Inspiring Travels

The fashion of Florence – Bella Tuscany For those that have been to Italy, you may get this – we have the loud, slightly grungy rawness of Rome and Napoli (the male?), but then we have the refined elegance – the ladies of Italy – places like Florence and Milan – which are just 'pretty', pretty with the elegant buildings and piazzas, but this is also where one can find some great fashion and style. I had forgotten how small and beautiful Florence is, less cars and crowds (in May) and the entire city can be walked. Vasari corridor leading into the Ponte Veechio The Fashion..... Don’t get me wrong, places like Rome have great shopping, but Florence is the place where must do window shopping is done as your stroll the streets, where the designer labels showcase their wares. And of course, buy if you can! One shop I can recommend for beautiful and quality handbags is Donatello Firenze www.donatellofirenze.it Some the 'window shopping' I di...

  Tivoli Italia Its 25 years since my first visit to Tivoli. It was the first place I ever travelled to overseas, so it holds a special place in my heart, with strong memories. So for this reason, and the fact that I stayed with family I had never met before, I wanted to revisit some of the amazing sites there. Tivoli is a lovely small town approx. 1hr by car from Rome and can make a lovely day or afternoon trip away from the madding crowds of Rome. I had an amazing few days on that first visit. The excitement of being in a foreign place and with Tivoli being such a beautiful ‘village’ having the bonus of multiple UNESCO world heritage sites like Villa d'Este and Villa Gregorian in town, I was blessed. I really wanted to go back because the first time I went, to Villa d'Este, famous for its fountains, were not working! But would I be disappointed with the changes that I was sure had happened over the 25 years I was last there? Well I made it...