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Music is life
I adore a classic Italian
Such as the Fiat Cinquecento or 500.
Spotted this little beauty on the streets of Florence yesterday and could not resist a picture. I like to think there are two classics in the picture.
Wise Albert Einstein.
All tied up?
Hate that feeling!
Love this photo of Houdini. :-)
Was it worth the wait?
When I was a very young art historian in training, I fell head over heels in love with Italy. I’ve been pulled to Italy by some big magnet within my being pretty much my whole life. That magnetic pull is not something anyone can see, but everyone who knows me knows I feel.
And one of the objects of my desire has been the experience of walking through the so called Vasari Corridor that begins on an upper level of the Uffizi Gallery, snakes over the Ponte Vecchio, and travels all the way to the Palazzo Pitti on the other side of the Arno.
And while I have known for decades that the Corridor exists and is filled with treasure, and that only the elite and their entourages could access this long above-ground long, long hallway, I was not sure I would ever have the opportunity to view it myself. I might have had a chance in the early days of my career, when I was a Fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for then I had a hand signed letter from the Met’s director, Phillipe de Montebello, which worked pretty much like “open seasame” all around the world back then.
The letter invited anyone I presented it to allow me access for whatever I was asking for in the world of art. Coming from arguably the most important person in the art world at the time, the French director of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, that letter had weight, figuratively as well as literally. I saw how people reacted to it. The letter was on thick, hand-made, old world letterstock, with the Met’s letterhead engraved upon it, and a gold seal affixed to it. That letter allowed me to climb the scaffolding erected for the conservators to clean the Sistine Chapel ceiling. That is how I can to be 5 inches away from Michelangelo’s “Drunkenness of Noah” panel, an experience I will never forget.
But as I was preparing for this winter, my winter in Italy that I have dreamed of almost all of my life, I discovered that the Vasari Corridor is now more or less open and that one can make a reservation in advance online and then visit. I have one of those tickets, and I am going there tomorrow, on my birthday. Happy Birthday to me!
I’ll let you know if it was worth the wait!
If you enjoy my blog (and I really hope that you do!)
then you gotta make a comment in the comment section. Duh?! Where else would you make it?
Some of my friends (and you know who you are) are following my exploits and extravaganzas via this blog, and while that is great, and just what I wanted, etc. etc. etc., a girl needs a little feedback!
You feel closer to me.
But I am left wondering who stopped by.
Leave a calling card, at least!
Grazie mille!
La tua amica,
Lauretta
I have an announcement to make!
In the past few months, I feel like I’ve had a lot of good luck. One of the very best things found in this good fortune has been making a virtual friendship with a real life all ’round good egg and fellow-blogger, Lia, author of the deliciously divine Lifestyleswithlia.com.
Lia and I share a love of all things Italian as well as all things New York. As if it were not enough that Lia is a faithful reader of my blog, her much-appreciated comments are always perceptive and creative in their own right. But to top things off, Lia just nominated me for the “Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award” for my humble and often random scribblings on this little-old blog of mine.
Wow! Thanks Lia! I am touched!
Here are the guidelines for the “Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award”:
Provide the link to the person who nominated you.
With pleasure! http://lifestyleswithlia.wordpress.com/2015/01/02/award-winning-kindness/comment-page-1/#comment-660
Add the reward logo.
No problem, here ya go:
Answer the questions your nominator has asked.
Okay, they are:
1. What is your “go-to” dinner when there isn’t time to cook?
PB on crackers
2. What is one item that you’ve gotten rid of that you wish you would’ve kept instead?
one of my husbands
3. If you were stranded on a desert island, what would you want to have with you to read (while waiting for the rescue helicopter to arrive)?
the entire Trixie Belden series, as that set of books is probably responsible for me being in this predicament in the first place
4. What is the spiciest thing you’ve ever eaten? Where were you when you ate it?
I recently drank a caffe correto here in Florence and it set my mouth and throat on fire. It was an espresso with a shot of grappa and it was awful! I hated it! It was like drinking gasoline.
5. You are given only 2 choices of career: either Professional Surfer or Professional Birdwatcher. Which would you choose?
Birdwatcher for sure. For two reasons: there are lots of pretty birds to look at and I am afraid of the water.
Nominate 5 other bloggers, let them know via comments, and ask each nominee 5 questions.
OK, I’m gonna put my thinking cap on and nominate my bloggers and ask their questions tomorrow.
In the meantime, grazie mille a Lia! Sono molto felice!
What do you do when you have the flu?
When the day is bright and sunny, but you can’t join it because you can’t stop coughing and sneezing and running a slight fever, what do you do?
Well, I cook a pot roast. Perche no? The fragrance alone lifts my spirits.
You have to operate like a girl scout, and always be prepared. When you are at the supermarket and you see the following brilliant item of a prepackaged mix of 4 celery stalks, 2 carrots, 1 onion, parsley springs and cilantro springs (why didn’t grocers in the US think of this??) you toss it in your cart just in case.
And you locate some beef for roasting or a chicken for stewing.
Already you feel better even if you are still coughing and sneezing.
Then, when you walk by the frozen food section and see this:
And you think to yourself, “Flowers of milk” umm, that sounds like a delicious flavor of gelato, so you bring it home. And not only is it delicious, but you find all sorts of inventive ways to use it. For one, you put a hunk in a glass of coca cola (another treat for the season) and enjoy a float like the good old days. And, you discover that a slice of frozen gelato on the top of a crisp, Italian cookie makes a fabulous sandwich.
Scanning the aisles of the supermercato is a fun way for me to spend an hour of any day of the week. I couldn’t resist this seasonal butter, make from a holiday recipe, according to the packaging, which is complete with an image of holly. I haven’t used the butter yet, but I’ll let you know how it is.
And, alas, the panettoni and pandori are now priced at a steep discount. Before Xmas, pandoro was a little over 5 Euro. Now, 1.5 Euro. Sigh. Christmas is over :-((
But you’ll have to excuse me now, because I have to cough and sneeze and wrap myself up in my electric blanket and possibly slice some gelato to fit this cookie I’m holding.
Happy New Year!!
Happy New Year!!
May your year be happy and bright!
Ci vediamo a presto!
get back, lauretta! 
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