The Best Summer Ever | Florence

Sunset over the River Arno

Our host mothers waved us off at the platform in Cremona after a week teaching at summer camp, and Louise and I headed to Florence to fill the four-day gap we had before meeting my parents in Le Marche. I was very ill-informed about Florence and wasn't that keen on going at first- simply because I wanted to go to Rome more! However, we had an incredible time and I felt very safe walking alone or just with Louise through this Italian city, which is always an important factor when travelling in a new place.

Beautiful Ponte Vecchio. Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponte_Vecchio

On our first day in Florence, we were happily re-united with Greg, a friend from camp training at Blue Beach (read about that here). We spent most of our time in Florence with him and had a blast! I instantly fell in love with Florence's enchanting tiny back roads, and soon realised that at any point, you can turn a corner and find an amazing attraction. Admittedly, I did not know much about Florence before going there. There’d be occasions where I'd be admiring Florence’s architecture, thinking how cool it was, oblivious to the fact that I was actually appreciating extremely famous monuments. The Ponte Vecchio for example, a medieval stone bridge that arches over the River Arno which is comprised of lots of little jewellery shops!

During this adventure we did what most Brits abroad would do: find a cheap bar! Everywhere we went a pint of lager was around 7 euro, and our purse strings simply couldn't stretch that far for a regular beer. So we were very surprised to find a bar on the main piazza of the Duomo (Piazza del Duomo) that sold a pint of 8% beer for 6 euro, aptly named Gasoline. Bargain. As the night crept on and more Gasoline was consumed, we found ourselves dancing and singing camp songs to passers-by on the doorstep of the Duomo. It was so much fun, and even though we got a few funny looks I think the majority enjoyed it. Or maybe that's the Gasoline talking! We then found ourselves joining in to a circle of dance with some random Italians. The dance resembled Irish dancing, and all participants were holding hands and hopping around. Of course, we joined in and pretended that we knew what we were doing, although when I was pushed into the middle for my solo I knew it was time to leave!

Dancing by Il Duomo was so fun!

Next day, despite a horrendous Gasoline induced hangover, we went for a walk and bumped into Chloe (another friend who was at camp with us). She was on her way up to one of the highest points in Florence, Michelangelo's Square, which overlooks all the beautiful terracotta-topped Florentine buildings. We tagged along, and I soon regretted it... It was a horrid ordeal when hungover in the midday heat, but I'm sure it is lovely to do in better circumstances! I think I sweated out my entire body weight, almost throwing up in the process. The views from up there were spectacular however, and it was such a good way to see the whole of Florence. Once I had gotten my breath back, we began our descent which, let me tell you, is a lot easier than the way up.

Florence from Michelangelo's Square

We thought a free walking tour would be helpful to learn about some of the history and amazing things we saw around us. I had heard that these can be very interesting and informative, but we had a less fortunate experience. After about ten minutes of hanging off the back of a tour group struggling to hear any of the guide's info, we snuck off to the leather market which was much more fun. I love leather, so this was absolute heaven for me! I had to refrain from buying everything as my student budget screamed at me, and also I had very little extra room in my case (rookie travelling error). I did buy some beautiful Murano glass necklace pendants though, as they weren't too expensive and didn't need to go in my case as I put them straight on! After the torment of being surrounded by tonnes of beautiful leather bags, Louise, Greg, Chloe and I headed to a restaurant where we ate a classic Fiorentina T bone steak meal and a glass of Chianti for 20 euro each. It had to be done!

So many beautiful sunsets

On the first Sunday of each month, most, if not all, museums and attractions are free to enter. We went to the Accademia gallery to see the famous Michelangelo's statue of David, and also entered the beautiful Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, otherwise known as Il Duomo di Firenze. Unfortunately, the incredible exterior of the Duomo set my hopes up, so I was a little underwhelmed by the very plain interior. Remember, if you are thinking of going to Italy, you cannot enter any place of worship without suitable clothing on. I had some trouble because I had denim shorts and a cami top on so Louise and I had to rearrange our clothing so that it covered our shoulders and knees. (This reminds me of the time I was chased out of a church in Sanremo by an elderly woman for wearing unsuitable clothing. Believe me, they can be scary!)

