Before and After: Seaside Facade

The patient before in 2006 - a little cleansing and colour is necessary:

And voila, after the treatment in 2008:

Well ... it's a new face ... I have to get used to it ... it might take a while. Not sure if I like the blue over the windows. Maybe a bit too much colour for an old lady? Hmm, the pinkish rouge before was suiting her very well... also the grey balustrade had charm. I guess, this is how you feel after a beauty surgery: is it still me?

While restoring they found blue colour over the windows and the architetto thought to use it again. If we don't like it, we could overpaint it. We agreed. Only now, I see the result, but the scaffolding is gone... How funny!


Update photo 2009:

 

 

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More Facade Before & After posts:

 

before and after facade from above

before and after main facade from piazza (front)

 

See all renovation posts BEFORE and AFTER.

Palazzo Journal - Day 1

Preface

Lately we spent some days in Pizzo (Calabria) and I was thinking of writing a bit about our vacation on the 'construction site'. I am not going to post every day. But I am starting today. It is an experiment and it is documenting our process. The protagonists will have initials, unless they want their names to be mentioned. So CC is my Italian husband, L is our son, N is his nonna, my mother-in-law. And Angelo is Angelo, my father-in-law, he was introduced on this blog before. I plan to link to the previous and next day later on.

Day 1, 6.2.

We traveled from Beijing via Frankfurt and Rome to Lamezia in the South of Italy. Three planes, four airports and around 22 hours of journey to spend our Chinese New Year holidays on a construction site. It is already late night when we arrive at Lamezia airport. We are the only passengers that have to pick up the luggage on the international arrival conveyor belt. A customs officer switches on the lights for us. L sleeps and CC carries him in his arms while I am loading our suitcases on a trolley. Pushing a heavy loaded trolley with one hand and pulling hand luggage with the other hand, I awkwardly cruise towards the customs officer in the grey uniform. He is the only one and he waits for his only and last customers - us.
‘Anything to declare?’, he asks in Italian.
‘Only a couple of cashmere sweaters’ starts CC.
I am petrified… I have not briefed my husband, he is unprepared…
I have to put our suitcases through x-ray and the officer stares at the monitor,
‘What about all these metal tubes?’ he asks.
‘Oh, that’, this is my turn now, it’s my suitcase, ‘that is some bathroom equipment, a bidet faucet, a siphon ... ‘
Now he wants to know the value of these things and I am saying a number just below what is allowed to bring into Germany, hoping that this is fine in Italy as well.
Slowly I reload the suitcases on the trolley again, while he is observing me. ‘Slowly, not too fast’, I think…. I can see in his face, he is wondering whether he should let this young family with a sleeping child pass through and go home as well – or should he have a look into these strange bags and have probably a lot of questions and discussions….
It took him a moment. - Then we can go.

Angelo is waiting for us. We are the last passengers coming out. N was at the hair dresser as always when her son comes home. We are happily united and pack all items in the car. And off we go. After around 20 minutes we dive through Pizzo, our newly adopted home town. But the renovation of the palazzo has just started and there is no single livable room yet. So we stay with my in-laws in Vibo Marina, another 4 km drive along the coast. Finally at home everything goes fast. We put L to bed, we unpack briefly and go to bed as well. I feel cold and tiered.

Next Day
all Journal posts

Una Pianta di Limone and Dolphins

This morning I was greeted by a pianta di limone, a little lemon tree in our garden !!! Bellissima !!! I feel overwhelmed! It is not only a sign of spring, it is a mile stone in our renovation process! We have our first inhabitant: My little lemon tree! This is so sweet of my in-laws ... Grazie Lidia, Grazie Angelo!


This little lemon tree is a special one: "Questa pianta è una qualità di limone che fa sempre fiori e frutti in continuazione. Come vedi dalla foto c'è un limone maturo altri due in fase di crescita e fiori su altri rami." - This plant will always carry fruits and flowers, like in the picture! - And I confirmed via email that my little lemon tree can be planted right there in the corner of our tiny garden.


But this was not the only surprise that Angelo had sent me over night. The other pictures showed dolphins seen from our terrace yesterday! They can be seen quiet often at that time of the year. ... Oh, Calabria sounds like paradise... (I uploaded the pic in small size, because you hardly can recognize anything.)

Pizzo: lungomare

This is too good to be true! - Pizzo's lungomare (seafront) between the Marina and the Seggiola bay is going to be developped in a gorgeous way! See the visualized project below. Before and after.

Pizzo's historical center is located on a rock, 54 meter above sea level. So far tons of earth and stones were put in front of the rock to protect it from erosion throug the sea. Later, the entire rock itself was renovated with EU's financial support some years ago.

And now the city authorities are planning to enlarge the small fisher boat harbour (darsena) at the Seggiola by letting the water in until the grotta azzura. This is right below our house - I mean, 54 meters below our house.

Pizzo's seaside now:


And Pizzo's future seaside:


I do not know when they will start the project, since part of the financing apparently still needs to be approved. We hope that our architetto Pino Pitt who is involved with this project will finally get it going.

It is too good to be true... how pittoresque will this be? This will attract so many - tourists and locals - for a walk (or jogging), from the Marina, along the seafront promenade, across the little bridge with a glimpse of the blue grotto until the Seggiola where you could climb up the hill back to the historical town center. What a fantastic project!

Photo source and copyright: Arch. Pino Pitt (email: pino.pitt@virgilio.it)

Sleepless in Beijing

The other night I could not sleep. I was awake until dawn. I was wondering through the rooms of the palazzo, the 'palazzo to do'. I was looking at the floor of a bathroom and picturing these old thick floor tiles that we recovered from another room. But what would we use on the walls? And if I come out of the shower, wouldn't it be better to have the heated towel rail next to the shower instead across the room? Or should we use the thick old floor tiles in another room? And where should we use the old terra cotta tiles? They could match with some glittery mosaic tiles from Bisazza. I was thinking and thinking instead of sleeping.

And I was thinking of what a reader wrote me the other day. She read my entire blog and said that she was first thinking that I for sure can't wait to see the house ready, but then realized that I do enjoy the whole renovation process as well. - Yes, so true. - And thinking of that (still not sleeping), I realize myself, that I might enjoy the process even more then the result. Actually I am afraid of the result!

Take the main facade. It has now that pale morbid charm. How will it look with that 731 make-up? I am afraid that I have been falling in love with a house that will soon look so different from what I knew!

And take these beautiful light blue tiles we choose for the balcony and the terrazzo. Will they be too much reflecting and deflecting from the beautiful sea view?

And what do I do when the house is done? Will I have the same empty feeling like after an examen that you have preparing for weeks and months? Well, I don't think so. With this house, we will always have tiny things to do, to change and to improve. And I am sure I will always have to post something about the beautiful countryside, inter cultural encounters or just an Italian recipe.

I am still not sleeping and thinking of what a beautiful spot on earth we found. This spot is just too beautiful to keep for ourselves. It needs to be shared. And not only with family and friends - maybe also with vacationer - or a "Gente di mare" film crew...?! My most favorite part of the house, the old garden level, the seminterrato could be available for vacationer. This will be fun to organize!

Happy sigh, good night from Beijing.