A Weekend in Vienna

Hello lovelies,

One of my good friends from University recently went back home for a few months to Vienna, and asked if I wanted to visit, so I jumped at the chance and i'm so glad that I did. Vienna is officially the most beautiful city I have ever visited. The architecture is amazing, the detail in the buildings is incredible, easily one of my new favourite places. 

Luckily I packed a couple of dresses, back in England we had temperatures below ten, so packed mainly jumpers, but when I got to Austria it was almost 30! Absolutely beautiful though, perfect for walking around the grounds of palaces and stately homes!

I could walk around and look at the architecture in Vienna all day, and luckily that's what I did for most of the weekend!

Such regal homes, I don't think i've ever walked around somewhere so impressive.

It's amazing to see such a beautiful, regal building nestled in the centre of such a big and vibrant city. It was quite a hike to the highest point of the gardens so we could get this picture of the house, well worth it for the view though.

We were greeted by this wonderful building at the top of our walk, such detail with a beautiful gold eagle on the top, only with one head, though most of the eagles seen around vienna have two heads representing the dual monarchy of Austria and Hungary, and have done since 1867, showing how old this beautiful building is.

We chose to walk down one of the quieter lanes back to the main house and came across this column, everywhere you turned you found a new sculpture to see and there was far too much to see just in our morning trip!

I didn't want to leave this place, i've said it a million times already, but it really is one of the most beautiful places i've ever been.

After a morning of adventures Oliver decided to join in on my photo taking and joined in with my holiday spirit as he showed me around his home town!

I wanted to photograph everything I saw, and it took me ages to get anywhere as I was just constantly getting my camera out.

My tour guide quickly got bored of my photos and how long I was taking to walk to the next museum or art gallery (we visited 3 in two days along with the stately homes and palaces, though maybe we could have fit more in if i'd walked a little faster!)

But I just couldn't help it!

The churches were the most magnificent of all, even underground when we saw the caskets of the old Austrian royal family and rulers, though I didn't take any photos out of respect, it was fascinating to see the level of detail and the dedication of their people!

There were also a number of impressive water features around the city, very good for keeping you cool if you walked through the mist!

Oliver's sister is currently in Mary Poppins in Vienna and we had tickets to see the premiere of the second season and it was absolutely amazing. The entire show was in German, and I don't speak a single word of German, however there were subtitles over the stage and I loved the film as a child so I knew mostly what was going on, even though a few scenes were from the books and so not in the film.

If you get the chance to see this show whilst it is still playing, or when it goes on tour I highly recommend it, I was transfixed and I couldn't even understand a word they were saying, they are all so incredibly talented, and also lovely people!

I just can't get over the beauty of this city.

I had the best weekend in Vienna, it was lovely to be shown around by someone who grew up there, and to go to quite cafes and restaurants with amazing food that the locals go to, even if I couldn't speak to many people or understand any of the menus, luckily I had someone to translate for me!

Everyone I have spoken to has assured me that I must go back in the winter to see all of the christmas lights and decorations, and to visit the christmas markets, and I really hope that I get the chance to!

Have any of you been to Vienna? What was your favourite part, any recommendations?

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend,

Love, Amylou x

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Travel Diaries: Capri

Hey lovelies,

This was just the best day.

We took a yacht around the island of Capri, and it's one my favourite things i've ever done.

The view of sorrento as we sailed away was so beautiful, so many colourful houses and hotels built into the cliffs. It really is one of the most beautiful places i've ever been.

We stopped off at this waterfall on our way, the water was the most incredible blue, I just wanted to jump straight in! Every boat that sailed past stopped to come up to the waterfall, as getting underneath it is meant to bring you luck!

It wasn't long until we decided we needed to go for a swim, the water looked too inviting to stay in the boat! It was a lot colder than we were expecting, but it was definitely worth it!

This was my favourite view of the whole day, such an iconic place in capri, also the setting of many of the D&G advertisements, including light blue, as the D&G house is just up on the hill opposite!

I don't think I stopped smiling for the whole day, I think I found my favourite thing to do, and I definitely need to make the trip again!

Once we reached capri we got in the lift and headed up to the top of the island, and it was beautiful up there, such amazing views, but it was really hot so we soon headed back into the streets for a bit of retail therapy and some drinks in the sunshine!

I loved being in Italy so much, and I can't wait for the next time!

Love, Amylou x


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Travel Diaries: Pompeii

Hey lovelies,

Today we headed over to Pompeii, such a sad and yet beautiful place, and with 40 degree celsius heat, it was definitely a tiring day!

Pompeii is spread over 60 hectares and around 44 hectares of that area has been excavated, so there is way more than can be seen in one day, but we tried to see as much as we could!

The first buildings we came across were the exedra and aedicula tombs, built by rich families the level of detail is amazing, though many of them are fenced off and held behind glass for protection.

