I spent my last two weeks travelling here and there. First to Paris, then to Rome and Castelli Romani. It’s been quite a tiring trip but I had fun and saw lots of wonders.
First off, we stopped in Paris for WordCamp Europe, the biggest WordPress conference in the world. Nearly 3,000 people have gathered together to talk about open source and all the things WordPress. I manned the Jetpack booth (we sponsored the event) with my colleagues during the conference days, and had chance to talk with a lot of people.
Here’s a snap taken by my colleague Omkar (the entire WordCamp Europe gallery is here). It was Flex Friday so that’s the pose. 
Franz and I did also have some time to explore Paris. We’ve been there already and I have to be totally honest with you, Paris is not my favourite city in Europe. However, it mitigated that feeling with these awesome views. Paris at sunset. No filter needed.
Another lovely postcard from Paris. Can you recognise the places?
Close to our hotel there was another coloured bridge and riverside paths that spotted on at night:
The second part of my two weeks travelling took place in Italy. We moved in Rome for one week to attend a wedding on the followed weekend. Since Franz’s family lives in Rome, we stayed there and worked from there. Franz’s roman house has also a communal swimming pool I splashed into because there’s always no excuse not to workout.
People who know me also know that I’m not really a mermaid. Water is not my element. Last time I’ve been in a pool swimming was the only activity I could do without screaming for the pain. That day I was able to swim 200m! It struggled me both mentally and physically but I was able to swim my most loved running distance.
Rome, as always, is such a breath-taking lady. Since I moved out from it back in 2010, I started loving it again.
Rome never ceases to surprise me. I looked up at some point whilst strolling in the city centre and there it is-the most graceful of the towers. Amazing.
Here are another two pictures I captured from my iPhone. The first one is Piazza Colonna, while the second pic is the Lungo Tevere by night, the evening of the Hen’s party we had for the wedding.
The wedding was wonderful. The setting was so romantic and classy – Villa Pocci in Castel Gandolfo, on the Albano Lake. This area near Rome is called Castelli Romani (Roman Castels). One of the traditional food in here is the Porchetta, a fat roasted and spicy pig that’s really, REALLY good.
Franz and I dressed up for the occasion – no WordPress t-shirts or gym clothes this time! This is me trying to pose like the ladies I see on Instagram. NOPE!
Stefano and Magda got married surrounded by all their friends, families and dear ones. We had a lot of fun and ate tons of good food. I was so happy to see them in their bride and groom clothes, and I wish them all the best for their new life together. Here’s a couple of pics of the lovely couple:
The two weeks travelling ended with a tour of the Albano lake and the other closer lake next door, Nemi.
Nemi lake is smaller than Albano, but has a beautiful pearl which is the Nemi town itself.
Nemi is also known for being the town of the strawberries – it stole my heart ❤️
Of course I couldn’t taste any strawberry, but my companions told me they were the end of the world.
My sister joined us on the Saturday too (we shared a flat in Marino overnight), so I could spend some quality time with her and with our dog who turned nine the day we explored the Castelli Romani area :)All in all, it’s being a nice two weeks travelling. We felt very tired because it’s not easy to work during conference time. Also, it’s been tough for me surviving very hot temperature throughout two countries only on a carry-on with two dress-up outfit (I was also backup speaker at WordCamp Europe so I needed something fancy to wear in case I needed to step in to the stage).
I was also recovering for a minor surgery I sustained on my belly on May 31st whose recovery time turned out to be longer than expected.Eventually we made home, and yes – I love travelling but there’s no place like home. Seriously.