The Jet-setting Resumes...

Although Katja is not a fan of flying, she is a fan of traveling (preferably to a foreign land), and thus gets very anxious when she goes too long without venturing out to the airport. Thankfully it was finally time for her first trip abroad since returning from Vienna, and even better it was to London, which is one of her favorite places to visit. 

As with her trip in December, a friend's birthday provided the excuse for her to hop across the pond. Not that she needs an excuse to travel, but if she has one, why not? And, as always, the first thing she did after making her way into Central London from Heathrow (besides having a large and much needed cup of coffee) was head to Danceworks to take class. Please note her beautiful Les Petites Jupes de Patricia skirt and RubiaWear leg warmers; jet lag is never an excuse to not look fashionable.

Besides not liking to go too long without ballet, Katja knows that taking class does wonders to get her adjusted to the local time zone. Plus she loves the studio, the teachers are great and the students friendly. And it's located off of Oxford Street, so it's in a convenient location to get in some shopping, which is a must on any trip to London.

While Katja always prides herself in getting in a healthy dose of arts when she travels (she is a cultured girl, after all), she has to admit that this trip was primarily about socializing. She did, however, make it to one museum, the Victoria and Albert, as it's open until ten on Friday nights. 

The V&A bills itself as the world's leading museum of art and design, and this could possibly be right, given its size and impressive and very diverse collection. Katja spent some time perusing the seemingly endless galleries, before stopping off in the rather fabulous gift shop. Then, of course, it was time for a glass of wine. 

Afterwards she made her way to the German Gymnasium, a newish German restaurant/bar that she wanted to try. The place has an interesting history, which also explains what might seem like an odd name; it was England’s first purpose-built gymnasium, built in 1865 for the Germany Gymnastics Society, with funding coming solely from London's German community. Katja found a seat in the elegant Meister Bar, which has a great selection of cocktails and and interesting wine list. She was tempted by a wine from Slovenia, but as her next trip is to Ljubljana, she figured she'd save trying Slovenian wine for then, and stuck with her standard Zweigelt. Next time she's going back in the afternoon for Kaffe und Kuchen.

The trip involved numerous coffee and lunch dates with friends, and as usual lots of bubbly, especially at her friend's birthday party. 

Katja was very happy that she's the kind of girl who tends to be overdressed, and who always makes certain to pack something fancy (the witty Oscar Wilde did say something about how one can never be overdressed or overeducated, and she completely agrees), as having been rather busy in the weeks before the trip she completely failed to notice the party's black tie dress code. But at least she had a festive dress, and while she might have not been the sparkliest girl there, as usual she was the life of the party.

Katja must admit to a rather slow start the following day; being the life of the party does requires some energy, plus she doesn't like to go without her beauty sleep. But it was still a very social day, starting with a late lunch at the Albion Bankside, where her friend was served one of the most generous cheese plates she's ever seen. Which, of course, made Katja very happy as it meant she didn't feel guilty asking to try the very tasty assortment. After finishing lunch she wandered over to Bedales, in Borough Market, to meet another friend. While the place is a wine bar with a great selection, Katja behaved and stuck to hot chocolate. Lest you think she's getting a little boring, she assures you this was only because she knew she’d be drinking a healthy amount of bubbly at a friend’s place that evening.  

Then, before she knew it, it was time to head back to New York. She's always a little sad when it's time to leave London, so is very thankful that the United Lounge in Heathrow has a lovely cocktail list to distract her. Now if only the United Lounge in Newark was half as civilized...

It Was a Very Merry Christmas

The holiday season was such a blur for Katja - with all of her travels and festivities it went by in what seems like a second, albeit a very action packed second. Because she really, really loves Christmas, Katja often feels a bit gloomy when the holidays are over. Plus, it's started to get much too cold for her liking, and cold weather tends to maker her rather grumpy. So, she just figures she'll just reminisce about all of the great times she had. And, since it's so cold, why not do so over a glass of Glühwein or two? Because, Winterzeit is indeed Glühweinzeit.

After her Thanksgiving trip to visit Christmas markets in Frankfurt, Wiesbaden and Strasbourg, it was back to New York for a few days, during which she got in as many ballet classes as possible. They're the one thing she truly misses when she travels.

And, during the holiday season she really loves to take class at Ballet Arts, as the studio is covered in Christmas decorations, making her happy to be dancing mood even happier.

Then, after a few class-filled days (with a bit of work thrown in), it was time to cross the Big Pond once again. This time she made her way to London, to help a friend celebrate a big birthday. Always the life of the party, Katja wouldn't want to miss an important celebration. And, the generous soul that she is, she's always more than happy to help friends polish off large quantities bubbly. Or wine...she wouldn't want to come off as too fussy...if it comes in a bottle with a cork she'll drink it.

As always, London was incredibly festive for the holidays. The streets were covered in lights, and the restaurants and shops were beautifully decorated for the season. This got her in the mood to do some present shopping, which was a good thing as she had lots of it do. She swears she was only briefly distracted with some shopping for herself. But then again there's nothing wrong with also buying oneself a present.

