Tag: TRAVEL

Tuscany

sm3crsm6acsm1acsm1sm4sm5wallbacwallsidesmsmbstanonna and zsunsetsmTights – Topshop; Jacket – H&M; Skirt – Liu Jo; Boots – Ralph Lauren, I also like these Laboutin ones; Shirt – Pepe Jeans Andy Warhol collection; Bag – Braccialini. 

Location – San Miniato, Tuscany

Of all the places I’ve lived in and travelled to in the world, I know that Tuscany is the place where I’m going to end up; hopefully in a house like the one in Under the Tuscan Sun, with fountains and cypress trees all around it. I’m even willing to have a bird poop on my head if that’s what it takes (That’s not totally random, you have to see the film.) Not only is Tuscany aesthetically beautiful – think rolling olive groves steeped in mist and beautiful crumbling Renaissance buildings – but I find the lifestyle and its emphasis on family time, food and togetherness beautiful too. It’s a stereotype I suppose but I can only speak for my own loud Italian family and their obsession with emphasis on delicious meals and family gatherings. In case you hadn’t guessed – that’s my lovely nonna in one of the pics!

Lots of people know about the famous Tuscan towns – Florence, Lucca, Siena – but the fact is that there are so many old towns and hamlets dotted throughout Tuscany that are all so beautiful. They all invariably have picturesque piazzas, old churches and of course restaurants worth visiting. This town where I took the pictures for example is not particularly touristy, except for a few days maybe during the Truffle Festival (next post), but it’s one of my favourite places in the world. (Also my boyfriend’s, who has his eye on a church there :):):)) If I were visiting Tuscany for the first time I would rent out a car and take the country routes to as many pretty towns as I had time to see, taking unscheduled stops on the way. Elena Nacci has a really good shortlist of less touristy places to visit in Tuscany.

Tuscany is also famous for its manufacturing and artisanal goods. Some of the most famous designer brands originate here – Gucci, Prada, etc. The bag I’m wearing in the pictures is by popular Italian label Braccialini and is also based in Florence. They make really cute and unique designs and I would gladly own every single one of their bags. I love how they can make a dark winter outfit really pop.

Notting Hill

Dress – The Kooples; Bag – Paul’s Boutique London; Booties – Vintage; Bag Charms – DIY off an old bracelet

I had to do the obligatory fashion blogger shoot by the pastel-coloured houses in Notting Hill! It really is one of the loveliest areas of London. As I lived centrally getting on the n.7 bus to Notting Hill (so much nicer than the tube if you have the time and patience) seemed like a day out to a different town. I’ve always thought London was the best walking city out of all the European ones I’ve been to and Notting Hill is a great example. Wander along Portobello road for antiques, bric-a-brac and fresh flowers and food and on to Westbourne Grove for fancy shops, boutiques and brunch.

The quieter, residential back streets like the ones where I took these pictures are definitely worth a wander through, too. I went in the early afternoon on a sunny winter weekday. It was strangely mild so I thought I’d wear my new Kooples dress. I loved the sixties, almost Mod-London look of it and thought I’d pair it with these vintage booties I got in London a while ago. P.s. the dress is now 50% off!

Continue reading Notting Hill

Sandro

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Bikini – Sandro Paris; Sunglasses – Moni & Coli Puerto Rico similar here; Bracelet – H&M

Location – Tortola, BVI

Every time a past decade comes back into fashion, like the seventies revival at the moment, I wonder what on earth they’re going to do when they want to drag 2015 fashion back around. What’s defining about fashion at the moment? It’s probably a consequence of being within the aesthetic paradigm right now but equally I can’t imagine having asked that question in eighties – fashion then just seemed so..obvious. What’s our equivalent of the triangle/weird neon sprinkles-like shape obsession? I’ll probably know in a couple of years. Sorry about the last gratuitous catalogue picture but I wanted to show how cute and unashamedly eighties the print on this bikini is.

Maine + New Hampshire

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My reasons for always wanting to visit Maine are a bit strange, and in hindsight, not actually very representative – The Perfect Storm (spoiler alert incoming if you haven’t seen it), a good but miserable movie about Mainian/Maininitian?? fisherman who die in a massive hurricane in the Atlantic, and Stephen King horror stories set in Maine. Bit weird, but I was really attracted to the idea of the dramatic Atlantic weather, wave-battered fisherman boats and salty, sea-debris encrusted buoys. And the lobsters. Some of Maine was like that, but a lot of the more touristy towns were much more curated and traditionally  pretty than I’d imagined. Kennebunkport in particular was a really quaint tiny town on a small, pretty harbour with tea-shops and perfectly manicured houses and gardens. Plus the weather was amazing; we even got to eat outside by the harbour a few times.

