Trip

It rained a lot. How trivial, yet essential. Lecce was beautiful. It is in the very South where very few tourists found their way. We were the only tourists, suitcases and strange look, who got off the train. We just happened to enter the city during the siesta time, streets deserted and sun beating down, and we felt like we discovered this town. Paving with no sidewalks, narrow but elegant streets, low palaces, two floors at the most, large windows, balconies and flat roofs with terraces. Many churches. More than one would expect in an Italian town. (Lecce, 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th 8th and 10th picture)
In Lecce and then even more in Bari, it was surprising for me how locals don't take much account of the touristic potential of the old towns. Which is good for me. I can experience it like people did in the 19th century. Only later I found out that the old town of Bari is even today considered somewhat dangerous and better to be left behind after dark. Well, too late. We went in. It does feel like a ghetto, quite stinky, pigeons, rough kids, young guys on motorbikes, people peeping out of windows wandering who the hell... Honestly, there is one part of the old town that has been turned into a kind of a tourist place with cafés but we did stroll, unconscious, in the other one. (Bari: 4th, 6th and last pictures) All the remaining pictures are from Gargano where we wanted to rest peacefully on the beach while the little guy would play tenderly on the shore with his bucket trying to pour water from the sea over on the beach. It did happened eventually. The beach, not his fruitless attempt.

Holiday

After four weeks or so that I am back from my first holiday, after I got in PhD program and had first (and perhaps last) selling success on Etsy, I am ready to go to Italy again. This time to the complete South, Lecce and Gargano in Puglia. Which is the opposite of where I just came back from - Lago di Garda. The lake was beautiful there. The mountains tremendous. Only the time we stayed was short. Also, the place is quite developed, you meet mostly foreigners there and you get very little of the "Italian feeling".

I liked this construction on the cost in Riva del Garda. It is a former spa or baths on the beach, built up by Gian Carlo Maroni, the same architect who built up the house of Gabriele D'Annunzio, southwards from Riva. The baths, from the 1920s, are closed now, what you see is the furthest you can get. It must have been nice, sunbeds, changing rooms, café, jumping-off tower... How come that it became so dilapidated? Maroni also build a water power station in Riva, it is in similar style as the baths and has a nice architectural iconography - (if I only knew what it is called in English) the very typical parts of power station in the place of columns.
I found an interesting book on him in a local museum. After an hour spent among "not much" exhibition, I finally came to this book in the museum store. I had five minutes to look at it.

I wonder, how much this upcoming trip will be different from the first one. Of course, the crew is changing. To Lago, I dragged my parents, now the real family holiday comes.

I bought Dominik a shirt. (He doesn't like it)

Corner view

I am not much of a contributor this week. Haven't had a strength nor courage to go out and take a picture of unknown people. We have a special way of dressing up at home, though. Scroll down on my blog little and you will see it right away. I might be absent next week as well due to our trip to Italy but I ll be with you the week after again.

Frenzy

I made this bag, it is in my shop now. I think I reached my embellishing possibilities with this bag, I can't go any further now, otherwise I would slip into the deadwood that dominates etsy from some eighty percent. Anyway, it is still weird enough so that I could stand for it. Next time you can expect more modernist-like stuff from me, simple embroidery, Bauhas and such.

And, if you look for a proper embroidery, classical and nice one, go to Francesca's shop, she knows how to embroider. She also has a pair of stylish bags.

New achievements

We have a new camera. Now, the pictures are softer, less sharp, so the quality of the images is very painterly. It is even that painterly that it tends to imitate some of the old masters' paintings. The variation on Jan van Eyck:

Lunar Rover on my Backyard (corner view)

Whereas here you could have experienced a little piece of the old quarter I live in, right here, when leaning little bit more out of the window, you see:

For many years there was an empty site next to our building, after a nice 19th century house had been pulled down. The new building is not actually so bad. On the outside, the facade is quite monotonous, all because neighboring houses are plain as well, their 19th century facades had been disposed of all decorations during the maintenance by the socialist state (as far as I can say, it is only our block that looks so deprived). Meanwhile on the inside, the courtyard is very rich with little buildings and shelter-like structures as the old houses usually are in their backyards. Also, the main house has courtyard gallery on every store which is traditional living in this part of the town. So the whole house together with its strange lunar rover only alternates traditional setting of the old houses in this part of the town. Congratulations!

