San Gimignano

Today I visited the beautiful medieval town of San Gimignano in Italy. San Gimignamo is located in the province of Siena, Tuscany and is about 30 minutes by car from the town of Siena. It sits on a hill top surrounded by lush, rolling landscape.

The town is surrounded by three walls, with a series of gates between each wall and the ruins of a fortress at its highest point. San Gimingano is famous for its architecture; specifically for its ancient tower houses in Romanesque and Gothic styles.

The reason for the towers has a sort of Montague and Capulet story. There became a long, on-going rivalry between two families (the Guelphs; who supported the Pope, and the Ghibellines; who supported the Holy Roman Emperor) and as a way to out-do each other, for 200 years the generations of these two families built the towers as a way of showcasing their wealth and influence (or perceived wealth and influence). At the height of the feud, there were 72 towers, the tallest being over 70 meters high. Today, there are 13 remaining towers; as towers either crumbled through neglect or were brought down over time to make room for more usable living space.

San Gimignano is also known for the production of many delicacies including wine, extra virgin olive oil, wild boar products such as sausage, and saffron. Vernaccia, the first Italian white wine to receive DOC and then DOCG recognition, is a beautiful, easy drinking white wine that starts out creamy and finishes clean with hints of pear and apple. I enjoyed it so much that I had some shipped to my home (and anyone who knows me knows I am predominantly a red wine drinker)

I got the opportunity to visit the Tenuta Torciano Winery and enjoy a very thorough tasting of a number of their wines. These included:

2013 Torciano Poggioaicieli Vernaccia DOCG
2013 Torciano Crete Rosse Chianti DOCG
2012 Torciano Doge Chianti Classico
2009 Torciano Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
2010 Torciano Baldassarre "Super Tuscan" IGT
2010 Torciano Vin Beato Dessert Wine (not shown)

Served with the wine was bread with both their house olive oil and truffle infused olive oil, wild boar sausage, pecorino cheese and a radicchio and endive salad with their house balsamic reduction.

After all that wine and food tasting, it was time to head back to Siena and have a little nap before heading out for dinner and gelato.

The Paris Print Shop

Today’s little bit of lovely is brought to you courtesy of Nicole from The Paris Print Shop. Based in New York City, Nicole has a great eye for making the ordinary extraordinary when it comes to photography.

From her website; ”My shop offers photos from the Paris Color Project which began when I moved to Paris in 2009. What started as snapshots of my neighborhood evolved into a series of photographs that document color on the city’s streets. I’m drawn to the way color contrasts Paris’ neutral facades, the way layers of paint erode into a form of abstract art, and to the details that are often overshadowed by the Eiffel Tower and other iconic landmarks. Each image was discovered serendipitously while walking on an unfamiliar street. I sought out objects that resonated with the energy of the city, one particular color at a time.”

Nicole and her lovely images have been featured by Martha Stewart, Real Simple, The New York Times, and HGTV (and that’s only naming a few of who’s who). Her book “Paris in Color” by Cronicle Books is available in bookstores and boutique shops, including Anthroplogie.

In her shop, Nicole offers both single images and mini-collections. I especially like that a variety of sizes are available. You can opt for all one size in a series of four or nine images, or choose one large feature photograph.

For something really eye catching, you could do both: have a large print on the left, with a series of smaller images to the right of it. The collage style arrangement will be sure to get conversation going at your next dinner party.

Les photographies sont très chic, n'est-ce pas?

Ruins of Detroit

Throughout history, every great empire has come to an end. Pioneered by Henry Ford, William Durrant, the Dodge Brothers, Packard & Sons and Walter Chrysler, Detroit was established as the world’s automotive capital and the engine (yes . .I know . .nice pun) of the American automotive empire.

shown left: 15th floor ballroom - Lee Plaza HotelDetroit now stands as the symbol of urban decay. The city’s population has diminished from about 1.8 million at its peak in the 1950’s to less than half that number in 2010. Between 2000 and 2010, the city’s population declined by 25%. Among current-day cities in America, the only city to see a greater decrease in its population is New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. As a result, over a third of the city’s land area is now abandoned; with an incredible 33,000 empty lots and vacant houses. The “Get-Up-and-Go” of Motown has “Got-Up-and-Gone”.



In their book “The Ruins of Detroit”, French photographers Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre capture the decaying beauty of the buildings' grand interiors with compassion and a respect for eras past. The series of photographs explores the dilapidated shells of early 20th century architectural gems - everything from hotels, theaters, churches, and homes. Each photograph holds its subject frozen in time. And I must say I was moved by the images. The sight of the Michigan Theatre being used as a parking lot (shown right) and the Vanity Ballroom with its still-hanging art deco chandeliers was enough to make me cringe a little. I mean, this is where Duke Ellington and Tommy Dorsey used to play. . .! (Ironically, the Michigan Theater is built on the site of the small garage where Henry Ford built his first automobile; the garage was transported brick by brick to The Henry Ford Museum in nearby Dearborn).

From the photographers’ website: “Ruins are the visible symbols and landmarks of our societies and their changes, small pieces of history in suspension.”
“The state of ruin is essentially a temporary situation that happens at some point, the volatile result of change of era and the fall of empires. This fragility, the time elapsed but even so running fast, lead us to watch them one very last time: being dismayed, or admire, making us wondering about the permanence of things.”

I think that the difference between North American cities and European cities when it comes to the passage of time and how cities develop and change is that in North America we are blessed with so much land and space. If we don’t like a building anymore, we just move on and build something else; leave everything we don’t want behind. Cities like London, Paris, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Prague, Venice . . . they don’t have this luxury. When a building is no longer being used, everything salvageable is removed and the building is repurposed. There is no moving on to another building site because, well, there are no more building sites. Land is not plentiful.

shown above: Atrium - Farwell Building

It is sad to see the gorgeous detail in massive Gothic churches crumbling, but even more upsetting is what this signifies for the people of the city of Detroit. A sense of failure, a painful feeling of loss and the downward spiral of decay and despair. Compounded with an unemployment rate of over 50%, I can understand why so many people would want to leave. And perhaps Detroit today signifies what is happening to America on a larger scale, and should be heeded as a warning of what can happen to an empire that over extends to the point where it can no longer support itself.