Posted
July 21, 2010 by
erin under
Uncategorized Next up on our little virtual road trip is Florence, and Venice, as well as the Italian countryside.
Isn’t the building decoration gorgeous? Those were all painted on!
Bridge and market in Florence.
The northern countryside was all terraced farms. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of it!
Central Italy. This part of the country was filled with row upon row of vineyards.
Rolling Italian countryside, mile after mile!
Sunset one night over the Dolomite mountains. (They are part of the Alps that are in Italy.) These were the most gorgeous, breathtaking mountains I’d EVER seen! We turned a switchback going up to our resort and saw this, so naturally we stopped to take some pictures and enjoy the sunset! (Note: There is no color editing on this photo!)
Fund doorway I ran across in Trento, Italy. In Europe, most of the large entrance doors to the buildings have door knobs in the center, like the lion head ones above. It’s very rare to find a doorknob not in the center of the door!
Dinner! Wild Fungi (mushroom) pizza, Spaghetti, Calzone, Spinach and Cream Cheese Pizza. All were delicious!!
Vineyards. I think I want to retire in Italy!
Gondolas. (Please let me apologize in advance for all the Venice pictures. There were just SO many opportunities for great photos! I think I’ll be doing a new decor project soon with some of my Venice photos!)
Solitary Gondola. Notice how it’s curved towards the left…gondoliers only ever row on one side, so by making the gondolas curved towards the opposite side, they always go straight!!
I loved how everyone’s front doors are off the water. Instead of driving up in the car, you have to park your boat out front!
Gondolas all in a row! So quaint!
Old time Venice. (Or at least how it might have looked. You can thank Photoshop for the visualization!)
I loved this little hotel in Venice. The bright, cheery blue made me smile as we boated by!
Next up in the Europe series is going to be Austria and Germany, be prepared for a different architectural look!
Tags: alps, dolomites, italy, venice
Posted
July 20, 2010 by
erin under
Pretty Stuff I promised that when I got back from my Europe trip I would share how it went. Well, there are really no words to describe what an experience we had, but it was fabulous! I’ll share some photos over the next few days so that you can visit with me! Here are some selected photos from Rome:
Basalt paver stones at the Roman Forum. Julias Ceasar walked on these stones…so cool that they are still there after all the years!
Architectural ruins from the Roman Forum. I LOVE architectural pieces!
Some more stone carvings. Love the simple, but elegant feel to the flourishes and flowers.
The Colosseum. I find it fascinating that at one point, they would put up sail cloths to shade the spectators. I wonder how long that took them?
Metal stars on a square in Rome. I wish all places in the US were planned with this much thought to the details!
Gelato! Yes, it was delicious! Once I get moved, I’m going to work on finding the best, most authentic gelato recipe I can find. I’ll share, I promise! (Did you know that gelato is more healthy than ice cream? Well, as healthy as a frozen dessert can get!)
The pantheon. Beautiful building. Unfortunately they were doing some renovations on the exterior so my only pictures are of the inside. The large bronze doors leading into the space were about 12″ thick. Needless to say, they were huge!
Some stairs in the Vatican. The Vatican was amazing!
Tomorrow I’ll show you some of Florence, Venice, and the Italian countryside! (Probably my favorite part, other than the Alps, and maybe Paris…)
Tags: gelato, italy, rome, vatican
Posted
April 14, 2010 by
erin under
Pretty Stuff I’ve always loved glass mosaic tiles! Their glossy and almost ethereal look always mesmerizes me! I cannot wait to visit Italy this summer to see some gorgeous mosaics that are hundreds, if not thousands, of years old. One particular example is from the Florence Baptistery:
This is the ceiling. No, it’s not painted, it’s glass mosaics, many of the pieces are the size of your pinkie finger nail. So tiny but so effective as a whole! (Click on the photo to take you to the source.)
This is a close up…still looks a lot like a painting, but it’s mosaics! Amazing! (Click on the photo for source.)
I ran across this more modern company, New Ravenna Mosaics, and absolutely fell in love with their product! Here are a few of my favorites from their gallery:
P.S. I’ve got a pretty good list of things to see and do in Florence and Rome but if anyone has a favorite store, restaurant, or overlooked site that I must visit please let me know!
Tags: glass, Inspiration, italy, mosaic
