Historical inspiration in Venice

If you are looking for a different sort of magic, you should go to Venice in the winter time. Since our landing to San Marco airport and during our boat journey to Venice, I already felt that this will be something very unusual: like a dive to a special zone of History and art. Even Venice is a touristic destination, the story of this place and the spirit of all the souls who were walking and living here in the old times left their mark to this isolated city. The tradition, the spirit of the talented people and the esthetic touch of different times are inspiring even a modern day tourist like me. I felt welcome and like I was invited to watch and respect this wonderful place. I wanted to see more than just the glittery shopping streets and easy to drop in restaurants. My first visit here and I fell in love. 

I want to go there again in one winter. 

A view from Accademia Bridge (Canal Grande)

Our first day in Venice was quite clear. Luckily I could take a few quick photos on our walks over the bridges. Some streets were very crowded and once we had to escape the chaos and step into a beautiful church to sit there in silence. Outside I admired some of the small shops where local artist and creative professionals were selling their products. About 50 000 people living in Venice and about 30 million visitors per year. So strange and like out of balance situation. Everything seems to be based on tourism and the local people are disappearing. Every year about 1000 people are leaving. The sea around the City is a beautiful element, but more and more also a risk for all the old buildings and their foundation. The sea level is rising because of the climate change, the quality of water is getting worse and the storms & waves are a threat to Venice coastline. The location and just being an old city makes Venice more vulnerable.

I almost feel guilty I went there, but this visit made me feel hopeful. I felt more love & admiration for the world and saw with my own eyes the special beauty made by human hands. 

This visit felt like a hug from old friend

Trust without a fear, a firm and familiar greet.

Staying open for this world we live in is very important. Allowing us to forget ourselves sometimes and remembering to listen and watch around,  to be interested and respectful to what we have or have opportunity to experience.

Being careful what sort of energy we give outside,  because  energy is circulating. We will get some energy back from others, from the world and  from ourselves. A good energy flow helps us to be present on a moment, use our senses freely and enjoy life.

A trip to Venice was full of meaning and a great Family experience. Our son was turning 18 and being such a big Man now, it was fun how he ordered "grappa" for us all at the restaurant. 

Details from Basilica di San Marco

It was nice finally to see the big Basilica di San Marco in real. I only had time to see it from the outside, but one day I would like to see the inside as well. More visits to art galleries, churches and enjoying water views would be on my bucket list. I would take my time to walk around and breath in the rich culture and balance my steps on narrow side streets few more days. We did not do the gondola drive either, so that would happen too. 

High fashion against retro patina. 

Ponte de Rialto: a marble bridge from 16th century.

During the last afternoon I went to see old Venetian Art at the Gallerie Dell' Accademia. They have a big collection of Art from Venetian artists from 14th to 18th Century. The venetian painters were very well known and some of them went to other destinations in Europe to paint some monuments and influential people. Very many paintings and other artwork at the museum were saved from old churches and palaces of Venice. The religion plays a big role in these works, but you can see how the style changed during the years. The element of Nature is often somehow present in the paintings and compositions. There used to be competition between the main land artist and Venetian style painters. The landscape painting and portraits were popular and the Venetians were the first in Italy to get some new influence from more north part of Europe via Alps. And vice versa, the Venetian style was spreading some new ideas to western painting. 

The new year and the new plans. Everything was a bit open in the start of January, but now there is something nice to look forward in almost every month until summer. Two concert tickets bought, my friends come for a visit, I will go and visit my parents with my daughter and we will visit our son in spring time. Our son will start the last year of high school in South Africa and had to shave all his hair before flying back there. A lot of traditions at school. The children/young adults seem to really be more committed to activities and to their little roles and responsibilities there. It is great to have these different experiences at a young age. 

The family time is getting less, because kids are bigger and having their own plans. It was lovely to be together in Italy. It was so fun to visit the interactive "Leonardo da Vinci-museum" and see how the little kid still lives in all of us. 

A little January Renaissance in Venice gave a lot of inspiration and a clear start for the new year. 

Evening view 

Morning motivation

I had an early walk this October morning. It was a foggy start for this week, just a perfect moment to enjoy the mystery of the season. People rushing with their bikes to work. It's autumn holiday for the school children, it was more peaceful than usually. We don't have very strong autumn colors yet. I wanted to find some energy giving, juicy, earthy tones of Nature. I have to wait for a few days and share some details later.

My daily cycling, jogging and walking routes are not so often captured in pictures. I'm often leaving in a last minute and have to hurry to my duties. If I'm jogging, I just want to move forward without stopping and enjoy my flow. I prefer walking alone when taking pictures, taking my time and not only watching, also listening the landscape and the environment.

 

Every single day I look at the sky first thing in the morning. 

No matter what the weather, there is always a reason to go out. It's not always great out there, but I can enjoy the rain and a little  storm every now and then. I know I can go inside afterwards, enjoy my hot tea, watch the sky again through my window and feel safe.

The life is not so balanced on this Planet at the moment. It's overwhelming to follow the news. Some powerful people and groups, carelessly pushing their narrow-minded agendas, deciding to follow the mission of destroyal. The balance will not be found with this Philosophy of negative force. The violence, egoism, neglect and numbness are limiting and killing every small chance to find new solutions and be open for a growth - personal, political, national and real emotional & ethical growth. I would like to believe it's possible to make everything better. I have lately started to feel I want to live so much more simple life. This madness is not challenging us in a right way, the direction is totally wrong. 

The life is full of limitations that we do not want to accept. "Everything is possible" "Only the sky is the limit" - Sounds too good to be true. We have to be realistic and focus on the life here right now instead of too much fantasy. Creativity and imagination are such positive forces to build a better world if the motivation behind our plans and actions is healthy. The fantasy and the vision are important, but taking focused, responsible steps is gradually leading us to more balanced and happy future.

Personal positive actions and changes can have such a big influence on our life. It is good to look behind and realize the development you made. We will always have something to improve and something to be proud of. It can be something very small and not visible to others,  but still remarkable detail on our personal journey.

During my long jog last sunday I was thinking how that activity had helped me in many ways during the last years. I had learned to fine tune my running by really listening every time how I felt physically and mentally that day. I was accepting my limitations on that given moment. This healthy hobby had influence on me in so many ways. I wrote a list to myself to remember and be even more aware. 

Self regulation...

focus...giving attention to signals...

finding your tempo, being able to adjust it...discipline...

taking a break...being aware of my motivation...

self care and love...better nutrition...

understanding the influence of different periods in life...

being an example to others and getting inspired by other people...

accepting my personal limitations...

letting go of judgmental and negative patterns or behaviors, being curious and open instead.

A long term practise in any hobby or activity can have a big influence to other dimensions and roles in our life as well. The key is the real connection to yourself and through this process a better understanding and empathy towards others as well. 

I'm proud that this middle aged woman can run 10 kilometers once a week. I was not able to do it 10 years ago. I've understood the importance of regular basic training to achieve the next level. Maybe half a marathon next :)!

Peace

The pulse of September

There are many reasons for me to feel good in this September. I finally have a peace of mind about many things. It's good to see how some pieces of a puzzle found their spots in the "year book of 2023" and now I eagerly wait to experience and enjoy the rest of the year. Still many months to rock n roll. I'm really happy getting back to yoga practice, I get so much better contact to my body, mind and breathing after every lesson. For me the best combination to stay fit is running, yoga and pilates. All of these actions & practices supporting each other perfectly.

It's important to see and experience something different regularly. Then it's easier to go on with the normal routines. I have still extremely much to see in the Netherlands. It's a never ending project. So small country, but so many interesting places! Luckily we did one "uitje"(a little day trip/visit)a couple of weeks ago.

