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!

Angles and Lines

I love all of the angles and lines that were in this corner, and the little bits of stucco that were left off to show the old building underneath. Just a little taste of what the building truly is on the inside. You see this quite often in Italy, and a lot in Brescia, just an arch of bricks here, a corner there to show the original stone or brick work. Enough to know that this really is an old place, without letting the entire building sit out in the elements to eventually crumble to the ground.

As an added bonus today, I share this quote I read this morning in Maya Angelou's Letter to My Daughter:
The ship of my life may or may not be sailing on calm and amiable seas. The challenging days of my existence may or may not be bright and promising. Stormy or sunny days, glorious or lovely nights, I maintain an attitude of gratitude. If I insist on being pessimistic, there is always tomorrow.
Today I am blessed.

Back with a Bell

I love the monochromatic scheme of this photo... in the weathered bike and bell, and wall, in Brescia. What stories do this image tell you? We each make up our own. That's what I love about these images.

We just got back from our week long vacation to Rome and Umbria. I had every intention of scheduling blog posts for the entire week we were gone but time got away from me. It was a wonderful week of experiencing something new (or ancient, depending on your perspective!) and I look forward to sharing some images after I sort through the gazillions of photos I took. I don't even want to think about the number!

(By the way, try explaining a word like "gazillion" to a non-native speaker sometime, it makes you realize how much a language is absorbed, just soaked from the environment, not intentionally learned.)

City Portrait

I tend to like these photos through gates and arches and doorways. It's as if the city itself is both the frame and the subject. You get a sense of being outside and looking inside, but the twist is that you are already inside, just by the nature of seeing through the arch. Enjoy the perspective, and the little view of the duomo piazza in Brescia.

Symmetry

I'm not sure what I really like about this photo... I think maybe the symmetry of the mailbox and flower box in the wall. Or maybe it's the interesting color combination? It could be the composition overall.

What do you think?

Proclaiming its Age

Here is a building, in Brescia, proudly proclaiming its age. A weathered door, the missing stucco. All of it unapologetically saying here I am, take me or leave me! I hope that I weather age so well. :)

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.