Trieste, My Love

Two more travel tips from the seaside: When you travel in the spring or autumn, take clothes that can be worn in changeable weather. For instance skirts that can be worn with and without tights or leggins, shoes that can be worn barefoot and with tights, tops that can be freely layered.






































And the jolly joker of travelling: scarves! They warm your neck or head if it's cold, or shade your shoulders when the sun is beating down. They also add colour and interest to a practical travelling outfit.






































Here's the logical reasoning behind the above pictures - and for photographing the same skirt again. It's proof for a working travelling wardrobe. :)





















Back to the travel diary! We made a detour to Trieste, one of our favourite cities, where we return year after year to enjoy a city that's open to the sea, has a rich multicultural background and amazing people.






































This is the Molo Audace, where the good inhabitants of Trieste take a stroll on balmy evenings, to chat, to meet up, to have an ice cream, to see and be seen!





















I've been to Trieste about 6 times before, but never visited the Lanterna baths - this time I had to have a look! What's special about it is that the beaches for men and women are separated. I took a quick picture from the entrance to the male section - ooh, daring! :)






































 The women's section is always full, but there only seem to be a few men milling around on the other side. Maybe they don't feel the need to suntan so much! :)





















Trieste is one of the cities I'd love to move to one day, so I could go on and on about its amazing and interesting sights and great places, but I'll leave that for another time! I'll need to revisit anyway...

But back to the usual blogging schedule from now on! Thank you for following my travel diary! :)

Wearing: that Promod skirt again with those Vagabond shoes, Zara top, H&M scarf 

and second hand 70s sunnies from an antiques market.

Sun in Medveja

Sometimes the sun came out and it was perfect! I even swam, about 5 minutes at a time though, as seawater 15 degrees Celsius is a bit difficult to get used to! :)






































Here's one tip for travelling: always take jewellery with you! For me the feeling of being able to pick and choose from a few necklaces in the morning makes all the difference - especially as I never take many clothes. I'm all for a light suitcase, as I don't drive, so being able to lift my luggage on and off trains and buses is quite important. :)





















By the way, I affectionately call this above piece the oxymoron necklace, as the bow should be textile and it's metal, and the chain should be metal and instead it's textile. So yeah, it's a solid bow with a soft chain, behold the oxymora!





















This gorgeous bay is Medveja, a few kilometres from Opatija. walking there among the pines heavy with the scent of summer and fig trees growing tiny little fruit was such a joy. A perfect day.

Wearing: Promod dress, Chinese shrug and leggings, Vagabond shoes, 

C&A necklace, clip-ons... can't remember.

A Stroll in the Angiolina Park

Most of the days I had the luck to spend by the Adriatic I just watched the sea, sitting on the rocky shore or wrapped up in blankets from the balcony... And went for long walks of course, on the Lungomare, a path that runs right by the sea.






































One of the things I fell for in the Opatija area is that it's seeped in history. It used to be the riviera of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, so there are plenty of gorgeous old buildings and signs of a multicultural history.





















I have to admit two of my favourite things to take pictures of are decay and cats.
Now, the Opatija Riviera has both, and in plenty!





























































There's also a gorgeous park, the Angiolina, which is actually an arboretum with interesting plants from all over the globe. This is where I walked to on one of my days away in my beloved chequered dress, which you can't see I bundled up so much.:)






































(I love how my camera decided to focus on the stones in the foreground.)


























































This statue is one of my favourites ever. It's of Isadora Duncan, the celebrated dancer, who wrote in her diary that the Opatija palm trees influenced her fluid dance moves...





















Oh, James Joyce was here too of course, maybe visiting when he lived in Pula or Trieste, or both... Any Joyceans out there? :)





















Here's a link to Opatija's website where you can read more about the history and places in rather amusing English, if you're interested!

Outfit 1 - 

Promod skirt, H&M  top, C&A clip on earrings, Calzedonia tights, Vagabond shoes.

Outfit 2 - 

thrifted dress and jacket, Calzedonia tights, scarf bought in an underpass, Doc Martens.

Opatija and a Seagull with Attitude

Hello again! Or indeed, ahoy!






































I'm back from the shores of the Adriatic Sea! Sorry for the delay, but it's always so difficult to get back into the swing of things after prolonged exposure to sea air.






































I accompanied my Boyfriend to Opatija, Croatia where we enjoyed turn of the century charm and gorgeous blue sea, and while he conferenced, I strolled with my camera at hand at all times... We had some unpredictable weather, but who cares about rain and clouds at such a wonderfully atmospheric location?






































The villages around Opatija are connected with the Franz Joseph walkway which winds its way around the edge of the sea for long kilometres, and I just can't tire of it... No matter how many times I return to the area, this walkway will never bore me.






































