I'M SORRY LUDWIG !

How could I forget the anniversary of your death! (March 26)
But, as you see from the Valhalla of the Greatest Composers, I came to remember...better late than never

Sole loved you.So do I

AMERIGO VESPUCCI TRAINING BOAT

A Beauty!
With a special thought for Sole's Captain Zaphod
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_training_ship_Amerigo_Vespucci
Amerigo Vespucci is celebrating Her 85th anniversary and will be resting in Venice for the coming 4 days.

KEITH EMERSON

I found a post from the old Sole's website in which Keith Emerson and Oscar Peterson play together.

I think it's a nice way to remember both of them ...What a tempo !
And Canario, a very old recording of Keith when he still was one of three (Emerson, Lake and Palmer)

FOR YOU, SOLE, MY BEST FRIEND EVER

Some little simple flowers, the colour of springtime.
I know you loved them.
This picture was shot - thinking of you - not far from where you lived, in Treviso.

LEONARD COHEN - DID I EVER LOVE YOU

I think there are few songs so fierce about love.
I loved all tracks but this one is special to me.

THE JAZZ MAN

Peter Cincotti: Sole loved so much this artist.
I also do.
I think he's under rated.
Great tempo!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLUas2ypb8M

TALKING ABOUT HONG KONG...

... I remember when Sole and I were talking about when, as girls who didn't yet know each other, we were flying from and to the old airport, Kai Tak, just in the middle of skyscrapers, close to the hills.
She loved flying and always found the Hong Kong approach and departure such an exhilarating experience. She always said that the new airport was OK under a rational point of view but not as thrilling as the old one. I'm not sure I totally agreed :-)
For anyone who would like to see how it was in the past to arrive at and leave from Hong Kong, here are links
Night Landing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X6HNOKSQUs
Concorde Landing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JKkJqNOFEY
Night takeoff from cockpit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c20wIRaOU8

THE PARADISE THAT WAS HONG KONG

Sole loved Hong Kong.
She told me so many times about her feelings, her happy memories of what was a lovely place. I agreed, having myself lived there for some time.
How not to remember Sundays at Stanley's market? (I mean the original one where you could still find antiques); Causeway Bay swimming; drinks in the evening at the then-called Regent ?
As long as the United Kingdom administered it, Hong Kong was (almost) perfect.
Of course, there were illegal sellers, particularly at night, selling counterfeit good to tourists.
But it was all part of an act.
Sellers knew they had to knot their selling floor-blankets in a hurry.
Police knew that the disbanded sellers would be back after some minutes.
Tourists knew they were buying counterfeit goods but didn't care.
However, roaming around Hong Kong at that time was a joyous, carefree and - above all - safe experience.
Now...the heavy hand of China:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-35529587
Progress doesn't always mean improvement, does it?

A SMALL TOWN BUT SO IMPORTANT...

...since it was Sole's place. The first snow of this 2015 Winter. How she would have loved it.

WINTER TIME IS THE TIME FOR WHITE

White is the summa of all colours.
Sole loved white. She said it was a canvas on which you could paint or write anything.
I made some pictures of magnolia flower that - along with the lily of the valley - was one of Sole's favourites.
The genesis of a magnolia flower

IN THE SKY AND I THINK OF...

...Sole who loved flying all around our globe.

(Picture shot by me)

LET'S JUST TAKE A BREAK AND ENJOY...

...some little good news.
My daughter was travelling to Paris and...surprise...surprise...she was met, at the reception desk, by a tiny, lovely bunny named Bebel. Bebel is a young bunny girl and is allowed to run everywhere.
But since she's a well-educated young lady, she just goes around the reception.
I think I know where to book my hotel for my next stay in Paris :-)

Sole loved bunnies.

L'ANIMAL EST UNE PERSONNE

http://avxhome.se/video/Format/documentary/animal_personne.html

ONE OF HER FAVOURITE TOWNS: TOULOUSE

She loved France (of course she did: she was partly French!)
And she was so keen on the South of France, especially Toulouse: the violets, the Capitol and above all Claude Nougaro: a great artist that can't be translated since his rhymes are purely French. But his jazz rythm can be understood by anybody who loves music.

...and New York by Nougaro !

BREL - DANS LE PORT D'AMSTERDAM

BREL - UN AMOUR DE SOLE

SOLE NEVER FAILED TO CELEBRATE

...Halloween. She did it playfully, joyfully and made it so much fun for everybody.

A GREAT BEAUTY

Sole loved Antonio Canova's works. I'd say she even was a Canova's aficionada if such a term could exist. I recently learnt that a special exhibition of a masterpiece called 'The Venus of Leeds - La Venere di Leeds' can be viewed - exceptionally - at Antonio Canova's museum.
I travelled there, in the mild hills north of  Treviso and discovered a world of beauty: amidst the museum with a record of the main works of the great Master, there she was. The Leeds Venus, in a scenery worth of the greatest World's Museums. In a square room, each wall has a mirror in 'Empire' style reflecting this beautiful Venus thousand-folds. Moreover, she's placed on a pedestal that, in its turn, is based on mirrors.
Oh, the beauty of it all....
And I was the sole visitor on that Tuesday morning.
Wherever else, Paris, London...there would be an endless queue of visitors.

AMAZING GRACE

No title could be more appropriate for Sole
She was graceful
She understood and shared grace in other people's souls
She loved all
She loved One especially..her Captain, her Chosen Love

JULY 12TH, 2015

Frantisek Kupka - The Wave 1902

Today, Sole would have been 40. I'm sure she would have been her usual lively, vibrant, warm, joyful and funny self.
With love to you, Sole... Anyone who met you still feels a great void.