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Tuscany by Photocat, Part 4 : San Sevino
Day 3 San Sevino, Market day
The next morning we head out to San Sevino, another little hill town, perched on the side. It is a grey day, bad for digital photography, as grey is so easy to blow out. We will see how it goes. I brought my neutral grey density filter, so that one should help to stop the sky down.
We see the village, and I wonder if I will be able to keep myself busy there for a whole day. Bad question as you never know what lies behind the next corner...
The first thing we see when we get out of the car is an italian mamma being crossed at a little old guy for having scratched her car.
It starts off with the mama and the old guy, but soon the bambino is picked out of the car, and the old man his wife mixes in into the discussion. Lots of very animated gestures, yelling... The baby could not care less...
I later read that this drama is what italians need. It makes their day to have a little theatrical thing going on on a street, where everyone can see it.
We climb towards the entrance of the walled city, off we go for another shooting day.
I take a quick shot of the inside of a tricycle, they are upper class bikes really... But one is dry inside!
As it is market day, stalls are set up, and the first one is a mushroom vendor. The gnome houses look wonderful, that is, in Belgium, everyone knows that gnomes live in mushrooms. Whole families of 9 gnomes stacked in one little mushroom.
Next to the mushroom vendor is a fruit and veggie stall. It all looks fresh from the fields, and super tasty...
Even little birds are sold on the market place...
Old people love the market day, they are everywhere, chatting, laughing, pointing. It is all very vivid...
And there is always one who discovers me, grin...
I often show them the picture, and make contact with them, so they feel seen in how I saw them. I think it is very important to make contact with the people, otherwise they would just be "objects". I want them to be more then that.
We enter a church, the conservator opened it for us, it is closed normally. I typical italian church, no furniture, not restored yet, it turns out that they have the body there of St. Rita, the saint of the village.
I feel nausea when I discover that it is the remains of a real body... Not my kind of thing to watch. She appears behind a wooden panel that they take out in front of the altar. Spooky I might say.
You think there is nothing in that church, just an empty building, but no, a body lies there since 1600 and a bit... With nice clothes on.
I quickly put my attention to the beautiful mural sculptures, it all adds up to the general beauty sights of this trip.
The church is in dare need of restauration. The plaster on the walls is dirty, washed off, decayed...
But I don't know how a little town like San Sevino would get the money to tackle such a big restoration job.
For me personally, they don't have to restore it, I would just hope that they don't let it go down further. There has been leakage from the roof, the plaster has cracked and is damp... It would be great if they could just stop the further decay of this special place.
After the body of St. Rita, it is great to be back in the fresh air, in between the market stalls, with people laughing and socializing with each other.
Our next visit is the museum of ceramics in San Sevino. A little courtyard leads up to a second floor with two symmetrical stairs.
I am not very fond of ceramics, but it is nonetheless interesting to see it.
And there is always another old door that speaks a secret language...
Or another lock that invites to put in a key, only who has it?
I walk into the small streets, away from the central piazza. I am in the main street now, with the office buildings and houses of once rich patricians.
As all the towns around here are build upon slopes, you have the rooftops playing with each other, buildings go up and down, never dull. It is very agreable that you can always look down on the roofs from the layers beneath the current level of streets.
A poet long gone in time has a statue, I find more about him later, he was an important man in the village.
I watch the fish monger on the second piazza. I feel a little sorry for the grey fish. They are waiting... I like them more swimming.
I feel extra sorry for the swordfish... Not only does he have that thing on his nose his whole life, they also fish him. Poor baby...
And high time for some alley ways... I am looking out for the Jewish Synagoge. I know there is one in San Sevino.
See if I can find it.
Carpe Diem is the motto today. No hurries, no worries, just looking and snapping. Ceize the day
The weather is changing, some drizzle around, but it dries quickly. No need for umbrella's
Not yet, but grey clouds are gathering, I think we will get a thunderstorm...
More pastel colors in walls and doors. Ever changing moods...
I see a very funny building. One side of it has windows and screens, on the other side, they have painted the windows and the screens, as it is a blind wall. Very clever!
Greyish houses, and the clouds linger... Moody weather!
And a self portrait...
Find the snapper!
I come close to the Gate of the town. It is where we will meet up for lunch.
The storm is coming closer, we hear thunder in the distance...
Now that is what I call thunderclouds, it is as if the buildings make the color of the clouds more threatening...
After lunch, I am serious about finding the synagoge. I have a little plan of the city, and mark my passes.
I found the synagoge. Sadly enough there is nobody to open it, I continue my walk through past and present mixed into the streets and houses.
More little things to see high and low!
It starts to rain, I find shelter in the little doorways.
