Mary Carmel Elizabeth

Castel Gandolfo 🇮🇹🌸

The next part of my trip was spent with my aunty, uncle and two cousins. We stayed in Rome for a few days, and one day we took a little trip out to Castel Gandolfo, a beautiful Italian town about 25km from Rome, sitting above the gorgeous Lake Albano.

A fun fact about the town is that it’s home to the Pope’s summer residence. Pope Leo XIV was visiting while we were there, and apparently comes to Castel Gandolfo for a little break from Rome. Sadly, we had just missed him arriving! It would’ve been pretty cool to see the Pope in person. 😄

We spent most of the day down at the lake, kayaking and soaking up the sunshine. ☀️ Afterward, we found a lovely restaurant with an amazing view of the lake and enjoyed dinner while watching the sunset.

The town itself was so pretty, with flowers everywhere and little flower baskets hanging from the windows. 🌸

And then came the adventure of getting home… 😂 We caught the train there, but on the way back to Rome our train was cancelled twice! By this point it was getting close to 10pm, so we were starting to wonder how we were actually going to get back to the city. Thankfully, a train eventually arrived, but it made for a very late night!

Definitely a memorable day for more reasons than one. 😂❤️

Burano 🇮🇹🏘️

The prettiest little island! I fell in love with this place instantly. A whole town filled with the most gorgeous, brightly coloured houses. 🌈

Burano is just a ferry ride from Venice, and I’m so glad we got to stop here for the afternoon. It absolutely poured with rain while we were there, but honestly, it just made it more fun! 😂☔️

I bought a beautiful handmade lace Christmas decoration while we were there, which will always remind me of this special little place and the memories we made visiting Burano. ❤️

Venice 🇮🇹🛶

Definitely one of my favourites from Italy! This place was just out of this world — so incredibly beautiful and magical. ✨

Riding in a gondola was such a cool experience, and I loved wandering through the little streets and looking at all the beautiful glassware in the shops.

We also got to watch a glass-blowing demonstration, which was amazing to see. The way he turned a lump of glass into a beautiful vase and a horse right in front of our eyes was incredible! Such a talented skill. 🤩

Venice definitely lived up to the hype! 🇮🇹

Lago Di Como & Milan

Two absolutely amazing places, both absolutely sweltering! ☀️🥵

Lake Como was so beautiful! We caught a ferry across the lake, and I was really hoping there’d be a nice cool breeze out on the water… there wasn’t. 😅 I’m just glad you can’t see sweat in photos!

The scenery around the lake was absolutely stunning, with mountains and beautiful villas everywhere you looked. While the water was pretty, it wasn’t nearly as clear as what we saw in Greece or Croatia.

Milan was another city I wish we’d had more time to explore. Unfortunately, we arrived just as the Duomo was closing, so we didn’t get to go inside, which was a bit disappointing. 😢

I did love wandering through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II though. The architecture was incredible, and it was fun looking at all the fancy designer shops, even if they were a little out of my budget! 😂

Cinque Terre 🇮🇹❤️

I had an amazing time exploring this beautiful part of Italy. The colourful buildings make it such a unique place. One of the local legends says that fishermen painted their houses in different colours so they could easily find their way home from the sea after a long day or after a night out on the town! 😂

The region is made up of five villages, and I managed to visit all of them. We finished in Monterosso al Mare, the largest of the five and the only one with a long sandy beach. We spent a few hours soaking up the sunshine, swimming in the waves, and enjoying the relaxed seaside atmosphere. 🌊

The Leaning Tower of Pisa + Lucca 🇮🇹

F l o r e n c e 🇮🇹

I really enjoyed my time in Florence. It was such a fun city to explore, and learning a bit about its history made it even more interesting.

The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore was incredible to see. The marble façade is so detailed, and alongside it are the matching bell tower and baptistery, which make the whole square even more impressive.

One thing I found really interesting was learning about the Vasari Corridor. It was built by the powerful Medici family in the 1500s as a private walkway connecting their palaces, so they could travel across the city without having to walk through the busy streets.

One evening we headed out into the Tuscan countryside for dinner at a family-owned restaurant. The chef showed us how to make authentic Italian risotto, and our waiter kept surprising our table with extra bottles of wine. 🍷

It was such a fun night with great food, beautiful views, and lots of laughs. Florence was definitely one of my favourite stops in Italy.