I hope you enjoyed the great posts from my lovely Guest Bloggers! Thank you so much again, Nikki, Carina and Marisa! I loved reading about your dream wardrobes... And let me tell you, if you've never had guest bloggers, you must give it a go. Pasting the html codes I was sent by them into Blogger, then hitting the Preview button - it's like a birthday present, first seeing their posts materialise on my blog! I'm prepared to travel more just to have more of these great blog surprises!





















"What did you just say? Huh?" - says the Seagull with Attitude.
OK, I'll stay for a while. Just because the Seagull asked me.
But next year I will surely return to Opatija, and till then, a few more posts about my time away to follow!

Dream Wardrobe Guest Post - Marisa Violeta

Hello dear Madeline’s followers! This is Marisa from Green Grass Black Clouds and I’m here to tell you a little bit of what my dream wardrobe would be like!




















When Madeline asked me this, both of us thought immediately the same thing: peter pan
collars! Yes, I have a little (maybe big) obsession with shirts, blouses and dresses that are adorned with those pretty collars. In fact, 95% of my clothes have collars and you know what? I think I don’t want to stop! I love the feminine feeling about that! This shirt I’m wearing I bought for less than 1€ at a thrift store and it has a darling collar with some sweet flowers on it. I just couldn’t say no to that beauty!




















Another thing that I’m obsessed with is the color mint! I’m not a trend follower but I need to admit that I really like this one. It’s perfect for spring and it’s also very delicate and almost ethereal. I bought this skirt about two weeks ago and I already used it a thousand times. Right now I would love to see my wardrobe full of clothes with the color mint, it’s too flawless!









































I just like everything that is feminine and a bit preppy inspired. My dream wardrobe would be something worthy of a 60s french movie with a lot of dresses, lovely flats and a few berets!




















Thank you once again for this lovely opportunity Madeline!

Marisa Violeta

Dream Wardrobe Guest Post - Carina

Hello dear Madline Quaint followers!

I'm Carina of Bad Taste Toast and today I'm helping out with a guest post while Madline is (hopefully) enjoying herself on her little holiday.

So, following her last post, Madline asked me what my dream outfit or wardrobe would look like. Tough question, overkill of ideas in my head... I would love to have a huge walk-in closet full of florals, plaid, polkadots... full of colours and cute prints! But I didn't have any idea of how to put all this into one post.

So I remembered a set of outfit wishlists I created some time ago, picked one of them and tried to restyle it with the pieces I own.

This is the outfit (the mentioned wishlist post can be found here):

// 1. H&M blazer // 2. cuteMonstR t-shirt // 3.Casio watch // 4. Pimkie skirt // 5. Accessorize tights // 6. Rut M. FL. scarf // 7. Eden shoes // 8. Modcloth bag //

This is one of the many many outfits I dream of (and although it says "fabulous fall" it also worked in spring). Now about the restyled look:

key piece is the cute skirt that I was able to snatch in the last Pimkie sale. It is the only item of the wishlist I actually bought, so for all the other puzzle pieces I needed replacements. Neither do I own a red blazer, nor do I have a black and white shirt with a slogan on it, so I had to go for a simple striped shirt and the red cardigan. I admit the cardi is not as chic as the blazer, but for the recent crisp spring days it's better because it's a bit warmer.

Next step: golden Casio watch - check. I don't have exactly the same, but a similar one. Next: patterned tights - I replaced the leopard with floral ornaments, and a black scarf - check, got one.

Last but not least the shoes and bag: I have a plain black vintage satchel instead of the b/w Modcloth version, and concerning the shoes I used my deep red wedges as a replacement for the black ones from the wishlist.

Et voilà: a slightly different version of the outfit I wished for had already been in my closet for months, just waiting to be discovered.

// cardigan: H&M // shirt: H&M // skirt: Pimkie // scarf: Gina Tricot // necklace: Accessorize // watch: Casio // bag: Vintage via Ebay // tights: Primark // shoes: no name via Ebay // ring: six //

All photos were taken by my lovely boyfriend Patrick during a walk through the little forest nearby where we live. It was sunny but cold spring weather and the wind was blowing through the trees and over the water surface - ah, nice weather to take a walk.

To be honest I felt a little overdressed for the forest in the wedges, but at the same time I felt great in this whole outfit, so I secretly smiled over the stares I got from joggers and promenaders haha. I also have to admit I carried around a warmer jacket in case I would feel cold or uncomfortable - but I did not. ;)

One of my dream outfits on a dream afternoon with the boyfriend, ha could there be anything better?

How do you like the restyled look?

Wishing you a fantastic day everyone!

And thanks again to Madeline for having me as a guest blogger! :)