Il nostro viaggio in Italia

Spain 2009

2009-05-08T21:24:00Z

Barcelona, 2009
Visiting Pat and Steve and seeing the sites of Barcelona and the GP of Spain.

Well, that is the subway in Madrid, but we got to Barcelona later in the day.

Barcelona Metro

Checking out the menu at Alkimia.

Santa Maria del Mar in Barcelona.

Kimi at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Fernando walking past Heiki's pits at Circuit de Catalunya.

Filipe Masa at the Circuit de Catalunya.

GP 2 practice, Circuit de Catalunya.

©2009 Miles DeCoster

Milan in the rain, 2009

2009-03-20T22:18:00Z

March 2009 we spent a day in Milan on our way home from Florence. We saw some great things, but it rained all day. Sorry, no picture of the Last Supper. We saw it but security is pretty tight.

Duomo through a bus window in the rain.

Duomo with big screen TV in the rain.

Duomo interior (no rain).

Sforza fortress. Leanardo spent some time here painting and designing weapons for the duke.

La Scala opera house directly ahead.

Lobby of la Scala. Bust of Toscanini.

Shopping arcade. Yeah, that's a McDonalds.

Ceiling of the arcade.

Milan subway.

© 2009 Miles DeCoster

San Miniato

2008-06-10T14:49:00Z

San Miniato sits on a hill overlooking Firenze, near Piazzola Michelangelo

View from the steps of San Miniato

Duomo from San Miniato

Detail of San Miniato

Mosaic on the facade

Interior of San Miniato

©miles decoster 2008

Alice in Wonderland

2008-06-10T03:56:00Z

We worked on a theatrical production of Alice in Wonderland with friends in Florence. Janice did the costumes and Miles did the poster design and illustration and backdrop projections and animation. Our friends Elia played Alice and Shaun directed.

Elia (Alice) with Alice poster near the soccer stadium.

©miles decoster 2008

More of the final home game of the season (2007-8) for Fiorentina

2008-06-10T03:46:00Z

The soup at Mario's a day after the calcio game.

"Gianni", a painter down the street on Via Romana

Alice poster in the window at Mario's

Action during the final home game of the season.

La Viola after the game.

Fiorentina fans at the final home game.

Final Home Game - Fiorentina

2008-05-27T16:21:00Z

We went to the final home game for Fiorentina with our friends Elia and Filippo. Elia lives here but it was her first game! The stadium was packed and the weather was perfect. And la Viola won (and Milan lost) meaning we still have a good shot at fourth place and champions league next season.

Filippo, Elia and Janice.

Fans salute the team. No UEFA cup but we have a great team and a grand coach.

Frey makes an awesome save.

©miles decoster 2008

Fiesole

2008-05-14T16:10:00Z

We ventured into the hills just north of Florence while Pat and Steve were here to see Fiesole, a former Roman settlement and now a pleasant suburb with a great view of Florence. It was a nice bus ride, but we ended up walking most of the way back as the buses were very crowded. Not a bad place for a walk however.

Romanesque church in Fiesole.

Another view.

Pat and Steve, with Florence in the distance.

Franciscan church on top of the hill.

View from the walk back down the hill.

The Duomo in the distance.

Tree in a wall.

Interior of Domenican church.

Exterior. Not just any Domenican church. This the church where St Dominic started the order.

©miles decoster 2008

Italian Verb Machine

2008-05-09T14:34:00Z

In deveopment, a small Flash application to help learn Italian verb conjugations.

italian verb machine

Alice in Italy

2008-05-09T14:30:00Z

Posting has slowed down due to lack of internet access and other projects. Here is the poster for Alice which we are working on. Jan is doing costumes and Miles is doing set design and graphics.

Nice, France

2008-04-27T17:04:00Z

Here are some more pics from our trip to Nice.

View of the train station from our hotel window.

Museum of Contemporary Art, Nice.

A close look at corporate art.

Yes, a big cow in a tree.

