Pigiamas Market Italy

Dear Art Lover,

     Not everything works in Italy.  I say that as a person with little fashion sense.  Saturday, my neighbors took me into town.  I had to pay a bill and do other errands.  Also, I am gradually trying to prepare for this upcoming surgery and thus I decided to shop for pyjamas since I have none and do not want to be embarrassed when I have an overnight stay in a hospital.  But, I am ahead of myself.

    We passed the fruits and veggie vendors in a small piazza and headed into the Saturday market in Pescia, Italy, in Piazza Mazzini.  We first saw a booth selling lots of red panties.  So, I had the opportunity to share with my British neighbor the New Year’s Eve tradition of wearing red panties that I learned about in a fun way many years ago.

Italian New Year's Eve Tradition:  Wear red panties that night for good luck

       So, ready for a pigiama party?  So, it seems that what is available for single women my age (or even non-singles I suppose) in the “non-lingerie” category of PJs is either to dress like a nonna (grandmother) or like a little girl.  But here is the thing:  More and more you see English, or rather, an attempt at English, being used on products or store names in Italy.  They do not always work.  Sometimes we English speakers cannot even make out what words are intended, as in this hanging pyjama top, which caused my Brit neighbor and me to tilt our heads in confusion.

     I never appreciated that fashion fad in the US over a decade ago in which women were supposed to wear an outfit in black and white with obvious patterns that resemble those of a cow.  Along those same lines, look closer at this top with the nonsensical English:  What woman, especially a “mature” woman, wants to wear a dangling udder between spread legs?  I understand that sheep are the symbol of sleepiness (or not), but seriously, who comes up with this stuff?

     Or how about this farting cow with the snow-capped letters spelling out “Happy”?  The text says, “Feel with your heart, and strive to forward, to be grateful”  At least the designer did not punctuate that with a “full stop” as the British call it or a “period” as Americans refer to the end of a complete sentence.  I am also a bit surprised because I rarely think anymore that there is a place in Italy that does not have easy access to a native English speaker. 

     Sigh, and in case you are wondering because I KNOW you are curious:  I ended up buying a men’s pair of jammies in a solid color of slate blue with very soft fabric and lounging room… with pockets for phone and camera, no less.  Hahah.. well, I still will not ever win any fashion awards, and I am likely to remain single for the rest of my life.  

     See the red panties tradition post here:  http://artbyborsheim.blogspot.it/2012/01/italy-new-years-eve-tradition.html

.

Peace,

Kelly

P.S.  Please check out the “Raccolta e Regalo” sale I am having on selected artworks.. good through Dec 31, 2016.  http://www.borsheimarts.com/SaleArt2016-LaRaccoltaeIlRegalo.htm

http://BorsheimArts.com

 

Cascine Market Florence, Italy

Cari Amici,
I felt my cold break in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, although even today I am still feeling some lingering effects. I was happy, though, because I had made plans to meet my friend Anna (who shares a birthday with me) to go to the Tuesday market in the Parco delle Cascine. This park stretches along the famous Arno River, downstream from the Ponte Vecchio.

Although I have been told that Florentines love their gardens, a tourist is unlikely to see much of these in centro unless you can get invited inside the historic buildings to see the courtyards and rooftops. I have a tendency to experience withdrawal symptoms if I do not have contact with trees often, so I was looking forward to seeing more of this park.


The park is lovely (by day – by night, one can see prostitutes and it was not too long ago that the police cracked down on a substantial child prostitute business here) and the market was much larger than I expected. I love the food booths, the plants, and the inexpensive clothes. But they also sell sheets, linens, and other household items. Anna bought a pot for cooking.

We got a kick out of our lack of understanding the Italian language: One shoe booth promoted “Stock solo €1.50”. We were unclear on whether solo meant “only” or “each” since the shoes did not appear to be sold by the pairs. The weather was very spring-like and quite perfect, save for the flying seedlets snowing down on us. I know that I should have been able to name the guilty plant or tree, but labels seem to be escaping me. But enjoy the photo of the temporary groundcover!

And finally, I would like to include this image that I took on our return trip. We crossed the Arno and could see the beginning of the market on the left. And in front of the hills that surround Florence, the tower of the Palazzo Vecchio can be seen behind the bridges we must pass before arriving back where we started – Florence’s Ponte Vecchio.

Thank you for reading!
Kelly

Heidelberg Christmas Market – Florence, Italy

It arrived this past Wednesday – the annual Heidelberg Christmas mercato in Piazza Santa Croce in Florence, Italy. This market features 50 wooden huts filled with holiday goodies. Lots of food is available from cheeses, breads, spices, and meats to sausages, pig, kraut, and pretzels with all kinds of toppings. Other gift items are handmade clothes, ornaments, porcelain and ceramics, candels, toys, and hats. Vendors come from Germany, Poland, Austria, France, and other countries.

I miss my friend Sylvia, from Austria, though. She was here last year selling the clove ornaments that I so adore. No one this year has anything like them.

One of the favorite selections among so many of my friends here in Firenze is the gluwein (pronounced 'gloo - vine') or as the Italians call it vin brulé, perhaps best understood as a VERY tasty mulled wine. Oh, the smell is yummy and the effect powerful. I asked a tourist to take this photo recently, documenting us drinking the stuff for lunch: from left to right, my Austrialian artist friend Skye; our Italian friend, photographer and model Sara; and, I hope, one of your favorite sculptors (ha!) on both sides of the Atlantic. ;-)

The night image I took on my way home of the carousel bar out in front of the entire mercato. You can see the façade of the Basilica of Santa Croce, where Michelangelo and other famous Florentines are buried.

Cin Cin (pron. ‘chin chin’)