Tanti auguri, Anima

Today celebrates mom’s cousin who comes closest to an aunt I never had.

Let’s have a look at a few fun facts:

• Her name translates as Soul or Anima.
• She paints and makes jewellery and then gifts her art.
• She has been learning Italian and was fascinated with Italian hand gestures when amore was showing her some.
• She always loved playing with legos when she came to visit and I was little.
• She loves to play Dixit and even made the 7th player’s rabbit when we needed it.
• She gifted me lots of records just because.
• She (okay, and her husband) organised a wonderful trip to “Slovenian Tuscany” for our last visit.

When we met at the petrol station, she handed me a hand-written note with all the stops and the designated meeting-place should we separate. If I didn’t know it yet, that’s when I would realise how serious this was to be.

First, here is a selection of her photographs from this trip, which you can tell from the little ©Duša watermark.

Goriška Brda, a wine-making region along the Slovenian-Italian border.

The drive to the top of Sabotin.

The view from the top with happy campers.

The males in Šmartno, a magnificently restored village.

The view from Šmartno.

It was a lovely stroll…

…that ended with hot chocolate and cake.

Above the bar.

The view from the second floor when we were stealing motifs from each other. (No! There are enough for everybody!)

Villa Vipolže and its magic trees. I love this photo!

Dobrovo Castle.

Photo: © Duša

Let me add some of my photos from this trip to round up the experience.

The gang at the Partisan monument in Doberdob, Italy.

The soul of Sabotin.

The emerald Soča / Isonzo river from the top of Sabotin.

Eccolo! The best orange-nut-chocolate cake. I wasn’t kidding when I said I would love it for my 50th birthday!

The amazing Church of St. Martin in Šmartno. We will come back here in a future post.

Old books in Villa Vipolže.

The statue of Slovenian poet Alojz Gradnik by Dobrovo Castle. Mom said that you had just recited her his poem under the statue and then you repeated it for me. Lovely!

And to round up the day perfectly: MammaMia pizzeria in Hum. It was planned to end this way. I don’t know where you had found it but it was excellent.

Photo: © signature mmm

And now, a song by one of amore’s favourite artists about closed mouth for you to present in your Italian class. He said “But it’s in the Roman dialect!” I told him that your Italian is already so advanced that you can start paying attention to details. And there are gestures too.

A bocca chiusa – Daniele Silvestri

Fatece largo che … passa domani, che adesso non si può
oggi non apro, perché sciopererò
e andremo in strada co’ tutti gli striscioni
a fare come sempre la figura dei fregnoni
a me de questo sai, non me ne importa niente
io oggi canto in mezzo all’altra gente
perché ce credo o forse per decenza
ché partecipazione certo è libertà ma è pure resistenza

E non ho scudi per proteggermi né armi per difendermi
né caschi per nascondermi o santi a cui rivolgermi
ho solo questa lingua in bocca e forse un mezzo sogno in tasca
e molti, molti errori brutti, io però li pago tutti

Fatece largo che passa il corteo e se riempiono le strade
via Merulana, così pare un presepe
e semo tanti che quasi fa paura
o solo tre sfigati come dice la questura
e le parole, si lo so, so’ sempre quelle
ma è uscito il sole e a me me sembrano più belle

Scuola e lavoro, che temi originali
se non per quella vecchia idea de esse tutti uguali

E senza scudi per proteggermi né armi per difendermi
né caschi per nascondermi né santi a cui rivolgermi
con solo questa lingua in bocca e se mi tagli pure questa
io non mi fermo, scusa,
canto pure a bocca chiusa

Guarda quanta gente c’è che sa rispondere dopo di me
a bocca chiusa

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Cin cin, cara Duša! I wish you plenty of health, joy and creativity, and to all of us more such well-organised, scenic and informative trips. Ci vediamo and pridi cai!

And as a reminder, here are two posts from my first blog for your last two birthdays: 2015 and 2016.