Finding photographs you forgot you took on a memory card. Love that!
Here are some great shots from beautiful Torino from last summer!
Torino is a very pretty place! It was hot last summer, though. I’ll never forget the heat and sweating!
Architecture
8 things I love about Santa Felicita in Florence
Among my favorite churches in Florence is Santa Felicita. I love this church for many, many reasons. Let me count them.
1. Size: It is not too large and not too small. It feels just right. You can walk in and not feel overwhelmed by the size and scale of architecture, altar, chapels and more.
2. Location, location, location: Just steps from the world-famous Ponte Vecchio
3. Little known and under appreciated. Which means that it is never swarmed with tourists despite its premier location. At all times of day and every season of the year the Ponte Vecchio seems to be covered with tourists from around the globe, and yet, Santa Felicita is rarely visited by the hordes. It is an oasis within a sea of chaos. Which is exactly what churches are meant to be, I think.
Santa Felicita is a jewel, awaiting a visit by cogniscenti. Tourists pass by, thinking the edifice is just a backdrop for their frenzied nearby shopping extravaganza.
4. Design: The cherry on top it is that the design is as fine as the church is petite.
But oh, the loveliness that awaits those who enter.
The serene gray hue of Tuscan pietra serena architectural details against the cool white plaster walls work together to create a calm, harmonized interior. The unadorned vaulted ceilings and the black and white marble floors and provide just the right amount of understated elegance to finish the setting. The interior is flooded with ambient light from the high windows during daytime hours.
5. Another thing that sets this pretty church apart from all the others in town is that it probably the oldest in the city, right after San Lorenzo. The first church on this site was probably built in the late 4th century and was dedicated to Saint Felicity of Rome. A new church was built in the 11th century and the current church largely dates from 1736–1739, under design by Ferdinando Ruggieri, who turned it into a one nave edifice. Oh, the history!
6. The Vasari Corridor passes through the façade of this church and on the inside there is large window, covered by a thick gate, where the Grand Dukes of the Medici family used to listen to the mass without being seen by the people staying at ground level.
The picture above is of the nave shot from the Vasari Corridor.
7. Masterpieces of Mannerist style paintings by Pontormo. Pontormo is one of my favorite artists but I will admit that, like Campari, Pontormo is an acquired taste. I love his work so much that I plan to devote a post to him soon.
8. The entry Vestibule is one of my favorite indoor/outdoor spaces in Florence. It is simple and feels very Tuscan. Here are some shots of what I love about the vestibule.
The wrought iron separates the church from the hoi polloi in the the street and piazza outside.
Ever wonder what the walls would look like without a fresco adorning them? Here’s the answer:
The muse of painting takes a nap while the muse of music plays a soothing tune.
Santa Felicita, a Florentine jewel.
Vancouver, B.C.. One of the prettiest North American cities.
Crossing the border from Washington state into British Columbia. Peerless skies, lovely weather!
Into Vancouver, a city on the move.
I love Vancouver, B.C. It looks like the city’s planner chose one architect to lay out the modern structures, because they all seem to match. Glass the color of a turquoise sea and steel beams.
You know you are in Canada because the bank is Royal!
What’s this I see? The Roman Coliseum?
More skyscrapers. Beautifully done.
Hot art, wet city.
“O Canada!” Your anthem and your premiere B.C. city are both very pretty!
Zaha Hadid. Farewell, genius. Godspeed.
Do you come down on the side of a Q-tip or safety bud?
Ha ha. I could be perfectly happy traveling the world comparing products and stores in all the various countries. And by stores I mean grocery and hardware stores and pharmacies. My favorite store in all of Florence, Italy is a hardware store that goes on and on, seemingly forever. I could spend a lifetime looking at the items for sale in that bazaar alone.
Last fall I traveled through London on my return from Italy to USA and bought a few items on my London layover. One of the quotidian items I purchased was this funny box of safety buds.
In the US we call safety buds Q-tips. You know the brand.
Let’s do a side-by-side comparison of the products:
The swab in the center above is the British safety bud. Interesting shape, no?
