to the day of taking it easy

After much wine and the home made dinner, we all made our way to bed.  Memories of the day float in our heads.  Such lovely images of the coast.

Morgan taunting the guide as he begs her to get down on our side of the wall

Amalfi Coast

On the church steps

Morgan is first to wake as she is leaving today.  The week went by too fast when I think of her departing.  I am glad that we had the chance to do the very expensive tour before she left.  I am not sure when she will be back here.

Ted and I get up and walk her to the bus stop.  Corbett paid 50 euro to get to the apartment by cab and she was having none of it.  She hopped the bus and off she went.  We walked back past the port and all the cruise ships that park there.  It was early so not too many people out.  We gave her a cappuccino and a pastry before she left, so hopefully, it will last until she gets the tasty airplane food. :?

When we return, we sit around, eat some light fare.  Ted wants to take a nap, so Corbett and I wander off and explore the port.  We see Umberto Primo, the statute and the king.  What an imposing figure and he is everywhere that guy!  We walk past monuments and arches.

The stroll bayside is so relaxing.  It is dotted with selfie stick salespersons and fake designer handbag sellers.  But overall, the view is incredible enough to look past that annoyance.  They have to eat too.  And I think they really target the cruiseline folks coming off the ships like ants on the march.

Rotary Club Monument

Corbett at Napoli Bay

We stroll back and get Ted, who is waking from his nap.  We decide to go to the castle, Museo Civico Castel Nuovo.  It is inviting with real castle features and tons of 14th century catholic or christian art.  Some are lovely, most are dark and forbearing.  It is like an artistic punishment of all doings of all mankind, then one shred of sanctity and light, but you can't ever quite reach it.

A little heavy I know.  But I was raised catholic and I know the weight of these paintings in both historic value and guilt of generations.  I also know that the painters did not live like the popes. 

We wander into a room with clear floors, so that you can see the tunnels and walls beneath.  This is the same flooring that was in Patrick's classes in FSU Valencia, Spain.  You can see all the excavation and preservation.There are what appear to be bones and skeletons in the sand.  But, they turn out to be cardboard.  Regardless, Ted and Corbett take great joy in making fun of me walking only on the beams, as I am sure the plexiglass will not hold me.  They leave the room chuckling at my insecurity!

 Ted and Corbett are consumed with the artillery and the remnant of boats.  I wait in a not very clean blue, soft chair near a balcony.  I can't complain, because that is the Napoli Bay.  And I am here.  And that is Mount Vesuvius.

And not to sound ungrateful, but I wish Charles and Morgan and Patrick were with me.

Rising to the French Attitude

One never feels so dejected as when one is totally ignored.  And the French ignore you better than anyone.  Today presented challenges and not so much of the confrontational kind, but of the non existent kind.  I will give you that proper French etiquette is not followed when you don't know for sure what it is.  But if you stand in a restaurant long enough you should hear, "Je suis désolé, nous avons réservé aujourd'hui" We are booked or come back later, "Je suis désolé, pouvez-vous revenir plus tard?"

And just about when you are ready to starve, you stumble on The Breakfast Club.  Friendly, warm and gracious.  The waitress/hostess is fabulous and I am sure she is part owner.  She switches from Brittish English to French in a second and is comfortable all the way around.  She is so welcoming.  She tells us she has reservations for three of her ten tables.  If we will eat within an hour, she will let us have a table.  We tell her, Americans eat and run all the time and we sit.  The breakfast is fabulous.

And as promised, we were out of her hair in less than an hour and off to tour the streets.

The cold can be a bit piercing when you have just left a warm meal and space.  So the winds told me to not ride bikes, which was our plan.

Skateboards and scooters are considered transportation; bicycles always have right of way.  Pedestrians can cross anytime on their dime, but en masse they can cross anytime.  The preferred way of travel is the less costly.  Better to have good boots and a good coat and ride on the public transport than to have stylish plastic boots and ride a scooter.  Quality is a life thing here. So we walked and stumbled on Notre Dame number two ( the original being in Paris, there are twelve in France).

