Happiness Is

1. Chocolate. Plain and simple.
2. Waking up early to a silent house.
3. Reading. Particularly for some reason dystopian books.
4. Nature: going for walks, feeling a sense of clarity, looking up at the sky.

Europe

The world is a big, beautiful place.
Things I miss about Europe

1.  The speed and reliability of public transport.

2. Relatedly, the ability to get on a train and be in another country within a few hours.

3. The accessibility to art, museums and music.

4. Punsch, Sachertorte, Waffles, Paninis (which became a real addiction), Hot Maroni (Chestnuts), Gingerbread, Chocolate covered fruit kebabs, Chocolate crepes (do you see a theme here), Hot chocolate (European hot chocolate is special). 

5.       Christmas Markets and snow-the most Christmas spirit I've ever experienced.

6.       Regular markets, where you can get everything delicious you could ever want.

       7.       The people. I met some great ones.

8.     Cheap alcohol. What is with that? I love it.

     9.     Feeling frostbitten.
     10.   The novelty of visiting castles.
11.        Everything

A Few of My Favourite Things

Life is Beautiful- Vol.3 (2006)

·         Concerto in C minor for violin and oboe BWV 1060. Adagio /​ Bach (4:42)

·         Nutcracker. Pas de deux /​ Tchaikovsky (2:26)

·         Abdelazar. Round O /​ Purcell (1:29)

·         Cantata no. 208. Sheep may safely graze /​ Bach (4:30)

·         Cradle song /​ Skinner (5:17)

·         Chiome d'oro /​ Monteverdi (3:09)

·         L'Arlesienne. Suite no.1. Prelude /​ Bizet (6:41)

·         Keyboard suite no. 1. Courante /​ Handel (3:36)

·         Es ist ein Ros' ensprungen /​ Praetorius (3:10)

·         Dardanus. Paix favorable, paix adorable /​ Rameau (1:57)

·         Antarctica. Penguin ballet /​ Westlake (3:11)

·         Symphony no. 7. Allegretto /​ Beethoven (8:53)

·         Nocturne in B-flat minor, op. 9 no.1 /​ Chopin (6:32)

·         Enigma variations. Nimrod /​ Elgar (3:15)

·         Marriage of Figaro. Overture /​ Mozart (4:21).

My dad gave me this c.d. which was attached as a giveaway on the Sydney Morning Herald Newspaper in 2006, and I must have played it at least one thousand times since. To eleven-year-old me, some of the pieces sounded bizarre and even unpleasant, but I came to love them all.