Why Is It Nocera "Inferiore"

Here on the photo is Nocera Inferiore, a little "town" on one side of the "plate" with the center of Vesuvio, volcano. The mountains are situated round the Vesuvio, about 10 km from it. So if you post the volcano on the right of this photo and go more right, you will arrive to Sarno and the mountains over it.

Here on the second photo is the part of Nocera Superiore. With Vesuvio on the background. And there is Nocera Inferiore too.

So you can understand the difference. Nocera Inferiore ("low") are many very little settlings in the lower part of the valley. Nocera Superiore ("higher") are many settlings situated on the hill part of the territory of Nocera.

If you are interested in the antique history, the territory of Nocera was the place of many impressionant and tragic human stories. And was very important town from IX cent. BC till around VII century.

Romania -- Late News on a Jewish Heritage Conference

Siret synagogue, Romania. 2006. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber


By Ruth Ellen Gruber

I just found out today about what could have been an interesting conference on Jewish heritage that took place this past week in Bucharest. I'm posting it in the "it's frustrating, but better to know about it late than never" category. This category, alas, is a big one! So many initiatives take place on an individual level that it is often hard (or impossible) to keep track.

The program as a whole looked terrific. Many of the topics were of particular interest to me because of my own research and writing -- and my own interest in regarding Jewish heritage as part and parcel of national, regional and European heritage -- and also because of my new "(Candle)sticks on Stone" project centering on the respresentation of women on Jewish tombstones, particularly on the richly carved stones in the Jewish cemeteries of Radauti and other towns in northern Romania.

Annual International Conference on JEWISH HERITAGE
PART OF THE WORLD AND NATIONAL HERITAGE
Bucharest, May 28-29, 2009

The University of Bucharest and the Goldstein Goren Center for Hebrew Studies
invite you to the annual international conference on Jewish Heritage Part
of the World and National Heritage.

Prominent scholars from Romania and abroad (Israel, France, Hungary, Turkey) will
lecture and debate on the Jewish intellectual heritage - its influence on local
and world culture and the current state of rehabilitation, restoration and
conservation options; a special panel will be dedicated to the Jewish monuments
of worship, synagogues and their art.

The event is open to the public and will take place on May 28-29, 2009, at the
Faculty of Letters, University of Bucharest (5-7 Edgar Quinet St., room 120 and
Council Hall).

On the occasion of the conference, the photo-documentary exhibition "Colors of
Time: The Synagogues of Moldova", belonging to the Romanian Cultural Institute
in Tel Aviv, will be on display.

The photographs presented in the exhibition are the work of Teodor Rafileanu, a
journalist and a photographer. These photographs were taken in the spring of 2007,
during the trip for the research of synagogues in Romanian Moldova, in which he
accompanied Dr. Ilia Rodov, lecturer at the Department of Jewish Art, Bar-Ilan
University. This tour was part of a research project supported by the Romanian
Cultural Institute in Israel.

----

JEWISH HERITAGE –
PART OF THE WORLD AND NATIONAL HERITAGE
Bucharest, May 28-29, 2009

Partners: Academia Romana – Institutul de Istorie a Religiilor
Federatia Comunitatilor Evreiesti din Romania – Centrul pentru Studierea Istoriei Evreilor din Romania
Institutul Cultural Român – Tel Aviv

Thursday, May 28, 2009
Opening, Council Hall
Chair: Andrei Oisteanu, Institutul de Istorie a Religiilor, Academia Romana – Romania

9.30 – 9.45
Welcome address by Prof. Dr. Liviu Papadima, Dean, Faculty of Letters/ Director, The
Goldstein Goren Center for Hebrew Studies, University of Bucharest

9.45 – 10.00
Welcome address by Traian Basescu, President of Romania, delivered by Dr. Bogdan Tataru-Cazaban, State Counselor for Culture and Religious Affairs

10.00 – 10.15
Welcome address by Prof. Dr. Aurel Vainer, President of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania

10.15 – 10.30 Coffee break

Morning Session, Council Hall
Jewish intellectual heritage and its influence on local and world culture
Chair: Felicia Waldman, Goldstein Goren Center, University of Bucharest – Romania

10.30 – 10.50
“Patrimoniul cultural evreiesc – document istoric prea putin uzitat”
Liviu Rotman, SNSPA; Centrul pentru Studierea Istoriei Evreilor din Romania, FCER – Romania

