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Greek Girl Glasgow in Stirling

Hello from Stirling, Scotland! We had the lovely opportunity to visit Stirling last weekend with Colin, his brother Niall and his wife Michelle. We strolled around the traditional roads and had a cup of coffee at a central italian cafe. It was so nice to catch up with everyone as we do not see each other very often. With a pack of newspapers under my arm, I felt armed to face a relaxing day filled with laughter and deep philosophical discussions (as we so often end up doing us McKays). I think that the topic of the day ended up being the illusion of self and other extententialist arms and legs that grew from that. But I will not bore you with philosophy, I promise. Instead, I will let you have a look at our photos below.

Have you been to Stirling before? Is there a favourite place that you would recommend I should visit the next time I am around?

Love,

Katerina

February 18, 2015

Family, GLASGOW

The last snow

I do hope this was the last snow for this winter. Don’t get me wrong…snow is not something I hate. I love the white little snowflakes coming down the sky and dressing everything in a festive white. I like looking at the snowed garden and I even went down a slope on a home-made sledge (we just used an oven tray!). It was crazy fun, I admit. But I don’t like it when I have to go out and walk in the dirty mashy snow on the pavements that gets as slippery as an ice-ring. And I don’t really like the cold. I am a Mediterranean girl – I just totally love the scorching heat and the summer days (and evenings).

My little Scarlett, on the other hand, loves the whole lot. She doesn’t complain. She just has fun. The first photo is my favourite (it was taken by Colin) and it is while she splashes a snowball at us. Such a great caption I think. The mountain photos are from the way to Aberfoyle on a crispy Sunday afternoon.

Do you enjoy the snow? Or like me you prefer watching the lovely scenery inside in front of a fireplace and with a warm cup of tea at hand?

February 3, 2015

GLASGOW, In

Burns night dinner

Last Saturday I hosted a Burns night dinner at my house. This is a very traditional and exciting day for the Scots where they celebrate Robert Burns, the national poet of Scotland. I had planned the decorations and dinner for at least a month so I was so excited when Saturday came and I dressed the table and cooked the beautiful food. I am guilty to say that I didn’t manage to take any photos of the food as I was running about like crazy to cook and serve that I didn’t take the time to take a photo of each dish regretfully.

I am very excited though to have used a photo filter given by Zanita in the first photo of the table – it creates such a dreamy effect! (and it is the same filter that she used for these photos of Nicole at Gary Pepper Girl, what a massive honour!). Thank you Zanita, you are a cool girl!

For the table I chose a tartan runner and flowers in white and purple with thistles. I am always so happy to use my crystal glasses, a bit like Meryl Streep in the movie “Out of Africa” where she transferred all her crystal from Europe to her new house in Africa. I made red name tags with rafia bows and tree sticks. The “party bags” I gave to my guests had a small bottle of single malt whisky, shortbread (traditional Scottish biscuit) and tablet (traditional Scottish sweetie)!

Dinner was served with cullen skink for starter, traditional and vegetarian haggis (I always eat the veggie option, the other is too much for a greek girl like me!) with clapshot and a whiskey sauce for main, and a cranaghan with juicy rasberries for dessert. You can find it all in the inspiring “Celebrate” book below. And then there was lots of live music and singing. Colin and I have turned our dining room into a music room too. There is a piano, an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar, a base guitar, a couple of microphones and speakers and a cajon. Together with a mix of very talented musician we had for dinner, you can imagine it was some party!

To be honest I had turned my nose up when I saw that Pippa Middleton had published a book. I was intrigued enough though to flick through it. Right from the introduction, Pippa won me over with her honesty and the quality of the book and wonderful ideas have made it one of my favourites. It is possibly the first book I will go to when I want to organise a traditionally British event at home especially when you want a twist of glamour to it. So definitely recommended!

Have you ever been to a Burns’ night? Have you ever tried Scottish food?

January 29, 2015

Family, GLASGOW

Brother mode

I am so proud to present a series of portraits that I took of my little (!) brother Andreas on Christmas day around one of my favourite locations, the Milngavie Reservoir just outside the city of Glasgow (previous post also here). He spent 5 days with us only as he had to return back to Athens where he works.

I have recently increased my efforts to improve my photography skills and on that day I tried very hard to focus on the direction, quality and strength of the light. It was a sunny winter day with a few clouds that kept increasing so the photos at the bottom of the lake are more moody than the others. I used my 50mm lens this time. Baby steps but I am quite happy with the results and this has given me focus to keep at it. I would just love to go back to Paris and work with the light, it is such an eye-opener and such an important element to photography. (If you are interested, there are more details about the equipment I used here).

What do you think? When is your favourite time to shoot? Do you have a favourite spot that works well for you?

January 3, 2015

Gifts inspired by Hong Kong

Hong Kong is a city of the future, especially when it comes to technology. While we were there, I observed all the gadgets that people used in their everyday life. Some useful, others a bit much and others outrageous or silly still I have been advised that Hong Kong is at least a year ahead of Europe and that these things are waiting to hit the market soon. Some of them could be a gift to yourself or a loved-one depending on your needs:

1. The Telescopic / Extendable Selfie stick

Everyone had this thing in their hands. This is quite extensive and people should watch it when they use it as you can easily cause harm around you…but people in Hong Kong went crazy for them. It seems that taking a proper good selfie takes over any sense of seriousness.

2. Massive mobile phones eg Apple iPhone 6 Plus

These things were as big as an IPad mini. But everyone was engrossed in their screen either playing games or using social networks. It was easy to observe when I was in the busy MTR (the Hong Kong underground).

3. Childrens’ instant cameras e.g. CAIUL Decor Sticker For Fujifilm Instax

These little cuties cost around £5 only and produce a photo sticker with just a click. Children totally adore them. My 3 year old daughter is already pulling my camera from my hands and wants to take more photos herself so it is a perfect and well-priced present event for the super little ones.

4. The nitrate tester tool e.g. Ecotester Soeks by SOEKS

This little but a bit pricy baby can test the amount of nitrates in your food and fresh products (like your fruit) and check that the levels are within healthy limits. It has recently hit the stores in Hong Kong marketed for the health-aware population.

5. Smart Dynamo Activity Band

Last but definitely not least, the band that will make you healthier every step at a time. It measures everything, i.e. calories you spend while you walk, eat, talk, sleep and even the quality of your sleep! At the end of the day connect it to your smartphone or laptop to see it all happening! It is coming in different colours to match your personality too and it is very affordable for what it does. One of my personal choices for gifts this Christmas.

What are your favourite gifts for Christmas?

December 19, 2014

Family

5 photos that make me smile!

Hello and goodmorning! So I have been nominated by Lesley on Facebook to choose and show you 5 photos that make me smile! What a brilliant idea!

It is actually quite early when I decided to write this post. Colin is on call all week, which means early starts and late bedtimes, and although it is one of the things that I struggle with because I miss him very much when he is not around, it does give me the chance to spend more time on the computer ;-)

I needed to go back to my files to do this and it has been such an adventurous experience, going through all these memories and bring it all back to light. So here they are, the 5 photos that make me smile:

November 9, 2014

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