Not one heartbeat do I forget..

I know I'm not updating the blog from a long time.. even if many things happened! I'm sorry, but I'm too lazy ^^;

During the summer I went to London and it was great.. I really enjoyed my staying and I'm often very nostalgic about it!! ç.ç

Since I promised to some Austenian friends I would have showed them at least the pictures of my journey to the Jane Austen's museum in Chawton (Hampshire) I'm going to do it now ^_^

Actually, I have not many pictures to show here, mainly for two reasons:


1) It was forbidden to take pictures inside the house, so I can only describe it to you. But maybe you can find something more here.

2) In most pictures there's an element of great disturb: me. So I cannot post them.




It wasn't easy to arrive there.. only a true austenian fan could manage it!! XD
We went to Alton by train in the morning and we arrived there in almost an hour. It was a nice, quiet place, with beautiful houses, but no indications or buses at all ^^"
We walked through the whole town and at last we found an information office where they explained to us that waiting for the bus was useless and they gave us a map to Jane Austen's house in Chawton.
That day was very cold (as usual) and we took the wrong road and had some accidents due to my ability in walking in countryside's paths.
First I stumbled in a blackberry bush (and it had thorns ç.ç) and then I slipped and fell because the path was wet with rain and I hurt myself ^^"

At last we arrived to Chawton and to the house!! ^__^
This is the house where Jane and her mother and sister lived after her father's death.
We wandered for a while in the garden and then we found the entrance.
The man at the reception was very kind and he told us something about the objects in the hall room.

In the house there were dresses like the ones Jane could have worn at the time, objects used in the kitchen, etc.
All around the house there were "posters" with description of Jane's life, beautiful drawings, etc.
Upstairs we saw the bedrooms. In a room there were also two statues of Jane and Cassandra, talking in their bedroom after a ball.

It was so exciting.. being in the place where she has lived and where she has written or adjusted some of her novels!
In the low ground there was a book shop where I found some of her books at just 1.99 pound. There were also some posters and postcards, or souvenirs like pens, writing paper, etc.


The garden was also very pretty. The flowers and all the plants were really well arranged and there was a person who took care of them all the time.
We sat on a bench and read for a while, it was really a good sensation.

In front of the house there is a lovely tea shop called "Cassandra's cup" where we had tea and cake. We also walked in a little park and along the countryside's paths.. I must say the landscape was really beautiful! I had a wonderful time.

During my staying in London I visited many other places I'd like to talk about... but now I will just attach some pictures of them here:

View from the Tower Bridge

Inside the Shakespearean Theatre Globe... how beautiful.
It was one of the places I liked the most.

Camdem Town. I love this place!! A big market, many strange shops, a lot of ethnic food.. and when we went there it was always raining..

Sherlock Holmes museum ^__^

Regent's Park

Inside Westminster Abbey's garden.. I'm sorry I have not other pictures of the Abbey, it was wonderful.

I almost forgot!!!! Austenian fans must see this (sorry for the low quality):

I found it on a table near Jane's house... XD

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What's more?
After September's exams it seems I'm waiting for something to happen... because I'm still waiting for someone to call me for a work stage but if it does not happen I cannot plan everything else I have to do. I'm trying though. I wonder if I will ever graduate if it continues like this -__-

AUSTENIAN NEWS
(beware of spoilers about Lost in Austen!!)

- Yesterday I watched the last episode of Lost in Austen... it was moving!!!! I'm so happy that it ended like this.. I started crying exactly at minute 40!

How sweet ç__ç Bingley and Jane are ALWAYS the best..!!!
(quotation: "we shall have 25 children.. and name them all Amanda.. even the boys!!") XD

- I received the book "Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman - An assembly such as this" by Pamela Aidan, describing Pride and Prejudice from the point of view of Darcy... I hope it is well-done. Once I have read it I will give my opinion.

OTHER NEWS

- Thanks to my friend Faith, I became addicted to the bbc drama Robin Hood!! It's really good..!! I'm still at the first season now..

