The Bay of Noon

While I'm overwhelmed by...a lot..I'm mooning over photographs taken this year by a flickr contact, Liivia. Rome to Naples (& more but I'm focused on those presently). The top two are from Napoli, the third from Procida (an island in the Bay of Naples). If you have a love-hate relationship with Naples, welcome fellow maniac.

The Bay of Noon, by Shirley Hazzard is a wonderful book set in Naples. I urge everyone to read her, if they've not. Or to re-read her if it's been ages. I am indebted to a friend's mother who set me to reading Hazzard's books when I was a freshman in high school. Here's an interview with Hazzard in The Paris Review

(For the rest of the Italia 2011 set, see here.)

La Grotta Azzurra

Here's an article I missed when first published in The Guardian, about a favorite writer, Shirley Hazzard, who is (or was in 2006) living part-time in Italy (again). This time on Capri. It's always been the south for her & her late genius husband, Francis Steegmuller, another favorite. For that alone--diluting the Tuscany-festish--I salute them. Hazzard's memoir Greene on Capri is compressed & in crystalline prose, as always. The photochrom travel series from the Library of Congress is lovely & public domain, so give it a visit & post some of their images if it suits. There are two images on Julie's site today from Capri, as well. A hat tip to the LOC; their blog is in the right sidebar under writers, readers.

No hat tip to the Azzurri - they couldn't stop an admittedly terrific & determined Kiwi team. Congratulations to friends in Welly. I'm making myself sick by being such a good sport. In fact, I am not very well & will be putting up a postal break soon. Cheers.

Once Upon a Time, a St. David's Day in Italy

My favorite St. David's Day (March 1) memory is a daffodil quest in southern Italy. I was visiting friends for a few weeks, near Naples. One of this delightful duo was shy about his southern accent & still-tentative English. My southern dialect--forget it; "regular Italian" - it kept slipping into French. Our Italian-speaking link was doing something important --foraging for dinner ingredients. Me? Of course, I was obsessed with flowers & on this weekend, daffodils. I forgot the Italian word, if I ever knew it. Finally after squeaking out 'spring, 'yellow,' & I don't remember what else in Italian, S. lit up & said, "trombone?" I, being an ass, said,"No, no. Trombone? What? No that's an instrument in inglese." Finally, slow me, oh. Daffodils. They are trumpet-shaped--ah.

The sight of an older man pretend-playing a horn instrument & a younger, somewhat exasperated English-speaking woman performing the universal hand-to-head circling motion amused a bunch of bored children with no immediate interests except a Saturday gelato. We made a little bow to the kids, & slunk away. After the forager returned, she explained what was what (after laughing a bit too much--ahem), & S. became obsessed with the idea that I should have trombone. I was embarrassed that I had not only called him crazy in a public market, but now I had given him a new mission. He's one of those lovely people around whom one should be careful to express any wish that he could possibly (& maybe not even possibly) fulfill.

Later that evening, as I fussed with the sitting room brazier, tossing in clementine peels to achieve the most fragrant scent, I looked up & there he was in the doorway, holding a gigantic bunch of the longest-stemmed daffodils I'd ever seen. Before or since. I don't know where or when he got them that day, but being an Italian he possessed a sense of the dramatic moment & thus waited for a post-dinner flourish.

Here are some lovely links to a celebration of St. David's Day weekend in Rome (yes, yes), the end of which involves daffodil distribution. Also, here is a link to a current National Museum of Wales exhibit: Italian Memories in Wales.

cariad & ciao

[photograph of Sophia Loren, I should look so good, via If It's Hip, It's Here; Scented Alley in Naples by golden puppy via flickr]

Drama Queen

No, not me. (How dare you!) Fireworks, tossing appliances out the window, & red underwear. What's not to love? I had to post this link to Aglio, Olio, & Peperoncino's post on New Year's Eve in Italy. Napoli is the 'drama queen of the boot-shaped peninsula'? Oh yeah. [Maria Callas as Norma by Gordon Paris, via LIFE archives]

Fragments, Naples

(Naples, for later) All photographs by Robert in Toronto who so obviously gets it. Please see Robert's larger format photographs, here, here, & here (for the photographs above); you will see much more detail if you go directly to these links. Thanks.

Reading in the Shadow of Vesuvius

Some favorite books, re-read every year. Shirley Hazzard on Naples/southern Italy where she lived for many years with her genius translator husband (mostly Flaubert), the late Francis Steegmuller. [**Please see below for important note re: second & third photographs by Robert in Toronto.]

