Roma, per favore...!

Today, I am sitting by the pond in the garden, listening to silence. Well, I can, of course, hear the birds tweeting their joyous spring hymns, the faint sound of a lawn-mower in the distance, and every now and then a bee buzzing by my head, inebriated by a greedy dose of nectar...

Yesterday, however, was a very different story. It was the story of crowds, chaos and cream. Cream as in ICE cream. And, at times, as in I Scream. The former as in the staggeringly delicious Italian gelato, the latter because of the insufferable number of people in the Vatican museum, making it very hard to have that special tête-à-tête with Michelangelo that one had envisioned...

I confess, I am in love with the amazing, beautiful, interesting, overwhelming, hot, busy and more than a little chaotic city that is Rome. The mother of all capitals, the queen of ancient marvels. The majestic churches, the lively markets, the wooden shutters on the old houses lining the cobbled, narrow little streets...I could go on and on... I first visited Rome around twenty years ago, and I did actually not fall in love then.

But this time.

Oh my.

Perhaps it had something to do with watching my sons enjoy it so much, being blown away by the ruins at Forum, the pasta that made all other pasta pale in comparison and simply the feel of this jewel of Italian culture.

The Villa Borghese park is a wonderful breathing hole in the busy city, and perfect place for a mental and visual time-out. Although there is still beauty to behold, but of the visually calming kind, like in the photo above.

The photo above I have borrowed from Airbnb's website, the agent through which we rented a flat in the centre of Rome. Having compared prices with various hotel rooms, we realised that we could rent a fully equipped flat at the same expense, and it turned out to be a very lucky move. This flat is simply stunning! Its location is superb, only a short stroll away from the Spanish Steps and within easy reach of all the other sights. The owner of the flat, Luigi, made us feel so welcome and made sure we felt well looked after throughout our stay. To anyone heading for Rome, I can highly recommend renting this flat, and you will get some good exercise too after all the wonderful pasta and gelato you will have had, as it is several floors up with no lift... You can see more photos and information here.

Arrivederci for now. See you soon again!

Helena

Paris...mon amour...

(Click on the image to see the whole image.)

I think I always knew that I loved Paris, long before that summer, twenty-five years ago, when I first set foot in this magical, majestic, simply magnificent city of love. And that summer, I fell, head over heals, gasping and dizzy, in love with Paris and made a promise to myself to live there one day...

Two years later I made Paris my home for four months, whilst trying to make friends with the French grammar (yes, and some lovely people too), devouring most of the city's nutella-drenched crêpes and realising slowly but surely that Paris and I, yes, we had definitely started a love affair...

I have longed to show my sons this beautiful capital, and this summer I got the chance. As they are still quite young, eight and six, I was not sure if they were old enough to appreciate the attractions of a big city like Paris, but I need not have worried. They were just as smitten as I, and many were the moments when they grabbed my arm, squeezed hard and with big eyes exclaimed a long "Mamma, woooowww!"

We stayed in my favourite area, Montmartre, and one of the 'wow' moments was when, on our arrival at the hotel, we flung open the windows to find the view seen above in the first photo. Greeted by none less than the Eiffel Tower itself, across the roof tops of Paris, we sat down on the bed and just stared in awe. Yes, that was the first of many "WOWs"...

A new acquaintance of mine this visit, was the Parc Buttes Chaumont (19th arr), with - among other things - a splendid view across Paris, a lake and this (albeit man-made) 20-meter high waterfall and grotto!

The ancient city of Saint-Lizier, near Saint-Girons in the Midi-Pyrénées region

After a couple of days of grinning from ear to ear with Paris infatuation, we boarded the train to Toulouse, heading for the vintage wedding whose stunning decorations were featured here a little while ago.

Villages with an alpine feel and classic French shutters greeted us... 

oh, and Monsieur Le Chat too...

The pretty village of Aurignac (Click on the image to see the whole image.)

However, our French holiday seems like a life-time ago now, and having just returned from a work trip to Sweden, I am ready to take on autumn. Well, if what is on offer is a mild, sunny, summer-resembling one, that is!

Thank you so much for all your kind comments here and in e-mails. 

May your Sunday be a stunning one!

Helena

And they said "I do"...!

.

