Witnessing wonders, in more ways than one | Plitvice Lakes, Croatia

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This is the story of how I was a crucial part in the most important moment of the lives of two strangers, in Croatia.

While in Zadar, my boyfriend and I decided to take a tour to visit the Plitvice Lakes. These had been highly recommended and all the pictures we had seen looked amazing. Honestly, I did not believe what I saw on the pictures, I just thought it looked too fake. Boy, was I wrong.

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The Plitvice Lakes, part of a national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are truly a place full of wonder. As you will see from my pictures (no edits, no retouches) these waters are clear and intense at the same time. We were actually able to drink from the springs and it tasted even better than the water in our bottles. My fear was to get a stomach bug or something from drinking it… nothing happened.

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Our tour was a one-day excursion and it allowed you to get to know the people in the tour with you. Sitting next to us during the bus ride was this super nice Canadian couple, just around my age. We were talking through the trip and while on the lakes, helped each other out by taking couple pictures of each other, cheesy but believe me, super practical.

By the end of the tour, we reached the waterfall below.

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The view was truly amazing and as it had become the custom, I told the Canadian couple I would take a picture of them there. The guy went to hand me the camera and said, “Actually, take a video, I’m going to go propose”.

Needless to say my reaction was a mixture of “OMG I want to scream right now” and “OMG I forgot how to use all technology”. My boyfriend rapidly jumped away knowing he would mess up the video under pressure, so I was strong and agreed to take on the task. Let me tell you, I have a new found respect for wedding photographers.

As the guy went up the rocks to “take the picture” I felt like I was about to witness something amazing. I also felt like I was creeping on two strangers, but whatever, I had a job in my hands. I was not able to hear what he was saying, but the look in her eyes told me he was promising her the world she always wanted. She started tearing up and nodding profusely. Thank God she said yes, that would have been one awkward ride back to Zadar.

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In case you were wondering, I was able to tape it all! I didn’t get the couple’s information or anything, I don’t remember their names and I probably will never see them again, but for one moment there I was a part of their lives. Isn’t it weird how life works sometimes?

Feel free to contact me for quotes on proposal videos.

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Post-vacation depression, it’s a thing.

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Raise your hand if you arrived back from a vacation saying, “Woah, so glad that’s over. I never want to vacation again.”

I can’t see you, but I know only fools would have their hands raised.

Post-vacation depression is a thing, I say this with all of my non-scientific knowledge. It is a consequence of real life hitting you in the face and saying, “Welcome back, you sucker!” It’s also a very confusing moment because you know you have to be grateful for the amazing time you had, but you are also miserable and decide to keep complaining anyways.

The thing with traveling is that, once you pop, you can’t stop.

Sure, you have wonderful pictures, videos and souvenirs to remind you of the amazing time you had, but in reality all you want is to go back and live everything again… and more.

 

“Oh, I wish I had visited that spot!”

“I wish I had more time in this city to explore this and that.”

“That restaurant was amazing, I want to go back and order this other plate.”

“Man, the weather was sweet, I wish I had another day to enjoy it.”

“Now I know two words from the language, need to go back and practice!”

 

Can you relate? I may sound like a little girl throwing a tantrum, but that’s kind of how it feels at times. You can ask my boyfriend for examples, like the fit I threw at the Dublin airport coming back from our most recent trip. There may have been a tear or two involved.

Now, with every return to real life, there are responsibilities and realities that hit you in the face. This means content from my vacation will be slowly coming up, but I’ll make it good for you all. Below is a little preview from Croatia, drool away.

If you are experiencing post-vacation depression, I’m more than happy to vent together.

Peace, Love & Diet Coke *

imagePlitvice Lakes National Park, the clearest water I have ever seen.

image (1)View from the wall in the old town of Dubrovnik, or as some of you may know it, King’s Landing.

photoSplit, Croatia. It was odd for me to not have sand in the beach, but still, it was beautiful.

Check out more pictures of my trip in Instagram @peaceloveanddietcoke

More here soon!

“Great things never came from comfort zones”

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comfort zone

This has been my mantra for this past month. Not only is my big Europe trip right around the corner, but I got a new job and started a new professional journey (basically the reason why I have abandoned this blog for a few weeks) but cry no more, I’m back! (Only to leave in a week, but still!)

I also went home to my beautiful Puerto Rico and got to spend some wonderful days with my family and friends. It was really the perfect way to end a great chapter in my life and freshen up to start a new one. So really, I can’t complain. Sure, I’m peeling from the sun even though I am still technically white and sure, my bank account has taken a hit, but I’m sure I’ll live.

