Elizabeth Machin PR Blog

Summer time

31/8/2018

 
Once upon a time summer holidays were a time to relax. Perhaps I was an exception. My parents were both in education. Endless six-week vacations rather than dull summers spent at home were normal. Personal postcards and photography, not shared on Instagram or Snapchat, were our creative means of communication.
 
Today in this country a two-week summer holiday is rare and if taken, we are sure to be tracked down. How do we forget work, social media, followers, filters and shut up shop like families and shopkeepers in Italy? The great scappata for an entire month. Imagine. I will try.
 
Florence may be a ghost town for the locals but it was crammed with waddling tourists with selfie sticks on the modern grand tour. Hidden cafes were all closed.  Will Fisher of Jamb says ‘the most important visits for me are not just the cultural but also the culinary. When I’m in Florence I have to visit my favourite restaurant Trattoria Sostanza that my best friend Naj introduced me to.’  We tried but the blinds were tightly drawn. Chiuso. But the Duomo and Gates of Heaven were open. 
Picture
​Florence is beautiful with the sort of sunshine that kisses every building with gold.  One way to get to know the city’s history and art is through its churches. Santa Maria Novella church, the first great basilica in Florence seduced us with its Frescos by masters of Gothic and early Renaissance. These remain pioneering scenes with whispering shades to inspire. 
Picture
Picture
​The Uffizi was exhilarating with its labyrinth of corridors and rooms. Art bathed in the colours of heaven -  effervescent blues, pinks, yellows, greens and gold found in the work of Fra Angelica, the angelic brother and his Florentine contemporaries.
Picture
​And yes, we did the bus trip to one of the highest points of the city. We passed villas you can only dream of and visited the Church of San Miniato before reaching the Piazza Michelangelo, where we stood shoulder to shoulder, snapping Florence at sunset.
​Our villa for the week was in the hills on balmy, near-deserted Tuscan lanes lined with olive trees and Chianti vines. When not visiting the city we simply swam and lazed around the gardens with the elegant stillness of Florence in the distance.
 
Summertime and for a week the living was nearly as easy as it used to be.
Tweet

    Categories

    All
    Antique
    Christmas
    Colour
    Competition
    Craftwork
    Cushions
    Design
    Events
    Fabrics
    Fair
    Fashion
    Film
    Flooring
    Furniture
    Interiors
    Lamps
    News
    Pattern
    Plasterwork
    Sculpture
    Shopping
    Tartan
    Textiles
    Tiles


    Archives

    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    August 2018
    May 2018
    October 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014



​© Elizabeth Machin PR 2019

​



  • Blog
  • Home
  • About
  • Clients
  • Projects
  • What We Do
  • Contact
  • Writing
  • Blog
  • Home
  • About
  • Clients
  • Projects
  • What We Do
  • Contact
  • Writing