This weekend a friend brought me to a church where they had different Nativity Scenes on display from around the world (Japan, Thailand, Africa, Uganda, Canada, New Zealand and Poland). It was a little dark to take pictures; however, I think these came out relatively well. It’s interesting to see how each country has their interpretation of the sheep, the wise men and so on.
Merry Christmas to those who celebrate this holiday!
While I was walking in Florence recently, I “did” notice the traffic signs had art on them and thought it was graffiti. Then a friend told me it was actually a French-born artist, Clet Abraham, who had been going around town placing stickers on traffic signs.
Clet has lived in Florence over 20 years now and started this street sign art about five years ago. He has had a little trouble from the police, but it seems that has been sorted out and now he is famous for his art. He created the art as stickers, so they can easily be removed and he has expanded to other cities in Italy. If you are visiting Florence, he has a studio close to Piazza Michelangelo and he sells some of his stickers there. So, you could pay him a visit, see his art and speak to him in person.
You can follow Clet on Facebook. I just visited his site and was amused at other stickers he has come up with. He had visited New York, so he has one of the Statue of Liberty. There was a funny post there where Clet went to buy a pizza and they surprised him with a pizza that had a traffic sign on it. Be warned, if you don’t speak Italian, you will need your Italian dictionary to understand some of the conversations; however, you don’t need to speak Italian to enjoy the pictures he has posted. Good news – some of the discussions are in English.
Enjoy looking at street signs in a whole new way!
I was just in Florence and I went up to The Abbey of San Miniato al Monte, which is above Piazza Michelangelo. My intention was to look at the church and see the breath taking views of Florence. I had arrived at the church early in the afternoon and they were closed for lunch. I had about an hour wait, so I started walking the grounds of the church expecting to see a beautiful garden, but instead they had a very interesting cemetery. I was captivated right away. I find old grave yards / cemeteries full of history.
A little trivia from my friend. She was told in Ireland that when a burial ground is in conjunction with the church it is a grave yard, when it is a standalone it is a cemetery. I had not thought about that. Good to know.
As I was walking through the grave yard I saw many beautiful mausoleums, sculptures, and tomb stones. Long ago, families really invested money in tomb stones that would convey a message of the love they had for a family member and/or also in honoring a family member’s accomplishments.
I came across a statue of a man and woman (see photo above) having a very romantic moment together. I thought it was beautiful, I had not seen something like this before. Normally, we think of grave yards/cemeteries as being spooky and scary, broken tomb stones, etc. This was different.
The statue made me smile. Secretly, from a distance, I was sharing in their special moment. I was curious as to “who” had commissioned this statue. The husband/wife before they died or maybe their children, because they knew how much the parents had loved each other. A treasured memory from the past, but also a way to keep their love alive. I felt it and I did think, “Thank you for sharing that moment with us!” It’s so sweet and innocent. A reminder that love does exist.
As I continued on, I saw this beautiful mausoleum and a sculpture of a military man, very handsome with all of his medals. There was more…
By the way, remember the story of “Pinocchio?” Well, the author Carlo Lorenzini (Collodi) is buried in this grave yard. I learned this after my visit. Next time, I will look for him and leave a little Pinocchio by his grave site.
So, it was a good thing that the church was closed for lunch. I experienced Florence and had a feeling of its history in a whole new way! They say things happen for a reason.
Grazie!
When I saw this photo of a miniature village, I was immediately intrigued and curious. Who built this and how did it come to be in Cullman, Alabama?
Ave Maria Grotto is also known as “The Scenic Shrine of the South.” Brother Joseph Zoettel, from Bavaria, was recruited by an American priest to come and study at Saint Bernard Abbey in Cullman in 1892. Brother Joe, as he was called, became a Benedictine monk and lived at the Abbey for 70 years.
