A love of beauty
my journey so far
This image was taken in the first weeks of my journey, on Ponte dell’Accademia, one of my favourite bridges in Venice to dream and to be with the beauty of now and the past.
I had good intentions to write all this time, but instead I captured with my camera the beauty in my eye, I painted, I walked, I ate, I drank, I stayed up late to the small hours (and still do!), made friends and connections I had been longing for, and in general attempted making a life for myself on the other side of the world, from where my family originally came.
Since those first dreamy weeks in Venice 10 months ago, I filled myself up with ofcourse food, new recipes and also new feelings, appreciations and love, especially for myself, and for life that had been before me. I renconnected with my grandparents journey teaching me to love and appreciate my own unique path that they helped sow for me, which through their sacrifices I am reminded of and grateful for every day.
Photos : The view from three bridges in Venice : Ponte delle Guglie, Ponte di Rialto and Ponte dell’Accademia,
When you travel like me and don't plan a lot, there are hours spent organising and exploring where to go next and navigating amongst the many tourists that flock here most of the year, but with certainty at the end of each day or mid morning as the locals do in Venice or generally anywhere in Italy, one falls into a bar where I could just be with the locals and experience true Italy without a plan. After that connections and conversations happen that often help me find my next steps. Since those first weeks afoot on a new land, the year that has almost been has been one of utter and complete absorption. As I now sit at my kitchen table, with my clothes and kitchen equipment I have collected along the way properly unpacked for the first time, I am able to finally enjoy the feeling of a nest, community, friends and a home in a country I love so much.
As I attempt to express my days in simple snippets of words and imagery, I try to share the beauty I see, what touches me and what I create through my perfumery, art, photography and food along the way. These are the things that called me to be here in Italy. I will recall moments from my months past aswell as my moments present and what ‘beauty‘ ’and to ‘be’ means to me. It can be how the light falls on my kitchen table, the display of the seasons first pickings at my local market, the way my local Macellaio slices his prosciutto for me with such care or the way he is in love with his 36 year old parmigiana, the italian granite stairs I walk up to my apartment, its old windows I open out to hang my washing, the worn cobble stones that many a lifetimes have trodden, the evening light cast in the small streets where I live, the pasticceria windows displaying themselves as I stand and have my morning espresso within the jostle of others, or sitting on the centuries-old stone bench with a friend in my local piazza as the sun goes down and then a parting kiss and bouna notte. Beauty is in the simple things and for me it’s always a special energy of love that rises in its presence. Gentle and ressuring. As I reflect upon it, I’m reminded of my grandparents, their European rituals and different ways of doing things, their respect and tenderness I saw they had for one another, and their simple life that seemed to me as a child filled with so much beauty and love. Maybe that’s why I longed to venture back to their part of the world, to be close to the beautiful cities in which they were born. The empire they were part of is a very different one to what it is today, but traces of the past are everywhere around me reminding me of their love and tenderness and what is truely important in life.
Please let me know in the comments anything you would like to know, see or learn so i can include you with me. As my initials express, my travels and posts are about ‘be’ing and beauty, I hope you feel touched by the beauty that I see and it inspires you also.
be. x
