Potsdam, the city I fell in love with

Potsdam is a town right next to Germany's capital Berlin

I was intrigued by Potsdam;

it is so different then the cities I've travelled to before.

Many magnificant palaces/castles are placed there, there are honestly a whole lot!

And then the city itself is so interesting, international and historical,

there is also a smaller Brandenburgertor.

Some parts of the city are impressed by dutch, french and russian culture.

The whole town is surrounded by water and the green, as I say it is truly a dream!

Also the "European Hollywood" Babelsberg is there and to be lived in a Filmpark.

The most famous palace in Potsdam is called "Sans Souci"

(french for "without worries")

which is not only a wonderful name for a palace

but perfectly describes my feelings in Potsdam.

Some photos of a windy but wonderful exploring day in the city I fell in love with-

 

 

 

 

(more photos of the city itself will be featured in my next posts)

 

Outfit:

Top - Forever 21

Sunglasses: Forever 21

Trousers: Tom Tailor

 Shoes: Palladium

Bag: Mumok

 

A time for comics

Reading is something I've adored since I've learned to read. I absolutely love books

(which sometimes isn't the best thing because my room is bursting of all the books I own).

 

And then, there are comics. I don't want to compare books and comics at all,

what I was going for here was to explain why summer is my time for comics.

Basically during school time I'm super duper busy and as books are my priority
 regarding books and comics, I usually read books in the colder months.

When summer finally arrives and I may spend the day reading books AND comics I'm really happy.

This summer I've been to Croatia as you have seen in my last posts and
while I was there relaxing at the beach in Primosten I read many comics.

I read a few comics I was already familiar with but then
my eye fell on something I haven't seen before, the comic my dad was reading.
It was really different from all the comics I read before, it was called BLEK.

As I started reading it I couldn't stop because it was so interesting!
 

 Blek is a guy, the main character of the comic and his company are

a boy called Roddy and Professor Occultis.

The stories are either stories one of them tells, so it's like a flashback,

 or it's an exciting mystery they have to solve.

"Il grande Blek" is originally written in Italian by the trio EsseGesse,
it was translated into seven languages. Blek had it's first appearance 1954.

It has quite a lot of historical connections which I find great!

 I wouldn't recommend it to younger readers but if you are

interested in history and like action-kind-of-western-comics then here you go!

 

 This comic inspired a drawing I recently did:

 

 

My dad also told me about an other comic character, Mandrake.

 

I didn't read any Mandrake comics but I was told that his super power is

that he's a magician and he can manipulate people easily.

Mandrake was created by Lee Falk, originally in English, having it's first appearance 1934.

 

Mandrake and Blek would make a very interesting comic character in my eyes so

I decided to draw a combination of them!

 

Surprisingly I really like how this drawing turned out,

  you can look at Blek or at Mandrake or at both at the same time

and it's one of my first drawings that nearly turned out how I imagined it in my mind.

 

There's also space for interpretations, who know's,

maybe they have to work together to fight the evil

or they are dueling

 or maybe one of Madrake's magic tricks went unexpected and

he's now followed by Blek where ever he goes?

 

Drawing this reminded me how much I loved drawing

comic characters when I was younger! I even invented new one's and now

 I'm thinking about getting into drawingcomics/comic characters again,

if I find some time during summer, my time for comics.

 

Three places in Croatia

TROGIR//PRIMOSTEN//KRKA

 

Trogir

Trogir is a very interesting city,

I loved the typical next-to-the-sea feeling you get there.

There are many tight and cute alleys with small souvenir shops

(a lot of them also selling handmade things by local artists!).

 

A restaurant recommendation would be Piccolo Ponte.

It is a lovely restaurant offering delicious foods as pizza and local food specialities.

There are many restaurants as well at the riva but I wouldn't recommend them as much

since they are quite tight and rushed.

 

The riva it self is a wonderful place for a walk besides the sea, boats, palm trees, ice cream and ancient buildings. 

 

 

 Primosten 

If you are looking for a wonderful beach to spend the day at Primosten would be a very good decision.

The beach is pretty huge but there aren't too many tourists, there is enough space and you can also rent loungers and a beach umbrella for an affordable price.

 

The water is just wonderful!

