Italian Landscape with Wheat

Italian Landscape with Wheat

Originally uploaded by bellafiore

Remembering Italy a lot today. Here is one of the countryside views that we enjoyed while traveling through Umbria and Tuscany. This was a field of wheat with distant views of green field and vineyards.  I believe we were driving from the small village of Corciano to Lago Trasimeno.  Along the way we encountered many things including almost being hit by a large truck.  The ride itself was thrilling.  At one point we visited an ancient ruin along the side of the road.  It said private and that we shouldn’t enter, but it was hard to resist and there was nobody around that is of course until we all disembarked from the 2 vans we were riding around in.  We shot as many photos as we could and then sped away as someone started to head towards us from the hill above.  We had lunch in a roadside place where you really did have to speak Italian to converse and order.  Luckily 3 weeks of total language immersion had given me enough language to be able to order.  The seafood salad was filled with huge pieces of fish, calamari and mussels.  It was all served in a sort of marinade.  Delicious.  It was a grand day, just one of many we had.  

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Pitti Filati 63 Opens In Firenze, Italia

The Pitti Filati opens in Florence this week.  It is a world preview of 2009-2010 fall/winter collections of yarns for the knitting industry and is an event produced by Pitti Immagine and promoted by the Centro di Firenze per la Moda Italiana.  It is something I dream of attending.  It features imaginative yarn and knitting ideas, with the theme of the sea being used.  There are wildly inventive octopi and fish hanging as part of the exhibit.  It must be magical.  

Three years ago at this time I was actually in Florence visiting the city for the first time.  It was hot and crowded, but after four days the city’s charms worked their magic and I fell in love.  The artisans are what captured me as I explored yarn shops, frame carvers, engravers using plates from the 1500s, sculptors and painters and so much more.  The neighborhood around the Pitti Palace was my favorite with many artists working in their studios with their doors open so you could wander in.  One gentleman was creating hand colored engravings from plates that dated from the renaissance, another had exquisite papier mache masks that he created and hand painted.  These were most beautiful, especially the Pinocchio mask and marionette, a common theme in Italy.  I can only imagine the color and texture and luxury of exploring the creative entries from the Pitti Filati.  Perhaps someday I will see the real thing, but for now I will have to visit the virtual site:

 http://www.pittimmagine.com/en/homef.php

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