milan

we only had an afternoon to spend in Milan
which was really not enough time at all.
for some reason I only took pictures of the duomo,
which I loved from the outside (probably because it looks like a cake with very elaborate icing),
but I was slightly disappointed by the dimly lit interior.

we took the elevator to the roof and had a great view over the roofs of Milan
(plus got a closer look at all that icing).

Milan, I'll be back!

como in blues and grays

I'm always torn between showing complete stories or situations
(including images that are not beautiful themselves, but maybe show a beautiful setting)
and showing only the images that I truly like (if by themselves or grouped with other images).

I feel there is a difference between images that remind you of a beautiful setting
(because when you look at them you remember how you felt when you were there)
and images that are truly beautiful themselves (for me these are often the ones that
perfectly portray the atmosphere of the original setting, or even an ideal and slightly abstract version of it).

In this case I chose to not show you lake Como as the sun went down.
the setting was very beautiful in person, but in comparison looks so disappointing in my pictures.

so this is Como without the lake (but in matching tones):
1 the duomo
2, 3, 4 giuseppe terragni's casa del fascio*
4 the hotel facing the lake
5 very impressive pipe details

I really liked Como with its narrow streets and squares, the surrounding hills and the lake.
we only spent about two hours there, but I would love to some day come back for a little longer.


* it was impossible to get a good shot of the main elevation. here are some great ones though.

blue hour

we usually arrived back at the hotel just as the sun went down,
with enough light to imagine how nice it must be there during summer.
it was definitely too chilly to use the pool.

our Italian colleagues were incredibly nice, and made us eat incredible amounts of food.
we would usually go for lunch and dinner
with at least two courses per meal (we would try to only have one course,
but somehow they would always trick us into eating at least two!).

apart from eating we visited all the factories and different showrooms,
it was so nice to see where all the furniture is made
(kitchens and wardrobes in a pretty big factory with clever machines and amazingly few people,
sofa covers in a small backyard shed that used to house the founders' small carpentry company back in the 60s).
it felt great to see how much the production is still rooted in the area.

we also had a chance to see a bit of Como,
and spent an afternoon in Milan.
pictures soon, and I wish you a lovely rest of the weekend.

hello!

hello again after two weeks of absence, it's good to be back!
the first week, as you know, I spent in Italy,
the second week was full of too many problems at work, being very sleepy by 8pm,
resentment of all the noise and stress of NYC, dreams of moving back to Europe,
and the greatest sunny and warm fall weather (clearly NYC trying to get me to love it again).

today the weather is cooler but very sunny, and it's impossible to not love this city.
and in a minute we will take our weekend neighborhood walk to pick up dry cleaning (T), films I dropped off two weeks ago (me) and maybe a coffee or some fancy-food shopping, and definitely some picture taking.

above you can see the hotel that me and my three colleagues
stayed at during our time in Italy (first two pictures).
I will show you more soon.

Thank you so much for all the nice comments on my last post,
and see you soon!

manhattan sunset

this weekend we went to see what they call manhattanhenge:
the sun setting in line with the manhattan grid.
it felt like a very special moment, everyone stopped to stand in the street and watch
until the sun disappeared.

zoo

some pictures from our visit to the bronx zoo yesterday.
T let me borrow his canon G9 for the day.

north american mammals

I went to the Museum of Natural History yesterday.
It's one of my favorite museums in NYC.

new things

01. right to left:
rocky mountains prints from jaimers (thanks for the recommendation, Maaret!)
elephant from unto this last in London
black bear print from Kristiana Pärn, bought at the Brooklyn Lyceum Craft Market last saturday

02. little bowl from Pearl River Mart

03. little bunny tray from Pearl River Mart

04. our window seat. I bought a piece of foam cut to fit yesterday and will make a cover out of this grey organic crossweave fabric (bought here) as soon as I get my hands on a voltage converter to plug in my english sewing machines (hopefully today).

05. wood floor in our apartment

unpacking

slowly, but getting there.

and now: off to ikea.