My store is 100% fair trade, fair pay, artisan and artist created, eco friendly and cozy, sea inspired, travel inspired, slightly boho, very cozy, slightly Italian, slightly Nordic, slightly New England sea town and forests, and inspired by a very long love of travel and ethical retail. A Cozy Sea Shop was born of love and loss and a lifetime of passions finally coming to fruition of aesthetics, art, travel, nature, cozy decor, architecture, and … creating, marketing, purchasing, researching, copy writing, photographing, and selling eclectic retail and brands and pieces I really love and am inspired by. Please visit COZYSEASHOP.COM this holiday season! We are adding more items as they arrive (covid delays be damned) every single day! Hand wrapped retro and modern items made with love!
travel
A Cozy Sea Shop
I have a new business that is travel inspired! xoxo. cozyseashop.com
A Cozy Sea Shop is an eclectic, Italian / Nordic / French / and coastal New England travel-inspired gift shop opening just in time for the holidays, with New England sea town local and vintage pieces, home decor, floral designs and flower crowns, fine art photographs, indie art history and travel books, our own signature beeswax candles with essential oils, custom astrology charts, custom flower chocolate gift boxes, custom tea blends from our own A Cozy Tea Shop, and a collection of found and handmade artisan pieces for the minimalist or maximalist in us all.
A Cozy Sea Shop is inspired by 25 years of world travel, and by art design, travel photography, home decor design, and retail marketing, merchandising, and buying for leading boho inspired brands like Anthropologie, Free People, Benetton, Janie & Jack, multiple indie labels, and more.
Rebecca is a travel and portrait photographer, a designer, and a writer who fell in love with Italy in 1998 alongside with her adventurous late husband Rian, who was a brilliant self-taught historian, and a fellow lover of art and culture. They travelled all over the US, Europe, and many other parts of the world, (and he lived all over India, Asia, and North America), and they spent a lot of time revisiting Italy, New Orleans, New England (home base), the American desert, the British Isles (Anglo and Celtic), Ireland, France, Germany, and many other beautiful spots. They loved returning to places over and over again to experience local culture and traditions, and to bring something deeper and expanded within them back home, incorporated into their lives in the states.
When the travel bans are lifted A Cozy Sea Shop’s goal is to return to beloved parts of Europe and (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland to name a few…) to photograph, experience, TO SHOP, and to share through this shop the understated gorgeous unique style of Scandi/Nordic home decor and the seasonal holiday traditions of Europe.
Until then, A Cozy Sea Shop can offer now exclusive pieces from Europe and New England.
A Cozy Sea shop will be fully launched before Thanksgiving (November 26th).
custom travel itineraries to italy
CUSTOM TRAVEL ITINERARY TO ITALY – click here!
($200 for a basic TRAVEL ITINERARY)
CUSTOM TAILORED ITINERARY:
$300.00 – 5 days / $600.00 – 10 days / $900.00 – 15 days
(other prices can be customized in choose your own package, contact me at: rebecca@romepix.com)
A custom Itinerary: example: 5 days / $300 : Multiple cities, resorts, hotels, any time frame, focus on specific interests and pursuits, tailor made precisely to your tastes and desires. One hour phone or Skype consultation is available by request, but there are unlimited email questions and requests which tend to satisfy most trip goals. Whatever you prefer. I can design your DREAM TRIP TO ITALY. (Rome – with Daytrips).
(including the general:) cross section travel itinerary for Italy including Rome, Florence, Venice, Capri and Amalfi Coast, Naples and Campania and Sorrento, and 4 day trips per city!
What to do, see, eat, drink, and where to stay on trips designed for: 24 hours, 1-2 days, 3 days, 5 days. 7 days, 10 days, 2 weeks, and longer.
Art and museum and architecture recommendations: what villas, buildings, and churches to visit for architecture, art masterpieces like Caravaggio and less well known works, Latin masses, Byzantine decor, choral recitals, special holiday galas, masses in a variety of languages, hidden histories of patron saints, churches built on top of ancient Roman and Etruscan ruins, Gothic churches, and major pilgrimage sites.
How to get past ALL the lines in Rome and Florence for museums.
The five museums in Rome you cannot skip!!
Best times to visit the cities versus the seaside spots.
How to walk the 3000 year old pathway of Classical Antiquity in one day in Rome.
The BEST ROMAN (AND GREEK!) RUINS in ITALY (especially in Rome) in fascinating, historical detail with maps, and a clearcut and fascinating set of walking tours through Pompeii!
Secret spots of Roman Emperors on beautiful islands.
For every budget: Hotels, air bnbs, apartments, rental villas, convents and monasteries for pilgrims, and hostels!
