Thanksgiving 2010

May this Thanksgiving be filled with the blessings of the harvest season and our hearts grateful for all what we have received!
Wishing you a joyous day with your families and friends!

xx

Victoria





Picture by V. Zlotkowski

Weekends roll around...

Weekends roll around and it's almost Thanksgiving. I am a little scared as how fast the time passes by, I am still feeling the afterglow of this summer. This makes me sometimes melancholic and as I sit near the fireplace, crackling with a fire to warm the house I reflect on my life. The old feeling of an endless amounts of time ahead of me gives way more often to the awareness of it's passing. My own time span is thankfully unknown to me, but I think about what I have done with my life until now and how often I feel the need to do more. To be more creative, more active, more caring, more loving. Less selfish - more selfish?
There is this voice pushing me onward to new goals, yet they are still hidden. Sitting here I try to listen.
How often do you have the time to concentrate on the inner dialog? There are so many distractions...
The time is always now and I am fully aware of this. To embrace this very moment, to live in the presence, to look at this fire, which will burn down in a while and to enjoy the dancing flames.
To embrace the family, to spend the extra time with parents, who are getting older and with friends. Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday to reflect upon life, the intensity of every moment and the importance of being together - now!
There are people without contacts, lonely, often quietly so. Neighbors without family, the odd fellow. Perhaps we can embrace them too, pack an extra meal, or a small gift. Time is a wonderful present. Many people are just grateful to talk.


I will keep this in mind as the holiday season rolls around and we get caught up in all the festive preparations...



Wishing you a great week!

xx
Victoria



Tre pictures my own, hands via goggle image.

Be connected

Another Friday has rolled around, one with golden sunshine and a long weekend on it's heels!
Hope you all going to enjoy it!
Yesterday I dropped my oldest son and his sweet girlfriend off at the airport and it is always with a heavy heart that I see them go...Back to Europe, way to far for me. May the rainbow be a bridge....always! This one appeared only a few days ago in the sky over our house after a stormy day!


Thank goodness there was back to school night to attend that evening and I did not have a chance to think about it all the time.
My husband takes our daughter to a dude ranch for the weekend together with a friend and his daughter, so my youngest son and I will make a cozy weekend for ourselves. Perhaps a movie and dinner for two?



Do you take time out with one of your children? Or the child? Alone? We do it quite regularly and I feel we all benefit from a little one on one and TLC!
They begin to talk easier and the intimacy invites closeness. Especially these teen kids of ours need the chance to let go of the facade, which they carefully craft and just be relaxed for a while.




It's going to be fun and I am looking forward to it!

Wishing you all a time to re-connect!

XX
Victoria



All pictures by V.Zlotkowski

Arriving home

Here we are! What an amazing, happy and successful journey it has been!
From here to places in Bavaria, Germany. Then to Italy and last but not least to Berlin...and home...

With my mom in Volkach am Main, Germany.

Coming back home has been wonderful and somewhat slow. It took me a few days to get back to my regular life, not to talk of Euros and finally coming round to unpack every last bit and to part with stuff I carried around as souvenirs, like my weekly transportation pass from Berlin (a bargain at Euro 34,00 for one adult and all children for 5 days with endless discounts for all kinds of entertainments and places of interest)

All my children and my oldest son's charming girlfriend 'wired' on the small couch in the kitchen in Berlin...I miss you darlings!

Ach, I am still returning there in my mind. At home I have been showered with all my mail, catalogs, magazines and my emails, which I somewhat neglected over the last weeks. But we also have been awaited longingly by husband/papa too, which was lovely, returning to flowers and the knowledge to have been missed!

I am so curious to return to you all and see, what you all are up to at the beginning of September!
September 1st! I love September, it's the month of new beginnings, school, traditionally studies, a refreshing feeling of shortening days, apple picking and cooler nights. It helps that is also the month of the VIP birthdays in our family...
Beginning today, when I remember my grandma, she would have been today 109 years old. I still miss her. She died 2001, she was my soul mate and I recall endless memories.

I am back to gardening, small renovations in the house, some new clients and readying the children for school.

Southampton beach yesterday!

Yet we still enjoy those great summer days, last pool hours, yesterday a short visit to the Hampton's... The ocean was wild, but not cold and I love the comforts of soul calming whenever I am at one of the beaches of the Atlantic! I love that feeling of something so much larger then me, it puts easily all into a different prospective!

