Q52

... Q52 ... it is not as famous as the B52 ... yet ... but I hope it will be soon ... for better reasons ... though ... Q52 is in fact the name that my friend LARA and her mate FRANZ ... gave to their new ARCHITECTURE WORKSHOP ... the name comes from the street where the workshop is ... Via Quarenghi 52 ... they just open it ... few weeks ago ... yesterday we went to eat a pizza together and she gave me the happy news ... so we went to see it ... this is the mailbox ... the flash was too powerful ... so we had to use the light of a match ... ehehehe ... pretty naive ... but it did work ....... and this is a picture inside ... and of course the cute girl in the picture is LARA ... much better live than in the picture ... ehehehe ...... I am sure that LARA and FRANZ will just do just great ... and just in case ... I am XING MY FINGERS FOR THEM ... :D

PETER PAN SYNDROME

... I don't have any nephew ... but I call Michele, Tommaso and Paola my nephews because I was for the longest time engaged with Rosita ... their aunt ... before we broke ... and I definitely left Italy ... but before that ... I saw these little monsters born and grow up ... for a little bit ... and since three years ... I saw them only in pictures ... so one of the reasons why I was so happy to go back to Italy was because I wanted to see them ... and play with them ... and I have to say that I had such a good time with these three monsters ... unfortunately ... not enough time to play with them ... but sometime ... and I simply love them ... they have such incredible positive energy ... simply lovely ...... here is Michele trying to climb over Rosita's back ...... here is when they decided to interrupt my nap ... pretty funny picture to see ...... and here they are ... after they managed to wake me up ... the fantastic 3 ... with their vistim ...... yes ... I definitely suffer of the most feared ... by the grown up women ... among all the possible syndroms ... the PETER PAN SYNDROME ... but I love that ... ehehe ... :o

SUNSIRE

... I took this picture this week from the my parent's place here in Italy ... and after that ... I thought a lot about it ...... and I thought that ... it is a SUNRISE ... but it looks like a SUNSET ... the sun is just going to hide through that thick layer of grey clouds ... and eventually disappear for the entire day ... it has been like a short life for that sun ... like an aborted day ... a very short day ... a day of just 10 minutes ... and I thought about the meaning of TIME ... and to the fact that probably TIME is the biggest and probably only gift we have when we born ... that life is just a way to spend this TIME ... to the fact that I feel like I am running out of time ... I don't have enough TIME to see all my friends here in ITALY ... and I don'know when I will be back next time ... I won't have TIME to see my friends when I will go to LA for just few hours ... mmmm ... or probably no ... probably it was just a nice sunrise of a cloudy day ... ehehehe ... :o

A STATION, TONS OF FEELINGS

... I love public transportation ... whatever it is ... bus ... metro ... ferry ... cable cars ... trucks ... airplanes ... trains ... and one of the places that are able to fascinate me the most are the stations ... it is such a melting pot of humanity ... hope ... rush ... dreams ... sadeness ... smells ... poverty ... fast food ... that fascinate me more than any other place ...the other day while I was waiting for my friend Andrea in the the MILAN TRAIN CENTRAL STATION ... I toook some pictures ... this station was built between the two World Wars ... in the fascist period in Italy ... very efficient architecture ... a kind of architecture that I like (only the architecture ...:D) ... the most difficult picture to take was the one to the homeless ... sad to see a person in that situation ... I gave him some change like I normally do ... I am never sure if I am doing the right thing ... that is one of the tons of feelings and thoughts I felt during the half hour I spent in the station ... ... almost forgot ... last but not least ... this is the way the station ... this incredible box of humanity ... looks like from the outside ...

SMILE MORE, PLEASE ...

... Bergamo ... the city I am coming from ... is not really famous for its happy people .... everybody seem to be worried and concerned of something all the time ... but ... something that I have learned growing up is that ... smile is good for you ... a smile relaxes your muscles ... when you smile your eyes take a special shape that are able to "transform" the things you see ... everything is lighter ... smoother ... easier ... and there is this incredible chain reaction ... people around you start smiling like you ... if you don't believe it ... try ... ehehehe ... :D

ITALIAN PARKING

... as Italian ... I shouldn't put this picture on the BLOG ... but it is too funny ... I have to do it ... so here it is ... the Ultimate Italian parking ... ... I still can't believe a person can park in this way ... and not even back it up a little bit after the pole was hit ... BTW ... I took this picture a couple of days ago in my city ... BERGAMO ...

HIKING TRIP IN THE ALPS

... everything did happen at 7.15 AM on Saturday December 1st 1923 ... the GLENO dam (diga del Gleno, this is its name) broke and almost 400 people (the exact number is unknown) living in the villages in the valley underneath the dam died ...... today the horrible disaster is still in the memory of the people ... but probably very few people have direct memory of that horrible morning ... what is left of the dam is still there and it is the destination of hiking day trips ... I did it last Sunday with my brother, his girlfriend and other friends ... really a nice hike ... although a little bit too short ... I had this memory of the same hike when I was a kid ... and I was pretty sure it was at least 3 hours ... but it ended up in less than 1 hour hike ... anyways ... here PIANEZZA ... the village starting point of the hike ...... and here some pictures of the dam ... or what is left of it ... still wrapped in the morning fog ... it made it even more sad ...... and here some other pictures of the hiking ... overall it was really a very nice day ... so strange to write about a nice hiking in such a tragic location ... in a way I found it sad ... at the same time ... it is nice to see that where there was death now there is new life ... and people remember it ... anyways ... these are some of the animals wandering in the area of the dam ...... this is the group of friends I went with ... if you are curious ... PAOLO ... my brother ... is the one on the left ...... and this is me ... with my new hiking shoes ... I bought them for my Patagonia trip I will do in 2 weeks ... but I found out that they are probably slightly too big ... funny ... I bought them because the previous one were slightly too small ... ehehehe ...

