A thousand musicians playing your song is a powerful invitation. And it only took a few hours for Dave Grohl to respond.
In Italian – who knew? Click here to see the response.
Category Archives: Italy
Please come to Cesena
The small town of Cesena in northern Italy is trying to attract the attention of the band the Foo Fighters. They want to the band to come and play a concert in their town.
They are really, really keen. See for yourself – http://www.rockin1000.com
Some randomness
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I have had a collection of random photos building up on my desktop for a while. Shots that I liked but which had no real story attached to them – other than they might be useful for a blog sometime in the future. Today … Continue reading
To retouch or not to retouch
A few years ago we found ourselves in the hiiltop town of Monteriggioni about 20 minutes north of Siena. It was late in the afternoon and there was a view through the Eastern gate looking out across the Tuscan countryside that just had to be photographed.
When I saw the shots on screen I was disappointed. In some shots the gate surround was almost black and the shot lacked colour and contrast. In others, when the exposure was long enough to show the gate surround the countryside beyond was over exposed. The obvious thing was to load the shots into Photoshop and do some work. Which is what happened.
One of the great things about digital cameras is that they store a huge amount of the detail lurking in dark areas of a shot. The area may look black but with a little coaxing the detail can be brought out. Usually without affecting the exposure in the rest of the shot. This is what I did along with increasing the contract and saturation in the shot.
I guess the test of the finished shot is whether it represents the scene as I remembered it at the time? And yes it does.
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- Monteriggioni’s eastern gate before retouching
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- Monteriggioni’s eastern gate after retouching
Aaahhh … Positano
Regular readers will know that Positano on Italy’s Amalfi Coast is one of our favourite places to visit. We’ve taken many picture of the view from the village looking out to sea and of the village from the beach, but it’s not often that we venture onto the water and see the village from the sea.
Good news though – it still looks great.
This picture is actually from a few years ago when we were returning from a day tour along the coast. Thanks to Gennaro and Salvatore’s boat hire for many great days on, and in, the water. As I look at the photo I can still hear Capitano Salvatore singing as we make our way home at the end of the day. Multo bene.
Echos of summer in Toscana
For the northern summer of 2011 our life consisted of doing very little – but doing it very well. On the fine sunny days – pretty much every day between May and October – we spent time at our villa pool.
And after a hard afternoons sunning and swimming it was a short walk back to the cottage for a G &T, a beer and some time to recover from the stress of the day.
Piazza San Pietro in Roma
For no particular reason I was looking through our photo archives and came across a half dozen shots we took of the piazza outside St Peters a few years ago. I’ve never stitched them together before. But now I have, they actually make a half decent panorama despite being from a camera quite low on megapixels.
As a matter of interest the Pope often gives blessing to the crowds in the piazza on Sunday from the window of the building in the centre of the shot. Top floor, second window from the right.
A view across Siena
For no particular reason, a panorama of Siena taken last August. I had never got around to stitching the 6 shots together until a few days ago. Once a few errant street lights and poles were removed, the result is quite good.
The shots were taken from the university looking across the old city. The Torre del Mangia is on the left and the Basilica of Saint Maria Dei Servi is on the right.
2014 – the year that was
It was a fun old year at our place. As always there seemed to be a lot happening but when I look back at the photos we’ve taken, our trip in August and those puppies – well Bella mainly – seem to dominate.
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- Rosie sitting on her bench in the garden
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- Wellington City across the harbour
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- Mount Victoria across Evans Bay
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- Our two at home
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- How not to park a 356 – paint missing and dented
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- The most photogenic house in Nelson
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- We decided to paint the house – one of these colours …
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- … then endured weeks of this
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- Jean’s lap in demand
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- Coming home from work to this … Bella!
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- Bella fascinated by a bug
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- 911 in parking garage at work
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- Rosie with Poppie and Bella enjoying the afternoon sun
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- Jean baking up a storm
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- Poppie in front of our fire in a wintery July
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- The girls out walking in the UK
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- Neil and Jayne’s back yard on a sunny English summers evening
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- Relaxing at Hotel Eden Roc in Positano
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- You can build almost anywhere in Positano
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- Restaurant Bruno in Positano – the road is thrown in at no extra cost
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- Noto’s sun coloured streets at dusk
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- Noto Cathedral, Sicily
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- Sunset over Sant’ Agostino, Sicily
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- A cliche of a rental car – Fiat 500 cabriolet
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- The real Fiat 500
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- Market day in Ortega, Sicily
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- Sicilian parking – not by me I have to say
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- Sicilian sunset
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- The impressive pool at our villa in Sicily
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- Relaxing in the evening – Sicily
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- The Torre al Mangia in Siena
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- Hotel Relais Vignale in Chianti
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- The view on our walk from carpark to Campo
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- The morning view from our Tuscan hotel balcony
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- Jean in Rome
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- On the terrace at La Pergola in Rome
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- Bella looking innocent
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- Summer’s arrival in Wellington
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- Bella stuck in the bath
Togetherness
From the balcony of our hotel room in Positano we could look across the road and see the back yard of a small villa which was perched on the edge of the cliff overlooking the bay. An elderly couple live there and every evening they sit outside, side by side and enjoy the sunset.
Sometimes one gets the other a drink and sometimes one or the other nods off to sleep. But every evening they are there, sitting next to each other.
We first noticed them years ago and every time we visit Positano we see them again, each time a little older, a little slower and a little frailer. But always together.
