Summertime in Italy

Our Italian summer holiday was instigated by my attendance to a design conference in Torino called Changing the Change, where I also presented a paper on my PhD research. The conference spanned 3 days, drew an international design crowd. For a write-up on the conference, please see my research blog called Letters to Australia.

Beginning in Torino

On the last day of the conference, Geoff flew into Torino. We had almost a day to spend in Torino so we wondered along the River Po and within the Old Town. From Torino we traveled to Sorrento in southern Italy.


Sweet Sorrento

Neither of us had been to southern Italy before. We were excited to visit having seen the rom-com Only You a few times and been in awe of the backdrop of the Almalfi coast as Robert Downey Jr chases Marissa Tomei all over this beautiful part of the world.

Sorrento is a small beach town and while quite difficult to access (the closest airport is Naples and you either take a 1 hour train local train or pay a small fortune for a taxi), it is absolutely buzzing with tourists and tiny streets of shops, bars and restaurants.


On the fringes of the town, you can also find stunning views to the Bay of Naples and an ominous Mt Vesuvius, which always appears as a silhouette.


We arrived late in the evening and the streets of the town centre were packed with people. We stayed in a great hotel, the Sorrento City Hotel, which was in the thick of the town's activity, and a stone’s throw away from the main Piazza Tasso. The hotel had great personal service and compact but modern rooms. Our room had a balcony overlooking the main street, a great people watching point!

Our first night in Sorrento, we were exhausted from walking around Torino (earlier that day), taking a flight, and then a steaming hot train ride to our beach side destination. We found a quiet table at Syrenuse Bar and Restaurant in Piazza Tasso for dinner. Our table was on a narrow balcony over a cliff drop to the street below. An early night beckoned and plans were made to visit Capri the next day.


Dazzling Capri

We had the option of taking a tour to Capri, but as we arrived too late to book through the tour office so we took a boat ride out to Capri ourselves. We learnt the following day that this was probably the better option, as a couple we met briefly the next day had not enjoyed being on tour to Capri.

Capri is a ritzy, resort island about a half hour boat ride from Sorrento.


As we stepped off the large boat, smaller boar tours were leaving the main port to tour the island's many grottos and unique land formations. The boats can only hold about a dozen people and there is a lot of sea spray from choppy waters as the boat exits the main port of Capri.


Away from the port is a beautifully serene experience. Out on the water, under the sun, with the sea breeze in our faces and the towering rocky mountains that meet the sea, we couldn’t have asked for more for 13 Euros each. This was by far the best thing we could do on a day visit to Capri.


The rest of our time there was spent lunching and then a tram ride to the top of one of the mountain to the La Piazzetta.


La Piazetta had stunning views and shop after shop of haute couture fashion such as Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana and Salvatore Ferragamo (just to name some of the Italian houses). We stopped for a coffee on the terrace to enjoy a break and a view after some browsing.


Back in Sorrento, we couldn’t resist visiting the beach for a quick dip. We went to St Peter’s beach a private beach that required a fee to enter and use the sun lounges and umbrella, but the short dip in the warm Mediterranean ocean was worth it!


Ancient Pompeii

We had an 8am start the next day on our Pompeii and Mt Vesuvius tour. It was a searing hot day and there is not much shade among the ruins of Pompeii. It was fascinating nonetheless to see what once was a bustling city, with numerous streets, residences, amphitheatres, markets and shops, now only marked by by the ruins that remain after the infamous 79 AD Vesuvius explosion, so powerful it took only 5 minutes to reach Pompeii and wiped out the whole city. Pompeii was surely a monumental excavation job, and an amazing attraction to envision what life was like in 79 AD.


After a quick lunch at a nearby restaurant (we dodged the tourist crowd at the other restaurant) it was on the coach again to Mt Vesuvius.


Monumental Vesuvius

Our tour guide said on the coach she would not be accompanying us up to the top of Mt Vesuvius. After the half hour, dusty walk up the mountain in blistering heat, it wasn’t hard to understand why she’d choose to remain in the air-conditioned comfort of the coach!


But the views over the Bay of Naples were amazing from the top.


The crater looked quite harmless and empty, making it hard to believe it could wipe out a whole city in just one day. Vesuvius is still considered an active volcano.


Lucky for us there was no fireworks on this particular day!


After a long, hot and dusty day out, we arrived in Sorrento sun-stroked and drowsy and were thankful that dinner at the Terrazza Bosquet was booked for us late.

