by Maureen | May 29, 2014 | Blog, Discoveries, Featured Articles, Food!, Graphics, Journal, Meals, New York City, U.S.A.
My perception of the enormity, diversity, energy and intensity of New York had felt daunting all these years, so I had never gone. “Oh, I can’t just go to New York for a couple of days. How can I even begin to make a dent in seeing it?! Where do I start? What are the “musts”? And all my life I had heard about the “danger” of the city and its subways so there was trepidation built up that prevented me from going. Somehow it was easier for me to move to a foreign country and speak a foreign language, than it was for me to make a trip to New York City.
Enough.
I’ve flown Seattle-to-New York-to-Milan several times, never having ventured out of the JFK airport. This time I decided to stop in New York for 3 days and “dip my big toe in the water” of the city. Kind friends, Alta and Jonah, offered to let me stay in their cozy home with them in Long Island City, Queens. (Alta and I met 2 years ago in Milan through Legacy of Letters.) And dear Richard, another friend, offered to lead me on a whirlwind walking tour of the city; working for the Transit Authority, he’s in a prime position to know some obscure ins and outs of NYC. (He and I met in Sicily 3 years ago.)
It took hours to juggle and finally book 2 separate round trip tickets, and make allowances for all of the added complexity that it would heap on my travel: 1 SEA-NYC-SEA, 1 NYC-MXP-NYC. It really threw a wrench in customs, immigration, baggage handling, security, transfers, etc., but I wanted to see something of New York once-and-for-all! So I gave myself lots of “padding” in the schedule, tried to anticipate the unknowns, and booked it.
The first night, Friday May 9, Alta, Jonah and I went to a neighborhood Mexican restaurant for a bite to eat, then walked to the waterfront Gantry Plaza State Park to look across the east river to the city’s nighttime skyline. Welcome to New York! Shimmering in the fog.
Luminous skyline
Luminous (cell phone) skyline snapshot from across the water, at Long Island City (Queens), Gantry Plaza State Park.
Industrial remnants
At Long Island City
Breakfast with Alta
Alta serves up Macedonia, the Italian term for cut, mixed fruit, usually served for dessert after dinner.
The next day, Saturday May 10, Alta had meetings in town, so we both hopped on the subway and then split up. I was amused as I realized that it was Milan and Paris that prepared me for New York. “Hey! I can do this. It’s familiar to me now!” I wandered, explored, walked, looked. First, I mistakenly went south to the financial district in lower Manhattan (Oops. but that’s how discoveries are made.) I then headed back up north to Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the “Charles James: Beyond Fashion” Show. It was so inspiring! I swooned… and ordered the 10 pound book, which awaits me at home.
From MoMA, I just followed my nose south down 5th Avenue, Madison Avenue, Park Avenue… the places I had always heard of. I walked the south edge of the Jackie O Reservoir in Central Park. Merely poked my head in and looked up into the Guggenheim. Found quirky things at streetside. Dodged occasional squalls by ducking into doorways. And came across a window display at Chanel that enchants me still.
I allowed myself to NOT “see all of New York”, which freed me to accept the days as they unfolded without pressure. This was a trip to break the ice.
By the end of the day, and with the sky growing gray, feet tired, ready to sit, ready to write, I was “feelin’ groovy” at the west end of the 59th Street Bridge and found a relaxed place to sit with an open window wall to the street and the storm. I had a bite to eat, a sip to drink and plenty of pages in my journal.
Italian sausage with kraut
Italian sausage with kraut and a little mustard on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art stairway crowd before the squall passed through.
Expressively-dressed woman
Dressing with color and her own sense of flair.
Garbage cans with style
Attractively-designed garbage cans in Central Park.
Guggenheim Museum facade
The broad, sweeping, sculpture of the museum facade.
MO at the Guggenheim
I couldn’t resist.
Wall Street subway stop
Worth riding the subway just to see the mosaics.
59th Street Bridge subway stop
The subway platforms really have a lot of beauty for those willing to see it.
Art 2 Poster
Poster for ART 2: An International Platform on Contemporary Art.
Yet another M
This M scribed into concrete and filling with pebbles.
Grand Central Station
I just had to come up out of the subway and step into Grand Central to shoot a couple pictures, even though it meant paying another fare to get right back into the subway.
Ducking in out of the squall
At the end of the ‘Feelin’ Groovy Bridge’ (59th Street Bridge) for a bite to eat, a sip of wine and some time with my journal.
