18 DAYS IN ITALY no.7

I think it's driving me crazy.

Step 

       by 

              step.

30th August

Hullo guys,

We spent practically the whole day on the beach. Me, my brother, my cousin and his girlfriend and Alessandro. It was actually a nice day.

We swimmed and talked. But I mostly just read. I can't help it. When a book is genuine I just turn off and devour the book pages as if they were providing me some kind of deliverance or consolation. 

And when I look on the bigger picture, they are. Though I don't know what exactly are they delivering me from.

I found a beautiful mini bong in the room where I sleep. I guess it's Alessandro's older brother's room. Looks very used. Smells very used. 

Hehe.

i already miss the starry nights

. . .

The beach in Pineto is lovely. It looks very much like our beach but has these pini marittimi alleys all over. 

We had kinda nice time. 

I must proudly announce we even made a sandcastle. That was pleasant. I felt like a little girl again for a few minutes. With salt in my hair, burrowing in the sand, letting the water wash my feet while kneeling on the shore.

i saw this beautiful building on the way from beach

My brother and Alessandro dug a deep hole in which we burried Alessandro later. He couldn't get out of it. Hehe.

I also saw the cutest baby boy in the whole Italy. He was about 1, max 2 years old and he kept falling in the water, jumping, waving his hands and fooling around. And he was constantly smiling. He looked so happy.

I just stood there, looking at him and I couldn't help it. 

I envied him.

. . .

We had the fanciest dinner so far. Three-hundred-grams hamburgers, avocado salad, fresh riccota, an authentic italian prosiutto, grilled eggplant slices and lamb. Yum, yum. I'd really like to be an Italian.

Greetings from underneath the stars,

Anna

18 DAYS IN ITALY no.6

Still warm croissants for breakfast, the smell of genuine italian caffè wafting through the kitchen, lazing by the sea, jumping into the waves and a cool indie rock guitar concert to properly end the day. Italians certainly know how to enjoy the life.

29th August

Hullo guys,

My cousin brought us three fresh croissants for the breakfast. So incredibly tasty.
Yet I fear I'll gradually become a pig before I get home. Really.

croissants con frutti di bosco, con miele e con crema alla vaniglia

I'm trying to learn Quelqu'un m'a dit by Carla Bruni. It's quite difficult but hopefully I can do it.

On dit que le destin se moque bien de nous,

Qu'il ne nous donne rien, et qu'il nous promet tout,

Paraît que le bonheur est à portée de main,

Alors on tend la main et on se retrouve fou.

"I’m told that fate mocks us. That it gives us nothing and promises everything. When happiness seems to be within our reach, we reach out and make fools out of ourselves."

. . . 

The sea level was high today. But that's probably because we set off later. The sea level is changing during the day and it's always an inflow in the evening.

The guitar concert was great. It wasn't much of a concert though, more like a performance. But it was cool to hear some quality music again.
It gave me some time to think, as I always do while listening to quality music.
And I don't know if I wanted to. Think.

I suppose I fear it might excessively remind me of him.

I finally saw a proper night sky. I tried to recognize some constellation but I couldn't find any. So I just stared at the stars as I usually do and I was wondering if anyone close to me is now, at this very moment, watching the same sky.

. . . 

I'm lying on a sofa wannabe from the Victorian era in my cousin's girlfriend's otherwise stylish apartment. I love the huge abstract paintings on the walls. My brother is playing GTA V on my cousin's girlfriend's son's (Alessandro's) xbox. Alessandro is 12 and he looks much like a baby turtle.
Though he's still taller than me.

I'm sorry but I really have to go to bed. I'm exhausted.

Good night/morning/day

Anna

18 DAYS IN ITALY no.5

Italian ice cream is a heavenly bliss. The makrets are kind of charming in a certain way. The local fish are far too friendly and they really like to randomly jump out of the water and scare me. Idiotic fish.

28th August

Hullo guyz,
We visited the Giulianova markets today. We actually planned to wake up early again and set off to the beach. The weather was supposed to get really bad in the afternoon.
The thing about local weather is it's changing very inconstantly. It depends a great deal on the nearby mountains.
Hey. I wouldn't talk about weather unless it's interesting, okay? Trust me.
So, what I wanted to say is it's dull nasty weather here and when we arrived to Giulianova, a city 2 kilometres away, the sun was shining brightly, the sky was blue and a sea breeze was pleasurably cool and fresh.