Prettiest cathedral ever

Louise, me and Greg visiting big Dave

One night, after spending the evening drinking Gasoline and staring wondrously at the beautiful Duomo right next to our favourite bar, we went in search of a nightclub. Unfortunately, clumsy Louise fell off a curb and hurt her already injured ankle. It was a very tense moment because without Louise's ankle, our trip could be in serious jeopardy. So, what do we do in a tense moment like this? We sing the Frog song, of course! So there's Louise on the floor in agony, and Greg, Chloe and I hopping around singing the frog song to distract Louise from the pain and diffuse any "oh no, is she crying?... Oh man she's crying! Shit." moments. No wonder people hate tourists so much! After a while, Louise was back on her feet, but wanted to go back to the hostel. So after taking her home and saying good night to Chloe who was staying in a different hostel to us, Greg and I grabbed a kebab and went to the little piazza round the corner from our hostel. It was packed full of Italians who were all standing chatting and we felt so out of place. We didn't want to just sit in the corner on our own so we gathered the courage to walk around the piazza a few times. We didn't want to stick out like a sore thumb so we uttered the odd Italian word every now and again to try and blend in. In hindsight, we probably should have just stayed in the corner with our doner wraps, but there was no holding back that night! At least we had a laugh!

During an adventure one day which took us away from the main central areas of the city, we stumbled upon a little gelateria (ice cream shop). Little did I know that this would become one of my favourite spots in Florence. Firstly, in my whole life, I have never come across fresh peanut flavour ice cream, even in Italy. Second, I am a huge fan of nutty things, and pistacchio and nocciola (hazelnut) will always be the flavours I dive for on entry of a gelateria, so the fact this place sold PEANUT flavour meant it was always going to be a winner! I have never enjoyed an ice cream as much as this one. It was that good, that I dragged Louise round the maze of Florentine back streets the next day just get another. It was our last day in Florence and there was no way that I could leave without finding Il Gelato Gourmet for one last taste of that peanutty heaven. It took us around two hours of getting lost, asking loads of people for directions and uncountable puzzled looks at our city map. When we finally arrived, I almost cried tears of joy. I then proceeded to devour two beautiful peanut gelati, one after the other.

                   

After our little ice cream hunt we went for a lay down in the hostel. We were sung asleep by the voice of an Australian angel who was playing his guitar on the other side of the window next to the bed. That in itself was amazing. Then, the next thing I knew, I was woken up by what I can only describe as two Australian Gods who were moving into our ten-bed dorm! They were all sweaty and hot from lugging their bags from the station and had no option but to strip off. I can't even explain this. The memory is too much to handle. Louise and I just gawped at them, and the next thing we knew, they were off to see the city. That's the best thing about staying in hostels, that you are able to meet so many (beautiful) people. I must note, our hostel was also particularly good because it was cheap, was in a great location and had a kitchen which meant we could save money on meals and cook pasta alla gorgonzola for breakfast every day, mmmm. (Hostel Santa Monaca)

One of David's finer angles

We left the next day and headed to Le Marche, where my Gramps is from and also where my family have a farmhouse. My parents joined us there for a week and we celebrated my birthday! Read all about it in my next post!

I hope you enjoyed hearing about my time in Florence. Sadly, we missed out on visiting many things such as the Uffizi Gallery which is a shame, and we most definitely didn't make the most of our stay in Florence and experience enough of it, but boy, is it an incredible place! It is safe to say that Florence definitely is the best city I have ever been to!

A presto!

Olivia xx

The Best Summer Ever | Cremona and Camp Tutoring

That time I was in charge of a group of Italian kids for a week....

Warning: I get a little bit enthusiastic and excited in parts of this. Read at your own risk.

This part of my journey brings me to Cremona, where I will be spending one week teaching in a summer camp, as well as living with an Italian family for the duration of my stay.

So, my last post recalled the last few moments on the train before we met our host families in Cremona. My host mum Giovanna was waiting on the platform for me and straight away I was received with a huge hug, before I even knew who she was! We hopped in the car and off we went, to their lovely house in the countryside of Cremona. It is a beautiful place in the north of Italy, near (ish) to Milan, and the 'Pini' family took me in for the week and provided me with lovely Italian food, culture and experiences. 

First meeting with Giovanna at the station

My host family had requested a sociable girl to stay with them. I thought this was brilliant that I had been chosen to fill these shoes.. However, the reason the family specified this is because they had Church Club activities scheduled for every night that I would be with them. Now, I'm not a religious person. However, I am well up for trying most things, and going to church and singing along to all the Italian choral tunes on the (specially reserved for me) front row seat is quite something. I didn't have a clue what was going on and my host family and everyone around me started shaking my hand during one part of the mass which was quite bizarre, but fun all the same! 

