January 23, 2009

Show and Tell Friday


The weather is terrible in Hungary for days now, dark and clouded, it’s a bit depressing. I am desiring some sunlight. So Show and Tell Friday was a good occasion for me to look for our old pictures made in Naples, Italy, and show you some of them. What do you think this is?


And this one?


Before I tell you (more time for you to think about it), I will share how we got to Naples. My husband’s job needed him there for 1 year, so it was natural that the whole family moved with him. We rented a house in a village near Naples, which had a huge terrace with a view of the sea. This was very important for us, since Hungary has no sea, so we wanted to have a sight on it as much as possible.


We regularly watched the sunset from the upper balcony, with a glass of port-wine in our hand, to watch the red sun disappear slowly in the sea. Shortly after our bats showed up (we had two ones) flashing around with lightning speed, and then the show ended (until the next evening). This was the view from the balcony:


And this was how it looked like when the night was falling:


And here is a picture that might help with the clue:


Maybe you may see that the first two pictures show the same thing: a stopper for the shutters, to stop the strong wind constantly blowing from the sea from slamming our shutters in (that is when the hard-face gentleman is on top). To set the shutters loose, before closing them you have to turn the gentleman down revealing the nice-looking lady. Then you may close the shutter. This is shown on the picture above, though from a bit far I know. I really liked how the Italians solve even this everyday task in such an esthetic and witty way. It was quite common that if we payed attention we could discover really small but beautiful details wherever we went.
We loved living in Naples, and on such cloudy gray days we miss it maybe even more. Someday I will tell about it more.

14 comments:

SmilingSally said...

What a wonderful experience to live in another country for three years, but I would not like the bats! Thanks for sharing. Happy Show and Tell Day.

Linda Q said...

Maria,
Thank you for showing and telling. I learned something new and interesting. I enjoyed that!
LindaQ

Belinda said...

Three years in Naples, with those beautiful views must have been Heavenly! I was going to guess door knockers, but I see I would have been wrong! How interesting. Thank you for sharing both the beautiful photos and the story to go along wih them. :-)

BECKY said...

What a neat show and tell! I love it when I learn something! Gracie who is in show and tell lives in Parma, Italy. If you visit her archive she has wonderful pics, too! You can visit my blog for a trip to a local "Spring" and in my archive, to Daytona Beach. A little more sunshine!
Blessings and I hope your weather improves soon. I have a hard time when we get lots of rain and clouds!
Blessings,
Becky

BECKY said...

I just have to add that your quilting is lovely!! Something I want to learn to do!
Blessings,
Becky

Anonymous said...

Very interesting, thank you for sharing.

Alpine Sanctum said...

That IS a really creative way of solving an every day problem. The bats might have scared me a little bit though. Lovely pictures, but even without a sea I think I'd prefer to be in Hungary. (I'm Hungarian but live overseas.) I'd love to see more pictures of my home - even if it IS dark and cloudy there lately. ;)

Kim @ Forever Wherever said...

Thanks for sharing! It looks beautiful! We have a good friend from Budapest.

A Hint of Home said...

Very interesting post. What a gorgeous view you had. It looks like it was a wonderful experience.

Liesel said...

What a lovely post! I really enjoyed it, thank you for sharing!

Linda C said...

The scenery was just beautiful there. And what unique show and tell- solve a problem and make it pretty - good job:)

Linda C

Messzenéző Minyon said...

Oh, Naples! We spent there about a week a few years ago at my husband's very kind cousin. We loved it! The wether was wonderful and Solfatara, Pompei, Procida, the Vesuv, Sorrento, Amalfi were fantastic!

Gracie said...

Hi Maria, thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a message. I've been in Hungary in 1995, but visited only Budapest, Szentendre, Visegrad and Esztergom. But what I saw was really beautiful and interesting (thanks also to our precious guide). Have you seen other places in Italy besidd Naples?
Gracie at http://mylittleplace.blog.com

Karen said...

Love the shutter stops and the view is beautiful!