Saturday, May 25, 2013

Our Secret Italy

Living the Italian dream – Your new home is waiting

August 25, 2011
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Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you imagined ~ Henry David Thoreau Yes, we are moving to Italy! No we haven’t sold our house yet… everyone seems to be asking us when we are leaving and I have to say I don’t know! We have been planning and working towards [...]

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Seeing is believing… or is it? The magic art of Trompe L’oeil

April 14, 2011
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Illusion is the first of the pleasures – Voltaire If you look closely you will see a secret, one that you may not even realize you have seen. Trompe l’oeil is a French phrase meaning to trick the eye. Artists have used this technique for centuries to create the illusion of space or depth. Many [...]

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Italy’s forgotten Fresco

March 10, 2011
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We were delighted when we explored our new home to find a number of frescoes. The most vivid one found on the wall above a tiny balcony was funnily enough disfigured by the electricity company running pipes through the edge of it. There was no way to reach the balcony other than through the building [...]

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Our Secret Italy – Balma Boves, Piemonte

March 5, 2011
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There is nothing like a treasure given to you by a local. Of course finding that treasure is part of the adventure. Following a tiny path with grass that was almost higher than my Mother in Law I was sure we’d been sent on a wild goose chase. It later turned out that we had [...]

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A Hidden Treasure – Fabbriche di Careggine, Lucca

February 8, 2011
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Athough the dam was emptied every ten years or so up until the early 90′s there has been no work performed since so this ghost village will remain hidden perhaps forever. Growing up in Australia it always made the news when Eildon Dam dried up. It was the only time that the remains of the [...]

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The little house under the mountain – Via Cave

January 22, 2011
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One of the more memorable homes we saw in Italy is this little one tucked under a natural ledge on the side of the mountain. I loved the thought of stepping out your front door straight on to the main road each morning. We walked over to see if anyone was home but no luck. [...]

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Rustic farmhouses – A Blair Witch moment…

August 10, 2005
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There are community farmhouses (rustico borgata) all through the mountains around Gambasca. Ours is called Borga Nari, and we’ve found five others within easy walking distance of our house. We’ve been told by our friend Piera that when Autumn comes they pop up like mushrooms and then we’ll be able to see them all through [...]

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