Brother Joe enjoyed working with his hands and around 1918 he started making miniature structures with left over items from the monastery’s buildings. He made biblical structures, but also well known structures from around the world. Over 40 years, he built 125 miniature buildings. At 80 years old, in 1958, Brother Joe built his last building, the “Lourdes Basilica Church, based on the church in Lourdes, France.” Ave Maria Grotto is listed on the National Register of Historic places. The shrine’s park is more than three acres and attracts over 20,000 visitors every year.
As I was reading and investigating, I found out that Colonel Johann Gottfried Cullmann (1823-1895), a Bavarian native, founded the city of Cullman in 1873. His goal was to create a German community and he slowly encouraged settlers to move to Cullman. It is said that he brought 100,000 settlers to the South.
The Encyclopedia of Alabama tells the entire story of how the city of Cullman was founded, click here, and to learn more about Brother Joe’s life, you can click here.
Certainly Brother Joe created a magnificent shrine for everyone to enjoy!
Photos: Taken by Carol M. Highsmith located on the Library of Congress website.
If you love old cars, you have to hurry! Nashville is having a fantastic auto show called, “Bellissima! (translation: gorgeous) The Italian Automotive Renaissance, 1945 – 1975. The show is at The Frist Center for Visual Arts and ends October 9th, 2016. Sorry for the short notice.
This tour of 19 Italian built automobiles is post-World War II era. They are designed by Alfa Romeo, Ducati, Bizzarrini, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lancia and Maserati. You’ll see Italian coachbuilt cars, concept cars and motorcycles from the economic revival period known as “The Italian Economic Miracle.” From what I have read, The Italian Economic Miracle was given this name by historians to indicate a time in history when Italy was flourishing. Italians are known for fashion; however, did you know they also produced type writers, washing machines, refrigerators, plastics, sewing machines, and inexpensive motor scooters. They were known for their elegant designs and inexpensive production techniques at this time. The Italians do have a sense of style in anything they do…. AND food/music, we enjoy it all!
If you love Italy, like I do, and are curious about Italian history, I encourage you to CLICK on the links above. Learn a little bit about Italy.
What I find amazing about these cars is that quite a few of them look “space age,” which is where we are headed now with car designs. So, if you are in the Nashville neighborhood, bring your espresso coffee with you and tour through a piece of Italian history AND do me a favor, find out “how” they chose Nashville for this tour, I’m curious!
When I saw this sculpture of a man’s face in the tree, my first thought was of the movie, “Scrooge,” where Scrooge’s deceased business partner, Jacob Marley, visits him as a ghost. There is that same ghostly feel to the man carved in the tree. My next thoughts were, “who carved this man’s face, why, and where.”
I soon learned that on St. Simons Island, GA, there are a lot of old oak trees. Long ago, these oak trees were used to build ships and many sailors died on those ships out at sea. Sculptor, Keith Jennings, was commissioned to create faces in approximately 20 oak trees around the island, which commemorate the lives of sailors who were lost at sea. Jennings has referred to these sculptures as “tree spirits.” He has said he feels the trees talk to him and that is how he does his sculptures. Not all of the sculptures are of men. For those who are curious now, you can follow Tree Spirits of St. Simons Island on Facebook.
There is something haunting and realistic about the sculptures. For sure, they seem to want to speak to us and tell us of their sorrows. So, if you like a treasure hunt, take a trip to St. Simons, pull out your map and try to locate the 20 different “tree spirits” on the island.
Do you really think that there are spirits in the trees? I wonder…
Sharing with you some photos from my walk this weekend up by Discovery Park, where my friend and I came across the “Guardian of the Spirit” statue here in Seattle. There was a write up below the statue, which I hope you can read.
Have you ever seen a Dream Catcher? Here’s one…
If you visit the Pacific Northwest, you will notice that this area is rich in Native American history. There is a lot to learn and explore and for sure you’ll come across a totem poll and you might even see a Pow Wow taking place!
Sleep well — your dream catcher will take the bad dreams away!
This week started The 2016 LYS (yarn) Tour. Great idea, see the map. In five days you have a chance to visit 28 different yarn shops. At each shop you have them stamp your passport and then your completed passport is entered into a drawing to win prizes.