Terrazza Bosquent was nothing short of amazing. Located in the exclusive and historic Excelsior Vittoria Hotel perched on the cliff face.


The hotel is on the main street of Sorrento but set far back among pretty gardens. The hotel is so exclusive and private it has a security guard out the front only allowing hotel guests and diners through.


Our hotel booked us dinner and had requested a very special table, one of the few right on the terrace balustrade with uninterrupted views to Mt Vesuvius and the glittering lights of Naples. The evening temperature was perfect and there was only a very slight breeze. The service was impeccable and the food and wine were all delicious. This had to be one of the best dining experiences ever.



Breathtaking Amalfi

Our last full day in Sorrento was spent on the Amalfi Coast. Again we went on tour. We had an expert driver, who managed the get the coach effortlessly around hairpin bends and tiny roads that hug the mountainsides.


We could only pass by Positano as the streets are so narrow, coaches can’t actually fit down them. But it was stunning just to see the hundreds of villas build into the mountain slope down to the water. Apparently Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington had been holidaying in Positano just the week before.


We passed through numerous other towns along the Amalfi coast and eventually stopped at Amalfi, a lively town with many shops and a big-ish port.


We took a boat ride, similar to the one in Capri, along the coast to check out Amalfi’s surrounds. We spied the hotel Bill Gates is currently building, Sophia Loren’s villa and the honeymoon villa of John and Jacqueline Kennedy.


On land, Geoff and I visited the first paper mill in Europe. It was set quite far back from the port, so it was very quiet there and we got a personal tour of the mill. Geoff also got to make paper. Unfortunately it takes 2-3 days for each sheet to dry so we couldn’t take his one home.


Lunch time approached and we were taken to a spot, high up on the mountain with stunning views across to Ravello, down the valley and toward the ocean. It was lovely being up there enjoying views over hand made pasta for lunch.


Our final stop was Ravello, a small town perched on the top of the mountain.


We decided to spend some time in the placid gardens of Villa Rufolo, with gorgeous flowers and plants.


And beautiful views.


It was time to head back to Sorrento for our last night. When we got back we took a walk around town and to enjoy our favourite views one last time.


The next day we’d be heading to Rome, our final destination on the trip.

Antwerp > Breda > Amsterdam

Our last trip overseas was instigated by an invitation to speak on behalf of the Design Council at the Graphic Design Festival in Breda, a small town 2 hours by train from Amsterdam.

As I flew into Antwerp, stayed in Breda and then met Geoff for the weekend in Amsterdam, we thought some bite-sized commentary on each city would be the best way to disseminate our experience.

>> Antwerp >>

It’s amazing that just a 45-minute drive can transport you from one country to another here in Europe. Often the drive to work in Sydney took me longer than a drive between Antwerp, in Belgium to Breda in the Netherlands.

Antwerp is small and friendly city, steeped in history.

Preparation: Nil

Transit and transport: VLM flies from the teeny-tiny London City Airport to Antwerp in just 45 minutes. Hardly enough time for air stewards to set down and collect the food and drink on your tray table.

Length of stay: 4 hours

Architecture: Mostly low-rise buildings, mixed with old 16th-century architecture which can be found in the cobbled city centre. Antwerp City Hall in the Grote Markt (or Main Square) and The Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal (Cathedral) stand impressively in this pocket-sized city. The row of Guildhouses at the Grote Markt are a sight (Note: image from Wikipedia. How do you get photos off your mobile phone?).


Weather: Cool and rainy on the day I visited.

Scene: As the weather had apparently been lovely, warm and sunny earlier that week, the streets of the city were quiet on this cool and rainy day.

Visited attractions: My host had booked my flight into Antwerp just to see the old printing museum, Plantin-Moretus Museum, a UNESCO-listed site of one of the first printing presses in the world. The Plantin-Moretus family archived everything, so the museum has on display the tiniest details, such as Garamond’s typeset box that he took around the world in to sell his typeface, to big wood printing presses that were used to make books centuries and centuries ago. The museum is huge and full of wonderful discoveries for graphic designers, typographers, printers and anyone interested in how people got the written word out into the world.

Food: My host said that Antwerp is well-known for its great nosh. Unfortunately I didn’t get to sample the food this time around, maybe next time...

Environmental: The main city centre can only be toured by foot, which makes for a safe and car-free experience when visiting Antwerpian history.

