Pizzo - Bella d'Estate con RAGGIO DI SOLE

To see the full video go to start or to youtube

At minute 15:30 they go towards the quarter Carmine, the oldest part of Pizzo, you will see the street works in progress and Palazzo Pizzo appears at minute 16:08, and "un balconcino stupendo" at minute 16:48. Luckily it was not my laundry day...

The video was shot around July 13/14, 2013. And I love it!

If I would not be here already, I would jump on a plane immediately! :-)

Italian Summer with Dolce & Gabbana

I came across the spring and summer campaigns of Dolce&Gabbana - and I love it! I am not a fashionista, not really. But I love the locations in Sicily, the beach and the fisher boats, the Italian family theme, and of course beautiful Italian actress Monica Bellucci. It makes me want to go to the South of Italy and to the beach, now!

Stefano Gabbana, very casual, talking to Monica Bellucci during the shoot

 la mamma, il bimbo, la nonna, il mare... molto bello

Sicilian tradition: celebrating the lemon harvest with la nonna... (just joking)

too much of a snap shot - but I like the retro print of the beach towels!

got it, men wear stripes, if at all

looks like they stopped at a parking lot in Pizzo Marina :-)

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Want more of Italian family? Here are some typical family photos shot in Portofino, Liguria in October 2011 for the Dolce & Gabbana spring/summer campaign 2012. Also starring actress Monica Bellucci:

 

"dai?!" - ancora? basta photos!

  "pizza mandolino ..."  that's what my husband thinks foreigners think of Italians...

most Italian women dress sexy, true 

 yelling Italian mama, another cliché

For the following last two photos I am ot so sure if they were shot in Portofino.

At least the staging suggests Sicilian life:
more black dresses, black lace, white lace curtains and table clothes, heat, tambourine ... :

Credits:

Creative Directors: Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana Dolce & Gabbana

Photographer: Giampaolo Sgura

Pizzo from Above

 

photo via Pizzo e ditorni

 

When the weather is nice, there are sometimes ultralight aircrafts - you know, the one with the noisy lawn mower engine - flying above Pizzo. And they take sometimes really nice photos, like the one I found on Facebook via Pizzo e ditorni.

 

It shows also the situation of the lungomare project (I call it the harbour project on this blog). Planned in 2008, not even half accomplished in 2013.... There is no progress since about two years.

 

Below, I added in light blue the missing extension for the harbour (see original plan). It is all still dusty dirt area. However, I heard the new major wants to continue, he is just reviewing the project (since over a year, he is elected). Probably the funds are not there anymore....

 

missing harbour excavation in light blue (June 2013)

 

But let's see another dusty project finish first - the restoring of the street pavement in the centro storico.

 

  

 

Accommodation at Palazzo Pizzo Guest Residence

Are you planning a holiday in Calabria ? Want to spend some days in Pizzo ? Or just a stop-over in our lovely village and trying the famous tartuffo before heading to Sicily or Aeolie Islands ?

We decided we want to open our house for guests.

 

 

From July 12 to August 21, 2013 we offer a special Summer Promotion: 
No minimum stay !

 

No minimum stay allows you to enjoy Palazzo Pizzo Residence while still having time to explore more of Calabria and the attactive neigbouring regions of Italy.

During our soft opening we want to personally take care of our guests.
We love to see you!

Please contact us at palazzopizzo-info@yahoo.com for availability check

or

book via holiday lettings (from tripadvisor)

   

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Please find photos of the Palazzo Pizzo Guest Residence on Flickr
For more information visit our new  Guest Residence Page

Progress of Street Pavemement

progress June 2013 (photo via Pino Pitt)

Last November 2012, one of the new major's projects, the restoring of the old town center of Pizzo, started with street works (see the photos of my blog post in November 2012).

alley closed for road works in April 2013

It was promised years ago and many times to the inhabitants of Pizzo's centro storico that the pavement will be repaired. Beautiful large lava stones were once covered badly with cement. Over the years more and more potholes appeared everywhere. The project's aim was to restore the old stone pavement nicely. Other coastal towns like Tropea and Scilla always made me jaleous with their perfect pavements.

OK, it's not only pavement, it is also new piping (April 2013)

 

But the project turned out to be an ordeal for the residents. Especially in the rainy winter months... For a kind of "ring road" (a small one way alley) of about 500 meter it took them.... what can I say, after 8 months they have not finished yet!

pedestrian can pass (April 2013)

progress 1m/day in mid April 2013

It meets more or less my observation when we were there in April: the daily progress was about 1 meter ! Easy to calculate, it will take 500 days to complete ... this means we probably will still be schlepping our suitcases and grocery down the alley the whole summer ....

another project is a new piazetta that lies on that "ring road" (April 2013)

view from our balcony (April 2013):

these stones are prepared to be collected and placed in the right area

 

every day one meter better looking (April 2013)

 

The photos below show that the workers have finally arrived in front of our house - which means they did about another 30 meter since April? - Well, that is even less than 1 meter progress per day. BUT there was a reason for the delay. The day before we left in April, there was no noise or sign of street workers in the alley. They just had stopped working. People said the commune hadn't payed them.... Ah, a Calabrian Classic... 

 

finally arriving at our door step, June 2013 (photo via by Pino Pitt)

 

it's coming a long way! (photo via Pino Pitt)

 

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But, the alley continues around the corner! The "ring road" goes up, passes by the new piazette (in progress) and the Piccolo Grand Hotel. (I don't think they have started yet from the other side.) That's why I see us schlepping, no car can pass .... The good thing about it: this exercise allows us one tartuffo ice cream a day, almost!!

photo via Alfonso Salutato (April 2013)