Frances Mayes on Collete

One of this life’s greatest pleasures: a writer’s books can intersect with your life and lead you to the next largest space you can occupy.
Frances Mayes, writing of Collete in Ä Year in the World.

The Day the Pirates Parked in the Harbour, Genova

Yes, so the procrastination continues ... another photograph.  This time of the pirate ship I found parked, kind of casually, in Genova’s harbour.  I guess they were hoping to blend in and mingle with the cruise ship people down on the harbour’s edge.

Checklist so far includes, breakfasts made, dishes washed, laundry on.
Second shift breakfast for Miss 6.

Giuseppe Garibaldi, by Italian sculptor Augusto Rivalta.

I thought about doing a Craigslist advert for a hero on this next one but stuck to the facts in the end ...

Still having fun playing with the Polaroid Generator action.  I believe this is because I have much to do in the next few hours.  Hmmm, perhaps I shall re-christen mine the Polaroid Procrastinator.

In Need of a Window to Lean On the Sill of ...

The new website is almost done ...so today I’m taking the day off to wander in Antwerpen with the Belgian bloke, who has a day off.

Cameras packed, a terras stop planned - the one with great olives and nice wine.
Yes, a day off ... could be nice.

Once Upon a Time, In Genova ...

A memory from my last time in Genova alone ...

There is something truly delicious about lying in bed here in Genova, listening as the street comes alive ... the first footsteps, the quiet voices, followed by louder voices as people roll up the doors of their businesses, and the clank of the coffee cups on…

a curve in the path ...

In Genova, Italy, there is always another curve in the road to fall in love with ... to explore.

GENOVA - in reflection

The other day I realised I might not be quite like the average mortal, and that my behaviour ... my way of seeing the world, might even border on a little odd ... but I love what I find in reflection, and have done since I was a kid, being driven along State Highway One in the South Island of…

A place of quiet beauty, Genova

Can you tell how much I love these places of worship?

It was the same in Istanbul, when I discovered the peaceful beauty of the mosque. 

The Boy who sells Roses, Genova

The flower boy passed through Porta Soprana, the ancient gate leading into the old part of the city of Genova, while I was there ... trying to capture something of this opening in a city wall, built back in the 12th century.

There’s something about this one that I like ...

a holy place, genova

A lovely old man saw me taking this photograph and took me to another shop window, and then on, round the corner, saying I must see inside this church pictured below.

I think we did all of this in Italiano, which I really don’t speak but sometimes, or oftentimes, you just ‘get’ what people are trying to…

Missing Genova ...

The oddest thing ... I begin missing Genova as I pass through that halfway-thru-my-stay mark.

I notice suitcases rolling along the alleyway below Paola’s apartment, and I know it’s silly to think of them even while I still have the other half of the holiday left ... but I notice them anyway.

I think I’ve lived one of those lives…

The Way Home ... when in Genova, Italy

I love this gate called Porta Soprana.  It was built in the 12th century, with the help of the citizens of Genova, as the government of the time attempted to defend the independence of the city from Emperor Barbarossa.

However, Barbarossa apparently knew that he needed the people of Genova, with their rapidly developing economic and maritime strength, and he…

The Bike on the Stairs, Genova

I love the challenges posed by this bike up an alleyway off Via Cairoli or Garibaldi ... I was rapt to find it parked there, a year after I first photographed it.

Different light, a different camera, time spent learning some more of my craft, all combined to give me this shot.
I’m pleased with it.

Portrait of Michele Muzio, a Knife-Sharpener in Rome

I loved this short film on the life of a knife-sharpener in Rome.

Thanks to Shelley, over at At Home in Rome.

Vernazza, Cinque Terre, Italy

I want to write of the remarkable people we’ve spent time with these last two days but we’re preparing to leave, exhausted after a day scaling hills in the hot Italian sun ... only slightly revived after an exquisite dinner in the company of some lovely people.  I want to write the story of meeting these people but when I’m…

Via dell’ Amore, Cinque Terre, Italy

You can imagine my delight over finding this graffiti lining the walls of Via dell’ Amore, high above the sea as we set out, walking between the five villages. More to follow, as two sections were blocked ...

The Remains of the Cloister of Sant’Andrea

Another attempt at capturing these Romanesque ruins next to Porta Soprana.  This time, I used a tripod and spent some time in an attempt to capture the full beauty of them.

These ruins are all that remain of Sant’Andrea church, demolished at the end of the 1800’s when space was needed to construct Via Dante.  Most important for me, as…

Reminiscing the Future ...