Don’t: Forget the digital camera in the car (like I did) because there was a tonne to photograph, even in just 4 hours in Antwerp.

Don’t wear heels to walk in the city centre. Cobbles are not your friend!

Draw out money at the ATM at the airport because I didn’t spot one until we got to Breda.

Visit again? Sure, but maybe to see other parts of Belgium which is easily accessible by Eurostar from London.

>> Breda >>

Breda is another pocket-sized city, easy to get around with lots of friendly people. The Graphic Design Festival was held in May and June this year there. The focal point of the Festival was the city’s new Graphic Design Museum, the first ever in the world. The Design Council were invited to give a presentation on their research into design at a full-day’s seminar titled ‘Design and Personality.’

Preparation: A 20-minute presentation to the seminar delegates to paint an international picture on design and what UK-based designers are doing.


Length of Stay: 1 night, 2 days.

Transit and transport: Easy access by train to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, the Hague etc. so a great place to stay if intending to visit different parts of the Netherlands.

Architecture: Not as old-worldy as Antwerp, but the town had retained its historical charm.

Weather: Cool (especially at night), but no rain.

Scene: Breda is very much trying to carve a name for itself as a creative centre.

The people in Breda couldn’t be more friendly and helpful. And the conference hosts and organisers were absolutely lovely.

Accommodation: I stayed in a very nice hotel, the Golden Tulip Keyser.

Attractions: The Graphic Design Museum is the latest addition to the city having just opened its doors last month. It has both permanent and temporary exhibitions where graphic design is concerned, tracing the history of the discipline in The Netherlands and also inviting international designers to exhibit. This month, Ji Lee, who was also an invited speaker at the seminar, has on display some of his personal projects such as The Bubble Project.

As part of the Festival we toured the light show around the city at night. This involved moving image works by various designers beamed up on bare walls around the city.

The main city square hosts a big market buzzing with people, food and things to buy.

Food: Ji and I were treated to a huge Italian dinner at a restaurant run by a quirky married couple. Great food, service and conversation with our hosts- couldn't have asked for more.

Night life: Breda's night life sees lots of young people constantly streaming in and out of bars and restaurants when night falls. There were orange streamers everywhere in preparation for the Euro 2008 football (soccer) game between The Netherlands and France the following night.

Environmental: Like Antwerp, you can only get around the city centre by foot. There is also a lovely green park one must walk through to get to the train station. The park is as big as Breda's city-centre itself.

Details: Orange (The national colour of the Netherlands) and Welpies (orange-haired lion toys you get when you buy things from the supermarkets) can be spotted everywhere.

Don’t: Forget your a map because you can get lost in Breda’s winding streets.

Visit again? Sure, a great base to visit other parts of The Netherlands, and now I also know people who live there.

>> Amsterdam >>

This month, Monocle magazine ranks Amsterdam as number 18 on its list of the 25 world’s most liveable cities in the world. While visiting a city is quite different to living in one, we can understand why Amsterdam makes the cut.


Preparation: Booking accommodation in Amsterdam is tricky. It’s a popular tourist destination so do it several weeks in advance. Try B&Bs because there seems to be a strong network there and very friendly owners who help you get accommodation when they have none.

Length of Stay: 2 nights.

Transit and transport: Trains from other cites are easy and quite inexpensive. The train from Amsterdam to its airport is just 20-minutes (and at just 4 Euros it’s much cheaper than a taxi).

Architecture: The canal houses are beautiful terrace-like buildings, rarely higher than 4 storeys, lining the canals under the shady trees. Imagining living in one would put Amsterdam in our top 25 cities to live in too.

Weather: Cool but sunny for the weekend.

Scene: Amsterdam is highly tolerable of foreigners and people are very friendly. The city is an environmentally conscious and open place.

Accommodation: Ada owns a spacious studio behind her clothing shop in Jordan, a lovely part of Amsterdam with little pubs, boutique shops, 2 big farmers markets on the weekend and a young professional class who reside there. Jordan is a great location, walkable to the centre of Amsterdam, close to the canals and within walking distance to must-see attractions.

Ada’s studio apartment is thoughtfully put together with everything you could need for a weekend stay and in a great location.

Attractions: Anne Frank's House is an astounding narrative of the real-life story of Anne Frank whose diary, of life-in-hiding during the war, is now published in several languages. There is always a line to get in, but if you book tickets online, you can skip the wait.


