It’s been windy lately. Change-of-season weather.
Day 132 – First Signs of Spring
Category: Outdoors
Day 129 – In the Eye of the Beholder
Close to our house there is a very sweet statue of a sister and a brother – or maybe sweethearts – leaning to each other and smiling.
Change the angle, have a few dark clouds in the background and add some contrast – and the scene changes. Something threatening is approaching and the brother is wrapping his arms protectively around his sister…
It’s all in your point of view.
Day 128 – Time to get back home
The combination of early sunset and the safety issues in South Africa make it a challenge to take Merlin to the park during weekdays. Luckily he is such a curious little chap that he keeps running in our back garden all day long – and our domestic helper also takes him out several times a week. As a result he is (with a wide margin) the fittest creature is our household. Admittedly, that is not a high bar.
Day 126 – The Thrill of a Chase
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 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…
Blue Moment 