Her name is Nicola. She had come from Brindisi with her father, to play on the streets of Lecce. Though tired, she adorned a pretty smile when she posed and played the accordion for me. Piazza Sant’ Oronzo at the far end in the background.

Wherever you go in Italy, chances are that you will come across a street musician thrumming out for his life. Venturing around, we found music coming out from violins to beer bottles to hammered dulcimers. Italians! They know how to live music. Many a times their music have added color and vigor to our days, and in return me and sarah have been supporting them whenever possible.

This mesmerizing musician was playing Beethoven on the beer bottles. Near Piazza Maggiore, Bologna.

Another day, we found this lonely but jovial old man playing his harmonica, with his own mobile speaker system. @ Piazza Nettuno, Bologna.

— More of Italian street musicians who captured our hearts —

Related posts

• marine life on the rocky shores of gallipoli (2)
• when she smile (3)
• first wedding anniversary (7)

Tags: accordion, bologna, bottle music, brindisi, hammered dulcimer, harmonica, lecce, piazza maggiore, piazza nettuno, piazza sant' oronzo, puglia, salento, smile, street musician

4 Comments »

Italy is full of towering historical edifices, and during our euro-mediterranean adventures, we were enchanted to see that it has a rich marine life too. It was a warm afternoon at Gallipoli, south of Italy. We went to swim and feel the Ionian Sea, but soon found ourselves studying the marine life thriving on the rocky shores.

Marine Life & Colors under splashing waves @ Gallipoli, Puglia, Italy

… along came a jellyfish

We were in the sea while this jellyfish floated by, along with some non-aquatic plants. We were amazed by the beautiful red floral like patterns on its umbrella. The externally visible patterns match to the Pelagia noctiluca, a toxic, stinging jellyfish, commonly known as the mauve stinger in the Mediterranean. The mauve stinger has the ability to glow in the dark [nocti = night, luca = light]. However, we didn’t find any protruding tentacles on its body and we are not sure if it is the mauve stinger itself.

A closeup of the floral patterns on the mediterranean jellyfish. Jellyfish are known as medusa in Italian, attributing to the greek mythical sea nymph of the same name.

coral like formation on the rocky shores, with white ‘flower’ crests

hide and seek… a mediterranean crab cozily camoflagued in its rocky surroundings

— More of what we captured @ Gallipoli —

Gallipoli is a small town in Salento, southern Italy, in the Puglia region. It is located by the Ionian Sea, an arm of the Mediterranean. Less than 1 hour by train, from Lecce, capital of Puglia.

The beaches of Salento are marvellous, with white sandy beaches and intermittent rocky shores like these. Portrayed in the local dialect, Lu Salentu, lu sule lu mare lu ientu [Salento, the sun, the sea, the wind].

Related posts

• the accordion girl (4)
• the peacock butterfly (8)
• the elusive frogmouth and the cup fungi (1)

Tags: adriatic sea, camouflage, coral, crab, gallipoli, ionian sea, jellyfish, lecce, mauve stinger, mediterranean, medusa, pelagia noctiluca, puglia, rocky shore, salento, toxic

2 Comments »