10.50 – 11.10
“ ‘In Nehardea There Are No Heretics’ – The Purported Jewish Interaction with Christianity in Sasanian Babylonia”
Barak Cohen, Bar Ilan University – Israel

11.10– 11.30
“From Monologue to Dialogue: the Varying Relationships of Jewish Thinkers to European Intellectual Culture”
Raphael Shuchat, Bar Ilan University – Israel

11.30 – 11.50
“Jews and Central Europe – A Double Legacy”
Raphael Vago, Tel Aviv University – Israel

11.50 – 12.10
Discussions

12.10– 14.15 Lunch break

Afternoon session, Council Hall
Jewish monuments of worship – Synagogues and their art
Chair: Mariuca Stanciu, Goldstein Goren Center, University of Bucharest – Romania

14.15 – 14.35
“Ars brevis, vita longa: On Preservation of Modern Synagogue Art”
Ilia Rodov, Dept. of Jewish Art, Bar Ilan University – Israel

14.35 – 14.55
“Tradition and Innovation in the Romanian Synagogues – Structure and Decoration”
Ariella Amar, Center for Jewish Art, Hebrew University of Jerusalem – Israel

14.55 – 15.15
“The Great Synagogue of Budapest”
Rudolf Klein, St. Stephen University, Budapest – Hungary

15.15 – 15.35
“The Mural Painting of Romanian Synagogues – a surprising documentary source”
Mariuca Stanciu, Goldstein Goren Center, University of Bucharest – Romania

15.35 – 15.55
“Sinagogile din Bucuresti – perspective arhitecturala”
Alina Popescu, Goldstein Goren Center, University of Bucharest – Romania

15.55 – 16.15
Discussions

Friday, May 29, 2009
Morning session, Council Hall
The Jewish Cultural Heritage – A Multifaceted Approach
Chair: Liviu Rotman, SNSPA; Centrul pentru Studierea Istoriei Evreilor din Romania, FCER – Romania

9.30 – 9.50
“The transformed Jewish Heritage of Târgu Neamţ – Romania”
Felicia Waldman, Goldstein Goren Center, University of Bucharest – Romania

9.50 – 10.10
“Patrimoniul iudaic din Romania – reabilitare, restaurare si optiuni de conservare”
Rudy Marcovici & Lucia Apostol, Federatia Comunitatilor Evreiesti din Romania

10.10 – 10.30
“Reportajul interbelic prin textele lui F. Brunea Fox, ilustrate de Iosif Berman ”
Anca Ciuciu, Centrul pentru Studierea Istoriei Evreilor din Romania, FCER – Romania

10.30 – 10.50
“Evolutia artei funerare evreiesti din Cimitirul Filantropia – Bucuresti in secolele XIX-XX”
Gabriela Vasiliu, Centrul pentru Studierea Istoriei Evreilor din Romania, FCER – Romania

10.50 – 11.15
Discussions

11.15 – 11.30 Coffee break

Midday Session, Council Hall
Jewish heritage lost and found
Chair: Raphael Vago, Tel Aviv University – Israel

11.30 – 11.50
“Spatiul corpului si irealitatea targului”
Voichita Horea, University of Bucharest – Romania

11.50 – 12.10
“The preserved Jewish Heritage of Bursa – Turkey”
Bulent Senay, Uludag University, Bursa – Turkey

12.10 – 12.30
“The entirely lost Jewish heritage of Ştefăneşti – Romania”
Laurenţiu Ursu, Al. I. Cuza University, Iaşi – Romania

12.30 – 12.45
Discussions

12.45 – 14.45 Lunch break

Afternoon session, Council Hall
Jewish heritage lost and found (continued)
Chair: Carol Iancu, Paul Valery University Montpellier III – France

14.45– 15.05
“The lost and found Jewish heritage of Montpellier – France”
Michael Iancu, Moses Maimonides Institute, Montpellier – France

15.05-15.25
“Patrimoniul evreiesc din sudul Franţei – exemplul sinagogilor din Carpentras si Cavaillon”
Carol Iancu, Paul Valery University Montpellier III – France

15.25 – 15.45
“Intre exclusivism şi inclusivism: CazulRonetti Roman”
Michael Shafir, Babes Bolyai University, Cluj – Romania

15.45 – 16.05
“Romancero sau Istoria unei comori de suflet”
Cristina Toma, Societatea Română de Radiodifuziune – Romania

16.05 – 16.25
“Leaving the Jewish heritage behind: Wartime Jewish emigration from Romania”
Mihai Chioveanu, Goldstein Goren Center, University of Bucharest – Romania

16.25 – 16.45
Discussions

Vinci, where Leonardo was born.