And I meet GINO!!!! I am, therefore I am CAT
His owner tells me that his name is Gino. It looks as if he had some battles going on, most of the cats and dogs I see in Italy look rather scruffy. And I don't do well with scruffy animals. I would all want to rehome them...
I have reached the back of the town, I need to go back up now... Italians don't believe in dishes, they still have antenna's to recieve their italian national television: the RAI.
Another Maria altar, they are widespread. Italians love their religion, and are devote practioners. We have to admire them for that.
The old convent is now changed into a fancy restaurant. You have to know it though or as tourist you would never find it. It is well hidden. The blue fresco is breath taking, even if it has faded due to the weather conditions.
Back in main street i meet Tony, while I have a coffee in a trattoria. An italian girl married her australian boyfriend, and she explains my words to Tony...
Tony is taking his daily walk, he stays in the old people's home around the corner, he must be centuries old. He is not too old though to grab my boobs when he poses with me. Grin, the little sneeky devil. I tell him hands off, he does not understand me of course, they are never too old for some things. ;o))))) His sunglasses were remarkably flashy and young...
Me and Tony...
Tony walks on, the italian bride kisses her australian hubby of one day, and I decide to take a look in the old convent.
Here I find the obituary of the statue down on main street.
The old cells have been converted in little reading rooms now.
The church:
Too much history here, Tuscany had civilization..., even if different popes and pontiffs fought each other like dogs for the power.
This copper door screams 1600.
The main entrance door of the church.
Exquisite doorknockers
Michael trying to sneek in a photograph, thinking nobody sees him... An old fox never ?????
The little coffee shop where I had the most delicious latte.
The old convent and church from the same viewpoint
I call the police and they look back, I am ready for them... (See what I mean with eye candy?)
Pigeons flying up after being startled
Looking down on mainstreet towards City Hall and the main Church
Time to go back to the car, we need the stairs down in the citywalls. Madeline is ahead of me
On the way home from San Sevino, we see the thunderstorm coming closer, and I ask the driver to stop so I can snap the tree.
So there is seven of us snapping a lonely tree. The italians must think we are crazy...
Even a thunderstorm is lovely in Tuscany...
To be continued (Florence tomorrow)
The next morning we head out to San Sevino, another little hill town, perched on the side. It is a grey day, bad for digital photography, as grey is so easy to blow out. We will see how it goes. I brought my neutral grey density filter, so that one should help to stop the sky down.
We see the village, and I wonder if I will be able to keep myself busy there for a whole day. Bad question as you never know what lies behind the next corner...
The first thing we see when we get out of the car is an italian mamma being crossed at a little old guy for having scratched her car.
It starts off with the mama and the old guy, but soon the bambino is picked out of the car, and the old man his wife mixes in into the discussion. Lots of very animated gestures, yelling... The baby could not care less...
I later read that this drama is what italians need. It makes their day to have a little theatrical thing going on on a street, where everyone can see it.
We climb towards the entrance of the walled city, off we go for another shooting day.
I take a quick shot of the inside of a tricycle, they are upper class bikes really... But one is dry inside!
As it is market day, stalls are set up, and the first one is a mushroom vendor. The gnome houses look wonderful, that is, in Belgium, everyone knows that gnomes live in mushrooms. Whole families of 9 gnomes stacked in one little mushroom.
Next to the mushroom vendor is a fruit and veggie stall. It all looks fresh from the fields, and super tasty...
Even little birds are sold on the market place...
Old people love the market day, they are everywhere, chatting, laughing, pointing. It is all very vivid...
And there is always one who discovers me, grin...
I often show them the picture, and make contact with them, so they feel seen in how I saw them. I think it is very important to make contact with the people, otherwise they would just be "objects". I want them to be more then that.
We enter a church, the conservator opened it for us, it is closed normally. I typical italian church, no furniture, not restored yet, it turns out that they have the body there of St. Rita, the saint of the village.
I feel nausea when I discover that it is the remains of a real body... Not my kind of thing to watch. She appears behind a wooden panel that they take out in front of the altar. Spooky I might say.
You think there is nothing in that church, just an empty building, but no, a body lies there since 1600 and a bit... With nice clothes on.
I quickly put my attention to the beautiful mural sculptures, it all adds up to the general beauty sights of this trip.
The church is in dare need of restauration. The plaster on the walls is dirty, washed off, decayed...
But I don't know how a little town like San Sevino would get the money to tackle such a big restoration job.
For me personally, they don't have to restore it, I would just hope that they don't let it go down further. There has been leakage from the roof, the plaster has cracked and is damp... It would be great if they could just stop the further decay of this special place.
After the body of St. Rita, it is great to be back in the fresh air, in between the market stalls, with people laughing and socializing with each other.
