The power of London is the first thing that came to my mind thinking back to the last weekend – while I start singing…the power of Lo-ove..
London detail: street art Teddy Bear
The frenetical ingredient that everybody needs after a long time spent at work, and before the relaxing and chilling vacation arrives. That detail that adds a free-style mood to the ordinary life, those people who don’t care about what they have to dress in the morning or at night, and that civic-minded Englishness that each time is able to surprise you again and again.
All these facts are also relevant if you decide to go to London for some days, because your best friends live there and you need to see them after a while, and because there’s a special festival too – and finally, you also discover that there’s gonna be the Queen’s bbirthday celebration too! top.
Let’s our journey with a typical brunch in La Farolain Islington area:
London details – to start a great day with a typical brunch at La Farola in Islington
Finsbury park – tube stationLondon details: #findtherightbell
Going towards Carnaby St. and the Queen’s 90’s celebration in almost every shops’ windows:
London details: Queen’s 90’s birthday celebrationCarnaby street
Nice walk into the colors of the past in the city center, near Piccadilly and Oxford Circus
Florence, view from Ponte Vecchio – in a rainy day
You will always appreciate the wonderful walk that leads you to the top of the city of Florence. You can choose several ways to get there, but the best one is through the little gardens behind the Tower of San Niccolò.
Something in the way is the title of this note, and here you are what I found going up to the top of Florence:
Passing by Ponte Vecchio, going towards Ponte alle Grazie:
Florence, Ponte alle Grazie and its artists
Towards San Niccolò:
Florence views: San Niccolò Tower, Santa CroceFlorence views: San Niccolò Tower, Santa CroceBrunelleschi’s Dome of Florence
Almost to the top, just next to the Giardino delle Rose (Rose Garden) – main entrance is along the stairs coming up from San Niccolò:
Views from Piazzale Michelangelo
#NoteOfTheDay is Somethingby Beatles, 1969 (inspired by ‘Something in the way she moves’ by James Taylor
It was supposed to be a day as tourist in Bologna, with things that tourists generally do going up and down the city center and eating tortellini, tagliatelle or what ever… But then something drew my attention: Palazzo Pepoli – Street Art exhibit: Banksy & Co. 😲 And soon I realized that Co. meant Keith Haring from UK, Blu from Italy, Lady Pink from Ecuador, Lee Quinones from NYC, Fekner, lots of works of art coming from Martin Wong Collection in US and so on, unbelievable. Unbelievable was also that this kind of exhibition was into an historical museum and it’s interesting to know how the street art is becoming part of the history, at least in Bologna.
Street Art Banksy & Co., Palazzo Pepoli, Bologna
Let’s start with the basic first stencils and works, here you are a series dedicated to the rat, the animal that was chosen to be a symbol of the art diffusion everywhere in the city – as rats generally are everywhere. Then, rat is also a word that can be the anagram of ART:
The rat in the street art by Bansky and the French writer Blek Le RatThe rat in the street art by Bansky and the French The RatThe rat in the street art by BanskyThe rat – series by BanksyBrasilian artists – showing the mix between positive and negative things in the streets
Then Mickey Mouse crashed on the backdoor of a train – why the train? Because it was one of the first mean used to spread the word by the street artists:
Mickey Mouse – maybe by DeckBanksy and other artists artworks
Here you are one of the most popular by Banksy: Rage, Flower Thrower, representing a man wearing a kerchief and baseball cap throwing a bouquet of flowers, with flowers and stemma as the only things in color:
Heavy Weaponry by BanksyElephant carrying weapons by Banksy
Kill people by Banksy, 2003:Kill people by Banksy
Recently, there has been a very deep argument between the Museum and one of the artists that is part of the exhibit – I’m talking about Blu, the most important one from Bologna: he has not accepted to take part in the exhibition, so he has been stolen of the artworks we can see here. After this, Blu decided to cover all of his works, so now it’s impossible see and enjoy them, none of them is still on the wall of the city.
When deciding to go for a weekend in a countryside of Tuscany means meet with several friends who have never been there before, don’t think about how many hours you’ll spend by going up and down the hills, but just think how lucky you are…
Friday, Saturday and Sunday, three days of fabulous landscapes, wine-and-food tasting, homemade products flavours, people who talks locally and you can’t understand, parkings, souvenirs and Google maps as your best friend: this is a free ride in Tuscany! Enjoy it 😊
Starting from Brunello di Montalcino at Perucà – in San Gimignano
San Gimignano main square, Siena – Tuscany
Here you are some of the popular towers of San GimignanoDome, Churches and towers of San Gimignano, near SienaTank of San Gimignano – ‘Cisterna’ in Italian
The Tank of San Gimignano has also been the inspiration of Escher in one of its architectural study!