If you are staying at the North of Tuscany, or near Florence it is worth dedicating half a day to visit the town of Vinci, where the famous Leonardo da Vinci was born.

 

The town is very small. It comprises 4 houses, a church, a gift shop, a trattoria, which bears the name of the master of the Italian Renaissance, and a most interesting museum, home to many of Leonardo’s writings and some of his scale models. I remember visiting this museum with my school when I was a very small child and being overwhelmed by Leonardo’s brilliant ideas and his vision 300 years ahead of his time.

 

Leonardo designed many of the machines we use nowadays. One of the most fascinating one was the war tank he designed in 1500, that is to say, 400 years ahead of time.

 

I am uploading a video in English, which I have found in Youtube. It is an almost professional and quite comprehensive and it offers a panoramic view of the town.




News...

FIRST NEWS: My blog was launched less than 2 months ago. Many of you are so sweet to support and welcome me to the wonderful blog world. I really appreciate that. And, I just got my first award by two lovely bloggers: Mina and Akina. Thank you both for the award. You all should check out their lovely blog.

The rules are:

1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you've newly discovered. Remember to contact the blogger to let them know they have been chosen.

I would love to pass this award to:

  1. Fashion Cappuccino
  2. Princessimp's Pedestal
  3. Couture Carrie
  4. Fashion Moment
  5. Phi Style
  6. We Wear Things
  7. Extraskinny
  8. Head Over Heelz
  9. Fashion Chalet
  10. Florilege D'Esthete
  11. Denim on Denim
  12. Cheap Thrills
  13. The Clothist
  14. In love with Fashion
SECOND NEWS : surprise!!! I'm leaving town for Paris and Strasbourg tomorrow. I'll be back home on June 7. I will try my best to update my blog when I'm there. It all depends on the convenience of Internet access. If this will not happen, please be patient with me and I would share with you guys when I'll be home ;-)

THIRD NEWS: Let our summer be more exciting. I have a game called " THE GAME OF JUNE". It will start on June 1st and end on June 30th. The winner will be announced on July 1st and be contacted by email for their address. The winner will be the one who has the most comment counts. If we have a tie, it will be a random pick of the winner. It will count 1 comment on each post for per reader, doesn't matter how many comment that reader summits. The prize will be $75 dollars gift card at Topshop. If where you live do not have Topshop, you could use it for online. Anyone can play this game and good luck to you all!!!


I wore Rick Owen dress/jacket and Burberry pumps. Rick Owen is well known for using many different materials for one piece. He used silk, stretchy cotton and mesh in this one. It can wear as a jacket for cooler season with turtle neck top underneath it and skinny jeans or legging. For warmer seasons, I can wear it as a dress with a short skirt, like I did in the photos, or shorts for a more casual look. I deeply love this awesome piece. It has a zipper at its sleeve creating a pocket and that's so cool.

I hope you all have a happy weekend!!!!! kisses....from Hanh ;-)

Poland -- Chmielnik Jewish Festival Program

Inside the Chmielnik synagogue, 2006. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

I put information on this blog's Jewish Culture Festival page, but I don't post the schedules for all Jewish culture festivals I learn about. I thought I would point out the festival in Chmielnik, Poland, however. This year -- June 19-21 -- marks the seventh edition of the festival, which is organized by some enthusiastic local activists in the village of Chmielnik, not far from Krakow.

Before the Holocaust, some 10,000 of the town's then-12,000 residents were Jewish. Today, only 4,000 people live there -- none of them Jews. As the festival's organizer, the local historian Piotr Krawczyk, once put it succinctly: "No Jews here; no people."

Chmielnik synagogue, 2006. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

A large synagogue building, which is under sporadic restoration, dominates the town center and is the focus of the festival. It is a large masonry structure with barrel vaulting, originally built in the 1630s. The Nazis turned it into a warehouse, but the interior still retains traces of lovely decoration, including 18th century stucco work and frescoes of lions, geometric forms, and the signs of the zodiac. There are also two Jewish cemeteries -- one has been recently restored, with a monument to the destroyed Jewish community.

This year, the festival takes place in Chmielnik and also in Szydlow, another small village nearby where there is a massive, fortress-style synagogue.

Krawczyk is one of dozens -- scores? hundreds? -- of non-Jewish Poles who have made a mission of recovering and promoting awareness of a past that was destroyed by the Nazis during the Shoah and then suppressed under communism. He has written a book about local Jewish history and spearheaded efforts to restore the synagogue and broaden knowledge of local Jewish history -- which, as he and others have often noted, is actually the history of the town itself.