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Camden was slightly less touristy. We spent the day there walking around the harbour with the sound of the boats’ clanking fishing ropes, and the evening playing pool in a very local pub. Some of my favourite places were more off-route –  like when we went looking for Perry’s lobster shack in Surry near Bar Harbor. The shack sits right on top of Union River bay, which is so protected it looks like an enormous beautiful lake. You eat on picnic tables on a pier in the middle of the water. I even got to talk to a fisherman with bright yellow fishing overalls and a very long beard, which made me happy.

Bar Harbor is famous as it’s the entry-town to Acadia National park. This and White Mountain national forest were top of my list as I’ve always wanted to see the leaf-fall in the East Coast and they are both amazing spots for it. I hope the pictures do it justice.

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Sleeping: Whenever I travel to the US I love to stay in motels. My favourite in Maine was the Eden Village motel, which has tiny stand-alone cottages as well as the classic, by-the-road style rooms. It even had a pink, neon motel sign. At White Mountain national forest we stayed at the Rabbit Hill Inn in Vermont, which I came across in my bible – 1,000 places to see before you die. The inn is in a town of about 50 people, and is so quaint that every afternoon they serve tea and cookies by the fireplace in their cosy main room. We also had the best dinner of the trip at their restaurant.

Eating: Any lobster shack! The most famous one we went to was the Clam shack in Kennebunkport. It doesn’t have the best view and is a bit pricier than other ones we went to as it’s recently become really popular, but the lobster roll is amazing. There is a debate over whether rolls are better Maine style – cold with mayo, or New England style – warm with butter (really). The clam shack resolves this intractable dilemma by having both butter and mayo in their signature roll. I didn’t really notice the temperature as it lasted in my mouth about 5 seconds.

Standard/DUMBO

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Jeans – Plein Sud; Blazer – H&M; Nylon shirt – American Apparel; Shoes – Taccetti; Belt – Vintage; Watch – Tissot; Bag – Balenciaga

It turns out that in the US you can’t get into a bar even with a scanned copy of your passport on your phone. Embarrassingly I still don’t have a driver’s license which means I have to walk around everywhere with my most prized possession in life, my passport, when I go out. Anyone that knows me knows that my track record at ‘object retention’ ain’t that great so it’s not exactly ideal. I’ve heard stories about 80 year olds being asked for ID in the US – you’d have to be pretty desperate for a drink to try to get into a bar dressed in full-on professional prosthetic gear. Anyway, the Standard at the High-line – great atmosphere, cool decor and the view of the city and Hudson river is incredible. This and DUMBO seem to be the places to be at the moment. My whole life I’ve stared at the movie poster in my house of Once upon a time in America with it’s iconic sepia photo of the Williamsburg bridge shot from Brooklyn – it felt amazing to finally see it for real.

Do you have an item of clothing you love so much that you don’t wear it nearly as much as you should for fear of ruining it? No? Well that’s me with these shoes. I’m slightly obsessed. I’m going to get over myself and start wearing them more often. I’ve worn shoes by the same brand , Taccetti,  in previous posts. It’s an Italian company that makes the most beautiful shoes with the most beautiful leather. I honestly love pretty much everything they make, even the men’s shoes. I love these rust-coloured jeans from Plein Sud for the fall as well – I got them at TK Maxx (not TJ) which I think is so much fun to browse. I noticed though that TJ, the US version, doesn’t seem to have quite as good a selection of brands?? Not sure – maybe it was that one store, or maybe, most likely, I hadn’t had my browsing coffee. I highly recommend it as a vintage/browsing shopping pre-requisite.

Amarcord

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Dress – All Saints; Shoes – Taccetti; Sunglasses – Prada; Bag – Fendi; Choker – souvenir from Taormina, Sicily.

Location: Scaramouche, Soper’s Hole, BVI. 

I get days where I really miss my family back in Europe, especially Italy, which is where most of ridiculously extended family of cousins, aunts, great-aunts, and relatives that I call aunt and uncle even though I have no idea how I’m related to them live. Fortunately there’s an Italian bar/restaurant here in the BVI that reminds me so much of home – the decor, the amazing food, the people. Even the location on the harbour reminds me of the Tuscan seaside town I went to every summer since I was born. I even found out that one of the women that works in the bar used to work back in that town in Italy too! Tiny world…

Cuba

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I actually went to Cuba back in 2014 but I’ve decided I want to start doing throwback Thursdays of some of my favourite trips. So often I take pictures of trips never really to revisit them again so I think it’ll be a nice way to re-live those memories.

