This spring I got to travel for 5 weeks to Europe. It was my first time visiting Italy and the first time visiting more than a few cities in Spain over the same trip.
I grew up in Venezuela, and a lot of the people back home came from these countries, so it meant a lot to visit. There’s plenty of familiarity, culturally and language-wise, but of course, there’s so much history engrained in these two countries, that it was a real pleasure to discover all its wonders.
Below, what I could capture in between aperitivos, fresh made pasta, tapas and cañitas.
Rome
There is something particularly charming about Rome. There’s so much history, that is almost overwhelming. Seemed to me like you can’t visit Rome, without noticing the Roman Capitals all around, from molded metal to swanky carvings like below.
I also found it specially charming to see old walls with cracks and peels and a majestic piece of signage.
Roman capitals are everywhere, especially captioning monuments and buildings, like this one at the Piazza Navona. I’m specially infatuated by the Æs throughout and the way stone carving draws the serifs on the alphabet.
This piece above was probably my favorite discovery, it’s got the right amount of quirk and charm. I stumbled upon it after 5 days of walking the city up and down when my feet needed rest. I sat on a stoop on a random alley, and there it was in front of me, waiting to be admired.
I was also happy to discover a lot of signage from the XX century, a good contrast to all the stone carvings but also a nice charming complement.
Within each sign at least 2-3 styles of lettering, seemed to capture my attention time and time again.
How cool are this CAFFE letters? I definitely left Rome feeling super inspired, by both the ancient and the modern.
Sienna
I was in Sienna for a hot second and managed to spot this medieval treasure.
Florence
From there, Florence, the mecca of trading, money, banking. Everything around us was pristine, gold and fancy.
This is the place where fancy italics greet you in the part time business schools.
And the opticians shops have hand painted signs.
But I still managed to find quirky, weird letters, after a bunch of days. Here are a few favorites from Florence.
Madrid
Madrid, compared to Italy had such a different flavor.
Care for some candy? These guys had every kind imaginable.
Looking into a shop that had tons of Spanish manuscripts, this one in particular caught my eye with its very Quijotesque hand drawn letters.
From amazing sign painted windows to scrambled letters, this was the perfect end to our trip!
