Camera Envy

I am finally back home in the USA (!!) and have been browsing through my 10GB of summer photos and ordering prints (yes, my family still does that). I wish I had a real, professional SLR camera rather than a plain digital one (I use a Sony 12 Megapixel Sony Cyber-shot W350)because the photos they take are AMAZING. Yes, SLRs are bulky and you have to actually know a thing or two about photography to use them, but the results are well worth it. Look at how much fun I had last summer when I borrowed my uncle's Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi to use around Seattle's Gas Works Park.

Belgrade Summer Style

During my long stay here in Belgrade, I've noticed a trend that is very prevalent here that I haven't seen people actually wearing in the US. Fashion is an intrinsic part of cultural and I think that street style is more important than what the catwalk dictates (I'm not saying that I don't treat fashion magazines like my bible though...). Check out these Harem pants and these street style blogs that I love perusing for inspiration!

So, although I have seen harem pants (I like calling them genie pants, in honor of my friend Sam who first bought them on a trip to Spain) mentioned in my beloved magazine, Belgrade is the first place I have seen real people, and not models on the runway, wearing them. Basically, genie pants have a low, baggy crotch and are usually tighter at the bottom... like Aladdin! I have seen these pants in floral and paisley patterns at Zara and Bershka, but these are very hard to pull if you have a larger derriere, so proceed with caution. I'm kind of ambivalent about my thoughts on this trend, but that's probably because I can't find a pair that looks flattering on me!

More McQ by Alexander McQueen...

And now for the street style blogs:

• The Sartorialist - this is definitely THE street style blog... it is practically a classic
• Face Hunter
  
• Copenhagen Street Style
• The Style Scout
• Lookbook - this isn't exactly street style in the sense that a photographer spotted these people on the street; members add photos of their outfits daily

I think being a street style photographer would be so much fun because I see people I would love to take photos of but I'm too shy to ask and I don't really have a good excuse for taking their photo besides my own personal style inspiration.

I'm Back

Hi everyone! I haven't posted in about a week because I was up in my mountain house in Divcibare, here in Serbia. Now I'm back and I'll try to keep the posts constant.

The Tourist's Guide to Paris: Top Ten - #8 Art Museums

As I am sure that the Louvre, Orsay, and Pompidou need no introduction, I present to you an all-new look at the Louvre, coming from a stylish point of view.

Gladiator sandals have been a very popular summer trend that never seems to go away. Maybe it's because they've been around since Julius Caesar's time! Check out these fashion-forward feet I found on statues and paintings at the Louvre's Denon wing. Then afterward you can see modern takes on this classic. Voila, the sandals of the Louvre!

More OTBT...

More Nike...

Graffiti in Belgrade

I've made a habit of bringing my camera wherever I go in Belgrade and pretending I'm a real tourist. Graffiti is a part of everyday life here; it's on almost every building ranging from colorful artwork to illegible writing. I wanted to share these really cool examples of graffiti I found around my neighborhood and leave you with a question:

Is graffiti vandalism or art?

The Tourists's Guide to Paris: Top Ten - #9 The People

Contrary to popular stereotype, the French are not snobs! I am not suggesting that there are no uppity French citizens, but they are as a whole misinterpreted. Overall, I have had a really great experience with locals in Paris.
Whenever I could, I tried to order food in French. Most waiters spoke back to me in English but this was not done to deter my from using my American-accented French; they were trying to be helpful and maybe practice their English. However, I did have one bad encounter with a waiter who got mad at me for making him run back and forth a couple of times after he did not hear that I asked for an extra plate and ketchup. It seemed to me that the customer is not always right in Paris, but I can understand why he was annoyed with me. On a more positive note, when a local woman saw me and my family staring at a map, looking for the metro stop, she was eager to help although she knew no English. Not to worry, I have been taking French for 5 years so I finally had to use it. My experience with this kind, friendly woman was (almost) enough to erase the angry-waiter brouhaha out of my mind.
I'll leave you with these tips for knowing what to expect from Parisians

1. Do not be offended if you speak French to someone and they answer in English - this is a city of tourists!
2. Do not be too picky with a waiter or a salesperson - they are the most likely to become agitated from dealing with tourists all day
3. Do not expect everyone to know your language!
4. Do not flip through magazines for too long at a newsstand without the intention of buying something - this is anecdote I'll have to leave out ;)
   

The Tourist's Guide to Paris: Top Ten Best - #10 Shopping

After much pondering and mind-changing, I have finally ranked what I personally believe the insight comes from an enthusiastic teenage-tourist who experienced only what she could and all she could within five days in the city of lights during prime tourist season. Keeping that in mind Top 10 best things, places, features about Paris are. You may disagree with my views, but this, most of what I put on this list, and any future lists, is influenced by what I have seen/not seen of the world so far. For example, I am not including food on this list of Paris's creme de la creme because I was quite frankly disappointed due to the fact that I know a city with better food... but I'll mention that in a future post. Thus, I will be posting my Tourist's Guide to Paris: Top Ten Best as a countdown starting with #10 and ending with the reveal of the grand prize winner! So, now that I have gotten that out of the way, I present to you:

Shopping
(and by shopping, I mean mainly clothes shopping)

Paris, like most metropolises, has great diversity in its shopping. Venues range from picturesque, idiosyncratic street markets to luxurious, ritzy, tourist-infested department stores. Paris is also home to some of the fashion industry's most-loved designer's flagship stores. However, no matter who you are (as in, the female species) you will find plenty of opportunities to shop.


