Wednesday 30 November 2011

VENETIAN TRADIES!!



Tradies in venice have a unique way of going about their daily business.  It is fascinating to spot them in their daily chores, cheerily going from place to place getting the job done.

Here are some photos of them doing just that.


Putting up the Christmas lights along all the streets.





again, the modern alonside the ancient



Garbage collection


The postie
I think this is the plumber




wonder what our guys would think about this electric work??




The best!!
Tradies Truck Venetian Style

Ciao

Jo

VENICE: CITY OF ROMANCE AND CHARM




vENICE!  I've been waiting to come back here for 34 years.

It was worth the wait.

How does one describe this unique place, with it's charming narrow streets that suddenly bring you into a courtyard that is filled with the ambience of times past juxtaposed with that of  the present.                                                                                                                



Around each corner can be something as simple as an ancient water well which were scattered allover the city in an effort to catch the rain water,



             
     or a Cartier store.
view when stepping out of the train station


how's this for a sundeck?



paintings are for sale everywhere

view from my window



For all the peeling of outer walls, odd joins in the cracks between the buildings and areas where the sun probably never gets to, Venice delights and suprises.



I think I could stay here quite a while

ciao

Jo

Saturday 26 November 2011

More Milan




Milan.  Like so many european cities a contrast of the anicent and the modern.  Above is the entry to Galleria Vittorio Emmanuelle, home to the exclusive brands like Prada, Luis Vuitton, Svaroski.  And MacDonalds. 


Around every corner is another ancient site, jostling with street art,










 some appearing to be made out of unusual materials,


tramtracks in amongst the old stone,

shop windows filled with exquisite fabrics that resemble works of art by themselves,   very moder sculptures,  ancient statues of the Milanese who have contributed to the city,                              




inside the Duomo are rows of candles lit for someones needs,                      


the Castella Szforscoza, owned by very wealthy important family and who sponsored Leonardo da Vinci when he was painting the last supper, so that around the outside of the painting area he has included the family's coat of arms.






 Pastry shop windows lined with the delicacies.  The jury is out on whether or not they are as good as the french ones.  Perhaps just different.  They do score a top ten for the gelato!!
The ancient mingled in with the everyday of modern life is a constant fascination for me.  The italians look at you taking a photo, then they look at what they see every day, then they look back at you as if to say ????
Coming from such a young country makes it hard to imagine living with things that are still standing so many years after being built with such passion, hope, fervour, optimism and surety that it was right.  Particularly without modern building methods and particularly spanning 600 years or more.

Oldest bell tower in Milan somewhere around the 1400's

O

Constant refurbishment of buildings



one of many staiined glass windows in il Duomo, many of which have been replaced




Ciao

Jo