by Valerie | May 23, 2018 | General interest, history, Italy, people, travel
‘In a full-hearted evensong Of joy unlimited…’ Yesterday evening a thrush serenaded us as we sat under a serene blue evening sky. He started in the chestnut tree outside my window, perched behind one of its many candle-like flowers, then flew to perch on... by Valerie | Apr 4, 2018 | art, General interest, history, Italy, museums, people, travel
I was asked to look at a painting and pronounce whether it is an authentic work by Zoffany, an 18th-century portrait painter. Is it really his autograph work? As I write his name, my memory conjures up visions of gentlemen and women, in formal or informal poses, in... by Valerie | Mar 28, 2018 | art, General interest, history, people, poetry
When did ‘thou’, ‘thee, ‘thy’ and ‘thine’ die an unnatural death? They lingered on in regional dialects into the last century, but I suspect they dropped out of common usage well over a century ago in the more formal Victorian era. Intimate insult was used during the... by Valerie | Mar 21, 2018 | art, childhood, General interest, history, people, Uncategorized
Daniel is eight years old. Sometimes when he wakes up early in the morning he goes into the garden to play his recorder, if it’s not too cold. If it is, he plays it softly in the kitchen. In March, he told me, he could be playing in the Albert Hall. ‘Who was Albert?’... by Valerie | Feb 14, 2018 | art, General interest, history, people, travel
My friend and her husband invited me to stay with them in Indonesia where he was working in the Italian embassy. She and I sat in her sitting-room overlooking the garden where banana plants seemed to sprout as we talked. She introduced me to the local fruit and... by Valerie | Feb 8, 2018 | art, General interest, history, Italy, museums, people, travel
Square, bluey-black when dry, bluey-grey and slippery when wet, the old paving stones in the medieval heart of Rome, or sampietrini, were originally a cheap way of paving the streets with off cuts from blocks of basalt used to pave ceremonial buildings. They wear...
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