Tuesday 29 May 2018

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The Shoemaker’s Wife was gifted to me by my mother-in-law and since I had not heard or read anything about  it I was not quite sure what to expect. I found the book to be an easy, pleasant read. The Shoemaker’s Wife is a love story but it doesn’t get overly saccharine and sentimental. The book recounts the story of Ciro and Enza, two teenagers living in different villages in the Italian Alps at the turn of the last century, who meet under tragic circumstances. Conditions are harsh in this part of Italy and life is fragile, yet love starts to blossom – until Ciro catches the parish priest of his village in a scandal and is abruptly shipped off to a very different life in America. When he gets there he is apprenticed to a shoemaker in New York’s Little Italy area. Some time later, Enza and her father also embark on a ship for New  York. Eventually, Ciro and Enzo’s paths meet again and they reunite but fate still manages to shake things up a bit.

Monday 14 May 2018

So here we are, just five days to go before the Wedding of the Year takes place in Windsor. As anyone that’s even remotely interested knows by now, Prince Harry of Wales will marry American actress Meghan Markle this coming Saturday at Saint George’s Chapel in the grounds of Windsor Castle. Windsor is an easy day-trip from London since the capital is only 21 miles away. The town’s main attraction is Windsor Castle – a favourite weekend retreat of the Queen and other members of the royal family. I am positive that during this coming week the number of visitors will increase to record proportions as hundreds of people prepare to line the streets of the town to watch the procession that will take place after the wedding service. More details of the royal wedding here. But what of Windsor itself? What is there to see and do?
Windsor Castle

Thursday 3 May 2018

This is part 2 of my suggestions on how to spend five days in Rome.
Day 3: Altare della Patria monument, Capitoline Museums, Colosseum, Palatine Hill and Roman Forum
Our third day was the most exhausting and we must have walked miles even though the actual area we covered is comparatively small. We started our day by making a short stop at the Altare della Patria, or Victor Emmanuel monument (also known as the Vittoriano), for a few photos and then hurried up the stairs, known as the Cordonata, past the statues of Castor and Pollux, to Capitoline Hill. The present layout was designed by Michelangelo but this hill has been settled by humans since the Iron Age. Capitoline Hill is flanked by palaces on three sides: Palazzo Nuovo and Palazzo dei Conservatori, which house the Capitoline Museums, and Palazzo Senatorio, the city hall of Rome.
Altare della Patria (Victor Emmanuel Monument)

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Sincerely, Loree. Theme by STS.