Did I mention that I love to catch the bus out close to Via Corso Italia and then wander along the beautiful walkway there, arriving in Boccadasse eventually ...
This was taken during those hours when the sun goes down. It was pure delight out there.
The question is not what you look at, but what you see.
Henry David Thoreau
Growing up in small-town New Zealand, the same town until I was 20, I had landmarks I knew when wandering home ...
I lived next to an intermediate school, the once famous Mosgiel Woollen Mill was nearby. Saddle Hill and the Maungatua’s gave me a sense of direction. I knew my world there and yes, I have landmarks here in my Antwerp life too, but the angel creature in the photograph below is part of the remains of the cloister of Sant’Andrea, a Romanesque ruin that used to be part of an ancient church with the same name. Sadly, or perhaps best for those people in that particular time ... it was demolished in the 1800’s, when Via Dante was realised.
The cloister ruin has become a very real part of ‘my way home’ when in Genova, Italy and I couldn’t resist stepping ‘inside’ with my camera last time I was there. It was empty of tourists and locals. I spent some time just photographing the details of that beautiful place.
Another small series of details from the cloister of Sant’Andrea, Genova.
I loved this ...
I spotted it up on the wall as I was leaving the beautiful church back in Genova.
There were days when the beauty I found in Genova stunned me ... like this beautiful church tucked away in a secret corner of that city I love.
My daughter has this rather stunning ability to put together a business card that captures something of who you are, or what you do ... in a way that stuns and delights me.
I asked her about creating a business card for two of the artists I met in Genova and voila, she created this as one of two options for the lovely Amedeo.
You should think about whether you need her to work her magic for your image.
Jessie Knopp also created a business card for Karla, using an entirely different font that, I felt, complimented the original artwork just so perfectly.
And Jessie doesn’t just make one version in these early stages. She created two versions for Amedeo and three for Karla. She is happy to work with you via the web to create what you need. So let me know and I’ll put you in touch with her.
It seems entirely appropriate to post this photograph of Franco waving to me…
He was the only artist set up when I wandered by early this morning. Today is a religious holiday in Genova. It’s the day of their patron saint, Giovanni.
We exchanged greetings then he took me by the arm and we strolled over to the cafe for coffee together. And just like Roberto in Lerici, we didn’t have much language in common but it was lovely to spend time with him.
I wandered on down via San Lorenzo afterwards, veering right in search of focaccia, then on into the caruggi. About halfway into that walk, I realised I was deeply exhausted and wondered why I was taking on a stroll that involved a rather steep incline on the return ... considering that I was operating on 4 hours of sleep.
I made it back to the apartment but needed to lie down for 10 minutes. I may have used up almost all of me and have this wicked plan to sleep tomorrow away. We’ll see, I recover relatively quickly usually.
So anyway, in the last few hours of travel, there has been the realisation that I left my favourite foundation and perfume back in Genova. My idea was to wait until the sweat had dried before applying it. In all honesty though, I was cleaning right up until I left and the sweat never did dry. Then there was the man sitting in my train seat on the train to Milan, but he accepted the bad news graciously and turned to be okay. He managed to prevent my suitcase from causing serious damage when it rolled out into the aisle. Italian trains often have those little rooms of 6 seats on each carriage ... I suffer.
Then the airport was reached in comfort and style (as opposed to being crammed on the hot and crowded airport bus), via the Malpensa train from Milan Central.
However then came the overweight suitcase ... 36 euros. I’m blaming the gifts. And there was the small matter of an abandoned suitcase up near check-in that had security waiting for the police, alarming the check-in woman who had charged me for my excess baggage. I was happy to leave the area ...
Anyway, waiting for the plane, hoping I can sleep on it. I’ll leave you with Franco, out on Via San Lorenzo, in amongst all the artwork.
Last Sunday, on via San Lorenzo, Amadeo sketched out his painting and set to work, almost finishing it by day’s end.
I loved it, the idea of fish flying out over the city ...
At dinner last night, Amedeo said I should tell him which work I liked best of his and he’ll paint me one like it. I do adore that man but he took it a step further. Laughing, he told me that he will be painting a studio with Di Mackey Photography into the city scene because that’s what he does so well .... he mixes reality with fantasy and imagination.
I loved the idea of that ...
Now to tell the Belgian bloke all the reasons why Genova would be such a good place to live.
Meanwhile, to Amedeo ... a long life to the visionaries and the dreamers amongst us!
Last Sunday, on via San Lorenzo, Amadeo sketched out his painting and set to work, almost finishing it by day’s end.
I loved it, the idea of fish flying out over the city ...
I chatted with the young guy building the bonfire in Piazza Matteotti earlier this evening, asking him what was going on ... having learned that bonfires are entirely possible any place in Liguria at the moment.
He explained that there was a concert tonight, there in the piazza, a treasure hunt too (one I knew that I wouldn’t be going on), and it would all culminate in the bonfire being lit. This bonfire was one of those special ones where you get to write your wish on a piece of paper and place it onto the unlit bonfire and voila ... your wish would come true. (I knew I wouldn’t do that too…)
The celebration, I hope I am right when I write that it was a celebration honouring Genova’s saint - San Giovanni.
So, tonight I cooked my last Genovese pasta and pesto dinner, I opened a bottle of red wine, started packing my suitcase then suddenly decided not to be silly and to go out and, at very least, visit the concert a while.
