Miss Euro Blogger - Bursting the Bubble

Today, I was really angry with myself. Even more so: I was disappointed with myself. I pride myself on being a strong woman who doesn't take shit from people - especially men when they think they can just do or say whatever to a woman. I went for a walk today in the woods surrounding the city of Salzburg in Austria. I had some lovely Apfelstrudel and a cappuccino with a view of the fortress Hohensalzburg up on the hill in the not so far distance. When I was done, I started to make my way back towards the direction of my hotel. Lots of tourists crossed my path, which is nothing unusual in this area at this time of the year. After a few minutes, I saw a young couple that just finished talking to an old man and saying their goodbyes. It seemed as if he was giving them directions. I was in a happy mood and being polite, I smiled at the old man as I passed him. He called after me: "Young lady!" I turned around and he came closer. "I was just telling these two young ...

When I was a teenager, fourty was always my scary-age. People who were fourty were officially 'old'. They were boring, had a steady job and had the same routine everyday. Their lives seemed basically over and they were just waiting for death to come. Last week, I turned 39. I have twelve months to go before I am officially 'old'...   via GIPHY My late thirties snuck up on me like a bold eagle on its prey. I CANNOT believe I just turned 39 - the last year in my thirties has begun. I still remember waking up the day after my 29th birthday. A sense of panic came over me and I started to cry. At the time, I thought the midlife crisis was upon me. So I was waiting for it to set in. I wasn't sure what it would feel like but I was ready for it. And then... it never came! I had a blast in my thirties! I lived life to the fullest. At the time, I lived in Santa Monica, just minutes from the beach. I was in top shape - as most people living in LA are - and I had a great ...

No, not the one you wear on your finger but the one that circles around the inner city of Vienna! The wide boulevard-like street is just over five kilometers long and celebrated its 150th birthday in 2015. Along the Ring - or Ringstrasse as it is called in German - you find some of the grandest buildings in Vienna including the parliament, the famous city hall, the University of Vienna, the Burgtheater, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Natural History Museum, and most impressively of all the State Opera that Tom Cruise descended off of in one of the Mission Impossible movies. Sprinkled in between these monuments are some of the grandest hotels of the city. Men in top hats open the door for guests. Royalty and pop stars take up residence in one of the hotels along the boulevard when they come to Vienna. As a local, I would of course never stay at any of these hotels, however, I am fascinated by them and there is one way to soak up their atmosphere: the hotel cafes! It is a common...