Sweet relief for our tired feet, Viareggio!

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Babs

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Just a short, approximately hour and a half, train ride from Prato and we are at the beach.
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Viareggio is one of the largest beach towns in Tuscany. It’s like no beach I have ever been.

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The breezes from the blue vastness of the Liguirian Sea, sand pedicuring my toes and the white marble topped mountains lacing the landscape.

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I felt like we were inside a postcard.

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Most of the beach here is privately owned. You can walk the shore and swim for free. If you want to lounge under one of the hundreds of umbrellas you need to buy a pass from your hotel or one of the clubs. Prices seemed to very. Our hotel quoted us 30 euro for a day. We weren’t sure what that included.

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We didn’t bring our suits so we were satisfied with hugging the tide line letting the waves splash us. We walked down to this pier where you could get a great view of the coast, have a leisurely drink, and the snacks were complimentary. I had a compari with soda.

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Later we felt obliged to sample some of the gifts from the sea.
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Here we had linguini with mussels and gnocchi with crab meat.

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I wish I had thought to keep a journal of all the wonderful meals we’ve had. Above was a mixed plater with scampi, octopus and shrimp. Below was a seafood “salad.”

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Another thing we enjoyed about Viareggio was the Pineta di Ponente Park.

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It was a nice relief from the hot sun and fun to get a taste of the the other thing Viagreggio is famous for, it’s annual Carnival.

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The park is full of interesting characters and seems to be a place for all ages.

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At the train station on our way back to Prato we got a to see some more of the paper mache’ heads from a past carneval. As Americans we thought one of these looked oddly familiar.

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Posted in Inspiration, Obama, Public Art, Travel | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Understanding Slow Food in Italy

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Babs

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I’ve been trying to understand why everything tastes better
here. Some of it I know is because I am away from home for a brief stay, and I am taking the time to savor every new flavor.

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There is the physical presentation of food to consider. Unlike going to Starbucks or Panera where everything is the same and frequently packaged “to go.” Here even a coffee and soda are a work of art. Tranformed to “capucinno” and “bibita gassata.”

One the first places we sampled sweets in Santa Lucia was Bar Moncelli Pasticceria. Pastries are beautifully displayed and possess a melt in your mouth sweet freshness, requiring you to moan while eating.

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On her way home from church my sister found this amazing place nearby for dinner.

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“La Ribalta”

Where the chef prepared a tasty array of fresh local Tuscan treats while we sipped the house wine in a contemporary artistic setting.

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Our antipasto was an assortment of ham, prosciutto, cheeses, tomato and other spices sandwiched in a tender pastry pie-like crusts.

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Pizza assortment entre

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La dolce, our desserts, a fruit filled torte and chocolate cheese cake with currants were a wonderful way to complete our taste of Tuscany.

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Then sometimes a panino and acqua are just enough when you can eat them in a quiet park on a sunny day. And it doesn’t hurt to be surrounded by olive grove and vineyard lined mountains.
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Posted in Food, gratitude, Inspiration, life | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

An American Artist in Prato

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Babs

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It has already been over a week since I arrived in Prato. I’m still trying to find my way around.  Walking is easy except using  the crosswalks at these round-abouts, here in Santa Lucia gets me all turned around. Then I’m not sure which street I am on anymore. Learning landmarks is helpful since street names aren’t always apparent.

With the help of a friendly bus driver we figured out how to
purchase a monthly bus ticket. So now I will no longer need to worry about how long each ticket lasts or where to get it punched.

We did take off to the coast for the weekend. I will write more about that in another post.

So now I’m back to discovering art in Prato and Santa Lucia. We’ve noticed some of the public art. I’m not sure any of these murals are officially commissioned the way they are in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The under the bridge art is a pleasant surprise. Even if some is more like graffiti, it is still contemporary artistic expression.

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The three landscapes below look like fine art frescoes.
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The sculpture along the river path between Santa Lucia and Prato is perfectly nestled between to the benches and beautifully echoes the landscape. Unfortunately, I could not find the name of the piece or the artist who created it.

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We were lucky to stumble across this installation art near the University train station.
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The title of the piece is “il viandante e la sua ombra” (the wanderer and his shadow). Using Google translate I understand this is the work of sculptor Ignazio Fresu. It was inspired by the work of the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.

For the more historical art I hope to visit the museum in Prato where Fra Filippo Lippi frescoes are displayed.

Since it was closed last Saturday when we tried to visit, it looks like we will need to wait until later in the month to visit the Museum of Contemporary Art Liugi Pecci. There is currently construction there and that seems to be when it be open, although the new building isn’t scheduled to open until
2013.
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So where do the local artists exhibit their work? I don’t see any small galleries equivalent to our Riverside Arts Center, Rivers Edge Art Gallery or Black Door Gallery back in Michigan.

I wish I had attempted to communicate with the woman artist I saw painting at the Medieval Festival in Prato last week. Hopefully, I will be able to uncover more about the art scene here in the coming weeks.

Posted in graffiti, Inspiration, murals, sculpture | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments