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This is the blog of Steve Burkett of Italy, Our Italy

Transforming a Lubriano Door

This transformation is dedicated to my dear friend Diana Armstrong. She and her husband David were adventurous souls who followed a dream that many of us have…they bought a place in Italy! And not just any place.

They have a beautifully charming home in Lubriano, Italy, where she spends time looking out at this view of the hilltop town of Civita di Bagnoregio. Here, she writes her beautiful books about Italian life, her father’s war, and cooking. If you are a late comer to my articles of Italy, please take a moment to see more about her life and accomplishments in my 2016 article titled, “Covering for Friends”.

Much of the charm of the Armstrong’s compound comes from the fact that their residence is part of a converted, 400-year-old monastery. In her first book, "Somewhere South of Tuscany: 5 Years in a Four-Cat Town" (2010), Diana tells the story of how they came upon, purchased, and renovated their home. In her second book, “A Winding Path to Umbria: The Silent Bridge of Time” (2016), we learn that her father was within that very same view, as he was part of the allied forces who fought to take that town.

The Door in Lubriano

Diana, you most likely know this door well…but as you will see, it is in better shape in my version, than in reality.

You pass by this door as you turn right out of your house toward Piazza Col di Lana…it’s just down a bit on the left. Specifically, it is number 2 Via Roma.

Here we see number 2 in all of it’s faded glory. Time, the weather, and neglect have left this once-proud door in very poor shape. In just moments, I plan to rectify that situation.

What do I need to do? Well, as is usual, I want to get rid of the more modern elements in this snapshot. For instance, the address plaque needs to go, as does the chain and padlock. How about that stopgap measure in the form of cardboard? That most definitely has to go bye-bye.

Stage One: Misplaced Artifacts Removed

Now…no cardboard, no chain and lock, and no address plaque.

Step 2: A Bit of Contrast and Saturation

Step 3: A Bit of Red Paint

The door is definitely old, so it will remain in a weathered condition, but I just don’t like that yellow-orange. Let’s go with a bit of red.

Step 4: Mood and Patina

Now were getting somewhere.

The Final Step

I like to put my transformed door and window photos into an 8x10 aspect ratio. The previous photos were too tall and skinny. To fit the photo into my desired 8x10, I had to add a bit to each side of the door to make the photo wider. So, I did just that.

Now, here is the final photo. It seems to be in the twilight hours, as it looks to be getting dark on Via Roma. Things seem to be much better now…maybe the owners would like me to come over to sand away that old paint and then paint the door anew. All they have to do is ask.

There you have it readers. And Diana, as you pass by, I’m sure that you won’t see that door in the same light, again.

Until next time…

Ciao for now,

Steve

Provinces, Comuni & Regions of Italy

Index of Articles

Until researching the nomenclature of the Italian political subdivisions, I was both ignorant of, and baffled by, the terms that I’d hear bandied about regarding Italian socio-political geography. I thought you might also be a bit baffled, so I decided that it’s high-time for all of us to know a bit more about these areas of Italy. It’s not too hard to understand.

There are 3 terms that you need to know: region, province, and comune. Think of a region as a state in the US. And think of a province as a county, or parish. And then think of every square inch of Italy as being located in one comune or another.

COMUNE (plural is Comuni)

We hear a lot about Italian towns like Roma, Venezia, Milano, Napoli, and the other big towns of Italy. In the US, we would call these ‘municipalities’ or ‘townships’, but in Italy the word ‘comune’ is used to describe these political units.

The comune is the smallest political subdivision within Italy. There are 7,918 of them and all of Italy is contained within some comune. This is in stark contrast to the US, where non-municipal land abounds. Just below is a map showing all of the comuni of Italy

In the map above, can you spot the very large comune of Roma, which is about half way down the Italian coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. That little speck of a dot in the middle of the comune of Roma is another country…that being Vatican City.

Now, with a bit of enlargement of northern Italy below, it gives you a better idea of how the 7,918 comuni are organized. I’ve circled (from left to right) Turino, Asti and Milano. As you can see, those municipalities are much larger than their surrounding counterparts, and they are like islands in a sea of the other comuni.

A comune is where you would get your birth certificate, or the death certificate of another (obviously not your own), get your deed registered, pick up a marriage license, etc.

You can see a complete list of the 7,918 comuni/municipalities here.

The largest comune is Roma, which is about 25 miles in diameter, and has a population of 2,761,477 inhabitants. You undoubtedly (I have faith in you!) found the comune of Roma, earlier. The smallest comune is Atrani, which tips in at only 1,300 feet in diameter, has only 832 people.

Again, for a comune, think municipality/town/township/city, but with a bit of the flavor of a county.

PROVINCES

The next political subdivision is the ‘province’. Think of a province as being like a US county, or parish if you live in Louisiana. There are 107 provinces in Italy.

The smallest areas shown on this map are the provinces. For now, ignore the darker lines and the shading differences.

REGIONS

Then, we come to the largest of the institutional, geo-political bodies, the ‘region’. There are 20 regions, which you can see displayed in this map. Remember, these are like the states in the US.

On this map, you see the names of the regions, using the Italian nomenclature. For instance, we in the US call ‘Piemonte’ by the name ‘Piedmont’, and ‘Toscana’ by the name ‘Tuscany’, etc…don’t ask me why, and don’t get me started on that…Rome/Roma, Florence/Firenze, Venice/Venezia, etc.

