I attended the Mostra Internazionale dell’Artigianato at the amazing Fortezza da Basso. It was worth going just to see this wonderful collection of buildings in Florence. The ancient fort has been put to good use as an exhibition centre.

At the entrance there were some delightful old photos of previous exhibitions in the centre. The Mostra has been going since 1931.

There were hand made products from all over the world, but we concentrated on the Italian things. Ceramics were well represented.

 

There was furniture.

Some lovely doors.

A kitchen I would love.

There were cute animals in ceramic and wood.

Some pretty umbrellas.

And lots of things that didn’t look hand made at all, but I am not going to show you those.

Our favourite find was a delightful man from Sardinia who makes knives. He happily showed us his beautiful knives…and we had to buy one.

The handles were all carved by hand from horn and the blades lovingly shaped by Efisio.(efisio59@yahoo.it)

The exhibition is on until 28th April. If you are in Florence have a look. There are other things on show in different areas of the exhibition centre and of course, there is lots of places to get good things to eat.

It is fascinating to watch things come to life in our growing garden at Casa Debbio. The blossoms are making me sneeze, but through watering eyes I see these beautiful things.

We have cherry blossoms.

Pear blossoms.

The walnut trees are sprouting new growth.

The hazelnuts are doing the same.

Ferns are poking through.

I have planted geraniums and the big pots are waiting patiently to be filled.

Fruit trees, wisteria and roses are waiting to be planted.

The pine trees in front of the house are covered in tiny…no bigger than my little finger nail…pine cones. (At least that’s what I think they are)

This gorgeous flower is called Aquilegia caerulea, or Rocky Mountain Columbine. I hope it likes the mountains of the Garfagnana as well as the Rockies. It is supposed to be self seeding. With a bit of luck they will soon be everywhere. I think it is absolutely fascinating.

 

I guess you can tell I am fairly new to this gardening thing.

…and we are not afraid to use them.

Despite the fact that they are all a lovely matching blue, we bought them to be used. We are going to have a gorgeous garden at Casa Debbio soon.

Here is Jim with his brand new wheelbarrow and spade, clearing rocks from one of the terraces below the house.

Meanwhile Alfredo was hard at work clearing the brambles that seem intent on taking over the property.

I was clearing rocks too and had built a fine rock wall on the edge of the terrace, but the real wall builders snaffled them off for the foundations of the wall they are building right now. (I’ll show that in another post)

We enjoyed Casa Debbio’s very first outdoor lunch.

Spring is finally here and flowers are popping up everywhere. We have our very own daffodils, primulas, violets and other things I don’t know the name of.

After endless delays because of the horrible weather things are moving along at speed. There will be progress reports.

My son Brando moved to Greenport, NY in September last year to commence work at a winery and his gorgeous girlfriend, Liz, stayed in Melbourne, Australia to finish up her job before joining him earlier this year.

After four and half months apart they wanted to go somewhere warm to catch up before diving into the depths of a New York winter.

With year-round gorgeous weather, stunning beaches stretching hundreds of kilometres and just a five hour flight from NYC, Cartagena, Colombia fitted the bill perfectly.

They offered to write a guest post on their three weeks in Cartagena and beyond…meet Brando and Liz.

We reasoned that if Cartagena is muse-enough for the world’s literary master of magical realism Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez, surely it would have a decent amount to offer two Aussie travellers looking to escape a NY winter.

Cartagena de Indias has been a base for Márquez throughout his literary career and, like the heady hold Fermina had over Florentino in the Cartagena-inspired “Love in The Time of Cholera”, this city will have you falling obsessively in love within moments of touching down. Well, it did us anyway.

 

With average year round temperatures of 27.7 degrees, a prime position on the Carribean Coast and one of the most well-preserved colonial old town’s in Latin America, there’s a lot to fall for.

Central to the UNESCO-listed city’s aesthetic are the inescapable bright colours. Royal purple bougainvillea hang over white-washed walls, contrast against pastel painted doors and pop against the postcard-perfect blue skies.

Have a look at some of the vibrant facades that make up the historical districts of El Centro and San Diego:

And just to ensure the colour spectrum is elevated another echelon, the door of every building seems to be painted yet another contrasting colour…

And every second door has a quirky door knocker crafted as either a lizard, a sun, a lions head or some other cute form like this one here:

Whilst Cartagena comprises several areas including the high-rise dense Miami-like Bocagrande, the highlight for us was unquestionably the old town. Fortified by thick walls or Las Murallas that were built in the late sixteenth century to protect the city from pirates and storms alike.

Cartagena is a rambling space of pristinely preserved colonial churches, bustling cobble-stoned plazas, crumbling mansions  and tiny shops selling everything from coconuts, to antique treasures, jewel coloured woven baskets, dirt-cheap havaiianas and some of the world’s finest emeralds. Whether peering out to sea from the fort-like Las Murallas or down into a beautifully lit up plaza, there really is no such thing as a dull corner in this city.

Plaza De Sandiego

One of many horse drawn carts that ply the streets

View from Las Murrallas back into El Centro

Atop Las Murallas, there is a bar serving cold cervezas and icy mojitos and seating so you can let a few hours slip by gazing out to sea

The old cannons silhouetted as the sun sets

And a band complete with drummers, guitarists and saxophonists added to the entertainment

As we headed back into town we noticed the square had started filling up with people and street food vendors.