Touristy souvenir shops can always be found withing a few yards (or meters) of you, no matter which arrondissement you are in. These colorful stores carry all of the usuals: postcards, I Love Paris t-shirts, magnets, snow globes, etc. Before buying anything, I strongly recommend visiting a few stores and comparing prices in order to have money to spend on something more unique.

credit goes to Yanidel for this lovely photo.

This extra cash can be saved to use at one of Paris's famed department stores: Galeries Lafayette, Printemps, Samaritaine, Le Bon Marche. The Galeries Lafayette and Printemps are conveniently located right next door to each other on the Rue Haussman in the 9th Arrondissement. I created this lovely map to show you their proximity (warning: the locations probably are not exact!)

However, if you have time to only visit one I definitely recommend seeing the Galeries Lafayette. This shopping mecca is impressive not only for its 10 floors of wares for almost every pocket, but for its signature Art Nouveau dome. The stained-glass dome ceilng brings in an almost holy ambiance, as if you were in a sacred church and not a busy center of commerce. You can feel free to take pictures of the architecture, but store policy prohibits photos of merchandise.

If you do have time to visit Printemps, you will find that it is set up like any other department store but the rook of its home store has a magnificent panoramic view of the city (more about this later).

If you are blessed with deep pockets, very very deep pockets, Cartier and Louis Vuitton on the Champs Elysees and Chanel on the exclusive Place Vendome will be worth a visit.

However, if you are not royalty or a celebrity, Paris has many "high street" shops found in most cities such as: H&M, Zara, Mango, Uniqlo, etc. I did not find any real bargains in the city, but Paris is known to be very expensive, so if you can, refrain from clothes-shopping for back home. I do recommend browsing through Uniqlo if you have never been in it. It is a Japanese clothing store that only sells basics in every color and nuance of the rainbow: think American Apparell only more affordable, more flattering, and more mellow. This store sells raiment for both men and women.

I hope this post helps you prioritize your time the next time you are in Paris!

Wish I Was Here...

These videos do not belong to me

Exit 2010

For those of you who don't know, EXIT is a music festival that has been taking place in Novi Sad, Serbia every summer since 2000. This year's festival starts tonight and tonight also happens to be the night that MIKA (!!), one of the headliners, is performing. I thought, Mika is in Serbia...I have to see him! but unfortunately I have no way to get there and no place to stay. I also found out that he performs at midnight, so there would be no possible way of getting back to Belgrade after his gig. I've always been pretty optimistic about things like this, but I have to face the fact that I will not be seeing Mika in Serbia anytime soon.

Anyway, I am blogging about EXIT tonight because it is the opening day and I think it is an under-publicized festival. According to Wikipedia (I really don't think that people would waste their time changing entries into false information!), EXIT was started by three college students in 2000 as a protest against oppression under Slobodan Milosevic's regime (I'm not going to get into the politics, they're really not my forte). EXIT takes place in Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad along the world-famous Danube River.


Over the years, this seemingly humble project began attracted international stars and has earned deserving accolades. Performers have included Iggy and the Stooges, Goldfrapp, Peaches, The White Stripes, Franz Ferdinand, Billy Idol, the Pet Shop Boys, HIM, The Scissor Sisters, Snoop Dogg, Gogol Bordello, Gossip, the Sex Pistols, Lily Allen, and the Artic Monkeys. This year's headliners are Mika, Missy Elliot, LCD Soundsystem, the Chemical brothers, and Placebo. The thing that suprised me was that the festival doesn't start until 8 PM and then the headliners perform at midnight and the festivities keep going until about 6 or 7 AM. I understand the whole rock and roll lifestyle, but wouldn't you just want some sleep by that point in the morning? I mean, I'm up at 6:45 AM on a weekday, but that's to go to school.
Anyways, as I mentioned, EXIT has received some awards during its existence. The most significant title was given in 2007, when the UK Festival Awards decreed EXIT the Best European Festival. This title was voted on by regular people: music lovers, festival go-ers and EXIT was chosen amongst 10 other festivals on the continent!
So, hopefully I taught you about a music festival (that isn't Glastonbury) and hopefully brought some more tourists into Serbia! You can't blame me; I learn something new about my homeland every day!

I almost forgot to mention Belgrade's Beer Fest. It is completely free and all of the money raised last time (I believe...don't quote me on this one) went into buying recycling bins for schools around the city. I'll have more about that later.

PS. Mika's on in half an hour!