Welcome banners!

Every morning, Giovanna made me an espresso, packed lunch and then took me to school bright and early. It was really strange being mothered so much after being at uni for a year without my wonderful Mama doing those things for me. After an exhausting day at camp, G would come and pick me up at 4.30pm and I'd go home ready for a smashing night at church club. Orrrrr feel really bad when I told the family I wanted a night off to sleep! Mostly I made the most of these opportunities to try something new though, however tired I was.

Bike ride along the River Po with the family

These new experiences even led me to going on a mammoth bike ride in the midday Sunday sun- aren't Sundays for resting?! But it was lovely. We went on a tour of the area all through the countryside and even stopped off at their Nonna's house for a chat. On the way back, coming along a busy main road, my flipflop came off and I threw myself off the bike to save it. In hindsight, this was not a good idea as it meant I was shouting "OIIIIII, OIII!!" to Bea, my beautiful host sister who is pictured above, as I clambered about looking for my flipflop as well as my dignity, whilst a lorry came towards me. This is why I don't ride a bike on the regular...

Host family dinner selfie!

As well as my beloved Church Club outings, my host family also treated me to dinner and late night ice cream which was brilliant. It seems heading out of the house at 11pm to go sit in the main piazza and eat gelato is absolutely normal in Italy . I loved it anyway, and really appreciated my host family trying to show me the Italian way of life all the time.

Awkward, tired family photo

Let's talk about CAMP!

There were around 60 children at our camp based at a school in Cremona, between the ages of around 5 and 12. There were five of us tutors, and after living together for up to two weeks we were great pals so we had a whale of a time. I had a class of 13 ten/eleven-year-olds and they were a dream to work with! They knew just enough English to communicate with me so I could actually teach them and be effective. Whereas some of the younger kids would simply respond with a shoulder shrug and a "che?" and then run away, slice of focaccia in hand.  

Cremona camp tutors

Each morning, as soon as the kids arrived we gathered them all together to do a SONG CIRCLE (best part of the day) and leapt around in front of them looking like fools. The first time we ever did this, the kids just looked at us like we were aliens. Like, seriously. They were waaaayy too cool to do the frog song. So I looked each one of them in the eye as I put my HEART AND SOUL into that damn frog song and broke down those barriers! Soon they were loving it, and by day two they performed so well that their parents who looked on from the other side of the school gates even wanted to join in. That, my friends, is the power of the song circle.

Someone was excited for the fashion show...

So then we each split off into our classes. This is when my class realised that I was really a sweaty, panting mess (maybe a little too enthusiastic in song circle) and I didn't really have a clue how to teach English to these Italian dudes. So I blagged it. And it was incredible. Through being an utter weirdo, the kids were fascinated and really paid attention to the strange person who would randomly sing the camp songs or excessively high-5 them. And although  we were not supposed to speak any Italian to the kids, I may have cracked the odd phrase out which would have them in hysterics because I apparently didn't have a clue what I was saying!

Fun and games!! (They survived)

During break times and daily camp competitions we would all come together and have a laugh playing various games, receiving about 5 loom bands a day, and even home made food items from their nonni (grandparents). The children were so lovely and the idea that 'Italian children are naughty' completely diminished almost immediately.

Post- camp drinks and 'meeting'

We put on a fashion show one day which was soooo fun! I think I enjoyed it more than the kids did, judging by the pictures, Some of the children really embraced it, by bringing in their special clothes that they wanted to show off, or even by making clothes in class. Us camp tutors strutted down the catwalk before the kids did to show them not to be afraid and just to have fun. This meant borrowing various 'fashion' items off the kids. See pictures below!

Tom and I strutting our stuff

Fashion show antics

Throughout the week we were working towards creating a 'spettacolo'- a final show. I wanted the kids to write it themselves so then they could really enjoy performing it in front of their families. So my class ended up with an 'explorers' theme, in which the actors would travel to various different countries and do something that the country is famous for. Therefore, we had one guy acting as Adam Richman from Man vs Food (that was Leonardo's choice), another acting the role of footballer Neymar, and the girls were Brazillian festival dancers,.. just with clothes on. So somehow, these ten- year- old Italian children wrote, learned and acted the whole of an English script that I helped them create, just in one week. Proud moment. However, how rubbish is it that we are not taught such a high level of language in schools in the UK?

MY AWESOME CLASS!!

