It has been a long time. Meanwhile the temperature has dropped here in Siena, 10 degrees today, and the Christmas decorations have started to make their way once more into the shops and onto the streets.
I have been in London for a few days and the floor in Richmond has been installed, not without some difficulties.. pictures will follow, the room is still undergoing more work.
Then a more joyous outing, this time to Venice, the ever enchanting. Have been to Venice a few times, but, strangely, had never taken a Vaporetto down the Grand Canal. So this time I did, and once I started there was no stopping me: how GREAT is that?? I had tears in my eyes at the beauty of it all, although it was raining solidly for two days, but somehow it did not matter...
I had met up with Patty and Les, it was the last few days of the 61st Art Biennale and and the ever enterprising Patty had arranged for us to visit one of the most popular exhibits: the entry by the Vatican, which was a garden in a historic monastery run by the Discalced Carmelites since the 17th century, an order founded by St Teresa of Avila. The exhibit was inspired by Hildegard of Bingen, the 11th c. mystic, saint and poet.
The visit through the gardens, all in autumnal glory of colours and mellow fruitfulness, was conceived as a spiritual pilgrimage, and through the ear phones one was encouraged to wander and listen to the music composed especially by participants such as Brian Eno and poetry written and read by Patty Smith. A lovely experience.
Back in Siena the season is well and truly over for my little Airbnb. I realize I have neither presented a Guest of the Month for October, nor for November...
Well, for October, why don't we choose the nice Wolfgang, retired Judge from Berlin, another kind German who allowed me to practice my German on him, while meanwhile he was studying Italian in my old Alma Mater up the road: The Dante Alighieri who have sent me quite a lot of guests this year. He left me this note in his room when he left:
And for November? Well, since there is hardly going to be many others to choose from, why don't we settle on Tung, my Vietnamese guest who stayed for two days and left this morning. He is my first guest from Vietnam and it was most interesting to hear some insider stories from that country, which for me is so unknown.
Tung is a young economist from Hanoi. He was here on a business trip and had meetings with one of the Pharmaceutical companies on the outskirts of Siena. Then he was on his way to a trade fair in Munich. He presented me with the pictures above, which are miniature replicas of the large posters that used to be on the walls of Hanoi- the one to the left says: Denounce the invading American Imperialists, and the one to the right is Ho Chi Minh (who looks rather jolly, I thought). His Italian colleague had asked for these, so he had packed a few extra.
So how do you feel about the Americans now? I asked him. 'We still don't like them', he replied. However, he was also able to express some irritation about the current situation in Vietnam, which is still a communist state of course. Tung works for a private company and feels they are unfairly treated by the government who always favour the state run businesses.
Most interesting... I am always discovering new things, and recently often from the Far East.
