Let me start off by saying that my blog is not a political blog. I don't really share my opinion of politics, religion and what have you. I just feel very lucky that I can live my life today, that I can leave my house and take my kid to school and go grocery shopping and out for a drink tonight without fear.
Fear is an awful state to live your existence and I am deeply saddened and sorry for what happened in Paris, a city that up until a few years ago was where my husband and I would spend several weeks a year exploring while we worked the fashion trade shows. We used to hang out in all of the neighborhoods that lived through these tragedies.
I don't think it should be a "fad" or a passing trend to be outraged by what happened, and I'm not saying that we shouldn't live out most of our lives outraged by what happens daily in the majority of the world that is not fortunate enough to have an existence of freedom, democracy and liberty. So, without dwelling too much on what happened and how it should be stopped, I just wanted to share this before writing about the beautiful city of Brunico in Northern Italy.
Bella Brunico!
This was my first time visiting Brunico (Bruneck), the largest town in the Puster Valley in Italy's South Tyrol (located in the North West of the country bordering with Austria). I was (am) still shocked that over 80% of the population have GERMAN and NOT ITALIAN as their first language! And after a bit of research (on Wikipedia!) I found this fact "According to the 2011 census, 82.47% of the population speak German, 15.24% Italian and 2.29% Ladin as first language"......isn't that nuts!!
The newspaper is in German, the tv is in German, products are packaged with German.....it is like being in Austria! Lest I forget that indeed this part of Italy WAS Austrian up until the end of WWI. I'm still on a steep learning curve of Italian history, so these facts are still relatively shocking for me. I can't fully appreciate what that does to the cultural identity of a population to one day find yourself with a new Nationality!
We explored the city on a beautiful October afternoon and Sunday morning, along with a visit to the South Tyrolean Folklore Museum, located 10 minutes from Brunico's centre. Unfortunately, the memory card with the images from the museum is corrupt and I have lost all of those pictures, but the good news is my camera is FINALLY back from being repaired, so hopefully I will never loose another picture!
Although I can't share the pictures of the museum with you I HIGHLY recommend a visit if you are visiting Brunico with kids. In the summer time there are animals and there are original houses from the 15th century that you can visit. We had an incredible day there, and the view is nothing short of stunning.
What I Wore
Mid- October in South Tyrol is much chillier than the rest of Italy because it is in the Dolomites, so the high altitude means fresh, cold mountain air! To keep the chill out I wore a number of layers because when the sun was shining it actually gets very warm. On this particular day it was pretty mild so I opted for a heavy cape instead of a coat.
I wore an artisan cape by the Italian Brand "Per Chi" - "For Who", that are not sold anywhere online (sadly). I found this a few years ago at Designer Outlet. Underneath I wore a few cotton and wool layers including a turtleneck and I paired the cape with my Pierre Darrè Lady Booties, you may remember them from my massive shoe haul!
Buyer Beware !
I will say that I did some shopping in Brunico, this shopping bag was from a lingerie and swimwear store where I bought a new bikini. Sadly, the lady in the store did NOT give me a receipt, most likely because I was a tourist. WORD TO THE WISE make sure you ALWAYS get a receipt for everything you buy in Italy. There are special finance police called "Guardia Della Finanza" that actually do control this type of thing and both the store AND YOU can get a ticket if you don't leave the store with a receipt. This could be for anything from coffee at a cafe to buying something at a market.
And you should also note that MANY stores in Italy are closed on Sundays (and sometimes on Saturdays, Mondays, or during the afternoons....hmmm no wonder our economy is suffering!), so if you buy something on vacation, and there is even the slightest risk you'll need to return it CHECK THE STORE's HOURS. I say this as I wasn't that happy with the bikini I bought, and when I returned to the store (with no receipt!) the next day, they were closed
Live and Learn!
I'm only just discovering now this incredible part of Italy, and so far I've written about going trail hiking with a stroller in tow (it can be done) and a bit about where we stayed and my current love of wool!
Now onto YOUR style...#REASONSTODRESS Street Style Linkup
RULES OF THE LINKUP:
#reasonstodress is a linkup intended to inspire everyone to get dressed up & OUT OF THE HOUSE! Join in by:
- Adding the URL to an outfit post an Instagram photo tagged #reasonstodress
- Follow @reasonstodress & let me know if you'd like me to follow you back, this is about community after all
- Leave a comment, I'd love to visit your blog and return the kind gesture
- Let people know that you've linked up by mentioning Reasonstodress.com on your blog
- Feel free to use the #reasonstodress hashtag when sharing your outfits on twitter & I will retweet you!
Feel free to follow Reasons to Dress on Bloglovin' so you never miss a post!
You'll get one email a day with all the new posts from all of the blogs you follow.