The ‘regions’ of Italy, showing their Italian names

There you have it! The regions (states), provinces (counties/parishes), and comuni (municipalities) of Italy. Each region has its own special character…as well as characters. Some are influenced mostly by the sea. Others by their mountains. While others have lakes as their defining feature. And most have a good bit of wine in their makeup. And of course each region has their own, tasty foods, including the various locally-defined shapes of pasta…but that’s a subject for next week’s article!

Wouldn’t it be great to spend time in each of these regions?! I sure think so. Let’s plot out an all-inclusive route and get going!

Ciao for now,

Steve

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Covering for Friends

Index of Blog Articles

I'm happy that friends have asked me to cover for them. I did. And it was fun!

“I’d be glad to cover for you too, should you need it”

I'm talking about book and CD covers, by the way. My friend an author, Diana Armstrong asked me to do the cover art for her new book, "A Winding Path to Umbria: The Silent Bridge of Time". As well, my nephew, Ben Johnson, asked be to do the art for his CD titled "Handcrafted Peace" an album of piano music that he composed. Here's the story of each.

A Winding Path to Umbria

Diana G Armstrong is a gifted friend and author who lives in both Denver and Italy. She and her husband David have a beautifully charming home in Lubriano, Italy. Much of that charm comes from the fact that their abode is part of a converted, 400-year-old monastery. In her first book, "Somewhere South of Tuscany: 5 Yeas in a Four-Cat Town" (2010), Diana tells the story of how they came upon, purchased, and renovated their home is a sleepy, four-cat town.

Diana's second book is a bit of a departure, in that it is a story of historical fiction; the historical part having a very close tie to her past and her Lubriano home -- both of which she learned were intertwined.

Here is a photo that I took from Diana's window, where she often sits to write.

That little village, isolated atop a table of rock, is Civita. Note the pedestrian bridge leading to Civita...this bridge plays an important part in the story that she writes.

Diana had admired her view for years before she found out the significance to her family. Recently, she uncovered the fact that her South African father, 70 years earlier, was here, too. He fought with the allies in this Calanchi Valley against the mighty German war machine. How could an author not write about such a connected event!

When Diana first asked me to do the cover art for her book, my thoughts went to the intrigues of battle and dark nights, where allies crept up on Germans ensconced in this hill top fortress. So, I began my book cover imaginings there...with a paperback cover of the traditional size.

I cropped the photo that I taken from Diana's window into a format that I imagined for a paperback novel. Here is my first imagining.

As I was imagining a night-time scene, here is where my imaginings took me.

Operating in the dead of night could be risky in the days before night vision goggles, so we needed a moon to give our troops a bit of maneuvering light.

I can just see them sneaking through the trees, ready to scale those cliffs, can't you?

I created a bit of moonlight reflecting off of the rooftops.

All we need now is some text for the book title and author's name.

Ahhh, not to be.

When I woke up from my imaginings and actually met with Diana to discuss the book and its book cover, it turns out that the bridge leading to Civita is a central figure in the story...an artifact that just had to have prominence on the cover. So, it was time for me to change my imaginings and it was back to the drawing board. We needed a completely different view of Civita.

Here is a photo that we settled on that would give the town prominence, while also showing the Calanchi Valley through which the allies operated, and all the while, showing the bridge to Civita front-and-center.

We worked through several iterations of color, artistic effect and cropping..."should we show this much of the bridge? or this much? or how about this much?"

I began to use my 'digital brushes' to create various artistic, painted effects.

With about two-dozen images to chose from, here is the final result that satisfied both Diana and her publisher.

And here is that photo, sitting right, smack, dab on the cover of Diana's new book.

If you click on the cover of her book, you will be taken to the Amazon website, where you can order either a paperback version, or a Kindle version. Go ahead...give it a try.

Understand that all proceeds for this book and Diana's previous book go to underprivileged African children. Funds go to both her daughter's mission that now works with Living Hope Charities in East London, S.Africa, and also to a Hospice for Children (mostly born with Aids) in Durban South Africa. Diana says that money from the US makes a huge difference in Africa.

And here is the link to Diana's previous book about her lovely, little community, "Somewhere South of Tuscany: Five Years in a Four-Cat Town".

Oh, one more thing...do you like to eat? or cook? Then you will just love Diana's first book -- its a cookbook. It is called "Cooking for My Friends". I know that she knows what she is writing about, because we have been fortunate to be friends for whom she has cooked.

Handcrafted Peace

On a gentle, musical note, my nephew Ben Johnson, is a very talented piano player and composer. Ben's aim is to create music that is just plain peaceful. Saint Benjamin (his new moniker -- not a saint of the dead variety, but a saintly work in progress) wanted to create something that you can listen to that will a release you of all of the negative thoughts of the day. He succeeded.

When Ben contacted me, he had spent time looking at photos on my alternate website, Steve Burkett Photography. He felt that certain photos in the Winter Solace gallery met his vision of 'peaceful'.

Here is the original photo that he asked me to work into the cover art for his CD.

I took this photo in the spring of 2013 in eastern Colorado as I returned from a trip to Virginia.

After just a bit of work to add contrast to the image, I arrived at this next iteration.

Obviously, a CD cover-insert needs to be in a square format. And, as Ben wanted something in the black & white vein, we settled on this photo for his 'Handcrafted Peace' CD.

If you click on the CD cover photo, you will be taken to Ben's website, where you can listen to his peaceful music, and even purchase a copy if you wish.

Ben's latest project is creating music that conjures up visions of the emojis you've seen in your texts. Want to hear what an emoji sounds like? Go here to hear his drafts, including this emoji for a slice of pizza. Who would have thought?

So, that's how I've spent a bit of my time -- covering for my very talented friends. I'd be glad to cover for you too, should you need it.

Ciao for now,

Steve