drawing of a dinosaur came along with it, which was a personal request of A)

- maps, transport tiquets, all sight-seeing info.

- a fridge magnet for my sis

- national gallery stuff, postcards of Budapest and art, a notebook that will be my new diary

- A brought a Tokaji Aszu (4) fairly famous Hungarian wine

- some plum Palinkas (which are sweets filled with their 60% vodka, pretty serious stuff, I am telling you...) for our friend P, who lent us her bag for the trip and some marzipan treats as well.

- I brought 6 films with me, which left me with dozens of memories of that beautiful city

And last, but not least, just when I was left with about 1/2 of my budget, we decided to go to a Lush store that we spotted sometime during sight-seeing. Lush is a cool brand with eco-friendly, not animal tested, cosmetics which I always wanted to try but could not, since it's not available in Poland. Not to go into details, we got two bathing bombs (used them both already!) and got familiar with the rest of their products, thanks to a lovely and English speaking sales girl.

Damn, I have no idea what happens, but when I am abroad I am definitely not a spender and in my everyday life it's just so hard to stop buying. Seriously.

What is a thing that you always bring from your journeys/vacations? :)

Danube, opera and house of terror.

 

The Banks of Danube hold one of the most beautiful memorial sights we have seen in Budapest. It honors the Jews who were killed by fascist Arrow Cross militiamen in Budapest during World War II. They were ordered to take off their shoes, and were shot at the edge of the water so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away. It represents their shoes left behind on the bank. Look, contemplate, photograph.

Ferrania Solaris 200

Opera and its surroundings is a beautiful spot both at night and during the day. On one of the mornings we took a stroll down the Hajos street, crossing streets of Lazar, Ó and Zichy. Budapest is excellent for little strolls in the sun, admiring the architecture and deciding where to eat.

Fuji Superia 400

 

House of Terror, located at Andrassy street is a well developed memorial for crimes of both Nazi and Communist parties during World War II. It's situated in the walls of a huge building which was the headquarters of both aforementioned organizations. In the cellar the killings were executed. Touching piece of history, a must see. I would recommend getting an audio-guide in English, because we did not, and unfortunately most of the exhibition was in Hungarian.

You know how they always show you the pictures of the victims. One of the last rooms included the photographs of the killers. Astonishingly dreadful experience to be looking into the eyes of murderers and their proteges.

Fuji Pro 400H & Fuji Superia 400 

Liberty Square.

Fuji Superia 200

delicious times in Budapest.

Every time I am travelling, my love for Italian cuisine blossoms. Maybe it is because some pasta is always a safe choice, therefore perhaps I am boring like that. I am so happy that we managed to get away for a little dinner on our first day. "Most" bistro was an accidental found, and only after our return to Poland we actually realized that this place is pretty popular in Budapest. Three course meal for a pretty fair price and the most delicious gazpacho ever. Now I am pretty motivated to finally do a proper gazpacho by myself. Maybe the other meals were nothing too fancy, but I found the amount of food to be perfectly measured to meet my needs at that point. Ferrania Solaris really suprised me and produced some cool, warm colored tones. Too bad I don't seem to be able to find it anywhere online :(
 

We of course made a stop at Starbucks and had a big frappe with whipped cream topping, totally and overwhelmingly sweet. We made stops for coffees and drinks, finding some unique places where the service level varied from nice to awful.

Ferrania Solaris 200

Fuji Pro 400H expired

Another stop that deserved a couple of photographs was Gelateria Lavanda close to St Stephen's basilica. As we visited it on the first day, I was still in the "let's save as much as I can, so I do not end up starving" mode which always leaves me with 50% of my money on the last day of the trip, so my order included only a nice freezing cold coffee.

Fuji Superia 200

And of course, I couldn't forget about our little breakfast at Muvesz, with coffee, orange juice and omelettes with bacon and cheese. Sorry for totally blurring those pictures :)

Fuji Pro 400H