I try to stay away from all things cheesy (except when they actually are cheesy, yum.) but lately I’ve just been feeling like I have so much to take in from life (besides new work information, of course). Sure, I stress about things all the time, that’s just how I work. Who knows? This may be the nice weather talking, but life is good right now. Long gone are the days of miserable weather complaints and in are the sunny, sweaty walks to work. Ah, sweaty summer bliss.

But back to being corny,

Life is crazy, unpredictable and if you let it be, it can also be beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful, below are some pictures from La Isla del Encanto that I took during my last visit home (yes, I get to call paradise home). I always love giving out recommendations for travelers that wish to visit Puerto Rico, so feel free to shoot me a comment or tweet me any questions!

IMG_6283Yes, me and my boyfriend might have started a cheesy tradition of taking travel pictures with our feet #noshame – This was before our kayak tour at the bioluminescent bay in Fajardo. Tour started during the day, through the canals and into the bay to watch the sunset. Then, I was once again amazed by the beauty that is the bay’s natural glow. Third time doing it and it’s still worth the sore muscles!

IMG_6299Right before our journey! This picture has no filters, you can see how the sunset light glows in the water, giving it a nice natural tone.

IMG_6303Credit for this one goes to my dad (@josenogueraspr)

IMG_6335Hyatt Hacienda del Mar in Dorado, Puerto Rico

IMG_6352Basically, a little corner of heaven, right here.

IMG_6387It wouldn’t be complete without a food picture, wouldn’t it? For my boyfriend’s birthday I took him to a delicious restaurant in Dorado called El Ladrillo (The Brick) – I had been there when I was little and fine cuisine for me consisted of plain rice and chicken, coming back was absolutely amazing. Not only is the food really good and varied for all tastes, but the restaurant itself is beautiful. They have a true art collection within the space.

Be sure to follow my Instagram for more pictures that don’t make it to actual posts – @peaceloveanddietcoke

Main image credit – http://www.etmusiquepourtous.com/2012/11/07/16191/jpeg/

All other pictures taken by Cristina Nogueras ©  Do not copy or repost without attribution

 

 

Otto Strada, New Restaurant in Hoboken

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A few months ago, Otto Strada opened up its doors in Hoboken. If you are looking for delicious Italian food and good ambiance, this is your place. My personal struggle when visiting an Italian place is that I am never sure if I am going to want pizza or pasta, but Otto Strada had solid choices for both desires.

Another plus? It’s BYOB, bingo!

I also expanded my Italian vocabulary by learning that Otto Strada means Eight Street, which, voila, is where this new spot is located. Ah, the genius.

Although my food comma kept me away from ordering dessert, I was drooling over a gigantic dessert calzone. That’s right, calzone for dessert. I was creeping, but I could not look away from the Nutella drizzling from the inside of this wonderful thing. I recommend you leave room for dessert, highly encouraged.

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One of the specials for the day: a delicious pesto with roasted tomatoes

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My boyfriend is trying to learn to take food pictures, he is getting there very slowly, so cut him some slack! – Pollo alla Milanese con Prosciutto: breaded chicken pounded thin, pan seared, topped with prosciutto, homemade mozzarella and tomato bruschetta over a bed of arugula tossed with a lemon vinaigrette

I’m feeling positive & I’m going to share it

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“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs.

Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that.

Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

– H. Thurman 

Just let those words sink in.

I don’t normally write posts like this, but when something overwhelms you, you need to share it. The world does need more people who are alive, truly alive. You may not know where you will end up, you might not even know how you’re going to get there, but life works like that. It’s about figuring out what makes you smile and what makes you feel that rush. Do you know that rush? It’s the one you feel when something is exciting, when you are working towards something you believe in or something that you find completely amazing. Personal, professional, physical, doesn’t matter.

Think about it right now, what makes you come alive?

Morning Walks: Blossoms on Concrete

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People may think concrete is not able to ignite inspiration, but concrete cracks and cracks let life bloom, releasing a wave of what can only be admired with open eyes.
Concrete may not make you a poet, but it can make you think and that’s always a necessity. It can highlight small beauties and nurture little secret corners of good will.
The world needs more things that inspire, simple oddities that ignite a never ending train of thought and cause wanderers to stop and admire simple beauties found in concrete.

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Photos from my morning walk in the West Village | NYC

46 Days Without Facebook

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It felt like a tragedy when I made the decision to give up Facebook for lent. I thought I was crazy and there was no way I could do it.

This Easter morning when I logged back in all excited for my return, I went into my account, took a quick look around and thought to myself: “That’s it?”

First, the number of notifications waiting for me was quite sad. (Except for my dear girls who loyally kept me on their inbox chains and left a couple of hundred entertaining messages to catch up on).

Then I thought, “I did it? I truly went on with my lent sacrifice?”

