Details / i Dettagli

In which I continue to wax lyrical about Italy.

From Milan we got the train to the Langhe (for those who don't know it - as I didn't before last week - it's an area of small hills in Piedmont, in Northern Italy).  More specifically we were staying just at the edge of the Barolo region and that, my friends, means wine.  Really, really good wine.  Three generations of family gathered at a wonderful Agriturismo (essentially a farm with B&B) there to celebrate my brother's Significant Birthday.

When I went through my photos of the weekend, I noticed that many of them captured small, lovely moments.  No big monuments, no major events (apart from the birthday cake, I guess), no historic sites ... just lots of beautiful details in a beautiful place.

For example, watching the men pick grapes and then load up the truck - what amazing colours!  One of my three-year-old nephews asked me in his Greeklish, 'pou páne grapes?' (where are they going, the grapes?)

These striped deck chairs are where I'm planning to spend my retirement, gazing out over the wine-producing hills.

I spent an hour taking photographs of the small church on the property, looking at the patterns the leaves made against the stuccoed walls.

Roof details also feature frequently in my photographs - I like the little cupolas and the weathervane/cross combinations.

I liked seeing an old lady hanging out her washing: all black, including the voluminous knee-length knickers of legend.  I liked seeing more colourful washing hanging from every balcony in the small, hill-top village of Barolo.

For some of my detail-spotting I was helped by my six-year-old Nephew, who found things for me to photograph and then helped me push the buttons on my camera.  Oh, an auntie's life would be much sadder without small boys who adore gadgets.

Gregory spotted this flower, for example, hanging on to the ancient castle wall.

And this lamp on the Via Roma.

And this fresco of Madonna con bambino.

But I was the one who insisting on photographing this Posta Telegrafo + laundry composition.

Being in the company of small boys is excellent if one is in the business of noticing details.  They are happy to spend hours unpicking things, collecting stones and disassembling sticks so that they are exactly the right length.

They are less interested in shrines, but I love to take photographs of them: small houses erected to protect hopes and desires.  This one is dedicated to Beata Maria.

I liked the way the rosy, ochre-y brick stood out against the green hills.

And I liked the way it framed two small red-headed boys.

Details.

And speaking of which:

The place we stayed was Agriturismo Bevione.  Glorious food, comfortable accommodation and the warmest of warm welcomes.  http://www.agriturismobevione.it

Most of these photos were taken on a walk that starts in the village of Barolo (there's a car park below the castle) and ends up, via a trail that winds through woods and vineyards, in Monforte d'Alba, about 5km in total.  http://www.barolodibarolo.com/inglese/itinerari.asp