Looking up: Latvia trip, July 2015

One of the best life tips I've ever heard that's actually stuck with me is

"look up!".
It was a tip on how to quickly regain balance when you're feeling challenged, and it's part of being in the moment and being mindful. "When it's hard, look up! Take a look at what is up there. Are there clouds? If you're inside, what's the ceiling made of?"

I now look up out of curiosity. I look up because it's neat. You notice a lot more. These are some of my favorite "look up!" (or "look around! Take it all in!") moments form my Latvia trip.

Here is another Latvia trip, to the Slow Mile beach at the Kemeri National Park.

Power snack: avocado and almonds

According to some study, people who ate half an avocado for lunch stayed sated longer, or something like that. In my quest to eat for endurance, energy, and grace,

I've embraced these findings, and am trying to eat more avocado. Does it work? I think so. With avocado, I can be hungry as opposed to extremely hungry by lunchtime. In these pictures, I am trying a cottage cheese/curd/yogurt type of dairy product (kvarg in Swedish) that is currently very trendy in Sweden. What works best for me is

avocado with my hard bread sandwiches, and then in the afternoon, almonds with raisins, sometimes with kvarg.

Have I peeled a (washed) avocado on the train? Yes, I have.

Have I brought real silverware with me on the train? Yes, of course.

If I make a huge pasta salad, and eat only some of it for lunch, I'm so happy to have some extra food (that I made, for me) to tie me over until dinner on my ride home. Besides the environmental issue of sparing the world one more plastic fork that had to be produced and that I am most likely going to throw away un-recycled, I like using my favorite (real) fork.

So. Try some avocado, and use some of your favorite things more often.

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On the road again

One of the best things in life has got to be trains. "Train I ride, sixteen coaches long (...) Train, train, coming round, round the bend." I think of this song almost every day now, and I'd really like to know

where my Elvis records are.
I get a thrill pretty much every single time I get to ride this train, I do.

Have a good day, everyone!

Thank you for stopping by Pieliekamais!

Kā izskatās laba reklāma

Šorīt avīzē ļoti acīs iekrita šī reklāma - big, bold, colorful images, it absolutely made me look closer:

Kā izrādās, uz Ņujorku par labu cenu šobrīd lido arī AirFrance!

Reklāmā rakstīts, ka turp un atpakaļ biļete (no Stokholmas) ir sākot ar 4,430 zviedru kronām (apm. 479 eiro). Jānorezervē līdz 26.augustam, un var braukt no 25.augusta līdz 31.martam, vietu skaits ierobežots. Man tas viss izklausās labi!

Šobrīd Ņujorka nav aktuāla, bet vienmēr patīk zināt, ka ir visādas iespējas.

Atzinība reklāmas veidotājiem arī par "France is in the air" lozungu, jo es uzreiz sāku domāt par dziesmu "Love is in the air", un Francija mums daudziem uzreiz asociējas ar "love", jauki! Patīk, ka izmanto "Francija = love" stereotipu.

Note: This is not a sponsored post.

Paldies, ka ieskatījies Pieliekamajā!

Brīvdienu režīms

Ir riktīgais relax and enjoy, un tas ir tik jauki. Esmu ļoti pateicīga.

Savā ceļotāja kontā tagad varu ieskaitīt arī šādu pieredzi - esmu no dārza Daugavas krastā atvedusi mājās (čemodānā, ar lidmašīnu) pāri trim kilogramiem kartupeļu. Jau vakar vakarā, atbraucot mājās, dažus kartupelīšus uzvārīju (katram četrus), un pasniedzu ar tomātu-gurķīšu salātiem ar krējumu. Tomāti bija no balkona, un gurķis - arī vests no tā paša dārza, kur kartupelīši.

Paldies vismīļākajam Kartupeļu Racējam, un vis, vismīļākajai Dārza Saimniecei! Bija tik ļoti garšīgi.

Paldies, ka ieskatījies Pieliekamajā!

Sagrada Familia / Barcelona, part 3

Sagrada Familia by Antoni Gaudi. Love.



I was surprised to see the serpent, below (right-hand corner). I think that's what I love most about Gaudi's work: there is nature everywhere.

For some more Barcelona moments, please click here:

Barcelona, Part 1

Barcelona, Part 2

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Barcelona, part 2

In continuing with the "Love is a circle" theme - I experienced such style cohesion in Barcelona. I saw circles everywhere.

Five circular windows in a flower pattern in a dome, a building near Arc de Triomf. I continued up Passeig de Sant Joan towards Diagonal, and there was so much to see. Many buildings had very elaborate architectural elements, but there were also very simple, clean, and elegant lines like the stone circle detail below:

I saw this modern appartment building (below) near Sagrada Familia. Who thinks of circular windows like this? So very neat. Unique, but the building also blends in so well with the creams and greys of the other facades of the street.

This (below) was the pattern of many sidewalks in Barcelona:

Like a fantastic museum, the city also tells you what this pattern is called, by embedding the name here and there in other parts of the pavement: 

The flower pattern is called ruta del modernisme. Notice how this flower above has more detail where the half-circles join the center. This to me is very art-noveau, as it adds movement.

The ruta del modernisme flower pattern reminded me very much of the Louis Vuitton monogram pattern detail - the light circle with the dark flower in the middle (also reversed, dark flower in a light circle):

Photo source

Fashion side note: in Barcelona, most of the big designer stores, including Louis Vouitton, are located on Passeig de Gracia. At the Prada store, there was a glassed-in mini courtyard incorporated into the store, and I regret not asking if I could snap a quick picture.

Back to flowers and circles, I saw this tiny pink Mulberry bag in my GLAMOUR magazine (US edition), and look at the flower lock - so very neat.

Can you imagne having that little flower bag slung across your shoulder as you dash over the rutas del modernisme to some fabulous dinner in Barcelona? Or anywhere else, really, as long as you're feeling light, happy, and thankful?

The little beauty that I did have with me, though, was this:

I bought this H&M champagne pink handbag with gold-colored zippers last year on sale for about a 150 crowns, I think (about 16 EUR) and pinned a fabric flower (also H&M) to the outer pocket. And I threw this bag over my shoulder all right as I tried to see and experience as much of Barcelona as I could. With so much beauty around me, the feeling I took away from Barcelona is this: light, happy, and thankful.

Note: this is not a sponsored post.

Thank you for stopping by Pieliekamais!