Il Mio Piccolo Paradiso

Most often, I have written a small story with my photos. In this post, I will say nothing more, than that I love Buggio. In the mountains of Northern Italy, my family has been visiting (and some summers, residing in) this small village in the last sixteen years. I love the people of Buggio, I love how they communicate, their expressions, their many personalities, and their welcoming hearts. I know I am a straniera, but nonetheless, I appreciate how welcome I feel upon my returns, and how appreciative I am of the many friendships my family has developed over the years.

Buggio

One of my favorite spots on the mountain

I have chosen to highlight some of the men in this post. So here is, hopefully, the first of a series of pictures of Il mio piccolo paradiso.

The children looking down at the church square.

Homemade food is served after a church sermon up to San Giovanni (San Giuani i local dialect)

An exquisite elderly couple

The town priest who holds sermons in the mountain villages

Of course, you need a little wine and freshly picked olives...

Olives from the mountains

Je Suis Une Petite Valise Rouge

Paris, Je T'aime

Musée du Louvre

In Denmark, the school system is obsessed with teaching us other languages (and I love it!). So after having a base in Danish, then starting English in third grade, and German in sixth, I was able to choose an elective in seventh grade. It was between Latin and French, and I went with Français (and took Latin a couple of years later). 

I will admit my French class was more of a social gathering in the afternoon, watching French movies (the beginning of my die-hard love for Jean-Renó) and my teacher occasionally bringing pizza. I won't pretend I remember any French beside "Je suis une petite valise rouge" - I am a little red piece of luggage.

I visited Paris in November of 2010 for the first time since I was ten. My greatest memory from then was the Tigger boxers I bought at the Disney store on Champs-Élysées. This time, I wanted to explore all the beauty Paris had to offer - in the two days I was there. Touristy yet necessary, the Louvre was definitely one such beauty.

A peek into the Louvre

A couple of pieces of art struck me, the two below more so than the famed Mona Lisa. Perhaps because the Mona Lisa was protected by glass, a railing and guards, with flocks of people surrounding it, taking their souvenir photos (I did too) - but it prevented having a silent moment of observation and connection to the brush strokes, the composition, the meaning behind that brought it to life. Only a few truly captured me, and they are shown below.

How does this impact you?

The bravery of a woman

The Louvre, with the long lines, the flashing cameras, the mobs of people, was still a worthy visit. If only I could have walked the oaky grand halls past closing, listening to the whispers of voices past, their discussions on a world that had been, their criticisms and applause, and the tones of war and love exuding from the settings within the golden frames. 

And yet, some could find solstice within the walls of a plaza downtrodden with busy feet...

Amidst tourists rushing by with their cameras and pinned smiles, in a corner of the great Louvre, one man sat silently with a bowed head 

Je Suis Une Petite Valise Rouge: Part Deux

Un Café

Walk into a cafe in Paris and order un café, and you will get the smallest cup of coffee you have ever encountered (not unlike the tea set you had when you were three). Although surprised, and feeling kind of jipped, I sipped on my 2.40 Euro mouthful of concentrated caffeine, and found that I quite liked it; not leaving me with the feeling of an empty meal the way a venti Starbucks Mocha Coconut Double Chocolate Chip Frappuccino does. You end up not mindlessly annihilating a mass of sugary ice only to remember what you were consuming when you start inhaling air rather than caramel out of your straw. Rather, you sip and enjoy every mouthful of undisguised flavor. Great value often comes in compact packages.

Much beauty was observed on my second day, as I literally wore the soles off my boots wandering and exploring. 


In the middle of a small town, with broken concrete tiles, a carrousel lit up my eager childlike face. Sit back and take in the colours of Paris. 

Un Carrousel

In the heart of Paris

Old worldly; can you hear the tunes and the laughter?

With lips in awe and big, squinted eyes, I inhale the colours

Waterfall of pearls

Bon Soir, Paris

Eyes of a Child

Do you ever feel like you've just spent way too much time indoors lately? I feel like that pretty much every day. Luckily, my coworker is of the same sort, so today on our lunch break we walked down to Woods Cove, a beach by Diamond Street, pulled of our socks and shoes and hiked our skinny jeans up as far as the cheap stretch material would allow. The high tide's rushing waves competed with us to the strand of beach left before the cliffs - laughter and sillyness filled our spirits and I felt like a little kid, ready to strip down to my undergarments for the thrill of jumping in the icy blue water. Ahh, Pacific Ocean, you are my rebirth.


Last weekend I explored the tidepools, about a three minute walk North of Main Beach. Everyone was out enjoying the sunshine, greedily devouring the freedom of a Saturday afternoon with smiles and laughter and each in their own way.

High school boys at a game of giant hopskotch 

As I was walking on the irresolute waterline where the waves rest for a hesitant moment before retreating loyally back to the ocean, I saw some high schoolers draw deep grooves in the sand for a game of giant hopskotch. Naturally, I planted my feet in the wet sand and observed, and it didn't take long before we were discussing their pursuit for fun. I cannot tell you how hard we were cracking as the boys took turns making the game more challenging; "Backwards Hopskotch" and "Double Rectangle Only Hopskotch" were my faves - "Superman Hopskotch" was epic, but would lose it's beauty if explained.

Walk a little further and you hit the tidepools, enjoyed by all; loners, locals, the emo high school couple, the little boy wearing a wetsuit yet terrified of getting his feet wet, the mother reverently commanding her six year old daughter to slow down as she speeds over to investigate a cave (oh do you remember the wonders a cave could bring you as a child? You were the first to have ever discovered it!) and of course the inquisitive child that relentlessly pokes the poor yet patient sea anemone (amenome, anenemy?)

Inquisitive nature

We should never loose our curiosity, it drives us, it expands our horizons, it creates an interconnective mind supported by creativity. It still amazes me how I can continue to take in new life experiences, learn new things, study politics, biology, human nature, one hundred ways to prepare an egg,  create networks in my mind that expand from here to Tonga and every and any obscure destination in the world, and still, my head is so little. Who can possibly believe in limitations, when all that is going on in such a small space?

The Cave

Only accessible by crossing treacherous waters or climb the ruthless (five foot) cliffs

Ahh yes, I am still enamored by nature's curiosities, and I hope that I will never lose sight of them. Let not the world impressed upon us be the only one we see. Whatever my weathered retinas show me, I hope to see it through the eyes of a child. 

And so, I find a cave.

Perigee Moon

Unless you live under a block of concrete, or you simply have no interest in natural beauty, you may have noticed the Perigee Moon illuminating the sky last night. The Perigee Moon, approximately 14% bigger and 30% brighter than the opposite apogee moon, is about 50,000 km closer to earth and occurs every 18 years or so. The last one was in March 1993, the month and year my brother was born. Last night, on the 19th of March 2011, it appeared again - on my brother's 18th birthday.

These pictures were taken between 7:32 pm and 8:40 pm, overlooking the harbor in Dana Point, California.

The moon presented itself as a dangerous beauty, illuminating the sky even behind dark clouds. Watching the boats trickle in and out of the harbor was calming and gracious as they slid across the moon's reflection on the ocean surface.

Cheers to natural wonders out there - and to those who appreciate it