Happy happy birthday!

I realised today that I'd missed my blog's first birthday!

What a year it's been.

I've travelled to Europe for the first (but not the last!) time.

I've discovered a love and talent for photography and participated in my first exhibition.

I've adopted a cat.

I've seen some awesome bands.

I've met some lovely new friends.

I've cooked and eaten some yummy food!

Though not 100 percent yet, I've come out the other side from an incredibly intense, debilitating period of depression and grieving that's consumed me for most of the past twelve months. I'm now medication-free and starting to look forward and enjoy living again. It's pretty exciting!

The next year is going to bring some interesting things too, I think. Hopefully this time next year I'll have finally finished my degree. I want to keep developing my photography, and participate in a few more shows, and start getting my name out there. I want to take a holiday to somewhere tropical and warm where I can lie on the beach and drink cocktails from coconuts! I want to keep meeting new people, and listening to new music, and discovering new places to eat.

I want to find that special someone, too, but one of the things that this past year has taught me is that I have to be happy with myself before I can even begin to think about being happy with someone else. I've still got some work to do yet!

Thanks for reading this past year.. here's to the next one!

Liz xoxo

Maps.

This post from Design Is Mine made me remember a photo of my own that I took while in Sydney recently.



I found this map at Susannah Place in the Rocks - I'll have to do a proper post on it soon. It was probably my favourite of all the places I visited while I was away.

Vouyerism.

Blurr.

On the Manly ferry.

Australian War Memorial.

While I was in Canberra recently, I visited the Australian War Memorial. I went there a lot when I was young, but it's safe to say that as an adult, and as a student of Australian history, I saw it through completely different eyes.



I didn't actually get to see a lot of the museum, because there was a power failure and we all had to leave! One of the displays that affected me most, though, was a series of seven etchings by a British artist named Percy Smith. The Dance of Death was inspired by Hans Holbein, and Smith has reworked the theme in stark modern tones. One of the prints, Death refuses, depicts a soldier, surrounded by his dead comrades, reaching out to Death, who has his back turned as if to say, "Sorry, it's not your turn yet." It's completely heartbreaking.


Percy Smith, Death forbids, 1919.

I've been searching online for more information about Percy Smith, and I've been having no luck at all. I'd love to know if these prints have been republished since their original run - they're just incredible.

A thousand uses!

(seen in Glebe a few weeks ago.)

I'll be back soon.

I've been on holidays, but I'll be back home tomorrow night.

In the meantime, here's a photo of the lambs I've been hanging out with here in Nimmitabel.



xx

All I Want For Christmas..

...is some snow!!

It's freezing here in southern England, but the skies have been clear all week. Mother Nature better smarten up her act!

I'm actually planning (hoping!) to spend Christmas in Copenhagen with some friends, where I should DEFINITELY see some snow. Depending on flights/whether I can afford it, I'd also like to spend a couple of days in Paris. Flights aren't hideously expensive, and luckily I am on paid leave from work and have a brother who will lend me money if I need it. So tonight will be spent running around the internet trying to find the cheapest flights. Does anyone know anyone who will let me stay with them in Paris??

I've started typing up my travel diary, and I got my photos back today on a CD, so I can start putting that stuff online soon. So that I can keep the spirit of this blog intact, I'm going to start up another one that will strictly be a travel diary. Only thing is.. what do I call it?? Suggestions are very welcome.

Here's a shot of me in Sorrento as day was breaking. The Bay of Naples is just beautiful, no matter what time of year it is! It rained hideously for the full day we were there, but then by the evening the clouds had cleared, and the morning was gorgeous, as you can see in the photo!



xoxox

The Old Country.

So it's goodbye to Italy (for now, at least), and a big hello to the United Kingdom!!

As I type this I'm lying in bed in my brother's flat, snug in a doona and listening to the trains roll past. Poor Dave is hard at work in the kitchen downstairs - he'll finish up at 10pm and I'll go down to the bar to join him for a knock-off pint or two.

