Another reason for this second entry is that today celebrates my friend who took these photos in Sovana (first two photos) and Pitigliano during his last visit.
I invite you to view two posts on my new blog:
What is certain is that there will be no more new Thursday Doors on this blog, but the treasure-chest of past entries is here to stay and it can be viewed here.
Photo: Svemir Zeko
In order of appearance: Roma, Pitigliano, Capalbio beach, Porto Ercole, and back to Roma.
Photo: a © signature mmm production
As we were strolling from the Vatican via Piazza Navona towards Fontana di Trevi, each next door appeared bigger than the last. In such a case it’s great to have a model or two on stand-by.
But it was not until I was about to enter the Pantheon that it hit me: Behold! I am passing through the King of Doors. I wonder if I’ll come out alive.
Photo: a © signature mmm production
First Pooh:
This is a page from the original copy of Winnie-the-Pooh as “improved” by me as a child before I convinced myself that I sucked artistically (here you can find another example of my Pooh art). The language is Slovenian since I tend to swing that way. For everybody else here is a part of it in English:
So Owl wrote…and this is what he wrote:
HIPY PAPY BTHETHDTH THUTHDA BTHUTHDY
Pooh looked on admiringly.
“I’m just saying ‘A Happy Birthday’,” said Owl carelessly.
“It’s a nice long one,” said Pooh, very much impressed by it.
I was very impressed too when two days ago on my bthuthdy (when I gave myself gelato) special presents came rolling in. Well, the messenger brought them, but they got opened live via Skype.
The messenger’s present were the original Pooh copy and a brand new one, and browsing through the old one I remembered EXACTLY how it felt to hold the book so many years ago and colour it in. Rather impatiently, I recall.
Here is a collection of other gifts, so dear to my heart.
Sister found an online offer of a book necklace with a key. The books are real!
This bag was amore’s gift, not bestia’s, but the feeling is mutual. (The other side of the bag in the featured photo above.)
Father’s own handiwork, a (n)jam made of home-grown žižole (Ziziphus jujuba, commonly called jujube, red date, Chinese date, Korean date, or Indian date).
The envelope bearing this photo of me on my 5th birthday (if not mistaken), together with both my grandmothers and my beautiful and VERY young mother (taken by father)…
…contained this poem written by mom. Even though the last line says: “Manči, translate!” I shall not do it, only reveal that it mentions Thursday Doors, and includes Pearl Jam and Kurt Cobain in the same line, hilariously written in the Serbian write-as-you-speak style as “Prl Đem” and “Krt Kbejn”.
Photo: a © signature mmm production
Photo: a © signature mmm production
In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: Face
Here is first one image apiece from two weddings viewed from afar.
In Pitigliano
By the Tiber in Roma.
And now several from my only Italian wedding so far (as a guest!), held in Roma and in Ostia on the sandy beach. Mind the captions. I already posted photos from this wedding for the second week of Sylvain’s SL-WEEK challenge on the topic of Red.
But if you want to see really great stuff, check out Slovenian wedding photographer Samo Rovan who just won the title Photographer of the Year, awarded by the Wedding Photojournalist Association.
Photo: a © signature mmm production
I noticed it first in October 2013. It can be spotted off the city walls.
As time was passing, I kept telling myself I need to take more photos of it and when I was about to, in March this year, the silhouette on the wall was half torn down and the overall impression was that the place was forgotten. I lamented this fact. Only a month later I was there again, the hour was golden and this is what I saw.
This is above if you look up.
And more up still:
Photo: a © signature mmm production
Wherever you go around here, there is a direction board pointing to Terme Saturnia. This alone could tell you that it is something special, but not exactly how special. If you don’t mind a bit of sulphur in the air. Even though the latest visitor said: “What a nice smell!” For the curious: The chemical make-up of the water is sulphur, carbon, sulphate, bicarbonate-alkaline, earth, with the presence of hydrogen sulphide gas and carbon dioxide.
Murky water
He appeared all of a sudden from the depths.
I’ve been a few times but have never seen it as empty. The lady was in luck.
She was pleased too. 🙂
The images in this post, taken two weeks ago (except for my uncle), show a part of the Terme that is free to visit and bathe in. There is quite a huge free parking space and one very easy-going bar that has refreshments, toilets and showers for a fee. There is no other infrastructure.
What there is is one hot stream, at 37.5°C (99.5.°F), that after a waterfall forms little pools and flows away almost a river. There is also the official spa a bit further up the road but I have no experience with it, neither do any of my visitors.
The experience is very relaxing, and right now especially eye-pleasing since the field opposite is lush green. And nobody chases dogs away either.
Since my uncle knows all this already, he is coming over right this minute.
And to round it up, a little funny story from the day of the shooting, April 27. It was about 6 pm. All day long I kept hearing compatriots, first in Siena then in the Abbey of St. Antimo and finally in Saturnia, which happened for the first time in three years. Slovenians are unobtrusive like that. Must have been an agency trip, even though I saw some bikers as well.
The girl in the images below comes swimming by.
