From Slovenia to Tuscany

This week brought a lovely combination of friends, craft, and a little bit of magic. Our bonsai friends from Slovenia--Nastja and Matjaž--came to visit, along with their three-year-old son,  Aksel. Together, Nastja and Matjaž create beautiful bonsai ceramics, and their work can be seen on the Me and Raimondi website. 

They were traveling through Italy delivering custom pots to clients, and two of these pots were destined for Melissa--both for trees Ira has worked on with her. Great trees truly deserve great pots, so congratulations to Melissa on two stunning new pairings. 

Nastja's creation

Matjaž' creation

This cherry tree that Ira recently worked on with Melissa (Prunus mahaleb) is destined for Matjaž pot--a perfect match, in size, shape and color. 

Prunus mahaleb

Melissa and Andrea hosted apericena the night Nastja and Matjaž arrived. The next morning, after a visit to Melissa's garden and delivery of the pots, we headed out for a bit of sightseeing at San Galgano. 

We first visited San Galgano back in October 2024, and this time it looked noticeably different. A modern art installation, Divine Light by Italo-Albanian sculptor Helidon Xhixha, has been added as part of the Jubilee 2025 celebrations. The stainless-steel sculptures are designed to interact with the abbey's roofless Gothic architecture and the shifting natural light, creating a striking dialogue between history and modernity, faith and reflection. The effect is immersive and contemplative, transforming the already dramatic space in a completely new way. 

I've included some of my own photos here, along with a few videos I found online--the drone footage in particular is pretty spectacular.



Divine Light (Luce Divina)


Pyramid of Light

Piramide di Luce

Reflexes


Bay of Light


So now, with our flight to San Diego next week and our rental apartment sold, we're packing up the last of our boxes for storage until we return. Thankfully, Niccolò is allowing us to store everything one floor below the apartment we purchased. Depending on when we can come back, we'll either move straight into our new place or find another temporary rental. Always an adventure! 

Ciao ciao!

Book Corner

What is it about books about old men? Last year I read:
  • A Man Called Ove
  • The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
  • The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
  • Shoeless Joe Jackson
And I just finished Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, which now officially joins the list. I'm not sure what that says about me--but apparently, it's a theme?

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