Walking through Venice

PhotoHunt: Wild - Pyewacket

This is Pyewacket - she is our wild child. Pyewacket is an Old Style Siamese - a back to the basics breed, not the oriental siamese that has become widespread in the past fifty years. As there is only one breeder in Australia who specialises in this old fashioned style of siamese, Pyewacket had to come up on a plane from country Victoria.

She dances to her own drum. She plays tea party in the middle of the night with the tiny vegetable shaped teapots. We think every little thing she does is magic.



She plays a great game of pool with Australian representative player Alessandro. There's nothing sedate about little Pye and nothing has changed since I wrote A Day in Life of Pyewacket, published in her blog, topcatrules, over a year ago.



Pyewacket is different from our other cats - she is our very own wild child.



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Once upon a time... in a pixie forest...

PhotoHunt: Strings - of flags festooning a cruise ship in Venice

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The Rick Steves phenomenon: Is he an asset or someone to avoid?
Alessandra Federici of Il Girasole in Cortona once very wisely said,

"What I find strange is that almost all of the ones that complain about how touristy places have become, are themselves tourists."

Before I stayed in the Aberdeen Hotel in Rome for a few nights and found several of his guide books on a coffee table in the lounge, I'd never heard of Rick Steves. Apparently he is thought to be responsible for an influx of visitors to certain areas in Italy. The Cinque Terre and San Gimignano to be precise. I'm wondering what the shop owners, hotel keepers and restaurant owners think? Not to mention the workers in the tourism industry. Are they upset or are they pleased by the extra visitors?

We are all so diverse in the ways in which we travel. There are those who dart like dragonflies from place to place while others practice slow travel by staying in one location for a longer time in order to get more out of the experience. Some are 'foodies' and patronise the restaurants, others prefer a trattoria or pizzeria. We may spluge on a four star hotel, or maybe we stay in convent accommodation. There are guided tours groups and independent travelers.

The way we travel and who guides us in the end, be it Rick Steves or our own independent spirit - is ultimately up to us. And as I often say - whenever the crowds start to overwhelm, there are lots of alternative possibilities to explore. There are numerous side streets, day trips, a myriad of museums and glorious little art galleries to explore.

Just a thought, but there are lots other of beautiful places in Italy that the tourists like to visit. I wonder if peope are blaming him for this as well:



I filmed this in October last year at the start of my way too brief, eight night stay in Venice. This was at 7.30 in the morning. Walking through San Marco before the majority of the visitors are up and about is a glorious way to start your day.

And I just discovered a wonderful report on Venice on Trekcapri's website. Great photos and beautiful writing.

Fun in Florence

Lilly asked what I was going to do with my pics - initially I just did them to put onto the three main blogs I run - this one, and the two cat ones. But now, since May, I have published ten blurb.com photo books. Three for me, one for a colleague and the rest for my rellies.

Bramasole, Frances Mayes' house

I hadn't been to Italy for a few years when I went with my sister in 2001. One of the first places we went to was Bramasole, in Cortona. I'm a big Frances fan. Her friend Antonio who is in all her books showed me around her garden while she was out. I had the time of my life.

I went back to gaze at her house during two of my other Italy trips.
It's something VERY special!



Bramasole ancora - Bramasole again. It's such a beautiful villa.
I was saying to Antonio that there used to be two palm trees in front of the house. You see, the frost got one.

This is Frances Mayes' villa in Cortona, Italy. Seven years ago, I was standing at the gate looking in at the garden when Antonio walked out of the front door (he is one of her friends) and then he asked me if I wanted to speak with Frances. No! I didn't want to intrude - I was just admiring her roses!

We had a long talk in Italian, and he was so impressed that I had come all the way from Australia to look at her garden, that he gave me a quick tour of the front part of it.It was an experience I will never forget.

Next time we went to Cortona, after looking up from the road at the villa and garden again, we went to say hi to Antonio at his shop in the town. When we walked in, he said, " Ahh! Australia!" He remembered us!

PhotoHunt: Beautiful, Villa Rufolo in Ravello, Italy

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The Amalfi Coast - Villa Cimbrone, Ravello

One can never...

...have too many handbags from San Gimignano.



Photo of me taken by my sister on one of our many trips together.

PhotoHunt: Wrinkled - Venice, San Marco Square

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I don't take an iron to Italy so... I actually don't care if our travel clothes get a bit wrinkled, not when there's Piazza San Marco to stroll through.

And just for fun - here is my oldest son Giancarlo:

Spending time in Modena

Rodeo Drive at The Emirates Mall in Dubai

Where would I like to go this morning? How about The Mall. Make that - The Emirates Mall. And I think I'll go upstairs to the Rodeo Drive section and window shop.

It's like being at the back of Piazza San Marco, or like being on the Isle of Capri. The brand name, hig fashion shops are incredible. Alessandro was so cheesed off with me last October for not going into any, but just window shopping from outside.

PhotoHunt: Colorful - Frances Mayes' garden

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I've been to Cortona three times - and always make the drive around to Bramasole, the beautiful house with its colorful garden belonging to Frances Mayes.

Tribute to Leslie from Paul, John, George and Ringo

"You say it's your birthday
It's my birthday too, yeah
They say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you"



Leslie, born to Marcelle and Jim, on the 14th of August, 19**

A - Z of cat breeds game!

Come help my students play the game on Pyewacket's Party - daily doings of an IT classroom.

PhotoHunt: Dark - It was a dark and stormy night

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I haven’t been able to use the hail pictures before, because the hail storm was very frightening and it caused damage to my house. It took a lot of time and a team of workers – roofers, carpenters, plasterers, painters and electricians to put it all back to normal. And a lot of stress – for me.

The evening it happened, the sky had a weird green color, and everything seemed strangely lit with a warm glow.

Cappuccino time?

Beautiful Burano

Alessandro and I had some special time wandering about Burano last September.

On the cover

PhotoHunt: Clouds

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San Gimignano dawn, early morning clouds and mist - September 2006, photo taken by my sister on one of our trips together. I took Alessandro there last October.

The photo was taken from the balcony of Hotel La Cisterna that they filmed a scene from the movie Tea With Mussolini on. It's in San Gimignano, just south of Florence.