Polaroids of My Italian Summer
If you remember, I spent the month of June 2016 in Italy. I traveled to a bunch of cities within the month, two of which were revisits. I’ve always wanted to travel around Italy and I’m glad I was able to visit more cities this time around. My Fujifilm Mini Instax 8 camera came with me on this trip and I managed to snap a lot of polaroids. I just got around to scanning them all and wanted to share them with you. I didn’t know how to about sharing them, so I’ve decided to create a series of posts where I share polaroid images per city I visited on that trip to Europe. So here are my polaroids from my Italian summer.
Milan
When I arrived in Milan, the weather was terrible. Actually, the weather was awful the entire first half of my month in Italy. It rained constantly. I’m not one to complain about rain–though it is a nuisance–but all of my photos came out omniscient looking. Not much color in these.
Venice
I wish I was able to take more polaroids of Venice. Seriously, it is my favorite city in Italy, but it rained the whole time I was there. And let me tell you, rain in Venice is a huge pain. I was allowed one beautiful clear sunny day to walk around and take photos, but there’s just so much to see and do, I didn’t get many polaroids compared to the hundreds I got digitally. I want to visit again–this will be my third time–only because there’s so much to document!
Florence
Surprisingly, Florence was one of my least favorite cities. I definitely like it more than Milan, but I didn’t take to it like others I know have. It could have been the rain or the fact that I needed more time in Florence to really love it, but I didn’t take as many polaroids there as I had hoped.
Pisa
So, if you have every been to Pisa you’d know that it’s small. At least the main touristy area is. I went as a little hop-on-hop-off excursion with my friend, enroute to Cinque Terre. It was really only to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, which we did. I did manage to get some really lovely polaroids of that area though! The rain held off long enough, which was nice.
Cinque Terre
Oh the wonders of this place. If I had more time and all the hiking paths were open and operational, I would’ve paid for a pass to hike the entire area. The small cities I did see though were pretty. Manarola was by far my favorite. I wish I had taken more polaroids in Monterosso though, as the ones that I did take didn’t turn out so well. I’m still definitely learning this camera!
The Coast + Pompeii
I didn’t take many photos along the Southern coast as I thought I would. To be quite frank, I was a bit disappointed. Amalfi is tiny and not very attractive. Positano is a gem though and I wish I had a bit more time there. Sorrento is okay. I did take some fantastic polaroids while visiting Pompeii. I absolutely love all of the ruined bronze sculptures that littered the excavation site. They were both sad and eery, yet beautiful.
Rome
Rome is not one of my favorites either. I’ve been there twice when once is enough. My polaroids here came out dark for some reason I will never understand, as we had excellent weather throughout our stay in Rome.
I wish I got some great polaroids of Lake Como. I stayed in Bellagio and visited Varenna and both town are so freaking beautiful. The weather was awful though, as I visited right after Milan. Just a lot of rain. I definitely need to go back there. I did take some great digitals there though.
Giselle Gabriella
I loved reading about your time in Italy!
I’m so sorry you didn’t get the chance to experience the Florence that I’ve come to love so dearly, but hopefully you get to visit again when the weather is nicer!
This post makes me really excited for when I go to Italy next year!
Tiffany Julia
Giselle GabriellaThanks. Yeah, everyone I’ve spoken to about Florence has really loved the city. I’m thinking because it was hyped so much that I found it a bit of a let down when I actually got there. I don’t know. It could be that the weather was so bad that I really didn’t get a decent amount of time to really explore on foot like I would have liked to. Could also be that I’m not very fond of the color orange and every single building besides the Duomo is orange. Haha but that could just be me being aesthetically picky. If I’m ever in Italy again though, I wouldn’t mind going back. Maybe I’ll have a different experience.
But yay! So excited for you! I’ll be heading back to Europe sometime next year too. But I plan on revisiting London, Paris and Barcelona.