London 2016

Just came back from a week-trip to London. It was our first time in the city, and the trip was arranged through Boris's parents who have been there few times before and love coming back.

I liked London. Yes, it was posh, but it still felt good. I liked Oxford Street with it's endless shopping experience, I liked how people were dressed with no trend being left out (people were simply pretty); I liked Camden with it's mainstream "alternative" vibe, it was cool as hell despite the ridiculous "gothic" shops lol.

The greatest feeling was to actually be in the city where my favorite music has begun. Punk, post punk and goth have been centered in London and even though it's not 1977 anymore, there was still something in the air...
And that was how we met a guy who once had drinks with Jayne County, visited a second hand shop held by the guitar player of Vibrators and went to Highgate Cemetery where Malcolm Mclaren is buried!

Highgate Cemetery

We also ate everything we could find and drank disappointingly bitter beer and some very nice fresh ciders. We were out of money 2 days before the plane home. Luckily Boris's parents were there to save us. We spent the rest on books which I will share in a separate post.

I didn't think London would touch me as much as it did. It would be so cool to live there some day. That's just my imagination talking, but who knows? It did seem like there's a lot more room for indie and guitar music there than in Berlin. Living there sounds more exciting than visiting as a tourist. So it was not the last trip for sure.

Maria

A Spontaneous Alone-Trip to Hamburg

Never thought I'd use the word - but Wanderlust has made me book a bus ticket to Hamburg, which is only 3 hours away from Berlin. I've wanted to travel somewhere alone for a while, and heard some cool things about Hamburg from Boris, who played there with Totenwald. Who also was away on the weekend for the same reason (this time playing in Poland), so why sitting home alone? And I've finished an assignment for uni so I wanted to go have fun.

woah an outfit picture! #60sgoth 

Hamburg is a harbor city, which is famous for its trade and architecture, and also for its red light district (St. Puli / Reeperbahn). We're talking sailor working class atmosphere, and boy I could feel it the moment I stepped off the bus. It was also incredibly cold and rained most of the day. It didn't feel like summer at all!

Chile House. I have no idea what this is but it was pretty monumental.

the municipality building

The best part of the trip was taking a sightseeing harbor tour on a boat! We were lucky to get a very funny and entertaining tour guide, really "people of the past" kind of guy. I already walked in the harbor district but seeing all the beautiful architecture from the boat gave a different feeling to it.
I also learned so much about the city!!! Like the fact that 70% of the world's trade with China is going through Hamburg.

On my way to St. Pauli I came across a cemetery, and by a further inspection of the graves it turned out to be a Jewish cemetery! Sadly it was closed, Jewish cemeteries are open like half a day once a week. Too bad, it looked beautiful.

At that point 2 things happened: I was dead tired and as it was a saturday evening which means: drunk packs of people (mostly men) began prepping themselves before the German vs. Italy soccer game (god damn you soccerscheiß!). And by prepping I mean drinking on the streets and screaming at the top of their lungs for no reason (BEFORE the stupid game even started!?!?!). I felt quite unsafe.

I made the mistake of booking my bus back quite late so the last 2 hours I spent aimlessly wandering the streets with zero power in me only to come across a gay bar by mistake. I felt relieved since I felt actually safe there - it was half empty and cosy, plus the men there didn't mind me at all (except for the Twink bartender who was very friendly and nice). So I had a beer there before heading back to the bus station.

It was a nice trip overall. I would have loved to visit the parks but the weather was crazy and having my bus 2 hours early would have been nicer, but all in all I am happy I went. I would love to experience the nightlife there if I'd have the chance, yet with company and not by myself.

Have a lovely week everyone!

Maria

July Morning

Happy 1st of July (and my brother's birthday)!
Just the reason to share this amazing song:

Uriah Heep / July Morning

I don't care who you are or where you come from, nothing can deny the ingeniousness of July Morning. The keyboard solo in the end is to die for.

Uriah Heep were also very popular in Bulgaria, as they have an entire tradition called July Morning that was popular during the 60s - 80s. People travel to the Black Sea beach to greet the sunrise on the 1st of July. Wish I were there today!

Source

Good vibes to everyone!

Maria

More 60s Goth

My internship was over last week which now leaves me with a lot of free time and a nice summery mood, so I made more of those "this is my new style now" pics.
It's not really my new style, I don't wear hats ever, but I do need to dig out more of Boris' hippie stuff, like that vest I'm wearing for example.

I have also been inspired by Sonic Youth's weird experimental albums which I kind of like and dislike at the same time. 

And I found this new weird-ass band called The Garden. I hate how goofy they are and their awkward lyrics, then again, this is how they look like:

should I utter another word?
Source.

We're having a gig with our band tomorrow and from what it looks like, we'll have gigs in the following months plus a recording session in July that will hopefully be fruitful. I am happy things are going as planned, and am excited to play live, because that's literally the best thing ever.

Have you got any style inspirations lately?
On a different note: last week Boris and I went to the zoo and saw the biggest rooster of our lives. I would love to visit a chicken contest once.

Maria