GALLIPOLI: Sights, Caos in Otranto, Gigi D'Agostino and more..

Today I will take you into the historical centre of Gallipoli, as I said in my recent blogpost Gallipoli is divided into two parts the modern centre and the historical centre which is connected to the main land by a bridge.

Whilst I took pictures of the beautiful sights, I was lucky enough to see a local fisherman getting ready to go out fishing.

As we made our way more into the centre we came across a lot of handmade leather shoes and stalls selling real sponges. We got talking to the seller of these sponges and he told us that he dives 50m into the sea to harvest these sponges. When brought onto land they are a dark colour so they leave them in a chemical liquid for a month. When they are clean they turn a bright yellow colour (like in the photo above). This man said that before you use this sponge for the first time, you must soak it in bicarbonate soda for 30 minutes and then its perfect to use. You don't have to repeat this process. These sponges last for up to 15 years without ever growing mould or mildew. I found a link here for all the benefits of sea sponges including the fact they are biodegradable and grow bigger and better each time they are harvested.

And of course I can't go to a new city without checking out typical foods, I bought these amazing Tarallini made with oil. They came in tonnes of different flavours. The best way to describe their texture is like biscuit bread. The same texture as bread sticks! (but these are nicer)

If you notice the colourful ones, well done, they are actually sweet types. I also bought a packet of the hazelnut ones. They are just so good and are typical to the region of Puglia.

Otranto

Dress: Brandy Melville

Shoes: Primark

Bag: Italian Leather shop

When I say or even think the word Otranto all I can remember what happened when we were returning home from there. Before I get to that I will explain more about the city.

Otranto like Gallipoli, is on the coast. I decided to whip out my new Brandy Melville dress for the occasion. In this city there is a huge castle which supposedly inspired the first Gothic Novel in history called "The Castel of Otranto" by Horace Warpole.

We ended the night sitting at a bar beside the sea with the cheapest cocktails, watching a 50 something year old go skinny dipping. It was hilarious to watch!

So, as Otranto is roughly 50km from Gallipoli we knew we would have to fill up the car again with petrol on the way home. Davide had used up all his battery leaving him with 1% so he needed to use my phone for google maps to get home, in which my battery had only 20%. After about 10 minutes google maps offered us a quicker way back to Gallipoli so we changed route. At some point during the journey home I started to fall asleep (normal because it was after 2 in the morning). The next thing I remember is waking up to Davide telling me that for the whole trip there were no petrol stations and in 2 minutes the petrol was going to go. I asked how much percent I had, he said 5%!!

So he drove as fast as he could to get some speed for when the petrol actually does run out. And then it went! 2:30am in the middle of nowhere, in the pitch dark countryside of Puglia. No internet, phones on 1 and 5 percent and no petrol. Immediately Davide put his dads number in my phone because if his phone dies we were screwed. We call his dad who calls us a taxi (remember we couldn't find one as we had no internet). The taxi man rings my phone asking us where we were, we were obviously clueless because earlier google maps had changed our route. The only thing that we were sure about was a the number of kilometres on a sign beside us so we told him that. He was also clueless and we had no time to wait because my phone was on the brink of death! Somehow for the Grace of God I managed to send him my location through Whatsapp, Then we sat there waiting. (Secretly I was buzzing from the excitement of this while Davide was about to have a heart attack ahaha). The Taxi man came finally, and here was the next part of the story. In the car we had 1 bottle of water and in the taxi he had 2. He drove us to a petrol station which was about a 10 minute drive from where we broke down. Next thing we were looking in bins for more plastic bottles! I gave Davide €5 to buy petrol and we began filling up all these water bottles. We hopped back into the taxi, absolutely stinking of petrol with the thought that we were going to blow up into flames with the petrol bottles!

We got back to the car and emptied the bottles into it. With a €60 taxi fare later we were back on the road. Stopped in the same petrol station again to put in another €5, and we got home in one piece!

Bodysuit: Boohoo

Shorts: H&M

Belt and Shoes: Primark

Bag: Italian Leather Shop

Gallipoli is also known as a huge party destination, me not being very party party, we only went one night and decided to see Gigi D'Agostino, we grew up listening to his music in our teenage discos so I was filled with nostalgia the whole night!

If anyone is looking for a party destination I would definitely recommend Gallipoli because amazing DJ's come like Skrillex and Steve Aoki.

