Beauty around you

   Last year I visited a very good exhibition held at Palazzo Pilotta in my hometown, an exhibition of rare art and manuscripts from the Aga Khan Museum collections being shown at the Palazzo della Pilotta in Parma, contains some of the rarest pieces of Muslim art, including Fatimid pottery and a copy of Ibn Sina’s Canon of Medicine, which was the medical reference book in Europe for 500 years.

Just a few pieces from the catalogue (pics were forbidden)

   I was there in 1995, and I'd like to come back one day..................

I didn't expected such a great exhibition, it was a really nice surprise..........

Peasants at the Table (Velasquez)



The Chess Players (De Man)



The Virgin and Child in an Archway (Petrus Christus)



The Virgin of the milk (Correggio)

Back in 1996 we enjoyed a trip throu Normandy. In the little village of St-Mere-Eglise we visited the Airborne Museum. Just to satisfy hubby's passion for planes, and to learn more about the D-day

Yesterday afternoon it was time for some pop art, I finally managed to see the Andy Warhol exhibition at the Magnani Rocca Foundation







The Foundation itself is worth a visit, for the very interesting permanent collection, and the huge park surrounding the villa.

The works dispayed were obviously only a part of the entire Warhol production, but a good one. Here're some of the works you can see (from the catalogue, it's absolutely forbidden to take photos inside)



















For more about Andy Warhol, you can take a look at the Pittsburgh Museum, or at his Foundation site.

Last year, while in Stuttgart we visited the Mercedes-Benz Museum.
I'm not that into cars, but I have to admit the experience was worth it. First of all the museum spaces and architecture are themselves worth the entrance fee




 





And the pieces exhibited are rare and more than often, unique













Every floor and every room has a specific subject in a specific time, along the paths some billboards explain what were the world events of the time, and the audio guide is very precise and complete. Highly recommended.

 In 2001 we visited Belgium. I've been always fascinated by the Flanders' culture and traditions, so finally we were there. We had a great time and we met very nice people. I personally enjoyed Bruges very much.
While there we took a look at the diamonds cutting history, and the best place to do it is the Diamant Museum.

  In march 1998 we took a weekend off town, headed to Ravenna (a beautiful city, worthing a visit for its monuments and lots of mosaics, really stunning). We enjoyed the town strolling among the many monuments and buildings, but the main reason to go there was the exhibition about the early stage of egyptian civilization.

From the exhibition catalogue:

Two days ago Marty and I made a short trip to Milan to see the exhibition of her clothes, finally in Italy after more than three years!
We enjoyed what we saw, for me it was like re-living my youth, she was a myth for a lot of people of my generation. For Marty was like touching first hand a world she had only read about. The lights were just right to create the atmosphere, the videos very interesting to explain the London in which VW first created her clothes.
These are some pics.....





























Even the Molteni chairs in the rooms of Palazzo Reale (usually very sober) were re-designed with Mrs Westwod fabrics for the occasion!

Traveling throu Europe, among many other beautiful things, we discovered beautiful gardens, public ones, or belonging to huge mansions. We visited them just to please our eyes, or to rest a little.
I searched my pics and I've chosen the ones I remember as the most enjoyable, by country

the roses of the Volksgarten in Wien (Austria)



the path along the Maribel in Salzburg (Austria)



the herbs of the botanic garden of Roche Jagu in Bretagne (France)



the exotic garden in Montecarlo (France)



obviously the magnificent park at Versailles (France)



the little, charming Van Gogh garden in Arles (France)



the almost hidden Imre Nagy Memorial in Budapest (Hungary)



the fuchsia garden at Egeskov (Denmark)



and the chromatic play at Rosenborg Castle in Copenaghen (Denmark)



the japanese garden at the Irish National Stud in Kildare (Ireland)



the savage garden at the Muckross Estate in Killarney (Ireland)



and the amazing park and garden at Powerscourt Estate in Enniskerry (Ireland)



the peaceful Court Garden in Munich (Germany)



the botanical garden in Tenerife (Spain)



the "lake of love" in the Stadtpark in Bruges (Belgium)



the many colors of the flowers in Regents Park in London



the pond in Kensington Gardens in London



the quiet atmosphere in Hyde Park in London

I've been in Paris many times, I have a friend living there, so it's a usual thing go there to see each other. Obviously, the Museum of the Louvre is a must while you're there.



I like it so very much for the atmosphere you can feel walking through its rooms, never too crowded even if it's one of the most visited place in the world!







The sections I like the most are the one dedicated to the ancient Egypt and the one collecting near eastern antiques

  

 

 



And there are masterpieces you can't avoid to see, after all they are the reason the Museum is so famous!

 

 
 

and the most famous of all......



I hope to come back again, each time I find something new, and new emotions are there to be lived.