Last week, we had the pleasure of revisiting beautiful France, and this time for a special occasion indeed. A lovely young woman and a fabulous young man were going to "tie the knot" in a setting so stunning, the word breath-taking seems a feeble adjective to do it justice...

I did not attend the wedding personally, but joined the joyous crowd the following day, as the celebrations continued... (hence the slightly bent signs after the thunderstorms during the night). 

I have been to this gorgeous home at the foothill of the Pyrenees before, but never has it looked more stunning than it did last weekend, so beautifully decorated for the special event and with the air scented not only with rose petals and lavender, but with so much love and happiness that it nearly made me tipsy.

(Please click on the horizontal images, to see the whole image - you only see a cropped version otherwise.)

There, next to the house and wrapped in flowers, bunting and romance,

lies the old barn, and what better place to ....

...say "I do" than on the second floor with this view?!

The trees were filled with (- I believe - ) sun powered lights, and I can only imagine the magical atmosphere that must have reigned here at night...

If only walls and doors could speak... what stories would they share?

(As mentioned before, please click on the horizontal images to see the whole image.)

A large marquee hosted the dinner...

... and even the day after, the laughter, the speeches, the music and the tears of joy, 

could still be heard as faint whispers inside the deserted party tent...

As the clearing up of the party tent began, the flowers having adorned each table in the marquee, 

were gathered on the tables by the pool. (No, the table is not levitating!)

Fluffy clouds of gyp hugging roses that looked good enough to eat...!

Thank you, B and S, for letting me share some of the decorations on your special day - 

I wish you all the best for a wonderful life as husband and wife!

Love,

Helena

Ps, Thank you so much for all of your kind comments and emails, and hello all new readers!

Tales from Turkey - Part III

Dear readers,

A warm thank you to you all for visiting my little corner of the blog universe, 

a special welcome to new readers and a big hello to 

old blog friends as well as anonymous readers. 

As I continue to chase my own tail trying to catch up with life, here are a few more photos from my trip to Turkey a few weeks ago. Can you smell the sweet, almost nauseating cloud of water pipe smoke holding your nostrils captive? As fascinated as I was by this exotic environment, it was not long before I felt a need to escape into the streets of Istanbul for some... well, if not fresh, then at least a little less water pipe-infested air.

Even though I am rather pleased Atatürk (the founder of the Turkish republic) ordered a change to the latin alphabet in 1929 (makes it a lot easier to find your way around as a tourist), I find the old Turkish form of the Arabic script incredibly beautiful!

***

Now, after having attempted to calm down the hustle and bustle of the Istanbul explosion of impressions with a few black and white photos, I simply have to end this journey on a more colourful note, much truer to how I see Istanbul:

A wall in the Harem at Topkapi Palace, Istanbul

Are you into colourful mosaics? If so, this is MUST SEE territory! The extraordinary Harem at Topkapi Palace is a jaw-dropping, retina-tickling, mind-boggling visual experience, and made me want to return to the Swenglish home (which felt drearily pale in comparison) with my pockets full of bluey-green mosaics en masse, and transform a room or four...

Hm. Billy the bookshelf from IKEA, or the built-in beauties above? Tough call... 

***

As a tourist in this magnificent city, you may want to visit the Blue Mosque on the inside. You may, however, be slightly overwhelmed by the crowds having shared the same idea. If so, do try to make your way to the stunning Rüstem Pasha Mosque next to the spice bazaar, where you are much more likely to experience the calm, the beauty in architectural detail and simply catch your breath in a blue-tiled haven only a few steps away from the bustling bazaar, but a million miles away from it at the same time.

Rüstempaşa Camii, (Rüstem Pasha Mosque), Istanbul

Rüstempaşa Camii, (Rüstem Pasha Mosque), Istanbul

My last postcard to you from Turkey will be a photo I have showed here before. I was hoping to take new ones of the waterfront in Ortaköy, but as I found the mosque undergoing renovation and completely covered in plastic at the moment, it did not offer the most lens-tempting motif... so, recycled from a few years back, some misty magic: 

Ortaköy (Istanbul)

***

Last but not least:

Honoured...

Do you remember this photo I took in Castle Combe a little while ago?

What an amazing honour! Johanna, with the blog Johanna kan vissla, 

was inspired by it and decided to paint it (below)! Isn't this gorgous?!

