Warm thoughts....

We knew it would happen.  We knew that winter would find us..... yet we were all so happy about this  warm weather.  And then BAM.  You guys it is cold out there.  Holy crap cold- the high being lower than the lows last week cold.  But since the "we" I am referring to are the people of the north, we will adjust pretty quickly- as soon as we grudgingly drag our winter coats out of the back of the closet and move them to a more prominent location.  Oh well.  And at some point there could be gloves involved but let's not get over excited yet.

Self-shadow-portrait 

That being said, I barely left the house all weekend.  I went to the grocery store- twice- but that is about it.  I did go to the gym yesterday, for a while, but my silly foot is still a bit sore so like a logical human being, I am going to let it heal another day or two.

Ancient ruins in the old part of Roma

So what happened to my foot you might ask?  Well, I am just going to say that a heavy thin object dropped straight down on it, and I have a very interesting coloration on my big toe and the top of my foot right now.  Stuff happens.  The nice thing is that I am now wise enough to let it heal and not think- I am going to ignore this and press on and exhaust myself!!  Foot be damned!!  nope. Not this time.  I'll give it a few days and then get back at it.  My toe still is not thrilled to be curled up or to be used to push off or hold my balance well.  So, wait I will.

I love how the restaurants in Italy have people out on the street enticing you to come in. 

That is the nice thing about being done with the craziness of dieting, over-exercising and crap like that.  You can listen to your actual body and do the right thing for it.  And "strangely" it allows you to live your life like you want and need!  So I will need to go for a somewhat extended walk soon, I am thinking Wednesday will be a good day, and a little weightlifting as well.  I need to stay strong for my adventures!

Ostia Antica

Any who,  I have been doing a little photo editing whilst cleaning out my Lightroom program.  I am attempting to stay on top of things and not let pictures that I absolutely will never use, print, publish or in anyway need, build up in my Lightroom catalog.  I am being drawn in again to my Italy pictures.  Next time I go there, and there WILL be a next time, I will be taking more time to see things more slowly.  And be able to take pictures more carefully. We packed a lot of living into that trip, but I need to be able to have more time in just a few places.  Venice, Florence and a few more places in the north are high on my priority list.

I was enraptured by all the different sorts of marble- this blew me away

I definitely want to see more of the US and NEED to visit England and Germany as well, so I have a lot of things in the queue for the next several summers.  So if I seem crabby when people try to schedule my time off, that is definitely why.  I have tentative plans for next summer that involve a new ocean for me and a new coast.  :)

IONIC COLUMN TOP!!!!!! This one **may** have been caressed 

I look at the pictures and think about how excited I was for that trip.  The build-up was spectacular and I hope I didn't drive my friends crazy.  The trip itself was SO good, the weather was amazing, albeit super warm.  Then the dreamy high of coming home and trying to describe the feeling and color and tastes and smells was sublime.  I wonder if I will ever have THAT much anticipation again. Will I ever feel so deeply the excitement of flying so far, being immersed in a country where you do not know the language, finding a culture that is so different and yet seems very comfortable and easy. I hope so. I know that every time I do something new- I get a thrill that is the best feeling imaginable.  I know I stare in awe and wonder, I cry if I am moved, touch everything that I am allowed to,  I eat all the interesting food that I can (I still can't eat a frozen pizza- just no) and revel in the new.  If I ever become nonchalant I will know I need to push out of my comfort zone, yet again.

Starting and ending this post with Wisconsin beauty

Because I find when I am out of my safe and easy comfort zone, that is when I often find the most joy.

The best things from Italy...

I have been working on this post for a while, and decided to finish it because I have been thinking about Italy a lot what with that earthquake.  Seeing those beautiful buildings in rubble is just heart breaking....  So sad.  It is such a gorgeous country and those old stone building are just so wonderful.

I made a list as I was writing my first Italy posts about the best things that I encountered on my trip....  these things aren't necessarily Italian, just things that I have found to be pretty damn awesome.  There are mostly Italian things on this list, but there are some other random items as well.  Because you know, I am random much of the time.

