Post Christmas Thoughts

Well it's late Christmas Day, and I eaten a big dinner, and polished off a few chocolates, and my thoughts are turning to 2017, and what may happen.

2016, has on the whole been a very disappointing one; especially with all the famous people that have died this year. Only yesterday Rick Parfitt from Status Quo has passed on. And I'm not sure how Carrie Fisher is doing.

I'll keep clear of politics, both here and across the world. But the signs haven't been good.

So what about next year? Looking through my photographic archive of what to put on, I thought about holidays. We did have a very good one this year, when we went on a little road trip around Cornwall. But I cam across the photos I took in Florence, when we went on a tour of Tuscany during the autumn of 2015.

Now that was exciting.

So here's a bit of a still life that I took at one of the many tourist shops, of two things you see a lot there, statues from Roman history and Vespa scooters.

I have no idea as to where we will be going for a holiday during 2017. It will be great to see some more of both Italy and Cornwall. But then there's so many other places that we haven't seen yet; both here and abroad. Time to get some brochures and get booking.

Italian Dream

I've been reminded on Facebook that it's a year since Gail and I visited the Italian region of Tuscany.

We went on a ten day holiday with six other people and visited several places like Florence, Arezzo and Siena.

It was a bit of a road trip and brilliant fun it was too. We were in two minibuses, and we shared ours with two other photographers. Which was great, as they perfectly understood why I was taking a photo of a rusty lock.

This castle is in the small town of Radicofani. You get some great views of the area from the top. We also got to meet the mayor of the town and had a group photograph by the statue of Ghino di Tacco, who was their version of Robin Hood.

Talking Italian

Whilst shopping in Beeston this morning, I was surprised to see two friends of ours, Leone & Yarden. Especially Yarden, as he lives in Italy. Leone meanwhile lives in Derbyshire.

Gail & I first met them last year on our tour of Tuscany. Leone was one of the travelling party, whilst Yarden, a fashion designer, unveiled the 'Volcano Dress' during our stay in Italy. The Volcano Dress is based around a photo that the artist Roberto Alborghetti took of the now famous Barton's bus, nicknamed The Ghost Bus.

It was nice to see them, especially now that they have become a couple.

Photo Of The Year

The City Daily Photo theme for January is 'your best photo of the year'. So for my entry I'm going with this one that I took on 27th March.

It's probably not the best photo that I've taken during 2015, but it's one that has the most relevance for me for a number of reasons.

This is Barton's 'Ghost Bus'. An old rusted and decayed coach that was built in the 1950s and has spent the last 20 odd years in a farmers field. Only to be rescued and brought back to their garage in Chilwell.

I saw an advert for an event at Barton's that was featuring the bus, so I went along, as I had seen it before. But in the daytime, and wondered what it would look like in the dark. The event included a screening of a short film that had been created by Italian visual artist Roberto Alborghetti, and based on close up photos that Roberto had taken of the Ghost Bus.

After the show, I got to interview Roberto for the Beestonian magazine that I write for. In fact someone else was meant to be covering the event, but couldn't make it, so I did it instead. Serendipity I think they call it. Roberto was pleased with the article and I have been his friend ever since. I also made friends with Marysia, the organiser of the event.

To cut a long story short, this friendship resulted in Gail & I going to Tuscany in October with Marysia, her son and four other travelling companions. Besides seeing different parts of Italy, one of the aims was to get Tuscany twinned with Beeston. To help this along we met two mayors and Marysia presented them with a 'Beeston goody bag' which contained a copy of the Beestonian, a locally produced lace shawl, some postcard and a scale model of the Ghost Bus itself.

I'm not sure if any progress has been made with the twinning, but Gail and I both agree that we loved seeing Tuscany and plan to make many more visits to Italy.

Remembering

Today is of course Remembrance Sunday. The day when everyone thinks about all the soldiers, sailors and airmen that have died for our freedom. The poppy being the emblem for this event.

I'd like to think about the people left at home. Those that have lost a husband, a wife, a family member or a best friend. People who will have to live without their loved one.

So this single rose which I came across in Radicofani, Italy is for them.  The rose, the symbol of love.

Nothing Left

As it's the first of the month, I thought I would participate in the theme day, which this month is 'ephemeral'.

According to the dictionary, ephemeral means something that doesn't last for a very long time.

Well this meal that I devoured at Restaurant Anna in Piancastagnaio, a small hilltop village in Tuscany didn't last very long. It was delicious. It was actually part of a five course lunch that we sat down to.

The restaurant was packed. There was hardly a seat to be had. Mainly families; mums, dad, children and associated relations. One old lady there was celebrating her birthday, and one of the waitresses bought out a cake, to a chorus of 'happy birthday'.

Dancing In The Moonlight

Well we've safely arrived Tuscany. The eight of us touched down at Pisa, after flying Ryanair from East Midlands Airport.

Our first stop on our eight day tour is Florence, or Firenze as they say in Italian. We are here for two days and there's lots to see, such as the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore.

Work began on the cathedral  in 1294, and it took 142 years to build. Everything by hand of course. No cranes, bulldozers or trucks back then. Just men and horses.

It's a very big building and has recently been cleaned. It certainly glowed in the moonlight as we walked by it on the way to dinner.

Can I Come Too?

Sorry for the low quality and blurred image. Definitely not up to my usual standard, but I quickly had to grab my camera, as Gail called me into the living room.

You see we are currently in the middle of packing for our week long trip to Tuscany in Italy which starts tomorrow, and Oscar had this idea of wanting to come with us. He thought by trying to climb into one of our suitcases we wouldn't notice.  But he is quite a big fellow, and would certainly have made the suitcase overweight.

Better luck next time Oscar!

A Little Taste Of Italy

This is Jeanie Barton & Marysia Zipser, both friends of mine and who I met up with tonight at the Star Inn.

Marysia is promotes arts and heritage tourism, and is organising a week long tour of Tuscany in October. Gail and I were about the first to put our names down for the trip as it sounds a great experience.

The tour is also part of an exercise to get Tuscany twinned with Beeston.  It's something that the Tuscan mayor is keen to happen. And that can only be good for Beeston, when Italian tourists come over and see what Beeston has to offer.
Marisa gave a couple of presentations about the holiday, while Jeanie, a jazz singer, entertained everyone with her Italian themed songs.

The local paper ran a story about the plans, and the reporter had rung me up for a chat about the idea and what I thought of it, which of course I did. I also mentioned my photography and this blog which they printed almost word for word.

A Home From Home

When we woke up, we noticed the sun shining through the curtains. Gail got out of bed and pulled back the drapes; and we saw the sea.

It was magical. Sunshine and the sea. What more could anyone want when they are on holiday?

As it was my birthday, Gail had bought some cards and a couple of presents with her for me to open. Which I did. In Gail's card was a big badge with '50' on it. Which I then pinned to my coat.

After breakfast we went for another walk around the village.  It had only just opened to the public, so there weren't that many people around.  I was wished a "happy birthday" from the people who saw my badge.

This shot shows the village hotel. It partly burnt down many years ago, but has been restored. The open air heated swimming pool was used in the original Brideshead Revisited, when the village stood in for Italy.