On our last night we had organised to go out for dinner. I finally got the chance to wear my absolutely stunning low v neck playsuit that I bought in Terracina last year in White120. Perfect for summer nights to add some sexy elegance.

I also got a beautiful rose to top off the last night. It went perfect with my outfit! 

Top and Dungarees: Boohoo

Shoes: Primark

Bag: Italian Leather Shop

But wait.. the holiday doesn't end there? Instead of returning immediately home from a week of heaven we decided to spend 3 nights in Terracina to "wean" us off the holiday. We also returned to Sperlonga, an absolutely beautiful white coastal town! We travelled there last year so I will leave you a link about Sperlonga that I covered already.

Chat soon lovelies!

South of Italy: GALLIPOLI

I am home after an amazing getaway in the South of Italy in the beautiful city of Gallipoli. You guys know how much I love travelling all around Italy and because it's such a diverse country there was no need to book a flight abroad when Italy has everything to offer.

Compared to my usual travels, this time we really just relaxed at the beach, it was well needed after our exams.

Gallipoli is in the region of Puglia, if you don't know where that is, it's in the heel of the boot of Italy.
We ended up driving there because due to the fact that we booked last minute all the trains were extremely expensive. So from Rome we set off on a 7 hour drive!
I would love to return to Puglia because there is a beautiful city there called Alberobello, Google it you will be amazed!!

I had researched beaches before going, Gallipoli is famous for it's Samsara Beach which is the disco beach, now I wasn't up for parting for the whole week so I found Zeus Beach which was a mix of relax and good upbeat music. The water in this area of Italy is incredible, I've never seen water so crystal clear and blue in my whole life (I've yet to go to the Maldives, but this was absolute bliss).
Zeus beach is all white (the dream haha!)
The only thing I found annoying was even though you pay money every day to rent your area to sunbathe (which is expected), you're also expected to pay a separate fee for the shower, 50c for a minutes shower. I know it doesn't break the bank but why not include it into the average renting fee??

On our last day at the beach we rented a type of bed which is put far out into the sea for you and your partner/friends to relax on. This service also attracted me to Zeus beach when I did my research. €20 in total for an hours relaxation was great value!

Upon arriving to Gallipoli, we decided we would cycle to the beach everyday because the best beaches were 4km from where we were staying in the centre. Never had I imagined the views we saw as we cycled to the beach each day. If you follow me on Snapchat: CiaraSwalsh you would have seen just how incredible it was. Best thing about cycling? My bike was PINK! And for €30 for the whole week it was a steal.

Top and Shorts: H&M

Bikini 1: Stall at the beach

Bikini 2: Top: Primark Bottoms: Wikini

 At night we went into the centre, the amazing thing about Gallipoli is that it has a historical centre, since the creation of the this another main area of Gallipoli grew up around that and that's where we had our apartment. Really just a ten minute walk from the historical centre and a 2 minute walk from the lungomare (Sea promenade). The historical centre is connected to the main land by a bridge so technically Gallipoli is in the water! Another thing I love about Gallipoli is the fact its split into two sections; the party section where all the famous DJ's come to play (we went to Gigi D'Agostino, and Steve Aoki and Skrillex are set to come) and the relaxed cultural part where you would find the historical centre. So if you want to party one night, you can, and if you want a relaxing evening, it's also possible!

Playsuit: Spanish Market last year

Shoes: Primark 3/4 years old

Bag: Italian Leather Shop

Maxi dress: Primark

Bag: Zara

Shoes: Primark

When we arrived Gallipoli was in the middle of celebrating their Patron Saint so for the whole weekend along Corsa Roma (the main street) there were stalls selling numerous objects, clothes and food. I just love seeing life in a city and people coming together for the same reason.

That's all I can fit into this post, keep an eye out for my next post on Gallipoli where I go into more depth on what we got up to, including a huuuuuge mishap that you will never believe happened to us, and of course more outfits to come!

How to live a more Positive Life.

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Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results. 

-Willie Nelson

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It's so easy to get yourself into a negative rut.

I have many a time, but each time I have gotten myself out of it and learned from each experience. 

Negativity never does any good for a person, but positivity does wonders. 

Here is a list to kick negativity in the ass!

  

1. Organisation

I am naturally a very organised person, I have a diary and I write every detail of my life in it so I won't forget anything, I write lists upon lists even lists about lists so I can tick them off as I go on. For me organisation is key to feeling more positive and less stressed in my daily life.