That is, if I'm still awake! I awoke this morning at 3am, and was at the airport in Milan to catch my flight to London at 6. Ouch! I'm not at all sleepy though - I napped on the plane and on the buses to and from the airports, and I had a snooze after I arrived here in Potters Bar.

England so far is not really how I expected it to be! The town where my brother is living, Potters Bar, is quite nice, but I was expecting something smaller.. something a bit gentler and more countrified. There are four charity shops in the High Street so I am looking forward to rummaging through those!

Tomorrow I am going to begin work on my Italy tour blog - I'll keep you posted!

For now - goodnight from the Old Country.


xoxo

A Sad Story

On Monday morning, I am catching a plane from Milan to London.

My flight leaves at 06.45.

I have to check-in by 06.05.

The bus journey from the train station to the airport takes one hour.

I am catching a bus at 04.45.

I need to be at the train station at 04.30.

I'm thinking I'll book the taxi to pick me up to take me to the train station at 04.00.

It's going to be a LONG DAY. I think I might just not go to bed the night before.

Still alive!

Ciao!

Just a quick note to let you know that I'm still alive and well and in freezing cold, drizzly Milan.

I was abandoned by the tour group this morning as they head back to Australia, by way of Dubai, and I've just spent a frustrating and fruitless couple of hours at the central train station trying to locate the lost property office - I left my red leather Columbina mask on the train from Venice yesterday! I was told "Down the stairs and to the right" by many different station staff, but it must be invisible or something - it's definitely not there! I wll go back with Rita or Mia in tow tomorrow and they can help me break through the language barrier. One phrase I will definitely not forget now is "dov'è l'ufficio di bagliato perduto?" Argh!!

I'm feeling quite at home in Milan though because they have trams, just like in Melbourne! I am spending three more nights here before flying off to London very early on Monday morning.

What else is news? Since I last posted from Rome, we've been to Sorrento (spending the day at Pompei in the pouring rain), Orvieto (Google it - the duomo in particular is just AMAZING), Florence (David! The Uffizi!!) and Venice. The day we arrived in Venice was the day it flooded - the highest acqua alta in 50 years! We arrived at the station at 12.00 and weren't able to get into our hotel until the water dropped at 16.00. Venice is so gorgeous though, I felt the most at home there than any other city so far. I'd really like to go back there (once I've finished paying off this trip!) and spend a semester or two studying at their university.

I did some serious shopping in Venice too - I bought a pair of gorgeous, soft, cashemere-lined red leather gloves, a red leather mask (now trapped in the non-existant Ufficio di Bagliato Perduto...grrr), a print of my favourite painting in the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, and a cute navy blue leather purse from a shop I just happened to stumble into on my roamings through the lanes and streets.

I'm sorry for the lack of pictures, too - I'm in an internet cafe, and my USB cord is in my suitcase back at the hotel. I'll post photos soon, I promise!

Here's a photo of the print I bought at the Guggenheim, though - it's called Solidità Nella Nebbia (Solidity Of Fog), painted by Luigi Russolo.



Until next time....

xoxoxo

Elisabetta in Roma

Ciao a tutti!

We arrived on Friday and have spent the last couple of days in Rome - we're heading to Sorrento and Pompeii tomorrow. The last few days have been jam-packed - we've been to the Vatican and St Peter's Basilica, the Colosseum and the Forum, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps... everywhere! I made a special trip by myself this afternoon to see the Ara Pacis - Augustus' Altar of Peace. I've been wanting to see it ever since we learned about it in first year Classics, so I'm so glad I got the chance to see it! It's just beautiful and so serene.

Here's a couple of photos to keep you interested - I probably won't get time to do any real blogging until I get to my brother's in London in early December.


It's a little known fact that the Colosseum was the first pop music venue.


The exit ramp in the Vatican Museum.


Some people at the Colosseum.


The Colosseum!!


A flower on the Sant'Angelo Bridge.



Above and below, some marbles sculpture at the Vatican Museum. That's David below, but not the famous one. The open mouths above made me think of those clowns you put the balls in at the show!




