Giardino Giusti, Verona

The only day I get to spend in Verona is a rainy day.
There, I spent the day (yesterday) with dripping wet bag and soaked feet, which is probably why I am having headaches right now. But the good thing is, the rain makes the experience of the garden feel more somber and melamcholic. It also drives away other visitors, and even the ticketing person! Making the garden visit a free entry for me, and me alone for the hour.





Walking in this garden makes you feel that you are in another era, and that's a no wonder, when you read its long established history:

Built in 1570, the basic design of this Giardino Giusti is almost half a millennia old. And if that is not old enough, they say that parts of the garden is even older than that, with 700-year old cypresses predating the foundation of the garden. The elaborate myrtle hedges however, is a later addition from the 1786.

The garden is one of the oldest in Italy, and has been called the most important of the renaissance gardens. Since the 16th century, a trip to the garden is usually included as a part of the Grand Tour (educational trips of young aristrocats), and it has had illustrious visitors, including Mozart and Goethe, who supposedly wrote one of his books under its towering cypresses.

Bologna Weekend

They say all roads leads to Rome. But for me, no matter how much I love Rome, the roads seems to lead to Bologna more than Rome.

For the 4th time, I'm back in Bologna. First visit was to see Gabri whom I met in the previous year. Second was as a part of uni's northern Italy trip. Third was to visit Gab again on the way to Cinque Terre, and now, my sort-of employer, Andreas invited me to a green expo in Bologna.

This is one of the Italian green wall product on display at the expo... It's a pretty standard product.

And this is Andreas my boss (although probably he wouldn't call himself that way), and his new vintage toothpaste.

Bologna second hand market at San Stefano

A sweet accordion player who has a good smile... I was listening to her under Bologna's endless porticoes as I wait for Gabri to come out of the Sunday mass.

Gabri!

Delllicious pasta with fiori di zucca and mussels!!!

Sidenote: Coming back to Italy makes me realize how photogenic the country really is. It is easy to take good pictures of Italy and blog about it. Perhaps it's is because their medieval-renaissance culture places strong emphasis on axially oriented design? Anyhow; something in the way the city is laid made it measuredly scenic, even on my tiny point-n-shoot camera. This is in contrast to Munich, which is a wonderful city to live in, and by far a more comfortable place to walk around at... but, I have yet to take good pictures of it. Without those gigantic d-slr that has wide apertures, the pictures I take here look so flat and banal. Munich really is a nice place to be, and deserve more blog notes than it currently has.

Day 129 - Assisi

Exam days are not quite finished yet... but what's wrong with taking a 'micro-holiday'?


Assisi is supposedly 2 hours away from Rome by Eurostar. But by regional train, it takes me about 4 hours to reach the town! But that's not half-bad, considering the pastoral view of the blooming poppy fields from the train. I used to think that those pastiche paintings of red 'Tuscan' poppy fields that they sell at Navona is a bloody lie. But maybe not.


Also on the final lag of the train, I was lucky to meet Akiko. She was on a day trip by herself too, so we wind up hanging out together for the two days.


Assisi is a charming cream-white colored medieval town that hugged the hill. The Church of St. Francis is the main attraction of the town.


St. Francis is the patron saint of the town. On his deathbed, St. Francis thanked his donkey for carrying him throughout his life, and his donkey cried in tears. Maybe this is the tributary statue? Looks like Eeyore, eh.


Monks and nuns still live in this town too. In full costume.



But I wonder if they're authentic or if they're a part of the stage props for this tourist infested town. English speaking cafés and souvenir shops line up and down the street. The people seem happy and self-contented though!



Why not? They live in a lovely mythical town. The craftsmanship of the doors and windows of the homes are unique and individual, and each lonely alleys of the town leads to a calming view of the valley.


Oh! and we arrived on a festive day too! I did not see the ceremony, but people around town were dressed up medieval style. It makes me think that the town is a full-fledged giant Shakesperean stage.


Complete with cows mooing through the streets.