 Then off to town center and back through the Christmas market. I am scouring the City windows for boots or shoes, surely I cannot leave France without a new pair.  So we are vigorously window shopping for boots when we pass an exclusive leather store for bags and purses.  Oh my.  We duck in and the lady is so friendly and spends 20 minutes telling us how she lived in London and New York, how she hated Miami loved the Keys and how Paris is only a place to visit and it is expensive and crowded.  She explained that Bordeaux is the new Paris.  We talked of the people and the issues that Morgan and I have faced.  She told us the French are secretly jealous of the Americans and their vast country and that is why they are aloof. She said she did not even fit in the the French place even thought she is a French person. She was a lot of fun and her products are fabulous.  I took a moment to be thankful that we met her.  She explained in twenty minutes the culture we had been in for five days.  Ahh to have her as a friend to escort us to restaurants.

We decided to tour the Wine Museum ( Musee du Vin) and Modern Art Museum (Musee Maritime Beaux Arts).  Both were interesting in their own way.  The modern art Musee was really a modern film exposition and it was rather interesting to go through in English.  The Musee du Vin was very interesting as they explain the history of the region, the wines, the labels, the merchants, the fighting.  Money and good wine always brings out the best.

I have never seen wine bottles the size of my body, but I have now.  I understand labels, chateaux and merchant and picture.  I understand blends and regions.  Wow, what a great tour and this is only the musee!

The wine tour tomorrow is the best part of the day.  Morgan and I will strike out early (that has been around 9 or 10) for food and walking before the wine tour.  we are going to Saint-Émilion.

It should be fun and a learning experience. 

Morgan currently has her phone connected to my computer for battery, so I will show you some photos from Saint Michel that I did not include in the last blog.  These cows are at a store in Mont Saint Michel

Rising to the Responsibility of the Author or Painter or Viewer

This blog is not written by me, but my daughter who is in Europe, looking for direction, inspiration and her future.  She is remarkably intelligent and so aware for almost anyone, but especially a young person.
For Her Whole blog click here

"The experience brought me to thinking about more than the paintings before me. I came away with a new understanding of modern art—a greater appreciation for its evolution and depiction alike. I appreciate modern art categorically. I associate contemporary artistic efforts with the search for meaning as much as illustration. I think that admirable. Often, however, I have encountered contempt for contemporary art, perhaps most acutely by those who juxtapose it with the Realism of the 19th Century. Sure it’s modern, but is it art? I’ve seen that question on the faces of many who don’t take any pleasure in that philosophical question. And it goes the other way, too. I don’t doubt that the artists and curator of and money and materialism and crisis would have lorded over me (or flat out dismissed me) insistent that the exhibit is quite admirable, I just didn’t get it. But that is exactly the point: I didn’t get it.

Recently I revisited an old favorite, Strunk and White. Of approach to styleit reads, “…concern for the reader must be pure: he must sympathize with the reader’s plight (most are in trouble about half the time) but never seek to know what he wants.” This is section drives home empathy for one’s audience. Supplant reader with viewer and, it seems to me, there lies a lesson for today’s artists, one that seems to have escaped the masterminds behind and money and materialism and crisis. That is: my not getting it is, at best, only half my fault. In stepping in to In Progress I quickly understood that I was viewing works from the last fifty or so years. I did well enough in high school social science classes to point out general differences between Cubism and Impressionism adherents. But when I was given three paragraphs on a wall, a framework, instantly I had a knew, better perspective of (and therefore appreciation for) what was right in front of me. It was as simple as, This school was developed in the 1880s by those rejecting the principles that governed traditional techniques, especially realism and muted color palettes. All the sudden I looked at a painting of what vaguely resembled a family portrait and understood: the shape, the lack of detail, even the technique (only a simple palette knife); this was the artist’s way of breaking the mold. He was throwing convention out the window and sticking it to the man with the piece—I understand that! I can get behind that. The paragraph on the wall prepared me for that. It gave me a lens to view the work with, context to operate within. and money and materialism and crisis fell flat for me because I didn’t have that precept. I didn’t have any guidance. And if that was the point, that’s great too! But I’d like to know it is or isn’t after the fact, at the very least.

If the artists (or artists in general) can’t see their way to affording their audiences a small slice of insight then there ought to be a sign at the door that reads Before you pay to enter, please consider that these exhibits are intended for audiences with a degree or multiple degrees in fine arts.