Beware of Via dei Condotti
One thing Jean was set on buying, even before leaving home, was some form of sleeve or holder for her MacBook Air. She was waiting until we reached Rome so she could visit Via dei Condotti and the Louis Vuitton shop.
Via die Condotti runs from the base of the Spanish Steps to Via del Corso – 4 blocks of premium shopping. Every European luxury brand is on the street. Gucci is on the corner at the base of the Spanish Steps. Valentino is next. Then it’s Prada and Dior. A little further down is Louis Vuitton. It just keeps going.
We headed into Louis Vuitton’s three storey shop and were greeted warmly (well Jean was as she had one of the shops fine products over her shoulder) and asked what we were looking for. Yes, of course they have laptop sleeves and bags. Yes we’d be delighted to follow the staff member to look at some options.
The shelves are full of product all perfectly displayed. The staff (who seem to out number customers by three to one) are immaculately groomed and dressed, and the store is spotless with none of the usual retail clutter you see elsewhere.
None of the bags on the shelves are used as samples. If you are interested in a bag, a sample is available from drawers below the shelves, each bag in a special holder to protect it. The staff also wear gloves to handle the merchandise.
Of course if you purchase an item, it arrives already wrapped from somewhere else in the store.
Our modest “laptop sleeve” rapidly turned into a messenger bag. But which size – there were three – and which pattern – modern or traditional? The price started to climb.
In the end a selection was made, aided somewhat by a glass of champagne, and was charged to Jean’s account. Yes, scaringly, ever since she bought her first bag 6 years ago, Jean has an account.
God help us all.
Air New Zealand versus Cathay Pacific – our experience
Travelling to London via Hong Kong and then back from Rome to Auckland via Hong Kong gave us the ability to compare the Premium Economy class offerings on the two airlines. And although it’s called the same name, the reality is that the offering is quite different.
Air New Zealand were one of the first airlines to offer this “better than economy but not business” class when they phased out first class and promoted business class to lie flat beds.
The general Premium Economy offering is simple – greater legroom and wider seats in a separated cabin area with a range of added comforts – a dedicated check in, better food and drink, amenities packs, welcome drinks – all which vary by airline.
With Jean and I being tall, the key benefit is the added legroom. This is even more important given the distance we travel and the time we spend onboard.
Until this trip we have been dedicated Air New Zealand customers and have seen their Premium Economy offering evolve over the years from a basic “greater legroom” product through to the specially designed seat pods that they introduced about 4 years ago.
But two years ago Air New Zealand made changes to their Airpoints programme which removed any advantage for us booking and paying for their Premium Economy seats. So this trip we threw ourselves on the open market and simply went for the best deal we could find – which turned out to be Cathay Pacific.
We discovered our trip was, in fact, a codeshare between Cathay Pacific and Air New Zealand so our trips between Auckland and Hong Kong were on Air New Zealand metal and the legs between Hong Kong and London/Rome were on Cathay – the same Premium Economy class but very different experiences.
In terms of legroom and seat comfort there was not much in it. Cathay had 8 seats across the cabin, Air New Zealand had nine – but the Air New Zealand seats felt wider. Legroom was expansive on both.
The cabin ambience was better on Cathay mainly because the plane (an Airbus 350) was new versus Air New Zealand’s 777 which was in need of a refit or replacement with one of their new Dreamliners.
The service was much better on Air New Zealand. Meals were better quality and served on china, not plastic, and there were cabin staff dedicated to the premium economy section. If you wanted something, it was there, immediately.
Cathay Pacific, on the other hand served standard economy food on plastic plates – and wine from plastic glasses. The cabin staff served both premium and economy cabins, but they still managed to answer our calls quickly and efficiently but did slip a couple of times.
Because of the comparative ages of the planes, Cathay’s entertainment offering was more comprehensive and higher quality with touch screens and excellent screen clarity. Air New Zealand struggled to compete but, talking to staff, things are looking up with upgrades to the 777 fleet just around the corner and the first Dreamliners already operating across the Tasman.
So who wins? Air New Zealand by a small margin – but when they are flying with better planes it won’t be a contest. They just know how to do things well, and to make passengers who have paid extra for a little comfort feel it’s money well spent.
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- Somewhere over the Baltic Sea
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- Nine hours gone, only two more to go … arghhhh
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- Belly cam – clouds and more freaking clouds
Dinner at La Pergola
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It’s not often that we make a restaurant reservation 4 months in advance. And it’s even less often that they come back and advise that, even with that much advance notice, they cannot confirm a table on the terrace – we … Continue reading
And then home
We arrived back in New Zealand earlier in the week after 4 fabulous weeks away. We were greeted by warm spring weather (which has now turned back to winter) and two very happy puppies who, after an initial frenzied greeting, proceeded to ignore us just to make a point.
The last few days have been spent recovering from jet lag and unpacking – as well as returning to work because, let’s face it, the holiday has to be paid for somehow.
There are still a number of posts to write covering such things as our dinner at the 3 Michelin Star restaurant La Pergola in Rome, some thoughts on modern air travel, how purchasing a laptop case on Via Condotti in Rome can turn into something much more and the temptation of Hong Kong duty free shopping.
I’ll post these over the next few days – just as soon as I write them.
Pantheon memories
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As we wandered through Rome we passed the Pantheon. The last time we did this was 2011 when we had the girls with us. We recalled the challenge of walking them through the streets avoiding, not only the multitude of visitors, but … Continue reading
Toscanakiwi 