carly macaulay

Shakespeare and company

Fifty Grand and The Sun also Rises, introduces us to Hemingway. His individual and his concept of human nature were both very close to ours (referring to Jean-Paul Sartre). Hemingways lovers were in love all of the time, body and soul, actions emotions and words were all equally permeated with sexuality and when they gave themselves to desire, to pleasure, it bound them together in their totality.

There was another thing that pleased us. If a man brings his entire self to every situation, there can be no such thing as a ‘base occasion’. We attached much value to the small pleasures of daily life, and Hemingway lent romantic charm to such things as a walk, a meal or a conversation;… at the touch of his pen insignificant details suddenly took on meaning. The kind of realism, which described things just as they are.

words by Simone de Beauvoir, Prime of Life

One thing that I have taken great delight in was the unforeseen wonder of the bountiful bookshops prevailing in this endearing city. Paris was indeed full of surprises. We visit the well-known Shakespeare and Company and immediately are captivated by the lively atmosphere of passionate literary fans wandering in awe of the scene of books that they are surrounded by. Upstairs there is a library, of donated books that are neither for sale nor for borrowing, they are priceless in their value and you can take great pleasure in making yourself comfortable in a worn leather chair and immerse yourself in one of the precious pieces for a while. No one will ask you to move or to leave, you can sit, absorb, dream, write, read or even play the piano if you are inspired to do so.

Paris’s bookshops are alluring and plentiful, they are a wonderful way of intimately getting to know this enchanting city.

a thought

there should be a two-year period after high school where it is socially expected that kids not work, or go to school or do anything but take road trips, read books, meet new people and take lots of pictures..

-via withshoeslikethat

what a wondrous ‘une période de transition’ from adolescence to adulthood and learning about one’s self.

thoughts on Venice

thoughts on Venice.

thoughts on Venice

Venice, she’s relic, loved passionately, admired for all her beauty,taken

advantage of, mistreated, deep in-depth, full of secrets, helpless, relentless, breathtakingly beautiful, fierce yet ravishing, seductive in nature and history, provocative, hidden, devastatingly captivating and deeply mysterious in all her ways.. how could you not fall madly, deeply in love with her.

-carly macaulay

“You may have the universe if I may have Italy… -Giuseppe Verdi

“You may have the universe if I may have Italy… -Giuseppe Verdi.

“You may have the universe if I may have Italy… -Giuseppe Verdi

It’s alluring, but complicated. It’s the kind of place that can have you fuming and then purring in the space of a hundred metres, or in the course of ten minutes.

Beppa Severgnini, La Bella Figura

ZàZà Ristorante Trattoria Firenze -Piazza del mercato centrale lovely Venice..Artists Apartment, Trastvere, Roma cobble stone paths and names for remembering Luca, waiting for un caffè, NO NAME CAFE, TRASTEVERE the open door bookshop, Via della Lungaretta, 23 Trastevere 00153 Rome,Italy Ph:+39065896478

artists apartment

Of all the places we stayed while on this wonderful adventure, this was probably the one I would say we fell in love with the most. Called the Artist Apartment set in the heart of Trastevere; it was love at first sight. From the moment the door opened and we were introduced my heart knew that this place was going to be hard to leave. We were welcomed with wonderful art, hanging plants, crisp white sheets.. it was like it already knew who we were. The windows were large and when left open, we would wake to the warm air and sound of Rome beginning its day, coffee grinders and pleasant chatter, the smell of fresh croissants and pastries. Such a world away from all that I have ever known. This place, lent itself to inspiration, for writing, for dreaming, loving and being still. It was here that we found our Italy,the one we held so close in our hearts. It was here that all we ever thought it would be, Was.

Artists Apartment Trastereve, Rome https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/1418867?s=2k-A

Piazza dei Ciompi, flea market

one of the most wonderful things to do is to get lost in a city that you have never seen before. the most enchanting of all our discoveries so far on this journey have come purely by accident or a touch of fate. my husband and i tend to wander with no plans or intent, except to maybe eat perhaps. This little endearing market discovery, we found on the outer skirts of Florence’s city centre. Tiny stalls lined and filled with Italy’s lost treasures. There was an abundance of old preloved paintings, books, and nostalgia quite similar to that of France’s Saint-Ouen flea markets (located in the northern suburbs of Paris, and as featured in Woody Allen’s 2011 film ‘Midnight In Paris’). There was something to be found here for anyone interested in grazing through the days offerings.

You will find this delightfully alluring market in Piazza dei Ciompi, Florence.

Roma’s own, shakespeare and company’

Roma’s secret, in the quaint cobble stone lane ways of the old town Trastevere, hides this priceless little book shop that quietly sits with its door open, awaiting or not any one who happens to pass by. It has managed somehow to remain untouched and unharmed by the many wondering tourists. For any respectful lover of books, to step into this shop you are immediately filled with a profound affection for the literary authors of past times. This is truly a memorable moment. This is not a place for hasty decisions but rather deep breaths of gratitude and contemplation of all that lies upon the shelves, each book having already passed through one or many hands before, touching fellow beings and shaping lives. The shelves are filled from wall to wall and to the high ceilings, calling you to look deeply and with a sense of faith that the right book shall make its way into the palms of your hands. This truly is the authentic Shakespeare and Company of Roma. If ever in Rome, seek out this untouched wonder and treat yourself to a little slice of literary heaven.

find,

OPEN DOOR BOOK SHOP http://www.books-in-italy.com, opendoor@books-in-italy.com

Via della Lungaretta, 23 Trastevere 00153 Rome,Italy Ph:+39065896478

our parisian apartment

pictures from our parisian apartment in the Latern quarters, St Germain. A parfait’ place to stay while falling in love with Paris.

rue du cherche-midi,paris france

from an apartment in Roma, words ..germain greer

This book is dedicated to LILLIAN, who lives with nobody

but a colony of New York roaches, whose energy has never failed despite her anxieties and her asthma and her overweight, who is always interested in everybody, often angry, sometimes bitchy, but always involved. Lillian the abundant, the golden, the eloquent, the well and badly loved; Lillian the beautiful who thinks she is ugly, Lillian the indefatigable who thinks she is always tired.

It is dedicated to CAROLINE, who danced,but badly, painted but badly, jumped up from a dinner table in tears, crying that she wanted to be a person, went out and was one, despite her great beauty. Caroline who smarts at every attack, and doubts all praise, who has done great things with gentleness and humility, who assaulted the authorities with valorous love and cannot be defeated.

It is for my fairy godmother, JOY with the green eyes, whose husband decried her commonsence and belittled her mind, because she was more passionately intelligent, and more intelligently passionate than he, until she ran away from him and recovered herself, her insight, and her sense of humour, and never cried again, except in compassion.

It is for KASOUNDRA, who makes magic out of skins and skeins and pens, who is never still, never unaware, riding her strange destiny in the wilderness of New York, loyal and bitter, as strong as a rope of steel and as soft as a sigh.

For MARCIA, whose mind contains everything and destroys nothing, understanding dreams and nightmares, who looks on tempests and is not shaken, who lives among the damned and is not afraid of them, a living soul among the dead.

-words lovingly borrowed from Germain Greer, THE FEMALE EUNUCH

paris moments

“There is never any ending to Paris and the memory of each person who

has lived in it differs from that of any other. We always returned to it no matter who we were or how it was changed or with what difficulties, or ease, it could be reached. Paris was always worth it and you received return for whatever you brought to it. But this is how Paris was in the early days when we were very poor and very happy.”

― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast