Just a small village

Where the air is clean

My 100th post

Memories of summer

Clockwork Orange: from seven till five

I spotted this sundial (1930) on one of the walls of an "Art Déco" villa in the town of Sesto Calende, where Lake Maggiore flows into the River Ticino.

Autumn on my terrace...

... with curious pidgeon on the roof.

Listed buildings

As I had promised yesterday while thanking you all for visiting my blog and for your comments, here are the two buildings I had mentioned. I took the photo with my back towards the church tower. The red one on the left was built at the end of the 14th Century, beginning 15th, and has been perfectly restorated to what it originally looked like (apart from the roof windows). The white one on the right dates its origins back to the second hald of the 16th century but was manipulated throughout the centuries and presents itself like this today. Both are officially listed and are now also protected with cameras positioned in the square.
They used to be part of a Monastery (Il "Monastero della Purificazione"). The building of the Monastery is still on the square but has been changed into a library and into private homes.

My home is on the first and partially on the second (under the roof) floor of the white building.
The window of my study from which I am writing to you is the third one from the left (front windows).

Two thirty

What I see from my study.

New shops in old courtyards

Autumn has come and tourists have gone

A mythological guard...

... in one of the "Italian gardens" along the lake.

Swan Lake

Oh, Island in the Sun...

One of the Borromeo Islands (Lake Maggiore) glittering in the now autumn sun.

A last dive...

... in this swimming pool to say goodbye to summer.

Portrait of a friend

Selim is a friend. We grew up in different countries and in a different age group but had an upbringing with parents who coined the same priorities on the scale of values in us and that, together with the same views we share, has created a strong and solid basis of our friendship for the years to come. See you soon, Selim!

Naive painting

The atmosphere of the square and the church in the centre of Friedrichshafen recalls the naive paintings produced in former Yugoslavia during the 1970ies.

Portrait of a great musical interpreter

He was sitting there in the centre of Friedrichshafen, probably thinking of whom he had left behind in his home country, while his fingers flew unceasingly over the keyboards, creating incredible spirals of notes and chords.

Before the sun goes down

It is relaxing strolling along Friedrichshafen's lakeside before dinner.

The eye of the lake

The water of Friedrichshafen's lake (Bodensee) is esmerald-green in certain parts. This steel structure, in the the ferry harbour, has ten panoramic floors offering a stunning 360° view over the lake and part of the city. According to my opinion the structure itself does not fit into the local landscape, but from a photographical point of view I could play with it for hours.

Driving into yesterday

On my way to the International Bicycle Fair in Friedrichshafen in south-east Germany, where Austria, Switzerland and Germany come together in a triangle, I drove for four hours through beautiful Switzerland, where some essential and breathtaking sceneries in narrow valleys take you back into history.
Apart from work, I had time to take some photos in and around Friedrichshafen which I will post in the forthcoming days, but most of all I had the opportunity and pleasure to meet my dear friend Monoblog again.
Although Selim had to work much harder than me during the days of the fair, he was able to spare some moments to his refined photography and promised he would share his own impressions with all of us in the coming days.

Identical twins

The sun is getting lower while shadows are getting longer.

(I will be absent for one week. Be good!)

The Lake Squad of Arona's Fire Brigade