 It is clear and turquoise-blue-ish, the temperature of the water refreshing but not too cold.

 

An about 5-minute walk leads you from the beach to the city and on the way there are many small cafes and restaurants.

The city itself is quite small, still there are restaurants, shops and you can take a walk to the church.

 

Krka

 

Krka is a huge national park most famous for its incredible waterfalls.

 I went there via Skradin by ship. The ship ticket is included into the entrance ticket for the national park.

You have to calculate some time for the ticket queue in Skradin.

 

Now about the national park itself, I'm not sure whether I shall start with the positive or negative aspects.

 

Let's go for the positive first.

The nature there is absolutely beautiful, as I like to say "nature is a natural beauty".

There are many animals and the water looks stunning.

 

 It could be a magical place, it could, wouldn't there be that horrible mass of tourists!

I couldn't stand and enjoy the wonderful view because you constantly have to walk in order not to be run over by all the people.

Everything just felt so rushed and there is a small section in front of the waterfalls in which you're allowed to swim but I think it would take 1 hour to even get to the water through all these people.

 

 I assume that it would be cleverer to go there outside the tourist season,

maybe in june or september since it is definitely worth to be seen.

 



SALONA

Salona, a wonderful name for a city.

 

 

As mentioned in my last post I visited Split and the same day I also visited Solin.

Solin is a small town or village just next to Split.

What interested me the most in Solin was the archaeological site, the remains of the roman city Salona.

It is said that the roman emperor Diocletian was born there!

 

 

The area of ancient Salona is quite huge.

After a short walk you find yourself in front of the archaeological museum.

There or at the stands where you buy the entrance tickets you can receive information about the area.

I went for a long and because of the heat (40°C) exhausting walk to see the amphitheatre.

On the way there you can enjoy a comprehensive view over Split!

 

 

And then, when finally arrived at the amphitheatre I had a moment of speechlessness

because from that point the sea extends in front of you!

 

 

Not only does the amphitheatre enjoy a good position,

the way I see it the whole city was built at a perfect spot.

It is/was situated between the sea and a hill but far enough from both

which creates a wonderful view.

 

Also, I caught myself translating the Latin inscriptions -

now nobody can complain anymore that I didn't practice Latin this summer!

 

SPLIT

Once an airplane was on its way to the city Dubrovnik but had to land unplanned in Split so the pilot
announced "We can not land in Dubrovnik, we are going to Split!" That caused a panic in between the
passengers - they thought the airplane
was going to split.

That was the only story I knew about Split before visiting it for the first time last week.
I spent one day there and explored a few interesting places I will present you now.

The first impressive thing I got to see in Split was the huge statue of Gregor of Nin (by Ivan Mestrovic).
It is 10 meters tall! His toe is golden because people touch it since the legend says that brings luck and health.
That's also why it was really hard to take a photo of it without too many people since there are always many
there to touch the toe.

Just a little information on the go, Diocletian was a roman emperor from Dalmatia, he reigned from 284 to 305.

He was born in Salona (Solin) I will tell you about in another post.

Because of the roman background you can find elements from the roman time in this town and of course the

incredible palace of Diocletian.

 

Diocletian's Palace was completely different then I expected it. I haven't seen photos of it before so I thought

it's a ruin. And then when I saw it I was speechless because of the beauty this piece of architecutre

was radiating.

The tower is so well preserved! It is honestly a stunning place and I barely can imagine how perfect the whole

palace must have looked like.

 

The only thing that bothered me personally was the mass of tourists and the heat - the reasons why I couldn't

spend the amount of time I would have wanted to at this place.

 

What I also noticed in Split were many people dressed up as romans!

Gave an authentic atmosphere between the ancient walls.

 

I liked how many interesting details you can spot on the houses.

Especially loved this house with the two paintings on it!

I don't think I have ever seen something like that before!

 

My little exploring walk through Split ended at the seafront: palm trees, stands selling souvenirs, cafes,

restaurants, boats and the sea - holiday feeling.

 

Even though I only spent a quite short amount of time in this city I think may say that it is a very interesting

city,

a mixture of holiday feeling and history, adventure and relaxation, details and monuments.

 

It is definitely worth a visit or even more if you're thinking about visiting Split.