As I moved to Seattle, maybe because of a lot of rainy days, I suddenly had the urge to knit again. It was my Italian grandmother who taught me how to knit and crochet. Imagine that – she spoke no English. I considered it “on the job training.” I didn’t speak Italian and I didn’t know how to knit, so with a lot of hand movements and facial expressions she taught me basic knitting/crocheting. She kept saying, “Hai capito (you understand)?” I did a lot of head nodding for YES and NO at that time.
Stitches from my first cowl neck project.
Starting up again, I was getting tired of the basic knit / purl stitches, I was ready to challenge myself. I was at one of the yarn shops looking at different scarf samples and settled on a cowl neck pattern. I found knitting instructions on YouTube.com for different stitches (good thing for rewind, pause and fast forward). Before I knew it, I had completed an intermediate project, which was a proud moment… EXCEPT that now it is Spring/Summer, so I have to wait for Fall to wear it. Well, knitting is like that, you don’t always finish your project in the “right season.”
Yesterday, I ventured to Bainbridge Island to visit the Churchmouse Yarns and Teas store. What a lovely store, I felt like I was in New England. The Ferry Boat ride was fun.
If you are doing the tour, there is still one day left!
Try not to go broke (grin)!
This week I was talking to a few people about my trip to Italy. They were asking me what I saw and I jokingly said, “Well, I was on the bridge of gold.” As they have not been to Florence, they did not know about the Ponte Vecchio. This reminded me of my arrival to San Francisco years ago when someone pointed to a reddish/orange bridge and said, “There is the Golden Gate Bridge.” WHAT? It’s orange, I thought. I had envisioned something totally different, so it was a bit of a let down for sure.
Luckily, I had a few pictures of gold shops to show them. One was a really good photo of the Rolex store. I had been standing on the Ponte Vecchio watching the tourists go by when I happened to look up and see this little glass window with the Rolex logo. What an elegant and clever marketing idea!
Right now, gold is at an all time high at over $1,200 an ounce. It was interesting to compare what they were selling now on the bridge from jewelry styles a few years ago.
I spoke to a German woman who lives in Florence and works at one of the jewelry shops. She said because gold is so expensive right now they have to make what will sell and that means jewelry that is lighter in weight and hollow inside. She had me feel the weight of an older bracelet versus the new styles. There was no comparison. I told her it is the same with clothes and purses. Designers cut corners, so that leather is thinner and clothes have no lining. This is the new way.
Oh, I have to share with you a sculpture of a man riding a turtle. When I walked into the Piazza della Signoria I noticed immediately this gold looking sculpture. It was really beautiful. Sounds like the artist has it on display for a few months. The sculpture is by Jan Fabre, “Searching for Utopia,” silicon bronze, 2003.
I leave you with YOUR thoughts on this sculpture…
I am in Florence, Italy and the weather has been a bit rainy and cloudy. I happened to take this great picture of the Ponte Vecchio, the bridge where they sell the gold, just before it started to rain. Looks a bit spooky with the dark clouds. There are a lot of tourists here right now.
I was lucky to be here on May 1st when Florence has their May Day Parade every year. It was wonderful to see the procession of peope in beautiful Florentine costumes coming down the street. Of course, tourists are always a bit rude and were constantly standing in the way of the parade walkers, so the police came to keep tourists out of the middle of the street.
Oh, and I came across an Apple store on my walk. The Apple logo elegantly displayed on an old building. I took a quick peek inside and the layout and displays were just like in America.
Walking around Florence brings back so many memories of my Florentine grandmother. I really miss her. We shopped for groceries together, I learned how to take the bus around town, we went to the fabric store, stopped for a gelato, cooked spaghetti and more.
A walk around Florence wouldn’t be complete without seeing an artist at work. They really are good.
In my next Blog I will share some photos of food shopping in Florence… pasta galor!
Brilliant Viewpoint 