Saturday Photo + QOTD + Nostalgia + Foodie...

...to make up for lost blogging time.
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by PAM

On communicating feelings, and the connections we make with other people and places in our travels through photographs...

"Travel through the five senses....
What if we talk about how traveling - getting outside ourselves, can...
...touch our hearts (through photographs)?"

- Ethan, 'One Winter Proposal', a Hallmark TV movie

             

My first trip to Italy two years ago, around this time of year, was one of the most unforgettable trips I've taken in my life.  I got to visit Rome, Bologna, Florence, and this charming little town called Cesena, nestled in the Emilia-Romagna Region, in 10 days.  I travelled alone... and I met many people along the way.  They made my journey extra-special... and thoroughly enjoyable - absolutely memorable!

One of the people I met was Cristina.  She was the the owner and Chef of that lovely little restaurant along Via Emilia Ponente, Trattoria Zita, where I had my very first meal in Bologna. Of course, the meal was excellent... and so was the service, and the traditional Italian experience of enjoying eating. Clad simply in understated Italian classy style, complete with olive green apron, the beautiful Cristina met all diners at the door with her lovely smile and warm greetings of welcome. She was very helpful... suggesting food gently and thoughtfully on the menu that her diners might enjoy, especially first time Bologna visitors like myself then.  She had that gift of getting people comfortable and at ease - even those traveling and dining alone, like myself then - telling interesting stories about the Trattoria, its history, and some trivia about Bologna. In our little chatter, while she herself served me with freshly baked bread, butter, cheeses and spices, and as I perused the menu, I learned from her that she was the grand daughter of Zita - the namesake of the Trattoria. Most of the classic recipes of the Trattoria was from Zita, and they simply add to the list... sometimes, using suggestions from diners from different places in the world.

Later, having learned that I am a foodie, she took me to have a peek at what goes on in the kitchen.  I saw how they made their own pasta, tortellini and various signature sauces.  For a first-time foodie visitor of the world's food capital, it was an unforgettable experience, of course... and I will always treasure it in my heart.  In the photo above... Cristina's smile is beautiful, freely and very generously given.  She didn't only touch my heart, but she dug a little cozy space in it for Bologna... and I will always guard and keep it beautiful with warm memories.

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Sunday foodie

A little sweetness from Italy...
...to wash away the bitter taste of peace and order situation in Southern Philippines.

I was inspired by this on-line post on NY Times, "My Rome: Still a classic beauty", to reminisce about Italy.  I know it's only been a few months - four months to be exact, since my visit to Italy.  The memories should be quite fresh. Therefore, 'reminisce' may not be the most suitable word to describe the longing that I feel, just thinking about the places and the wonderful people that I met there... not to mention the food! 😋 

'Classic beauty'... how very appropriate, how very true though.  Having seen three other places besides Rome, I imagine that applies to most places in Italy.  I wish very much to go back.  I wish it's as simple as closing my eyes, and opening them in the middle of Rome.  And yet, my heart is glued to Manila as news on the Resort World Manila incident continue to unfold, and the peace and order situation in Marawi, Mindanao remains precarious.  Sometimes, I wonder, what are we, actually, fighting about?  I understand that there are many annoying things happening around us, and there are many annoying,

even infuriating, people that usually challenge our patience but, certainly, there are more wonderful and beautiful things to celebrate about - as one global community.  Can we not just concentrate on the latter?  Surely, it's easier.

One such 'wonderful' thing is this featured chocolate in this post, which is the cremino pistacchio cubes of Venchi.  It is a three-layer treat comprised of a layer of milk pistachio gianduja between two layers of white pistachio gianduja.  It is made in accordance with the traditional Piedmont chocolate making where hazelnut paste (gianduja) makes up roughly a third of the confection.  It tastes heavenly and it provides that silky sensation in the mouth that definitely enhances the experience of indulging one's chocolate craving.  It's soft enough to melt in the mouth yet firm enough for a clean bite.  So good, indeed! 😋

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Photo:  A photo of cremino pistacchio by Venchi, which I bought in a Venchi store in Bologna, Italy during my visit in January-February 2017.

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An awesome experience...

...of faith, history and culture.
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by PAM


It's been truly grueling four years and two months!  Yes, I'm still counting.

