Books New and Old

From the collection of herbals in the Aboca museum of herbal medicine in Sansepolcro, Tuscany, 2007.

Book sale on the Thames embankment, London 2005.

Hirsute self-portrait, the room we stayed in, in the ancient seminary in Volterra, Tuscany, 2007. The closet was full of the monks' accounting books from the 18th century.

Disreputable self-portrait, Seattle Public Library, 2010.

Good Time

Morning at Keel, a tiny beach town on remote Achill Island, County Mayo. It's summer, and the time for carnivals is upon us. Soon while the adults sling back Guinnesses in the IRA-friendly pub across the road, the kids will be screaming and laughing on the rides. Probably a few sheep will be milling amongst them as well, peeved that their beach grass is being taken up by humans. And up the hill on the slopes of Slievemore, the deserted ruins of a village destroyed by the Famine watch over all.

Pub

I don't see enough pheasants in American bars.

Achill, Mayo, Ireland

Vanishing Points

Here's a different, ahem, "perspective" on Italy.

Transaction at the weekly market, Anghiari

We sort of followed the markets on their weekly schedule around Umbrian and Tuscan towns. There was always fresh fruit and veg, cured meats and cheeses, fish, and live poultry you could have personally neck-wrung in case you wanted a really fresh dinner! These guys were dealing in textiles.

Waiting for dinner in Orvieto

Dinner starts late in Italy and we were there in the winter, so we often had to hang around in a dark vicolo (alley) waiting for the restaurant to open.

Rainy day by the canal, Lucca

I spent an afternoon on a solo recon of this lovely walled town, camera and umbrella in hand.

Twilight in San Gimignano

San Gimignano can be summed up in two words: towers and alleyways.



For different sorts of "points," see ThemeThursday.

Lunch

These girls in Assisi seem to be oblivious to the gruesome carnivorous activity going on beside them.

The old woman in the background twice approached me for spare change -- perhaps all tourists look alike to her -- my Italian was pretty bad but I think it had something to do with helping her son, who by my reckoning must have been in his thirties, certainly old enough to do his own begging.

For more monochrome by a variety of photographers, visit Black and White Weekend.

Bathing of the Nymphs

Breakwater at Amalfi, 2007

Dusk and the Wisteria

It was March and the wind was picking up as the sun sank behind the Tuscan hills. We had meandered to the ruined castle at the top of San Gimignano and caught this glimpse of the last rays hitting the valley below. A fabulous dinner awaited us but we did not know it yet.

Cortona fog

Cortona is one of those towns where time seems not to moved much since the middle ages. We were staying in a convent near here, spotless and silent. When I rose at dawn the shadowy lanes were filled with fog, and people clicked down the cobbles to work.

Stormset over Arezzo

A chilly day where the rain and sun battled it out over the Tuscan foothills.



We had spent the afternoon padding around the stalls that threaded their way amongst the Arezzo lanes, selling everything from furniture, antique farm implements, and military gear to tea-towels, used clothing, coins, and African sculpture. This view is from the top of the hill near the old fort.

Salterrare

In a bit of a turnabout I am moving my Theme Thursday posts to this blog as much as possible.

This week theme is "jump" -- salterrare being the infinitive in Italian. Rather a tough photographic topic, I find, but here's a scene from Umbertide, Umbria, with Nick and Piper leapfrogging over the creek (stormdrain?) that runs through the town. It was a chill winter day and Umbertide was not as spectacular as our recent visits to nearby Assisi or Perugia. On the other hand they didn't have creeks to jump.

Anyway I'm thinking that (although I typically refrain from too much 'shopping) this occasion is a good excuse for a multiple exposure.



There's also some pretty interesting grafitti which you can see better by clicking.

Monochrome Monday

A serendipitous parade of kids against a whitewashed wall in Oakworth, Yorkshire, summer 2005.