libri e più libri.

My favorite bookstore in Rome, AltroQuando, has the best selection of contemporary art, film, design and music books. They even have a basement complete with bar and stage where local musicians play. The only problem is fitting everything I want into my luggage and getting it back to NYC...

More here: AltroQuando.

open marketing.

Another stop on our tour was one of Barcelona's largest flea markets, Mercat del Encants. We sifted through everything from old Spanish coins, buttons and paintbrushes to dresses, antique guitars, mirrors and artwork. The locals were friendly, excited to bargain and joked about having their pictures taken.

hello brooklyn.

Still reminiscing. Summertime in the city with a film camera. Coney Island, Berry Street, Bedford Ave. and the Music Hall of Williamsburg.

firenze.

The next stop on our Tuscan Tour was Florence. I absolutely loved everything about the city- the cobblestone alleyways, marble facades, fashionable tourists, bargaining leather vendors and fantastic sculptures. We explored everything from Ponte Vecchio to the San Lorenzo market, stopping at the most delicious sandwich shop with fresh cured meats, cheeses and breads and watching our steps as we wandered through uneven sidestreets. After lunch, we climed the 463 steps to the top of the Duomo to experience the most fantastic view of the entire city, bargained for our very first Italian leather jackets and admired Michaelangelo's 20 foot David masterpiece in the Galeria dell'Academia.

the square of miracles.

The first stop on our Tuscan tour this weekend was Pisa. We explored the Piazza del Duomo, gawked at the Baptistery where Galileo was baptized and took hundreds of pictures of the cathedral's leaning bell tower from every angle. We ate pizza and gelato and sipped wine from a restaurant with a view, thumbed through postcards and bargained with street vendors. With an hour left before our bus left, we practiced our yoga and basked in the sun in the grassy field inside the Piazza's nearly 1,000 year old walls. Oh, and of course, when I took out my camera to take my first picture of the trip the lens had a meltdown and refused to open. So, thank you to Gina Milena for letting me put my own spin on her fantastic photographs. Check out more from our weekend adventure on Faded Sign.

roma's most wanted.

Check out more of my Roman adventures with Gina Milena on Faded-Sign.

ti amo da qui.

While rome-ing around the city today I stumbled upon the Porta Portese open market at the Piazza Ippolito Nievo, just a few tram stops from my apartment. The market was full of locals selling everything- vintage furniture and paintings, typewriters, alarm clocks, vinyls and leather bags and shoes. There were stands with piles of hand-sewn table cloths, crocheted tops and silk pillows, and people creating one-of-a-kind jewelry with glass beads and copper chains. After the market I walked along the graffiti-lined Tiber and found a couple sitting in front of a quote painted in life-size letters nearly a block long. It read: "Ti amo da qui... alla fine del mondo...di nuovo qui...all'infinito." 

Translation: "I love you from here... at the end of the world... forever... here again."