THERE IS NOTHING LIKE A GOOD FRIEND

... Hello!? ... Hey ... it is me ... Andrea ... today I am coming to Milan to see your white ass ... let's meet there in the Central Train Station ... You mean you are coming from Swizerland just to see me!?! ... Of course, I am coming for you ... come on ... get up ... I just check you have a train leaving Bergamo at 10.54 ... I will be there at 12.30 ... you will have to wait for me just 30 minutes ... mmm ... OK ... see you later ... I can't believe this ... this is exactly what happen to me last Saturday ... when my friend Andrea ... woked me up ... and I felt soooo touched ... a friend ... coming from Switzerland ... more than 3 hours train ... just to visit me ... we went to visit an other common friend ... and I felt sooooo special ... something I didn't expect ... a surprise ... a gift ... a true blessing ... so we met in Milan and we went to this other common friend ... an other Andrea ... the 3rd Andrea of the day ... ehehehe ... who was busy feeding his little son Pietro ...... we had a wonderful time ... some really great food ...... and probably a little bit too much of wine ... not the best choice for my sick stomach ... but apparently it didn't make things much worse ... ... really a wonderful day ... yep ... there is nothing like a good friend ... and Andrea is definitely a wonderful friend ... yep ... I am really a lucky guy ... ehehehe ... :H

MILAN SIGHTSEEING

... I don't love MILAN ... I spent there 5-6 years as a university student ... and the grey colors ... the smog ... the cars parked on the pedestrian paths ... the fog ... the people always in a rush and without a smile ... made me sick ... but I have to say that visit it as a tourist isn't that bad ... of course I didn't catch this bus o visit the city ... but in a way I did really when around like a japanese tourist taking pictures ...

... but I spent half a day as a tourist ... taking pics ... and visiting churches ... there are a lot of art masterpieces in Milan ... and if you are not in a rush ... you have he chance to enjoy them ... here some of them ... Milan main attraction is the DUOMO (the dome) ...... an incredible mix of styles ... built over 5 centuries ... the result is unique ... a mix of gothic, reinassance and baroque style ... on top of that there is a the GOLDEN MADONNINA (Mary, Jesus mom) ... the tallest point in Milan ... no building is taller than that ... and and even Leonardo da Vinci ... was in a way involved in it ... because Milan doesn't have any river ... he was asked to design a network of water canals which was eventually used also to move to Milan the white marble necessary to build the dome ... if you have the chance go to visit it now ... they are in the last phases of its renovation ... and the white marble cleaned is simply wonderful ... and you can also visit the church rooftop ... which is pretty cool ... especially in a day with blue sky ... here some pictures ...

... here some other random art masterpieces I had the chance to see ... I spent in Milan only half a day ... but I have to say ... that this time I liked it ... I hope you will have as well the chance to visit it ... but don't spend in Milan more than 1 day ... go to BERGAMO ... my city ... it is only 25 miles away ... and to me it is much more pretty ... ehehe ... :o ...

ALE and THE PERFECT PICTURE

... Ale & Max are friends ... and they are really lovely ... and this is a picture we took last nite ... to remember the nice evening together ...... Ale was used to study with me at the university ... we spent so much time to study together ... in the same public libraries ... really nice memories ... and last night they had been sooooooooo nice ... they invited me to sleep in their new apartment place in MILAN ... because today I had to be early morning in the US CONSULATE in MILAN to have the new US VISA STAMP on the passport ... really nice ... and Ale is also the person who took one of my favorite pictures ever ... actually ... my favorite picture ever ... here it is ...... it was last year in Manhattan Beach ... when she came to visit me in LA and other friends living closeby ... in the picture ... Seba, myself and Jake (my former roomie) on the beach before an early morning surfing ... I love this picture ... to me it has something special ... it means a lot to me ... friendship ... sport ... outdoor ... fun ... surf ... I just love it ... thanks for everything Ale ... and you too Max ... I love to have such good friends ... and have fun in VENICE in the weekend ...

DEDICATED TO CELINE

... this is a picture I took today in Via Montenapoleone (the heart of the fashion ditrict) in Milan ... and it is dedicated to my friend CELINE ...... not sure if she is reading it ... what is really important ... is what I felt today ... I did turn my head right ... I saw this name ... just a name ... 6 letters ... one after the other ... and I felt happy ... the name ... reminded me the smile of a good friend ... and our small backpacking adventures ... and made me smile as well ... in the middle of a grey Milan street (I kinda hate the grey Milan streets) ... mmmm ... isn't that nice ... mmmm ... probably just childish ... I know ... but I love to smile ... and I love to share it ... and I love to remember good friends ... :D

A NIGHT ON THE SINK

... this is not the way I expected to spend one of my nights here in ITALY ... but it did happen ... I am pretty sure it was food poisoning ... some crappy pizza I got at dinner yesterday... but my doctor told me that I had a food poisoning or it is a case of flu ... bottom line ... I think I will have to eat light for few days now ... what a pity ... in the meantime ... last nite ... I spend some good time with some ofmy old friends ... really nice to see them again ... after such a long time ...

... and my feeling is that nothing really changed since I left ... not sure if it is a good or a bad thing ... probably good ...