Sunday, July 17, 2011

venice

a ridiculously early flight out of paris had me staying over at a friend's teensy-tiny apartment the night before (thanks neesh!), as she's a good lot closer to the airport than me. nonetheless, i was up at 5am to get myself to the airport in time. several easjet queues later (checking-in online to save time queuing is a bold-faced lie) and finding out that i am actually the queen of packing (only 10kg, win!) - i was en route to venice.
this magical italian lagoon island is exactly how lonely planet describes it; never-never land. spiderweb-like, winding turquoise canals. elegant gondolas in black, red and gold. artistically crumbling buildings lining narrow alleyways. italian flags, hung from window sills (surprisingly not cringe-worthy wog patriotism...) & rippling in the soft, warm breeze. gelaterias boasting a never-ending selection of delicious flavours. the smell of wood-oven pizzas wafting out of shops...

i came to venice to catch up with friends from back home in australia. it's been a good five months since i've seen them, so it was such a great opportunity to kick back with them... in italy, of all places. the epitome of 'the hard life' - with lots of 2.20€ gelati pit-stops (my favourite flayva combo: fragola & stracciatella), cheeky slices (aka pizza) & delicious pasta... it's safe to say that we ate well while here.

it is widely-known that no matter how good your map-reading skills are, you will inevitably get lost in this labyrinthine city. there's no cars, motorbikes, bikes, trains or buses here (well, there's water buses along the grand canal...€€), so to get from A to B becomes a matter of just winding your way through the alleyways - following spraypainted arrows & sharpie'd directions. everyday was a new adventure.


sad news: being the clever person i am, i've somehow managed to wipe half of my photos from venice. more than slightly devastated, i'm in the middle of raking the internet for ways to recover some 400 odd photos. suggestions are warmly welcomed! fingers crossed i manage to bring them safely back home - but in the meantime, here's a random bunch of snaps (aka photo overload - all the photos were gorgeous, i couldn't choose!) from our first couple of days in 'the floating city'...


ciao!



S.
gelati numero uno...
heaven in a tub
venetian washing lines
cheeky nap after a hard day living in venice
always full of gondolas - some famous house sits along this fondamenta
colour-coordinated italiano pegs
went for a gorgeous gondola trip throught venice's narrow, winding canals
very low bridges, had to duck our heads!
grand canal  
our gondolier
picture perfect
bought an amazing leather bag here for 15€
ponte dell'accademia locks
italian vogue feat. excessive amounts of pegs
gelati number..... oops, i lost count
sharing is caring
gondola repair station
love/hate relationship with our cabin's door beads
the grand canal
rooftop terrace 
nom
would you fancy a cone or a clip?
venezia la notte
lonely planet ftw
window shopping

Friday, July 15, 2011

bastille day

france's national holiday falls on the 14th of july and the reason behind the celebrations really need no introduction...
normally i would be working, but all of a sudden at 8pm, au pair mama drops an amazing bombshell on me - no, they wouldn't be going out because yes, they were going to climb onto the roof of our apartment and watch the fireworks from there (their photos are incredible, living on top of the montmartre hill gives a stunning view out over paris).

already half-dressed in the hopes of being able to get out and join the celebrations - 5 minutes later i was out the door, down the metro & meeting up with friends at champ de mars. there were quite literally millions of people flocking there, and even some really dedicated people who had settled down the day before - all to get a prime posi for the eiffel tower fireworks. bastille day is big in france; it is huge in paris.

we found a great spot halfway towards the tower, with the entire tower in eyesight. what a luxury! a stunning pinky/golden sunset later, and we were waiting excitedly for the sky to turn inky black for the 11pm firework show. it didn't disappoint. this year's theme was 'a westside story', and so the fireworks were accompanied by ridiculously loud speakers - booming singing in the rain, the sound of music,  all that jazz & supercalifragalisticexpialidocious, as well as some french classics from la comédie française

was a magical experience watching the tower silhouetted in front of multi-coloured explosions of light. my camera just doesn't do it justice, but i threw in some snaps i took anyway..!


joyeuse fête du quatorze juillet!




S.
quality rosé..
yesssss, i decked myself out in red, white & blue for bastille day celebrations. just to get that much more into it, y'know. 
photos of photos of fireworks
berets & stripes
back home around 2am, and found this little note on my bed, from au pair mama  - "hello miss, can you get the kids up & look after them in the morning? thanks! bisous"
- noah (22 months) woke up at 5:30am. love my job...