Ciampini

Ciampini

If you’ve been following along here for a while now, you might have noticed my obsession for coffee, cafés and taking photos of the two. It’s hard to find something that makes me bring up my camera more than an imperfect table setting, a cup of coffee or a café scene.

When I arrived to Italy it took me a while to embrace the Italian coffee culture. Why? I came from Paris where we were sipping Australian-inspired-coffee-shop-oat-milk-lattes 24/7. It most definitely took me a while to get used to the “no cappuccino after 12:00” unwritten rule and to “meet friends for coffee” only to order an espresso (caffè macchiato in my case) that you finish in 0,5 seconds after sitting down. Today I’m sold on these Italian-coffee-culture-rules but it didn’t happen overnight. I definitely do miss my oat milk latte every now and then but there’s something about these tiny little cups of Italian deliciousness.

This was also the first place I ever sat down at alone. It was my first ever solo trip. After a few days on the beach with my family, I decided to go to Rome on my own. The fear of sitting down at a table all by myself is one that is hard to explain (now I wouldn’t even think about it twice) but at the time, it seemed daunting and foreign to me (this was pre-Paris and all the adventures that were about to enter my life a couple of years later). I must have been 16 years old or something.

I bought a magazine in the kiosk next to the café. Just so that I would have something to do, and maybe so that I wouldn’t feel too alone. “A table for one please?”. I ordered coffee and gelato. Fragola and nocciola. I read my magazine and watched people pass by. It felt scary and exciting at the same time.

Asseyez-Vous & In June

Parisian parks are something else. They just are. The colours (that olive green is right up my alley), the calm mornings with people going for their morning run, the perfectly kept grass, the colourful flowers changing every season, the picnics during warmer days, the majestic fountains and the iconic sculptures scattered throughout the parks… These parks are like no other parks I’ve ever been to before. May favourite might very well have to be Jardin du Luxembourg. Where these photos were taken. I can’t even count how many times I’ve gone for a stroll, sat down with a book by myself or met a friend for a walk & a coffee in this beautiful place.

It’s been a home to so many of my memories. It’s been a safe haven for days I’ve felt low. A place to clear my mind. A place to feel inspired.