Psst.... wanna see Italy?

Well, I've lived in two different locations in Italy and it is by far my favorite country overall. Each place you live has unique qualities that you miss when you leave... but, to me.. Italy is one of those places that is exactly as you had imagined it in your mind. I felt kin to the generations of the past as I'd walk along the worn cobblestones and marble sidewalks. Many buildings in the area were 200-800 years old.

When my storage shipment arrived this summer... a few of my Italian treasures did too.

This is the baker's rack that was made for me by the same man who made my wrought iron bed that couldn't be brought up the narrow turns on my German staircase. See the metal box in the floor? That's a transformer and it has to be used to plug a 110 (American wattage) electrical item so that it can be used in a 220 voltage home in Europe. It makes a humm when it's being used. The transformer gets plugged into the wall and then there are outlets on the front of the transformer to plug in the American appliances/etc. *I have to use one of these in my 'entertainment room' (uh, office for those who want to be traditional). *And, yes.. it does use more electricity when you use the transformer.

The chicken pitchers on the top (I have more of them too) are from all the little towns in Northern Italy where I lived the first time I moved to Italy. Each town makes their own 'chicken pitcher' design. It is the traditional gift to give to someone when they move into a new home.

The hand painted tiles on the back of the baker's rack were from a small town along the Amalfi Coast that I found before I moved away from Italy the last time. The painted scene is of the little town as seen from the train station.

Some of my polish pottery is on the rack too- but, I think it goes well with the Italian ceramics too. On the shelf, right below the marble top, (which I requested to be the Italian Green Marble from the man who made the rack) are my hand painted dishes that were made for me in Nove in northern Italy. *click on the photos for a larger/clearer view


I just loved this candlestick holder when I found it in that little Amalfi coast town. I like a touch of whimsy here and there.


Close up of the fruit plates. I had found this tiny shop.. (a room in a house) with a small amount of ceramics for sale. I had purchased a vase and pitcher in this same design- but, it was all that they had in this beautiful fruit design. Finally, I made them understand with drawing plates/etc. and the fruit designs and pointing back and forth to the vase and the drawing.. that I wanted them to do the same painting on a set of dishes. The fruits painted on the vase and pitcher was the most beautiful of any hand painted ceramics that I ever saw in Italy and I just knew that they'd be beautiful on a set of dishes.

They finally understood and I paid the money due and would return in a month's time. Aren't they amazing? Funny part: THEY DID NOT STAMP the DISHES MADE IN ITALY or sign the artwork. Reason? I'm here now and would know that they were made in Italy- because they made them for me. The 'made in Italy' stamp is for items that might not stay in Italy.


Hand painted ceramic tile showing the castles of Gaeta from the ocean, that I looked down upon from the house that I was living in when I lived in Gaeta, Italy.





The only items that I had used in the past were the fruit dishes- all other items had been purchased right before I moved from Gaeta and immediately put into storage until I could live in a place big enough to hold all of my household goods.