~1~ Travel Journals
I've written before about my love affair with travel journals (The Travel Journal: Interacting with the Travel Experience). Yesterday, I read through my travel journal from our trip to Italy last September. What was especially fun was reading through a few receipts I kept: the affogato al caffe at the famous Marchesi (historic pastry shop in Milano), the two pair of shoes from a little shop in Santa Margherita, the book about Otzi the Iceman from the Archeological Museum in Bolzano, the pizzeria in Stresa where a group of us sat for several hours laughing.
~2~ Online Classes
When the pandemic began, art lecturer and tour guide extraordinaire Alexandra Lawrence of Explore Florence began hosting a series of conversations entitled Forma Sideris. So far I've attendeded: Napoli Unveiled, Caravaggio, Boundless Joy (on Santa Chiara), Dante and the Birth of Pugatory, and Petrarch + the Italian Culture. A conversation on Raphael is next.
What does Forma Sideris mean? Here is Alexandra in her own words:
In the
17th century, Pope Sixtus V wanted to welcome pilgrims to Rome in a systematic
but beautiful way. He undertook a redesign of the city’s urban spaces by
creating a route in the shape of a many-pointed star whose emanating rays would
guide visitors to the most important sites in Rome. In Latin, the concept was
referred to as Roma in forma sideris (Rome in the shape of a
star) and can still be understood today by noticing the placement of obelisks
in the city’s most important piazzas.
For me, the idea of forma sideris and the shape of the star illustrate my multi-faceted interests and my approach to illuminating the history, art and culture of this wondrous country.
~3~ Things that make me smile
Earlier this week Timothy was downstairs eating breakfast when I walked by his room and saw this: his clothes laid out for work. It's very similar to how he packs for a trip ;-)
~4~ Photos of book titles
Two months ago our Book Club read Tobacco Road by Erskine Caldwell. NONE of us liked the book (in fact, we hated it) but the author is from Augusta and it did inspire a lively discussion. But really, even the Augusta Chronicle agrees with us. In 2018 they published an article about the author entitled: The Author We Love to Hate.
Anyway, a few days before book club meeting we were driving in south Augusta and saw a street sign for the real Tobacco Road (the name refers to the road toabacco farmers used to get their crops from the fiels down to the Saannah River where it was then shipped to other ports). I made Joe stop so I could take a photo. Anything for Book Club ...
~5~ Perspective is important
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