14 posts tagged “italy”

Suddenly the idea came into my mind the day we went to visit Maddalena and Caprera. A daily cruise to the other

archipelago islands on a sailing boat. Roberta puzzled for a long moment but she approved it straight away! I knew she was keen on it even though she said she was slightly worried! The crew: our skipper, the German Christian, his assistant Alina, German as well, then 14 passengers from Italy, Spain, Slovenia, USA and Germany. Unfortunately the wind was very light, we had 10 knots at some point in the morning, but generally it was below 6 knots, and therefore it was quite complicated and slow, to sail at a good speed. So we were forced to use the engine more than once. We sail off at 10.30 am from Palau heading Budelli to have a sight of the famous Spiaggia Rosa (pink beach....pink by the way!). Boats are banned to anchor out there and nobody is allowed on the beach these days. Long ago thy decided to close it to tourists  as people were taking away a bunch of pink sand each. From the boat you need a bit of imagination to see the beach being pink, but you don’t need any to understand that the see you are sailing on is one of the most beautiful in the world. Honestly. We made 3 stops at Budelli (Spiaggia del Cavaliere), Santa Maria (Cala S.Maria) and Spargi (Cala Corsara) ...We swam in the blue turquoise sea, we dived from the boat, we meet nice people...in few words...lots of fun!
It was the first time for me on a sailing boat...and I don’t know why...but this recall to my mind this passion...a sailing course...a sailing cruise around Tuscany island...all projects only in my mind...for the moment!

Capo Coda Cavallo AKA Punta Est where the sea is a huge crystal mirror, where you would be able to find the smallest thing you possibly lose in the pure, transparent water! I never, ever seen something like that. Capo Coda: Head and Tail, alpha and omega. Everything included, nothing missing.

It's 01.15 in the night. I am just back from Italy, and quite tired. I left 15 C in Milan, the same that I found here when landed...for once temperature here is the same that in Italy...for once I go to Italy, it rains...!!!! Nevertheless, now, seated on my bed, I am looking around me, trying to familiarize with the brand new bedroom. It's the first night I will sleep here. It's not too bad so far. I thought it would have felt different, weird, instead not. I am a bit "cold", like if it was a normal night, Not too excited, but this is me. Emotionless at time. But this is only one aspect, more I will see in the next days. When coming back I will find nobody at home, or eating every night on my own... I mean, not that I always chatted with my flatmates or had dinner together, but I knew they were always there... Don't get me wrong though, I was waiting this for long time now...for various reasons that house sharing brings along...
I am using somebody's Wi-Fi...funny cos I didn't catch it the other days, when I tried to connect from here. But i didn't need it...Anyway in the meantime that I will set up mine, it helps...
I reckon it will take still a month to clear up everything, unpack all the boxes and store everything, but no rush...I can take all the time I want. There is also something still to buy, many things in fact. Ikea...I will come back soon.
 

I am writing while flying back from Italy. We are due in Bristol in about 50 min. I am quite tired. It has been a long bank-holiday weekend, spent between Liguria and Tuscany. Rapallo, Chiavari, Portofino and then Florence, Pisa. I wish I had more time for all of that. I wanted to swim...but I was forbidden to do so... it was not actually very very hot, but enough to get an idea of tan of the face. Rapallo is nice, the city centre, the waterfront, the harbor... it is all there...it is quite small but there is everything you need (except car parks!), and the mountains...just there, by the sea. Picturesque. We wanted to visit Montallegro Sanctuary, as well as we wanted to go the the “cinque terre” but didn’t have time to do all of it. We had to go to Florence for Ale’s baptism on Saturday, and then rush to Pisa for dinner with friends...! The same old story...every time I am back is almost impossible to find time to rest and relax. But in the end this is a bit what I want...so no complains. Soon we will land in Bristol, and tomorrow morning is already time to go to work. I have an interesting week ahead, interesting cos there are few things I want to do by the end of it. If everything works it will be a good progress and a good satisfaction. If it does not it will be a progress anyway...cos there is to understand where the problem lies and fix it...and I will eventually. But let’s thing about that after a good sleep.

PS. I am at home now...but it is just funny to say that we landed in Bristol in a wind and drizzle storm, the kind of rain that make you wet in less than a minute... No need to say the drop in temperature, from the 22 Celsius of Milan to the 9 here tonight...

When something like that happens it is always the same feeling...helplessness and dismay.
When a quake strikes it makes us feeling very small...it helps us understanding that the life is not in our hands.
It is not on us to decide about it. We ask ourselves very many questions...and it is hard to find answers. It is hard because we don't understand...we don't understand why it happens...
I was talking to some friends yesterday, about the Holy week that begins today, about the Passion of Christ. We were reading something and I was stroke by some words from Fr. Giussani that I would like to quote:

...But we cannot have compassion for Christ or participate in our Lady's sorrow unless we risk our hearts and accept the plan the Father has for our lives. This plan implies our participation in Christ very Cross: the acceptance of sorrow and sacrifice, the contradiction of life...

I pray to be able to have this awareness in my life. I pray for those who died in today's quake.