In the past few months I've been 'running on empty'... and the inspiration was seeping out of my slightly 'broken' heart.  'Broken' because I realized that none of the hard work mattered to most.  Many people have their own agenda and personal motivations, and the workplace is just a 'spring board' to lift themselves up to reach their own personal prize.  They have no qualms about picking the fruits of other people's hard labor, claiming the credit for ideas that are not theirs, and over-stretching the patience of those who indulge their ego-fattening whims.  It's disappointing because, in this profession, one would think that it would be devoid of anything as nauseating as being self-centered and should be filled only with selflessness - in scholarly pursuits, in leading the young towards knowledge, and in mentoring younger colleagues who wish sincerely to do the former two.

I've always thought that, with good intentions and good example in leadership, such unscrupulous behavior can be quashed... but I've been discovering that some people are simply made of stuff that is completely beyond anyone's good influence. While I know I shouldn't let myself be affected by such people, I can't help but be overburdened

Just when the place was all so frozen out, I chose to go and visit.
That's alright, "because the cold doesn't bother me, anyway"!

with a heavily disappointed heart... that breaks a little, making inspiration seep out slowly, until it felt like I'm running out of inspiration.  I know that inspiration comes from one's own convictions and faith, and that it should not depend on anyone else's actions.  Inspiration is a choice - I believe that.  Therefore, I chose to 're-fill'.  

So before I completely ran out of 'inspiration fuel', I finally mustered the courage and strength to 'let everything go' for a bit... to visit a place that my heart so longed to visit for so many years now.  And, now, is the best time to finally visit it... when inspiration is running out, and it has to be replenished - in a way that is most dramatic and drastic.  Therefore, I flew out, and visited a place teeming with inspiration: the Vatican City... and well, Italy itself.

To begin my 'harvest' of inspiration, I decided to take a walk along the 'corridors' of the rich history of the Roman Catholic Church, I decided to visit the Vatican Museums first.  

An incredible collection... awesome in its breadth and depth.

I was prepared to be awed, but I wasn't prepared to be so overwhelmed!  Now, more than ten days later, I was still trying to understand what 'hit' me.  It was quite impossible to fully comprehend... all that passion, all that commitment in perfecting one's gift in order to make a masterpiece of such timeless value that is worth offering to God.  They are all so very overwhelming!  I thought I was giving it my all - every single bit of what I have.  And yet, there I was, with a dearth of offering in my hands... so insignificant, so very modest and scant.  I felt utterly small... and yet, so inspired, especially in the midst of all that stunning work by Michaelangelo Buonarroti in the Sistine Chapel... the mastery, the intellectual prowess that was so apparent in how he showed the depth of God's wisdom through his artistry, the knowledge of the Bible that was quite beyond most men, and the faith that was nothing else but moving.  It was an overwhelming experience to be engulfed in such beauty, such 'calm intensity'.

As a real pilgrim, I proceeded to the St. Peter's Basilica... not knowing what to expect after a day of being awed in the Vatican Museums.  I prepared to be amazed, but I was sure that amazement is too shallow an emotion for such an experience.  

A deep breath, a sigh... and an incoherent prayer.

Indeed, there was no word to describe the experience.  Therefore, I shall not attempt to describe it here.  Suffice it to say that I'm glad I set this as a goal this year, and that I am overjoyed that God answered my prayer to be in the Vatican, especially at this point in time when all I need is to be closest to the most vivid manifestation of one's faith in God.

I was looking for inspiration... I found it.  Now, I just need to figure out where this leads me, and where such inspiration can be of best use - for God's greater glory.  Therefore, the 'journey' continues.

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Acknowledgement:  Thanks, YouTube, for allowing me to use your video creator in making the two videos here.

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Saturday photo

The Pietà

It has always been a dream of mine to see this Michaelangelo Bounarroti masterpiece, the Pietà.  Many beautiful things were written about it, many words of admiration and awe were said about it over the many years that it has been featured in the St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican City.  And yet, when one lays an eye on it for the very first time, like I did, none of the words spoken and written about it seems to match the majesty of its awesomeness and the obvious passion that drove Michaelangelo to create it.  Suddenly, there is a greater meaning in one's Catholic faith... just when one had decided that the skies, the oceans and the vast space will never ever hold the great mystery of this beautiful faith.

I am glad that God has gifted me with this opportunity to see the Pieta - when my eyes and all my senses are still intact to attempt due appreciation.  Of course, the attempt failed as the masterpiece is beyond just appreciation nor admiration.  Indeed, it is an artistic manifestation of the mystery of faith... and so beautiful beyond words, too.

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