Travelling

 It has been the longest time since I have blogged since I started blogging 19 years ago. The longer it went the less I thought I had something to share or say. I was also super busy, so busy my garden got quite neglected and  it took me some time to find a house sitter to look after Portia my rescue cat. After  my exhibition at Meeniyan Art Gallery finished I plunged into a round of creating for my exhibitions at Patchwork & Quilt Dagen in  Rijswijk, The Hague in the Netherlands and then to Nantes for Pour l'Amour du Fil. Both were busy events. In the Netherlands I did catch up a little with family but the event was busy so I had little time to do anything.

Some new work I created for Europe:

I must admit I faced the further planned travel with a sense of trepidation or was it anxiety ? I  just felt that after more than four years I might have forgotten how to travel, how to catch planes and trains and buses. My youngest daughter was with me for some of the time as she embarked on a 3 week European holiday and we traversed the continent. From Nantes we went to Paris, Venice (on the night bus a journey which I had not looked forward to but proved to be better than anticipated), Florence, Rome and Pompeii and back to Rome where I farewelled my daughter and headed onto Perugia. Venice, Florence and Rome were  crazy busy and as my daughter had never been to Rome she wanted to see everything. I had been warned that Pompeii gets crazy busy but in the end it proved not too bad and though  we ascended Mt Vesuvius by bus to where you get out and walk the rest of the way, I forewent that joy as it was windy and cold and looking at the incline I was not sure I would make it all the way up.

I will be staying in Perugia for two weeks and  am really enjoying it thus far. I rented a small apartment downhill from the old town, but the historic centre is easy to get to with the Minimetro which stops just behind the apartment block. I have spent two days wandering, visiting the Gallery Nazionale which is hosting a wonderful Perugino exhibition which I will go back and see, early in the morning, before the groups of school children arrive. And I am in Madonna heaven to be honest- I have never seen so many painted madonnas in one place. I love seeing how the faces change with the fashion and techniques of the time, and the times that the face of the model starts to hold a place in the composition. I also love the Perugino exhibition because  you can get close to the paintings and there is a definite development of his work until he reaches his peak, and here and there the work of contemporaries or students of his have been added into the mix. The collection of the gallery itself is also interesting with some more wonderful madonnas and a beautiful portrait by Suor Plautilla Nelli of Santa Caterina and said to be the likeness of Caterina de' Ricci.

There is a lot of history in this city, like so many Italian towns and many of the churches date to the  15th and 16th  centuries. When you walk around the old part of the city there is a sense that this city is still lived in and though there are tourists it isn't the thousands of Rome, Florence and Venice. The food has also been very good at the two different restaurants I have tried ( although I have rented an apartment to minimise eating out costs, however could not resist the first two days and tomorrow is a farmers/ bioproduce market).

I love the poster  for the bio market with its pomegranate trees and the  lovely rounded shape of the tree.

 The image is of Maramao Pane & Vin where I had a most enjoyable meal. One thing I have noticed now that I don't drink anymore is that so much food and eating out  in France and Italy is all about the wine with the meal- these days I drink fizzy water and  it does not quite feel the same. 

And  some images of the Perugia Historic centre.