I LOVE THE SEASCAPE.

 I thought Italian markets will be full of food. But basically everything we saw were clothes. Sooo much clothes, shoes, jewelery... and about six food stands. Weird.

nirvana, green day, red hots, beatles,
pink floyd... asdfghjkdfgh.

Anyway, I found a few pretty cool things here. First, a simple lacy white dress. I always wanted a white a'la fairy dress to perfectly fit with my flower crown. And I simply love lacy things! They were too expensive though. Maybe I'll come back for them, but first I have to see the Saturday markets in Teramo.

The second thing were these (left pic) super cool band t-shirts, € 13 per one! Oooh, my heart leapt at the sight of them.
They didn't have the exact ones I want though, so I left them there with  a heavy heart.

The last thing I really loved was a pair of black creepers. Oh my, you have no idea how long am I trying to find these! My aunt, however, was of the opinion that buying shoes on the market is stupidity. Shoes are today's only clothing that must fit perfectly. Which is, I suppose, true. So we didn't buy anything. The regrets are already coming.

I hope I'll have a quality pair of these beautiful shoes one day.

. . .

see that little weird looking creature over there? yeah. that's me.

Well, when the marketers started to pack their little shops, we went to lie down on the beach for a while. To enjoy the waves which were huge today. Swimming was allowed at your own risk.

We took the risk and it was great.

However, with waves came also fish. Shitloads of fish. (hehe, i wanted to use this word for a long time) 

They were all jumping out of the water basically anywhere and anytime they wanted like it's nobody's bussiness. One of them jumped out and slapped me on the butt. And that really hurt! My brother leaughed at me for a while but then a big wave came and filled his mouth with water. Hehe. Serves him right.

. . .

After jumping and divning into the waves, sunbathing and eating we finally went to get some good italian ice cream. My aunt luckily knows the best gelaterie in the town. We ordered three gelati piccoli, small ice creams, for € 1,50 each. And as it's customary in Italy they weren't piccolo at all.

But oh, how delicious they were!

And as if that was not enough, they even made the scoops in a shape of roses. Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to take a photo but they looked something like this.
The gelateria we visited was named "Oasi". Just in case you'd ever visit Giulianova. C:




Oh, and my aunt also told me I'm like Alice nel paese delle meraviglie. Alice in Wonderland. I don't know how she got the idea.
But I take that as a compliment.
¨
That would be enough for today, right? Yeah, definitely.

So ciao domani!

Anna

18 DAYS IN ITALY no.4

 previous day   1st day 
Walking in cold sand is even better. Italians are incredibly chatty. Sushi is quite a delicacy and I fell in love with those sushi restaurants where food goes around the whole room.

27th August

The day started beautifully. Everyone, including my cousin, loved the cake I made. We got up early to see the sunrise above the sea. As usual we didn't make it, but at least we saw the sunrise from our balcony.

The sea was more rough than the other days. They say a storm is about to hit tommorrow. The winds are rising and my aunt told me that if the sea's like this now, it's not gonna be possible to swim in it in the evening.

How I'd love to see that!

She also told me that when the sea is rough it washes out prettier and bigger shells. I found five or six nice shells. What do you think? Is any of them better than the previous one?

. . .

. . .

these fried ones were SO good

The Sushiko restaurant in Pescara was brilliant.
They have quite well thought out there. You pay € 10 per one person and you can eat whatever you want, how many of it you want and whenever you want. And they don't have only sushi (their sushi is excellent and they have countless species though, so it wouldn't be much of a problem), they have loads of seafood: various fish, shrimp, lobsters, cuttlefish, clams...; fried or grilled pork, cheese or chicken, many kinds of annexes, ice cream, fruit, vegetables, desserts...
oh my!

they called these

 'sushi di frutta', fruit sushi

The best thing was the food going around the restaurant though. You can just sit and watch so much food slowly coming to you. And it all can be yours hehe!
It was sooo cool! I hope I'll find a similar restaurant somewhere in the Czech Republic.

We're going to my cousin's grandparents in a while. The last cake I made is for them.
Italians are really hospitable and welcoming people. I'm glad I'm gonna meet a few more.