Copper ribbon text
Innovative window display at Chanel. The artist took thin copper ribbon, about 1/16″ wide, and kinked and twisted it so that it’s shadow wrote out a phrase. The whole thing was about 18″ wide. There were several different phrases rendered.
For the next day, Sunday, I had “signed up” for a brisk, whirlwind walking tour with Richard. He, his father and I had met at a B&B in Palermo, Sicily 3 years ago and had enjoyed exploring Palermo and Monreale together. I was finally taking him up on the offer he made then of a walking tour of New York City. We really beat feet! We started at The Highline in Chelsea, and leisurely walked from end to end. This had been a “must” on my list. (Seattle, take note of the Highline as the Viaduct comes down.) We also touched the West Village, the Abbottega Ristorante, Greenwich Village, SoHo, Little Italy, the Caffè Roma for Gelato, Chinatown, the Lower East Side, Katz’s Deli, the Financial District, the Municipal Building and City Hall. Richard and I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge as the afternoon waned, with plenty of time for photos, and ended in Carroll Gardens for a farewell dinner with Alta and Jonah.
Whirlwind Tour Guide, Richard.
My NYC Whirlwind Tour Guide, Richard, as we strolled the length of the Highline.
Highline New Construction
The Chelsea Highline has attracted new construction, refurbishing of old construction and a revitalized buzz in and about the area.
More Damn Traffic
“Honey, I twisted through more damn traffic today.”
Highline Transition
This is an elegant transition between paved walkways and planting areas up on The Highline. Where can I apply this concept?
Blue-on-Blue along the Highline
This amused my eye.
An M for my collection
Of course I “collect” the letter “M”.
Little Italy
Heading into Little Italy on a lovely day.
Ricotta and mozzarella
Alluvia. Oldest cheese store in America.
Another M
Much like the Metro M in Milano.
Street graphics
Repetition of one poster creates strong pattern and is very eye-catching. I see this in Milan, too.
Sam’s Knitwear
In 1948, Sam arrived in New York from Europe. After years of working odd jobs, he opened up Sam’s Knitwear on Orchard Street on the Lower East Side.
World hats and fragrances
Just love some of the old, long-time shops. How long have they been there?
BIKE is also a four letter word
Bike pile.
Beauty & Essex
Layered, old and new signage.
Iron contrast
Pleasing forms.
Blue-on-Blue at Essex
Ooo, such color!
Old tower. New tower.
Certain contrasts.
Stumble on the unexpected
Inspiring and sage.
Clever
How many people walk past this and chuckle?
Vintage Pepsi-Cola
The vintage Pepsi-Cola sign at the Gantry Plaza State Park in Long Island City, Queens.
Painted out
Random, abstract blocks of gray.
Doing what he loves
Artwork by Mike Tuscia. Doing what he loves in his chapter two.
Revitalization or gentrification?
Revitalization or gentrification or one-and-the-same?
Citizen M
A curious collage.
Across from the Tenement Museum
The view looking up, across the street.
Manhattan Mini Storage Ad
I was told that Manhattan Mini Storage has some clever ads.
Zombie Gnomes
Zombie Gnomes seen on an evening stroll.
Doorway under the Brooklyn Bridge
Is that doorway still in use? Access to the works?
Brooklyn Bridge cables
Looking up through the cables of the Brooklyn Bridge
City view
From the Brooklyn Bridge.
City view from the Brooklyn Bridge
City view from the Brooklyn Bridge, with Richard at right.
Pickle Selection
Left to right: Full sour, half sour and dill. Mmmm.
Farewell dinner
Farewell dinner with Richard, Alta and Jonah.
One arrow points elsewhere
Can you find the one arrow that points elsewhere?
NYC Skyline
From across the East River at Long Island City
Streetside Farewell Lunch
My streetside, farewell lunch of mussels with fennel, celery, garlic, onion in a delicious broth. Alta and I shared conversation and a meal before I caught the Air Train to JFK.
by Maureen | Jun 2, 2013 | Community, Featured Articles, Incredible Locations, Introspection, Italy, Journal, Milano
Journal Entry – 2 June, 2013 – Milano
Early Sunday morning and I’ve opened up the house to the first warm breeze since I arrived two weeks ago. Perhaps it will take the stone chill away so a borrowed, heavy wool sweater is no longer needed inside while I’m working.
