Senza la mia musa.
I need to get this out before Valentine’s Day, in order that none of you are confused by my intentions, honourable as they might seem. It also means that you’ll have to wait until the end of the month to find out what I did on the 14th.
So I’ve been off once again. January passed by like the blink of an eye. I know some you have thought that I spent the majority of the month staring through the bottom of a glass, but that was really only long periods. The rest of the time I was at work!!!
I avoided Pitti and Florence this January because it just started too close to New Year, and I knew I’d still be too drunk to make normal, rational decisions. These would include getting up in the mornings, and not overbuying anything in lime green for next winter.
This trip was to ensure that I hadn’t forgotten what Italy was like.
Of course it was all just fun, fun, fun, but I also managed to do the odd moment of work now and then. Well I’m in Fashion, darlinks and by the end of the year I’ll have you all dressing like Azis, well at least those amongst you who don’t dress like that already. If only in private. I have to work forward, so I’m now deciding what you’ll all be wearing next winter, if we get one.
Some of you ask me how I do it.
Well it was Rome, Florence, Bologna and Venice all in 4 days, and for what I did and how I did it, this was one of the best trips I’ve done, ably assisted by friends in each city.
My thanks to Max, Micheala, Michele, Sergio, Maurizio, Simone and Stefania in Rome.
Il Moro
Fumicino
It even rains in Rome
Simone, Umberto and Andrea in Florence.
Emanuele, Davide and Isabella in Bologna.
And Stefano and Carlo in Venice.
I’m amazed myself, but then I am amazing, ask anyone who hasn’t called me conceited.
Hence the fact that I spent two nights in Venice, reputedly the most romantic city in the world, in an apartment overlooking the Grand Canal, ALONE! I asked and asked, yet there were no takers, hence not so amazing!
Not even Tinder could help me with that one.
I even attached a padlock to the Accademia Bridge, with my own name on it and then hurled the key into the Grand Canal. This padlock just happened to be attached to a pair of handcuffs one of which strangely was around my wrist. Ooops, how did that happen and where did I put the spare key?
Was I protesting about something you ask? Was it an anti-Putin, Hollande, Merkel, Berlusconi thing? No, in fact it was a way to stop me eating, I was so worried I was losing my figure.
It took the Carabinieri two hours to stop laughing and another three hours to release me. Oh come on guys, bolt cutters, goodness knows how long it will take them to change a light bulb? Especially when they all spend their time checking up on Facebook and stop to stare when a pretty girl walks past.
During the trip it rained most of the time, so I have posted photos of when it didn’t, which fortuitously coincided with the moments when I had a little free time, if you include being manacled to a bridge, “Free Time”. At least I got some great photos from the top of the bridge, and when it wasn’t raining.
I had a little “Aqua Alta” in Venice, and no, it’s not a digestivo. I hadn’t witnessed it in years, but it was fascinating watching the water rise through the cracks in the pavement in Piazza San Marco. Somewhat more romantic than dodging the cracks in the pavement in London, knowing that if you step on the edge of a slab it will catapult dirty “Aqua da Londra” all over your nice clean shoes and drenching your feet.
Aqua Alta
It’s interesting how even walking around on the duck boards we seem to fall into our stereotypes. The Venetians sprinting down the edges talking on their mobile which is tucked oh so stylishly into the top of their Hunter wellies, gesticulating wildly, caution cast to the winds not caring one jot about the trail of devastation behind, the French weaving in and out as if wandering along a boulevard post Pastis, the Germans at full throttle down the centre, and us Brits sat on the edge shoes and socks off, stripped to the waist, hankie on our heads, dangling our feet in the jade green water of the lagoon.
Venice is beautifully spooky late at night, and wandering round the canals at one in the morning when all the restaurants have shut and only a few student bars are still open is a surreal experience. Then you see what seems to be someone in a little red cape and you can’t help following….
Back to the Gym.
Places of note in each City:
Rome: Restaurant – Il Moro at Fumicino
Florence: Restaurant – Pizzeria Il Pinolo
And obviously La Carraia, for ice cream.
Bologna: Restaurant – Drogeria della Rosa
Roccati and Scaramagli for chocolate.
Venice: Hotel – Palazetto Pisani
Restaurant – Enoteca San Marco
Pizzeria – Il Forno
Incarceration – Ponte dell’Accademia
You know I love my panoramas, but I love my sunsets more….
Thank you Adrian, trust you had a lovely time. Thanks for sharing your experiences and all those brilliant photographs. See you guys soon, when its dry enough top go out!!