Doesburg

Our long term plan is to visit all the 9 Hanseatic towns of the Netherlands - still five to go. Around the middle ages, when Amsterdam was still a small town, the Hansa towns were successful economical & transportation spots by the water. You can sense the history and the visible & cultural marks of the past times when visiting these towns (Deventer, Zwolle, Zutphen, Doesburg, Kampen, Elburg, Hattem, Hardewijk & Hasselt) along the rive Ijssel and near the national park Veluwe region. 

A star shaped form of old Doesburg

A typical roof silhouette of Hansa in Doesburg 

        

A historical and tasty short weekend with great walks around the town, admiring the architecture and the surrounding Nature. You can easily take the train from Amsterdam to Arnhem (East of Holland) and travel from there to Doesburg by a bus. By the way Doesburg is very well known for the mustard and there is a great museum for that as well. Every first Sunday of the month you can visit a big market in the centre, where the local creative people are selling their products.  

I think the Holland travels should not only focus on Amsterdam or other big cities. If you have an opportunity, pick one of the Hanseatic towns as well and get to know the history a bit more. 

Lalique Gallery

We visited one museum in Doesburg and what a great surprise it was. The museum in named after René Lalique (1860-1945), a very productive french glass and jewellery designer from the art deco & art nouveau period. The museum is located in two old national monument houses, a very beautiful experience. Flora, fauna and feminine forms were the inspiration for art nouveau. The designs have beautiful lightness and flow and phenomenal sense of using the materials. The jewels had such detailed balance and I found his perfume bottles such art also. At the museum shop were a collection of perfumes for sale - of course I had to buy one for later inspiration. 

The museum has regularly different exhibitions beside the basic collection. During our visit there was a great show about graphic design from around 1900 - "Mucha & Tijdgenoten". During that time the color photography was not yet developed and taken over the market. That's why many artists had a lot of work: posters, pictures for the magazines, fashion illustrations. Back then these marvelous works were not seen as art. Looking from our perspective it really was a very beautiful period of time when a lot of work was made on paper and a lot of patience was needed to create these unique hand made art works. One of the most famous poster artist was the french Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec from Paris. The museum about his work and life story is located near Montmartre in Paris - another great museum to visit.

The life energy, the inspiration is so important part of staying motivated, curious and open. I get the biggest "kick" when seeing something like this. It gives always hope, to see the humanity and expression of feelings and thoughts trough any interesting art.

 

That's the reason, thinking of the long, soon arriving winter time, I bought a museum year card. You can visit as much you like a long list of Museums in the Netherlands with this card during one year. This personalized card is only sold for the people living in the Netherlands.

Via the following link you can compare the prices of different sorts of discount cards for tourists. You can choose the best option for your purposes:

Amsterdam City Cards comparison & review

Bloemendaal aan Zee

I had not been at the beach in Holland for a while. Since we sold our car, it was not so spontaneous to make a short visit there. Actually you can take a train to the beach, but we never did it. I was so happy to see the see and feeling the Atlantic breeze. I love big, open views and the far away horizons. The water was still warm and we had a long walk at the sandy beach. 

 

The Autumn sun was giving such a reflective shine on the surface of the sea. I loved the sharpness of some waves, the speed they confronted the sand with a dominance. I always had a big interest about the adventurous sailors who go to chase their dreams over the restless seas. I read so many books about their trips and hard experiences. I am afraid of the dark side of this massive forse of Nature, but I love to watch the Sea and I feel alive when I hear the waves. It's really like hearing the earth breathing, how it's alive and wants us to be alive. That's why I often seek the water, walk along the water. It makes me  calm in any restless moment of my life.

autumn sunsets are the best

Evening salad with pink mood with a glass  of Rose

I think my September has been balanced so far and I feel it was a good recipe of different things that made me extra happy. It is  also the contrast between the more challenging summer period and finally things getting easier & clearer that made me space to take a better care of myself. 

The pulse of September is getting calmer and stronger. Lucky to be old enough to know the importance of taking your time (and us time) when the opportunity comes.

 Creating opportunities by making choices!

Less overthinking and trusting the feeling!