Spend the rest of your free days as well as can be!

Your       Anna

yum.

 next day 

18 DAYS IN ITALY no.3

 previous day  1st day
Italian food is so my cup of tea. Fruit, vegetables, pasta, all kinds of melons, pizzas and coffee. Oh, I could eat this forever.

26th August

Hullo guys,
So it's the third day. Today I mainly just ate. I couldn't help it. The food is too delicious.
Did I tell you we were planning to set off in the morning today?
Yeah, we actually got to the beach at about 11 o'clock. And that's not early. It's not even morning. It's already hot here.
The water was nicely cool and refreshing though.

purple and green figs

Oh yeah, and we also stole some really juicy figs.
This was actually the first time I ate fresh figs. They're way better then the dried ones! Definitely recommend to get them somewhere! Yum.
Oh, but don't eat too much of them. They act like natural laxative. And did you know they contain small amount of a drug called atrachinon? Cooooool.

. . .

just some mountains

I didn't even put out my camera on the beach today. But it doesn't really matter, we did practically the same things as yesterday.
But I took few pics on the way home. The nature around here is so various! I love it.

Aaand I found quite passable shell! At least for now, I hope I'll find even better.

you can see our town hiding there in the foothills

. . .

My cousin celebrates his 34th birthday tommorow. My aunt made three simple cakes and I did the rest. It came out quite well I think. My aunt was totally blown out. I don't know, it wasnt that good but... you know, it's convenient.

It would be decent to show you a photo now, right? Okay, okay. Here you go.

We're going to this cool sushi restaurant in occasion of my cousin's birthday tommorow. You know, the one where food rides around on these... oh my, how is it called in English... well, you know what I mean, right?
I'm not exactly a big fan of sushi but there gonna be a lot of other food too. I'm really looking forward to try this kinda thing out.

We also had yellow melon. A lot of it. That's basically all we eat here. So. Much. Fruit.
I might be in heaven.

Kisses,

              Anna

 next day 

18 DAYS IN ITALY no.2

 previous day 
The sea is a wonderful thing. Fresh air smells of salt water. The sea breeze is ruffling your hair like any other breeze, and yet it somehow feels different a special way. The feeling of walking barefoot in the soft warm sand.

25th August

Hullo everyone,

It felt engaging. To be back by the seaside. To feel the characteristic atmosphere of the seaside. And to be part of it.

lucky me

The sea was surprisingly warm and very enjoyable. Last year when we were in France with my family the sea was rather cold and acrid. The french beaches was gorgeous though, but... oh, how I love italian seaside.

And I saw a fish jumping out of the water! It immediately disappeared in the waves again, but woow! Believe it or not, this was the first time a saw an actual fish in the sea.

. . .

oh, how i'd love to take a ride
 on a sailboat again

I took only the very most necesarry things. "Things you cannot leave the house without" as my aunt told me. That would be
a book, a camera, sunglasses and of course a swimsuit and a towel.
Yaaay, and we can go.

We settled down among these boats and sailboats so that no one would bother us. I swimmed for like 20 minutes. Well, swimmed... more like floated on the waves.

When I fully enjoyed the water I just went for my camera and started to take photos of everything.
Then it occured to me it would be quite sweet to send my male-friend a lovely little shell (I'm sending him a letter). So I started looking for unique shells while photographing.

look at the landscape!

 I couldn't find any acceptably cute so I took at least few nice pebbles. For the rest of the time I read an engrossing book.

“She said, 'I'm so afraid.' And I said, 'why?,' and she said, 'Because I'm so profoundly happy, Dr. Rasul. Happiness like this is frightening.' I asked her why and she said, 'They only let you be this happy if they're preparing to take something from you.”  

― Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

 That was a quote from that book if you didn't get that.

. . .

Okay, this is getting weird. He's basically all I think about. Except maybe food.

. . .

I learnt to play Ed Sheeran's Autumn Leaves on my aunt's old guitar. It's a beautiful song, really. I don't know why I fell in love with this one. I guess it has something to do with ... you know what, I don't wanna think about this right know.

My aunt promised me to set off sooner tommorow. I hope I'll find the right shell.

