music

Things I Love Catch Up and Happy Birthday Dad!

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Today is my Dad’s birthday, so Happy Birthday Dad!  One of the hardest things about living abroad and being away from your family, is missing birthdays or anniversaries or even Sunday Lunches! Of course this makes the time I spend at home even more special but I do miss being there for special occasions and of course birthday cake!! Thank goodness for skype! When my Mum lived in Germany she could only call my grandparents or write letters…these days you can face time, skype, whatsapp, distances of thousands of miles can be forgotten in seconds!

I haven’t done a Things I Love Sundays post for a couple of weeks, for one reason or another, so today I am doing a little catch up of everything I have been thankful for and loved over the past weeks!

–Spontaneous trips to Venice – Catching Up with one of my best friends – Laughing uncontrollably and not really remembering why – Cappuccinos and Amaretti – Singing in a choir again for the first time since High School – Surprise birthday dinner for my friend and seeing her completely shocked – French lavender candles – Skyping with friends – The first signs of Autumn in the park – Unexpected late Birthday presents…loose leaf Sencha and Oolong tea which smells divine! – Salted Caramel and Rose Macaroons – Walking for hours and getting lost, but not really caring – Peaceful nights sleep at the Casa Caburlotto and waking up early (something I don’t find comes naturally!) – Late night walks to buy chocolates in Venice – Singing and dancing around my apartment to 60’s and Motown music…The Shangri-las, The Shirelles,  Procul Harum, (which my love for, is thanks to my Dad! It was all we ever listened to in the car when I was little!) –

One of our favourites…

Have a great week everyone!

Anna

 

 

 

The Liebster Award

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Thank you so so much to Caitlin at Caitlinfmc, for nominating me for The Liebster Award! Being very new to this whole blogging thing, I am really very grateful! Check out her blog, she is a film student and writes about all sorts of things, including films, music, book reviews and advice for University students! It’s fab!

These awards only have a few rules: 

  1. Thank the blogger who nominated you with a link back to his/her blog
  2. Answer the questions asked by the nominator
  3. Nominate 5 – 10 bloggers with under 500 followers
  4. Create 10 questions for the nominees to answer.

First I have to answer these questions:

1.) What inspired you to start blogging?

I finally started my blog this year, as I missed spending time writing and researching. I wanted to set myself a challenge and also share my random thoughts and ramblings!

2.) If you had a super power what would it be?

I would be able to fly…..no more airports, I could go home whenever I wanted!

3.) Where in the world do you want to travel to most?

I think probably Africa! I would love to go on a Safari…maybe even a horseback one!

4.) What’s your dream career?

My dream career would probably be to be a film actress or to work in musical theatre!

5.) What was the last song you listened to?

The last song I listened to was ‘Volare’ by Gipsy Kings.

6.) What was the last film you watched?

The last film I watched was ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’ at the cinema with my family.

7.) What is your biggest goal to succeed in life?

This is a hard question, but I would probably say my biggest goal is to be happy and content….and maybe to write a novel!

8.) List three things that make you happy?

Three things which make me happy are my family and friends, music and my dog!

9.) Which would you rather be, able to read minds or fly?

Fly of course – but then I wouldn’t be able to use ‘Oh the bus was late!’ as an excuse!! Haha!

10.) What is your life motto?

This is another difficult question…but I would probably say to try and always see the positive in everything! It is something my Grandma always taught us and I believe in strongly!

Thanks again to Caitlin and here are my questions…

  1. What do you enjoy most about blogging?
  2. What is your favourite book?
  3. If you were throwing a dinner party and could invite five famous people (dead or alive) who would you invite?
  4. What is the most precious thing you own?
  5. What can you not live without?
  6. Would you rather swim in a lake or the sea?
  7. What is your favourite song?
  8. Puppies or kittens?
  9. If you could play any musical instrument, what would you choose?
  10. If you could speak any language (other than English) which would you choose?

And the nominees are..

Anna

10 Random facts about myself!

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Hello everyone! I am writing this post from England as I am finally back home for the Summer with my family and friends! I left the sweltering heat in Milan and hopped on a plane to Stansted, to be pleasantly surprised by the weather here.  Not at all as cold and rainy as I was expecting!

I thought I would write a slightly more personal post as being home surrounded by lots of pictures and memories makes you a little sentimental. So I am going to tell you all 10 random facts about myself, so you can get to know me a little better!