another Tank’s viewTowers and other ancient details of the cityLetters, prints and mails: ancient ways of communicationSan Gimignano, view from the top
And here you are some arts and crafts and typical products of San Gimignano:
Handmade and typical productsHandmade bijoux
An ancient kind of door bell!Dragon door bellTypical ham, salami in ‘tagliere’
‘Vernaccia’ is the typical wine from San Gimignano, so you can’t avoid to have a glass of wine while tasting genuine salami – like the typical ‘finocchiona’ – olive oil and the special guest ‘yellow- saffron‘ which is the very typical feature of this city (which differs from other little small cities of Tuscany):
Wonderful typical Italian ham
Italian Olive oilSuper organic ‘yellow-saffron’
At the end, the almost 5 pounds gained will be very appreciated if thinking back to all the delicious things you’ve tasted and discovered!
How to spend a great weekend? Just go to Rome and visit Rione Monti bijoux! This area is maybe one of the most old fashioned and attractive part of the city, seen also that is one of the most ancient district of Rome.
If you’re lucky you can enjoy weird people and lots of handmade products: handmade jewelry and vintage clothes, local Trattoria with homemade pasta and happy people going around!
The first place to enjoy is the famous Market named ‘Mercato Monti Urban Market’:
Monti MarketMercato monti Urban Market, Rome
this market is the perfect mix between artistic handmade products – as vintage leather bags and handmade rings and bracelets – and extrovert dressed people who look like living in a movie 😁
All these handmade rings and earrings are so cute, a sort of cartoons pieces that look like funny if worn fine.
And then this authentic bijoux – handmade as well..
La chiave di violino – creative bijoux in Rione Monti Market, Rome‘La chiave di violino’ handmade creation – wonderful ring!
Then, if you wanna enjoy an Italian taste, go to Pasta Imperiale…you can choose among a wide range of pasta..’linguine’, ‘tagliatelle’, ‘farfalle’ and so on…
Pasta Imperiale, a pasta shop in RomePasta Imperiale, Via del Boschetto, rione Monti, RomeWhole wheat ‘Italian farfalle’
or you can opt for a typical menu with pasta + water + tiramisu as the perfect Italian dessert!
Italian Menu at Pasta Imperiale, Rione Monti, RomeSpaghetti, whole wheat pasta and green pastaSuper yellow ‘tagliatelle’!
…Just have a look to what I ate with my dear friends:
Broccoli and walnuts gnocchiBroccoli and walnuts again, but with tagliatelle…Broccoli and walnuts whole weat farfalle – a little chilly
For any more info..if you want some tips pr just know more about Rione Monti market, just leave your comment!
The real Punch in Livorno is a sort of digestive that Italians use to have when they finish their meal – usually after dinner. In Tuscany – exactly in Livorno, there is a strong tradition about the ponce which obviously derives from the British one but it differs for 2 main things: IItalians use their coffee instead of tea, and they put a sort of mix of alcohol, sugar and caramel that is called rumme instead of the real rum.
To be precise, in Livorno it’s totally necessary put what they define as sassolino, a liqueour that is similar to the rum and it is used only for desserts. They also add lemon zest.
If you’re curious enough, you can taste it after preparing it by yourself! It’s not so difficolt, you just need the right ingredients:
Italian coffee (made by the Italian moka);
rumme (sort of rum)
Sassolino
sugar
lemon zest
Last thing: please use the gottino, a glass that looks a little bigger than the Italian cup of coffee.
Believe me, ‘Ponce alla Livornese‘ is a cure-all after big meals, the right remedy to enjoy digestive as a liqueur together with coffee!
It was a long time I really wanted to spent hours breathing fresh air far from the city, totally sourrounded by nature, fields, trees, no noise. Hence I finally got to go for a walk up a little mountain!
The first meeting I had was totally amazing 😍 with there little and hardworking mules!!
Mules pictures
It was like an old frame from the past, staring at those little mules giunge up the mountain and discovering they are still used as a transfer way it’s unbelievable! So cute 😊
Here you are some other shots I took trying to go near them while they were having their lunch break:
Mules having lunch
…and these are the landscapes of the Southern Italy countryside:
This is a little story about a little area in the South of Italy, a little region named Basilicata (maybe named after ‘basil’ or ‘basilica’ – the ancient Roman churches). This region is not very big and economically advanced, that’s why is not so common and some people still don’t know it exists. But thanks to the last award for ‘Matera 2019 bid book – the European city of culture‘ it’s becoming even more interesting, popular and beautiful.
And this is also why in the next New Year’s Eve there’s gonna be a great event in its biggest square – Vittorio Veneto Sq.