VII MEETINGS WITH JEWISH CULTURE IN CHMIELNIK

19 june 2009 – Szydlow
19-20-21 june 2009 – Chmielnik

Friday 19 june 2009 – Chmielnik

Time: 15:00 (3 pm)
Movie projection in the House of Culture in Chmielnik:
“PO-LIN. Memory scraps”. Director Jolanta Dylewska, music Michal Lorenc, narrator Piotr Fronczewski. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReAZir_l3zc)

Friday 19 june 2009 – Szydlow

Time: 17:00 (5:00 pm)
Open the exhibition of the painting-sculpturing of the Plastic Arts Association in Kielce.

Time: 17:45 (5:45 pm)
Official open the ceremony in the Synagogue.

Time: 18:00 (6:00 pm)
The “Chmielnikers” Team concert from Chmielnik in the Synagogue.

Time: 19:15 (7:15 pm)
Open of the Jewish exhibition in the Synagogue.

Time: 20:00 (8:00 pm)
Theatrical performance called “NIGHT – TURNO” made by Poem Theatre “In Radziwill” from Szydlowiec.

Time: 20:40 (8:40 pm)
Theatrical performance called “Shabbat Supper” made by school children from Szydlow.

Saturday 20 june 2009 – Chmielnik

Time: 17:00 (5:00 pm)
Meeting with the Leopold Kozlowski in the House of Culture in Chmielnik.

Time: 18:30 – 19:30 (6:30 – 7:30 pm)
On the Chmielnik’s Market – Jewish dance training with the dancing show made by the children of the Elementary School in Chmielnik.

Time: 19:30 (7:30 pm)
On the Chmielnik’s Market – Show of the Hola-Hola Cabaret.

Time: 20:30 (8:30 pm)
On the Chmielnik’s Market – dancing show inspired by the Jewish music made by girls from the Basic School in Chmielnik.

Time: 21:00 (9:00 pm)
On the Chmielnik’s Market – band “SHARENA” concert.

Sunday 21 june 2009 – Chmielnik

Time: 12:00 (12 noon)
The solemn holy mass in the Church in Chmielnik.

Time: 13:15 – 13:30 (1:15 – 1:30 pm)
At the Synagogue put the wreath and inflammation before board ever-burning fire commemorating Jews of Chmielnik.

Time: 13:30 – 16:00 (1:30 – 4:00 pm)
In the Synagogue:
- Open the exhibition called “I see faces, hear steps” made by Malgorzata Gladyszewska and Andrzej Peczalski.
- Theatrical performance made by Elementary and Basic School children from Chmielnik.
- The Slawa Przybylska recital, Jan Krzyzanowski recite, Janusz Tylman accompaniment.
Time: 16:00 (4:00 pm)
On the Chmielnik’s Market – dancing show inspired by the Jewish music made by girls from the Elementary School in Chmielnik.

Time: 16:15 – 17:00 (4:15– 5:00 pm)
Ending of the First Youth Jewish Songs Contest in Chmielnik.

Time: 17:00 – 17:30 (5:00– 5:30 pm)
On the Chmielnik’s Market – Dance practice part 1.

Time: 17:30 – 18:00 (5:30– 6:00 pm)
On the Chmielnik’s Market – children show from the Basic School in Wola Jachowa.



Time: 18:00 – 19:00 (6:00– 7:00 pm)
On the Chmielnik’s Market – Results of the First Youth Jewish Songs Contest in Chmielnik and the “Chmielnikers” Team concert.

Time: 19:00 – 20:00 (7:00– 8:00 pm)
On the Chmielnik’s Market – Dance practice part 1 and dancing show inspired by the Jewish music made by girls from the Basic School in Chmielnik.

Time: 20:30 – 22:00 (8:30– 10:00 pm)
On the Chmielnik’s Market – band “Klezmafour” concert.

At the time: 13:00 - 20:00 at the Synagogue on the Sienkiewicza and Wspolna street will be the introductions of handicraft, Jewish food, plastic performances as well as the demonstrations of Jewish art of boiling, illumined the performance of klezmer team called the "Klezmafour".

Sarajevo -- Bob Cohen (and me) on Jewish Sarajevo

Ashkenazic synagogue interior, Sarajevo. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber


By Ruth Ellen Gruber

Bob Cohen is back in Budapest after a trip to Sarajevo, and he has posted a colorful account of Jewish life and history in the Bosnian capital on his Dumneazu blog.