I love the way we can bring the past alive in our present ... recalling the people we loved and lived with, the way that they made us feel.  I find everyone is still there, as solid memories, if I manage to call them up.

7am here in Italy, a cup of coffee from my small traveling espresso coffee-pot and…

Details, Genova

The thing about Genova is that you find small details like this as you stroll.

I love the whole discovery thing there.  If you walk with your eyes wide-open or closed, no matter ... you will find beautiful things every place.

Carrugi, Genova

The photograph below was taken in one of the many carrugi, or narrow alleyways, that criss-cross the ancient heart of Genova city.

I love them.  You can be constantly lost, although we are getting there ... retracing our steps and exploring a new favourite area in the Maddalena district.

Life is lived up close and personal, so very unlike my…

Shop Window, Genova

I was attempting one of those secretive ‘drive-by’ photographs when I took this but a lovely Italian guy spotted my delight.

He led me off to a nearby shop, wanting to show me another beautiful window scene, and then round the corner, pointing to the most exquisite church and telling us we must go in.  The interior, with natural light…

Perhaps this says it all of Genova ...

I hoped this guy would forgive me for wanting to photograph him tonight but you can see why ...

He looked exactly as I felt as I turn 360 degrees here in Genova some days.

Genova ...

I pass this regularly, walking up the stairs and through Porta Soprana here in Genova ...

I don’t take it so seriously, imagining it to be so beautiful that it can’t be real.  I promise to read of it tomorrow but tonight, I set my camera’s ISO to 6400 and took this ... surprising myself with the result.

Fountain, Piazza de Ferrari, Genova

The fountain in Piazza de Ferrari hasn’t been running lately.  Perhaps it’s the wind that blows the spray all over everything but whatever the reason, it means i can hunt down photographs like this by walking in the empty outer pool of it.

I took this tonight, in the last of the evening light. 

Did I ever mention, I…

Kathleen Berger and someplace near Viareggio

Never before have I been behind the scenes of that operatic world but Kathleen invited us to Viareggio to hear and photograph her audition ...

A 2.5 hour train ride along the Ligurian coast, past Carrara ... with some of its fabulous marble stacked next to the railroad line.

Returning, we had the surreal experience of…

Bubbles in Piazza De Ferrari, Genova

I loved this shot of the giant bubble ...

Kathleen Berger, Soprano

Kathleen arrived on a train from Pisa yesterday ...

We introduced her to Genova and she, of course, fell in love with this exquisite Italian city.

Last night we had appertivo before eating the most fantastic pizza ... much wine and laughter.

Today it was Nervi before saying goodbye.  A lunch…

Francesco Sepe, Magician

The extraordinary in the everyday, was how I titled this image ...

Imagine, you’re strolling across the beautiful Piazza de Ferrari here in Genova when you meet this exquisite bubble ... floating through the air as if normal.

I found the source, more to follow on the extraordinary Francesco Sepe and his bubbles.

A curious rock formation, Nervi

There are so many things, here in Italy, that poke my curiousity something fierce ... this rock formation was surely one of them.

Is it volcanic?  And I liked the way the green and yellow plant kind of copies the chaos of the black and white rock spewing out of the hillside.

Here, I find I need both a geologist…

A Bend in the River, Italy

When I wander, there’s this oftentimes unconscious thing going on ... the thing where I ‘recognise’ something of other places I have loved or lived in.

This bend in the river, in Nervi, reminded me of visiting my Grandma and Grandad in their little cottage in Northeast Valley, Dunedin, but it wasn’t about the house pictured, it was about the…

Streets of Something Like Gold ...

Isn’t this beautiful?

It is just one of many covered walkways in downtown Genova.  This one is my favourite.  There is a bank guard with a semi-automatic machine gun stationed halfway along the street, and my idea is that he uses his gun to ‘punish’ the chewing-gum-spitters who have marked some of the other beautiful pavements in the city with…

7am and Working.

This morning, I was awake and working at 7am ...

Although I should admit that I enjoy working and to spend time working at this pretty little round table in Paola’s kitchen somehow makes the hours pass by in a sweeter way. 

Then again, I could be honest and tell you that it’s almost 8.30am and I feel…

Genova ...

I feel things strongly ... powerfully even, and so life is about negotiating this feeling ‘too much’, or it has been.

Here in Italy, specifically Genova, perhaps it’s okay to feel everything as I do.

I mean look ... below is one of the streets here in the city.  This is a street laid with beautiful old stones and you…

Lovin Genova

I know what it is that I love so much about this wandering life of mine ...