 The spettacolo marked the end of our time at camp. It was incredible to see how well the kids had done and progressed. Some parents even came up to me and thanked me in very broken English for helping their children, and that they had seen a big improvement. During the last few speeches and thank-yous of the show whilst us tutors were on stage, my class were chanting my name. It was such a good feeling to be the cool teacher that the children liked. I can definitely see how teachers get so much satisfaction out of their jobs. However, I am unsure about my future in a teaching career.....

Thank you to LSF for providing such a unique opportunity and also to my awesome host family for putting up with me all week! I would definitely recommend that anybody steps out of their comfort zone and does something like this. You don't need to know any foreign languages for most of these types of jobs, and you may meet some brill people and create life long memories like I did. ;)

Enough of the soppy bullsh. We're going to Florence next!!

A presto!

Olivia xx

The Best Summer Ever | A Short Stay in Milan

Milano!

"I'm flying, Jack!"

EasyJet lovin'

As I mentioned in my introductory post this is part of a series of posts all about my wonderful summer trip abroad. This is the first of the series so where's better to start than the first city in Italy that I visited? After a slightly rocky flight, two pale and very excited English girls emerged into the Italian sunshine on August 11th in the rich and commercial city of Milano.

Excited!

Anxious Louise doesn't like flying!

Like the tourists that we were, we had printed off sheets and sheets from the hostel which gave some very unhelpful directions to the hotel. It states that when we arrived, we had to find a bus that would take us from the airport to the hotel which in itself was harder than it sounds! Once we were on an extremely sweaty bus that looked like it might take us in the right direction, I managed to find myself a nice spot to stand in with my two huge suitcases. Unfortunately, that spot happened to be the dodgy floor bit that moved every time the bus turned, and I ended up falling into many grumpy Italians who were not having any of it!

Once out of that nightmare bus episode, my friend and travelling companion Louise and I were stood like too little lost puppies on the edge of a very busy main road. There was only one thing for it: spending £££ on 3G to find the hotel, which turned out to be right round the corner but took us about an hour and a half to find in the midday heat. One word: sweaty.

Beautiful Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Our hotel, appropriately named RossoVino,  was very similar to a hostel, but it had private rooms. It was very reasonably priced and it provided a good base for us to explore the city. Each day we got the bus into the centre of Milan where you can find many beautiful sights to see, shops to cry in because you can't afford anything and possibly the best ice cream of your life (that is, until you go to Florence...). Now, I'm no historian, but anyone can appreciate the beauty of the many stunning pieces of architecture on display all around the city- my favourite was the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II as well as the mind-blowing Duomo.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Amazing floor in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Unfortunately we didn't get to go inside the Duomo because firstly, it meant waiting outside in the scorching sunshine in the main piazza, and secondly because I had nothing to cover my bare legs and shoulders to be respectable enough to enter God's house. We saw plenty of other churches on the trip that almost made up for it though, I think....

Duomo

Aside from historical sights to see, we did enjoy many other sights. These mostly consisted of: the beautiful Abercrombie models who stand in the doorway of the shop; the best pistachio ice cream of my life, free red wine in a soup bowl, and more Abercrombie models. The ice cream was from a little shop in the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele  II and I highly recommend it if you are ever passing by! One evening, Louise and I paid a little visit to ice cream heaven, then took a stroll through the Galleria out to the piazza of the Duomo. Some men were busking so beautifully and romantically that I remember thinking to myself "if I die in this moment, with this ice cream and this sound of the music and this beautiful view... I'll be happy." That's how damn good it was. 

This dude was awesome.

And then there's the Abercrombie models, whose golden torsos I longed to stroke SO BADLY but Louise wouldn't let me because it's "not politically correct". Thanks for that, Lou.. The free wine came about because a restaurant we ate at gave us a voucher for free wine so we went back the next night! It was quite a treat, to not spend money on something in such an expensive city. And also, because it was served in a bowl!!? 

                   

Best pistachio ice cream ever

Louise and her yummy vino e pane

Fizzy vino in a bowl

We spent the rest of the time exploring back streets, pizzerias, eating some questionable picnics on our hotel room bed, getting very lost and attempting to flirt with the cute receptionist. Thinking about it now, we definitely did not make the most of Milan. It rained for one or two days which put a stop to some of our plans which was a shame. We also wanted to check out the nightlife but were a little worried for our safety so we didn't attempt it! However, it was a nice place to visit to start off our trip and we managed to tick off some vital sights from our list.

