Bari

Easter vacation started out with an early flight down south. We left gray and rainy Milano to search out sunny skies by the ocean. So far, I'm doing okay with my new year's resolution to find the seaside at least every six weeks. Proof:

Bari is a beautiful little town. The historic centre leaves you totally disoriented, but I've come to learn that I love getting lost in new places - it really is the best way to see the sights. I have to admit, one thing that blew my mind was seeing standalone stores such as Louis Vuitton in this town. Honestly, in my mind I pictured Bari as just a small town in southern Italy, so seeing LV there was like seeing LV in Nanaimo. Odd.

We checked out some churches, and had to find a specific church where Russians go to pray to San Nicola (yep, that's jolly old Saint Nic to us). Here he is below making total eye contact with me (colourful statue) and also sharing his message of peace (man).

Bari was full of Russians who make the trip to pray to him. Signs are written in Italian and Russian, instead of the Italian and English that I've become so used to.

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Le vacanze di pasqua hanno cominciato con un volo al sud nella mattina presto. Siamo partite dalla pioggia e la grigia di Milano per trovare un po' di sole al mare. Fino ad adesso, più o meno ce la faccio con la mia 'new year's resolution' di andare al mare al meno ogni sei settimane. Vedete:

Bari è una città bellissima. Il centro storico ti fa perdere, ma come ho imparato, mi piace troppo perdermi nelle città nuove - è veramente il modo migliore per vedere una città. Per dire la verità, una cosa stranissima per me era vedere un negozio come Louis Vuitton qui a Bari. Veramente, ho imaginato questa città come solo una città piccolina del sud Italia, e quindi vedere un negozio come LV è stato come vedere un negozio di LV a Nanaimo. Troppo strano.

Abbiamo visto un paio di chiese, e dovevamo trovare una chiesa specifica dove vanno i russi per pregare a San Nicola (si, per noi si chiama 'jolly old Saint Nic). Eccolo sotto guardandomi negli occhi, e poi anche facendo il segno di pace (peace man).

Bari era pieno dei russi che viaggiano per pregare a lui. I segni sono scritti in italiano e russo, invece di italiano e inglese a cui sono abituata adesso.

A Tale of Six Cities

Sometimes, I amaze myself with my ability to steal creatively adapt titles that other people have already thought of. I also amaze myself with how good I am at being intriguing, although some might just call this false advertising. This post won't talk about six cities.

Sorry.

But, it will get you amped up to read the upcoming six posts! At school in Italy, we have a little thing called Easter Break. Two weeks. Because we all need two weeks to really focus on achieving a proper chocolate coma. Seeing as I plan to be a super successful fashion buyer, this might be my last chance at a holiday for quite a while. So, we took off down south! Coming soon, I will tell you about Bari, San Giovanni Rotondo, Napoli, Roma, Bologna, and Palermo.

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A volte, mi stupisco con la mia abilità di rubare cambiare con creatività i titoli che gli altri hanno gia creato. Mi stupisco anche con quanto sono brava ad essere misteriosa, anche se altri direbbero che questo sia solo la pubblicità falsa. Questo post non parlerà di sei città.

Mi dispiace.

Anzi, questo post vi farà felice di leggere i prossimi sei post! A scuola in Italia, abbiamo una piccola vacanza per la pasqua. Due settimane. Ovviamente abbiamo bisogno di due settimane per avere un vero 'chocolate coma' (scusate, questa frase dev'essere scritta in inglese). Siccome fra poco sarò una super brava fashion buyer, questa vacanza potrebbe essere la mia ultima per un po' di tempo. Quindi, siamo andate al sud! Fra poco, vi racconterò di Bari, San Giovanni Rotondo, Napoli, Roma, Bologna, e Palermo.

Itanglish

Hi all! Here's some exciting news. For those of you who have always wanted to learn a second language, now's your chance. From today on I will be writing my posts in English and Italian. Mostly because I don't think that my posts are funny enough, so I'd like you all to be able to laugh at the mistakes I make in Italian. Except that the majority of my readers don't speak Italian, so I obviously didn't think that one out.

I'm already regretting this decision...

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Ciao tutti! Buone notizie! Per voi che avete voluto sempre imparare un'altra lingua, è ora di farlo. Da adesso, scriverò tutti i miei post in inglese e italiano. Piu tanto perche non penso che i miei posts siano gia abbastanza divertente, e vorrei che tutti voi potete ridere a tutti gli sbagli che faccio in italiano. Però, siccome la maggioranza dei miei lettori non parla italiano, non ne ho pensato bene ovviamente!

Già vorrei cambiare idea...

Barcelona

So here's a funny story. I've been to Spain twice now, in less than three months, but I still haven't been to SPAIN Spain. Confused? Well, my first trip was to Tenerife, part of the Canary Islands. So many people told me that it wasn't really Spain that I thought I should return to Spain to be able to properly judge it. Upon arriving in Barcelona, my friend informs me that Barcelona is also not really Spain, it's actually Catalonia.

Ok, Spain. I get the hint. You don't want me.

But that's fine. I was happy to escape the rainy Vancouver-like weather in Milano to enjoy a weekend of sunshine in Barcelona, with two friends that I actually met over Christmas in the other non-Spain.

