Archive | November, 2012

Drinking and Driving…..

12 Nov

No, this is not what you think. Not irresponsible, not a recommendation, but separately, and carefully, ….fun! Read on:

If you’ve been following this blog you know that we rented an incredible apartment and walked everywhere. And some places we walked to……sold wine. Mmmm. The nice, no the great thing about Italian wine is it doesn’t make you feel all stuffy, and sneezy like some wines do. Here are some of the yummy and quite affordable finds we tasted. The first is our favorite.

San Martino Chianti Classico

Mulino Dei Frati

Cielo

Cupido

How, I ask is it possible to resist Cupid? Yummy!

Piccini

Piccini? Why that sounds close to Porcini, as in the mushroom so they must go well together. And indeed they did!

Rubentino

All of these wines were quite delicious. Don’t you think it’s a little odd that each bottle leans just a bit? Wonder if it was the photographer! Anyway, we have found some of these here at home. I think I like the prices better in Florence though!
Now we come to some of the fun vechicles we thought you might enjoy. The first is for our pals at UPS.

UPS Van

Now we’ll start by size and weight, I think. Anyway……..

Segway Tours

We did see some fine people (although not many) on these. And once we saw two young men on one segway towing a second segway. It looked a lot easier and safer than towing a car, especially in the narrow streets.

Scooter and motorcycle row

I love this shot. Between the scooters, motorcycles, a few bikes, and even the shadow. Most were so sleek and shiny.

Pasquali

Another favorite – there are three shots of this. I especially love the handicap placard in the front dash! But it gets better!

Pasquali 2

How versatile is this little guy? See the figure in black at the far end of the right side? If it breaks down, there is another mode of transportation?

Pasquali 3

So it’s a three wheeler. (I wasn’t sure about protocol so I altered the license plate just to be safe). But how cute is this little guy? But wait, there’s more!

Red Electric?

I suppose I should have found out more about these vehicles. We think this model is electric. I like the color. And for some odd reason (maybe because I’m odd the seat belts cracked me up. This little guy was time. But a great solution for the area, nicer when it rains, that’s a plus, not to mention the energy savings if it is indeed a non petrol vehicle.

Red Electric 2?

So that it for our drinking and driving post. Do not do these on the same day. My advice is to walk around, take photo’s that make you happy, stop by the store to pick up a little vino, go home, eat, sip, and review your day on your computer. Unless you use film – you’ll have to wait, so just watch Italian TV. The commercials are great!

Ciao! DJ*

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Could it be a Sign?

5 Nov

Sorry I’ve been absent but that little bug that hubby adopted early on in our trip decided to jump ship and landed on me. At first he was quite polite but by the time we started home he gleefully jumped into fully swing and has led me on a lively dance. The little brat!

We left off with the Duomo which was pretty amazing to me. I may have gotten a little heavy handed with the pictures but they were so gorgeous and incredible I got a little carried away. Today I think we’ll go back to the lighter side – some pictures that tickled our fancy or just cracked us up. A bit frivolous today if you don’t mind. A few at the end are not, just interesting don’t you think? Here we go……..

Street sign by Clet Abraham in "Via della Venezia"

My husband started taking a few pictures of these street signs. We had no idea what they were, or meant, but enjoyed the humor of the artist. I have since found out through Google and other bloggers that this is the work of Clet Abraham. One blog was “Livorno Daily Photo” and the other was “Tuscany Arts” which has an interview with the French Artist. Be sure to check them out. There are quite a few that we missed, but here are 3 more (and I suspect that others have added to them).

Now you’re probably wondering why I’m posting the next picture. Well, with the increased use of cell phones, public phones are on the decline. We thought it was brilliant to find one in Italy (where they are also on the decline) and the method of payment is credit card! Very handy. I especially like the “OK” button!

Public Phone

The next picture I believe is a pet store. And the one below is a close up of collars and toys. We almost bought a little dress for our friends dog, but the prices were a little to rich for us. Very cute though.

Pet Store

Pet Store Display

The next two pictures “Frey Wille” and “Geronico” in our minds were plays on a whale movie and a Native American, which is course not the case but they made us smile. I was definitely not laughing when I Googled them and discovered what they really were. I could have quite happily spent some time and money in those establishments! Jewelry and leather goods? How on earth did my shopping nose let me down? Sheesh!

Frey Wille Jewelry

Geronico

I have saved my two favorites for the last. I’m not even sure of the name of the store as we were so taken with the display. The first is a full shot and just look at the gorgeous crystals on either side of the mannequin. They are also scattered artistically throughout the display and many at her feet. But the close up of her face in the last picture is stunning (I think!) with her eyebrows done in crystals.

And for the piece we couldn’t resist:

Crystal Brows

Oh and by the way, the jacket was only 9600 Euro! (Hubby got me two – Not!)

We’ll have much more coming, hang in there with us. And hubby is doing some pretty incredible videos. You won’t want to miss those!

Ciao, DJ*

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