Just before the museum closed I noticed a quote near the bottom of one exhibit by Gilbert & George: We do not want our works to say ‘art’, we want them to become art. We want them to say ‘life’.

I want to hear what art works have to say, and I appreciate the assistance I receive in my efforts."

Wish the Leadership in Washington DC was Rising to their Occasion....

In February of this year, my lovely daughter and I had an opportunity to spend a weekend in DC.  It was a freezing weekend, with rain and snow and wind and howling.  The snow fell and the wind blew my umbrella backwards.  But as I had never been all over DC as an adult without small children, I wanted to walk the whole city. And walk we did.  All the Smithsonian ground we could cover, the guided Capital tour and the Senate and House office buildings.  So on the one beautiful, but chilly morning, off we went.  And yes, I wanted my photo in front of the IRS.  They are the new friendly IRS.  They said so.  And I believe they are trying to work on their image.

come on, you have to think the IRS Building is cute  http://www.irs.gov/

Beside, Look how cute I look at the IRS!  Almost like I belonged there!

We own PNC stock and I wasn't going to let the opportunity to get a photo of this bank pass me by, even though Morgan said it was boring (it's paying her tuition!).  And what a cute bank!  Everyone should get to see the smallness and the largeness presented all at once.  It is so narrow, next to the others, but so majestic in it's slim presentation.... Banks should hire me to help with their image!

 And yet, I digress.  So this is day one (below) with me arriving at the Dulles Airport.  I was so impressed with the airplane in the air and the glass escalators...

 But alas, the ride in looked like this and it was like this the whole first day in DC.  Boo.

 I wasn't aware, but I can tell you it doesn't take more than one reading to know, that it was - and it was important- and it should never ever ever happen again.  May the next generation remember and not make the same mistakes.....

 This is the view from the hotel.  I cannot tell you how moving it was - is. There is no feeling of patriotism like seeing one's capital. And to the tech geeks of the world, please find a safe way for all of the citizens who pay for this building and all those working in it to stay safe and to allow us safely in again.....

 So coming from bo hunk little Tallahassee, this is quite the grid to understand.

 To the Tallahassee Board of Realtors http://www.tbrnet.org/ my hotel looked at the DC building of the same.  See the flag?

 The hotel was lovely.

 The doorman were the best and they know everyone and every secret and they are special people.

 The botanical garden was beautiful but warm, very warm, place to have a break from the cold walk.

 So goofy daughter decides to take pictures while I am taking pictures

If the President Obama http://www.barackobama.com was savvy in marketing, I think he would put my precious daughter on his next campaign ad :)

Oh back to the story, so we go running around DC and find a museum that lets us in just in the nick of time and this big fancy dinner is being given for Sand Capital Management http://www.sandscapital.com/ and they are having a fabulous affair that looks like a princess is about to enter.... should have bought their stock :)

 Look at the symmettry of the isle and the tables with the chairs that look like they are made of icey icicles.

 Meanwhile, back at the museum, there are statutes and busts and lovely things to admire

 I hate to say it but I am sure that these folks would have been better at yoga than me ....

 Cool portrait made of little hexagons and triangles and dots... and it looks blurry, then it looks clear and it is a statement of the man...

 Blurry

 The President who did believe in God for real, that didn't use the pulpit for or against the people, the President that took us through a hard time. http://www.cartercenter.org/news/experts/jimmy_carter.html He is a really good man.  And we are lucky to have had him and to still have him....

For my generation, this was an amazing man, amazing portrait and very moving to see.  I can still see my father break down hearing the fate of the President.  Some moments in history, one would rather not have to know.....

 And then there is tricky Dick, the man who set the tone for the middle of the road of what is tolerable as long as you win.....

 And the airport ride home.  And the best part, I went with my daughter, and I know these trips are precious and soon to be gone....  I love you Morgan and thanks for slugging through the snow and ice and wind.

Loved the visit, loved the experience.  Make you want to be an American and love this great country.  Have to tell you seeing the shuttle fly was right up there with seeing the Supreme Court.  And my thanks to Senator Bill Nelson http://billnelson.senate.gov/ for arranging the tour tickets.  What a nice staff he has!