Negativity breeds negative outcomes, negative outcomes brings stress and stress is the danger zone.

Keep a journal/agenda, September is coming up so it's the perfect opportunity to start one, I am so excited to buy one! The feeling of accomplishment I get when I can tick off a goal I have written down in my diary is incredible, I never miss an appointment, I never forget things, I am always on top of the game. So get organising!!

(The Dotty Lemon do amazing agendas also My Shining Armour) 

2. Clean Space = Clean mind

Having a clean environment can do wonders for your mind. I know if I came home from a stressful day at work/college to a filthy house it would prolungate my stress, bringing the negativity into my home. So when you cook for yourself, clean up after yourself, when you try to find an outfit to wear, put the clothes back into your wardrobe. It's the little things that you can do do keep the negativity out. I know when i'm in a clean space my mind is always more clear and I can always get more productive with my work, which leads to accomplishments, thus positivity!

So start that over due spring clean!

3. Meditation

One thing I love to do before going to sleep is meditate, if I am stressing out over an exam or other stressful events I hate going to bed with it on my mind, this leads to unnecessary over thinking which leads to more negative stress. When I feel it all gets too much I open my Calm App and I listen to the tapes they have, my favourite settings are the beach waves and the rain sounds. Believe me you have to download it, it has calmed me down when my mind needed it. I love the control it gives me to be positive.

4. Diet

Diet is a very important role in how your mind works, trust me. For example I can't have coffee as it would trigger a panic attack, so I stick to decaf if I ever get one. I find if I get side tracked from eating healthy I feel very sluggish, demotivated, and lazy which leads to stress as you are not accomplishing daily goals, big or small. I have restricted my bread intake, I basically eat no bread, I don't have dairy unless it's an occasional ice cream, and I eat a lot more fruit and veg. Between that I balance my meat intake. I refuse to eat sugar although I crave it so much recently (must resist!).

Sugar is the worst demotivating food you could take so throw it away now! Plus it gives you wrinkles, ew! Eat healthy and you will feel so energetic and motivated!

 

5. Exercise

Just like having a healthy diet exercise is a great way of releasing endorphins (the happy hormone) which makes you positive and motivated. It really eliminates negativity from your life. Whether its going to the gym, going out for a run or doing at home workouts with Blogilates or The Body Coach you will be sure to feel energised and a whole lot of positivity, 

6. Gratitude journal

Just like an agenda I also keep a gratitude journal. Every day I write all the positive things that happened that day, whether it's "Mom made me a cup of tea today while I was studying" or "I won a competition!" these pieces of positivity will help you on down days as you can read back on the great days. It also helps you to find the positivity in bad days. I find it helps immensely!

7. Say Yes

Last but not least is the magic word of yes, this word can open up so many possibilities and opportunities for you which could benefit your friendships, your work and your daily life. Saying no to lunch with a friend because you have a lot of work to catch up on or study to do can be ok, but if you feel like you actually can't see anybody and continue to say no really restricts you from having down time and working on your relationships. This can cause negativity to grow, say yes to small things, a lunch won't make you fail an exam. This is the same for everything if you continue to say no to invitations it will make you believe that you don't deserve to have fun or have down time which will lead to a lot of stress. Go out and say yes! You never know what you might see or who you might meet. 

Hope these little tips helps! 

Chat soon,

Tips on Tanning This Summer.

Photo taken in Fregene Beach near Rome

Getting that perfect sun-kissed tan is everyone's dream, but what most of you don't know is that you are probably tanning wrong. I have compiled a list of tricks to accomplish a great summer glow.

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Here are some statements I hear every summer:

"Why should I put on factor 50? I won't get a tan with that!"

"I'll put on sun cream after I get a good tan going"

"No I don't like putting on after-sun when I'm done tanning, I'm not even burnt"

"Only losers wear sun cream"

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Factor 50!!

The reason for factor 50 is to begin your tanning process. You cannot start tanning with factor 20/factor 30 when your skin is not used to taking large amounts of sun. If you are Irish like me you need to be so careful with what factor you put on. Don't put on 30 just because you see the Spanish or Italians putting on 30. They have completely different skin tone to you and they're more accustomed to the sun! You will burn if you start tanning on a low SPF and it will ruin your holiday. 