We started the trip in Old Havana. More than anywhere else in Cuba, it was here that I felt like I’d been transported back in time to the 1950’s. There was not a single modern structure I saw in those old cobblestone streets that interrupted the view of the beautiful Spanish colonial houses, churches and piazzas. Continue reading Cuba

PARADE

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Bikini – Agua Bendita: Top & bottoms; Earrings – Accessorize; Bracelet – Souvenir from Navajo, Arizona.

I’m so happy that this bikini got delivered the day before I left for the Anguilla August carnival as the beading and colours fitted the atmosphere perfectly – a few more feathers and sequins and I could have tried to blend into the parade! Choosing which one to order was difficult as Agua Bendita suits are all so crazy colourful and beautiful – I ended up mixing and matching two different styles as I loved the beaded tassels on this one. I should have taken a close-up of the top as you can’t see it but that’s also beautifully beaded. It feels so well-made too. And OK it’s pretty hard to compete with Irina Shayk (current model for the brand) but the bikini designs are quite flattering – especially the back of the bottoms. I’ll be posting the full Anguilla travel post soon.

Sono cosi contenta che questo bikini mi e’ arrivato il giorno prima che partissi per il carnevale estivo di Anguilla perche’ mi e’ sembrato perfetto considerando l’atmosfera – qualche paillette e potevo quasi infiltrarmi nella sfilata! E’ stato difficile scegliere quale bikini prendere perche’ tutti i costumi di Agua Bendita sono favolosamente belli e divertenti – adoro le perline sulle nappe di questo. Avrei dovuto fare una foto da vicino del top che non si vede bene ma anche quello e’ coperto di perline. Ammetto – e’ difficile competere con Irina Shayk (modella per Agua Bendita al momento) ma i bikini vestono molto bene! Venitemi a trovare per il travel post di Anguilla  🙂

BOMBA SHACK

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Shorts – Ralph Lauren; Top – H&M; Bag – Dolce & Gabbana; Shoes – Carvela; Sunglasses – Dolce & Gabbbana; Earrings – Tiffany & Co; Orange ring – Souvenir from Tamarindo, Costa Rica. 

Ever since I moved from London to the Caribbean I’ve been forced to abandon black, stud and chain covered everything and experiment with colours and new looks – and I love it. These shoes in particular (Carvela), would probably have never made it into my wardrobe back in the UK, but here they’re bold and fun and reassuringly uncomfortable. I reckon rhinestones can be my Caribbean twist on studs? That’s not to say I’ve abandoned muted colours – I love black and grey with a tan – but it just seems too happy and hot a place to always wear darks! I’ve found that colours = good mood, and sunshine = good mood, so I’m going for the double whammy. Yay summer!

Bomba shack is one of my favourite bars here in the BVI. It quite literally is a shack, but is definitely the coolest shack I’ve ever seen. It’s most famous for it’s pretty riotous full moon parties (there’s one today!). I can’t wait – maybe I’ll manage to take some pics to put up. Happy full moon!

Costa Rica

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Red Crochet dress – H&M Coachella range; Sunglasses – Ray Ban Aviator; Gladiator sandals – Miami souvenir; Dark grey cotton shirt – H&M; Sunglasses – Ray Ban Wayfarer; Camera top – London (Camden market) souvenir; Boyfriend jeans – Abercrombie & Fitch; Shoes – Converse; Cut-out floral one-piece – Miss Sixty; Beige bikini – Yamamay; Multi-colour sports bikini – Oakley; Silver-frame sunglasses – Moni & Coli Puerto Rico; Brown and white wooden bangles – H&M; Artisan flower backpack – Costa Rica souvenir;  Crop top – Clover Canyon; Orange beaded wrist-band – Costa Rica souvenir; Denim shorts – Mango.

A lot of people who travel to Costa Rica head straight from the main airport at San José to greener destinations, and had we been pressed for time we would probably have done the same, but it felt strange to be in the capital and not explore it at all. I’ll be honest: San José is not the most picturesque of cities, but it’s lively and it’s here that you get the distinct sense that Costa Rica is a country growing quickly.

Continue reading Costa Rica