Bella Italy.

Summer is almost over when we want to take a break, take a breath after months of work without having a day off. We stuff our car and leave for Bella Italia. Lovely just like before, carefree, without planning anything with the car criss-cross through romantic Tuscany, stroll through the vineyards, old small villages and get some fresh air by the sea.

Venice, San Marco Square

Benvenuto! First we pay a visit to the romantic Venice and we spend the night at the Lido, near Venice where we can park our car in no time via a crossing to Venice. It is wonderful to be back. The impressive old town on islands in the lagoon with many canals and beautiful Venetian gondolas attracts tourists from all over the world. We are lucky, it is not busy and beautiful weather. It's been a few years since we were here but it feels so familiar. We wander over the sun-drenched San Marco Square and in our enthusiasm feed the pigeons that dive on us en masse, not knowing that this is now strictly forbidden ... Oops

Italian Police

In no time the Italian police are right in front of us… and innocent that we are, we look at the handsome carabinieri with a big smile and big puppy eyes and we chat nicely. But everything that is not allowed is fun and because we also want to shoot for Kyono, we secretly do it again. Hilarious situations in the busy square. Haha, everything for a nice picture and with some charms we can convince the 'carabinieri' again that we really didn't know. Scusa non capisco 🙂

Grand Canal

The gondoliers see that we are shooting and offer us a gondola ride for a nice price. Let's not say that twice. We enjoy ourselves while sailing on the Grand Canal. Pass under narrow bridges over small canals where the laundry happily flows above us in the sun. We have a beautiful view of the impressive palaces, the old houses that line the water, the Doge's Palace and all the gondolas around the beautiful Rialto Bridge. Two other gondoliers want us to get into the gondola with them, so how? They get words and we secretly laugh about them. Quegli Italiani.

When I want to change quickly in a dark alley where no one is, we are startled by sudden laughter shouts and whistles. Turns out I'm under a security camera at the back of a very expensive restaurant to get dressed. OMG… scusa, scusa!

Burano

After a few days of wandering around, we will spend a day exploring the island of Bureno. How nice is it there!! Burano is a tiny island in the Venice lagoon. It has many colored houses and each house has its own color. Purple, bright pink, apple green, orange, yellow… in the Netherlands such a thing would be unthinkable, but oh, how nice it is!

Mix & match

We would almost forget that shooting also has to be done. But look, our tops color really nice with the colored walls, right?

Ce bello

Along the canals, the narrow alleys and the leaning bell tower of the church of San Martino, it is bursting with terraces, restaurants, cafes and shops. It is not busy at all. The beautiful weather, bobbin lace on the street, the cozy terraces and the singers who provide live music at the restaurants give the island a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere. Ce bello!

C

We should not think about painting our house apple green, bright yellow or very pink, but the municipality determines in which color the house should be painted. No involvement, just do it! And fair is fair. It makes us very happy, walking through the small town.

San Gimignano

After enjoying the islands, we continue through beautiful Tuscany… in search of, as the Italians say themselves: the best ice cream in the world. We find that in San Gimignano, a fairytale, medieval town in the heart of Tuscany. We enjoy the beautiful surroundings driving up through olive groves and vines we arrive at the town, which lies at an altitude of 334 meters. The fourteen high towers (there were once 72) that are clearly visible from afar, San Gimignano is also known as the medieval Manhattan. The skyline now has fewer towers than before, but it is impressive.
We accidentally park wrong, which gives us a receipt (ai) but anyway, continue looking for those ice creams that we would love to taste.

World's best ice cream! “Campione del mondo!”

In the square Piazza del Duomo we find Gelateria Donodoli, one of the best ice cream parlors in the world. A true ice master, Sergio Dondoli was part of the Italian team that twice won the Ice Making World Championship. We see so many flavors that we cannot choose ... raspberry, rosemary, blackberry, lavender, nuts, saffron ice cream, the choice is unprecedented. The ice cream made from local wine and the champagne ice cream are a well-known specialty here. So feast! The latter is by far our favorite and yes, we have to admit that these are the best ice creams ever! So… if you ever come close to San Gimignano, definitely try it because you want to try this ice cream!

Lekkurrrr
Shooting and enjoying a delicious champagne ice cream at the same time when it is very warm do not go together so….licking!!

My name is Bond

'Schupen' by Sienna will be a true adventure. daddy wants did not park in front of the city gate because he thinks this is also possible in the center. We warn him after seeing all the signs but no, he knows better as always. He simply drives past all parked cars without batting an eyelid through the ancient city gate through the old center between the super narrow streets and all pedestrians and there is no turning back. We wonder how long this will go well. We sink down to avoid being seen but are soon stopped by a taxi driver who says with a big grin that father dear has 'balls'… Popolo Olandese!! Shortly afterwards, the police are right in front of us. We squeeze it terribly trying again with a huge smile and our puppy look to talk us out and again we succeed (or so we think).

'I'm lost' I hear my father say in peace, we are looking for our hotel, trying to get out of a big fat fine. 'Follow me', says the nice policeman… and he guides us criss-cross through old narrow alleys out of beautiful Sienna. Hundreds of pedestrians turn in astonishment as we pass at walking pace. What is our hotel called? Well, in our best Italian: abbiamo dimenticato il nome. In other words, forgetting the name of our hotel (not booked at all, but yes ...) We are greeted nicely after he tells us between nose and lips that our license plate was scanned upon entering through the gate and that the fine will follow automatically . Mama Mia, screaming with laughter, we leave the beautiful Sienna with cold sweat on our foreheads. Yes, dear father has watched too much film… because tearing through Sienna was only allowed by James Bond in the film Quantum of Solace.

My name is Bond… Fred Bond.

Letters to Juliet

The Tuscany region is one of the most dreamy destinations in Europe. It's like driving through the movie set of one of my favorite movies 'letters to Juliet'. Our love for that wonderful romantic movie, the beautiful Tuscany, the delicious wines, pastas and pizzas grows more and more when we visit the cities of Verona. Visit Florence, Lucca and Siena and the most adorable villages. The hilly landscape with its extensive vineyards are dream locations for shooting. What could be more fun than being able to combine vacation and work in this way.

Cinque Terre

We end our Italian adventure on the coast and visit the 5 fishing villages of Cinque Terre. We wander through the picturesque streets of Vernazza that are on the list of i borghi più belli d'Italia, the most beautiful villages in Italy, ... stroll along the boulevard of Monterosso al Mare, and also visit the small Manarola, the oldest village in the Cinque Terre. We stare somewhat unreal at the photogenic houses, in the most diverse colors.

Molto Bella

The southernmost village, Riomaggiore, slowly winds up from the sea. The houses seem to have sucked onto the rocky coast. We enjoy the atmosphere in the harbor, with bobbing boats in all the colors of the rainbow and the equally colorful houses that are set in a warm glow by the sun.

Ti amo Italy.

Yes, and then we cannot resist to go and see if the famous tower is really that crooked near Pisa. It is very busy. Shooting is certainly not possible among all the tourists who are looking for that one ultimate shot to push back the tower. But that is funny to see, certainly a nice place to have seen and yes… it is really wicked.

Arrivederci

Time flies and we have to say goodbye to Bella Italia far too soon. Not only do we take great memories home, but also a collaboration with an Italian supplier. Beautiful romantic blouses and dresses in elegant fabrics for our new collection. We are so happy with that. Back home & back to business. Ciao, grazie di tutto!

XOXO
love, Jessy

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