Until soon,

all the best,

Helena

Tales from Turkey - Part II

The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul has allegedly got 58 covered streets and over 4000 shops! Overwhelming is a pale understatement. Getting-lost-factor? Very high. However, this being my fourth visit, and having been blessed with a built-in radar, I know my way around some parts and know that when the crowds, the chaos and the sales-hungry shop keepers start getting to me, I can escape to a small outdoor square in the western area of this enormous myriad of bustling trade. It seems like few tourists make it out there, and the small shops and workshops flanking the little square are a calm haven.

There, in a tiny shop, I saw these little tassled darlings, and it was explained to me that they are for "lokum", i e Turkish delights, sugar and other sweet things.

Gorgeous metal kaftans in different sizes and patterns.

I simply had to take a photo of The Cat on a Hot Tin Roof here, just so that I could write that...

...and this little darling needed no literary reference...

***

The hotel we stayed in had a very warm and welcoming lobby, 

more like someone's modern - or modern traditional - Turkish living room than a formal lobby:

I like the kaftan-shaped lamp base...

... and the colours here are to me both calming and energizing...

Now, I confess, one thing in the pictures in this blog post happened to come with me home. I wonder if you can guess what...? A hint: as much as I would have liked to, no feline smuggling took place in the Swenglish suitcase. In my next blog entry, I will show you what it was and how I have put it to use at home... After that, one more Turkish-scented blog entry before I return to my interior and garden themes a little more religiously for a while!

All the best and thank you for your kind comments.

Helena

Tales from Turkey - Part I

Yes, I know, flying carpets do perhaps not often appear in fairy tales from this magical country, but I can honestly say that I would not have been surprised had one flown by, right in front of my eyes, as I was sitting there on the hotel roof terrace in Istanbul, with this as my breakfast view to one side...

... and this to the other!

Slurping one's freshly squeezed orange juice in Europe 

whilst watching the sunlit morning haze over Asia, 

is a rather splendid way to start the day!

Between Sultanahmet Camii, i e The Blue Mosque (in the first photo above), and 

the stunning Aya Sofya (Hagia Sophia) is a small park with fountains 

offering sweaty passers-by a moment's rest or 

- if the wind is blowing the right way - 

a cooling spray of water.

Built in the 6th century as a church, Haghia Sophia was 900 years later ordered by the Ottoman Turks - who conquered Istanbul (then Constantinople)  in the mid-15th century - to be converted into a mosque, which it remained until the 1930's, when it was transformed into the museum it is today.

It is the most spectacular building, and the sheer size of it is enough to make this Swenglish tourist weak at the knees. See how small the people are down there on the floor? (If you click on the image, you can see more details.)

Its Byzantine architecture, its 900-year-old mosaics, its dramatic colours, its massive marble pillars, its Ottoman decorations, its extraordinary dome with light flooding in from forty windows around the base of the dome - all adding up to a jaw-dropping and rather mystical experience of a building whose walls, if they could talk, would be able to share many stories of exotic, dramatic moments of the days of yore... 

Even the street lights are stunning!

Istanbul is a place experienced with all the senses. A day in this spectacular city often ends with your senses groaning with equal amount of delight and impressions overload. The cacophony of sounds, the lingering joys on your tongue from the obscene number of baklava pieces you have sampled, the explosions of colours and exquisite architectural detail, the overwhelming range of smells - the evocative smell of spices, the vaguely nauseating sweet smell from all the waterpipes, the puffs of sewage stench, the whiffs of some lovely cooking from one of the many restaurants, the choking exhaust fumes, the collective scent concoction of 13 million people in this vibrant, crowded fairy tale city...

The Grand Bazaar

So yes, many of you proved to be splendid detectives - Turkey was indeed the destination for my work trip this time, with a couple of days in Istanbul on my way to Ankara, where the "real" work took place.

I  know this is supposedly an interior decoration blog, so forgive me if I - again- am a little unfaithful to that creed for a few days, to share with you some scents and flavours of a country I always enjoy visiting and which has indeed served as a source of inspiration for some of my interior inclinations...

Dining on the waterfront in Ortaköy,  a short boat trip up the Bosphorous.

See you soon and iyi günler!

Helena