All Autumnal!

Since coming home I have found England very cold and my wardrobe situation very limited. I decided I needed Jumpers- autumn/winter jumpers along with other essentials like shoes and jeans. My favourite hoodies had all seen better days and I wanted fashionable upgrades.

So Yesterday I woke up to another day of not liking anything I had to wear that was actually appropriate for the weather so I asked Mum to take me shopping. I didn't have high expectations because shopping even when in extreme need (or want) is not always successful. But I was quite excited because after some internet browsing on the Republic website I did have my eye on a few things.

So we got to town and I went into Republic, very quickly picked up an arm full of things to try on (some seen online) and was happy! I went to the till with a hoodie to replace my favourite at home, a jumpery thing with a nice collar and built in T shirt (hard to explain, sorry) and an impulsive floaty going-outy shirt. With my 20% student discount they turned out pretty reasonable.

Then, in a good mood I headed to Primark and got a cropped jumper (with bicycles on) and a grey top to go under it. Then I found two very cheap pretty necklaces, one gold, one silver which I decided would go nicely.

I then found a cheap shoe shop and got some grey biker boots to replace my peeling ones. Then I decided that was probably enough spending and excitement for one day and went home feeling very pleased.

Today, wearing my new floaty top, we went to visit my Grandma in Lancashire and went out for lunch which was lovely. Then we headed to a retail park with a TKMaxx. After my success yesterday I was just happy to browse without much intention until I found some jumpers and couldn't resist another cropped polka dot one. Mum then found a designer grey hoodie with green on and promised to buy it for me if I threw out another old one, so that was a deal!

I'm very pleased with my new collection of clothes and am excited to wear some new outfits and styles. I feel prepared for Autumn/Winter and should be able to stay warm now. Tomorrow I need to start packing for uni and throwing out some rejects- fun!

I'm Home!

I arrived home from Nice yesterday after an AMAZING 5 weeks in Italy!
Here is a brief itinerary...

I arrived in Nice and stayed for one night in a hostel. I explored the beach but didn't really fall in love with Nice.

Then I met some girls and we caught the train to the orientation in San Remo. We had a week at orientation- preparing us to work at camps. They taught us the games and songs and gave us lots of information. I met lots of interesting people from English speaking countries all over the world and made lots of friends. We spent a lot of time swimming, eating out and drinking and dancing.

Then I found out that my first camp would be in Vicenza, a small town in between Venice and Verona. I traveled with another girl from orientation who became my travel partner for the month! We met the other tutors there and I met my host family, a young  couple with 2 children. They were amazing, very lovely and accommodating and they bought me a lovely necklace when I left.
The first camp was really good but tiring in 40c heat. We had lots of fun water games and messy games. We also did a show for parents at the end and I dressed children up as Egyptian mummies and Pyramids!

Then I moved on to my second camp (still with Lauren) which was 2 weeks long in Piacenza near Milan. My family were a couple who had 3 girls aged 9, 11 and 15 and they were nice. The camp was super organised and we had trips to a farm, a swimming pool, a river cruise and a dam. The theme was being eco friendly so our show was about recycling, I rewrote the Spice Girls song 'If you want to be my lover' to 'if you want to be a Hippy'. I went on the train to Milan at the weekend but it rained all day so we ended up shopping in expensive Italian shops.

Then the camps were over for the summer and me and Lauren were off to a hostel in Florence for 3 nights. We explored on foot and saw lots of beautiful buildings and Piazzas (squares). The next day some other tutors met us at the hostel and we went to Pisa for the day on the train which was good. However, we did witness a girl jump off the tower and commit suicide.....
One night we also went on a night out in Florence which was fun but the Italian men were very strange!

Then we headed to Venice on the train for four nights in a hostel that gave us dinner (well, pasta). It was beautiful, definitely my favourite place. We looked around and got lost in a non-touristy bit but it was lovely. We met some Spanish girls in the hostel and got the boat to Morano, the island famous for glass blowing. Me an Lauren also got the train to Verona and saw the Colosseum and the house of Juliet.

Then we made the 8 hour train journey back to Nice and spent the night in a hostel before Lauren flew in the early hours. I looked around Nice and found the beautiful touristy part with a market and decided I like it better than I had originally thought. It's a shame I was speaking Italian though!

I had an amazing time and fell in love with Italy (and the food!) and definitely intend to go back to teach next year. I would also love to learn more of the language after learning odd vocab living in the families. I'm so glad I went, I met some amazing people and saw some amazing places!