Yes. Yes that is a whole cooked chicken. #picnic

YUM!

I must admit, when in Milan, I didn't really get the warm fuzzy feeling that I am used to getting when I visit Italy, and I reckon it's because I just loooove the countryside and rustic Italy so much. I hope that I can return to Milan and find some nice rustic areas a bit further outside perhaps, so that it isn't a no-go for the future! I'm sure there are some of these said areas; if you know of any then please let me know! Also make sure to follow me on Bloglovin for updates- the link is in the side bar :)

Pizza for breakfast 

Cheeky

I hope you enjoyed reading about my short stay in Milano. Keep your eyes peeled for my next post, in which I will tell you all about my trip to Cinque Terre which I promise you I am much more enthusiastic about because it was such an amazing place!

A presto!

Olivia x

DIY Scented Soy Candle

A thoughtful Christmas gift

As the winter months are now upon us, it is cold, wet and miserable so I thought it would be a nice idea to express my crafty side and attempt to make my own candles that help create that much-loved snuggly atmosphere when its dreadful outside.

My friend told me about 'Handmade Christmas' which is where you make all or as many presents as possible that you intend to give to people. I think this is a lovely idea for many reasons; firstly I have always preferred thoughtful gifts that perhaps have no monetary value. In my opinion, there's just something lovely about receiving a gift that a person simply really wanted to give you, with lots of feeling and thought. Second, it can be really enjoyable to get stuck into a project or a task of making something for someone, knowing how much they will appreciate it! And finally, I personally don't enjoy dragging myself around the shops  looking for and spending unnecessary amounts on a present that the person in mind doesn't need, or want, for that matter.

So, my first idea for Handmade Christmas was to make my own candles. I had been inspired to do this by a friend who showed me her attempt at this, and I loved it! I think it's a great gift idea because you can tailor the candles to particular people's wants, for example by changing the scent, colour and the container that the candle is in (e.g glass jar, ceramic pot, teacup etc).

With the whole 'keeping the costs down' thing in mind, I sourced my materials online and from charity shops. Ebay is a brilliant site to find competitive prices for the wax, and I found my soy wax and suitable wicks for about £7. That was 1kg of wax with 20 free wicks included. I got my scent from a little hippy shop in town for about £1.50 but these are also online for very good prices and with a huge range of scents! The rest of my materials were found in the local charity shop and were all very cheap. So far so good!

I have read many ways you can make candles at home and I pretty much used this knowledge as well as a little bit of fluke to make mine, so I'll tell you how I managed it!

Materials

·         Wax (I used soy but paraffin is also cheap and easy to use)

·         Saucepan

·         Glass bowl

·         Stirrer (of some sort)

·         Scent (optional)

·         Wick

·         Sellotape

·         Jar/pot for candle

·         Hair grips (or anything else you have to hold the wick upright)

Step 1

·         Create your double boiler by putting boiling water in the saucepan with the glass bowl on top of it

Step 2

·         Measure out your wax. Do this by pouring the wax into your desired container for the candle, and then repeat. So double the amount of hard wax will be just right once it is melted in the container. Put the wax into the glass bowl and gently heat.

Step 3

·         Position your wick in the container. It needs to be sturdy so when you pour the wax in it doesn't dislodge and bend. I used sellotape to stick mine to the bottom and it worked pretty well!

Step 4

·         Stir the wax occasionally until it is totally clear and really hot- some people recommend you measure the temperature but realistically, who has a thermometer hanging around for this purpose? I certainly don't... So just keep on heating it for a while after its gone clear.

Step 5

·         Take off the heat and then put in your scent. I'm still tampering with the amount of scent I need to add- and I think the measurements differ depending on the scent and its strength. So just throw it in until it is quite strong because some of the scent will evaporate. Give it a stir.

Step 6

·         Pour the melted wax into the container up until about 1.5cm from the top. It should be just the right amount of wax because of your previous professional hard wax measuring.

Step 7

·         You might need to secure the wick  so that it stands up straight whilst the wax cools. I panicked and used hair grips because it was all I had in the moment that I realised I wasn't prepared for the wax to move/bend so much!

Step 8

Let the wax cool. It only takes a few hours so be patient and keep your fingers out of there!

You can decorate the candle as you wish, perhaps with ribbon and gift tags if it isn't for you! I hope you enjoyed this post and found it useful, and perhaps go and make your own candles as a thoughtful gift this Christmas J

A presto!

Olivia x