We were only in the city for less than 36 hours, so luckily Teresa (who lives there) was able to pack those hours full of activities. Here are some highlights:

The market: We started our morning here, and were pretty much in awe of the fruit and veggies here. The colours were incredible. The only thing I can think to compare it to (in terms of visual) is the Granville Island market, in HD. So much variety, and so inexpensive!!! For my photography friends, if you find yourself in Barcelona then make sure to go to the market first thing in the morning to beat the crowds and take tons of beautiful photos.

Starbucks: I know. I'm ashamed. But when you've lived above a Starbucks for 3.5 years and then you move to a country without a single one, it's a bit of a culture shock. I bought a Starbucks latte. The good news is that in the end I didn't really enjoy it. But try me again in October when the Pumpkin Spice latte is out...

€3.50 mojitos.

The beach: What. Is. Up. We walked on the beach, in the sand, in t-shirts and bare feet. The day could not have been any more beautiful. Oh wait, it was! Later that night we went back to the beach to go to the bars! Life is pretty good when you can spend all day and night on the beach if you want.

€3.50 mojitos.

Street performers: The music coming from these artists is incredible. We stopped to watch one group in particular because they were so amusing (and we had to take in some sunshine!). Here are both videos, but watch the old guy on the left in particular. When he wasn't playing, he looked like a grumpy old man, but when he got started on that trumpet he was having a great time!

Shoes, Glorious Shoes!

A Shoe Museum.

I know, right? Some of you had to read that first line 3 times because it seemed too good to be true. But, I'm happy to report that just a short and cheap train ride from Milano, is a museum dedicated to footwear. Even better, entrance is free!

The magic happens in a little town called Vigevano, where every shop closes between 1:30 and 4:30pm,  there's a castle in the middle of the city, and there's a merry-go-round in the town square for no apparent reason other than for pure daily enjoyment.

The museum is small, but packs in a lot of different shoes, from those that are hundreds of years old, to more modern ones made in town; from the smallest shoe in the world, to a size 59 shoe! I'm no guide, so instead I'm just going to share some photos with you for your viewing pleasure!

An "Italy" boot, a shoe with a built in stocking, the smallest shoe, and a size 59 shoe.

Just general shoe-beauty.

And just general shoe-awesomeness.

Milan Fashion Week

Belated updates! But I have a good reason. The last part of February and first part of March flew by because the end of the term ran into fashion week ran into exam weeks ran into Spain ran into the start of term 3. My life was like that run-on sentence!!

Anyway, let's talk Milan Fashion Week. In September I scored tickets to some pretty sweet shows. So, I was pretty happy to have the opportunity to work backstage this season and see things from another angle! In all, I worked backstage as a dresser for the Trussardi and Musso shows, and also worked for a day at Christian Dior as dresser when they presented their Spring/Summer 2013 collection to their clients in-store. All amazing experiences, and all very different.

Trussardi F/W 13/14

I saw the difference between a show where everyone and their dog is allowed backstage, versus a show where only those involved in the show are allowed backstage. It's safe to say that I prefer the latter. Admittedly, I wasn't really familiar with Roberto Musso before the show, but I fell quickly in love with his clothes. So classy, and they made me so excited for <don't hit me> fall!

Backstage at Musso. Tired but happy!

But then I got to flashback to the season that we're getting in to now, Spring/Summer 2013, as a dresser for Dior's in-store presentation. It was a fun group, four dressers and four models, and to spend the day fawning over this collection was pretty surreal. Also, because I got to see one of my favourite tops from the collection up close and personal. Seriously. I fell in love with this top when I came across it during trend research in the fall, and when I saw it on the racks that day I knew that I had to dress the model who was wearing it!

Dior Donne!

By now, you're probably all thinking it was a pretty good week. But, it doesn't end there! Through a stroke of luck / stars aligning / someone hearing my prayers / a horseshoe up my butt, I scored a SECOND ROW TICKET TO THE MARNI SHOW. I actually squealed when I found out. Sorry to those of you who were around me at the time and had to hear that. Anyway, back to business. The collection was beautiful. Definitely one of those moments where you get to the end and wonder why it's over so soon.

Motivational Monday

Ciao tutti!

I had a really interesting evening at school today, and heard a quote that I think everyone needs to hear. For those of you who have seen The Pursuit of Happyness (I actually had to ask Google why the title is spelled incorrectly!), you'll probably remember. At one point during the movie Will Smith tells his son:

"Don't ever let somebody tell you... You can't do something. ... You got a dream... You gotta protect it. People can't do somethin' themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. 

If you want somethin', go get it. Period."

Take 2 minutes and watch it if you haven't already seen it.

This hits home, but let me clarify. No one has told me that I won't make it as a Fashion Buyer. But what I do hear constantly is people telling me either that I won't find a job here, or that if I do, I'll make about 100€ per month. As I near the end of my program, this happens more and more often. I usually just try to brush it off, because I know that isn't the case. I'm not saying that it's going to be easy, but I didn't just decide to pursue my dream willy-nilly. I did my research. I'm doing this because there are jobs available as a buyer, especially for those who work hard at it. 

So today, I declare that I will make it as a buyer, where I want, and getting paid what I want. It's my dream, and I'm going to go get it! Period.