Our next visit is the museum of ceramics in San Sevino. A little courtyard leads up to a second floor with two symmetrical stairs.
I am not very fond of ceramics, but it is nonetheless interesting to see it.
And there is always another old door that speaks a secret language...
Or another lock that invites to put in a key, only who has it?
I walk into the small streets, away from the central piazza. I am in the main street now, with the office buildings and houses of once rich patricians.
As all the towns around here are build upon slopes, you have the rooftops playing with each other, buildings go up and down, never dull. It is very agreable that you can always look down on the roofs from the layers beneath the current level of streets.
A poet long gone in time has a statue, I find more about him later, he was an important man in the village.
I watch the fish monger on the second piazza. I feel a little sorry for the grey fish. They are waiting... I like them more swimming.
I feel extra sorry for the swordfish... Not only does he have that thing on his nose his whole life, they also fish him. Poor baby...
And high time for some alley ways... I am looking out for the Jewish Synagoge. I know there is one in San Sevino.
See if I can find it.
Carpe Diem is the motto today. No hurries, no worries, just looking and snapping. Ceize the day
The weather is changing, some drizzle around, but it dries quickly. No need for umbrella's
Not yet, but grey clouds are gathering, I think we will get a thunderstorm...
More pastel colors in walls and doors. Ever changing moods...
I see a very funny building. One side of it has windows and screens, on the other side, they have painted the windows and the screens, as it is a blind wall. Very clever!
Greyish houses, and the clouds linger... Moody weather!
And a self portrait...
Find the snapper!
I come close to the Gate of the town. It is where we will meet up for lunch.
The storm is coming closer, we hear thunder in the distance...
Now that is what I call thunderclouds, it is as if the buildings make the color of the clouds more threatening...
After lunch, I am serious about finding the synagoge. I have a little plan of the city, and mark my passes.
I found the synagoge. Sadly enough there is nobody to open it, I continue my walk through past and present mixed into the streets and houses.
More little things to see high and low!
It starts to rain, I find shelter in the little doorways.
And I meet GINO!!!! I am, therefore I am CAT
His owner tells me that his name is Gino. It looks as if he had some battles going on, most of the cats and dogs I see in Italy look rather scruffy. And I don't do well with scruffy animals. I would all want to rehome them...
I have reached the back of the town, I need to go back up now... Italians don't believe in dishes, they still have antenna's to recieve their italian national television: the RAI.
Another Maria altar, they are widespread. Italians love their religion, and are devote practioners. We have to admire them for that.
The old convent is now changed into a fancy restaurant. You have to know it though or as tourist you would never find it. It is well hidden. The blue fresco is breath taking, even if it has faded due to the weather conditions.
Back in main street i meet Tony, while I have a coffee in a trattoria. An italian girl married her australian boyfriend, and she explains my words to Tony...
Tony is taking his daily walk, he stays in the old people's home around the corner, he must be centuries old. He is not too old though to grab my boobs when he poses with me. Grin, the little sneeky devil. I tell him hands off, he does not understand me of course, they are never too old for some things. ;o))))) His sunglasses were remarkably flashy and young...
Me and Tony...
Tony walks on, the italian bride kisses her australian hubby of one day, and I decide to take a look in the old convent.
Here I find the obituary of the statue down on main street.
The old cells have been converted in little reading rooms now.
The church:
Too much history here, Tuscany had civilization..., even if different popes and pontiffs fought each other like dogs for the power.
This copper door screams 1600.
The main entrance door of the church.
Exquisite doorknockers
Michael trying to sneek in a photograph, thinking nobody sees him... An old fox never ?????
The little coffee shop where I had the most delicious latte.
The old convent and church from the same viewpoint
I call the police and they look back, I am ready for them... (See what I mean with eye candy?)
Pigeons flying up after being startled
Looking down on mainstreet towards City Hall and the main Church
Time to go back to the car, we need the stairs down in the citywalls. Madeline is ahead of me
On the way home from San Sevino, we see the thunderstorm coming closer, and I ask the driver to stop so I can snap the tree.
So there is seven of us snapping a lonely tree. The italians must think we are crazy...
Even a thunderstorm is lovely in Tuscany...
To be continued (Florence tomorrow)
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Comments
Realy liked them all but the tree with impending t-storm...wow....but I am a tree shooter too.....
KEEP 'EM COMING.:D
San Sevino is wednesday, and I was there till the week after tuesday.
Yell if you have enough!
http://photocatseyes.net
http://www.zazzle.com/photocatseyes
Wonderful stuff. Must have been a fabulous trip.
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Nobody gets in to see the wizard. Not nobody, not no how.
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