Julika, Author at sateless suitcase

Utrecht’s Amazing Illumination Festival

My previous posts on Utrecht already revealed that I really fell hard for this gorgeous little Dutch city, but I saved the very best for last. Because among beautiful canals, delicious food and great museums there was one last thing that I loved even more than all of the above: The Trajectum Lumen Festival. These amazing outdoor installations are where the city's beautiful sights and landmarks meet incredibly creative light design. Illuminated Utrecht at night Utrecht's colorful lighting installations can be seen immediately after nightfall and all over the city. And the best thing about: It's free, it's absolutely unique [...]

By Julika|2013-08-03T18:30:49+02:002013/06/28|Categories: Destinations, Europe, The Netherlands|Tags: Architecture, Art, Europe, The Netherlands|6 Comments

Photo Essay: The Centre Pompidou

It was during my last years in high school during my art class when I realized that I'm biased when it comes to architecture. I quickly fell in love with medieval cathedrals and I admired ancient Greek and Roman architecture. I learned to read Renaissance footprints and I was charmed by ornament-rich 19th century historicism. But at in the beginning of the 20th century architecture somehow lost me… When I saw a photo of Paris' huge museum for modern art for the first time, my reaction simply was "ugh, that's ugly". And it's true, the Centre Pompidou cannot be considered [...]

By Julika|2013-07-06T21:25:37+02:002013/06/25|Categories: Art History, Photo Essay|Tags: Architecture, Art, Europe, France, Museums, Paris, Photo Essay|8 Comments

Why Utrecht is a Museum Lover’s Paradise

Museums are tricky. At least when it comes to travel writing. Many travel bloggers openly admit that they "don't do museums". Some even say that they don't like museums in general. And from a travel writing perspective, I understand. Museums are not adventure sports. A visit to a museum won't include how I overcame my fear of heights while bungee jumping in the dessert. Or how I almost drowned while wild water rafting in a river full of piranhas. To be honest, writing about museums is almost doomed to be boring. And then sometimes you aren't even allowed to take [...]

By Julika|2013-07-16T21:53:39+02:002013/06/22|Categories: Destinations, Europe, The Netherlands|Tags: Art, Europe, Museums, The Netherlands|7 Comments

Photo Essay: The Promenade Plantée

In a city like Paris you can never see it all. And Paris and I sort of have the tradition that every time I get back from a trip, I hear about a really cool thing to see or place to have coffee at within a week of my return, which I have just missed. When I got back from my visit to Paris in November -- on which I in fact managed to see a lot of the lesser known attractions like the Jardin des Plantes and Cimetière de Montmartre -- I learned about one place I definitely had [...]

By Julika|2013-06-30T23:11:37+02:002013/06/17|Categories: Art History, Photo Essay|Tags: France, Paris, Photo Essay|8 Comments

The Truth About Paris on a Budget

Paris on a budget? Isn't that a paradox? A city with incredibly high rents, a city where desserts are topped with gold foil, a city where the most expensive handbags have to be updated every season? A few months back, I just randomly booked hostel in Paris on a whim. Just because I felt like it, but I didn't really think I would actually go. It was just one of those procrastination things I did while writing my thesis -- reading hostel reviews, comparing prices, researching about which arrondissements are good areas to stay in for a girl traveling solo. [...]

By Julika|2015-08-13T09:06:35+02:002013/06/12|Categories: Destinations, Europe, France|Tags: Architecture, Europe, France, Paris|26 Comments

Photo Essay: Utterly Dutch Utrecht

I knew I would like Utrecht. My little sister has been there a few years ago and said it was like a mini Amsterdam. When I visited Amsterdam a while back, the city and I didn't really connect. I mean -- I had a great time in Amsterdam, I liked the pretty canals and enjoyed the cliché touristy stuff like visiting the Heineken Brewery. But somehow, Amsterdam felt too crowded, too crammed with the typical let's-get-high-and-see-prostitutes-tourists. So to me, a picturesque mini version of Amsterdam sounded very promising. And Utrecht did not disappoint. Whereas Amsterdam has complex ring-like system of [...]

By Julika|2013-06-25T15:05:12+02:002013/06/10|Categories: Art History, Photo Essay|Tags: Architecture, Europe, medieval, Photo Essay, The Netherlands|19 Comments

How Holland (Almost) Turned Me into a Foodie

By no means I'm a foodie. I'm a picky eater. I don't like experiments. I sometimes have to force myself to even try new flavors in the first place. Throughout the last years I have at least tried to become a more open eater and realized that it was probably dumb to have lived more than twenty years without eating pineapples and eggplants just because I was too scared to try them and they looked funny. Traveling of course has made me more curious and more open about food, but I would still call myself a very picky pescetarian. Yes, [...]

By Julika|2013-10-27T11:43:51+01:002013/06/06|Categories: Destinations, Europe, The Netherlands|Tags: Europe, The Netherlands|13 Comments

Photo Essay: Baroque (but Beautiful) Karlsruhe

To be honest, Baroque is so NOT my favorite art historical epoch. Baroque paintings are just heavy fabrics, surreal clouds, intense colors, and full cleavages. Baroque architecture is full of patterned marble and fat gold baby angels. For me, Baroque is simply always over the top. Although I love churches and could usually stay for hours, Baroque churches have the tendency to scare me away after a few minutes, because it's just too much gold and kitsch for my eyes. But there is one exception to my Baroque aversion: Castles and palaces! Castles are allowed to have a lot of [...]

By Julika|2013-06-17T22:15:26+02:002013/06/03|Categories: Art History, Photo Essay|Tags: Architecture, Europe, Germany, Photo Essay|10 Comments

Rotterdam via Instagram

Ever since I upgraded my embarrassing (but beloved), old-fashioned brick stone of a cell phone to a 21st century one, I've developed a slight addiction with taking photos on the road and instagramming them. And I also love integrating my Instagram photos into blog posts as a destination sneak peek, which I have done quite frequently during last months. This time however, I decided to introduce Rotterdam through scenic dSLR photos with blue skies first, although they are not really representative of my stay there... The old harbor of Rotterdam on the one (!) beautiful May day I took most [...]

By Julika|2013-06-04T22:40:45+02:002013/05/31|Categories: Destinations, Europe, The Netherlands|Tags: Europe, The Netherlands|8 Comments

Photo Essay: Dissenting Rotterdam

Rotterdam is a city with a reputation. And that's not the very best one. I've heard people calling it the ugliest city in the Netherlands. I knew before I arrived that I wouldn't find anything I usually love about European towns in Rotterdam: No narrow cobblestone streets, no old-fashioned cafés, no breathtaking Gothic churches. All the words and phrases I normally use to serenade the picturesque cities of Europe can't be used when describing Rotterdam. Let's face it -- Rotterdam is not the typical European city, because it doesn’t have a medieval city center with ancient little shops and tiny [...]

By Julika|2022-01-05T15:14:23+01:002013/05/27|Categories: Art History, Photo Essay|Tags: Europe, Photo Essay, The Netherlands|13 Comments

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