None of the photos in this post were mine...click on them for their sources!

The Tourist's Guide to Paris - Coming Soon!

Bonjour tout le monde! I recently came back from my lovely 5 day stay in the city of lights: Paris! It was a dream come true but very tiring. I am currently uploading all of my 1034 pictures to my laptop, sorting through and organizing them, and planning a lovely series on Paris called The Tourist's Guide to Paris! Look for these posts coming soon:

• The Best of Paris
• The Worst of Paris
• Getting Around Paris
• Sandals of the Louvre
• Best (Virtually) Free Views of Paris
• Chateaux: Vaux Le Vicomte and Fontainbleau

Here is a sample of my photos to appease your appetite!

The Eiffel Tower from the Military School

The Centre Pompidou

A decorative statue on the Ile de la Cite

The famous Notre Dame, which is also located on the Ile de la Cite

World Cup

So, did anyone see Serbia beat Germany today at the World Cup??
Supposedly there were parades in the streets!

Ok, fine: I'll be the first to admit that I do not keep up with sports. This is probably due to the melancholy truth that I have no talent for them (but oh boy, have I tried) and I don't watch a lot of TV in general. Anyway, I like the World Cup because it is a global event that raises awareness about other nations and brings people together (while tearing them apart because of team rivalries). Although soccer is a competitive game, people still have fun rooting for nations that their ancestors came from, places they have lived, or associate with themselves in other ways. And does anyone remember the Olympics? I bet not a single person hasn't watched a part of the Olympic Games, whether it be the stunningly cutting-edge and innovative opening ceremonies (although I must admit Vancouver's was incomparable to Beijing's) or a track event. No matter which team you are cheering on (God, this sounds so cheesy!) sports have the power to captivate global audiences because we all play the same games with the same rules - no language barrier!

Flying

Sooo.... because my summer hasn't officially started yet, I'm posting a list of things I love about flying in airplanes in anticipation for my fun filled summer!!

• comfy clothes - I enthusiastically find pleasure in planning the perfect outfit for flying. The key is to layer! Although it might be 98F at your destination, the sky is a cold place. Although I am all for fashion, I do not understand how people can dress their best on planes. This year, I plan to wear a navy-and-white striped romper (for the arrival and departure) under velour navy sweat pants and my favorite comfy sweatshirt with navy (see a theme here?) boating shoes.
  
  
  More Sperry...

  
  
  

• airplane food - No, I'm not crazy; I just love food! The compactly packed, miniature trays that these meals come in are perfection. You never know what you're getting until you excitedly peel back that layer of plastic film. Oh and the measures they go to to make the meal seem like one you would have on land, in a real restaurant: the slightly miniature utensils, the stylishly-designed plastic dishes, and the dainty coffee cup! I found this cartoon...it perfectly describes me!
  

• snacks and soda - As I said, I love food and free food is even better, granted that you do pay a good deal of money to ride an airplane. This pic is sad but true. I hate recessions. They'll probably start charging for bathrooms soon :(
  
• the entertainment - tons and tons of recently released movies at the touch of your fingertip (or the use of a tricky-to use remote)

Welcome!

Welcome to The Tourist!

I'll tell you a little bit about me, who I am, why I started this blog, etc. This post will be added to the About Me section for future reference

I am a 17 year old girl with a severe case of wanderlust and a passion for culture - especially fashion and music. I live in the U. S. but I was born in Belgrade, Serbia, which is basically my portal to Europe during the summer. Unfortunately, a Serbian passport has limitations, so the only place within Europe that I've really been to is London, where my dad lives. However, as of this year the world is finally open to me because A) my family and I became US citizens and B) the Serbian visa-requirement was lifted! Thus, I created this blog to showcase the world to those who can't experience it in person and to document my travels! I also want to show the world from a teenager's perspective, a point of view that is critical but often ignored.



Now I'm going to explain how I will run my blog. On the right hand panel, there are a few boxes. The first says Veni Vidi Vici. These are the places I have been to so far in my relatively short existence (I shall conquer the whole planet one day :). Under that is a list of places I will visit this summer.

Although Belgrade is my hometown, I suppose I am not a true tourist there, but I still experience a different aspect of the city as I grow older! London is just an amazing, exciting city with so much to do and it's so walkable. The first time I went, I was convinced that all metropolises were like New York, so I was shocked by London's "vertically challenged" buildings. (This picture is amazing by the way...I wish I took it. I wish I had an SLR to turn even the most boring photos into something worthwhile)


I will be a true tourist in Paris however, because it is completely new to me. I have been told about the city since birth, have drooled over it in movies, and have been learning french for 5 years now which will make this dream-come-true experience even more incroyable!


Ideally, my posts will be mostly pictures of the places I see and insight into the city that one can absorb only by being there, not through reading guidebooks. I will also add some of my own personal acumen on the aspects of culture that I love the most, fashion and music, as I have mentioned.

I hope you will enjoy reading about my travels and are inspired to see the world!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these photos...click on them for the sources