Vittorio Veneto Square, Matera
There’s gonna be the biggest concert of Italy with a lot of national and international artists, there’s a huge stage in the centre of the square where the old fashioned part of the city starts: Sassi, these very ancient rudes where people used to live. Now they are part of the World Unesco Heritage property and they have been relocated and restored as Italian bars, pubs and art galleries, souvenir shops and narrows that look like if you are in a painting:
Matera 2019
It will be the first time and the first chance for the city to be on TV and have a so prominent role. Hope it will play a great role by showing its charming landscape and pieces of the past…
This is what I want to share with you. It was planned that on 18th I would have been in Brussels for work. The unplanned was the attack to Paris of some days ago and above all, the panic that media are able to create.
Media have obviously the aim to inform people and it’s exactly what you expect to see that it’s shown each time you watching your TV or listen to your radio; everything converges into a challenge for the scariest news. And mass-media become the way to spread the panic more than the info.
Anyway after lots of hours spent searching for the latest news, here you are what my mind figured out..
Step 1: at the airportStep 2: countdown to BrusselStep 3: the super regular and strict squares of GermanyLanding in Frankfurt
And then some world news…
World news about terror in the air – and suspects on the ground 😥The Wall Street Journal about France answer
But here we go, I’m in Brussel. It’s cold, it’s dark – ’cause it’s after 6pm – and at the airport there was this slowly motion scene where everybody seemed to feel quiet; not any tragic views, nor police everywhere 😳
Destination reached: Place de Luxembourg
This is one of the central square of the city and maybe the place at most risk because it’s where the European Commission is…exactly one of those place that many articles or news cast suggest to not go during those days. And obviously I was there ✌️
Just 5 minutes walking from the Museum of Natural Science full of dinosaurs remains and bones, projections, music and special guests- where I spent the belgian night enjoying the ceremony of .EU Web awards:
.EU web awards
Embalmed ostrich
Music was very unconventional, by an Italian band named Khora Quartet and also the special guest was very unexpected: Flavia Pennetta, the winner of US Open 2015, Pilar del Castillo from the Euro-Parliament and members of Eurid, the European registry for .eu top level domain
Khora quartetFlavia Pennetta- US Open 2015 ChampionPilar del Castillo from the Parliament
Well, the autumn has started some days ago, but Tuscany doesn’t seem to be aware of it. So lucky. That’s the reason why, on last Saturday I decided to have a trip in the countryside and breath a little of freshness and smell those flavors and perfumes you can only have among the fields, trees, olives, grapes, under the sun.
It took just 1 hour to get there, in Montefioralle, Greve in Chianti – Florence area.
It was love at first sight, a very small village (like mine) on the top of a silent hill that looks like abandoned, a ghost village. I passed the day just in front of it, where a little family of farmers welcomed my friends and me to have a little tour there with a final wine tasting stop. Glamourous.
Tuscany – Montefioralle, Greve in Chianti countrysideVineyard in Tuscany countryside
It was lovely to spend hours just by staring at those colors: graveyards were half yellow, half orange, pale orange, and also red, maybe brown too. But the grass was so green that it was hard to think those leaves were going to fall down and cover it completely.
Also, while listening to our favorite team leader explanations and descriptions about the wine process and olive oil productions, it was impossible to not get lost in the surrounding… yes, everybody was always ahead toward the next explanation and room, but I took my time in order to have those souvenirs I’m gonna show you right now:
Tuscany Landscape – Greve in Chianti agriculture and cultivationTuscany farmers and avant-garde
The last one picture shows you a little example of how much the farmers of Tuscany are keen on new trends and technology: it’s not about how virtual they are, but it’s about how can they grew their business just improving little by little their activities, remaining still so nature. Anyway, what I want to say you it’s to pay attention looking at this pic: www.pastaalpesto.com and cooking lesson are the signal under the windows, so smart! Have a look at their websites if you’re interested in having cooking lessons about traditional Italian homemade pasta.
But let’s go further to have a look in the surrounding area: here we are the wine cellars, where the wine is stored, and the welcoming barrels which show you the trail for they called winery !
Wine cellar – MontefioralleBarrels – Montefioralle vineryGallo nero – the black cock guarantee
Maybe the Black Cock – or better Gallo Nero is one of the most recognized certified wine labels in the world. It is clearly related to the Chianti area but the cock is only for those wines from the premier central region – Chianti Classico is the best one. Why a black cock? Its origins are historically-based, here you are a great explanation and a funny old story.
Then, let’s see the most tasteful lines of this article: homemade products, bread, ham, chees and a refill wine card you can top with your money and use by enjoying several type of wines:
cheese cellarsmoked hamwine, bruschetta with chees and ham and special wine card
It’s extraordinary to see how these little villages build their business and help growing their tourism by taking care of the customers experience and its total engagement.