Slow Food Italy: eat authentic Italian cuisine by region, eat seasonally, what wines to drink where and when, the best gelato, cocktails in Rome and Naples, the best cafes in Rome, Florence, and Naples. Best seafood, best chocolates, top ten tea rooms in Italy. How to drink Italian wine and order any local dish with confidence in Rome. Shopping for deals for made in Italy bonafide artisan goods, olive oils, spices, pastas, and more. The best desserts and the best pizza in Napoli. How to get Neapolitan pizza in Rome cooked in a 500 year old oven. The local watering holes and bookshops and supermercatos – for half the cost of tourist spots. How to break your cafe bill in half like a local. FRUGAL BUDGET TRAVEL that is elegant and authentic!
30 best spots to photograph Romantic Rome and top five spots to watch the sunset. Photography tips for capturing the beauty and color of Rome. Swimming day trips from Rome and Naples. Shopping artisan goods: gourmet foods, wines, liquors, sandals and shoes, fashion, hand painted tiles, coffee beans, art, perfume, monastic and convent handmade products, spice markets, cooking schools, souvenirs and mementos. Limoncello and vineyard visits.
Easy to follow, informative, beauty-focused historical art walks of Italy.
Literary and cinematic fun and glamorous mini-tours of Rome, Florence, and Campania.
Top ten in depth profiles of the best villa art museums with museum cafe reviews and garden walks.
Top ten fountain hopping romantic walks at night in Rome.
Tons of events and easy to navigate for mums and dads with babies and children in the Family Guide To Italy.
A respectful and realistic guide to traveling in style and comfort in Italy with physical disabilities.
The Elder guide to traveling in Italy during your Golden Years.
How to see Italy solo (safely and with fulfilling solitary and group ideas).
How to see the big things in Rome and throw in a few off the beaten path sightseeing (and eating) without exhausting yourself.
The honeymooners and lovers romantic itinerary.
Students in Italy (how to get cultured and still have fun AND stay safe while you study in the beautiful country of Italy).
Green eco travel! Hikers and swimmers and nature lover things to do and experience.
(Major and minor) food allergies and sober travelers: the most in depth guide you can find on how to eat and drink beautifully and healthfully in Italy in any city or town without getting sick or centering a trip around alcohol. Support group meetings, 12 steps, and recovery guides, medical contacts, recommended doctors and psychologists and help lines in Italy.
Historical Italy: Etruscans, Romans, Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Counter Reformation, Romantic Poets and Artists Era, Victorian, Fascist Era, 1950s/1960s renaissance, Modern 21st Century Italy.
Holidays in Rome.
Seasonal delights and attractions.
The most up to date information on Holidaying in Rome.
Pilgrimages. Sojourns. Art meccas. Study art in a workshop at the Florence School of Academic Art. Take a cooking class. Go to a vineyard and attend a wine tasting. Attend a classic music concert on a rooftop designed by Borromini, overlooking the Bernini fountains and cupolas of the ancient Piazza Navona or attend an intimate opera performance in a room full of Caravaggios. Follow the footsteps of the English and German Romantics. Take architectural walking and driving tours.
Maps and many images to utilize to make your holiday to Italy fun, easy, off the beaten path, and unforgettable!
And much much much more! email rebecca@romepix.com for questions.
a secret garden to the sea
There is an overgrown but perfect secret garden path behind an old villa in Sorrento we stumbled upon one day, and we followed down the rambling, winding trees and shrubbery and lemon and olive trees and blossoming flowers and into the shadows of green.
The further in we wandered, the thicker the growth grew. And yet everything was lush and cared for. Nothing dead, nothing abandoned.
We could smell the sea and the sun rays in the air, carried through cracks in the dense thicket. And so we followed the salt and the promise of blue until we reached the top of a cliff cut thousands of years ago, overlooking the crashing sea and rocks. The birds cried and dove for fish and soared the bright skies. We were alone in our own little paradise. It’ll be ours forever in memory.
Circe in the moment / Napoli
It’s the moments that flicker past your half-closed eyes — like blinding patches of sunlight you can’t help but look directly into — for that sweet temptation of pain that’s warm and bright and just stinging enough to feel more alive, more wild, to feel right now — but you turn away before you burn because we all want to see again eventually, we need to see clearly the far off promises of beautiful experiences something just within reach, a blue horizon haze of blue and gray and green … some imperceptible breath away from the first day of the rest of your every thing. Every thing that will make it all worthwhile. That will make you worthwhile.
That will make you before we’re all undone in the shadows. ———
Napoli is a metamorphosis, a beautiful growling animal built by Circe’s hands, singing songs to travelers who love a little doom and gloom with their beauty.
Death becomes her.
Autumn In Rome, Italy.
Autumn In Rome, Italy.
