Window shopping in Italy. Путешествие по витринам Италии.

Друзья! Здравствуйте! Сегодняшняя статья будет очень необычной по нескольким причинам. Во-первых, я всегда пишу все на свежие мысли, отдохнувший организм и бодрое состояние духа! Сегодня же я начинаю писать эту статью в 2 ночи, обессиленная, чуть живая. Кроме того, утром у меня поезд, а потом еще самолет…но не ищу я легких путей! Я тут вспомнила, что обещала подруге-дизайнеру, что поделюсь с ней фотографиями европейских витрин в канун Рождества и Нового 2017 года (я в то время была в Италии).

И тут я вдруг поняла, что вряд ли у меня будет возможность сделать это позже, поэтому решила не откладывать на завтра то, что нужно, просто необходимо сделать сегодня. НО так как я все-таки хочу поспать хотя бы часок-другой, текста будет минимум и в этот раз английский и русский я напечатаю вместе. Приношу извинения за предоставленные неудобства!

Dear Friends! Hello! This post will be very unusual for several reasons. First of all, I always try to write my articles when I am in mood, rested and have a spirited state of mind! Today (or rather tonight) I begin to write this article at 2am: I am exhausted, hardly alive. In addition to that I have a train in the morning , and then a plane to fly with… but of course I’m not looking for easy ways! I remembered that I had promised my friend (who is a wonderful designer) that I would share with her pictures of European shop windows on the eve of Christmas and New Year 2017 (at that time I was in Italy). And I realized that it is unlikely that I will have the opportunity to do this later, so I decided not to postpone this important thing. BUT, since I still want to sleep for at least an hour or two, the text will be at a minimum and this time I will write in English and Russian together. I apologize for the inconvenience!

Верона. Если мне не изменяет память, это был ресторан. Verona. If I am not mistaken it was a restaurant.

Все в той же прекрасной Вероне. Мне понравилось столь живописное решение витрины. It’s still beautiful Verona. I like such a picturesque display version.

Необычный арт-объект в виде большого количества очков. Here you can see an unusual art object in the form of a large number of glasses.

Немного атмосферы праздника! A bit of celebration atmosphere 🙂 

Для меня бутик мороженого “Магнум” во Флоренции стал культурным шоком. На витрине ювелирное мороженое, внутри все как в ресторане, и сам герой-десерт стоит 4,5 евро, если я не ошибаюсь (около 300 руб за штучку).

Magnum store in Florence has become a cultural shock for a Siberian girl (I mean myself). There was a jewelry ice cream in the window. The store itself looked like a restaurant and if I’m not mistaken the ice cream cost 4.5 euros.

Сальваторе Феррагамо. Salvatore Ferragamo. 

Надпись на одном из зданий Флоренции. Вокруг нее было много туристов с фотокамерами. В том числе и я. В переводе на русский: “Луи Вуиттон не спасет твою душу. Сантини”.

It was written on one of the buildings in Florence. There were tourists taking pictures of it and so did I. 

Отметила этот логотип, так как на нем изображена геральдическая лилия (=королевская лилия, = флёр де лис) – символ итальянской Флоренции. Цветок трансформируется в корабль. Компания занимается транспортными перевозками.

I found this logo being very interesting and creative as it has fleur-de-lis in it (which is called giglio and mainly known as the crest of the city of Florence). The flower is transforming into a ship. 

Открытки во Флоренции. Some cards for selling in Florence. 

Хотелось бы примерить такую юбочку. I would love to try this skirt! 

А это мне напомнило о моей невестке (жене брата). Кто немного знает мою семью, поймет о чем я. And this reminded me of my sister-in-law. If you know a bit about my family you’ll probably understand what I mean by saying this. 

Это, конечно, не витрина магазина. Но просто меня порадовало название моей любимой хурмы на итальянском: Каки))) и за что они так столь вкусный фрукт! I suppose only Russian speaker will understand why I shared this photo here. Otherwise it makes no sence. 

Это мой фаворит в плане креативности. Сеть магазинов с едой высокого качества и таких же цен называется “Eataly” что читается также как “Italy”, где слово “eat” означает “есть, кушать, съедать”.

I just loved this creative name of the food-shop chain! Eataly – well done! 

Сказка от Тиффани. Here is a fairy tale from Tiffany & Co. 

Модный дом Валентино просто поражает своим сиянием в канун Рождественских праздников (РИМ). Valentino’s fashion house simply amazes with its shining walls on the eve of Christmas holidays (ROME).

А это фото из интернета. This photo was taken from the internet.

В Риме очередь за Пандорой побольше, чем очередь за джелато или свежеиспеченным хлебом))). The queue for Pandora is bigger in Rome than the one for gelato in the capital)). 

Dolce & Gabanna (Rome)

А это оригинальная надпись на толстовке, пародирующая фразу “I wish you were HERE” (Я бы хотел (а), чтобы ты была (был) здесь”. На кофте написано “Я бы хотел (а), чтобы ты был (а) пивом”. По-моему, это было в городе Варезе, куда я ездила на денек.

Love this creative idea! I think it was a shop in Varese. 