You know what, it was not as hard as I thought. Yes, it was hard to find #TBT pictures with my limited iphone content, yes I forgot birthdays that I am not proud of, but overall, I was still a part of this world and things still happened in my life. There were a few sad news which I received with delays, but I was still connected with the people I love.

If you are thinking I had an awakening and have now decided to give up Facebook forever, you are greatly mistaken, relax.

The thing about Facebook versus Instagram, I realized, is that Instagram is full of more positive content, overall. Facebook gives you that status space to easily and quickly write whatever you please. Someone gave you an attitude today? You can just type that up, nice and easy. It is so easy to find a Facebook feed infested with negative comments and things that bring you down. Whereas a negative Instragram feed takes more work, you actually need some kind of visual proof. I had never thought about it that way until this morning as I waited to log back on Facebook.

I’m obviously back and running, I will try to upload some pictures eventually and all those routine tasks, but I’m actually glad I went through with these 46 days (yeah, there are actually more than 40 days in Lent).

Hello, my name is Cristina Nogueras and I went 46 days without Facebook and the world still went on. (Shocking, I know).

Happy Easter!

 

 

Dear Doctors & Med Schools, I Have Something to Say

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Setting: Walgreens prescription counter

I hand the technician my prescriptions and she laughs. Yup, she laughs. I ask what’s wrong.

Technician: “You’re going to have to give me a moment, I don’t know what any of these say.”

The magic is dead.

All my life I have believed this magic tale of technicians and overall medicine people having this special power to read a doctor’s handwriting. All my life I had trusted them to know what magic jelly beans I was putting into my mouth.

Lies.

What’s the point then? Why can’t doctors write clear? My theory for the secret code of the world of medicine is dead, obviously. So what’s the deal?

Thank goodness I’m not dying or anything (Although this morning when my ears and eyes were swollen I swore I was, you know, typical Thursday morning).

I would like to petition all med schools to update their curriculum with a new simple little course called: Calligraphy, the art of making letters understood by the magic jelly beans dispensers.

So yeah, here I sit at Walgreens. Waiting to be called and be given God knows what. I think I need a new nail polish… and some other five things that I surely don’t need but will purchase on my wait out.

“Sure, I would love a mansion to use only three months out of the year.” – My visit to Newport, RI

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Have you heard of the Gilded Age? Call me ignorant or whatever, but I had not heard the official term until last month when I visited the astonishing mansions of Newport, Rhode Island.

In United States history, the Gilded Age is a period approximately spanning the final three decades of the nineteenth century; from the 1870s to 1900. The term was coined by writers Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873), satirizing what they believed to be an era of serious social problems disguised by a thin gold gilding.

Thank you Wikipedia, you’re the best.

Interesting where we stand right now, I want my life easier not more elaborated. Fancy dresses are uncomfortable and I can’t imagine having someone do every single thing for me, I actually enjoy cooking.

How did people live in such an age? I bet their attention span was intact and their knowledge of history was more maintained, with all the time they had in their hands I would not expect anything less. I bet if they come to our time now they would be beyond overwhelmed and wouldn’t know how to deal with it.

What’s next for people then? How can it get more intense, more technological or more progressive?

I think we are going back to basics in many aspects of life. Are we losing connection with ourselves? Are we going back to times we thought of as grand? Is that what every generation does? The Gilded Age line of thought was to replicate and bring back the grandeur of Europe, especially France. Are we always, in some way, looking back to the successes of the past? Will all of this Google glass technology mindsets collide with a simpler way of living?

I guess what I’m wondering is, what will future generations look back and see from our times? What are they going to want to replicate and what are they going to laugh about (besides Justin Bieber’s music)?

I’m going to let you think about that for a while.

On a lighter note, follow my Newport journey through my pictures below! 🙂


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Walking around the ocean drive
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This is just the backside of the Marble House. Mind you, this was supposed to be their summer house. Imagine where they lived all year.
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This was their tea house. Tea house. A house for tea. I have a box for my tea bags, but these people had actual buildings for tea.IMG_5557

The front of the Marble House is even more amazing

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Breakfast at Beech Tree Inn, such a nice stay!

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This might not be the most flattering picture, but this dinner at The Mooring was absolutely delicious!

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Walking by the water…
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You have to drive by the ocean drive, it’s such a beautiful view… and this is not even summer!
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I feel like I should remember this mansion’s name… potato, potato? There are so many mansions!IMG_5517
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Cliff Walk -Some of it is still closed due to damage by Super Storm SandyIMG_5508

Even when it’s not sumer, even if there’s a cold breeze, this walk was still worth it.

IMG_5505The Breakers, just your average American summer cottage. Seriously? This is basically a castle.

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Going down the Forty Steps…IMG_5490