March. 2013 first ride and other spring-y happy things

these days are full of the small joys that accompany the change of season.
it was finally time for the first ride of this year with our Lambretta, which was as good as always.

then.. the first outdoor barbecue, seeing the baby donkey just born in the neighborhood, collecting wild chicory in the fields with grandma, having coffee with gelato in the porch.
goodbye winter. 

{olympus om10 + fuji superia 200}

Playboy, June 1959

my Valentine's present for Marco. a Playboy issue with a Lambretta illustration on the cover, dated June 1959.
on the inside, there are a beautiful photoshoot by the photographer-satirist Jerry Yulsman on the motor scooter theme (Veni, Vidi, Vespa!)  and a Kerouac contribution on the Beat Generation.

"Woe unto those who spit on the Beat Generation" 
J.K.

Snowy Valentine. February, Sunday 17th

it's still too cold for outdoorsy sundays by lambretta.
so we celebrated the day of lovers hiking in Cadore's mountains.
♥

white path, magical silence, scent of snow.
besides all the lovey dovey details, we walked from Valle di Cadore to the cozy Rifugio Costapiana,which offers tasty homemade meals and a stunning view
{to know what a rifugio is, check out this page}

{olympus om10 + fuji superia 200}

info
Rifugio Costapiana
Località Costa Piana  
32040 Valle di Cadore Belluno
www.rifugiocostapiana.it

Analogue Switzerland. January, the last week

i feel embarassed to say it, but i had never been in Switzerland before last January, when i visited Basel and Bern by train with my dear friend Annalisa.

Switzerland is little and organized, so you can easily run from one town, even the smallest one, to another using public transport {here, the informations about swiss pass}
we took a lot of photographs, but here with you i want to share the two most memorable moments.

first, the grey morning we spent in Affoltern in Emmentaler, where we visited the famous cheese factory.
(the country houses obsession returns) 

and second, a snowy sunday morning (yes, the weather wasn't always nice, but it was always charming) in Basel: the streets were empty, the silence disturbed by the wind.. it was just us, our cameras, and the snow.

{olympus om10 + fuji superia 200}

some of the works i did after this press trip here *italian only*:
Berna, Cosebelle Mag
Basilea, Cosebelle Mag
Berna e Basilea, Sguardi 87 - Nikon Italia

winter run before Panevin. January, Saturday 5th

the afternoon before panevin we went for a ride, to see the bonfire in the surroudings . ours was already built up, with the vecia {an old lady doll, symbol for bad things from the past year} on the top, ready to be burned.

i took some photographs of the sourroundings, to the old country houses and the other panevin.

{olympus om10 + fuji superia 1600}

Panevin. January, Saturday 5th

i'm so happy to finally have a moment to sit down and talk about this, one of my very favorite traditions.
on the night between january 5th and 6th in almost every small village in veneto and friuli there are large bonfires, where people gather around, drinking hot wine and singing traditional song.
where i live, in treviso province, we call it panevin, but i heard people use different names, in other places around.
panevin is a dialectal word which means bread and wine, probably because of the simple food people used to bring and eat during this gatherings in the past.

tradition says panevin's fire burns all the worries and the bad things of the past years, and give people the chance to see how the new year will be, by looking at the smoke directions:
fuische a sera poenta pien caliera
fuische a matina, ciol su'l sac e va a farina
if the sparks are going west it will be a good year, with rich harvest {actually, the proverb doen't mention harvest but polenta, the main dish of poor countryside people of north italy in the past, made by cornmeal} but if they're going east, it's better you do your best at work, cause it's not going to be easy.

the night was great, not too cold. we sang, drank, ate and felt happy.
i'm wondering if something similar exists in other parts of the world. any special old tradition to welcome the new year? please, tell me your stories.

{the last two photos were taken with olympus om10 + fuji superia 1600. our afternoon before the bonfires were burned here}

ice