Не повезло Томе. I wonder what is Toma since we have such a name in Russia. 

Запрещенка))) Forbidden!)) 

Милан. Туфли из шоколада. Milan. These shoes are chocolate ones!

Бергамо. Bergamo.

Бутик с очень необычными ободками. Бергамо. It was a shop with extraordinary hair band in Bergamo. 

Муранское стекло в Венеции. Venice, Murano glass. 

Пожалуй, на этом все, мои милые. Я устала. Я ухожу…спать))) уже скоро 4 утра. Я очень рада, что все-таки нашла в себе силы выложить эти фотографии. Всем сладких снов или плодотворного дня (в зависимости от того, в какой точке планеты вы сейчас находитесь). Обнимаю!

Perhaps that’s all, my dear. I’m exhausted right now. I’m leaving … for sleeping))) it’s about 4 am here. I’m very glad that I have found the strength to share these photos. I wish you all sweet dreams or a fruitful working day (depending on where in the world you are at). A big hug!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas celebrated with an Italian family in Rome!

Hello my dear friends!

As I wrote earlier I am in Italy again (more precisely in Rome) and I would very much like to tell you about my 2-days stay in Verona and 2-days stay in Florence. It’s worth it and besides, I have some photos of different architectures, views of cities, shops decoration and so on. But I should postpone everything and in the meantime I would like to tell you about my first Christmas celebrated in Europe, in an Italian family.

My family (where I am currently living) has started Christmas preparation the day before the event (gifts they bought much earlier, of course), but began to prepare the food one day before. I am talking about lasagna of two types (meat one and a vegetarian option) as well as something like a vegetable pizza-pie. And on the 24^th of December we took all the gifts and left the house. The trip was very long, 3 meters long as we actually went into the next-door apartment where the sister of my hostmother lived. While being here, in this family, I clearly realized how convenient it is when relatives live in the neighborhood. Although, perhaps there are also disadvantages in such a situation.

I really liked the apartment: it was big, spacious, decorated in Christmas European style. The one thing I didn’t really enjoy. I am talking about the floor which was marble or tile (I am not sure as I am not good at this kind of thing), but it was very cold and therefore everyone was wearing street shoes inside the flat. Specially for this evening I changed my tradition and mentality and also wore my boots because health is really important for me.

I was very worried how I would feel in a large Italian family where I knew less than a half of guests and where I was the only person outside the family and, most importantly, the only foreigner there. But the evening was magical! First of all, everyone was really friendly, open and welcoming. All the guests were trying to talk to me, to help me with my Italian, to make me feel a part of the family. It was very nice of them. And very often I heard “Che carina questa ragazza russa”, which meant “How nice this Russian girl is” which was also very kind of them. Of course, majority of people asked me a question about Siberia, about my city (Omsk) and, most importantly about the weather, thinking that Russia is the coldest place on Earth.

(c) the picture was taken from the internet, luxfon site.

The dinner started with some snacks as one of the family members brought different types of canapés with mozzarella, smoked sausage, soft cheese with spices, jam, bread, olives, sausage…As I was told Italians eat only fish on Christmas according to their tradition, there is no meat on the table. Thus these canapés was kind of a deviation from the tradition, for those who wanted meat. And I must say that almost everyone chose to participate this little meat-festival until they (the canapés) ended. That’s what I also did. We were also offered different sandwiches with salmon and something else (but I only ate the salmon one). And we drank a bit of alcohol though I am not sure about the name of it.

Then all exchanged their Christmas gifts which were under the tree. They actively tore beautiful packages with bows and ribbons. And subsequently followed to the table being in this happy mood of received presents.

At first we were offered lasagna (meat and vegetarian), pasta Bolognese and a pie. Surprisingly the main drink was water there. It seemed for me that the food was enough, but it was just a start. Then we were served with meatloaf, salmon, vegetable salad, stewed zucchini, something baked with the cheese and even a plate of Russian salad! Yes, it is actually called insalata russa! I decided that it was prepared specifically for me, but as it turned out, the salad was pretty popular in the country (maybe they eat it every Christmas, I am not sure). In any case, it was very nice, although it’s still a bit different from our traditional one and therefore tasted a bit strange for me.

There were few generations and the table was divided into few parts (some people talked in pairs, some were shouting, sitting in different corners of the table, while others talked sitting in threes), therefore sometimes it was hard to understand whom to listen, whom to answer, what to focus on.

At the end of this special Christmas dinner they brought a dessert. Traditional Christmas dessert is Panettone (a light Italian sweet bread loaf with candied fruit baked for Christmas).

(Didn’t find a chance to take a photo while being there so took it from the internet in order to show you how it looks like).

Pandoro was also there (it was much harder to find information about this cake, as I misspelled it and the internet immediately showed results for the jewelry products of Pandora). In fact I really liked both desserts, but as I was told Pandoro was a typical cake of Verona (and with a large amount of butter used in it), and Panettone was a Milanese cake.

We also tasted marzipan fruits (or as they called “Frutta martorana”). As I was the only foreigner there the big family decided to explain me what it was, where it came from and I was even given the first piece to try it. Later I told them that I spent all my summer in Sicily, I tried those famous Sicilian sweets and besides, I heard the story (legend) about the fruits no less than 10 times from our guide in the hotel. They took their origin at the Monastero della Martorana (which is in Palermo) when nuns decorated empty fruit trees with marzipan fruit to impress an archbishop visiting at Easter.

(this photo was also taken from the internet)

It seemed to me very surprising that the dessert was served without tea or coffee, just water. Although I love water and was glad about it, but remembering our Russian traditions I felt there was missing something and that the host just forgot to offer a cup of tea.

And despite the beautiful table in red colour-theme with the pictures of traditional Christmas flowers (poinsettia), we ate and drank from the plastic plates and glasses that was also quite unexpected, though it was very logical considering the number of guests and the age of the hosts (it was a lovely Italian couple of 70 years old both that hosted us).

Around 11pm everyone stopped eating and after 5-10 minutes of cleaning and tiding up the table they started to prepare for some cart-games. As about cleaning the table: it was my first time when I saw a small vacuum cleaner to clean tablecloths, it collected the crumbs from the table very conveniently. I was impressed! Everyday it happens to me – I am discovering a new technique. It’s funny that I have traveled a lot but sometimes it feels like I just came from a village.

We went home after 11pm. As I already said the way was too long: more than 3 meters if being exact! What’s more we needed to open the door with the key! It was such an incredible effort we all made))). My Italian family told me that playing cards was also a kind of Christmas celebration and they played literally once a year, on this day (or rather a night). So I would really wanted to see it happening but, alas, I was exhausted by the time and thus I left the company of gamblers and chose sleep.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, my dear friends! See you soon 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All I want for Christmas is to wish you…

My dear friends,helloooo! I am very busy these days. You know, how many things Cinderella should do and I am waiting for my stunning ball which is going to be soon (hopefully). Anyway, I’ve been waiting for it 23 years already, can wait a little bit more.

I am here just to wish you a Merry Christmas. I wish you life as sweet as the sweetest chocolate, healthy as an organic apple, sporty as (let’s say) gepard, beautiful as a rainbow, sparkling as a Bengal light, melodic as Shopen’s music, romantic as Paris and interesting as my blog! Well, maybe I should not have written it. I mean the part about Paris)), because there are many lovely cities in the world and anyway, I have never been in the capital of France so how can I judge? My best wishes to all of you and if you stay with me through 2013 year I promise I will try my best to make you happier or at least to put a smile on your face!

Have a wonderful time wherever you are, whoever you are and whatever you do. 

Show must go on! :)

My dear friends! Do you know why I invented a new tradition in my post and started it with a picture above? It’s my greeting to all of you! I like to be creative in some ways and unpredictable, therefore today I am saying hello in Mongolian style (not Gangnam though). When inviting to an unknown guest to a house, Mongol should offer him khata which is a strip (scarf) of silk or cotton. If you receive this honor, you have to take it with both hands carefully, and do a slight bow. I am sorry that I can offer you only a picture, but for sure, if I had seen you, I would have given you all the scarves I have)) (all my one and a half scarves))

Anyway, today my post will be full of videos and I really hope you’ll be entertained with them! All the videos were imagined, designed, filmed and uploaded by my lovely classmates and good friends. The first video I want you to look at is a cartoon (I would call it so) that was made by Maria and Yana. They are using a very extraordinary technique to tell you a story of their life. This is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QLKsf07MVI&sns=fb

The video number two is one made by my other classmates who are sending a very important message while showing craziness of London! Their video is about students are being milked by the Government for tution fees raise. The link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKNMCV8xl-o . In addition to what I mentioned above, their campaign appeared in the Evening Standard newspaper (http://www.standard.co.uk/news/londoners-diary/students-in-pinta-protest-8427048.html ), which shows that these guys make news. Have a look at their video and stay updated with London-news!

The third video is a Christmas-fun video again designed and filmed by my classmates (as you can see, my PR-group is a very creative one). If you want some Jingle Bell story, please have a look here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESJTsjJnPvY . By the way, I am participating in this fun, so you can find me there, in a red hat. I am sure it will be easy as almost everyone is wearing a red hat in the video!))

Another ingredient of my video-salad today is a video by my (guess who???) classmates!!)) This video shows how people get into the university while singing “Call me maybe” or “Call Westminster”… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKtmsC61nu4

And last but not least one – another video directed and made by my other amazing classmates. Their video is all about Fun, Fun and Fun! Also, it’s a about such a great period of time as being a student! I am sure some of you will be students one day, some of you are still studying now, or you have already passed this time. Whoever you are, whatever you do – I am sure you’ll enjoy to take a time machine and feel the emotions and experience of being a student! You can find this “machine” here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGB5NNgZvMQ . By the way, I am in the video as well. You will find me there very easily, because I am the one who is not wearing a red hat. I should probably say that no one actually is wearing any hats in that video, but never mind, you will find me, won’t you?

This was a blog-vlog-videos-stock))) and I’ll see you soon again!! Enjoy watching all the creative videos!