Saturday, March 23, 2013

Una pittura bella

 
View across the Veneto plain from the Euganean Hills, Northern Italy. Oddly enough this looks very like the view of the Southern Alps from Banks Peninsula in Canterbury, NZ.
 
    Went to work today. Gorgeous autumn day, but I was at work so didn't see much of it. Life is pretty ho-hum just at the moment, no holidays planned so I'd better get working on it. Italy in September/October perhaps. October is a vile month in Christchurch, it's like a little winter, the weather seems to turn back on itself after giving us spring in September, so that might be a good time to go away. Back to Rome, then south to Naples, Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast and Paestum to see the Greek ruins there. Then perhaps into Umbria to Asissi. Perhaps I'll see the new pope. I can't decide yet whether he's a breath of fresh air or the stench of decay from the crypt of the Dark Ages. Any bets on how long he lasts? Or why he goes - assassination, poisoning or stress-induced heart attack?
    Yesterday I went to the library's book fair. Loads and loads of books, almost too many really. I bought about 10 fiction books and a biography of Clark Gable, about whom I know nothing at all, except for his classic Rhett Butler role. The fiction I bought is nothing remarkable, but I like to have some unread stuff around the house in case I can't get to the library, or my choices are bad. I've read several unremarkable books lately - it's so disappointing when you think a book will be really good but isn't.
  Easter coming up, always a nice holiday, so much more relaxed than Christmas. There's not the same driven, compulsive quality as at Christmas, I hope it stays this way. Apart from Easter eggs and massive chocolate consumption, Easter hasn't been as commercialised as Christmas. And I really don't mind massive chocolate consumption at all.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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