Oh, and the lunar rover or whatever it resembles were meant to be art studios. The rent IS expensive. Good luck!

Nicer view of the old parts, and courtyard galleries on the old house.

Other corner viewers:

jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie,esti, sophie, cele, modsquad,
caitlin, joyce, ani, kim, a day that is dessert, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage, trinsch,c.t.,jeannette, outi, schanett, ritva, dongdong, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana, denise,cabrizette, bohemia girl, dianna, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes, mister e, janis, kari,jgy, jenna, skymring, elizabeth, audrey, allison, lise, cate, mon, victoria, crescent moon, erin,otli, ida, caroline, lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, vanessa, britta, virgina,april, rebecca, b, sunnymama, kyndale, samantha, karen, kristina, angelina, dorit, goldensunfamily, sophie, janet, nicki, ruth, mcgillicutty,

desiree, di, travelingmama, aimee

Play houses and play meals

I haven't made any yet. The first one comes from this notoriously known book on taking care and bringing up children by Penelope Leach. All the pictures there come from the 70s and when I first saw them I though they were pretty odd. But then I started reading blogs and my taste, especially concerning the old clothes, changed. As an example, check out this cute little girl, If I had one, I would make her a dress like that, this short.

Back to the houses. So the first one, my favorite, no aim at design, just a plain box that opens on top. Cut out doors decorated with posters of mummy's favorite rock stars. The second one comes from the Knitting Iris blog that I spotted as the first one at all in my life. It is a table house and since I have seen Dominik few times playing under the table, I have been thinking about it. But I ll probably give it up and just throw a sheet over the table. It will make no difference for him, lets say it clearly.

We have been also playing while cooking. This weird looking dish comes from a cookbook called Happy Cooking with Kids and the meal has a similar prosaic name A Bowl with Feet (upper picture). How to make your kid eat little different food? Veggies and such? Well, I thought that if we make these little feet together and have fun while making them, he will somehow eat the whole dish. Guess, what happened!
By the way, the feet were delicious. (My dad would have asked: Have you washed them?)
The dough is made of flower, soda, butter, grated cheese and sour cream. If anyone interested I will put up a recipe here.
Edited: a recipe
Feet:
100g of flower and half a spoon of soda mix together with 1 spoon of cold butter, so that the dough creates little crumbles. Add 30 g of grated cheese and 4 spoons of sour cream. Mix with the fork and finish the dough with hands. Mould the dough flat and create feet. Put them in the bowl with steamed veggies and bake in the oven for 25 minutes.

Beach? What is it? (corner view)

This is where we go with Dominik, he throws stones in the river and I get worried he is going to fall in. There are actually spots at the river where people can expose their bodies but to call it a beach is little exaggerated. I don't know if anyone goes to take a dip though. You would have to be very brave.

Other corner viewers:
jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie,esti, sophie, cele, modsquad,
caitlin, joyce, ani, kim, a day that is dessert, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage, trinsch,c.t.,jeannette, outi, schanett, ritva, dongdong, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana, denise,cabrizette, bohemia girl, dianna, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes, mister e, janis, kari,jgy, jenna, skymring, elizabeth, audrey, allison, lise, cate, mon, victoria, crescent moon, erin,otli, ida, caroline, lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, vanessa, britta, virgina,april, rebecca, b, sunnymama, kyndale, samantha, karen, kristina, angelina, dorit, goldensunfamily, sophie, janet, nicki, ruth, mcgillicutty,

desiree, di, travelingmama, aimee