Big Boat

A cruise ship leaving Sydney.

On my way to my Italian lesson

In Italia per mare

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Sister Cristina's first album

The nun who won the "Voice"contest on Italian TV is going to release her first album on November 11th. Here is the video of the single from that album:



I love the way she tries to be confronting. Is it a parody of a parody, or the real thing?

Memling

I went to look at the Memling exhibition at the Scuderie del Quirinale (ie the art gallery next to the Quirinale palace):

http://english.scuderiequirinale.it/categorie/memling-e-l-italia-exhibition

Memling was a German who moved to Bruges in Flanders, probably because it was a wealthy town. The commentary said that in the 15th century, Bruges was a more important trading centre than London or Paris. Because of that, there were wealthy Italian families living in Bruges, who could commission works of art for portraits, decoration of churches or private religious devotions.

The exhibition had works by Memling, as well as others by contemporary Italian and Flemish painters.

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Lucy

I went to a movie last night, called Lucy. I thought an action movie would be easier to understand if you don't know much of the language.

The whole process is similar to anywhere else, the ticket cost 6.90 Euro, so a bit cheaper than Australia (I forgot to ask for a seniors discount).

The only difference is that they stop the movie for 5 minutes half way through for a refreshment break.

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Sightseeing

I did some last minute sightseeing in Rome:

The view from a hill in the north over the Piazza del Popolo with St Peter's in the distance,

The Spanish steps. As you can see, there are still a lot of tourists in Rome in October.

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Flanders goes to Rome

I noticed a connection between Flanders and Rome. There is an exhibition here in Rome of the paintings of Hans Memling, who they describe as a Flemish renaissance painter.

Of course he is well known in Belgium, and there is a Memling museum in Brugge / Bruges.

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