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The time has come again to fully immerse myself into the photos and memories that Italy gave us. It’s been a few weeks since our return and I haven’t escaped the feeling that this country leaves me every time. I sort the maps of the different cities where we have been, the tickets and all the little things that I collect from each corner (I don’t know if you do the same, but I’ve started from 10th grade) in a folder (not a virtual one, a real one) and for a second I moved there again.
Initially, we and our friends had a plan to travel to Italy by car, but two days before our trip we gave up and bought plane tickets to Pisa. We thought that the road was too long – 16 hours with a car or just two hours by plane and the ticket prices were very tempting (about $100 per person in both directions). Of course, the adventure with a car can’t be compared to any other, as well as the views you can see, but the truth is that for a similar trip in which to stop and walk everything around you, you must have at least 2 weeks available, but we didn’t. The fact that most of the places we wanted to see were very difficult to reach by car also contributed and now I think we were right and I don’t regret leaving the car in Sofia. Especially with their Italian way of driving and terribly narrow streets…
So, after we landed in Pisa, the next day we headed to the small provincial town Sarzana, where we shared with our friends a house floor (nearly 100 square meters, which is rare in the larger tourist towns of Italy), courtyard and barbecue. Of course, the idea was to have a car when we booked the house and we could afford to be anywhere. A small pity that we just realized when we arrived and was really a huge adventure at first. Luckily, the owners were very cool, they knew a little English (this is not typical for Italians, because almost no one speaks it, I don’t know why), were super responsive and had a huge yard with fresh vegetables, fruit trees and everyone in the neighborhood would come to buy from them. Oh, what kind of aromatic lemons they had…
On the next day we aimed to Cinque Terre. One of my dream destinations which I had seen only on postcards. We had a plan to walk along the pedestrian path that runs through the five villages (Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore), but it was unfortunately closed. So we bought a full day card (16 euros per person) and were travelling by train, which was very convenient, with air conditioning and came on every 10 minutes. Again we were able to enjoy the 5 villages and the aroma of freshly baked focaccia all over the narrow streets. I tried here the most wonderful pasta and a traditional lemon ice cream. Well, someone managed to steal my purse and papers, but fortunately with a little money in it and a spare passport in the house. I didn’t understand how it happened, but I don’t want to think about it anymore. Just be careful, I had read before that there is a lot of stealing in Italy, especially in this place that was full of tourists, I believe I was careful enough, but you never know. So just bring with you the money for the day, as I happily did and leave backup documents where you are staying. But never mind, I missed mentioning a very sweet and close to Chinquee Tere town – Levanto. Kalo fell in love with it, he even liked it more than Cinque Terre. The truth is that it is much calmer and equally terribly beautiful. It’s worth seeing if you have time.
Perhaps my favorite part of this Italian adventure was the red carpet walk to Portofino – the heart of the Italian Riviera. Here you have the option to drive all this distance, but I think you will lose a lot if you do not walk these 8km. The trail starts from Rapallo and Santa Margherita Ligure where you can leave your car at one of the paid parking lots (about 2 euros per hour) and enjoy your coastal walk. Along the way you will overlook several turquoise waters where you can stay and sail, some small towns and many colorful houses rising terraced to the top of the mountains until the yachts on the coast of Portofino are finally uncovered. There is a very interesting magic and energy in this city. Majestic, mysterious, but at the same time you will feel it very close to you, life-sparing and different from the other cities that you have seen before. Apart from the fancy part, where a crowd of people gather around a star’s yacht waiting for them to go down for a lunch, there is something for everyone in Portofino. But honestly, it’s really hard to spend more than an hour there because it’s so small town. Therefore, I recommend you to visit the not so famous town – Camogli, which fascinated us. I have the feeling that the less famous in Italy one town is, the more beautiful and peaceful it is. It is this mysterious feel that I really like in Camogli.
Then we headed for Florence for a few days. I will remember it with the most unique pizza, the orange liqueur “Aperol”, a song by Tiziano Ferro, who was haunting me everywhere, Mario’s great apartment, who greeted us so sweetly with a typical Italian breakfast and the fairly empty streets in the evening. This city became totally different when the sun went down. During the day the heat is murderous, the streets too narrow or the people too much, I don’t know, but in the evening everything changed. Every day we were climbing the tallest part of the town where we met the sunset. Then the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and the bridges of Florence were littered with golden light that showed their beauty even more. That’s the way it’s worth to see Florence when the sun highlights every one of its curves and the evening becomes even more beautiful when it’s empty… It’s true love.
I miss you Italy!

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Dress 1 – SUPERDRY
Dress 2 – PEPE JEANS
Dress 3 – SUPERDRY
Bag – PEPE JEANS
Hat – Achilleas Accessories
Sneakers – Converse
Sunglasses – Ray-Ban
What do you think?