It was too much. I saw all the families leaving on the treasure hunt, so I raced back to the apartment for my camera, having decided to tag along behind all the Genovese following the maps. Suddenly, there I was, on a treasure hunt that took us all through the ancient centre of the city for quite some hours.
Genova has been kind to me. I have had the very good fortune to meet some of her best people.
You see, once out there, I thought I should perhaps see if I could join a group. I tried a ‘scusi’ and asked if the people walking in front of me spoke English. And they did and, even better, they very kindly let me tag along with their group.
We talked as walked, and really, I couldn’t have been happier as I photographed each performance, a performance that not only entertained but gave the treasure-seekers their clue for the next place on the route. The performances were superb, just by the way.
It would have been so good had I packed my flash but I wasn’t going on that treasure hunt through the caruggi at night ...
We weren’t the first people to return to the piazza and so the honour of lighting the bonfire was given to someone else but it was a most excellent night.
Mille grazie to Federico and everyone else. I realise, now that I’m home, I don’t really know how to spell everyones names so ... let me thank you as a group, for your generosity in allowing me to join you on the treasure hunt, and for your English, and your stories, and the foccacia.
I love my Canon EOS 5D Mk II ...
You see, I didn’t have my flash tonight and this ghost tour/treasure hunt took place in the narrow caruggi and ancient piazzas located in Genova’s historic centre. Not only that, it took place between 21.15 and 23.45 ...
So, I spun my ISO up to 6200 and voila, we have what we have.
Oh, and in the post below, I wrote of the fact that I knew I wouldn’t be adding a wish to the bonfire but do you know, like so many other things I wasn’t going to do tonight, I did it.
It’s after 1am here, I must find a way to sleep after the excitement of the treasure hunt, the bonfire, the good people and just being out in this city I love so well.
Hmmm, buonanotte from Genova.
I met Karla Verdugo on my first days back here in Genova.
She was exhibiting her art on Via San Lorenzo, nestled in amongst Amadeo, Franco, Angelo, Santo, Jane, Luciano, and Rossi. Little did I know that this group would open and let a wandering kiwi into their midst in the most generous of ways.
Yesterday, I went back and spent the day with them, and Karla was my tireless translator. We laughed often and there are so many stories totell about these delicious people but not today. This is simply to post my photograph of Karla and to thank her for translating a most magical day.
I met Amedeo Baldovino on my first day back in Genova. He displays his work with a group of artists on Genova’s Via San Lorenzo. I had noticed his work on past visits but didn’t like to bother him. Each time I would think, ‘next time’ and wait for the courage to converse.
This time we talked, via another artist there on the street, Karla Verdugo ... a kind and patient translator of Italian to English and back again. And I’m so glad that we did.
A plan was made to meet up yesterday, a photography session, a blog creation, and so much intense conversation and laughter. Shannon is in the process of creating a blog for Amadeo, and others, and I photographed the bulk of his work on display yesterday.
Next weekend, I’m going back to get the stories of everyone else there. I don’t quite have the names of everyone but there is an 83 year old who looks like he might be in his late 50s or early 60s, there is the artist who used to be a musician and traveled the world on cruise ships, and there is the man who is so proud of his grandchild.
I love the warmth I find here in Genova. The people have been so very kind but for now, here is a small taste of Amedeo Baldovino’s work. This work is my particular favourite ...
Stunning ... just stunning!
Sometimes, you decide what you would like to capture, set your timer, lie your camera down on the floor and voila ... you capture something truly exquisite.
I love this city ...
One day, a long time ago, an old man took me by the arm here in Genova and he led me round the corner to this beautiful church.
I think he made me visit because he knew the church was that beautiful.
Yesterday, in-between everything else, I was back there again ... falling in love with its quiet beauty again.
Can I just tell you how good my New Zealand soul felt, strolling alongside the sea on Corso Italia, here in Genova tonight ...
Living in Belgium I miss the kind of Nature I used to know in New Zealand but I find something of it here in this beautiful Italian city, surrounded by hills, on the edge of the Ligurian Sea.
Of course, the bliss I found there wandering was tempered when I realised that my particular bus stopped running at 8.35 ... it was 9.45pm.
Fortunately, an innocent bystander was okay with my English, and I was surely grateful for his. Yes, that particular bus really did stop running and yes, I was stuck miles from the city ... ‘miles’ when it comes to walking back through the night.
No money for a taxi, I am one of those creatures who rarely have money, and so ... sadness and woe until he mentioned there was another bus, round the corner over there.
‘Home’ ... to this borrowed home I love so well, to a late dinner of trofie (pasta), pesto (of course), red wine ... Adele playing too. The kitchen window is open, the street is still full of the noise of lives being lived.
I love being here.
And there at the end of Corso Italia was Boccadasse ... still.
But they have painted the house I’ve been photographing since that first time I wandered here. Not only that, it’s a restaurant now.
I need to pass by and casually case the joint one day soon, just to see if it’s a place I can afford to eat, maybe one time. It was a house I would have loved to have lived in. A dinner, out there on the terrace, seems like something almost as delightful.
We’ll see ...
A presto.
Even the puddles were divine this evening ...
Since I was small though, I have loved relections of all kinds ... even the lowly puddle offers up its own quiet beauty.