Unaware that everybody (well, three of us + bestia) can understand her, she exclaims in the dialect of my hometown: “Don’t you know it, in Ljubljana there is 10 cm of snow and it keeps falling heavily! Na polno!”.
Which is how we first learnt of the latest “NATO weather manipulation”. If you believe it.
P.S.: I’ll tag Badfish so that Google will have even more hits to display, hihi.
Photo: a © signature mmm production
The sentence was in Slovenian (“Zemlja poraja sama od sebe.”), and we had to translate it into English. We were allowed dictionaries but advised against the practical little green two-way dictionary as it was not deemed quality enough. As it is, it was exactly there that I found the collocation to bring forth. The professor was mightily pleased.
And I am pleased when my eye rests on these earthy colours.
Photo: a © signature mmm production
In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: Earth
Let’s start with an alien starship. Don’t you agree? It’s too smooth to be of this earth.
Then there is the second most beautiful, spotted in Piombino with an Elba beach in the ad. Povero 2CV, looks a little far away from home. In Italy they can be harsh towards French cars.
But some Italians use Citroens to get married.
In Piran, Slovenia, they are useful for reflecting the sunset…
…and for modelling.
This photo is especially for Sylvain because here are two red cars, from 1000 miglia race last year.
Two cars from Christmas in Roma.
Taken in Trastevere.
And now two from Roma last week. This one is a bit lost.
He, however, looks right at home. (Or better, Italians say it’s a she!)
Time for a trio of Fiats 500. Still immensely popular. First two from Roma.
Door photos are so abundant that I can use them for other challenges, hihi.
Some cars have been taken over by cat population.
A happy trio of neighbours.
And a city one in Capalbio.
But I still prefer our car. It takes us to amazing places.
And gives good perspective.
Even though…
Photo: a © signature mmm production
We walked for at least 5 km and it was manageable even in high-heel boots over such stones as these, still original from 312 B.C. when the road was built, dent and all. (If you believe it. It was told most earnestly.)
First we had a lovely lunch at a friend’s house in the green.
Then we went on our walk. One would expect ruins and not as many doors. Alas, where I go, there they are. It started with some unassuming gates but it soon escalated. The last nine photos were taken in six minutes.
All in all, an excellent Sunday. The second half of Appia Antica doors will follow on another Thursday.
And if anybody was worried, I’m over my overdoored state. Today I already took three new door photos. 😉
Photo: a © signature mmm production
Mom. Dad. Grandparents. Uncles. Sister. Everybody in my lifeline who came before me. They must have done something right to lead to me. Amore. Astrid Lindgren. Tomaž Šalamun. Slavoj Žižek. Jeanette Winterson. Charles Bukowski. Milan Kundera. Ian MacEwan. Margaret Atwood. Tom Robbins. A legion of other writers. Pearl Jam. Janis Joplin. Jim Morrison. Joan Baez. Bob Dylan. A handful of Slovenians, Marcel Štefančič jr., Miha Mazzini, Tadej Zupančič, Svetlana Makarovič. Nejc Zaplotnik. A fistful of teachers. Maja Turnher. Philip Burt. A couple of friends.
A whole lot of fellow bloggers and people who I’ve found online and will probably never meet. Everybody who dares to share.
People who stay true to themselves. Who fight for their rights, and for the weak. Who dare. Who tell it like it is, but keep their voices down (well, some refuse and yell instead). Who are humble in their greatness, and gentle when victorious. Who do what they say they will. Who are reliable, determined, transparent and full of integrity. Unbreakable and unputdownable. My kind of people.
There is an ad in admiration. But there is mir too (=peace).
As for places, the last town to yield my deepest admiration was Siena last week. I’ve been in Tuscany for three years and this was the first time I saw it. Its ups and downs, brick colour and arches transported me in time, to some place like Portugal or Morocco (have yet to visit either). Or possibly I returned to the time of playing with grandmother’s postcards. I never tired of sorting them by colour vs. black and white, country, city, number of stamps, sender, recipient, whether there was a single photograph on it or multiple. In a way they were my first step towards blogging and admiring the views and words you all post for us.
Not just architecture, the people were very admirable too. I have never seen so many stop and wait for me to take the photo (not of them). A woman stopped on her own accord to explain to us the use of a giant electric charger (nope, not meant for phones, rather for electric cars). And, as it’s a custom in Italy, everybody not just didn’t mind but truly loved our pouncing bestia (except my visitors who managed him for me); a Russian tourist pushed the trolley with his toddler right into the dog, saying that he had three dogs at home. A kiss-and-greet followed.
I bet there were some of Siena in that box of postcards. For an unknown city it felt too familiar.
Photo: a © signature mmm production
In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: Admiration
Photo: a © signature mmm production
And a special thank you to Jože for this photo from Roma. We just had to sit down a little again. 😀
Dear Alenka, thank you so much for your visit and good times. Today is your birthday and no matter what have a cin cin in my name too. I hope to see you back here soon.
The Mexi Movie I. (closed) 