Tag Archives: People

Garnered in a couple of hours

It doesn’t take long to find diverse scenes of street life as you wander around in the historic centre of Naples.

I had never seen a shoe-shine stand in the streets anywhere before.

The music they made was so cheery and energetic.

This reminded me of the street cleaners in Venice, except here the broom heads are made of plastic.

The boredom of a street stall owner, who has seen it all before.

A university graduate in Naples with her mother, aunt and friends. Gina has her degree in Languages (Chinese), and hopes to become an interpreter. Brava, Gina.

Leave the mail under the door. Thanks.

A voice over a loudspeaker brought me to the window, to see a vendor of fruit and vegetables plying his trade on the narrow street. And, he’s driving an Ape!

No digital scales for this fellow.

 

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In memory of Lino

Many of us did not have the pleasure of meeting this gentleman, who obviously gave a warm and friendly welcome to those who visited the Cantine del Vino già Schiavi in Dorsoduro (subject of the previous blog post). Thanks to Susie, and her husband Mark Lindsay, we now know what we have missed. What a wonderful smile he had!

Mark is a professional photographer, and he has kindly shared his photo of Lino. You might like to visit his excellent blog http://www.marklindsayart.com/la-macchina-fotografica/

Photo of Lino, courtesy of Mark Lindsay. Thank you, Mark.

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Meet Fred

Almost every Saturday, I see Fred in his parking spot outside a local supermarket. Today, I stopped to talk to him, and ask permission to take some photos of him and his rig.

He has been on the road with his sharpening/key making service for 50 years now. He covers a wide area of far north Queensland, and seems to enjoy his solitary existence. I’ll be taking some knives to him next week.

Winter or summer, he wears roughly this same outfit.

A relic of his trips into the northern gulf country.

He hasn’t been everywhere, yet.

There should be more Freds in our world.

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Filed under Atherton, Australia

All the lovely people

Just going about their daily lives.

 

 

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Filed under Venice

Wouldn’t want his job for quids!

When I wash my dishes, I look out over my shrubs to see the roof tops of the homes of my neighbours. Today, there was an added extra, starring Kerry, my favourite handyman. He was blasting the old paint and moss off the roof of one of my neighbours. I’m glad to see he was wearing a safety belt/rope, as I saw him slip just after I took the second photo.

Be careful, Kerry!

The sun peeked through for a few moments, revealing a pale rainbow in the fine rain. I don’t think Kerry was worried about the beauty of nature though!

What about you? Would you be able to do his job?

PS  This is for lemniscate47, who wondered what my geckos look like. They’ve been very reclusive today, but here’s one. He/she is about 6cm long.

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Gran Liston in Tabarro

On 8 December, we were in for another display with a difference, the Gran Liston in Tabarro, which began in the Piazza San Marco.

The tabarro is a most stylish and sensible garment for Venetian winters. It is worn with flair and verve by the lucky owners. It is a sweeping circle of a cape, worn with a toss over one shoulder.  A liston is a walk or promenade in the main campos and streets, in this case, in Venice.

Formerly the province of men, more women are investing in this garment. They looked so elegant. Yes, I now have tabarro envy. I wonder if I could get one made in red, rather than black?

The group, who certainly caught the attention of onlookers, walked from the piazza to Carlo Goldoni’s old house. He is considered one of the fathers of the tabarro.

From time to time, you will see one of the tabarros being worn in the streets of Venice. Your head is bound to turn, the better to follow the path of the person wearing it.

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Just some stuff I liked

The first two fit into the category “vecchio”, which means old.

If a new broom sweeps clean, what would this one do?

This is for those of you out there who adore shoes! It always makes me a bit sad when I find one shoe discarded. What’s the story? Where is the other one?

Not my size

Sometimes you can look both ways at once.

Look both ways

I suffer from altana envy …

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Filed under Venice

Next post, not last post

Words of wisdom that made me smileProofread carefully to see if you any words out. Author Unknown

These folks also made me smile, on a very cold Venetian day. Their music had a sort of reggae beat!

But, this graffiti made me grumpy.

It was on the top of this venerable old well head.

Did you think I had abandoned them forever?

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Pretty woman

 

Make up your own story to go with these photos.

Here’s some mood music to help you in your composition.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa3RzOWWh80&feature=related

 

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Filed under Venice