Wednesday 29 February 2012

Learning more about Italy

Still the last day of February. We drove from Viterbo higher into the hills of Tuscia. Snow still lay in great patches on the grass borders and along the winding narrow roads pine trees and large branches had fallen under the weight of last weeks' snow. But now the sun was out and the clearing up was going on.
Have to find out the name of the citta where Pina and Lando live. Amazing house filled with wonderful objects, furniture worn by time, and a huge kitchen where we ate, warmed by the sun shining through the window and the wood-burning stove -- upon which some of our goodies were heated. Pina had been cooking. Vegetarian and as much as possible local grown. Or local pressed olive oil. And the wine from Puglia...
After lunch I went with Pina into her 'studio' or workplace where she makes her jewels. Pictures of this to come... Of course I was tempted and succumbed to a pair of earrings -- and a wonderful necklace as present for my sister. Something kind of magical, of no practical use, just beautiful and thus a thing of joy...
Am beginning to grow more accustomed to this Mac Air. It is very different from my Dell.
Had very interesting talk with Pina as she drove me home (back along the sunset darkening roads, to Viterbo).  She has trained to become a yoga teacher (as well as a jeweller) here among the hilly countryside of the Maremma.
Tomorrow is the first of March. We saw some daffodils just opening their buds.

last day of February

and this is the special day for wishes...
Here I am in Tuscia, exploring ancient stones under a still chill sun
Viterbo is the home of a papal palace and many antique shops...
Now we are off to visit Pina Peruzza a wonderful jeweller...
Greetings from the winding streets.

Monday 20 February 2012

leaving Amsterdam again

The snow has all melted, the drooping plants lift up their leaves again -- see photo, and people start talking of spring...There are also snowdrops out in the garden, if you look carefully. And on the roundabouts of Holland golden crocuses show slits of colour.
Last week I visited The Hague (twice) on business (pertaining to legalisation of my daughter's will).
Fine city and it struck me that people appear more courteous than in Amsterdam. The pace there seems a little less hectic.
I had time to go into The Hague Gemeentemuseum (municipal museum) which was showing, among other things, a collection of paintings and drawings by Willem Maris (painter of the 19th-century Hague School).
Simply breathtaking. The light glows from the canvases; they often show huge skies, a few trees, a couple of cows drinking from water in the foreground -- this water also reflecting the billowing clouds and nearby figures. They exude peace and serenity. The visitors walked round silently, as in a cathedral, breathing in the quietness. A wonderful experience. A Dutch master, without doubt.
I also visited my darling granddaughter Yara, who was staying with her Opa while Mum and Dad took a holiday. She is a total joy and we all vote her Miss Super Baby of All Time. It seems as if the world is filled with delight for her. She laughs with gurgling pleasure, infectiously, and smiles and regards all she sees with fascinated concentration.
Well, I could continue, you know how grannies are...
Will try to find one of the many lovely pix of her (from a while back). This is Yara at 17 days -- already utterly beautiful of course! She just grows lovelier each day...
Now I am packing my case, ready to fly back to Fiumicino (Roma) tomorrow and become a sailor-girl again.
Alora, a domani, tutti!

Saturday 11 February 2012

skating at midnight...

And when I came home from supper with friends, at about 11 at night, the skaters were still twirling, and the wood fires still burning in braziers on the dark ice. And a huge three-quarter moon hung low in the sky and I was sorry I didn't have my camera...

Friday 10 February 2012

the centuries roll back...

In the ground-floor window of a nearby house on Prinsengracht canal, the owner has placed an 18th-century print showing 'fun on the ice' (i.e. IJspret) on the outskirts of Amsterdam a few hundred years ago. And there they all were today, from the two-year-olds to the eighty-two-year-olds, and tables and benches had been placed on the thick ice -- and bales of straw for the tired skaters to sit upon; and there were burning braziers, and hot soup and warm chocolate drinks were being served. I took over 40 pictures, most of them colourful and bright, showing the people on the ice and the sunlit facades of 17th-century houses lining the canal.
See my Facebook, and I will try to upload the album....
And here above are a couple that I like a lot

and a few more...
This is just round the corner from where I live. Many of my neighbours were gathered on the ice, drinking hot chocolate (cocoa). There was a very happy atmosphere, as if this wonderful activity helped people to forget their cares... (unemployment, the threatened euro, pensions diminished...)
IJspret, a word to conjure with!

the back garden and the cats' footprints in the snow

While the sun was with the city, I took some photos of the back yard, or garden if one chooses to be elegant!!




here they are -- looking away from our house towards the Tweede Weteringdwarsstraat.
The small windows in the last photo belong to the bathroom, which is in the semi-basement. And you can just see the lower part of the kitchen windows at the top right.

Now to snap the ice-skaters...

this is called IJspret

I love that word, ijspret -- literally meaning "ice-fun", and conjuring up the invigorating delight of skating, snowballing, sledging on the frozen canals and waterways of this flat land...
Must hang up my washing (indoors of course) then will expand upon the joys of a Dutch winter...
AND the sun has returned, so the washing is hanging in front of the window, facing the still-snow-filled back garden.
Here comes a picture of the snow on the street in front of my house. Today a little murkier underfoot.
Shortly I'll go and take some pix from the bridge over Prinsegracht, where many skaters are gliding gracefully along the stretch between Leidsestraat and Vijzelstraat (that's for the Amsterdam-kenners!).
Astonishing how one's entire experience of what life is all about changes with the weather. I am constantly amazed by this. Hm, this seems somewhat naive, but who cares?
Crisp crunch underfoot, cool and fresh the air one inhales. Good world.
But don't watch the news on the TV or internet...

