The number one query I get is ‘why don’t I take my camera around more often?’
My first love would always be portraiture whether it’s fashion or beauty related. I do however enjoy taking photos of new places and people in other countries but for some reason I’ve just failed to do as much in Melbourne. The other day I’ve had the great fun of accompanying my awesome film director friend J and just rediscovering how cool Melbourne really is. Here are some photos. Enjoy =)
This seaside town marked the last stop on my grand European adventure. A very satisfying end to finally relax and soak in some sunshine before heading back to Paris!
How do you like them apples? Currently I’m sitting in Melbourne reminiscing.
I love Italy. After possibly France and Japan, Italy would be my favourite country. The food is gorgeous, the people unusually warm and the culture is beautiful. I have already visited Venice earlier, and this time around we’ll be hitting Milan, Florence and Pisa before traveling by train around the coast to Nice. Really around this point, traveling is beginning to take a toll. After Budapest, the weather has gotten cold again, reaching freezing temperatures in Florence for some bizarre reason, hotels are more expensive, bags are heavy and our propensity for understanding language has gone to non-existent.
In Milan especially I made the horrible mistake of checking us into what is now termed the ‘pimp hotel’. Notwithstanding the terrible directions and wandering around lost for a couple of hours in the middle of the night, we had high hopes for a hotel with ‘grand’ in its name. When we arrived however….we were met with the duty manager wearing a pimping gold chain around his neck and a heavy slurry voice in an attempt to charm. The bedroom was small, the bed was definitely not twin beds, with several discernible stains and there were no hot water in the shower. While we were checking in, several highly suspicious elderly men passed by to pick up keys and go up. My paranoid radar was bouncing through the roof. The next morning, we found a bullet hole in the window.
Needless to say, we ran.
Milan itself is a high rush shopping paradise. It’s great to walk around and get acquainted with hidden gelatterias or pizzerias , or wander down the big streets lined by the biggest shops you can find. There was even a castle fort! The prime attraction however is the Duomo, situated right in the middle as a towering gilgamesh of various influences- in fact it was just recently finished 50-80 years ago. We even managed to get in for Easter’s High Mass, certainly something not to be missed!
Florence on the other hand was much humbler. Less people, almost deserted churches and still amazing food. They had the best gelati and I absolutely adored browsing through the daily market. Funnily enough here I had my first encounter with the laundromat. Figuring out how to wash my clothes in Italian is a hoot.
Have I mentioned Italy has the best coffee ever? How did I ever survive without this stuff? Now I know why there are coffee addicts.
And well, Pisa was alright. It had that tower….several in fact. And a big river, which was pretty decent. Mmm…pizza……
Budapest was where I took control. We arrived by train and then, alright…to be fair it took awhile to figure out where we were and how to take public transportation but hey, everything was in Hungarian. We got to our hotel eventually after asking people; the joy of being able to ask someone for directions! It’s my philosophy that there is nothing we can’t get with a smile and lots of gesturing.
It’s so good to finally have good weather however!
Budapest felt really young, a sort of casual student like simplicity in its vibe but with really interesting architecture and art around. One of the major experiences we couldn’t miss out on of course were the famous public baths and unfortunately I couldn’t take any photos! Not when I was running around in a rented swimsuit, bracing the cold to jump into herbed infused heated pools and sweating saunas! Can’t say I loved it, but I certainly did it!
Second day we walked up to the castle and was greeted with a magnificent view of the city. Followed by some history, and a brief market visit. Then it was time to fly to Italy, to the fashionable city of Milan!
Vienna! Gosh nearly forgot about this place while charting our itinerary. Very first impression not a very good one….a young man decided to relieve himself in the train right in front of me. After that it was all good. Vienna is like the older well cultured sister to Berlin’s wild child, the city center is just so beautiful. They have perfectly preserved these stately buildings which have been converted for store use, reminded me a lot of Champs Elysees except it encompasses the entire city center.
Times like this I realized how dismal my architecture photography is. I have so few passable images of the city itself! Also perhaps I was being busy giggling at dancing kings, finding postcards, perusing the local markets and arguing whether a fish was alive or dead with travel partner for two hours.
A really lovely place to wander around but I think we might’ve better appreciated it if we’d book in an opera or classical performance.
At the end of it though, all we could think of was we were really starved for vegetables and fruits. It would only get worse from here on out….with meat, potatoes and more meat! Bit of a strange place to leave on, but next up- the twin city of Budapest!
