Here comes spring with Bergamotto di Calabria

Like almost everywhere in Europe we too got tons of snow again - I really like a white winter, but now its enough ! - Spring, where are you ?!

While dreaming of warm sunny spring, I found the above sunny advertising this morning in my mail from our local shopping mall.

Acqua di Parma ... I just love the name of the brand, the simple but elegant design of the bottles and boxes and I love the fresh smell of Acqua di Parma fragrances.

Do I advertise the brand here ? Its the other way round. Acqua di Parma does advertising for Calabria !

With the newest eau de toilette "BERGAMOTTO DI CALABRIA" from the Blu Mediterraneo line, Calabria gets a more elegant image. - Indeed, my local mall prints below the ad: "Let yourself take away on a trip to Calabria..."

Spring is calling.

Although Pizzo has seen 20 degrees last week, I think they had some snow this week too. At least cold rain.

I am sure, with this Italian cult brand the local bergamot fragrance producers will get a boost. Their little bergamot bottles of 15 ml costs about 5 Euro, while Acqua di Parma's 60 ml bottle costs 50 Euro - more than double.

Further more, Acqua di Parma customers might get interested in the South Italian destination. Calabria is in really good company. The fragrance line includes all of Italian’s spectacular Mediterranean coast: Cipresso di Toscana, Arancia di Capri, Ficco di Amalfi, Bergamotto di Calabria, Mirto di Panarea  and Mandorlo di Sicilia (in order from North to South). I think my nose has to test them all. 

Pizzo Project (Lungomare)

Sometime ago I presented a project of the commune di Pizzo for the  lungomare  between la marina and la Seggiola.

The map below shows the Marina on the right and the little bay called La Seggiola on the left:

Inbetween boths sights of the village is a not so attractive 'lungomare' which was provisorically installed some years ago to protect the rock on which thrones the historical centre of Pizzo from being washed out by the sea.

However, there is one more attraction hiding ! Almost underneath our house one can still see the entrance of the "grotta azzurra". When my husband was a little boy (not so many years ago) he used to go by boat very close to the grotta and even swim inside the grotta. Today grows grass around the entrance and it easily can be overseen.

position of the grotta azzurra

A project of the commune of Pizzo forsees a reopening of the grotta. The plan is to enlarge the bay by letting in sea water until the grotta. Eventually this area will be used as yacht haven and small boats will carry visitors inside the grotta azzurra.

Pizzo as it was for many years

Pizzo's new lungomare that connects the Marina with La Seggiola

and opens the grotta azzurra for visitors

draft of the project

photo from the inside of the grotta today

photo sources: with friendly permission for publication by Arch. P. Pitt



Update November 2010:

They have started with the earth moving work. Here a photo taken from our balcony:

PS:
Oh, yes, it is a fantastic project - and the view from our house will be even more interesting.
I only hope that the earth moving work they do, and the digging, does not affect the rock... and the houses on top...


Update July 2012:

Since this post is one of the most popular posts of my blog, I think a little update is necessary. Last summer, 2011, they finished the digging of the harbor. There is no connection to the gotta, however. A neighbour, who lives above the gotta, stopped this part of the project with a lawsuit. He claimed the work would endanger the rock on which many houses of the Centro storico of Pizzo are located. Well, maybe not that absurd.

But after they did all the earthwork, the heavy equipment and trucks disappeared. Now, we have just a deserted sandy dessert around the half finished "harbor" - that has not seen any boat yet, I guess it is not deep enough - and the wind transports fine dust every day up to our balconies and through the windows...

The new elected major Callipo (since May 2012) wants to continue with the project. But people here say that the commune has no more money. It seems a typical Calabrian project. It will take more time than other projects elsewhere. But it will be accomplished one day, I am sure, because it is a great project, that will make Pizzo even more attractive in the future.

For further updates click Harbour Project

Shrinked window

Usually, when renovating or remodeling and it comes to windows you would tend to enlarge a window, if possible. In our case, the window of the smalest toilet (the one that hangs on the outside), was large enough - before the renovation.

But look what happened with the new window (before, during and after) :

It shrinked !

Somehow it is less than half of the before size.

However it has a very bold frame.

The sleeping beauty is going to wake up ...

... as we are going to kiss alive our sleeping beauty soon !

When winter is fading and spring is awaking we are going to be on site and pushing the interior work.

Meanwhile my duty is to compile a filing that shows what we want to do room by room - colour, flooring, equipment.

This is fun. I have done this before in a digital folder - long time ago - it has survived different laptops and computer - yes, that long ago. I 'just' need to update it and print the relevant pictures and make notes.

I started with a room, the green room, my readers might be familiar with it. It seems to be my favorite room. No it isn't. It is just the room with most of previous live in it. It is the only room where the pre-owner has kept the original wall and ceiling colour. That's why it feels most lively. All other walls were tainted white when we bought the house.

Here the start of my brainstorm for the room by room folder :

ceiling now - after adding a wall

my idea of renovating the ceiling :

neglect the cutted ornament; model simple rectangulars with given corner ornaments

this is the colour combo : green room by Ellen Silverman

(however the light green for the ceiling !)

darker green for the lower part and light mint green for higher part and ceiling

old tiles from another room could be used for the flooring

mosaic by Fired Earth - for the shower

(or waterproofed laquer)

utility sink by Kohler

(I would like two utility style sinks)

Decluttering my book shelf

While nothing is happening in our palazzo, I decided to do something in our appartment (where we actually live). Although the book shelf did not look too bad, I wanted to declutter it. Because I knew (what others could not see) that piled up pocket books were getting yellow behind more paperback piles. Travel guides were standing in two rows as well. There were books that I have read and will never read again. I only wanted to keep the books that I really liked - and maybe would read again.

So I started with the first cubicle and went book by book:

• garbage --> pink box
• give away to charity (or friends) --> white box
• check and think again
• keep --> back to shelf (after dust cleaning)

The pink box was filled up several times and I went several times to our paper recycling container. The white box was also overflowing at the end and I switched to a moving box. When I wanted to bring it to the church for a charity bazaar, I realised that most of the books where in English language. So I only brought the German books to the church and the English ones I gave a friend who works in the English liabrary and will use the old paperbacks for their own charity bazaar.

The only books I did not threw out were all my travel guides. Although there were lots of outdated Lonely Planet guides, I decided to keep them. Even the two from Cambodia, I kept them both. Maybe I am too sentimental. But aren't they documents of past times? My travel memories, including business cards of shops and restaurant.

Enough - here are my before and after pics:

before

before detail

after

Don't you see a difference ? Well, I have to admit, the second rows can't be seen in the before photo. But I know how many boxes I brought downstairs and how much lighter the book shelf feels now to me.

after detail

The travel section was not that easy : now I have Germany together with China, Italy goes with a rest of Italian books, rest of world and some Asia is combined while South East Asia has a cubicle for itself. There is potential for optimization. Next time.