Italy Diaries: Rome OOTD Day 1

Why hello, my internet community. How’s life going for you today? Me? Oh, I’m fine. I mean, disgustingly wet and cold, yes. Severely depressed to be back in the UK what with our quite frankly awful weather? Definitely.

I just realised that I’m writing this while it’s raining, but scheduling it for when the weather is due to be nice again. I’m too lazy to rewrite the intro. Plus, I mean, it’s Britain – there’ll be a heatwave, then it’ll probably snow.

Today’s post is going to be the first in a mini-series if you want to call it that. Basically, I would like to (for once) actually write about my travels in a somewhat timely manner . . . and the only way I could think to do that in a way that was at least a little cohesive? Outfits.

And if you’re disappointed because you actually wanted to read about my holiday properly – well, first of all, who on earth did you think you were following? When have I ever been good at travel blogging? And secondly, prepare to be underwhelmed when I write a real holiday write-up at some point next week.

This outfit is from our first day when we arrived in Rome. We caught an early flight from the middle-of-fucking-nowhere Stanstead Airport – which meant we arrived at our hotel nice and smack-bam in midday. A big pro of all the hotels we used was that they all had fabulous transport links. Literally directly opposite us were buses and metro links taking us directly into central Rome.

Now, in case you’re like us and completely unaware of Italy’s weather (yes, in retrospect that would have been useful information. Sue me.), Rome was hot. I mean, in the mid-20 degrees Celcius hot. For reference, the hottest Britain gets is probably about 30. Anything more is rare. The country would break.

So the first thing I did was change into a nice floaty dress. Because I’m British – any sign of heat and we immediately tear off our clothes and reject the societal constraints of modesty.

This lovely spring-esque tea dress is from River Island and I picked it up off their well-hidden sale section – for £15! I dig the kind of vintage floral print – and the buttons, and the cut, and the neckline, and the- look, I like the bloody dress, okay? What do you want me to do, write a soliloquy?

Naturally, because it was going for such a simply wonderful price, this exact dress is sadly sold out – but I have found you some lovely alternatives. That I am trying really hard to resist the urge to buy myself. All images are linked. (Links are affiliate links.)

I also think the shoes are a big yes for summer. Personally, I am a massive fan of espadrilles – and trainers. The shoes I paired with this dress are like a super cute, super quirky mix of the two. Now, I wouldn’t necessarily normally pair them with this dress – but we were doing a lot of walking and I wanted comfy shoes.

That said, I do really stand by them as shoes. They’re comfy, perfect for summer and . . . well, they’re kind of weird and I am all over that. I can’t remember where I picked my pair up from, but here are some similar ones.

As it was our first day, we decided to do what both my mother and I love to do on holidays and . . . well, pretty much anywhere. We wandered. I don’t know about you guys, but we always find undiscovered treasures just by wandering around for hours on end. The second day we dedicated to going into central Rome and doing all the main touristy bits, but the first day was for exploring our little city just outside of the main one.

And discover some treasures we did! Our hotel was very conveniently located right next to a nature reserve so we took a walk around there before hunting out a little cafe.

These photos actually aren’t from the nature reserve – they’re from a beautiful park we found later on. It looked like a fort from the outside, but there were swings inside and it was a nice little summer walk. (And, I think, a road too.)

The houses were unbelievably gorgeous too. I want one.

This photo was from the reserve, though! Look at me being a good blogger and getting real OOTD shots for once. It’s rare, admittedly, but it does happen.

All in all, our first day in Rome was absolutely lovely. We got some delish food (and gigantic ice creams, which we all know is the important part) and discovered some really beautiful little areas. Honestly, the first thing I always recommend to people when they go on holiday is to just walk around. Maybe pick something you want to find, get out Google Maps and walk your way to it – but stop, take in the sights and explore a little on your way there!

If you want to take a trip of your own to Italy (and I highly recommend it) you can always do what I did and use a Wowcher. I visited Rome, Florence and Venice for 6 nights (hotels, flights and transfers included!) for £250. My exact deal has expired, but they always have similar ones up. Here’s one I found (and if any UK bloggers want to go CAN YOU TAKE ME WITH YOU PLEASE, I’LL HAPPILY GO AGAIN!):

8 night Rome, Florence, Lake Garda and Venice Trip – From £299 pp

I hope you guys enjoyed this little snapshot of my first day in Rome! It was super chilled, but really lovely. And, I mean, any excuse to wear a dress, right? What did you think of my outfit? Are you a fan of tea dresses? The trainer/sandal mix? Let me know your thoughts down below!

Peace,

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