Look at that sky! This was in the Piazza del Popolo this afternoon.

OK.. that's enough from me for now I think! We're off to Sorrento tomorrow and Pompeii on Tuesday. I still can't believe I'm in Italy. Wow!!

Love!

xoxo

P.S: Google an artist called Bruno Munari. You won't regret it!

Zoom-zoom.

1. Come fly with me, come fly, let's fly away...
I forgot to mention yesterday that I booked my flights to London and back! I'll be flying Milan-London in early December, and London-Pisa a month later. So exciting! This whole trip is getting more and more real with each passing day. Only 41 sleeps to go!

I'll be spending a month in London with a very tight budget - anyone got any tips for things to do for free? Obviously I'll be visiting all of the many galleries and museums! I can't wait to visit the British Museum, and in particular I want to visit the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons. I've just finished reading a biography of pioneering 18th-century surgeon John Hunter, and it'd be wonderful to see all of his specimens in the, er, flesh.

Obviously, visits to markets, vintage stores and H&M are a must, too! I'm taking the minimum of luggage with me so I can stock up while I'm away!

2. Speaking of H&M..



I spotted this in a shop in Northcote Plaza this afternoon, and it made me laugh out loud! Here's the real H&M logo...


OK.. it's getting late and I have to get up at 5am tomorrow! I hope everyone's weekends are lovely, and I'll be back on Monday!

xxx

Go panda go!

Not much interesting has been happening lately. Sorry for the lack of blogging! I really wanted to be able to post every day, but I didn't want this thing to become an "I did this and then I did this" type of blog - boring!

So instead, here is a roly-poly panda:


(isn't he cute! Apologies to Miss A. H. Cayley for stealing her idea..)

Ooh, so in attempt to spice up this post, I just went around the house and took some photos of things I like. Maybe you'll find something you like too!

#1: yellow tights.

This is what I'm wearing today. The pink shirt is a Love Of Diagrams tee, and the shoes are Docs that I'm trying to break in. They're beating me so far, but I am determined!

#2: silk scarves.

One of the easiest ways to add a splash of colour to your Melbourne black is with one of these babies knotted casually around your neck. Mine are all from various op shops and vintage stores, except for the skinny arlecchino one, which is from Gorman.

#3: my window menagerie, plus teapot.

Some little things I've collected over the years. Here there are in more detail:


My friend Preethi gave me this cat money-box as a housewarming gift when I moved into my last house, in Thornbury. I've never put any money in it, though.


A pig from Vanuatu, and Three Wise Monkeys from Botswana, both gifts from my parents from various overseas trips. Take note, potential suitors - this pig is my dowry, as is traditional in Vanuatu. Form an orderly queue, now.


Half a tiki, from New Zealand. My dad brought this back years ago - it used to scare me a bit.


An elephant from South Africa, and a teapot from Savers in Greensborough. Isn't it funny how teapots and elephants are similarly-shaped?

#4: vanilla tea.

My very wonderful and talented friend Pip sent this to me from Tasmania. Aren't I lucky!

(also note my baby-blue kettle!)

(psst.. Pip! I've nearly run out!)

#5: dictionary.

This Chambers dictionary was a 21st birthday gift from my grandmother, who thinks every home should have one. It's definitely one of the most useful gifts I've ever received - it gets used on an almost-daily basis. Ask me a word - any word - and I bet you $10 it's in there.

#5: organised clutter.

This is a recurrent theme throughout my house. My mother will scoff when she reads this ("Ha! There's no such thing as 'organised clutter'!"), but I swear I know where everything is, except when someone else has moved it. In this example, you will see (from left to right):

A Vancouver moose, brought back from Canada by my mother, my film camera, Bear (who was a gift from my first love), my zoom lens, a mint-green clock from an antique store in Hamilton, a robot birthday card which I was supposed to send to my father for his birthday almost a month ago, a Butch Vig drumstick, a Glomesh purse that belonged to my grandmother, and a couple of candles brought back from Malaysia by my father.

Phew!