It’s about going out hunting in the early morning light and bringing back treasures like focaccia and photographs of beautiful places seen along the way. 

I do believe I’m a hunter/gathering kind of woman.

I Am Here ...

Focaccia and the Internet ... my small cup of happiness runneth over in Genova.

Now I am sure I have arrived in Genova…

I began my day with some of the best onion focaccia in the world, bought from Panificio Patrone di Travaglini Mario e Luca at Via Ravecca 72.

Bliss!

But even more stunning ... Alessandro, at Acquarius Service, in Piazza Fossatello…

Genova ...

I am going through my photo files of Genova before flying tomorrow. 

For me, packing to leave also means loading external hard-drives and usb sticks ... organising all that I’ll need to work in Genova.

The quiet elegance of this Italian city is something I enjoy immensely.  These covered footpaths, next to roads with everyday buses and cars passing…

Turtles Hanging-Out, Nervi, Genova

These little guys left me bemused.  I discovered them as I wandered through the beautiful park at Nervi, along the coast from Genova city.  They were simply hanging out together ...

I wish someone would pay me to work for me.  There’s so much to do all the time, and along the way, I lose photographs.  Tonight, a quiet…

Found while out Wandering one day ...

I expect it will be the same in heaven ... wandering, camera in hand, finding images like this fishing net drying on a wall in some covered walkway next to the harbour.

Returning to Genvoa ...

Next week, I will climb the small path at Boccadasse, the one that leads to this view out over the Ligurian Sea ... and restore my winter soul some.

I sat for a long time, watching the storm clouds gather, blocking then releasing the sunlight, not quite sure how to leave my seat there on the hill.
You can…

Genova!!  a return

My head is turning back towards Genova and my wee kiwi soul is so excited.  We fly soon ...

And we return to one of two places I love best in the world. 
There will be time to call in at the farinata shop ... the one the family have…

Ancient Fragment, Italy

The Roman Angel Series

I have created a Roman Angel Series over in my photography galleries. 
Prints are for sale, contact me for details.

A section of wall, Herculaneum, Naples.

Stunned by the Colours, Herculaneum, Naples

Can you imagine how these colours and this ancient art stunned me ... 

The Cameo-Maker’s Bench, Napoli

Remembering Genova ...

Cooking Class, Genova

Houthulst Cemetery and the Italians, Flanders

I am almost used to the sadness of wandering amongst the graves of the thousands of young men who died during World War One but every now and again, something so sad and unexpected gets me in throat and it’s all I can do not to cry over the ridiculously cruel waste of human life ...

Yesterday, after a meeting…

Charming Gardeners

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.
Marcel Proust

Thanks to Christine Mason Miller for this beautiful quote and to the charming gardeners I know.

Bella Roma, superb coffee in Rome (with update and details at the end of the post)

You walk from Castel Sant’ Angelo, over the River Tiber, towards the city and then cross the road at the traffic lights, moving perhaps 2 small streets to your left before disappearing into the maze of back-streets between the River Tiber and Piazza Navona.

Not too far into those streets, you will find the tiny cafe…

The Cameo-Maker’s Work, Napoli

His shop was full of fascinating bits and pieces, accrued over years, worn down by the work.

I loved it.

The Cameo-Maker, Napoli

Someone else I could have spent all day photographing this gentleman as he worked however I was on a guided city walk in Naples ... this time.

Missing Genova ...

A street scene- Via San Lorenzo, Genova

Portofino Pathway, Italy

Galleria Imperiale, Antique Store, Genova

Galleria Imperiale is well worth a visit, both to view the antiques on display and to wander through the beautiful building in which they are housed. 

I used my Canon EOS 5D series II and the Canon EF 17-40mm 1:4L, without flash for this shot.

You can visit Galleria Imperiale at Campetto 8,  in the ancient heart of the…

Cafe’ Il Barbarossa, Genova

Cafe’ Il Barbarossa is well-placed here in the ancient part of the city of Genova.  It sits on top of the hill in Piano di San Andrea, 21-23R, next to Porta Soprana, with outdoor tables that attract all ages but most especially the younger crowd.

Opened in 1995, it acknowledges the ancient gate standing next to it in its name…

Gnocchi Recipe

Remember the gnocchi I made back in Napoli, taught by the skilled and patient Anna, while staying with Tonya and Jack?
Here’s the recipe.
1 kilo boiled potatoes (old potatoes)
2 tps salt
1 egg
2 tsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1 kg or so…