Are you all good? And thank you all for travelling with me and being patient!
I am working on sorting my pictures and there will be some I'll show you in the coming days!


XX
Victoria


Pictures by V.Zlotkowski

Berlin

Last week we arrived in Berlin and is has been a whirlwind of activities since. Berlin shows herself from her most sunny side, summery, warm and incredibly entertaining. When I came last it had been winter and I longed to explore this great city during a warmer time. Now we could.
Walking tours have been on our daily schedule and we found many delightful corners.
Berlin is a relaxed city.


Cafes, markets, playgrounds, water and parks make it so much fun, the infrastructure is perfect and getting around easy.


The Elephant Gate at the zoo near Kurfuerstendamm.
We visited one of two zoos, toured the beautiful Havel around Berlin and Potsdam,



watched the circus artists perform on Alexanderplatz and marveled at German ingeneering while visiting the new SONY center and Legoland at Potsdamer Platz.
Again I discovered local fashion and it astounds me how much creativity can be found walking alone through Berlin - Mitte.
We will finally return home on Friday, filled with grateful feelings for a wonderful summer together with our families and with many new impessions.
As for design ideas: I love the light, white, modern rooms I have seen again, the use of classic and antique furniture in modern settings, strategic colors and no fear of being different.
By now I can't wait to return home and to sort out all my impressions and show you some new ideas and more pictures.


XX
Victoria



All pictures by V.Zlotkowski

Leaving Tuscany

We all are leaving this wonderful house on the hill - Sansepolcro - Tuscany with a heavy heart and to tear us away from so much loveliness is not easy...And yet, we have received so many wonderful gifts: being together as a family, spending time with my parents and siblings, my adorable in - laws, my older children and the rest of us! We have lived together, talked and cooked and walked together, we laughed and cried (sometimes) and we are all so immensly grateful for the time we've had.


Eastern Tuscany is so beautiful and unlike the area around Florence, Sienna and Pisa somewhat off the beaten path. Of course we encountered travellers like us, but we felt mostly being among Italians. Strolling through many small towns filled with the treasures of Piero della Francesco and Andrea della Robbia has been an incredible discovery, climbing the mountains around us a true adventure.


We will bring the scents with us of lavender and rosemary, olive oil and cheese... and our minds are filled with the images of Tuscany and the memories of all the lovely people we encountered, new friends we have met and the relaxation we feel now!


Thank you Lizzie for opening your wonderful house to us, truly Tuscan and incredibly comfortable, we have felt home here from the moment we stepped over the threshold.
We will never forget the views which greeted us upon arrival, the valley below and the beauty around us!


We have already made plans to come back! That way it is much easier to leave...

A long drive awaits us tomorrow, all the way to Munich and then later after one more night on to Frankfurt, where we board our respective airplains home (my husband) and Berlin.

I will post a little once I'm in Berlin; as many of you know I love the city and I am now looking forward to seeing my friends and family there again.



Ciao!
Victoria

Lovely Cortona

A couple's retreat...Just when I thought, after seeing Arezzo, it could not get any better my husband (and I) had the idea to visit Cortona...alone!


This day was a precious gift to us. Isn't there anything sweeter than a few leisurely hours alone for a hardworking couple with children of a certain age and little time for themselves??? We are not blessed with any family back at home and time for just the two of us is very rare indeed.
We spent the day together, leaving everyone behind and took off to a mini road trip to Cortona, the old Etruscan city on the border to Umbria. We started early towards Arezzo, spend a delightful late morning shopping and sightseeing, had lunch in a tiny Osteria, hidden in a courtyard and covered in Wisteria, potted lemon trees - ripe with fruits - all around us.
We felt giddy with delight just to do as we pleased...
We walked hand in hand through a park, found an old, now overgrown Roman amphitheatre, later a fortress from the middle ages and then continued our journey towards Cortona...


Cortona hangs on high up on a steep hill side, but oh, it's a treasure to behold. A winding alpine road leads up to the first piazza, the views are amazing at every turn. The city is a fortified place, it's thick walls onces protected the inhabitants. Now we walked the steep narrow streets and marveled at every door, nook and cranny. The city is build up on top of itself. Houses from earlier centuries became the foundation of later ones. If only these walls could talk...The temperatures were soaring, but the city was shady and we stayed cool within.