Both church bells and sirens are chiming. Always dogs barking and the sound of scooters. Though birds chatter, they’ve paused their reliable early morning song until later.
For the first time on this visit, I am wearing a skimpy top, skirt and sandals as I “take some sun” and write.
This place continues to hold me in a hundred ways. I have no answers regarding its place in my life, but know that every time I leave, a part of me stays behind which begs my return. There is still discovery and enchantment, though very different than when I arrived for the first time in 2008. The biggest difference I find is that being here now moves me in a deeper way. The visual rapture I swoon over will always be here. It’s the relationships, however, that get me on the plane.
Yesterday, while out walking around, I caught a glimpse of the woman that was my Fashion Design instructor in 2008. I ran ahead, called out her name and we stopped to chat, both surprised and pleased to see each other.
Imagine being in a large, international city, halfway around the world from home, and being recognized by and recognizing other people! One-by-one I have created a community for myself with whom I share a wave, a “ciao” and conversation. This is what continues to stir and tug me, prompting each return. This is the magic that makes me marvel.
by Maureen | May 30, 2013 | Design, Featured Articles, Incredible Locations, Italy, Journal, Milano, People, Photos
“Affamata di Sapere” – “Hungry to Know”. That seemed like a meaty phrase around which to create a letterpress printing project. It was last year, in conversation with a friend here, that I had first heard that phrase and it leapt back off the pages of my notebook just two days ago. I knew I wanted to integrate that into a piece.
Last year here in Italy, I traveled with an international group through the Legacy of Letters tour. Part of the program was the group collaboration on a large printed piece that was both poster and booklet. Our creation was rendered under the mastery and guidance of artist/letterpress printer, Lucio Passerini, while at the Tipoteca Italiana Fondazione. At the end of the tour, when farewells were being said, Lucio invited me to collaborate with him on a printed project the next time I was in Milano… which is now.
Two days ago I wrote to him with that phrase and a loose list of words swirling in my head… and no solid concept of the form it would all take. Lucio wrote back and said it would be a “typographic jam session” on-press. I liked that. We’d “wing it” and see where the words took us.
Our collaboration started at 3:00 yesterday with the consideration of the words… weighing, comparing their meanings, similarities and differences. We honed, each adding to and deleting from the list. Then we started brainstorming about design, form and fonts, many times finding that our ideas were mirrored by the other. Those were fun moments.
Letterpress printing boils down to each individual letter being put into place one-at-a-time. We were working with woodtype from the early 1900s, from Lucio’s collection. We composed the words, fussed with the spacing, then surrounded everything by a hundred various, mathematically-calculated pieces of metal until the whole thing created an entire rectangle. It was all then clamped rigid onto the press base, ready to be inked and printed. Lucio’s been doing this for so many years and I enjoyed watching his process, seeing his thoughts made visible as he worked.
We printed for 5 hours, adjusting layout and color on-the-fly. “A touch of red” in the green. “A little taste” of white and blue in the dark gray, aiming for more sophisticated color admixtures. The spring green came off the press first, hung to begin drying, then we printed the word list in its dark gray.
Look at all of the individual pieces to create those three words. And many are so small you can’t see them here.
I hung up the printed proofs then we stood across the room to judge the letterspacing and then make adjustments by adding and removing pieces of wood and metal between each letter. (Our green ink started out much too “lime” for my taste so we made it more of my favorite spring, wasabi green.)
Forty printed sheets were hung from a rack suspended from the ceiling, waiting for the second impression.
Sometimes typos hide when reading things backwards. Do you see the error in the following photo?
We printed a tissue paper proof to determine the best position of the word list, overlaying the “affamata” phrase.
We both smiled when the first, final piece came off the press.
“Hungry to Know. Passion, curiosity, perseverance, vitality, appetite.”
When we finished, we joined Lucio’s dear wife at their home, for a celebratory toast, appetizers and a chat. It was a very good day. Grazie, Lucio!
Here are shots of part of Lucio’s studio/print shop. Note how the light changed between 3:00 and 8:00 p.m. (Click on each one to enlarge the photo.)
by Maureen | May 28, 2013 | Featured Articles, Genova, Incredible Locations, Italy, Journal, People, Photos, Sanremo
Mention a trip to the “Italian Riviera” and one envisions palm trees, beaches, hot sun and relaxation. In fact, Russia had a heat wave that forced the cold polar air south to Italy, so it was very mixed and generally chilly weather along the Ligurian Sea in Italy over the weekend.
