margieinitaly.com

Margie in Italy Anyone who has visited Siena couldn’t miss the famous  Fountain of Joy, also known as Fonte Gaia. Situated on the high side of Piazza del Campo, this fifteeenth-century white marble sculpted fountain and pool is one of a few medieval fountains in Siena with water supplied from ancient aqueducts and nearby canals in the surrounding hills of Tuscany. Some interesting history – Siena’s most acclaimed sculptor, Jacopo delle Quercia, was commissioned to build the Fountain of Joy to replace an older fountain which featured the pagan statue of Venus. Throngs of people surrounded the fountain,  and it was not until I actually walked closer to it to find out why so many people were there, that I viewed and appreciated the Fountain of Joy as the masterpiece that it truly is.

Writing, writing, and more writing..not so much on my blog, but I’m busy writing the sequel to Critical Cover-Up. On Saturday, March 30, 2019, from 10-1 I will be at the Paula A. Lewis Library talking about my books. I’ll be signing my books and also offering special book fair discounts on all of them. $15 books will be on sale for $10 and my hardback coffee table photography book will be only $20 instead of $25 only at the book fair.

After reviewing some of the tens of thousands of photos I have taken in Italy, a few interesting ones make me laugh and say, “Only in Italy. I thought they only existed in Italy, but now I’ve learned they are in many other countries as well. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a chandelier delivered like this. These military police mean business, and they don’t allow you to take their photos.

I find beauty on a narrow street and tranquility in the setting sun, but I also  seem to be drawn to unique circumstances, which are part of the Italian lifestyle. While this chaotic parking situation in the Sicilian city of Milazzo was frustrating to me at the time, I realize that this is normal in Sicily and also many other regions of Italy. A delivery truck loaded with household goods draws the locals from their homes in Cesarò, the Sicilian village of my grandparents. This woman in Rome smiled as I asked for permission to photograph her while she cleaned her beans outside on the sidewalk in Rome.