Now I understand why they drink vodka in Poland and Russia ... Petra (Timmer) and I had a small glass, after coming in from the cold yesterday evening. (Thank you, friends from Warsaw!) Complemented by a chocolate truffle from Pompadour... pinnacle of appropriateness!

Monday 6 February 2012

oh so cold...

Yes, we are witnessing historic winters... worst snowstorms in Italy for years, coldest February in the Netherlands -- also for many years, as far as I can remember ... long ago in the last century....
I am back in Amsterdam -- all white and pretty. The tropical tree (once a pot plant as a wedding present, forty years ago this May...) which has survived many a frost, presently looks pretty pathetic -- branches and finger-leaves all hanging to the ground... maybe it won't survive this time. see pic below. The snow is crispy cold but happily there is no wind.
The flight from Rome-Fiumicino was remarkably little disturbed -- only about an hour and a half late. Not bad for a paralyzed Italy.
 
I am having some sanitary improvements done upstairs -- perhaps not the ideal time to force the guys up there to descend to my floor use the loo(!)... but nice for the plumbers to be working indoors...
Lots of post to deal with, as usual when I return from the boat -- or wherever I have been travelling.
Am a little stymied right now because of my right foot, twisted in a Roman pothole. But the hobbling gives me plenty of time to admire the scenery...
Here is a snowy pictures of Torino, from a couple of years ago, but that's what it's like again... Admire the mountains...
And this is the back garden -- but the plant is much more droopy this year...

Back to the clearing-up and putting away and making phone calls. How quite the city is. Kind of magical...

Friday 3 February 2012

White cold Rome

We are on the coast, so are getting incessant rain rather than snow. Half an hour away and higher up, Rome is covered in white. Even St Peter's. And the traffic is in chaos. Amazing to think that a week ago I was wandering beside the sunny back of the Tiber...Even had an outdoor lunch and cappuchino.

It is pretty miserable on the boat because the incessant rain drips through impossible-to-seal cracks in the roof, between the hatches, from the air-vents -- but happily, not onto our bunks!
Last night we had a feast on board -- David cooked octopus stew (in red wine and tomato sauce) and provided small deliciousnesses to cheer us up.
The forecast for tomorrow is that the rain will cease...

Apparently in the Netherlands it is now minus 10 degrees and folks are getting wild about the idea of another Elfstedentocht... Hinderloopen, here we come!

Thursday 2 February 2012

Rome without sun

Winter in Ostia. How strange it is; grey grey sky, rain pattering upon the roof (that's the boat deck) with us happily inside. We did venture out beneath an umbrella but this proved pretty tricky... So today we remain inside our teak-walled home, and David carries out important checks on the equipment (the hand-held radio in case we have to abandon ship...) while I send emails to our wide-scattered friends, telling our travel plans for the first two-thirds of the year.
On my latest expedition into Rome (almost a week ago) I twisted my foot on a sneaky Roman pothole (just outside the Vatican walls beside St Peter's). Helpful Romans rushed to my rescue. Soon I caught a bus (number 46 I believe) and snuggled onto a 'seat' beside the ticket-stamping machine. Arrived at Piazza Venezia I looked for a handy exhibition -- and found to my delight the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj (not sure I've spelled that right but bound foot encumbers movement...). That palace is truly splendid. I hobbled round, resting on the chairs provided at frequent intervals, gulping in great gollops of architectural magnificence. Not to mention the painting collection, everything from Matys to Caravaggio. Utter delight. The audio commentary was excellent too -- spoken by a scion of the D-P House who had grown up in this building. But thanks to an ancestress named Mary Talbot, the family have a long-standing English connection; his spoken English was a joy to hear. Then as the light was fading over the inner courtyard -- rejoicing in some small trees even bearing bright orange clementinas (golden lamps in a green night, as Andrew Marvell put it). Out into Piazza Venezia and the swirling traffic, and limped towards the long row of taxis (most convenient). Found one to take me to Piramida, and struck up a brief conversation with the driver, though he wasn't of the truly chatty type...
Just caught the train to Ostia but it was very full -- the workers returning to the suburbs where they live with a little more elbow-room than central Rome (and better plumbing perhaps...). So I had to stand most of the way, balancing on my good foot and ruminating on the frailty of the human condition...David was waiting for me at the top of the stairs leading out from the underground passage at the station. While he went shopping in Carrefour, I sat in a small bar and drank an excellent ciocolatte calde and watched the people hanging round the station at Lido Centro. And listened to the Italian, trying to understand as much as possible.
We caught the 01 bus back to the marina and progressed slowly to the boat -- I had been wondering how I would get aboard with my swollen foot, but it proved easier than anticipated.
So here we are, with our vino rosso di Toscana, our ceci and cacci, and much else of deliciousness (!), gently rocking and enjoying the wonderful silence -- occasionally broken by the sound of a plane arriving or departing from the nearby airport of Fiumicino.

New way of living. The floor beneath my feet never entirely still. And much of the time intense silence.
Mi piace molto...