When I was living here in Italy for an extended period (June 2009 – July 2010), I rented an apartment from Sandra, who lives in Sanremo. I met her in person 4 months after I had arrived in Milano, when I spoke limited Italian. But she, her husband, Mauro, daughter, Valeria, and I sat and chatted as best we could. At the end of our chat, she invited me to come visit them sometime.
I took the train to go see them in February 2010, after which Sandra said, “You always have a place here with us.” I’ve have now been there five times. A trip to see them has become a requisite “must-do” for me while in Italy.
The four-hour train ride takes us up and over the hills from Milano to the port city of Genova (what Americans call “Genoa”). At that station I had 15 minutes to transfer to the slow train to travel along the Ligurian Sea shoreline, stopping at a half dozen towns along the way until we arrived at Sanremo.
Just a stone’s throw from the border with France and Monaco, Sanremo is a destination for tourists enjoying the lovely setting and climate, the casino, and the yearly musical festival. There are street markets, beach umbrellas for rent, historic centers and gala events. Traffic is chaos and life is beautiful.
See more pictures and read more stories about other visits to Sanremo:
“Pinch Me”
“Sanremo on the Riviera”
“Signs of Sanremo”
“Home Construction, Italian Style”
“Storm and a Blue-sky Day in Sanremo”
“A Ligurian Lunch”
“Sardenara – Not Quite Pizza with Anchovies”
Milano had been having a crashing, pouring rain all night and all morning, and I had to walk to the subway station to then get to the train station. I hate having wet feet and imagined having my shoes drenched and cold for 4 hours on the train. So I tied plastic bags onto my feet. So very chic. So high-fashion. (Somehow they got damp anyway.)
It would be fine with me not to see McD’s in my life ever again so it pissed me off to see their ads plastered onto every turnstile at the Milano Centrale train station. Damn. Hate that.
I was standing at the train platform, looking up to the Genovese hills. (Click to enlarge.)
People watching while waiting for the train in Genova. (Click to enlarge.)
We encountered sunshine along the coast, close to Genova and Savona, but then it got grayer and cooler as we approached Sanremo. (Click to enlarge.)
Riding along the sea, so blue in the sunshine. (Click to enlarge.)
Sandra was making her wonderful Ligurian-specific “Sardenara”. It’s “not-quite-pizza”, with anchovies, Ligurian Taggiasche olives, tomato sauce and garlic. (Click to enlarge.)
Sandra, Mauro and Angelo stand on the deck of Angelo and Renata’s new house that’s near completion, right at the Ligurian shoreline. (Click to enlarge.)
Sanremo is known for the flowers it grows for Europe. These are some of the many greenhouses on the hills.
We spent some time watching the Giro d’Italia. The poor cyclists rode amidst snow fields and glaciers in the pouring rain.
In the Sanremo train station waiting to head home. Here’s the automated restroom, coin-operated and self cleaning. I think the whole stall hoses itself down after each use. (Click to enlarge.)
My train compartment fellow travelers for part of the ride from home. A cross-section of the world was represented here and we all enjoyed the varied chat. (Click to enlarge.)
These red-and-white striped chimneys were Dr. Seuss-like against the storm blue sky on the way home.
by Maureen | Jul 17, 2012 | Czech Republic, Featured Articles, Incredible Locations, People, Photos, Prague
After a time of their love wrapping halfway around the world, about 7 months ago Jan moved back to the Czech Republic to marry and be with his dear Petula.
Jan had become a much-loved “Burien Boy”, so I gathered mementoes from friends into a “juju bag” of good wishes and hopped a plane from Milano to Praha (Prague) to spend a few days with the two. (July 3 – 6, 2012)
I brought some Italian coffee and Grana Padano cheese for Jan and Petula.
I enjoyed the ultimate hospitality, good friendship and conversation, and a built-in translator, tour guide and driver!
Imagine celebrating the Fourth of July in the former-communist Czech Republic. Jan wore his red-white-and-blue plaid shirt in honor of the day, and we found many stars and stripes along our walking path.
“Thank you, America! On May 6, 1945 the city of Plzen was liberated by the U.S. Army.”
We saw the highlights of their home town, where Jan grew up, Plzen, and drank Pilsener beer. We enjoyed an afternoon looping stroll in Pizek, where they had been living. Drove through country roads and villages. Made a grand tour of Prague, (to my eye, more beautiful than Paris). We fed the ducks, then ducked for cover from a sudden drenching rain.
