It seems long past time I stopped and wrote of my summertime stay in Genova ... back when I met Massimo and Roberta while staying in their beautiful Air BnB.
I think they told me that it had once been the room of a servant. It was located in a massive old building in the ancient heart of the city and had its own kitchen and everything else you might want too.
The renovations had created an exquisite space.
A glimpse ...
I'm resting these days. Not lolling about in bed but taking it easy, staying at home ... living quietly.
And it's been interesting for me to see what has risen to the surface. I have had no heart for real work, instead I've been content to read good books, sort through all those unsorted photo folders, and keep the house clean.
I usually go out on the bike once a day, just to the supermarket, respecting my body's needs ... just for a change. I've stopped coffee, tea and red wine. And I'm not eating anything I know my body can't tolerate.
I'm quiet.
The photograph. I missed it somehow. I have a particular fascination with Genova's fountain in Piazza De Ferrari. The image was yet another slice of the fountain.
And again a flooding disaster is unfolding in Genova, Italy.
One dead. Countless numbers of cars thrown about by flood waters. Buildings flooded. Metros under water.
It's incredibly difficult to watch the city suffering.
Foto source: Il Secolo XIX, via Facebook.
My favourite shop in Genova is closing and they are selling these beautiful pieces of furniture.
Anyone interested in having them in their home or workspace, or who knows people who could use them in their cafe or shop, please don't hesitate to contact the lovely Francesca and Norma. Details are there on the advert.
I have a new way of post-processing my photographs ... perhaps I should simply write, 'a new toy'.
It's so much fun!
And that's not written lightly. I woke at 4.30am after an early night. Well ... 11.30pm is early for me but sleeping before midnight seems to result in a ridiculously early morning wake-up. My mind was racing so I gave in at 5.30am, slipping downstairs, turning on the radio as the coffee machine creaked into action, as the toast cooked.
I sat awhile reading the new book about the granddaddy photo-journalist from way back there in the beginning. I cannot begin to tell you how much I am loving that book, sad that I can't take it to Norway because ... along with my camera equipment and laptop, it would be too heavy to take with me.
I wanted to write a blog post from the quiet of this morning but my mind was noisy and busy. I had a portrait session at 9am. Two lovely Canadian girls from Texas ... from Canada. And their cousins, the two girls from Belgium. The shot of the day ... the one that made us all laugh most, was the one where Cloe had them all doing the 'fishface' thing.
It was about 2pm when I elegantly face-planted on the couch and napped for a little bit. Oh those naps, they are getting me through. I'm thinking, when I get back to Belgium, I might have an iron test. It feels like it might be an iron thing, this tiredness. I'm 'that age' these days. And maybe some allergy tests too, as they're running out of control.
Soon though, I'm off to spend time with one of my most favourite poets in the world. We hope to create some beautiful posts/art/something unexpected during our days together in Norway. I'm curious. I've never been there before. But that's life, isn't it ... a big adventure.
I processed the photographs of the Air BnB apartment I spent some time in last time I was in Genova. I loved this little place where my bed seemed to float, up there on the mezzanine floor, with a view up the narrow carruggi somewhere near the ancient Chiesa di San Donato.
So ... a combination of photograph, of new processing tool, and some stories too, written from another humid and hot summer day here in Belgium.
What can I write ...
I feel so extraordinarily grateful to the three women Helen and I invited on our A New Way of Seeing workshop, in Genoa, Italy.
Since then Lisa, Leah, and Laura have written of working with us in ways that have filled my wee kiwi soul to overflowing.
Leah, from Help. I Live With My Italian Mother In Law, wrote of her experience with us in an English magazine.
Laura, from Ciao Amalfi, wrote up her experience with us over on her blog.
Today, I'm just in from reading Lisa's account of her time with us over on her blog. That would be Lisa, from Renovating Italy ... the Lisa who had me laughing so hard that I could barely stay standing out there on Via Porta Soprana. She has a talent for laughter but the weekend was full of laughter, of stories and photography too.
I borrowed one of Lisa's photographs from her post about it all. I love this particular image, taken by Silvana, wife of Pino. Pino is the man nestled in-between Lisa, myself, and Helen ... late on that laughter-filled evening in Genova.
Silvana and Pino own the very best pizzeria in the world and I adore them. Their pizzas too. And so it seemed entirely appropriate to be photographed together. Silvana, after a hot and exhausting evening, decided she would be the photographer ... and no begging her to join us would change her mind.
I have to admit, I'm looking a little rumpled at this point in the day. We were almost home after that first workshopping day.
I would work with any of these women in a heartbeat. They were magnificent. All of them.
Huge grazie mille's to Laura and Lisa, Leah and Helen.
It was a most magnificent weekend!