)(( hannah mello ))(

favorite spaces (::::::)

it's funny being captured by a place. something seemingly passive, cold, and even literally concrete/stone/metal <-- all of those symbols for lifelessness. however, days most recent have been rich with experiences that debunk that myth. i have fallen in love with a city not because i am seeking it out, but because it is discovering me. i can't explain it. it sounds ooy-romatic, but it's a reality that i am struck with in my everyday. enjoy some of these spaces and their descriptions. :) be careful, don't get captured too-- you might have to move across the world to unlock the key of your cage! :)



















adjacent to the funiculare centrale (the hill-climbing rail) on via roma in the heart of napoli centro antico (the old city center), this glued-up mural clung to the wall. there's something about the movement and stillness.














napoli is a terraced city. from up high, you think it's a flat-seated patchwork of buildings, but no. it's deceptive. :) there are so many layers with views that are unexpected and panoramic with height. this photo was taken on the hilltop in the region of Vomero where the old San Martino monastery is now vacant, beautiful, and erie and is beside Castel St. Elmo (which has art exhibitions. i must go there. haven't yet.)

anyway, this is my FAVORITE part of the city. photo-ed here from above. do you see the green-roofed rectangle? that's the still-alive Santa Chiara monastery with a simple, quiet cathedral where monks stand-- in brown garb tied by rope-- quietly watching and praying for the many different visitors that enter. some = completely unreligious tourists. some = spiritual seekers with desire for truth. some = religious and plasticly hardened. some = not quite seeking, not quite at home in their soul. some = think they know a corner of truth, but know phantom, humanly-instilled rites of religion. you can feel the quiet peace in the room. you can sense the monks' commitment to mercy and giving.

do you see the rectangle courtyard behind the green roofed rectangle? that's where, in the center of those walls-- which are actually the monastery's quarters-- is the most spellbound garden of all time. grapevines perched on wooden props. windy verdant paths. pillars and benches and walls painted in the southern italia way-- scenes with Mt. Vesuvius, lemons, oranges, vines, olives, and the most beautiful color combinations. colors combined so unexpectedly.

in my life at this particular time, i am seated beside a few old souls that are making me see another angle of life. peter, my housemate, age 65. maurizio, the journalist, age 45. radolfo, the engineer, age 55. martina, the student, age 16. these four individual people-- in 4 different decades (excluding my own decade + life's final chapter decade)-- are gifts that can't be described in words' encasement. this photo was taken from inside of San Martino-- a place so dead. however, this courtyard beside its museum reminded me of the life of the conversations that i don't deserve-- they're so priceless-- and which i can't create-- they're unexpected intersections.

this is my Mergellina view. every wednesday, i teach in a ritsy home for some over-stressed, wealthy but unimaginative children. no, i love them to death though. we have fun together. i mourn their loss of life in their ivory towers though. i pass a stone wall on the way up up up to the home, and this is what i see beyond it. the Mergellina port with San Martino and Castel St. Elmo on the crest of the hill far above. everytime i see it in the afternoon light, i gasp. everytime i see it in the dusk of sunset (when i leave the home), i well up. the colors are breathtaking. the angles of every piece of architecture are moving. ah! this the city of my everyday dream.

sometimes, to walk along the smell-less sea (gotta love the invisible smell-thief of smog) is more peaceful than a full-body massage. :) the light hit the street just so this one day.

another angle of my Mergellina view. this pier jets out beside the docked fishing boats so that one walking can get a sneak peak into the lives of these fishermen. i did it on this past wednesday. i sat on the white rocks facing the mountains somma and vesuvius-- and the day was clear, so i could see the amalfi coast and it's rocky mountains plus the island of ishea in the distance. no breath. no breath. it's funny = there's a ton of cats that hang out on the rocks too. i was amused.

another San Martino shot. my shadow beside the green lightpost in this fairy land i came to by ferry. :) cheesy.

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CONTEXT OF THESE SPACIAL REFLECTIONS:

i feel quiet today. in my soul. humbled i think cause i have pulled a tendon in my foot and am limping around terribly (i walk SO MUCH and always, so it's not a good thing) and i still have a cold from a week ago. but i think i'm also quiet because i'm a tad mystified at this place that surprises me daily with its colors, its structures, its faces-- and constantly discovering streets that connect all of these favorite places all so close together but i had no idea!

last night, i finished my lesson in the school in naples to find out that i wasn't meeting up with my italian friends-- so i took the metro down to the centro antico, where, in the piazza next to Santa Chiara was a stage and a full-on musical with 6 singers. capturing. beside it, in an alcove, was displayed an exhibition of the classic napolitan christmas nativity scenes which depict jesus' birth being in the center of napolitan life. so capturing. today, thinking back, i can't believe the gifts of those moments. especially since i was limping around, coughing something terrible, and the rain was only in a periodic off-lull. it started up right after i started back to the metro.

ok. until next time. have a starbucks soy, gingerbread latte for me-- please?!

posted by )(( hannah mello ))( @ 4:05 AM