day 6 - modena in the sunshine ^^

day 6! 

Today we went to the town? city? of Modena, famous for balsamic vinegar and being beautiful. the weather was incredible i think the best weather of the whole trip and what a perfect place to enjoy it! 

the day started with a surprisingly leisurely walk to the station - i guess at this point we learnt our lesson about running lol. the train journey was very short, italian high speed railway is insane :0.

me and my mum had already planned to spend the day in modena whilst the rest of my family went to the ferrari museum in masenello which i couldn’t care less about lol. 

the walk to the town centre was nice and quiet and we walked past the military academy which we had originally planned to go on a tour around but it was too booked. it’s very beautiful from the outside tho ^^

military academy 

we then got seats at a cute cafe just outside the academy and sat in the sun. i had a macchiato and we shared a crema brioche (which is actually what north italy calls a cornetto, which means italian style croissant)

we then walked to a nearby church because we are both obsessed and it was really nicely decorated. 

 we then walked into the town square to get a map and saw the most beautiful clock tower ^o^ not sure if the detail will come up on my photo  or not …

modena has a huge cathedral which we wanted to go into and the architecture is insane! it really reminds me of the game ‘monument valley’ or what i think gormenghast looks like.

such detailed rooftop!

my favourite saint is Saint Lucia or Lucy and she is very popular in this area so they are lots of paintings and statues of her! i’m not catholic but i do really like saints and stuff because it’s all very dramatic and beautiful hehe.

Santa Lucia

we went on a walk around town which was so sunny and peaceful. we also got lunch at some point and ate it in a park while i nearly fell asleep because there was a fountain nearby haha.

 *natural white noise ~~*

i had a cheese and tomato toastie which was okay lol but i was ravenous and could of eaten anything at that point tbh. 

we attempted to get into an old monastery but it was closed for renovations but look at the pretty house over the road! 

pistachio green ~

my mum also bought some balsamic vinegar to bring home. we didn’t get the super expensive stuff because we still want to be able to use it lol. we met up with the rest of my family and went to a food market and looked round shops.

pretty book cover

we then left for the train and i got a lemon soda on the platform hehe :p

later on we went out to eat and i got a really mid vegan burger which will not have a photo because it was so mid. we went home and played poker though which was so fun! 

i think modena is my favourite place i went to on this trip - the vibes were so chill and fancy. not to be a nerd but it reminded me a lot of the town (which is supposed to be paris?) in pokémon X and Y. would 10/10 go again.

day 5 … florence! + ginseng coffee

day 5!

(also posted on the wrong day but what the hell) today we went to florence which is a place i’ve always wanted to go to. 

we were all so late to get the train and were literally sprinting down the street but we made it yay! 

the train was fancy af and had a coffee and snack vending machine on board. i used my 2€ to finally try a ginseng coffee which is a popular drink in italy. it was amaze… like life changing deliciousness.

when we arrived in florence we stopped at a really cute coffee shop for some pastries. they were scrumptious and the shop was so fancy ~

me and my mum had bought tickets to go to the Ufuzzi Gallery for 12 so we walked around the city while we waited. it was super busy but really historic and beautiful.

the gallery has lots of very famous pieces of art in it , for example pieces by leonardo di vinci, botticelli and caravaggio. none of which i took pictures of lol. it was really great though. 

this painting is maybe my favourite i saw.

actually this is by botticelli :0

we then went to get food and met up with everyone else. we had sandwiches and once again i think i made a weird choice. mine was cheesy af even though in this pic it just looks like lettuce.

looking out into the river in florence.

we then climbed to the top of this hill so we could see the whole city. the view is crazy!

we got gelato after this ^^ i got cherry flavour it was very good :p

the ‘duomo’ was closed unfortunately but it is still incredible from outside :)

we went back on the train and i got aubergine parmigiana for dinner - it was pretty good! i think vegetarian options are seriously lacking in variety in this town though lol

because i am now obsessed with ginseng coffee i got an instant version from the supermarket to take home ^^

day 4 - art exhibition and more!

 hello sorry i forgot to do this yesterday but here is my day 4 blog! we got the train to the town of Ferrara today, it’s a very beautiful historic town that wasn’t too far to get to. There’s a huge medieval castle in the centre which i didn’t go inside but walked around the courtyard. my sister went in though and said it was really cool! we then went to get pizza to eat and it was pretty damn good :p

i wanted to go to the Alphonse Mucha exhibition. Mucha was an 19th century artist and illustrator from the Czech Republic and is most known for his ‘art nouveau style’. he is one of my favourite artists and one of my biggest art inspirations so i was so happy that an exhibition of his work was on!

outside of the gallery

Muchas art! i love the silver in this ^^

he made huge paintings for theatre shows and advertisments.

some stamps he designed!

a beautiful bottle

there was so much amazing art i didn’t photograph lol but it really didn’t do them justice. i got some postcards of my favourite pieces but even those don’t really express how good it looks in real life. 

my shoe sole fell apart at this point and i had to buy some glue to stick it back together T-T i got lemon soda tho … the best drink ever!!

we then walked to the cathedral in the town centre. it was under refurbishment on the outside so i didn’t expect much but i was so taken aback. it is so so beautiful!

i spent lots of time at this chapel taking all the details in. the cathedral wasn’t busy apart from people having mass in the corner chapel. the sound of their chanting echoed throughout the building creating a eerie but really ethereal atmosphere.

there were also nuns leading the mass - i had never seen a nun before today lol. they are cool 

my photos do not do the vibe justice …

we then had to speed walk back to the station + my broken shoe so we didn’t miss the train. we made it with like 1 min lmaoo… 

we then went back home and i had tomato salad and vegan frankfurters with bread for tea :p scrumptious !

walkin around town and stuff (picture heavy) - day 3

today was great because my sister is here!! she flew in yesterday night and we met up this morning ^_^

the day started with meeting my sister and her bf as they finished their coffee and showing them a bit of the city.

ootd!

top: cecil tokyo (charity shop)

skirt: unknown (charity shop)

tights: st Michael (charity shop)

boots: fitflop(vinted)

we went to the huge basilica in the town square which was incredibly beautiful, i’m not catholic but wow they know how to decorate. 

i love statues like this, so detailed

i bought a postcard and a charm ^_^

then we went to get (expensive) but really tasty sandwiches. mine had cheese, sundried tomato and fig jam.. not sure if i would get the same thing again lol it was very salty. 

my sister and her bf eating sandwiches :p

we then went to the ancient anatomical theatre which was used for the first human dissections in history!

old af library

we then went out for an espresso which was very bitter lol! 

but i did feel very italian 

adorable biscuits for sale! look at the pikachu!

me and my sister went vintage shopping after and she bought a cardigan and a belt. look at this tomato bag!!!!!

cool collection of stuffs

we then went out for an aperol spritz hehe  #italianaf

cool sign (this is a constant theme for my photos lol)

we then went to go have dinner at an restaurant, it was a place which changed the menu every day so i was worried they wouldn’t have anything vegetarian but they did !

tasty pasta with locally sourced mushrooms ^^

*we also had lots of red wine lol

then we got gelato for dessert and i got orange blossom and walnut flavour which was amaze but not as good as the one i had on monday soz. 

this was all i bought today (apart from food) even though i went to loads of shops! 

i looked in a music shop for like 30mins but couldn’t find anything - why do no shops stock 90s/2000s emo or lilith faire esque  female singer songwriter cds - i know i would buy them all!! tomorrow we have another big day planned so i’m gonna read my book and pass the fuck out. peace