Italy Day 1 – Great Expectations

This might well be my last time in my house in Italy. I am tired and hot; temperatures here were almost 30 degrees when in my hometown temperatures have dropped quite a bit in the last week or so, down to about 12 degrees average.

I understand now why over here, few people are alcoholics or binge-drinkers. It’s just. too. bloody. hot to get drunk! After one glass of wine just now, I feel shattered and can touch no more.

The next 2 days – Thursday and Friday – are big, important. I’m meeting the agent and the prospective buyers to discuss the next steps / best way forward. A complication has arisen with regard to the sale, and I’m not sure at all whether or not it can be rectified. I’ve already received the first payment in my bank account, so there is some form of commitment from the buyers and I’m sure they’re keen on the house. It’s up to the agents and me now to decide on a strategy with which we can steer the sale through its currently muddied waters.

I’ll keep a record over the next few days. Not only cause it might be my last time, but also so that I have something to remind me of all of this when looking back in a few years’ time.

The good thing about being here is that in a week’s time, I’ll be back home! In the flat! With the cat!

Home.

White House Design

Image via Wikipedia

I went to see my former boss last night, together with my BF, first at her house in South West London and then we all went to the pub. Some former colleagues also came along.

I was greatly inspired by the way she had designed her house (they only bought it last year and I think they had to rip everything out). It was almost all decorated in white colours (predominantly white, with a bit of light grey thrown in).

Think the white castle in Kingdom Hearts – Chain of Memories (Castle of Oblivion), or Rachel White’s House. A bohemian version of New England – style, maybe. It’s difficult to describe, but it was very successful. It felt quiet and peaceful – easy for the mind to breathe and expand due to not being interfered with.

It’s definitely something I want to model my own flat on. My flat is quite cosy, but not overly ‘designed’ as such – there is no theme to the rooms. Plus, the kitchen and bathroom are old, the carpets dirty, the doors and windows throwaway. Only a complete overhaul would do, but when (if) I did it, I’d rip it all out and model it on my boss’ house 🙂

Tate Modern’s Got a Hole

Unveiled today: a huge crack in the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall. I like sculptures that form part of the fabric of a building, rather than merely being separate from it.

My favourite sculpture is probably Rachel Whiteread‘s House. Actually, Whiteread also created a sculpture in Vienna – the Holocaust Memorial. Methinks anaj should go and see it 🙂

House:

Holocaust Memorial: