NYT Article

Air pollution linked to diabetes marker
New York Times Article

Il Concerto all'Arena Rocks

Enjoying the atmosphere the Arena

Ieri sera siamo andati all'Arena per vedere Zucchero. Era molto divertente e molto affollato. Siamo arrivati in anticipio, poiché ottenere un posto bello.

Il concerto era meraviglioso.  Durava per più di 2 ore 40 miniti.. e zucchero brillava.  Lui ha cantato per quasi tutto.  La gente l'amava. Loro sanno ogni  canzone.
Poi alle 12 meno un quarto siamo tornati a casa nostra, nelle strade di Verona, con tutti gli altri. Una buona passeggiata.

Anna

 We went to a Rock concert in the Arena in Verona.  It's a 2,000 year old venue.  We were sitting on hard marble seats, we had to bring a cushion to sit upon. However that was okay, when we realised we are sitting inthe very seats that the Romans sat in for their entertainment. Probably didn't use amplifiers and laser lights  back then. 

Apart from that, nothing hss changed really.

Here are my reflections from Venice Biennale, a few years back

Beautiful Venice, La Serenissima is in big trouble right now.  Acqua Alta


Venice Biennale-Architecture 2  - Australia

So we're peering into the architectural drawings, the footprints, the photos, the models and the tiny, tiny font to read the information from each country's interpretation of From The Edge. Brilliant stuff, Europe is concerned with housing millions of refugees, there are some brilliant, intelligent solutions , short medium and long term.  This is earnest stuff.

Then we walked into the new Australian Pavillion, it's a dark, plain even severe building.  I read somewhere that the architects wanted the art to speak, more than the building. It was a hot day. So what's in the building.......  the Australian Pavillion has a swimming pool.  Nothing to read, no drawings, no photos no tiny, tiny font to read. I flopped into one of the cool deck chairs on pool deck and listened to the voices. recognized the voices. We've been away a while so that was nice. I chuckled to myself thinking how lightweight Australia was..

I watched the reflections of the water.  Then the voice of Anna Funder talked about how important the pool was to all Australians finding a cool spot on a hot day,such fun for kids.  It means summer and freedom to kids. Yeah
Tim Flannery talked about what a waste a pool was, effectively, poisoning water with chlorine, just so we could swim in it.  Yeah.
Hetti Perkins talked about her dad, Charlie and the freedom rides in NSW in the late '60s. She said how pools outwest didnt allow indigenous people in.  Now the pools outwest, not only welcome all children, but the pool access has resulted in fewer ear infections, - This means better attention in schools, actually better hearing in schools, so children learn better.
They had a cute sign "AQUA PROFUNDA" up on the back wall.  Tbis was a nod to the Fitzroy pool, where there was a big Italian migrant population. The pool manager was so sick of fishing people out of the deep end that he put up sign in "Italian" aqua profunda, (spelt incorrectly in Italian hehe)

Public pools ARE big for Australians a serious cultural icon, a slice of our former lives, and really delicious on a hot day.

Venice Biennale-Architecture 2 - Australia

So we're peering into the architectural drawings, the footprints, the photos, the models and the tiny, tiny font to read the information from each country's interpretation of From The Edge. Brilliant stuff, Europe is concerned with housing millions of refugees, there are some brilliant, intelligent solutions , short medium and long term.  This is earnest stuff.

Then we walked into the new Australian Pavillion, it's a dark, plain even severe building.  I read somewhere that the architects wanted the art to speak, more than the building. It was a hot day. So what's in the building.......  the Australian Pavillion has a swimming pool.  Nothing to read, no drawings, no photos no tiny, tiny font to read. I flopped into one of the cool deck chairs on pool deck and listened to the voices. recognized the voices. We've been away a while so that was nice. I chuckled to myself thinking how lightweight Australia was..

I watched the reflections of the water.  Then the voice of Anna Funder talked about how important the pool was to all Australians finding a cool spot on a hot day,such fun for kids.  It means summer and freedom to kids. Yeah
Tim Flannery talked about what a waste a pool was, effectively, poisoning water with chlorine, just so we could swim in it.  Yeah.
Hetti Perkins talked about her dad, Charlie and the freedom rides in NSW in the late '60s. She said how pools outwest didnt allow indigenous people in.  Now the pools outwest, not only welcome all children, but the pool access has resulted in fewer ear infections, - This means better attention in schools, actually better hearing in schools, so children learn better.
They had a cute sign "AQUA PROFUNDA" up on the back wall.  Tbis was a nod to the Fitzroy pool, where there was a big Italian migrant population. The pool manager was so sick of fishing people out of the deep end that he put up sign in "Italian" aqua profunda, (spelt incorrectly in Italian hehe)

Public pools ARE big for Australians a serious cultural icon, a slice of our former lives, and really delicious on a hot day.

Venice Biennale-Architecture

From the Edge - Ideas Aplenty

The theme of the Biennale is FROM THE EDGE.  Countries have more or less permanent exhibition buildings, where they interpreted this theme. Scandanavian countries banded together to a certain extent. The brand new Australian building is remarkable.  It was funded entirely by private money, no government went into this building. There is also a grand paladio-styled USA pavillion, France, Czech Republic, slovenia, Hungary, Netherlands, Egypt and a consortium of designers and architects housed in the Biennale building itself.

Look closely

The Israel  Pavillion

I was drawn to this display under the Israel Pavillion because I thought it looked like the bamboo entrance at the Woodford folk festival, shown below.

Woodford Folk Festival 

However, this material is made by bacteria then extruded and made into poles. This means, unlike cement or wood, it is cheap, renewable and so sustainable. Good thinking from a country with few natural resources. I'm excited.

Straighten up to lift the head. Habit of the Week.HOW

I confess I've been nodding off on the trains and curled forward in my posture. However, I've noticed that it's not possible to put my head above my shoulders unless I straighten my spine first.

This weeks habit is straighten the body in order to lift the head.

Venice Biennale-Architecture

Another way

1st day of school, Verona

Lucky, aren't we.  We are able to stay in this one place for a while, so there is time to plan, shop for groceries, do the washing..
We are staying in Verona itself. We are organizing our own outings/adventures, which takes some time to research.  In addition, we don't want to rent a car, we would rather travel by public transport or walk. We enjoy the challenge. We are having some close encounters with the locals and we are seeing the place from many different perspectives.  We are still tourists,  of course, still outsiders.
The start of the school year.  "Buon Inizio"*
So today, for instance, we were up for the early bus to head out of town on the intercity train. We saw hundreds of school buses with thousands of high school students, obviously coming from far and wide. And, by contrast,  yesterday we walked around town about 8.00am and we encountered all the 'littlies' going to school for the first day with their parents.  Really cute. Especially the little preschooler in his dust jacket/smock anyhow, all the kids were all carrying a shoe box with their name. These are their gym shoes which they leave at school from now on. So Italian mothers never have to say where are your joggers on sports days.  Interesting to see how others do things differently.


*"Buon inizio" is the greeting on the first day of school.  Means "good start"
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