Category: art/photography

sacred spaces

Religion is, as I say, something universal and something human, and something impossible to eradicate, nor would I want to eradicate it. I am a religious person, although I am not a believer.

Philip Pullman

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These pictures were taken from a few of the many breathtakingly beautiful churches around Italy.  I always love the feeling that becomes present when you first step through the doors into these places, and take the moment to really see, what it is that is surrounding you. Religious or not, believer  or non, really it doesn’t matter or is of concern. You are welcome into the divinity of these walls that have been standing for the test of time. They have heard and hold deep within the deepest of secrets, immeasurable stories and prayers to  ever be recounted. These places are sacred, not only by vertue of religious believers but by their very presence and the silence they keep on all that has ever been confided. It is here, that it is for ever memorable that I light a candle for the passing of my mum’s dearest friend, Ruth.

words from whitman..

Not I, nor anyone else can travel that road for you.

 

You must travel it by yourself.

It is not far. It is within reach.

Perhaps you have been on it since you were born, and did not know.

Perhaps it is everywhere – on water and land.”

 

– Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

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where we layed our hats, in Florence

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Our studio apartment in S.Maria Novella, Florence can be described as no more than, à la mode, perfectly designed in layout, filling every space so cleverly that you really didn’t feel confined at all. The windows opened wide looking onto the streets below and across to neighbouring apartments in true Italian style. It was light and airy and full of chic with bountiful books and mags to read in moments between exploring this wonderfully alive city. We soon discovered a vibrant little cafe around the corner that humoured us as we practiced our limited Italian with ordering our coffee and croissants to have standing at the bar, as the locals would tell you, there’s simply no other way to do it.

Via dei Canacci, Florence, Tuscany 50123, Italy, book through Airbnb.com

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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.

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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

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

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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

 

IMG_4356 IMG_4330 IMG_4329ZàZà Ristorante Trattoria Firenze  -Piazza del mercato centraleIMG_4629IMG_4654lovely Venice..IMG_4944IMG_5004IMG_5010IMG_4946Artists Apartment, Trastvere, RomaIMG_4056 IMG_3627 IMG_3585IMG_5007cobble stone paths and names for remembering IMG_3614 IMG_3610 IMG_3586 IMG_3609 IMG_4047Luca, waiting for un caffè, NO NAME CAFE, TRASTEVEREIMG_4060 IMG_4061 IMG_3855 IMG_3860the open door bookshop, Via della Lungaretta, 23 Trastevere 00153 Rome,Italy Ph:+39065896478IMG_2859 IMG_4936 IMG_3616 IMG_4986

 

artists apartment

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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

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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.