1. These hair ties:  My dearest Seester-Rose gave me these interesting hair ties, which I had never encountered before.  This coiled band was with me literally all the time, either in my hair or on my wrist.  That was the joyful thing about this- it held my usually out of control hair tight, didn't leave weird marks and was really comfortable on my wrist for more than an hour.....  the one I had was clear, so it was really invisible everywhere.  They do come in colors- I have a few more now!  Haha- btw, I do not get ANYTHING for these links- I just freaking love them

2. This camera lens cleaner  So a while back when I got my camera outfit, I also soon after got more lens cleaning tissues, fluid, cloths and the like, especially after that little kerfuffle on the Wisconsin Photographers Facebook page.  So I sort of accidentally came across this one and it has turned out to be the most handy thing in the world.  When I take photos I use my left eye, and I consistently end up with smudges all over the right lens of my glasses.....  no idea how that works, but it does.  So between little touch ups on the lens (I use tissue most of the time- gently- on the lenses, or the rocket blast air cleaner thingie) and extensive use on my glasses- it is really a great product.  And it hangs off my camera, and is always there and can either be smushed up into the little pocket or pulled out for use. Awesome!

3. This olive oil-You GUYS- the olive oil, especially when you got to the amazing little eating places off the beaten path (away from the main piazzas) was incredibly good.  Incredible!!  I got a little oil for myself in two different cities in Italy and dragged it all over the place wrapped in socks(unworn, mind you) in my suitcase. Anyway, the bottle I got in Florence at the central market was SO good and I was getting panicky thinking about how I was going to subsist with out it. The things they sell here are just NOT the same.  So I - on a whim- typed in the name of the olive oil into the search bar of Amazon and ta-DAAAAAAAA  there it was.  I have not opened the one from Amazon yet, as do not want to expose it to air.  And I have the Italian bottle to finish yet.  It is definitely a drizzling type olive oil, my usual breakfast these days?  Either a sourdough or other hearty bread/bagel with italian style cheese flavored with rosemary, drizzled with oil.  Or I have caprese salad for lunch- fresh mozzarella, tomato, basil, oil, and Molton flaked salt.

These bottles are a lot smaller than they appear in the photo!

4. Balsamic vinegar - well olive oil's best friend in Italy is the balsamic and I got two kinds in teensy little bottles.... cuz that stuff is 'spensive. (says the girl who paid a ridiculous amount for olive oil)  Another thing cradled in unnecessary items of clothing and carried all over the country.  I couldn't find an exact match for it on Amazon.

5.  Lemon granita- I waxed poetic over the lemon granita on the Island of Capri already, but it is worth mentioning again, since it really really was one of the most flavorful, sensual things ever.  Smelled so good, tasted strong and acetic and flavorful, and with a smooth ice that was so perfect- no lumps or chunks of ice, just an amazing slush that coated your tongue....  Oh that was good.  And we were sitting down, in the shade and watching people, so the ambience was helpful.

6. Gelato- I had chocolate, chocolate chip-mint, vanilla, raspberry, dark chocolate, lemon, and I think mango or something like that, and it never got old.  NEVER!!

Lol- oops, put the wrong pic on here- oh well.

7.  Wine- we sort of drank our way across the country, sampling wine almost daily at supper- and once at lunch with a chaser of limoncello.  Italy's wine was first rate!  We got local bottles and it was a good choice.  Though I am a white wine drinker, the best one we had was a red with a light amount of sparkle to it. S.Osvaldo  Rabaso Veneto Vino Frizzante .  The rest were great as well- it was the company and the atmosphere too!

8. Columns- oh you all know how I feel about these.  It was so amazing to see all of them and touch ALL the marble columns that I could get my hands on, and an occasional stealthy finger if touching was frowned upon. Sue me. Rumor has it that at one point I may have given one a full body hug, but that would be a bit much, right??  ;)

9.  water from the fountains and fontanelles The thought of drinking from fountains was a little weird (it was the equivalent of dipping water to drink in the clear clean lakes of far northern Minnesota in the Boundary Waters) but we soon learned that in Rome you can fill your water bottles from the fountains (not the basins, but where the water was coming out from the underground) and the little fontanelles- free drinking water which was so nice! It was one of those little- well that is cool!- experiences.

10.  This girl here- that would be my sister!! She was the best travel partner ever- she listened to me say- Isn't this AWESOME? a million times at least, plus the - You don't mind if I get gelato? part too.  I don't think she did!  :)

11. And this group leader here- which would be Powla! I can't say enough about Paula and the amazing job that she did leading us through the ups and downs, and mostly ups of the trip!

12.  And the ART!!  So here is a smattering-

The joys the these things brought me are immeasurable and it is pretty cool to be able to incorporate a few of them in my daily life!  These are some of the best things from the trip of a life time.  Well, at least so far!  Thank you to all the people who willingly, and perhaps unwillingly, have listened to me share and relive it.  There are a few of you who have truly shared my joy in it, and I appreciate it beyond words.

