April 16, 2012
Herewith a few of my fave Italian icons:
Scooters That Smile
Bitters That Bite
Things That Quiver on Lines
Flags That Wave Where Lions Ate Men
Bars That Smell of Sugar and Foam
Cars That Squeeze Where Cars Should Not Go
What’s your Italian icon of choice?
Jann, you’ve done it again! Absolute fantastic shots that capture the heart of Italy! The last shot of the little red Fiat 500 is priceless. Just the other day I took a photo of one and sighed with how cute it is! It’s definitely a Bella automobile! The shot of the underwear made me giggle and reminded me of just how similar Spanish folk are to Italians! This is something that you see often on the clotheslines of Spanish homes! 🙂
Bella, you’re too sweet. Grazie mille! I REALLY want to go to Spain-I haven’t been in years & years; I know I’d love it like Italy.
Those are great pics. I like the lilliputian (are they Vigili del Fuoco?)that seem to be perched like ants on the upper edge of the flag.
One of my favorite iconic images would be a clot of men doing some outside job, with one working hard and the rest watching him. Rarely two working at the same time!
🙂 Yes, good iconic Italian image of crowd gathered around 1 man working. Though to be fair, the same thing happens with city workers in Santa Fe, NM. There will be 4 city workers watching a colleague prune a small tree. I think those mini-people on the Colosseum are more like a SWAT team–they had machine guns…
Very cute post Jann…very sunny. I absolutely love the bar shot. The guy at the doorway with his head in the sports pages is an Italian icon all on his own, don’t you think!
Let’s see. I’m tossing up between Brunelleschi’s dome for the Duomo in Florence and my battered old Bialetti stove top coffee maker as my favourite icons. At least one of them I get to take home with me when I leave. Great work! Jxxx
Oh, yes, Janine–the battered old Bialetti coffee maker. LOVE IT!!!
bella!! bella!
beautiful photos.
When I was in Sicily, I took a photo of a policeman writing a ticket for a car that was parked in an illegal place. I found it amusing since the Sicilians seem to make up their own parking rules and park however and wherever they choose!
Thanks, Andrea! Yes, parking “rules” in Sicily are enforced very erratically… though in main piazzas there are sometimes those dreaded cameras that take your photo if you’re driving through a pedestrian-only zone, and then you’ll get mailed a ticket that costs a fortune!
I like the flag photo best Jann. Did not think Italians displayed theirs like that as we do here in the USA. Molto bello…
Charlie, you’re right…Italians don’t hoist their national flag much (in Sicily, the Sicilian flag is much more common than the Italian flag). I shot this flag on a national holiday, though now I don’t remember which one.
Love all of the pictures, especially the tiny car in the alley where “cars should not go.” Have been stuck in one of those “sentieri” myself in Italy!
Hi Jan, thanks for commenting! I have been reduced to tears several times “stuck” in little lanes. (Glad I’m not the only one!) I just get out of the car and plead with a local to rescue me–and they always do, though I feel an utter fool.
Ciao Jann! Another fantastic breath of fresh air for the day! Grazie! Hmmmm….I think I’ve seen that little red car before? 🙂
Yes, the famous little red car of Palazzolo! (Or was it Bucheri????)
Oh Jann, these are beautiful images! You come close to capturing my favorite icon, if you can call it that, in a picture… its the timeless-ness of Italy, the ancient merged with the modern — not just the physical aspects, but the people, the culture…
But really Jann.. this.must.stop. You have too much power. Your blog postings have a tendency to reduce me to sitting here like a whiney teenage girl saying “I wanna go baaaaacckkk!!”. 🙂 I say it every time!
Thank you for feeding my obsession.
Feeding your obsession? Ha ha, don’t blame me, Cathy!!! 🙂 Where are you now on your virtual tour of Italy??? You WIll get back soon, I’m sure, wanting it as much as you do. xxxxxxxxx
I have to say the 3 wheeler vespa filled with either fruit or vegetables 😉
Yes, Lucy, that’s a real classic!
Hmmm…maybe those crumbling walls and arched doorways that line the narrow streets where those little cars shouldn’t dare to go. Great sequence of images; wonderful hot colours. Makes me long for a tall Campari and soda with a little dish of olives, sitting at a table in a piazza, watching the Italians stroll by.
I’d love to join you at that table for an aperitivo, Lynne.
My favorite image is of any umbrella-studded cafe placed on a sunny piazza!
Sunny piazza–a real Italian icon, indeed.
—FabULOUS Photos <3
I Love the white underwear.
Classic. Great Colours. Xxx kisssssssssssssssssss 4 u Jann.
Thanks, Kim! Kisses back 2 U. xxxxxxxx