Stick with it or Change.

After using SPF 50 for 3 or 4 days and you have noticed a huge difference in the colour of your skin you know that your skin is becoming accustomed to the sun. At this stage I would change to factor 30. I would apply a generous amount of this cream too because you need to be careful. I would recommend the L'Oreal Paris Sublime Sun in factor 30, it's a spray on cream so it's perfect for applying! I've noticed that boots don't stock it yet so I've linked alternatives below. But if you have extremely pale skin just stay with 50.

 Photo taken in Riccione Beach.

12 o'clock danger o'clock.

Midday until about 3pm is the danger zone where the sun is  the strongest and you are more likely to burn in these hours than any other. If you want to be safe I recommend going to the beach/pool early in the morning, go for lunch around 1pm and after lunch stay under the umbrella until you have digested your food (also because you can't swim after eating). So if you need a cool down I suggest going into the water before you eat.

Top Up!

You should always top up after being in the water. I know some companies state that their products are waterproof but who is ever sure? Top up just to be safe. I usually put on my cream before sunbathing (obvious) then go for a dip in the water for a while, then I go to eat, I come back after lunch for a nap under the umbrella then after I reapply before tanning again! And yes like I said before you will get an amazing tan even with sun cream on! 

Face.

If you decide to wear makeup while sun bathing (I don't particularly like it as I literally sweat in the heat) make sure you put on SPF before your makeup! I know you can also get an SPF spray that you can apply to your face after your makeup is applied. If you're like me and you don't like the feeling of makeup while you tan, lather on factor 50. I'd prefer to keep my face out of the sun a lot to prevent early signs of ageing.

Fruit and Hydration.

It is said that a high consumption of fruit during the summer can aid in developing a tan. Don't quote me on this but Italians have told me this, I believe it because they're tanning gods! It is also essential to keep hydrated while sunbathing, you could get heat stroke, terrible headaches and feel down right horrible if you become dehydrated. Always bring a bottle of water with you!

After Sun is your Best Friend.

Apply after-sun when you get back home and after you have showered. Even if you didn't burn your skin is screaming for moisture as it was exposed to the sun all day. Keeping your skin moisturised maintains that fab tan too! If you burn, lather it on everywhere!! 

Advised Suncream: SPF 50 and SPF 30

Advised Aftersun

Chat soon,

Venezia with my sister!

Helloooo everyone,

I have been travelling a lot since we last spoke. I finished my exams 2 weeks ago and since then I've been very occupied! My sister Ráichéal came to visit me for 12 days, she went home today and now I'm getting ready for my trip to Rome tomorrow. I know, when do I stop? 

It was my goal to bring Ráichéal to Venice, it's definitely an Italian city that you have to see at least once in your life. I visited this magical city in November with Davide so I was just as excited to see it in Summer time. Both of us fell in love with the city. The fact you get the water but into the centre is just as good as a tour. Unfortunately gondolas cost a fortune €80-120 but we were just as happy with the bus!

Finding good restaurants in Venice is actually quite hard because it's such a touristic city meaning it's full of touristic restaurants (crap food). We resulted in going to one because trying to find a decent restaurant was just impossible. 

One of the things you must do in Venice is wander. We got lost so many times and stumbled upon such picturesque sites as you will see below. 

Something you must prepare yourself for is walking, you walk everywhere, taxi's cost a bomb because they're boats. There is no on-land buses, cars, taxi's etc.

Don't worry if you fear about visiting Venice and you don't have any knowledge of the Italian language, English is spoken almost 80% of the time there due to the fact it's so touristic.

Below I have 8 must see places in Venice.

 Il Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs)

 Playsuit and Sandals: Primark

Bag: Italian Leather shop

Sunnies: No brand

 Piazza San Marco with Basilica San Marco and Il Campanile

Here is a List of Places you MUST see in Venice:

1. Palazzo Ducale 

2. Basilica San Marco

3. Piazza San Marco

4. Il Ponte di Rialto

5. Il Campanile 

6. Teatro La Fenice

7. Grand Canal

8. The islands of Murano (for it's famous glass) and Burano (for the colourful houses)

Watch out for a video I made on this trip, I'm going to start vlogging my trips more often! 

During Ráichéal's time here we also visited Rome and went to the beach twice. Between that we spent some time with my friends in which most of them have now left Bologna. </3

Chat soon,