That's all I think... bye bye!!!!

いってきます！

Hi!
I'm leaving for London on Tuesday 31st, so I don't think I will be able to reply emails and sms for a while.
If we can connect to the wi-fi connection once there I think I will check my mail box every now and then and I will write on a journal I've created:

So, bye bye!! Enjoy your holidays!! ^__^ If anyone has any advice to give me about places to visit, etc, everything is welcome!! :D

またね！ (´▽`)/~~

ただいま~!

I'm back home! ^^

As I already mentioned, I spent 5 days in Tuscany with my mum and we just got home from our journey.
We were guests in our dear friends' house and everything has been delightful.
Our acquaintances there are the most amiable and good-humoured one can desire and I enjoyed our staying a lot.


The place where our friends live in this season is a beautiful, rural, perfectly comfortable, old mansion surrounded by the most charming Tuscany's countryside. Even if it was not my first visit there, I couldn't help but being really impressed by the beauty of such natural enviroment. The sight of the plants such as the olive tree, apricot tree, plums and a lot of different flowers as well as the the colours of the landscape and the curving form of the hills all around gave us the most pleasing and relaxing sensations. The countryside is to be sure the most delightful of all natural enviroment to me.


From the mansion the view is amazing; we were able to see the town of S. Gimignano on the opposite hill, where we took some walks together. It is a fascinating place that I had the pleasure of visiting since I was little.
San Gimignano is a walled medieval town in the province of Siena famous mainly for its beautiful architecture and its towers that can be seen even from a long distance and which has become its symbol.


Thanks to our dear friends our staying has been lovely and we felt perfectly at ease. My mum spent most of the time sunbathing and swimming, enjoying the good company and the nice climate. I read a lot when I wasn't engaged in some conversation or walk around the place or the town and I almost finished Northanger Abbey. It's really good and I think the film they made based on the book is really well-done. I will certainly watch it again soon. (Forgive me if the language in this post is a little strange, I'm afraid I've been influenced by the book)


Northanger Abbey (the movie made in 2007) --->

I should start studying... but it won't be easy to find concentration and I'm sure everything will end up like this (<--click to read the comic).


またね! (´▽`)/~~ ﾊﾞｲﾊﾞｲ Bye, bye..

Viaggio in Liguria ^__^

I just came back from my 4-5 days trip in Liguria. It was lovely!

After the English exam I really needed some relax and it seemed the perfect place.
But let’s talk about it: the place.

Before going there, I couldn’t imagine it was so beautiful, but Riomaggiore, one of the 5 lands of the natural park placed on the Levante coast, really charmed me, especially with its clear sea and its nature landscapes.
Riomaggiore is a small and coloured town built on the coast. It has narrow streets, 2 churches and an interesting castle where sometimes some art exhibitions take place.

Near the sea there’s a small harbour where vivid coloured boats rest and then, beyond the white rocks where some tourists decide to sunbathe, there’s a little beach, made of stones. It’s lovely, and the sea is very clear, so it’s a pleasure to swim and bath there. In the water there are also coloured fishes and other animals like crabs, shrimps, etc.

We were in a nice and cheap flat in the middle of the town, and the place was so quiet that
the only sound we heard was the bell tower and some voices from the neighbourhood.

In this place there was not only the sea though, but it is also possible to take a walk and go for example to visit the Sanctuary. It is really worth the effort, because from there it is possible to have a wonderful sight of the town, the sea and the nature around.

Near the railway station there’s also the famous Love’s lane.
It is the first part of a longer lane that links the 5 lands: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso. Unfortunately, since we had only 4-5 days and we wished to relax we only visited Manarola among the others lands.

