We recently asked Tom Achilles of @tomshotyou to capture a few of his favourite moments on his latest trip to Europe.
Explore Tom’s favourite destinations, must-do’s when visiting the Southern Italy province of Matera and how to spend a day, just like the European’s do.
Q. Where was your favourite location to shoot at?
So hard to only choose one! Honourable mention goes to Brienz, Switzerland. The light, the colours, the scale, the stillness... every place you turned your head was magic. But nothing topped Puglia, Italy, especially the section below Otranto. Such a fun zone to visit with unmatched coastlines, insane food and the friendliest Italians vacaying.
Q. What was the best meal you had on your trip?
We stumbled upon a little restaurant in Cannes, France that caught us by surprise. Under €30 for a 3 course meal - creamy crab risotto, fresh sea bass and an oozing choccy cake for dessert… drooling on my keyboard remembering it.
Q. What are the top 3 beaches you visited?
3: Plage de la Grande Mer, Cassis, France - the epitome of a laidback, sweet, French Riviera beach town.
2: Basically any beach in Hvar, Croatia - some of the bluest water you’ll ever swim in.
1: Bagno Marino Archi, Santa Cesarea Terme, Italy - Italian beach club cut into the cliff, not too busy, crystal clear water. This beach embodied ‘Italian Summer'.
Q. What does an ideal day in Matera look like?
We shot most of The Bali Tailor in Matera, Italy. It’s the third oldest city in Europe and a dream location to shoot with ancient textures everywhere you look. I’d say we had a pretty ideal few days there, and they went something like: start out with breakfast in one of the ancient cave hotels, stumble around the millenniums-old streets in search of the perfect espresso, explore the caves and churches, enjoy some famous Puglian pasta and an aperol (or five), do some shopping, quick siesta, and then grab dinner under the moonlight. They were some of the slower days of our trip, and some of the best.
Q. How did you translate your style to a Euro Summer?
I kept things pretty simple and staple; I like to have fits that don’t take too much effort and also aren’t too loud (or ‘greedy’ as my mates would call it) when travelling, especially outside of major cities. Seeing as layering wasn’t really an option (thanks heatwave!), I stuck to silk shirts; lightweight, vintage tees or tanks; lightweight suit pants or shorts; and sandals so my feet could breathe.