A Final Peek

Sometimes I feel a little voyeuristic, peeking into people's lives with my camera while we are travelling. But I love to look inside, if only for a moment, to snatch a glimpse of the lives of the people in the towns that we visit. Doesn't it make you wonder - who lives here? How old is this building? What interesting stories could this place and these people tell? It sparks the imagination.

This is the last of the photos I'll share from our day trip to Brescia. I hope you enjoyed the "peek" into another place in Italy!

Beautiful Brescia

A hidden courtyard invites you to stop for a moment in Brescia, Italy.

Brescia is a medium-sized Italian town about an hour from here. Yesterday morning I had my Italian driver's test (I passed!) and then we headed out for a sunny Saturday in Brescia. Just a new place to explore. Brescia has it's own personality, with many of these hidden courtyards, large doors with stone arches and rock walls partially stuccoed. Every time I start to think, "I'm taking the same picture, over and over again, just in a different place," I realize the subtle differences that give each town it's own sense of place in the world. These little details are what make each town we visit more than just a point on the map, more than just the same thing over and over.

Arches and Courtyards

This courtyard is in an abbey in Verona. Again, more arches. But also of note are all of the courtyards. From the outside, the street view, many cities just have sidewalks and buildings and streets. But once you get inside, it often opens up into these wonderful courtyards. Hidden little places of beauty with greenery or fountains, the ability to get some outside air and sunshine in a nicer environment. Buildings have courtyards, cities have piazzas for the same thing.

Arches

I loved this courtyard in the Palazzo Ducale in Genova. I've been looking at the photos I have in queue to post on my blog and have noticed that I have a LOT with arches. Arches inside buildings, arches outside. Arches of gates, arches of hallways, arches of windows. Either arches just catch my eye or they are just everywhere here in Europe! Maybe both. I will probably never be able to answer that question, because you can't really extract the photographer from the photographs to see the true reality. You just see the piece of reality that the photographer saw at that moment. And my reality includes a LOT of arches...

Inviting

Isn't this the most inviting little scene? The gate is cracked open, just waiting for someone to step inside. There is tantalizing view of the flowers in the courtyard, showing that someone put thought and effort into the space. The purple house makes me think - hey, I want to know this person who paints their house purple and has such beautiful flowers. I want to sit in their courtyard and drink tea. (Of course, this is in Italy, so it would be coffee they are drinking, sadly for me.) I love images like this that invite you in, where you can make up a whole story based on it. They say, "An image is worth a thousand words," but each of us can use a different thousand for the story. How fun!