While waiting for my turn…this ceiling lamp caught my attention.
Light…
Giardino vegetazionale Astego, Crespano del Grappa (TV), Italy
An amazing botanical garden…in the province of Treviso.
A place to learn more about the environment…
A vegetable garden…
and flowers everywhere…
Zinnias..
Wishing everyone a pleasant and fruitful week!
The “Maso” – Farmstead, Val Pusteria, Italy
Life in a “Maso” more than a 100 years ago…
a very old farmstead
a typical vegetable garden.
old tools
an old cart…
a very old farmstead
old tools
a typical vegetable garden.
an old cart…
the kitchen and the dining room…
did you notice something on the wall near the window? our guide told us that in those times, they don’t wash the spoon, fork and knives after eating but they will just clean them using their saliva and clothes and hang them on the wall for the next meal. 😳
Oh! I tried to raise the frying pan and it was really very heavy! The one who cooked the meals in this family must be muscled and patient. The empty pan weighted more than 3 kilos! with something in it? OMG!
A simple life but probably a happier one.
Then, before the guide (in his 70’s) left us, he shared this poem which kept me thinking all night. And I thought… indeed, it is the journey through life and the way I live it that matters more than the goal that I have set. I am so thankful to that guide because through him I have learned a very beautiful poem…and I would like to share it with you.
“Ithaca” by C.P. Cavafy
As you set out for Ithaca hope that your journey is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery.
The Laestrygonians and Cyclopes, angry Poseidon. Do not be afraid of them:
You’ll never find things like that on your way, as long as you keep your thoughts raised high, as long as a rare sensation touches your spirit and your body.
The Laestrygonians and Cyclopes, wild Poseidon, you won’t encounter them unless you bring them along inside your soul. Unless your soul sets them up in front of you.
Hope that your journey is a long one. May there be many summer mornings when, with what pleasure, what joy, you come into harbors you’ve seen for the first time!
May you stop at the Phoenician markets, trading stations to buy fine things, mother-of-pearl and corals, amber and ebony, sensual perfume of every kind – as many sensual perfumes as you can; and may you visit many Egyptian cities, to learn and learn again from those who know.
Keep Ithaca always in your mind. Arriving there is what you’re destined for. But do not hurry the journey at all. Better if it lasts for years, so that you are old by the time you reach the island, wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way, not expecting Ithaca to make you rich.
Ithaca gave you the marvelous journey. Without her you would have not set out. She has nothing left to give you now. And if you find her poor, Ithaca won’t have fooled you. Wise as you will have become, so full of experience, you’ll have understood by then what these Ithacas mean.
Have a wonderful day!
Val Pusteria, Alto Adige, Italy
What happens when someone gets a little freedom to move around after the Coronavirus pandemic?
Life is a journey. Inspite of the pandemic, I am happy to know that it is still possible to experience new sensations and discover new places.
Wishing everyone a wonderful day!
The pink Lotus flower
One day I filled an empty pond with water and thought of a water lily…I planted a pink Lotus and found joy and beauty.
ISO 100 – 100mm – f/9 – 1/200s
ISO 100 – 140mm – f/9 – 1/200s
“Like a Lotus, let the beauty of your heart speak.”
Have a nice day!
Good morning!
May this week be a pleasant and fruitful one for you!
Gardening 2020
Hello everyone!
It’s been some years since I last started to learn about vegetable gardening. Growing vegetables in a small space, applying the method of companion planting and in some way helping the environment. I also learned a lot about plants and the pleasure it gives just by seeing them grow.
Sowing and reaping.
Someone said “The love of gardening is the seed once sown that never dies“
Wishing everyone a beautiful and restful weekend!
Rifugio Scarpa,Voltago Agordino (BL)
Hello everyone! It’s summer and time to visit places (unfortunately, due to the coronavirus pandemic, here in the Veneto region, we still need to wear a mask if we go inside shops, alpine refuges and to always use sanitizers – this is a practice which is actually not a bad!) but life is better now (we have more freedom to go and visit places!) than the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak!
While I was doing this trail n. 771 starting from the hamlet “Frassene” in the small town of Voltago Agordino, the decision to to do some trekking in this part of the province of Belluno was really a good idea. The first trail done in this part of Belluno because I always thought that the best and most beautiful mountain refuges are located in the zone near the famous city of Cortina d’Ampezzo. I was really surprised to see that even in this not so renowned part of the province of Belluno I can see and walk on a trail which is well marked, easy enough (more than a trail it is a wide path) and with a so beautiful view of the Dolomites (oh! Trail n. 771 has a dislevel of 600 mt. from Frassene to Rifugio Scarpa – 1 hr and 30 minutes walk according to our map – for me it was 2 hrs and 30 minutes because of my passion for photography!, at the end of the day I realized that inadequate information and prejudice is often a bad data to consider when it comes to evaluating the trail and alpine refuge to reach. I must say that this is truly one of the most beautiful mountain path/trail that I have ever done here in Italy. Oh! A mountain refuge can offer you a lot of good food to eat but if you want to save, you can always bring with you a some food/snacks/fruit from home and consume it while sitting on a picnic blanket. The budget for this trip was only €25 including the gasoline, home prepared sandwiches, snacks bought from a supermarket, coffee and a piece of cake bought from the Refuge. Spending a lot of money is not always the only way to enjoy life! This is the first Alpine refuge of the season and I sure hope that I’ll be able to discover more before the summer ends.
finally the alpine refuge…Rifugio Scarpa – Gurekian 1735 m
The weather started to change when we arrived at the refuge but I guess, for those who have trekked here in the mountains in the north of Italy, the weather can change easily after 2 pm in the afternoon.
and…
Lilium bulbiferum – Giglio di San Giovanni – ISO 100 – 56mm – f/9 – 1/160s
Life is like a never-ending story and it is always up to us to paint it with the beautiful colors of love, peace, joy and compassion.
Wishing everyone a beautiful Sunday and a pleasant week ahead!
The waterfalls of Gares, (BL)
Hello everyone!
Years have gone by since the last time (I guess almost 20 years ago) I saw these two amazing gifts of nature and it is really heartwarming to see it again, still so beautiful and well preserved, after all these years! It is incredible how certain places could bring back memories and with it the essence of those moments.
Trail n. 704
The trail was even better than I remembered but I had to watch my step and of course, my camera!
Flora and finally…
“La Cascata bassa”
ISO 100 – 30 mm – f/18 – 1/80s (I’m still trying to put in a picture what I really want to say…the essence of water)
“La Cascata alta”
ISO – 100 – 18mm – f/18 – 1/60s
At the end of the day, something caught my eye…A new cycle is about to begin for this Taraxacum officinale – Dandelion
ISO 100 – 140mm – f/6.3 – 1/320s
ISO 100 – 100 mm – f/8 – 1/250s
Wishing everyone a beautiful Sunday!
A walkway…
Sant’Augusta, Vittorio Veneto (TV), Italy.
Hello everyone! As life here in the northern part of Italy is slowly going back to normal (finally we can now go to some places within the region – fortunately, the region of Veneto have a lot of very interesting places, both natural and historical, to visit), years back somebody told me about this particular walkway in the heart of the city of Vittorio Veneto in the province of Treviso, but honestly, I was not prepared to see a place so enchanting, so peaceful and so beautiful. I thought, this is one of those places where reality is surely a lot better than imagination!
A rare sight…or just an eye opener that indeed, there is really so much to see and learn from this world!
after 45 minutes…
I loved the light…
“When nature talks, it is like the union of heart and mind.” Afs
Have an amazing Sunday and thank you for dropping by…
