minidovolená - výlet na Moravu

V půlce června jsme si udělali malou dovolenou bez dětí, tři dny a tři noci na jižní Moravě. Bylo to moc krásné. Být bez dětí je osvěžující, ale jet bez dětí pryč z domova je ještě větší relax. Člověk vykročí ze stereotypu do neznáma, žádné uklízení, vaření, žádná práce. Za těch pár dní jsme toho viděli opravdu moc a máme spoustu zážitků - a taky jsme vypili spoustu skvělého vína. Mám v plánu z výletu namalovat pár obrazů.

Viděli jsme výstavu Zdeňka Strouhala ve Valticích.

Vylezli jsme na Děvín na Pálavě.

Byli jsme na zřícenině kláštera Rosa Coeli ve Dolních Kounicích.

A v Miroslavi - můj nejoblíbenější domeček tam.

A taky jsme si udělali výlet do Brna, kde jsem si koupila (mimo jiné) slamák, který se trochu stydím nosit mezi lidi :).

vypuštěný rybník

Asi před dvěma týdny se nám poštěstilo hlídání a vyrazili jsme si na procházku kolem vypuštěného Zámeckého rybníka u Konopiště. Nejdřív jsme chtěli jít jenom kousek, ale nakonec jsme rybník obešli celý. Na rybníce je ostrůvek - i když na rybníku skoro bez vody působí "ostrov" trochu podivně a děsivě. Taky je tam moc krásný starý dřevěný most. Byla pořádná zima - na tomhle výletě mi došlo, že už je potřeba přezout na zimní obutí i ošacení.
Vánoce jsou opravdu už za měsíc? Skvělé! Začala jsem si asi šít šaty. Mám pocit, že už si skoro nepamatuju, jak se to dělá.

Michel Delacroix

I love to look at houses, I love architecture... and cities. I love these paintings by Michel Delacroix. Fifteen years ago I went to Belgium, and at one antique shop I bought a postcard with one of his paintings. We had it on the wall at our first home (actually a student dorm room), but I probably lost the postcard then. Few days ago I saw his paintings again, and I still really like them. Tiny details, charming little scenes, chimneys, bold colourways. And Paris, of course :). I´ve been to Paris once, and I don´t remember much (I went there during my two weeks in Belgium). I was very ill and had problems breathing, the trouble was we slept in a tiny apartment, that was filled with cigarette smoke. I almost couldn´t breathe at night and I seriously thought I was going to die there. I wanted to get up in the middle of the night and escape the smoke filled box. But, I didn´t, and, somehow, I survived :). The flat was actually really nice, and really interesting. Very small, filled with tons of small decorations, I remember the paisley tablecloth on the round table. I thought it was very Parisian. The flat itself was originally painter´s studio with a tall, narrow window. Everything during my two days stay at Paris was nice, but the night experience is the thing I remember the most.

a year ago

A year ago at our friends´ house. Their place is one of the most beautiful homes I´ve ever seen. I loved this advent calendar they had in the kitchen and now I try to make a similar one too. I´m just sure I can´t make it equally beautiful :). I can´t believe Marie was so small, such a cutie.

Dresden

I´ve been away for a while, and that´s because I´ve been a bit sick for some time. I´m still not entirely back to my painting, sewing and making, but we went for a great trip with our friends to Dresden yesterday! I´ve been there about 13years ago and visited the gallery of "old masters" in Zwinger, and this time we went to Albertinum to see the newer works. I loved the exhibition and the whole building, its architecture and design is stunning! What I loved most was the statue of young ballerina by Edgar Degas (of course...:). I always loved this statue and was glad to find it there. I stared at it for a long time (and I´m inspired to make some dolls...). The skirt is amazing, it´s made of many layers of gathered tulle, and I love the shade it has now. (Did the colour change during all those years? Probably... maybe not too much). I also loved the Frauenkirche, a church that was attacked during the 2.w.w., was destroyed and recently built again according to old plans. When I was last time in Dresden, the church was still missing and if I remember well, they were working on its renovation.
link

summer wedding

We went to a wedding of my childhood friend - it took place on a beautiful castle. We had to travel quite a lot to get there, but it was nice: we dropped the kid at my parents´and had a little rendez vous :). I wore my black dress I made recently, and I felt great in it. I made a small adjustment on the gaping neckline (ruched it a bit) and it fits better I think. Exactly the dress I needed. I also wore the pearl necklace I blogged about a while ago, and earrings I got from my friend. I have a new camera! It´s pretty difficult for me to use it, my husband wants me to understand the process of taking photos and it´s just too much information for my brain now :). But I hope I´ll learn everything, slowly.

back from trip to Italy

We went to Italy with our two friends for the last week and returned home yesterday night. We had such a great time! At first we went to Pisa, and saw the famous leaning tower, beautiful "Il duomo" and baptistery. There is also a great jewish cemetery. Pisa is lovely, but there are crowds of tourists and ugly tourist stuff. I loved smaller town Lucca (which is near Pisa) much more. There is a roman amphitheathre rebuild into enclosed circus with houses - from the outside, you can still see the ancient foundations and arches. It´s really impressive. There is also a beautiful church, with very detailed front portal. We went to the sea too, although the west coast in this part of Italy is not very suitable for sea-bathing and swimming (at least not in aplril :). And at last we went to Florence - the colored marble cathedral is really huge and breathtaking. I enjoyed looking at the elegant shops as well. I didn´t buy any clothes - but I loved that pink linen dress in the photo above. I kind of regret not bying it :). At least I asked my husband to take a photo with me and the dress... In Florence there is also an interesting bridge "Ponte Vecchio" - there are houses built into the bridge, filled with jewellery shops. I´m very inspired by the architecture and vegetation we saw. I´m looking forward to painting and making things. Also, I want to eat pasta all the time :). The only thing I wasn´t very fond of was the nights - we slept in a tent, and it was pretty cold.
images: 1.Pisa, 2., 3. Florence cathedral, 4. Florence Ponte Vecchio, 5. Lucca Piazza del amfiteatro, 6. Lucca, 7.-9. dresses I liked and a lovely shop in Florence

in the country

I´m back from a great trip to my husband´s parents´ place. We visited our friends, who are artists - I got a great paper native scene our friend made, but I have to cut it out and stick together first. We went for a long walk in the freezy and snowy fields and forest, it was perfect. I saw a great czech movie, Happy end. I have never seen anything like it. The way this film is made is exceptional - the whole movie runs backwards (from the end of the film to the beginning), but there is also a narration, which makes it a completelely different logical story at the same time. It starts when the main character is killed (but he actually just starts to live...), because he murdered his wife, then you see him bringing the dead wife to life etc., back to the time when they first met at he end of the film. It´s very funny, perfectly made with attention to every detail (i.e. the dialogues in the film are spoken "backwards", of course, but they make sense "both ways" and are funny. I think I was laughing all the time while watching this - there are great jokes with food - you see people eat backwards - they pull the food out of their mouths, spit out backwards... just simple things, but so witty. When a baby is "born", they say thay lost the baby forever... and it´s thrue! I loved it. Very original movie.