Nikola Mikolajczyk, Graphic Design Intern at EProjectConsult

Ciao!

My name is Nikola, and I’m from Poland, however, I have lived in the UK for most of my life. I have only been to Italy once before, but only in the countryside, so I haven’t seen much of Italy yet. I was excited for this opportunity to learn and travel and see some of this beautiful country. Sicily is also the most south I’ve ever been, so it has been very hot, but I am getting used to the heat.

When I arrived in Sicily from the airport, the first thing I noticed was the quality of the air. In London the air is quite polluted, so I can tell the difference and I’ve been really enjoying the fresh island breeze! I have also been loving the constantly clear blue skies, which London is not known for… and I am leaving with a good tan!

I’ve been loving travelling around the island with my flatmates Mari-Ann, and Ivy. It’s also nice to have been living together with other creative people, as we made visiting art galleries and drawing together into activities. My favourite destination has probably been the Aeolian Islands. In Barcellona P.G. we are so close to the islands and can see them from the sea shore. We are so close to Milazzo (also a pretty nice town), which is reachable in 40 minutes by bicycle. From there, we took ferries to the islands. In the Aeolian Islands, we went to a music festival on water, and on a boat tour to Panarea and Stromboli. We took a dip in the sea from the boat, and got to see the volcano explode, which was spectacular! The other gorgeous locations I that have loved were Cefalu, Taormina and Gola Alcantara. And of course, I will be missing the beach near Barcellona P.G. and watching the sunsets at least weekly. We are very lucky here because the sun sets right between the Islands, crating a mystical view.

In terms of food, I have enjoyed the pistachio mania that Sicily has. I loved pistachio granita, ice cream and pistachio pesto on everything! I will be missing the pistachios a lot. I also liked the dark chocolate gelato found in every gelateria that is always dairy-free! I used to think pasta was a somewhat boring dish, but I’ve grown to like it here. I liked pane cunzato in the Aeolian Islands, which is a speciality there, and I loved panelle in Palermo, which are chickpea flour fritters.

It’s all been really fun, I got to travel a lot and I’ve learned so much from EProjectConsult, I enjoyed helping out with the graphic design here. I also have learned a lot in the course for entrepreneurship in the creative industries, which will also help me have a better career in the future. I’ll be going home with an amazing experience. I love Sicily and I’ll certainly come back again!

Thank you to everyone who made this possible, I truly appreciate it!