Me

  1. Whilst at University, I joined the polo club and played (or at least tried to learn to play) polo. I don’t think I am a natural, but I absolutely love riding and have ridden since I was young.
  2. I have taken and passed Grade 6 in both piano and flute.
  3. In 2001 I performed in a variety show at the London Palladium, with my old Dance School. We performed two modern dance numbers, one to Geri Halliwell’s ‘It’s raining men’ and one to Elvis Presley’s ‘Jailhouse Rock’! For which, we wore amazing 50’s style dance skirts! They were great for twirling around in!
  4. I have a rescue dog – a Staffordshire Bull Terrier called Robbie!  My Dad, brother and I chose him from about ten staffies we met at a Kennels in Essex. He was originally called Diesel until the Kennel staff renamed him.10570208_887293894643325_1281618656_n
  5. My favourite food is Jacket Potato! Or to be honest any type of potato! I just love them!
  6. Whilst at college, I was an extra in a film about the notorious Witch Hunter Matthew Hopkins. I was in three scenes, including the hanging of three witches, where I had to throw handfuls of mud at the women convicted of witchcraft!
  7. I can speak Italian and am re-learning German. (Unfortunately since I started learning Italian I lost a lot of my German).
  8. My favourite author is Charles Dickens! I have every book he wrote and countless books on his writings and his life. I even combined my love for Dickens and Italy for my dissertation in my final year at University, writing about his relationship with Italy, through his travel writing and the novel ‘Little Dorrit’.  He was also, interestingly, a great supporter of the Italian Unification.
  9. Although I live in a city and love city life, I am a true country girl at heart and find that the smells, sights and sounds of the Essex countryside are so relaxing and beautiful. It is where I feel most at home.
  10. My favourite film (or at least one very high on my list) is Shawshank Redemption. I love the way the film is narrated and the beautiful sentiment in the most memorable quotes from the film.

 – I have to remind myself that some birds aren’t meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. And when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up does rejoice. But still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they’re gone. I guess I just miss my friend. – 

These are just a few random musings about myself, which I hope you have enjoyed! If you feel like it leave me a random fact about yourself below! I would love to know something about you!

I have lots of posts planned for the next month and am looking forward to a busy summer or fun and writing!

Anna

Piano City 2015

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For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you will know that a couple of weeks ago on another sunny Sunday afternoon, I went to the last day of Piano City Milano. This is a a three day event held every year with all types of piano concerts spread across the city! There are concerts held in parks, trams, houses, gardens, Piazza’s and museums to name just a few locations!  There is something for everyone with everything from classical, jazz and pop music to baroque and electronic! Not only is the music fantastic and all concerts are free, it is a great way to explore the city and discover new places!

For example last year, my friend and I went to a concert in the beautiful gardens of Villa Reale, which is the heart of the event and known as Piano Giardino (Piano Garden).  So naturally this year, I took my friends who were visiting there, to listen to some light Jazz and take a well needed break from all the walking we had been doing that weekend!

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The beautiful Villa Reale

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We listened to pianist Alberto Tafuri play homage to Neapolitan musician Pino Daniele.  A large crowd had gathered (luckily we found space on the grass to sit!) and we spent an idyllic hour listening to him play some beautiful pieces! You can hear a short clip of one on my Instagram page.

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There were lots of piano’s to have a little play on – all painted and decorated in funky ways!

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I especially loved this one!

 

Hope you are all having a great weekend!

Anna

Turn up the Music!

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Last week I spent a whole day being irrationally annoyed and for the most ridiculous of reasons.  I would say I am a very optimistic happy person, but I have learnt that I can be irritated by the most obscure things! Last week it was because my headphones broke!  Yes….that’s all!  It is not the first time the same thing has caused me so much annoyance…last year on my overnight flight from New Orleans to London another pair broke and I had to spend the entire flight using the awful ones they give you for free – you know the crackly ones which never stay in your ears and are just so uncomfortable!

I do realise how silly it is to get so angst up about such a minuscule ‘problem’ but it made me think, why is it this annoys me so much?  Like when I forget my iPod, or can’t find anything good to listen to on the radio?  Don’t get me wrong, I also love talking to my friends (or strangers on the metro for that matter) and sometimes I just love sitting quietly, listening to the world around me or eves dropping on other people’s conversations! (Hehe!) But for the majority of the time whilst I travel around the city for work or am on a train or plane or driving somewhere, or cleaning my house, or working at home, or cooking…what I most enjoy is listening to my favourite songs, or having a singing session or dancing around like a lunatic!

I wasn’t one of those typical British teenagers who grew up listening to Backstreet Boys or Take That! I started liking more ‘popular’ music when I was a bit older! But what I did love was 60’s music and basically anything my Dad played in the car! I loved The Shangri-Las, The Shirelles, Louis Armstrong, The Monkees, The Kinks! I also fell in love with classical music and jazz…basically anything you can sing along or dance to!  But I think it is thanks to my musical upbringing and influences from all my family that now I have a very wide range of musical interest!

I also had not only piano lessons, but also flute, saxophone and singing lessons! I sang in choir and chamber choir at school and played in band and the orchestra. I also took dance classes and one of my favourite parts of this, was seeing what music the teacher had chosen for our new show or exam dance! Three of my personal favourite choices were Bjork ‘It’s oh so quiet’, ‘Move on’ from Chicago and ‘Mack the Knife’ – I will take any version of this song, one of my all time favourites!

So, what I am trying to portray is how important music has always been to me and I feel has become a fundamental part of who I am!  I listen to music if I am happy, sad, angry, stressed, need to relax, can’t sleep…there is a song or a genre for however you are feeling! I truly believe this! Therefore this must be why I get so annoyed when I can’t use my headphones – it has the opposite effect on me…perhaps I should start carrying spares…or invest in better quality ones!?

One final thought…pianist Vincent Corver commented last week on a video I put on my Instagram page of Andrea Bocelli saying that ‘Music is an art that connects us universally’ and I could not agree more.  It is one of the most powerful tools we have in life and one which can break boundaries and connect us all together in one moment!

Would you agree? How important is music in your life?

I leave you to reflect with Louis…

Anna