Shoe repair shop window display.

French windows.

We know the French don't like foreign languages but ...

Où est le Musèe Marc Chagall?

A gnarly French tree.

Another French tree.

The Matisse Museum in Nice.

Front of the Matisse Museum.

Painting in the Matisse Museum.

Matisse is buried near the Museum.

©miles decoster 2008

Florence visitors

2008-04-18T14:23:00Z

Pat and Steve have arrived from USA for a visit. In addition to the usual Florence attractions we made a short trip to Assisi and other points in Umbria.

Pat and Steve lunching at Mario's.

Yet another "Last Supper"

Cell at San Marco with Fra Angelico fresco.

Fountain in Piazza della Santissima Annunziata.

James Taylor at Theatre Verdi.

Late night gelato run.

© miles decoster 2008

Monaco

2008-03-30T08:55:00Z

We are in Nice, France for the weekend and took the short train ride over to Monaco for the day.

That means train station.

The Casino.

Lowes Hairpin.

Exit of Lowes.

Water view from inside the tunnel.

©miles decoster 2008

More from Sicily

2008-03-28T21:11:00Z

More pictures from Sicily.

Check out the feet on this guy!

Leaving Agrigento and heading for the interior of Sicily.

There is a big hole there where there once was a bridge. This will require some back-tracking!

We are searching for the Roman villa with amazing mosaics ...

©miles decoster 2008

Agrigento, Sicilia

2008-03-24T15:33:00Z

Some more pics from Sicily and Agrigento. Our web access has gotten worse, so posts are slowing down. The Greek ruins at Agrigento are quite spectacular. Agrigento is on the southern coast of Sicily and a fairly modern city other than the ruins.

This is painfully slow, so I will post more when we get a better connection!

©miles decoster 2008

More from Sicily

2008-03-20T19:10:00Z

Some more pics from Sicilia. We travelled the southern coast to Agrigento, another Greek settlement. Out hotel room had a veranda with a view of the ruins and the place was in a lovely garden setting.

We arrived at night and this was the view out our hotel window/veranda.

Daylight view.

Our room from the garden.

Almond trees in bloom.

©miles decoster 2008

Paintings at Zona 15

2008-03-17T16:51:00Z

Uccello Rosso makes an Italian debut

2008-03-04T15:09:00Z

Selinunte, Sicily

2008-02-28T19:21:00Z

Selinunte was a Greek settlement on the southern coast of Sicily. The ruins are impressive with a commanding view of the Mediterranean Sea.

Another wall.

©miles decoster 2008

Sicily

2008-02-28T19:07:00Z

We took an early "Spring Break" and flew to Sicily for a holiday. We flew into Trapani on the western end of the island, picked up a rental car and explored the western halfof the island. It rained the first day or two, but great weather after that. Almond trees were blooming and the valleys were green.

Salt Museum outside of Trapani. Salt is extracted from the sea water. They still are doing it, but the old windmills are just for show.

A pile of salt covered with roof tiles.

On the road from Trapani to Marsala (home of the wine).

Wall in Marsala.

Another wall in Marsala.

Window in Marsala.

©miles decoster 2008

Moving across the river.

2008-02-11T17:45:00Z

We moved to a new location in Florence over the weekend. It is on the other side of the river, on Via Romana, near the Pitti Museum and bordering the Bobolli Gardens. It has a little more charm than our previous apartment, but not as much light and no oven. No street noise as it is in the back of a building, but lots of church bells. It is also on the fourth floor with no elevator. Also, no internet, so blog postings will have to be done at a wifi cafe or other internet connect locations and email will not be checked as often. The apartment has a small separate kitchen, living room and bedroom. Lots of empty white walls which I am tempted to paint on! So far February has been warmer than normal and some of the trees are already starting to bloom. It feels more like mid-March in Pennsylvania.

Entrance hallway, then up and up and up.

Kitchen.

View from kitchen window.

©miles decoster 2008