Jan and Petula saw each other for the first time in person along the John Lennon Wall in Prague. It was only fitting that we shoot a portrait of them there.
What a beautiful backdrop for a photo: the elaborately decorated front doorway of the Italian Consulate in Prague.
by Maureen | Jun 17, 2012 | Cote d'Azur, Featured Articles, France, Incredible Locations, Journal, Nice
They’re not kidding! When they call it The Coast of Blue – Cote d’Azur – it doesn’t begin to describe the jewel-toned, intensely saturated blue of the shoreline of Nice, France. Beyond-blue waters. Pebbly shores. Picturesque architecture and a richly-visual old-town. There’s much that’s nice in Nice. I could easily go back again.
My travel partner in Nice was Miriam. We were there a week ago for the wedding of our friends, Glenda and Massimo. Miriam was SO patient as I stopped repeatedly to shoot images of the town (on the mornings before and after the wedding). (Grazie, cara.)
In all my international travels – Central America, Asia, Europe – I have been absolutely enamored of the lush, visual patterning of the sidewalks! Why can’t we have beautiful paving in the U.S.!!!? It adds ART to everyday life!
Look at these slabs of stone for the strip between the sidewalk and the roadway! And cupped for water drainage. Beautiful chunks of rock!
In the heart of Nice, in the Messena square, squat 7 figures of nude men, created by Spanish artist, Jaume Plensa. “These seven characters represent seven continents and the communication between the different communities of today’s society.” They light up at night, in various colors. Again, I can’t imagine such a thing in Seattle or Burien.
A little coffee break from sightseeing.
This chocolate shop was enough to make anyone drop their jaw. I did NOT go in.
Imagine THIS piece of art in the middle of Burien’s Town Square! (It would be a stretch for Seattle, let alone Burien!) Titled “La-Tête-au-Carré-de-Sosno” by Sacha Sosno, the 30m-tall sculpture is actually a building.
Hungry for lunch on Sunday, we followed the example of the crowd and each consumed a bucket of 100 steamed mussels. (Click the link to find out HOW to do it!)
When we weren’t at the wedding and its celebrations, we were wandering and expoloring the city of Nice.
Nice was beautiful, lovely, and private on the side streets. As in Venice, stray from the well-worn-path and you’ll avoid the tourists and see the true soul of the place.
by Maureen | Jun 16, 2012 | Church, Featured Articles, Incredible Locations, Introspection, Journal, Milano, People, Photos
Mary was sitting there at her desk when I stepped into the little back room adjoining the chapel at Milano’s Cimitero Monumentale – the Monumental Cemetery. Now 87, she’s given her time for close to 20 years, assisting Padre Francesco with the mass, altar flowers and little details.
We spent close to 2 hours chatting after I had surprised her by walking in. I never arrive empty handed; Mary took the fragrant lilies I brought and prepared them in a vase. Her gait is slowed to a shuffle now, yet she can still make it to the other side of the chapel, carrying the flowers to put in front of the Madonna.
A devout woman, with no inkling of doubt, she asked Padre Francesco to give me 3 separate benedictions, which he did at her request. She also pressed another photo of Don Guiseppe Gervasini into my hands and instructed me to carry it next to my identity card so that it would always keep me protected.
During my visit, a drunken, belligerent man came into the chapel. Padre Francesco was away at the time. The man was confrontative and insulting to Mary, much too close, swearing in her face. I was trying to usher him out, and was preparing myself to take a punch to keep him from harming Mary. Fortunately, another woman went off to get father, who deflected the man’s attentions and led him away.
I had first met Mary two years ago, and something as simple as her handwriting has spun me off into a study of Italian penmanship and typography.
After meeting her in 2010, it was touching to say goodbye to her before returning to the U.S. She had pleaded with me to stay.
…But it was a sweet reunion when I stopped to see her again in 2011 after a year away.
by Maureen | Jun 14, 2012 | Apartment, Canals, Featured Articles, Incredible Locations, Introspection, Italy, Journal, Milano, People, Photos, Quips
A bunch of friends and I met up for a lecture at 9:15 pm at the Design Library. I walked almost a mile along the canals and side streets to meet them there.
Afterwards, we all went out for a bite to eat at 11:00, walking to the restaurant. We each ordered our own pizza (I ate half of mine) and some limoncello afterwards. Then we walked part of the way back together; we split up and I continued on home alone, arriving at 1:30 am.