Hazzard's The Bay of Noon, Greene on Capri. (Deeply admire her other novels, but concerned with this area right now. )I cannot fathom how one could be bored by Greene in Capri--even if they don't give a fig for Graham Greene, Shirley, Francis, or Flaubert. Or Capri. However, if you don't care about any of those things--what the heck is wrong with you?! [Oh dear. I just found a NYRB letter-to-the-editor mini-kerfluffle in 2000 between Greene's last companion, a lovely person, & the reviewer of the Capri book -- 149 pages, you can zip through in a sec & highly diverting-- & then he brings in Hazzard to answer charges. These NYRB back & forth l-to-ed can go on for years. This looks like a one-off. Here's that link.]

Hazzard-recommended Falling Palace: A Romance of Naples by Dan Hofstadter. I don't know how he did it, but he did. The city's antique & curio shops are among the characters in his novelistic-remembrance. Take a break from Paris & elsewhere, please, I beg you. And don't forget about the highly original Inspector Montalbano series by Andrea Camillieri. I don't know how I'd do without these people. Really.

**Second & third photographs by Robert in Toronto. When I saw his flickr set & what he wrote, I thought immediately of these books. So many who have gone for the first time, just freak out & leave. [Or they pre-freak out & never go., more's the pity.] Update: Robert suggested that I should put links to each photograph so that you might see the full-size; I agree. Here is the fabulous wall; here is the antique shop.

Here's what Robert writes: "Possibly more than any other city in Europe, Naples exudes an atmosphere and sensibility as palpable as its odour: it's not to everyone's liking. I was enthralled by the place, and, at every turn, inspired to shoot a photograph, even though the weather during our four-day stay was cold, misty, and wet. There is a lot to see, all of it accessibly on foot or by bus, and much of it unusual. In particular, the narrow, awninged streets of the old city teem with people and products to rival the medinas of Africa. But remain alert: a man with a camera is a ready mark."

buona notte, gattini & gattine

[Jean Patchett in scarf, Vogue 1950 by the great "lost" Vogue photographer Clifford Coffin via myvintagevogue on flickr. Jessica's tumblr blog is in the right side-bar & her website is looking great. Update 26 June 2009: here's link to myvintagevogue aka Jessica, who is adorable; upcoming post on her as soon as I can ask her, email, & then get back here.]

A Foggy View - Bay of Naples

Screech. How can it be nearly 1pm? I was expecting to fly through errands & laundry & &&...this photograph will not upload properly. I feel as grounded as I did that day in a (lovely) flat, not mine, with three gorgeous views...this one of the Bay of Naples. Which I love. Vesuvius looms over all, of course. Hmmm. OK. Well, that's that for now. Will post someone else's great photo & get ready for more thunderstorms, running through the rain. So the story about this place is on hold. Did I say bleep already? No, bleep. (Apologies for language.) [Update of three minutes later. No I'm not going to waste the permission to use someone else's gorgeous Polaroid so bricolage looks pretty-through-thumbnail. Ugliness-as-virtue? Hmmm.]

Paestum in Violet

In a hurry & it's raining--bring out the sun, Apollo. Maybe this photograph of the Temple of Athena from Paestum in southern Italy will be propitious. One of my friends pointed out the three white birds crossing our path: good luck in Roman times. The sky was a weird violet color (yes, I enhanced it)...then sunny, then odd violet again. I'll leave the 'clickability' html in so maybe those three birds can be seen. In the large scan, they are visible.

Three large extant Greek temples are here, in southern Italy.Three of 'em...plus other stuff. And usually deserted, it's strange because it's so gorgeous. More on that later. No one was at Paestum that day...except the watchman. Can scarcely believe that it was the same as when I'd been there at 17 or 18. Here is a pretty good link with photos. Paestum is somewhat of a mystery, still. I love that. As a trained ancient historian & half-way trained archaeologist that should drive me crazy. It does not. So I guess it wasn't meant to be (my chosen profession).

Buon giorno...

On the way to Amalfi

I have no idea how I persuaded the driver (a friend) to pull over so I could take these. He must have been mad to listen to me There's barely room for a chubby mule on this road. We were running errands, I think. Putting self back to bed but wanted to post these poor scanned devils to use later. (I've yet to make contact with Italian photographer in the area...& they are mine, so...) From the same trip as the Afternoon in Ercolano post. Feeding grass to cute bufali, an Italian ginger cat named Peaches, & a trip to Paestum coming up soon. (Even small versions of these come out quite small in the upoad as they are wide; I'll leave the html code in for clicking.)

ciao bambini, will visit your sites as soon as I can.