First Kiss for a Happy New Year

Wishing you an (early) bright and happy start to the New Year - by way of W. Bougereau's 1890 il Primo Bacio (otherwise known as l'Amour et Psyché).

Brings back happy memories, for me, of wandering the cobbled streets of Citta di Castello (where I was studying Italian a few years ago) when I purchased this lovely (post card) image from the Duomo shop. Tanti Auguri! Buon Capodanno!


PS image in the public domain - see Wikimedia Commons - as the copyright has expired.

The quiet pleasures of Castelvetrano

Picture the scene, early October, the sun is shining infusing the town with a perfectly temperate 30 degrees. You've just enjoyed a deliciously healthy lunch of the freshest grilled local fish preceded by a colourful antipasti platter.

Contented and comfortably replete, you chance upon a delightful garden square with a refreshingly soothing fountain cascading in the centre. For company there are the local wise men, of a certain age, whiling away a happy hour with a post-prandial smoke and a chat. This was my last afternoon in Sicily earlier this month, partly spent in this pretty and tranquil garden in the centre of unspoilt Castelvetrano.

Leaving the pretty square I headed further up into the town, enjoying the sleepy streets, admiring the gentle green curves of the duomo ahead.