Looking in and about the towns of Italy--

Graffiti? Street Art?  Paintings?  All three perhaps

There is so much to see that is not in an official museum or park in Italy- from the graffiti to the wrought iron street lamps, to unexpected statues and fountains...  there are pictures  just everywhere.  I caught a lot of these snapshots on my phone, as it was either when I was in the bus, or it popped up unexpectedly and I didn't have my camera out or what have you.  Of course, some of it was recorded with high numbers of pixels from a dandy camera, but this is definitely going to be a mashup of the two. And though I proclaimed this post as not in museums, I am done with organized thought patterns...  I've had enough of that.  LOL  So peruse at your own risk- the artist brain has finally won over the logic.

Mosaic in Ostia Antica

A few of these photos have probably been on this blog before, but most have not.  I felt like I had a bunch of pictures that really didn't fit into any of the posts- and actually there are a lot more.    It's hard to whittle down when there are so many.

Part of a statue in Venice- the winged Lion with Venus

A plaster cast of  one of the remains in Pompeii

The graffiti tunnel in Florence

I found so many cool things that were an accident- from wandering around, or looking up and over, or just turning around.  I'm always looking where I maybe shouldn't be- I get distracted.  But it leads to the best things.

Bust of the artist Bernini

From the amazing lights that hang from the buildings to the incredible umbrella pines of the south of Italy to the columns and friezes and bits and pieces of buildings and statues, Italy has a lot to look at.

Really cool light fixture! In Roma

Ostia Antica

Pompeii- I think the baths

Mosaics in Pompeii

I loved how after looking at the remnants of the ancient buildings, a few hours later you would run across the modern examples of street art-  of both legal and illicit nature.

An art work in a window in Venice

I think this was in Rome- a figure carved in a stump

Available and hidden:  The ancient art that was valued and portable was available for transport- stolen and collected.  Protected and placed in official churches and later museums and private collections.... kept whole and intact.

Ancient Painting in Pompeii

And of course the amazing column artifacts

Many ancient buildings were either destroyed, fell into decay from neglect, were covered by volcano lava (thank you Vesuvius) and were then hidden.... either whole or in pieces, to be later discovered, uncovered and recovered....  sometimes to be reconstructed, usually on display in some way.

Winged Lion with the Goddess Venus in Venice

Venetian Masks

The juxtaposition of the old and the new- old relics, and the manmade for tourist traffic.   Reconstructed ruins and ephemeral chalk work on the sidewalk......  things that you pay to see and things that you can pay  to take home.

Blogger did some odd things and I don't feel like fixing it- the pic directly above here is a light fixture in Rome, and the pic above this one are some artifacts at the Vatican 

Again - a sculpture up above that is was in the Vatican, and the street art directly above is from the underground tunnel in Florence.

In the same way, modern art we see can be made in ways that are always for display but can be made in both overt and covert ways. Art that can be made to be sold to the passersby,  sometimes literally made on the street and sometimes sold from the street  or created under cover of darkness to be seen with an element of surprise or defiance.  Street art can have pure artistic intent or convey ownership- ownership of a territory by the mark of a swish of paint.  To defy people to spray over, daring them into a  painted argument.  

Artifacts from Pompeii

Street art in a pure form- sold on the street of street scenes

Vessels in Pompeii

Paintings left on the walls from ancient times- I can't remember which one, though.   perhaps Assisi?? 

Side walk art

A lovely carousel--- I think in Florence

Art from the Uffizi

Detail from one of the arches in the Roman forum

Part of a fountain- I LOVE these faces. Venice

The street art of political bent, of pure artistic expression, of decoration- all variations of people expressing their modern ideas amongst a very old old culture.  If I had to choose something that was my favorite thing about Italy, it would have to be this.  The old and the new, the hidden under cover of darkness artists that make prevalent and pervasive statements that are more permanent than those who work legally in the symbolic light of day.

Make revolution irresistible 

Detail of mosaics on the floor in pompeii

Carved detail in a ruins in Pompeii

In Ostia Antica

A beautiful detail in stone- on the ground at Ostia Antica

Some dwellings are an actual form of street art- or at least a decorative art

Italy- a combination of new and old, beauty in all forms- one of the biggest joys in my life- so far. But I have more adventures to come.