This amphitheater was built in 70BC and is one of the oldest and best preserved amphitheatres in the world, built over a hundred years before the colosseum in Rome. Holding over 20,000 spectators it's huge, and it's inside here where the 'frozen' bodies of pompeii are held, inside a purpose built pyramid. 

You are free to take photos of the people inside in the pyramid, but it didn't seem right taking photos of them to put on here, though they do show an important part of history, it could also be said that they should respectfully be laid to rest, so for that reason I haven't included any photos on here. 

Such breath taking views here, it really is a beautiful place. The temple of Jupiter looks out over the main square and there is so much to see here.

It's thought that the produce market wasn't finished when Mt Vesuvius erupted and was left under construction, now it showcases many of the pots, vases and other artefacts uncovered in Pompeii.

The most impressive feature in the buildings has to be the hand painted walls. So much detail and the little bits that do remain intact, and haven't been taken to museums are heavily protected behind barriers and glass, worth the wait to see them though!

Some of the most interesting paintings were found in some of the old Lupanares or brothels. Houses full of bedrooms, with the services of the ladies painted above each door so you could see which room you wanted as you walked in. Definitely not something I was expecting to see!

Pompeii is definitely worth the visit, though you have to be prepared for the heat, it was 40 whilst we were there, and the crowds!

After a long day out, it was time for us to head back and have a few well deserved cocktails!

Hope you're all having a good weekend!

Love, Amylou x

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Travel Diaries: Exploring Sorrento

Hey lovelies,

Today we had the chance to explore Sorrento, and it is an absolutely beautiful town.

The streets were lined with market stalls and little shops, mostly selling fresh fruit and locally made clothes and jewellery.

We also took the hotel lift down to the beach area. The coastline doesn't really have many beaches, so the hotels have built wooden deck areas with sun loungers so you can sunbathe and swim in the sea.

The sea here is such a beautiful turquoise colour, just a shame it's so cold!

Amongst the hotel decks are a few piers for travellers and tour operators to stop off whilst they explore the town.

We stopped off for lunch in Piazza Tasso, the main square in Sorrento, at a little pizzeria called Pizzeria Aurora, and it was honestly the best pizza I think i've ever had, and will ever have.

I've had some pretty good pizzas in my time, and although I knew these pizzas would be better, I didn't know how much better. Even though I just had a simple mozzarella and fresh tomato pizza, it was incredible.

Time to head back out exploring!

I still can't get over the beautiful colour of the sea here!

As we were on a little tour of the place, the owners of the restaurants were giving us blood orange juice and Prosecco as they explained their stories to us. I think it's my new favourite.

One of the best places we visited was Osteria del Buonconvento which was an old monastery that has been converted into a restaurant with many of the original books and works studied and written by the monks in the bookcases above the tables near the beautiful ceilings.

Every building here is full of history, and you could ask around for days and still not know about many of the beautiful buildings. But filled with as much knowledge as we could remember, we headed back to the hotel to change and headed back out to dinner!

Another amazing meal, more amazing mozzarella. I can see that i'm going to be eating my bodyweight in mozzarella whilst i'm here!

Hope you're all having a good weekend!

Love, Amylou x

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Travel diaries: Arriving in Italy

Hey lovelies, i'm back!

It's been a while! I've been so stressed with finishing my Masters and wondering what it is that I want this blog to be that I haven't had chance to post much recently :( But i'm currently in Italy, and in between sightseeing, wine tasting, pizza eating and gelato sampling I have to take shelter inside as it's so hot, so I thought i'd use that time to upload some photos as a little travel diary!

I'm currently staying in Sorrento, which overlooks the Bay of Naples in Southern Italy and it is absolutely beautiful.

It's over an hours drive from Naples Airport to Sorrento so the sun was setting by the time we got to the hotel and had unpacked, but it was beautiful watching the sunset before heading out to dinner.

The streets of Sorrento are so beautiful, with little side streets full of shops and restaurants around every corner.

The sunsets here are absolutely beautiful. I'm still getting used to my camera, so I couldn't capture how striking the skies were, but I was in awe walking to the restaurant!

We had our first Italian meal at a restaurant called Ristorante "La Favorita" O'Parrucchiano and I would recommend it 100% if you're ever in Sorrento. As the birthplace of cannelloni, and with recommendations from everyone we spoke to, we were excited to try it, and as we hoped, the food was amazing.

Founded in 1868 the story behind this restaurant is a good one, best told by the owners wife, as her husband is the son of the founders nephew, and although she was born in england, she has a passion for italian food and culture that instantly makes you want to try their food!

The restaurant seats almost 1,000 people and in the summer you get to sit in the lemon gardens that surround the main dining rooms. Being surrounded by so many lemons it would be rude not to try the regions own Delizie al Limone, which is an italian sponge cake filled with homemade lemon cream, brushed with homemade limoncello syrup and topped with lemon and whipped cream. So, so good. I bought some limoncello, so I need to start finding some recipes!

Unfortunately because we arrived in Sorrento so late, we didn't have much time to explore, but I'm excited to see what the next few days bring!

Love, Amylou x

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