The Stairs and Rooftops of Italy

| Flower Roberts

My bunion and I climbed many stairs on the 2015 trip. I credit my success to Dr. Molan and the heavy boot I wore for weeks beforehand for my strength and endurance.

A distinguished gentleman in a corduroy suit.

It seems a bit strange that stairs and roofs would deserve a post, but you must remember these buildings are older than America itself.  Stairs were everywhere. They varied greatly on both rise and run an rarely had railing on both sides. Elevators were not in every building.

Shallow steps like these allowed for carts to go up and down.
The ends of these bricks were worn off by years of traffic.
To look down one must go up!
I loved studying scerns like this with a zoom lens.
The structure and compositions added interest.
We were very high up in a bell tower for this photo. The clock struck hour while we were inside. Wowza!
Downward view from our apartment.

Upward view. There was a tiny elevator.

We were thankful to ride up and down with our luggage. Most of the time we used the stairs because the lift was small and slow.

Not being able to use stairs would be a game-changer in many old cities. The playing field is not leveled abroad.

Travelers must be mobile and agile.

FLOW

The Stores of Italy

| Flower Roberts

It was hard to choose what stores to take photos of and even harder to choose which to enter.
Buying was not an option for most items because there were four of us traveling and eating, so photos had to suffice.
I will note that one of the women in the group purchased 12 pairs of shoes on the trip. Shoes there are wonderfully made and not that expensive. She showed us photos of her shoes over diner one night. They were all unique and beautiful.

Items made of alabaster.

We have a small cabinet in our library which we call ‘ The Italy Cabinet.’ All our souveniers were small and carefully chosen.

I did get a necklace and scarf for special occasions. These items mean more because we limited our purchases.

Stay tuned for floors, furniture, decor and maybe some fancy ceilings.

FLOW

The Food of Italy

| Flower Roberts

Everything was fresh and delicious. None of us ever got sick from things we ate during the entire trip.

Cappuccino!

I wish this pescare was in focus. This was set before the man sitting beside me at a group diner. I was thankful that I did not order the fish since it seemed that it had been caught and battered without a cleaning. He said it was delicious. I tried to ignore the eyes on the plate next to mine.

FLOW

Ornate Objects of Italy

| Flower Roberts

It was a bit overwhelming to be surround by art everywhere. Nothing was ordinary. I wanted to slow down and pause to take it all in. I am so thankful that I snapped photos of many items that caught my eye, so I could closely examine and research them later.

If you are clicking to zoom on these photos you will see there is a difference in quality of the photos I am sharing. We rented a big lens to put on my camera, so some photos have much higher quality than others. We rented a lens for our Costa Rica trip last July, also.

The lens makes a huge difference especially if the subject is far away. There is no need to own such a lens, so renting one is a great option.

I marveled at every interesting fixture, light or knob. I wanted to touch everything. That gets lost in the photos.

METADATA-START

This last object was quite a surprise because the companion piece by artist Arnaldo Pomodoro is in downtown Charlotte, my hometown. It’s a small world after all!

The Floors of Italy

| Flower Roberts

Every surface seemed to be covered in art, the ceilings, the walls, the doors and even the floors.
Sometimes it was difficult to get a photo without a person in it. I find now that the presence of people adds perspective and scale.
There is method in my chaos. I am enjoying this return trip via photographs. I can follow my thought patterns, as I examine what I chose to take pictures of.
It is comical how I seemed to play seek-and- find in the Uffizi for plants, animals, flowers and fruits in the periphery of huge paintings. There are stories. I even got fixated on taking photos of ancient sandals.
There is so much more to come. Thinking of these posts has made me laugh for the first time in days.
Stay tuned.

Yes, we were that high. ZOOM IN. We got in the wrong line and climbed over 400 steps to get to the top with the horses.  Check post link at end for story.
METADATA-START

This is a tomb in St. Peter’s with the floor designed to feature purple marble tomb which has a little lamb on the top holding a flag. I wish I had taken more photos of its details.

FLOW on the floors

https://seizuremama.wordpress.com/2018/02/14/in-the-wrong-line/

Background Details of Famous Masterpieces

| Flower Roberts

I learned that the master painters were in charge of painting the main subjects in paintings.
Then the apprentices would come behind to paint the backgrounds. It was obvious that a lot of effort was put into the small details in the periphery.
Of course this tidbit of information got me side-tracted…literally. I made it a point to search the margins for interesting details an apprentice might add to get noticed by his master.
I tried to photograph the whole painting and then the tiny details. Sometimes rude tourist were impatient with my careful attention to detail. Imagine such rudeness!

Whole painting below.
Baby Jesus on the ground.
Whole painting above.

Needless to say, I got carried away.

Another detail that got me side-lined was all the paintings in which baby Jesus is lying on the ground surrounded by unattentive adults.

We Americans like to keep our baby Jesus in Mary’s arms or the manger.

But what can you expect from a country that parks their babies in a stroller outside a store and goes inside to shop alone?

FLOW

The Flowers of Italy

| Flower Roberts

Choosing which flowers to share was difficult.
Italy has a passion for plants. They are on porches, on walls and in pots everywhere.

I loved this about Italy. They love their plants.

METADATA-START
METADATA-START
Not sure these were real on balcony in Venice
Boboli Gardens

Sometimes things were so beautiful that I would have to pause and cry because I was so grateful to be in Italy with my family.

I needed to put these two dogs in a post.

FLOWER

The Doors of Italy

| Flower Roberts

One of my readers commented about my Passion Vine flower, Blue Crown, reminding me of Italy. I did not blog much back in 2015. I will share photos from that trip while I am trapped inside, prior to surgery.

Blue Crown Passion vine

Here is the flower that started my passion for Passion Vines. This vine had grown to cover the fence of our lodgings in Volterra.

Passion fruit



The rest of the post will be of doors in Italy. These could be in Volterra, Rome, Florence Venice or Verona.


I had two cameras to work with and took thousands of photos of plants, people, art, food, and doors.

At the Vatican.

The doors were so ornate and huge that I got carried away taking photos of them. Everything seemed to have more color and detail than I am used to. My eyes stayed wide open the whole time.

FLOW tens years ago, on the go.

Taking a Walker to Visit my Passion Vine

| Flower Roberts

This plant is a combination of everything I love.

Blue Crown Passion Vine


Twining vine, purple, complex flowers and lovely memories of Italy.


Vines fascinate me in how they find ways to use other structures for support.
Purple is the ultimate regal color.
This flower is more than just a pretty face with stamen that move according to the weather.


This flower brings back memories of a small, walled-town in Tuscany, Volterra.

I hobbled to the end of the deck just to see these magnificent blooms. Neither leg is functional now. I must use this walker for support.

Extra legs


Hopefully the surgery will get me moving again.

FLOWER