The Van Gogh Museum and Rijksmuseum are both impressive, and can be done in a short space of time. Van Gogh’s tragic life story is portrayed in the museum alongside a lifetime of his work.


The Rijksmuseum traces Dutch history, but the majority of it is closed for renovations. What’s there now is a nice quantity to absorb for a few hours stay.



The canals of Amsterdam are reminiscent of Venice. Use the canal boats for transport to other parts of the city, a few history lessons and admire the gorgeous canal terraces and tree-lined streets.


The floating flower market is a huge market place on the canal selling all sorts of flowers, cati and souvenirs.


Food: The farmers markets have the most amazing breads and cheeses.


As we had arrived late on Friday night we picked up snacks at the supermarket but on Saturday night we made it to a lively tapas restaurant for tapas, sangria and live music (the band was lacking a little charisma but nevertheless fun to listen to).


Night life: The city must have been partying on Friday night after their win over France in the football, because Saturday night seemed pretty quiet.

Environmental: Unlike Venice, there are vehicular road along the canals, but we hardly saw a car as everyone uses bikes, the canal boats (though that's usually the tourists) or makes their way around by foot.

Didn’t see any green parks in the city, but almost every road along the canal is tree-lined.

Locals also don't use plastic bags, so one does feel terribly guilty when shopping for things in the supermarket without their own bag or basket.

Details: The canal houses lean forward to accommodate the hoisting hooks that lift furniture into the canal houses as doorways are too narrow for most furniture to be taken through.

Don’t: Bother with taxis to and from the airport as the trains are efficient, comfortable and so cheap.

Visit again? Loved it and yes.

A Birthday on the Cote d'Azur

It's the thing to do when living in London- birthday weekends abroad. For Wendy’s birthday, Wendy, Trinh and I set off to the Nice for a girly weekend of shopping, dining and touring the south of France, lapping up the warm sunshine, blue-green Mediterranean and parachuting into the lives and activities of the rich and famous (the F1 was just 2 weekends away and the Cannes Film Festival was on).


The weather reports for the weekend were not good, but we ended up getting our fair share of sunshine. We flew out of London at 4am on Saturday morning (yes, the crazy things Aussies do to travel for those cheap flights!) and landed in Nice at around breakfast. We checked into our hotel, Lafayette (a great find for its price, location and room size) and hit the town for an early birthday lunch among the Old Town markets.


An afternoon of shopping followed and we ended up in the Old Town again for a seafood dinner. We stuffed ourselves, but still found place for gelato on the way home. We vetoed a night out after our early morning rise and headed to bed early in preparation for a full day of touring on Sunday.

Sunday was a stunning day- Blue skies and sunny. We booked a day tour to visit Monaco, Cannes, Antibes and two old villages, Eze and Saint Paul. Our first stop was a perfume factory at Eze. We toured the soap-making factory and made some sweet-smelling purchases.


The heart of Eze is a cobbled village perched high above Nice. It had quaint boutiques and a maze of pathways through the town.



Next stop was Monaco. We spent about an hour at the Palace, watching the changing of the guard, strolling through the narrow streets and shops and checking out the views over Monaco and out to the Mediterranean.


Down in the town, we drove along the Formula 1 track, speeding past the belchers and the signposted track.


Lunch was nearing and we stopped for baguettes and gelato at Saint Paul, an old town on the hilltop, overlooking the French countryside.


We walked off lunch, weaving our way through the many shops and cobble streets.


Clouds were starting to form and rain began falling as we drove down the hillside, heading to the sunnier Cannes.

The Cannes Film Festival was on, so we didn’t get to go down to the promenade in the car, but we looked from above down to the white tents, red carpet and huge yachts.


Half an hour away was our last stop, the quite and old Antibes. Here, we decided to break from our whirlwind tour, and stop at a café for drinks and crepes (yum!). We took a peak at the yachts before the group collected together for the drive back into Nice.


For dinner, an Italian restaurant in town was recommended to us by some locals. It served up such huge plates of food and was far the best meal we had in Nice (it is never a lie that locals always best!).


Our final day in Nice was a breakfast of melt-in-the-mouth croissants and a final shop around the city. Late afternoon drew near and we headed back to the airport to return to London with great memories (and a few purchases) to remind us of a birthday weekend on the Cote d'Azur- Happy Birthday Wendy!