I can tell you from experience that it is difficult to shove the safety bud into your ear after a shower. It’s too big.
But, even though the safety bud is too big for my ear canal, the packaging assures me that the cotton buds are “good for baby and you.” If you say so!
Ah, but then it says, don’t put it in your ear or nose. Got it! My bad!
Here’s another interesting fact: the British Boots safety buds are actually made in Turkey!
So this is a very multi-national post. I actually have to wonder if the shape of the Turkish safety bud, which looks like an Islamic arch, is a cultural thing.
Who knows? Not I. But it is fun to think about. And I have a fun Turkish/English souvenir.
What’s beer-making got to do with interior design?
Well, I’m so glad you asked!
You know how you have to break some eggs to make an omelette? Well, if you want to make beer, you gotta dry some hops.
And where do you dry hops?
Why, in an oast house, of course!
An oasthouse looks something like this one in Kent, England.
Kent is here:
If you know what I’ve been up to lately, you’ll know that the reason I am writing about oasthouses is that some of them have become residences for Brits…
and as we all know, residences must be decorated, and…
well…you know the rest.
When, oh when will my current obsession end? Only with the end of the BBC Two series, The Great Interior Design Challenge, comes to an end I fear! Yes, it is true I love interior design and up cycling old treasures, but what really floats my boat is the tour of fascinating English homes, high and low alike, and the history lessons of British social life and domestic architecture. I mean, what’s not to love?
But, I do have a couple of dilemmas.
Here’s one: whereas Google images usually has a great selection of images for most things a blogger wants to illustrate, whether it is fabrics by Fortuny or drawings of carnations, for some reason there are very few images online anywhere I can find of the various projects used in The Great Interior Design Challenge series on BBC Two. And the ones I can find won’t copy, as the folks at BBC Two obviously know how to restrict access to their intellectual property. I respect that.
So, I am unable to show you any images from the show of the oast houses featured on the series, exteriors or interiors. None of the images in this post are related to the show. But that’s okay!
Stone and timber-frame oast house interior, Leominster, Herefordshire, England.
Okay, now that I have that info out of the way, let’s look at some of these crazy oasthouses!
Here’s how they were originally used.
And here are some examples of how these great old structures have been converted for modern life.
And, for a quick primer of the variations in structural matters:
Here are some useful links for more info on British oast houses:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/9612529/How-about-an-oast-house.html
http://looking-at-london.com/2015/09/11/london-workers-22/
Let’s go: 17th century Cotswold cottages
Think of Britain and an image like this may spring into your mind:
As we continue with our virtual time-traveling tour of the UK–following the path set by the BBC Two show The Great Interior Design Challenge, Season 2–our next stop is the 17th century, where we visit the living rooms of three cottages where the proletariat once lived in rather crowded conditions.
We are visiting this highlighted section of England today:
The cottages look like this on the outside:
Charming, no?
Although originally meant to house many families, four hundred years after they were originally constructed, the cottages have been expanded within to single family homes.
Despite having larger interiors nowadays, however, the insides are often quite dark and usually centered around a massive fireplace.
Updating with a special eye towards brightening the interiors of living rooms in three similar cottages is the challenge facing the three amateur designers on this episode of my favorite new tv show.
You can find it on Youtube. It’s a pretty good episode. https://youtu.be/02oB-2KWslE
And, you can read about the Cotswold here, if you are the nerdy type like me:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotswolds
1920s British beach huts
OMG! Who knew?!!
Having never lived on the British coastline, I had no idea that these so-called huts even existed. Built in the 1920s, these darling little buildings make an appearance on that tv obsession I currently have, The Great Interior Design Challenge, on BBC Two.
You can watch the episode on Youtube: https://youtu.be/dn0OtnufTC0
Aren’t they sweet?
So, here are some of the interiors. I want one.
Want to join me?
Here’s a little more into on the place they inhabit:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canford_Cliffs
This is considered to be Britain’s best beach hut:
Read about it here: http://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/13609885.Mersea_Island___s_Betty_is_Britain___s_best_beach_hut/
Just for fun, a great exterior
Per che no?
get back, lauretta! 
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