Whether it’s naivete or genuine security, I walk home alone late at night and don’t feel concerned. Especially here by the canals, there are always a lot of people out walking, riding their bikes, talking, gathering in front of the local bars.
It should be no wonder that Italians are, for the most part pretty trim and not fighting the weight issues seen in America. It’s routine to walk 2 or 3 miles to and from dinner, in addition to everywhere else they go on foot and by bike!
by Maureen | Jun 12, 2012 | France, Incredible Locations, Introspection, Italy, Journal, Nice
Journal Entry: Sunday, June 10 – On the train returning home to Milano after a weekend in Nice, France, on the Côte d’Azur.
My brain hit “overload” sometime yesterday (Saturday) in the language department.
I rode for three and a half hours with Miriam, who I did not know, on Friday, and we spoke Italian all the way to Nice as she drove. We arrived in France at our Bed & Breakfast run by a Scottish woman speaking English. We went to our friend, Glenda’s, house on her prenuptial night where we gathered with friends speaking English, Italian and French.
Miriam and I went back to our room speaking Italian all the while until we turned the lights out. We awoke the next morning, speaking Italian to each other, but English with our lodging host. Miriam and I wandered town, commenting in Italian for a few hours, then returned to our room and prepped for the wedding.
We left, picked up two other wedding guests, one that speaks Italian and French, another that speaks English and French. I speak English and Italian. Miriam had the clear advantage; she speaks Italian, English and French. All three languages flew around the car.
At the church, the verbal mix continued until the nuptial mass of two hours, which was said in Italian. At the small garden reception afterwards, I wasn’t sure which language to use with the servers, though my French is limited to about four sentences, but enough to ask for a glass of champagne.
The four of us left the reception, again with languages mixed and flying. I was responding to the Italian-speaking French woman, Michou, in Italian as she spoke her native French to me. We spent an hour driving and sightseeing, switching languages depending on the speaker and the listener.
Arriving at the wedding dinner, served by French, attended by Italians, with a few other nationalities thrown in as guests, my mind was in a mixed soup of sound until the celebration ended and we returned to our room at 3:00 in the morning.
Somewhere along the line late yesterday, my comprehension and command of Italian started waning. I wasn’t understanding a word that Miriam was saying and asked her more often than not to repeat what she had said.
Today, it became almost funny. She and I switched to English and talked about what I was experiencing. I realized that in the nearly one month that I’ve been here, I’ve occasionally seen a few Italian-speaking friends for an hour or two and have had transactional conversations when shopping, but have been alone for the most part.
This weekend, I jumped into 48 hours of continuous foreign language, adding French to the mix! And switching back-and-forth between the three, hearing and speaking, really pushed my brain to overload.
I also realized that, if I’m tired and/or hungry, my language competence quickly diminishes! Low blood sugar and lack of sleep do not improve my language skills. (Miriam even commented on the increased number of errors in my speaking.) I had “hit the wall”.
Another curious thing I noted was my resistance to speaking English because of being in a foreign country. I didn’t come to Italy or France to practice my English, but I recognize that sometimes my resistance to resort to English hampered communication.
After about lunch time today, we switched to English almost entirely, tossing in Italian only now-and-then. Our long drive home was made even richer by conversation because of Miriam’s greater ease with English than mine with Italian.
Grazie, Miriam, per la tua pazienza con il mio Italiano!
by Maureen | Jun 7, 2012 | Apartment, Featured Articles, Italy, Journal, Milano, People, Photo of the Day, Photos, Quips
Standing in my skinny kitchen, washing the dishes, I heard a couple of women talking. I looked out my kitchen window and its security bars, across the long, common courtyard and saw two women chatting, five floors up, at the corner elbow of the building.
This must be the Italian city equivalent of “talking over the fence”, like I do with my neighbors back at home.
I ran to grab my camera, leaned over the sink of sudsy water, shot between the bars on the window and caught a couple of images of women that have likely been telling stories from balcony-to-balcony for years.
I pushed my camera to its max and caught what might have been a moment of shocking news.
Do you think they also get together for a coffee or snack, in the same room, now and then?
Living in an Italian apartment, a “casa”, I’m privy to moments of “real life” that I wouldn’t be if I were isolated and insulated in a traveler’s residence or long stay hotel. I just go about my day like “the rest of the Italians”.
