my italian holiday

 I went to Italy! This trip came about very randomly and unexpectedly - one day my mum asked when my boyfriend would be visiting next, and when I said that it'd be around mid-august, she asked if we'd like to go on holiday with them. The answer was obviously yes. My parents brainstormed the destination for a few weeks, and eventually we landed on Milan, which then evolved into Como.

We stayed in a house in a small village on a mountain, only connected with the city by a serpentine road and a funicular. A five minute walk was enough to get the most beautiful views of lake Como and mountains, and the sunsets we witnessed there were some of the most beautiful I've seen in my life. 

We spent a fair amount of time at home, as we all agreed we want it to be a very chill holiday and we didn't wanna run around and stress about schedules and plans. Ironically, every day I'd pass out at 11pm, exhausted from all the emotions and all the climbing we had to do. On the first day there, we went to a tiny fruit shop up one of the narrow streets and I bought a peach, that I proceeded to eat on the sunny patio in front of our house, hiding under a canopy of ivy. I bit into it and it was the sweetest, juiciest peach ever, nothing life those I get from Lidl. I think I turned to my boyfriend and said something like "this is better than any sex I've ever had, sorry."

We went on a few day trips. One walking around the old town of Como, mostly motivated by wanting to get breakfast and groceries. Another, that only my boyfriend and I went on, to Lugano in Switzerland. The train there took us along lakes and mountains that seemed to go on and on, especially on a foggy day. The city of  Lugano itself was gorgeous as well, even though it was raining the whole time we were there, so we couldn't enjoy the outdoors as much as we wished we could. Still, the view of the lake, with fog over it was breathtaking. The longest day was one when my dad planned a route along the lake. We'd stop in random towns along the way, swimming in the lake and getting drinks, walking around and getting drinks, in general getting drinks was a big theme of this trip. By the end of the day I was too tired to finish a walk around the last town on our itinerary. In that same town we witnessed a fight in the back of a shabby little bar where I ordered an espresso just so we could use their bathroom. 

One of my favourite moments of this trip was when my boyfriend and I stayed at home while my parents decided to go to Milan, since there were red flood warnings in the area and with my boyfriend's Welsh experience of flash floods, we decided not to risk it. We ended up sitting in the living room in near darkness, drinking limoncello spritzers and watching a thunderstorm. And playing pool. I forgot to mention we had our own pool table in the house and we used the fuck out of it. 

We'd all eat dinners, usually cooked by my brother who turned out to be a really great cook, on the patio. I lounged around the house, read a book, spent some quality time with my family and boyfriend. It truly was the perfect holiday.