I have seen Wembely, I have seen the Old Trafford, I have seen the Allianz Arena in Munich and the Olympic Stadium In Rome...In less than a month I have seen San Siro and Twickenham, but the Emirates Stadium is just different...it is possibly the best stadium in the World...probably the best in Europe...
I bet also a not football lover would enjoy watching a football match there, cos the atmosphere, the environment encourages you to enjoy...put you in the mood for it...If you add 22 players, 11 from Italy and 11 from Brazil, the show is guaranteed !!! And who cares if we had to drive 3 hours each way to get to London on time...if we went to sleep at 4 am yesterday morning...it was worth it!!! It was a good fun seeing Brazil playing...my gosh...the look the can do everything with the ball...sometimes is too much...but the crowd loves it...and they play for the crowd...!!! Brazil won 2-0, Robinho has been chosen as Man of the Match...but mine was yellow number 5 ... FELIPE MELO!!!!

I couldn't choice a better stadium to watch the first rugby match of my life...! I could have chosen a better game probably , but England is England after all and Italy is not ready yet to compete in the 6 Nations. Nevertheless it was a great experience, mostly for the great atmosphere at Twickenham. England won easy 36-11, Benjamino was happy, I was as well...

Finally I found a bit of time to make the statistics for this first year on vox. First of all what I have done...which is to write 139 posts, and post 739 pictures... Then what we have done...which is to write 251 comments. Then what you have done:

Total Visitors: 5194 (avg 14.19 per day)
Total Page Views: 22742 (avg 62.13 per day)

The best month was February with 747 visitors and 4220 page views. 14th of February was the best day of the year with 234 visitors and 1375 page views. I was in Norway taking pictures with Prandelli at that time.
More than half of the visitors are from Italy (50,80%), followed by UK (32.25%) and USA (7.17%) . I had accesses from 54 countries around the world, and among them I like mention Macau, Guatemala, Fiji, Saudi Arabia and Ghana.

 

24th of June, St. John the Baptist, Saint Patron of Florence. It is a feast day in Florence. The day of the final of the Calcio Storico, the day of the fireworks, dei fohi. Thus I took this occasion to make something a bit more special. A way to say thanks to my city, a way to feel closer to it. I bring it always with me but at the same time I miss it lot. It is eight years by now that I left, first in Pisa, then in the UK. It is eight years that I don't live my the city anymore, but every time I come back I try to find sometime for a walk in the city centre, or on the surrounding hills.
You can't describe Florence, you can't explain what it is that makes it so special, that move you, deeply, every single time you see the places you have seen a hundred time. Every corner, every street, every place has its own story, in a city which is full of history, every where you go. This is what makes it so beautiful, what makes its people so proud of it. I apologize for the English readers, but I would like to paste something that my friend Tommy wrote (some time ago, in Italian) about Santa Maria Novella, one of the most beautiful Church in Florence. For everyone instead I made a little slideshow with some terrific pictures I have found on the web (actually some are mine as well :) ).

I titoli a volte si scelgono per catturare l’attenzione di lettori distratti o pigri che selezionano così le poche righe sulle quali spendere il loro poco tempo di webnauti.In questa italica riscoperta di miti un po’ impolverati e forse per questo ciclicamente riproponibili, il titolo del cavallo di battaglia di quello che sembra essere rinato come l’idolo delle ragazzine di mezz’età, mi è sembrato un ottimo catalizzatore per gli assonnati occhi dei miei due o tre lettori di poetica memoria.E’ sabato a Firenze; stranieri con improbabili magliette corte e cartina in mano, i banchi di S. Lorenzo che aprono i battenti e le urla becere e condite di fiorentina “sacralità” dei garzoni del mercato centrale. C’è già un po’ di viola nell’aria con le civette quotidiani che già ammiccano ad una partita teoricamente abbordabile. E’ sabato a Firenze e nonostante il lavoro chiami, ho deciso di passare per un attimo in piazza S. Maria Novella.Per il viaggiatore che giunge a Firenze ed esce dalle austere e razionaliste forme della stazione, di lei vede solo l’imponente e cupo tergo. Finestroni enormi e paramenti di pietra forte. Dovrebbe incuriosire trovarsi davanti l’unica chiesa che invece del suo volto bello ti mostra le spalle, come una donna civettuola d’altri tempi. Fai via degli Avelli e cerchi di guardarle i fianchi, capire se val la pena fare altri 50 metri e farle svelare il viso. Entri in piazza e capisci che Leon Battista Alberti era uno che, primo, voleva bene a Firenze e secondo, era innamorato della bellezza della geometria. Qualche raggio di sole esce dalle nuvole e rende immacolato ciò che molti direbbero “bianco”, meraviglioso qualcosa che gli stessi direbbero banalmente “bello” e l’occhio innamorato di un fiorentino qualunque si riempie di orgogliosa commozione.Mancano pochi minuti all’appuntamento ma cedo alla tentazione di entrare nella pancia di questa meraviglia dove, solitario ed unico, Giotto ha appeso la sua eterna preghiera a Dio: l’immagine di un uomo affisso mani e piedi ad una rigida croce, morente e misteriosamente trionfante. Il capolavoro di Masaccio e Masolino, lì accanto sembrano quasi una lieve appendice a tale bellezza.La nostra città è così, è un luogo dove capita di camminare distrattamente accanto ad un pezzo di muro dipinto per il quale a New York, solo per quello, costruirebbero un immenso museo. Firenze è così, è lo scrigno più grande riempito delle più belle gemme e pietre preziose che attende sempre l’occhio di un fiorentino qualunque che lo guardi non con bramosia ed interesse ma con amore e desiderio