Love and kisses,

                       Anna

this is supposed to be the night view from our apartment.
see those hills on the left? these are actually mountains
but they're not visible in this photo

 next day 

18 DAYS IN ITALY no.1

I actually never mentioned I'm going to Italy with my brother! We set off yesterday morning and arrived shortly before midnight. The journey was long but oh, beautiful.

24th Aughust

Hullo guys,

My cousin who drove is Italian so it was quite entertaining just to be in the car and watch him driving. But the most entertaining thing was the nature around.

As soon as we crossed the German borders and entered Austria the landscape started to change. Soon we were passing through mountains so high we could hardly see its white tops, because the clouds were practically hiding them. We've seen green hilly valleys, lowlands with rippling brooklets. Small villages, above which was always rising a church tower. 

We drove by many castles and fortresses, towering on the rocks like forgotten sighs of the distant past.

I listened to my music, watched films with my brother. Soon my notebook died. And after some time my mobile died too. So I tried to sleep. When I couldn't sleep I just leaned my head on the window and began thinking. 

And you're miles away

And yesterday you were here with me

Ed Sheeran really has some touching songs. It's not just the melody and words. It's the whole conception. The feelings hidden inside. How come I didn't notice it before?

This was just stunning.

As the day was slowly coming to an end I finally managed to fall asleep. When I woke up, we were there. My cousin's apartment is cozy and has a beautiful view. It's a bit messy, of course, like every boy's apartment, but I like it.

That's all I was able to notice at half one in the morning before I climbed into bed and dropped off.

Kind regards from Italy,

Anna 

 next day 

A NICE QUIET PLACE no.2

 previous part here 

Throw me a line if I reach it in time

I´ll meet you up there where the path 

runs straight and high.

- Led Zeppelin 

I stopped crying when I realized it can't help me. It never helps. That's why you quit crying, remember? Yes, of course, of course. 

And I got up and ran. 

I started talking to myself. That's what I do when I'm- 

-well, I can't really specify the conditions under which I do this.

All of a sudden a strange thought crossed my mind. It was there just for a second. And that was very enough.

Somebody is chasing you.

My heart skipped a beat. Paralyzing fear started spilling throughout my body. I speeded up.

Run.

I looked back. There was no one behind me. As far as my eyes could se were only harvested fields.

But I kept running.

Then I realized what my mind was trying to tell me.

The person chasing me

was me. 

.  .  .

And if I could hold you, where would you belong? Sitting here to reason how the world's gone wrong.

I laid down in a soft pile of straw in the middle of one field.
And as I was lying there I noticed how dark gray the sky got. The air was getting heavy and the wind was rising.
Storm is coming.
I didn't take my cellphone or any watch with me. I tried to count how long am I out there and if it's not dinner time already. But it didn't matter. Nothing mattered.
I just laid there, playing with straws, thinking and still talking to myself.

I was wondering what woud He say, if He'd saw me there, basically lying on the ground, talking to myself, teary-eyed.

A sad smile lit up my face. Somehow I always smile when I think about Him.
He'd probably just lay down next to me and looked up at the sky. Maybe asked what am I doing here.
And I'd say
"Waiting for you".

.  .  .

I lied when I said I wanted to be alone.
But you probably figured that out already.

May the bridges I burn light the way.

A NICE QUIET PLACE no.1

Hullo guys,

I had a fight with my dad. The last thing I said (well, more like „yelled“. Yes. The last thing I yelled. Very loudly.) was „I DON’T CARE! I DON’T!“.

Then I slammed the door, ignoring the words my dad was yelling at me, oblivious to my mum's anxious "what's going on?" questions. I went off.

I didn’t know where I was going. I turned off and let my feet go wherever they want. The only thing that mattered was that I was going somewhere away.

From my house, from all the struggles and fights and from my restless mind.

All I knew was I need to get away from the things, voices and sounds of this town. I need to find some place quiet. I need to sort some things out.

I began running.

And I ran and ran 'till I saw a green island of wild plants and trees in the middle of a field. I walked in. The tall grass, sharp bushes and wide crowns of trees were providing me a valued shelter. At last I found a nice corner to rest my bones and mind.

I sat down and began thinking.

.  .  .

„And that helps you?“

 „What?“

„Playing the guitar“

„Usually.“

Yes. Usually.

Now, for instance, it wouldn’t. Sometimes it doesn’t help. Sometimes I just need to be alone.

.  .  .