Persimmons and Cupolas.
Church bells ringing in your ears awaiting the final hour.
The sun turns steeples and domes from cream-cracked marble to a slow-burn deep gold.
Everything shines in this orange hour, a last flash in the pan, you want this fire and this flame, you want the flush and the heat before stillness and sleep… and indigo creeps in and this gold turns orange, turns pink, … turning into navy and finally violet skies before disappearing into black velvet.
The shadows of the city reappear out of the cracks and crevices and pockets like Victorian roustabouts on a silent crawl looking for trouble, somewhere, anywhere, always, trouble waves them over since time immemorial.
The outline of the city is a different joy to behold in the evening.
Families make way for the lovers under the gas and electric lamps.
The Eternal City never feels the same way twice in a night where life is always on the cusp of being tasted, of being taken. Roma feels like ten centuries in one burst, a slow, deep, long kiss before dying.
ornate decoration in roman churches
The art and architectural details of Roman churches seem to outdo each other especially in the baroque refurbishments. Note the fleur-de-lis in golden mounts. The eyes of the viewer are invited always to raise their gaze up to the ‘heavens’ as they sit or wander around the churches.
The columns and marble stripped from ancient ruins and baroque chandeliers in the interior of the enormous and stunning S. Maria in Aracoeli located in the eternal city of Rome on the ancient Capitoline Hill. Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara coeli Scala dell’Arce Capitolina, 12 Roma, Italia. Gothic architecture and Romanesque architecture. Possibly built on the grounds of the seat of the augurs of Capitoline Hill. Ancient built on Byzantine built on Middle Ages built on Renaissance built on Baroque. The last mural pictured: Central fresco by Pinturicchio (1486) The Glory of St. Bernardino Bernardino holds a book on which is written PATER MANIFESTAVI NOMEN TVVM OMNIBVS (“Father, I have shown your name to everyone”), the words the friars were chanting as Bernardino passed away on Ascension eve, 1444.
Visit in the heart of the Eternal City.
“Chasing Beauty In Italy”
My “Chasing Beauty In Italy” BOOK
(The Second Edition, 2019 is available now!)
purchase here:
THIS IS MY LOVE LETTER TO ITALY
(& to beauty, art, history, architecture, nature, slow travel, cuisine, & Romanticism!)
My bestselling travel book “Chasing Beauty In Italy” …
NOW THE UPDATED SECOND EDITION FOR 2019 WITH 50 ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHS, MEMORIES, MEMORIAL STORIES, ROMAN AND ART HISTORY, (CAFÉ, RESTAURANT, and ROMANTIC WALKS OF Rome GUIDE), EXPANDED MUSEUMS GUIDE, CINEMA AND TV IN FLORENCE, AND MUCH MUCH MORE.
THE TYPE SETTING AND THE ART AND DESIGN OF THE BOOK HAS BEEN COMPLETELY REVAMPED TO FEEL LIKE AN ART BOOK GUIDE TO ITALY.
ALL BOOK PURCHASES WILL COME WITH AN EBOOK COPY AND A PDF.
PREVIOUS PURCHASES WILL BE SENT THEM THIS WEEK.
PLEASE NOTE: THE BOOKS SECOND EDITIONS ARE AT THE PRINTERS AND WILL BE SHIPPED OUT LATE NEXT WEEK FROM THE PUBLISHERS.
CHASING BEAUTY IN ITALY:
129 PAGES,
RICH COLOR PHOTOGRAPHS OF ITALY AND ITALIAN CULTURE:
LANDSCAPES, CAFES, RESTAURANTS, HOTELS,
SCENIC VIEWS AND HISTORICAL WALKS,
LITERARY SPOTS,
CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE,
AND SHARP ART REPRODUCTIONS
ALONG WITH TRAVEL ITINERARIES,
HISTORY, STORIES, MAPS,
AND A CULTURAL GUIDE OF OFF THE BEATEN PATH RECOMMENDATIONS –
IN BETWEEN MUSINGS AND MEMORIES OF ITALIA.
Read BOOK SAMPLES AND EXCERPTS: https://www.romepix.com/blog/
My first novel length book on Roman Italy; exploring 20 years of love, passion, art, and loss chasing beauty in the eternal city and (all over the cultural hot spots of Italia).
ORDERS DO SHIP OUTSIDE THE US!
SHIPPING IN USA $5.00
Canada and Mexico FOR $7.00 SHIPPING FEE
EUROPE / AUSTRALIA / NZ / THE WORLD: $10.00
See and read MORE BOOK SAMPLES AND EXCERPTS here: https://www.romepix.com/blog/
for daily European Art History & Western Culture: follow me on twitter: @romepix
for more ITALY photos and books: romepix.com
a love letter to rome 