When I come home after few days away, nothing can pull Merlin away from my side. Nothing but a frisbee or a tennis ball.
Day 126 – The Thrill of a Chase
Category: Outdoors
Day 124 – Power or Prayer
History of the Vatican is not a religios or harmonious one. It’s all about power. The level of dirty politics during e.g. Borgias exceeds almost any other stage in human history (I leave the word ‘almost’ to prevent Stuart proving me wrong in the next minute).
With that as a backdrop, and tourist milling around, the sense of calm is surprising.
Day 123 – Rome
I love the concept of a siesta – when I’m on holiday. How anyone can work with a siesta breaking the day in two, is completely beyond me. But on holiday, the break at midday is the ultimate luxury. As an additional benefit, there is no better time for photography than very, very early in the morning.
Roman Forum in sunrise.
I apologise for a delay in posting. Ever since the plane touched down back in Johannesburg, I’ve been run off my feet.
Day 122 – Positano
“The perfect day is a balance of culture and pleasure”, repeated our travel guide for the 4th time as we boarded the bus in Pompeii and headed towards the Amalfi coast.
Check.
Day 116 – Eternal City
Rome is city with over 900 churhes, 200 flavors of gelato and 3000 years of art. It’s a city where a city gate designed by Bernini isn’t necessarily even mentioned in the guidebook. It is hot, crowded, expensive and chaotic. It is breathtaking.
Day 113 – Worrying Kind
In winter it does not rain for 6 months in Johannesburg (Or at least it shouldn’t…). This means that by mid-winter, it is dry. And dryness inevitably means grass fires – some natural, but most of them not.
I continue to be puzzled on how casually South Africans treat these small fires. As long as they are under control, they are left to burn. For example, there was a small tuft burning in the neighbourhood park. The first time I saw it, there was a park maintenance team standing next to it, but after careful consideration they left it to burn. It was still smouldering the next day (unless somehow there was a second, unrelated fire at the exact same spot.
The Hadida found it quite worrying, tho. Although a little less worrying than a little puppy charging him from behind.
Day 120 – La Dolce Vita
Unlike Venice or even Paris, Rome has the feel of everyday life everywhere. Even in the most touristy center, tucked in the narrow lane between two monuments is someone’s laundry drying from the window, and someone’s grandmother keeping a careful eye of the comings and goings on her street. The pulse of real Rome.
Note the grandmother of the street on the right…
Day 111 – Red Bloom
I love plants and flowers, but I have no green thumb. I have managed to kill a cactus. Twice. (and one of those times I over-watered it) Luckily the previous owners of our house created a garden that is full of blooms year round – and seems to require very little beyond basic maintenance. And Stuarts helps to solve the rest of the problem by buying me cut flowers often. They are expected to last only a limited time.
Day 110 – Sun in My Eyes
Having a puppy means you spend a lot of time in parks. A lot of time. But when the sun is shining and the sky is blue, there are not many nicer places to be.
Day 106 – My World
I’ve moved ~13 times in the last 12 years -to 9 different countries and 4 different continents. The more times I move, the more important for me is that I take the time (and effort) to build a real home. Home makes me feel at home. Even when I’m still unsure where to buy my lightbulbs.
Thus the topic of my new fooling-around-in-Photoshop-project is quite appropriate. My ‘home’ world.
Blue Moment 