And the bars in the old town with people.

And a few hours later, when the bars couldn’t contain the people anymore, they just spilled out onto the street and continued to party on. We LOVE this city!

There is an understated cool in Cartagena from the street art, to the mini library on wheels, to the men playing chess in the streets or the kids baseball, and the toucan that landed on our table whilst having coffee at Hotel Santa Clara the city’s most exclusive hotel (note the Botero sculpture behind the toucan).

Even the garbo’s walk the streets in style…

And a close up look at our friend the toucan because he is so gorgeous

Speaking of friends, we met a few new ones in this welcoming city.

Children from the family home next to our hotel

This is what I think Brando might look like when he’s older

Special birthday treat from Hotel Santa Clara

The Palanquera women are always ready to pose

But some particularly helped make our trip extra amazing!

Wine guru Mileth. Donald, the best mojito-maker in the city, was very impressed with Brando’s dreadlocks and Gloria, who made us the most delicious breakfasts every day.

Marco, all round legend and owner of Casa Marco Polo, where we stayed in Cartagena. And fellow Aussie but now Cartagena resident Kristy Ellis. Kristy runs a little boutique tour company that can help you plug into the best this vibrant city has to offer so if you feel inspired to get travelling you can contact Kristy at Cartagena Connections

Well that was fun, our first ever blog post! Our follow up post will talk a bit about the food of Colombia and the amazing places we ventured to outside of Cartagena like Tayrona National Park and La Guajira peninsula.

Thank you Brando and Liz for a fun trip to Cartagena…I want to go!  I can’t wait to see part 2.

Colombian artist Fernando Botero Angulo has spent several years in the lovely Italian coastal town of Pietrasanta. Born on April 19th 1932, the artist is famous for his generously proportioned figures.

His very impressive sculpture called The Warrior stands boldly at the entrance to the town. Try to ignore the silly string someone has chosen to attatch to various parts.

 

As well as The Warrior, there are 2 satirical frescoes in the Church of Sant’ Antonio e San Biagio in Via Mazzini. The frescoes were painted in 1993. The one below is titled La Porta del Paradiso.

 

It is nice to see Mother Teresa looking a bit chubby.

The other one is called La Porta del Inferno.

 

Pietrasanta is a really interesting town to visit…look out for Botero’s art when you visit.

Click here to see more of Pietrasanta.

This gorgeous town near Monte Amiato dates from around 890AD and has a population of about 3,000 people. It is off the tourist trail and is delightfully authentic.

In the main square, Piazza Garibaldi is the impressive Palazzo Sforza Cesarin begun in 1575.

The piazza has a good selection of shops and bars and a mining museum, a nod to the recent past. From here the town winds down the hill. Come for a walk through the narrow streets.

 

We came upon a lovely house in Piazza S.Michele, where Luigi Bani, a town benefactor lived from 1830 – 1894.

The area around Monte Amiata is beautiful and well worth a visit. Don’t miss Santa Fiora, it is a gem.

The spring weather is still a bit patchy here in the northern hemisphere, but lovely spring artichokes have arrived in the local markets.

They are not all that difficult to cook even though they look as though they should be. There are endless possibilities, but here is a simple way I like to prepare fresh artichokes.

Cut the top off the artichoke and peel away several of the outer layers of leaves. Cut the stalk to about 5cm and peel the top rough layer.

Cut into quarters and place in water with a little lemon juice to prevent discolouration.

Heat some olive oil in a pan, place the artichokes in the pan and add about a cup of white wine and enough water to almost cover the artichokes.

Let them steam gently until tender. This will depend on the size and freshness of the artichokes. You may need to top up the wine and water as it evaporates. Once you can cut them easily they are done.

Remove from the pan and place in a bowl, pour a little extra olive oil over them, lemon juice to taste and season with salt and pepper. I also sprinkled some thyme leaves on the artichokes (because that is all I have growing on my balcony, you could use parsley or whatever takes your fancy)

Eat!

We now have telephone and internet access and the heating is working at Casa Debbio. You can’t see these things, so I will show the the amazing sunrise we were treated to a couple of days ago.

The mist completely enveloped the house for a while before clearing to a beautiful morning. We will be staying at Casa Debbio every day soon and I will get to look at this view all day (apart from when we are working on the garden of course…if the rain stops for more than a day)

As we were leaving our lovely new house in Vergemoli the other day I spotted these spider webs. It had been raining most of the night, but there was some delightful morning sun. Take a look at these gorgeous webs sparkling in the sunlight…surely prettier than any jewel.

Back in Ponte a Serraglio there was another one waiting for me in our bathroom window.

I knew there was a good reason not to clean that window.

Lovely Lucca is trying to turn green for spring. The first leaves are appearing on the trees on the wall. Surely after all this rain we are going to be rewarded with a glorious spring.

The magnolias in Corso Garibaldi are struggling in the rain.

The grass around the walls is looking lush. Even the miserable rain can’t make it look dull.

The Lucca ducks are loving the wet weather. That wet soil is full of grubs and worms.

This beautiful boy was keeping a close eye on his mate while I was nearby.

There was a brief moment of sun the other day. Here is a reminder of what Lucca can look like on a fine day.

…and here is how the magnolias are looking in a warm spot outside the wall.

Fine, warm weather can’t come soon enough. We will all develop webbed feet if the rain continues much longer.