The sight from the lane is very romantic, especially at sunset, but it’s a pity that to take a walk on the Love’s lane now costs 5 euro .__. It’s not very romantic indeed, but after 8 pm the access is free. There are others things that are not very romantic lately on the Lane: another “love’s pub” has been opened and the way is full not only of some pretty drawing, but also of the usual silly writing that we find on every city's wall.
I don’t mean to offend anyone’s love’s expression, but please if you can’t control yourself about writing on the walls, please don’t write on the plants!!!! >.< they don’t care about your romance!

I’m attaching here some pictures we took and I think they’re very nice. The sunset seen from the beach was delightful.

We also tried the typical food like the famous "pesto" (a sauce made mainly with basil and pine nuts), walnut sauce and the lemon liquor. I would recommend to visit this place to everyone who loves quiet places and a beautiful nature, and my advice in order to save money on the accommodation is to prefer flat over hotels.

じゃね！

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Eccomi di ritorno dai 4-5 giorni che ho trascorso in Liguria. Sono stati incantevoli!

Dopo l’esame di Inglese avevo davvero bisogno di un po’ di relax e quello si è rivelato il posto ideale.
Ma parliamo appunto del posto.

Prima di andarci, non avrei mai immaginato che fosse tanto bello, ma Riomaggiore, una della 5 terre del parco naturale situato sulla Riviera di Levante, mi ha davvero incantata, specialmente con il suo mare limpido, e con i suoi paesaggi naturali.
Riomaggiore è un paesino piccolo e colorato costruito sulla costa. Nel paese ci sono viottoli stretti, 2 chiese e un interessante castello dove a volte vengono presentare delle mostre d’arte.
Vicino al mare c’è un piccolo porto, in cui riposano barchette dai colori vivaci, e poi oltre gli scogli bianchi dove qualche turista decide di prendere il sole, c’è una piccola spiaggia, fatta di sassi. E’ davvero carina, e il mare è trasparente perciò è molto piacevole nuotare e fare il bagno. Nell’acqua si trovano anche pesci colorati e altri animaletti come granchi, gamberetti, etc.

Alloggiavamo in un appartamento carino e poco costoso, nel centro del paese, e il luogo era così tranquillo che gli unici rumori che sentivamo erano la campana del paese e qualche voce dal vicinato.

Tuttavia, in questo luogo non si trova solo il mare, ma è anche possibile decidere di passeggiare e andare per esempio a visitare il Santuario della Madonna di Montenero.
Ne vale davvero la pena, perché da lì si gode di una fantastica visuale del paese, del mare e tutto ciò che vi sta attorno.

Vicino alla stazione c’è anche la famosa “Via dell’Amore”.
E’ la prima parte di una più lunga via che collega le 5 terre: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza e Monterosso. Purtroppo, avendo solo 4-5 giorni e dato che volevamo soprattutto rilassarci un po’, delle altre terre abbiamo visitato solo Manarola.

La vista dalla Via, è davvero romantica, specialmente al tramonto, ma è un peccato che ora percorrerla costi 5 euro .__. Infatti questo non è molto romantico, ma dopo le 20 l’accesso è gratuito.
Ci sono altre cose non molto romantiche ultimamente sulla Via: hanno aperto un altro “bar dell’Amore” e la via è piena non solo di alcuni disegni carini, ma anche delle solite scritte banali che si trovano sui muri di ogni città.
Non intendo offendere l’espressione d’amore di nessuno, ma per favore, se non riuscite a controllarvi nello scrivere sui muri, non fatelo sulle piante!!!! >.< le povere agavi non sono molto interessate a ciò che scrivete!

Allego al post alcune foto che abbiamo fatto e penso siano molto carine ^__^
Il tramonto visto dalla spiaggia era incantevole.

Abbiamo anche assaggiato i prodotti tipici del posto, ovvero il pesto, la salsa di noci e il limoncino ^__^

Consiglierei di visitare questo luogo a chi ama i posti tranquilli e la bellezza della natura, e il mio consiglio per spendere un po’ meno per l’alloggio è cercare un appartamentino piuttosto che un hotel.

Ciao, ciao! :)