Day 61-69 - The Northern Trip

After almost two weeks of laziness, passport hunting, and dilly-dallying on Photoshop, this post is finally up!


Bella figura of Torino. Tall, lanky and expensively furnished woman.
A lil' too manly for some people's taste though.


Look closely, these are no ordinary roll cakes...
They're towels!!!


I thought that this combination of gray, lime, deep blue and a dash of burnish red is inspiring...


Cheers from Vicenza!


This colorful shop in Venice sells natural pigments for painting. These powdery tints are derived from natural stones. The shopkeeper looks like a messy artist, but he really is a sweet guy. He gave me discounts after I took his pictures and chatted to him.


Fancy a romance with a cute army officer?


*Weeeeeeek*


This is how esteemed Phd. doctors of the University of Padova graduate...


And who says pigeons are sloppy, messy dirty little creatures who can't walk in line?

Day 43-48 - Southern Trip (Part III: Sicilia)

Sicily is full of sunlight to the brim...


... and in Sephanié-talk sunlight means happiness. Look at this beautiful town called Monreale, it sits at the foot of two gentley bluey hills, facing the sea, in full sun: what more could you want?


Ah, they're also blessed with grand golden churches...


...but frankly, I'm more inspired by cute petite neighborhoods rather than old golden churches, and am ever so tempted to just copy and paste this neighborhood somewhere else, for I'd love to live in one of these cute lil' houseys!

Day 43-48 - Southern Trip (Part II: Napoli)

This beautiful black labrador followed us for hours from dusk to night, from the sea and through the city. It treated us like a herd of sheep, ran around us to keep us together and barked at any incoming people, motorcycles and cars. At times we thought that he would disappear into the streets, but we were wrong! It followed us ever so faithfully until he couldn't anymore.

Resilient and weathered. Our Neapolitan tour guide has a severe look to her that seems to say that she has seen the darker stories of Napoli. Ah, if only I knew enough Italian to ask "Tell me..."


Boy with the expression of an old man.


Local Neapolitan boys who approached us in fascination with the camera.


I wish I could forget about this photo. This boy ran around the street with a plastic pistol air gun. He looks, aims, and shoots at you. You can hear the air bullets firing *Tor!!! Torr!!* You know it's fake, but you can't help but feel unsettled: anyone, everyone... he wants them all dead.

Day 43-48 - Southern Trip (Part I: Portraits)

The serious photographs will have to wait for later, because beyond beautiful, Sicily was a lot of fun!


Me, Libby and Francis atop Monreale Cathedral complex. The view of Palermo that sits between the foot of two hills, facing the sea, was splendid... but being tourists as we are all we care about is taking pictures of ourselves!


Isa and Summer.

A lot of things were explained to us by the knowledgeable and well-connected Marco... although I feel that much of the time, we hear them without absorbing much... like gaping at the wind... like Aaron's face right there (I think this is what Americans call 'Deer at the headlights'? ahahaha).

Mira was playing with a piece of rag that was covering a window on a house in Pompeii. Who knows what is she imagining... but the fun with this rag on the wind was so fun that she has to be coaxed to walk away from it. Travelling with Prof. Neema's children makes us really happy, because they are so energetic, bubbly and... cute! (They say that traveling with these prof's kids has inspired us to have childrens ourselves. Ah. Perhaps).


Emma (looking like a shocked supermodel), and Kirin (Neema's other tireless child)

Maria... no, wait, that's not her...It's Marvin!

Ale fresh & Ale tired. It's one scary murderous look there.

*snore*

Peek-a-Boo Andrew

Kate sporting a mafia look. It scared me for a while... before,

Prof. Neema and her students at what was Gibellina. (The most common response to this picture is "Neema's going to kill you!")


We run through most of the cities we visited and usually we don't have the time to explore to our heart's content. But Gibellina Nuova was such a ghastly empty modernist town that we finally have time to get bored and just perch around (and that's got to be the sweetest pic of Patrick).


Family picture! This is so sweet, no? except I was missing behind the lens!