Today, the Ashkenazic Synagogue is the center of Sarajevo Jewish life, although the majority of the congragation is of Sephardi origin. The Jews of Sarajevo - as in most of former Yugoslavia - lived in a culturally tolerant world almost devoid of the antisemitic atmosphere that prevailed in pre-WWII Europe, and it all the more tragic that they were almost entuirely destroyed during the Holocaust. Local Muslims and Christians, however, were active in saving the lives of many Jews, and Jews were prominent in the Yugoslav Partisan movement, such as Moshe Pijade, Tito's right hand man. There is a photo in the Jewish museum of a Jewish Woman - wearing a Jewish star armband - walking along the main street of Nazi-occupied Sarajevo arm in arm with her Muslim friend, a woman maintaining the tradition of a complete face veil.

Read full post
I haven't been to Sarajevo for several years. But my last visit there coincided with the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, when the 16th-century Old Synagogue, turned into a Jewish museum after World War II, was reconsecrated as a house of worship.

Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber


As I wrote in an article at the time:

A mezuzah was nailed to the door of the austere stone building, from whose windows the slim minarets of neighboring mosques in Sarajevo’s Old Town are clearly visible. Services were held and the traditional melodies of the Sephardic Jewish liturgy were sung there for the first time in more than 60 years. “To be honest, all my life I’ve lived in Sarajevo, and this was the first occasion to have a service in the Sephardic synagogue,” said Jakob Finci, the head of the Bosnian Jewish Community. “This was the first time to have it on the right place on the right way. That means really a lot. Let’s hope that it becomes a tradition and not only for the High Holy Days but also for some regular Shabbats.” Originally built in 1581, the Old Synagogue was one of 15 that functioned in the city before the Holocaust, when Sarajevo was a major Balkan center of Sephardi culture and the city’s 12,000 Jews made up nearly 20 percent of the local population. Eighty-five percent of Sarajevo’s Jews were killed in the Holocaust. In 1965, during ceremonies marking 400 years of Jewish presence in Bosnia, the Old Synagogue, though still owned by the remnant Jewish community, was converted into a city-run Jewish museum. Jewish communal activities were shifted to an Ashkenazi synagogue, a grand, Moorish style temple built a century ago, which was converted to include offices and function rooms as well as a sanctuary. When the Bosnian War broke out in 1992, the Jewish Museum was closed and became a storage place for collections from other museums in the city. It remained closed until this summer, when it was reopened as a museum, under new management that includes Jewish-community as well as city representatives.
I was told at the time of the plans to update and convert the synagogue into a facility that would serve as a cultural and educational center for the Jewish and non-Jewish public, as well as a museum. The ground floor was to remain a consecrated synagogue where services would be held on special occasions, with an exhibition of ritual objects and Jewish religious traditions. The two upper floors, consisting of arched stone balconies surrounding the sanctuary area, were to house historical exhibits. Part of the museum was to show the richness of pre-Holocaust Jewish life. But for the first time, there would be a “huge” section on the Holocaust — as well as a section detailing the operation of the Jewish community during the Bosnian War.

Bob visited the completed new museum and reports on some of the exhibitions.

It is interesting to note that when the post-war conversion of the Ashkenazic synagogue took place, the lofty sanctuary was cut in half horizontally -- offices and function rooms are on the ground floor, and the synagogue sanctuary is on the upper floor. But, as you can see by the photo at the top of this post, all that remains is the upper horseshoe part of the arch over the Ark. It looks a little weird, with strange proportions, but it's functional -- and still ornate.

When I was in Sarajevo, Jakob Finci reminisced about the experience of the Jewish community during the Bosnian War, when -- as Ed Serotta has written in his book, Survival in Sarajevo -- the Jewish community came to the aid of their city.
During the war, the tiny local Jewish community and its social welfare arm, La Benevolencija, won international renown as a key conduit of nonsectarian humanitarian aid to all ethnic groups involved in the conflict. They ran a soup kitchen, medical and communication services, and organized exit convoys for refugees from besieged Sarajevo. “We have just 700 members, among them 180 survivors of the Holocaust, so we are an aging community,” Finci said. “At the same time, during the war we succeeded in helping at least 10,000 people.” Finci and other Jewish leaders transformed themselves from middle-aged, white-collar professionals into daring coordinators who juggled identification papers and navigated checkpoints, often risking death in the process. “It was really like a James Bond movie,” Finci recalled. “But if you ask me now if I would be ready to repeat it, the answer would be no. Because it’s only now that I realize how dangerous it was. At the time, it was a strange feeling of responsibility."