Otherwise her time there was spent catching up with friends (over more bubbly and wine), and fitting in a dance class or two. She does love Danceworks, her London studio, and recommends it to anyone who likes to take class when they travel.

Once back in New York it wasn't long before she was on the road again, albeit to a much closer destination, Boston. She loves her friends there, so is happy to have any opportunity to visit them (something she believes she's mentioned before, she can be a bit of a broken record).

And, of course, she wanted to support her friends in Boston Ballet's Nutcracker, as they were in the midst of a very busy season of nonstop shows, so saw a couple of performances during her visit.

But obviously the highlight of the month was Christmas itself, which she spent with family in Fawn Lake, Virginia. Having been a good girl all year she anxiously awaited Santa's arrival, hoping she'd get all of the ballet related goodies (plus some other things) that she had requested. Whoever said patience is a virtue obviously does not like Christmas as much as she does.

But at least the wait for Santa was worth it, as she was well-rewarded Christmas morning. As were her friends and family. She knows it's not all about her, as greedy as she might sound at times.

And, of course, Christmas is not primarily about the presents (even though she really does like to get them), but about having a great time with those she loves, drinking and eating too much (it wouldn't be the holidays without excess), rocking around the Christmas tree, and laughing lots. Because, if there's one thing she believes, it's that we should all be happy penguins.

Life is much too short to live it any other way.

London, Finally!

Katja is pleased to report that she had a wonderful time on her long overdue trip to London, not that she would have expected otherwise. Only her second trip abroad this year (thankfully she has another one planned next week), she was extremely happy to put her new passport to use. She misses her old tattered one, filled with stamps reminding her of her many travels, and hopes it won’t take long for this one to start looking the same.

It probably won’t come as too much of a surprise that a large portion of her time in London was devoted to enjoying bubbly and art with friends. Of course there was also plenty of shopping

and simply wandering around London’s lovely neighborhoods; she particularly loves the many small parks scattered throughout the city.

Katja arrived to surprisingly nice weather, something for which the city is certainly not known. She thus took full advantage of the rare London sun, and spent her first night there outdoors, catching up with friends

over a lovely vegetarian feast and a few too many Aperol Spritzes (made with Veuve Clicquot instead of Prosecco, they’re fancy girls, after all). Perhaps a Pimm’s Cup would have been a more appropriately English welcome cocktail (and she certainly wouldn’t have said no to one of those), but London is, after all, a cosmopolitan city. Plus, the Aperol Spritz is one of Katja’s favorite summertime cocktails; she highly recommends trying one if you haven’t.

The following evening Katja did her arty thing, and attended two gallery openings. First she stopped by David Zwirner to see Belgian painter Michaël Borremans’ show Black Mould. She had been unfamiliar with Borremans’ work before the show, which she very much enjoyed, especially as she always loves discovering new (to her) artists.

Then it was off to the Marian Goodman Gallery to see the show of Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco's work.

Of course there was more bubbly to be had that night, as there was at the Sugar Dandies’ High Tea fundraiser for Dance UK, ADAD and Youth Dance England, held one afternoon during her visit at the Rambert Dance Studio, a wonderful space on London’s South Bank. Upon arrival they were greeted with Sprizzato cocktails and Prosecco (Italian beverages apparently a theme of the trip), and afterwards enjoyed a Spanish themed high tea and performances by dancers from

Rambert (Britain’s oldest dance company) and the English National Ballet, amongst others. The guests also got the chance to strut their stuff when the event’s hosts, ballroom champions the Sugar Dandies, taught them the Lambeth Walk. Katja is not certain how well she and the other guests mastered it (or if there was even anything to master), but then she’s never been particularly concerned about the possibility of looking silly. Life is too short for that, and one would miss out on so much fun. That said, as much as she enjoyed learning the Lambeth Walk, she doesn’t think she’ll be straying from her ballet routine any time soon, and while in London took class at Danceworks almost every day.

Of course Katja is also perfectly capable of enjoying art without bubbly, and spent a lovely afternoon at the National Gallery visiting some of her favorite paintings, including Ucello's The Battle of San Romano, Cranach the Elder's Cupid Complaining to Venus, and Redon's Ophelia among the Flowers. And she’s always amused by Masyss' An Old Woman (The Ugly Duchess) (a work that reminds her not to forget to moisturize and apply sunscreen daily, as she certainly plans on aging better than the poor old duchess).

Katja also stopped by the gallery Carroll/Fletcher to catch the last day of John Wood and Paul Harrison: An almost identical copy, and on her last evening attended an extremely interesting talk at the British Library between the artist Cornelia Parker and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales. The primary subject of the talk was Magna Carta (An Embroidery), a work that replicates in stitch the Wikipedia article on the document, as it appeared on its 799th anniversary. It was not, however, just high culture for Katja;

she must admit that a highlight of her trip was the evening she spent with friends, who very concerned that she had missed seeing the Eurovision Song Contest this year, presented a well curated viewing of the 2015 highlights (with a few older classics thrown in for nostalgia's sake).

A truly cultured girl knows that one should always enjoy some low culture along with the high in order to live a well-rounded creative life. The bubbly, however, must always be good.