I wanted to let all my current feelings out. And in that moment, nothing seemed more clear and obvious than the idea of putting them all in a long, ear-splitting shriek. The latest joy, happiness, passion… but mostly the anger and fear. I had to let them out. They were gathering inside me for too long. I was actually afraid my heart would explode if I’d let them manipulate with me just a little longer. So I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, opened my mouth-

and nothing came out. I couldn’t do it.

I couldn’t scream.

After this discovery all the worries and „what-if“ thoughts striked me even harder. Every single concern I had for the past few days. They were all bursting out at once, crying out for attention, followed by great measure of grief and agony my tiny confused heart wasn’t prepared for.

.  .  .

Intellect versus emotion. Intellect wins. Emotion starts crying.

__________________________

I decided to cut it here and make two parts. The final article was too long. Sorry.

-Anna

 next part here 

TRIPPY

Hullo everyone,
I went for a walk around Prague today. Well, I should probably say "we went", 'cause I wasn't alone.

Okay, now I'm pretty much relying on the fact almost no one reads my blog.
It's okay though. At least I can share and write about everything.

morning Prague

So. Me and my male-friend (sorry for the word but you have to admit it would be even more weird to say "boy-friend"... English is so weird. How do you people do it when you wanna point out your friend is a boy/girl?) went for a nice walk to do some sightseeing and mostly "philosophize about life". That's literally what he said. "Let's go out and philosophize about life."
'Cause that's what the cool kids do.
Hehe.

Well, it somehow turned out completely different. Instead of philosophizing we talked, laughed, babbled, and laughed and babbled again.

The most amazing thing about friendship is that whether you're laughing or being silent, you do it all together. You share and enjoy the moments together. Emotions, connections, feelings... It's kinda impressive.

the "Lennon wall" in Prague

And I think that in that very moment, when we were together, we both were happy. And that's the most important and remarkable thing, right?

The funny thing is that we're both from Prague, yet we don't know much about its attractions. We walked through the charming streets of the Old town, passing many famous buildings and statues of great men, whose names we should know.
I always pointed on something, expecting my knowing friend to tell me what it is. And he just smiled and said he has no idea.

And I know happiness is just an illusion

but oh, 

how delightful.

click "read more" if you like cool antique stores

EXPECT NOTHING.

Hullo guys,

I just came back from a two-week camp. I spent an amazing time. And I spent a horrible time. 

Instead of  listing all the activities and experiences I'm gonna show you this: One page from my personal notebook (in which I write when I have nothing else to do). 

Maybe you'll get better picture from this short writing, whether it's incoherent or not. Better picture than you could ever get from a story about people you've never met and things you've never done (the more emotional for me, the more boring for you).

Acid.

photo by Kristyna Rutova

The first day:
"The key is not to let it (or them, or him...) get too close you. Don't let anyone in. At least not beyond the boundary of normal friendship.

Don't get your hopes up. Don't expect anything. 'Cause it's probably not going to happen.

And it's always no good. That goes for everything.

I don't even know the exact reason why am I writing all this. Why am I even thinking about it so often now, and what on earth did I expect.

But I do feel a strong urge to write about it.

And so I write.

Sunset.

photo by Nelson Fisher

I'd probably be quite relieved if I told someone. I guess so. But I'm not gonna.

Not that I wouldn't have anyone to talk with. More likely I wouldn't be able to talk about it. I wouldn't be able to convert it into meaningful words."

The second day:

"He's to proud to plead his quilt."

Interesting.

I would say that's quite a bullshit.

I believe a man is very well aware of that quilt, but is afraid (even frightened) of it. Because the consequences of such "guilt" are usually very painful and, most importantly, very permanent."

The third day:
"Oh my, what am I writing..."

I'm still not sure what I meant. But I'm certain I meant something by it, so it has a meaning. I just don't know it yet. Maybe I'll figure it out.

At least you can make your own opinion now. Think. What could I possibly mean?

Oh, just one thing. I was thinking about one guy from our group when I was writing it. As far as I know.
But more on that later.

Here. Look at these super cool photos.

Fireside.

photo by Tereza Kostkova

Hookah.

photo by Tereza Kostkova

Blur.

photo by Adela Stoklaskova

Boys.
photo by Tereza Kostkova

Us.
photo by Marie Vinsova