break!

In January, I did that thing I do every year, which is to look at all the ads for flight deals, and pick one, book and go. It was the clever thing to do because it's May and I'm very, very ready for a break.

So I booked a trip to Italy, tossing in a five-day stopover in Paris for good measure (isn't that the whole point of flying Air France?). The last time I visited Italy, I slept in the worst hostels of my entire trip, it was August, good things to eat were far and few in between, and boy it was hot. And I managed to have a good time. This time, the weather is likely kinder and I've wised up on my accommodation hunting skills. I'm revisiting the good old classics of Rome, Florence and Venice with a friend who's never been, and I'm making a detour to Ravenna, to see some Byzantine mosaics so that I am one step closer to my quest to see as many Byzantine-era mosaics in as many cities as possible in my lifetime. There will be PASTA. There will be PECORINO. 

(Also, art, and churches and gardens and palaces.)

There will also be tennis, because one reason my friend and I picked Rome was to catch the Rome Masters, as work forbids us from actually catching the French Open in Paris later in May.

As usual, I indulged in my favourite pre-trip exercise: wardrobe planning. I reckon I need to plan for warm days and chilly nights with the odd rainy day thrown in, and so narrowed down my list to:

Tops
- Striped t-shirt
- White sleeveless linen shirt
- Blue sleeveless linen shirt
- Navy merino wool pullover
- Beige linen knit pullover

Trousers
- Skinny jeans
- Navy polka-dot viscose trousers

Dresses
- Striped cotton sleeveless knee-length dress
- Blue linen sleeveless knee-length dress
- Black cupro sleeveless jumpsuit borrowed from sis

Outerwear
- Olive green cotton parka

Shoes
- Grey high-top sneakers
- White leather lace-ups
- Black flip-flops

Flight outfit (also yoga outfit)
- White sleeveless muscle tee
- Black leggings
- Sneakers as above
- Beige linen pullover above

Others
- Grey scarf
- As many pairs of socks I need to feel secure
- As many sets of of underwear I need to feel secure
- Two sets of pajamas
- Woven leather belt
- My mother's gold ring
- Burgundy leather purse bag
- Camera backpack
- Toiletries

I could have brought more things but I didn't feel like it - I prefer to underpack than overpack (except underwear and socks) and Italy and Paris aren't exactly places where necessities are in short supply. Since I'm mostly renting apartments with laundry facilities I don't have to worry about stale clothes. Nothing annoys me more than lugging a heavy suitcase around filled with things I'm not using.

Well that's it for now. Hopefully I will be back energised and ready to blog! I do miss writing on this space.