An early morning wake-up with Mrs Fendi, on Ponza Island

I realised I haven't done any "An early morning wake-up with..'' posts in a long time. All the previous posts are quite popular even months later (see elder posts: Rachel Zoe, Coco Rocha and Gillian Zinser) so this time I thought I might make you dream a little and I'm taking you some where exotic.

Just one thing before: this gives me the perfect chance to talk about italian summer houses and their decoring. Mmm.. right?! "Italy".. "summer".. and "house".. ! A perfect combo! which easily stimulates one's imagination. But the truth isn't as classy as one would imagine.. that romantical clichè of a stylish and cozy mediterranean villa at the seaside with exotic gardens full of beautiful cured flowers.. is just a clichè. Yes, because a typical & mediocre italian summer residence is everything else, than that. As controversial as it sounds italians don't know anything about the cozy-home-decoring culture. And they don't care much about it either, they like to spend most of their time outside their homes, especially when on vacation. It's all about hanging out at the lidos (the beach) (from 10 o'clock in the morning until 19 in the afternoon, not esagerating!) and all the remaining time they spend it in restaurants, walking on the lungomare or in the city center, meeting friends at the ice-cream bars. Not to forget the exciting life going on on the piazzas. So as you can see there is no time to spend it at home. Italians just don't have that tradition. Even if they have frieds over for dinners they usually hang outside anyway.. So why to bother themselves with decoring a house they only use for sleeping? That's the reality, guys.

This is why whenever I come across an exception in this field I get all excited. Like in this case. When doing my research for the Ponza island I spotted these fabulous pictures taken for Harper's Bazaar. I couldn't resist on not sharing them with you on CN. Take your time and read this interview with her on harpersbazaar.com.

For some of you who don't know (read my previous Ponza posts here) Ponza (circa 10 km²) is the main island in the Gulf of Gaeta, near Rome. Just like the rest of Riviera Ulisse, the coast between Rome and Naples, Ponza is quiet and calm. The exact opposite of the jet-setters' so much loved Capri island in the Amalfitana coast. Ponza is one of my must-destinations this summer, let's hope I finally make it there!