Sharing

I always look upon these Sharing posts as a two-fold opportunity - I can bring your attention to some of the wonderful posts I've found in the past few days and put up some of the photos that I'm frankly too damn lazy haven't had time to get to as photo essays. This time around its some photos from my Torino, Genova, Parma opera week back in late October.

This fascinating bronze entitled "Out of Africa" was prominently placed in the lobby of the Teatro Regio di Torino. I have mixed reactions to it - it is a beautiful piece but something about it disturbs me.

More often than not the holy water fonts in churches here are either dry or have a small bowl of water placed in them. But in Torino's Chiesa di San Filippo Neri the font was more a fountain of holy water.

• And talking about sharing, Michelle at Bleeding Espresso has been good enough to share her nonna's polpette (meatball) recipe. Guess what we're having for dinner on Sunday night?

Il Museo Egizio in Torino has one of the finest - and stunningly displayed - collections of Egyptomania in Europe. I was particularly taken with this gold and lapis necklace. The pyramid as a display may be the obvious choice but it is subtly handled. Click for a close up.

The gates of the Palazzo Reale in Torino are a direct steal from Versailles but wasn't every palace in Europe?

• My friends Larry and Vincenzo spent Capodanno (New Year's) with Vin's family in Sicily. They made a trip over to Taormina to see the sights and Larry found some rather pretty, if unusual, Christmas decorations.
  

That's the house of Christopher Columbus in Genova sticking up in middle way back there. His front yard is now a parking lot for motorinos - that's one way to destroy the lawn and bring down prices in the neighbourhood.

This altar in il Duomo di San Lorenz once held relics of San Giovanni Baptista, the patron saint of Genova. His story is retold in the stone carvings in and around the altar. I'm constantly fascinated by the use of coloured marble throughout the churches in Italy - designs and colours always created to take the eye to a focus point.

• Evilgnome calls the Fenway home in Boston, sadly last week he saw part of what makes his neighbourhood so unique destroyed by fire. And as he remarks when the Mom and Pop stores leave a neighbourhood so does much of its character.
  

Though the waterfront in Genova has been restored - and magnificently - its is still separated from the historic centre by an elevated freeway. There is no way to see this fascinating painted facade the way it was meant to be seen - approaching from the water.

A complete replica of a Turkish galleon is moored beside the Aquarium on the waterfront. It was original created for some Roman Polanski film and is now a tourist attraction. The Neptune figurehead is a great example of the carver's art.

• My darling Dora introduced me to two of the feistiest ladies in Blogdom: Margaret and Helen are two 80-somethings who chat on their blog - Margaret from Maine and Helen from Texas. They've known each other for over 60 years and their outspoken - often salty - take on the world is often amusing, always insightful and invariably controversial. They even have their own on-line store.

The Cross of St George (red cross - white background) features in the coat of arms of many cities throughout the world. It's the municipal coats of arms in both Milano and Genova in Northern Italy - as in the New World it is in Montréal

I only intended to pop into the Aquarium in the harbour for a few minutes and ended up spending over 2 hours. Though not a fan of zoos or the like I found a peaceful fascination in the unusual sea fauna. I really must post a few more to these shots of jelly fish, I found them incredibly beautiful.

• And speaking of beautiful, my friend Lotus Green is constantly revealing the beauty of the Japanese influence on our world. Her December 30 post on Fireworks is as spectacular as New Year's Eve display. And her post naked is a enchanting mixture of the visual and the aural.

08 gennaio - San Lorenzo Giustiniani