But do you know this idea of the imaginary homeland? One you set out from shore on your little boat, once you embark, you'll never truly be at home again. What you've left behind exists only in your memory, and your ideal place becomes strange imaginary concoction of all you've left behind at every stop.
Claire Messud, from The Woman Upstairs.
Today's image is of one of those lions that guard Genova's Cattedrale di San Lorenzo. I love those lions. Whoever created them did a beautiful job.
San Lorenzo's Cathedral was built to hold Saint John the Baptist's ashes ... ashes that arrived in Genova after the crusade in 1098.
The lions that guard the entrance have been a point of fascination for me. Today, searching for the cloister of yesterday (wrong church), I discovered the animals around the corner behind my favourite lion.
I love the way they seem to be attempting to peer round the corner ...
I love this particular lion guarding Cattedrale Di San Lorenzo. I can’t resist taking more photographs each time I walk by.
Today, it seemed like I caught him asleep. Anyway, San Lorenzo’s Cathedral is Genova’s main cathedral and was begun back in 1155. Like so many old buildings in Europe, there was fire, back in 1296. The facade, is a gothic masterpiece completed between 1307 and 1312.
There is so much more about the cathedral but me, I’m in love with the lion.
This time, being in Genova seems to be all about sleeping ... sleeping like I haven’t slept in years.
Perhaps I needed it but I am bemused to find myself sleeping more than my usual 5-6 hours. I have slept 10 hours+ on each of these first two days in this city that I love.
Still, the buildings I enjoy attempting to photograph have been here for a long time and they’re not going to notice me being tardy about getting up and out of bed early.
I photographed Cattedrale di San Lorenzo this morning. It was built to hold Saint John the Baptist’s ashes, or so they tell me, and these were brought to Genova after the crusade in 1098. The cathedral was begun in 1155 and its facade is a gothic masterpiece, no less.
I love it. I think you can see why ...
The thing about Genova is that you find small details like this as you stroll.
I love the whole discovery thing there. If you walk with your eyes wide-open or closed, no matter ... you will find beautiful things every place.
I love the lions outside San Lorenzo’s cathedral here in the city of Genova ...
The lions rest on either side of the wide entrance stairway, fierce and somehow welcoming. So much so, that you often see children sitting on their broad backs.
I went out for focaccia this morning and was distracted by the exquisite light after rain. Gert smsed an hour later, wondering where his breakfast might be, and I managed to leave the lions and San Lorenzo in peace.