The small city is a time capsule, now lively with artisans and craftsman and -woman. Handmade leather goods, handmade shoes, purses, bags and wallets are on display. The leather scent is so enticing...


I met a wonderful artist, she creates artful batics on larges linen strips, paints delightful pattern on linen dresses and her daughter creates colorful knitted coats and jackets. All this and more she sells at a small, but oh so seductively filled store. I could not resist and bought a lovely dress.
Finely woven linen can be found all over Tuscany, table clothes, hand towels and bedding... Thinking of my luggage allowance taking anything home was out of the question...(And the prices stopped me too, it's very expensive.)
We paused in a street cafe, watching the life around us going on....


Old man spending the afternoon over coffee and grappa, moms with two, three children in tow stopping by for ice cream...tourists making hard desicions as what to bring back home. We felt almost like locals.....


It was wonderful to stroll throught the steep lanes and alley ways, incredible vistas down the mountain and romantic corners wherever you turn.


The rooftops are centuries old, covered with the typical red roof bricks of the region.


Pottted plants, gardens and well taken care of old houses give this place a magical flair.





It is also a city of churches and cloisters, we counted at least 5 or 6 monasteries, all lived in and religious live is observed in a sweet and humble way. Many times have we stepped into a small chapel or larger church to discover an organist practicing, or a lovely solemn atmosphare, cool and spiritual.


Smallest chapels are lovingly decorated and fresh flowers and devotional candles burn under many altars.


The lovely terra cotta works of Andrea della Robbia can be found and works by many painters, today unknown.

We ended this glorious day at the terasse of a small hotel, having dinner just to ourselves, the lovely cusine of Tuscany and an incredible view down towards Umbria before us. Ahhhh.....





We returned home, filled with delicious impressions, memories and a glorious day just for the two of us...


This journey in Italy is coming to an end, come Saturday we will pack our bags and leave back to Germany, where the children and I'll stay with the older sons and a good friend in Berlin for a couple of days before returning home. My husband will be back in New York by Sunday night.
I can not put my emotions into words...


Ciao!
Victoria



All pictures taken by us...apart from the lovely work by Andrea della Robbia.(google image)

Arezzo

Arezzo has been the biggest surprise for me at our stay in this region so far. It is such a beautifully ancient city, filled with architectural treasures. One of them, the church San Francesco, was build in the 13th century and contains Piero della Francesca's Legend of the true cross(1452-66),one of Italy's greatest fresco cycles.


The frescoes, now visible again after long restoration, show how the cross was found near Jerusalem by the Empress Helena. Her son, the Emperor Constantine, adopted the cross as his battle emblem. He also granted the Christian faith official recognition through the Edict of Milan, signed in 313. All is so beautifully executed, I could have sat for hours and slowly take it all in. Of course this was impossible, since there was so much else to see and we moved on after an hour.




Arezzo is one of the wealthiest cities in Tuscany, filled with antique stores and markets.





Jewellry making is a large part of the local industry and gorgeous pieces are displayed in many stores!
One can walk throughs many beautiful piazzas, one of the most impressive ones being the Piazza Grande. Truly medival in it's design, many buildings date back to the 13th century.







We dined under the handsome arcade designed by Vasari in 1573. The old Palazzo della Faternita dei Laici, right next to it, is decorated with a gorgeous relief of the Virgin by Bernardo Rossellino in 1434. One can get so absolutely absorbed into history.
Wherever you look, the city is filled with breathtaking beauty and is alive and full of acitvity. We so enjoyed our time there.


The movie 'Life is Beautiful' was filmed here. I will want to see it one more time now, seeing it under a new aspect...I loved the movie and now even more!

We will visit one more time, the city deserves a second time to stroll through it's small streets and to enjoy many more details.


Now we are back to the house in the mountains, where the weather is always different then in the valley below! Today we went up into storm clouds and now it's raining...
We are cozy inside, listening to Vivaldi and the wind outside and I get an early feeling what autumn must feel like out here!


I keep on writing my blog, this is a great way for me to preserve my memories and all my impressions are still fresh and unaltered by the passing time.
Thank you all for commenting I am so grateful for your loyal followship, soon it will be time to return home and I will catch up with all your news as well!


CIAO!
Victoria


Pictures by V.Zlotkowski, images from Piero della Francesco's frescoes via google image.