Read full Interview

Last year, Finci was named Bosnia's Ambassador to Switzerland.

ADD ON -- P.S.

In his blog, Sam Gruber reminds me I forgot to mention Sarajevo's most famous Jewish relic -- the Sarajevo Hagaddah, long a symbol of Jewish presence and survival in the Balkans! Handwritten and illuminated in 14th-century Spain, the lavishly illustrated 109-page manuscript was brought to Sarajevo after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 and remained intact through years of conflict and upheaval. It served countless family seders over the centuries, and wine stains mar some of the pages. Owned by the Bosnian National Museum since 1894, it escaped the Holocaust, hidden away in a remote mountain village. It also survived the brutal Bosnian War of the 1990s, either locked in a bank vault or stashed away in private custody. In December 2002, the book went on display at the museum in a special room (although the copy on display now is, I believe, a facsimile -- a fullscale facisimile of the book was produced a couple of years ago and is currently on sale).

The original Sarajevo Haggadah, shown before its restoration, in the underground bank vault where it was kept for years. (Ruth Ellen Gruber)
Sarajevo Hagaddah. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

The Hagaddah and its story figured in the recent award-winning novel by Geraldine Brooks, People of the Book. Ed Serotta detailed the history of the Haggadah in a Nightline program.

To see a more complete account of Jewish heritage in Sarajevo and Bosnia, which I wrote (with Sam Gruber and the help of Ivan Ceresnjes) click HERE.

Direct TV Moves With Me

My husband can't live without TV. He passes hours and hours with this his "friend". So, we were interested to fnd a dealer that will offer us many channels, good quality and good costs. Collegues told him about www.DirectSatTV.com and we've sweetched to it. We are content: we have over 130 digital quality picture and sound channels (except others) and the costs are beyond all doubt more interesting as we had before.

I'm not interested in sports and games that are featured in www.DirectSatTV.com, it's my husband that is a fan of them. I don't understand men: everyday he has to watch all the news and Sunday is now a Holyday, all dedicated to sports. He watches every game of NFL SUNDAY TICKET every Sunday now.

Well, the good news was we will find www.DirectSatTV.com in California when we move there. Customer service is one of the best nationwide. And than we had free installation in 4 rooms and free handling and delivery because ordered online. I can watch my HD documentaries and local channels and my husband has his sports and news at any time he wants them. Happy family with happy TV solution. Do you think, it's a joke? No. It's reality.

Ha Long bay, Vietnam

Ha Long Bay is in northeastern Vietnam, includes some 1,969 islands and islets, forming a spectacular seascape of limestone pillars in various sizes and shapes, located at Quang Ninh province. It is about 170km, 3 hours by bus east of Ha Noi capital. It's a tropical sea of islands with 2 seasons: hot and moist summer, dry and cold winter and perhaps the most popular travel destination of Vietnam. Seafood in Ha Long is diversified and fresh with cuttlefish, oysters, prawn, crab, squid...

We were there years ago. It was not easy to get there because of transportation issues, but it's worth it. I hear the transportation is improving now. We had a 2 day tour, slept overnight on the boat, a Chinese junk. It was awesome. The food on the boat was excellent and fresh, prepared right there for us. The crew was helpful and the landscape was picturesque.
Here are some photos.

ALAIA

I wore this Alaia top sometime last week. It was on sale with a big discount at the store called 4510. Alaia is rarely on sale but this time is different because of the recession, I guess... So, it's a good chance to collect them. I wore with Givenchy shoes, F21 legging, cuffs and rings.

I love its structure and the detail.

Thank you for your support and have a great day!!!

Please come back to visit this Friday, I'll have more exciting news!!!;-)

xoxoxo..from Hanh!

Poland -- New Virtual Shtetl Resource

The Museum of the History of Polish Jewry has just launched the beta version of its "Virtual Shtetl" project, which aims to be an ever-growing online archive and database of photographs, video, texts, old postcards, maps and other reference material on Jewish history and heritage in towns, cities and villages in Poland. Users will have the possibility of adding their own material.

Check out the site by clicking HERE.

The web site states:

The Virtual Shtetl Portal is devoted to the local history of Jews. Although at the moment of the Portal launching it contains a lot of information, its future is based on the cooperation of Internauts using Web 2.0 solutions. Thus a medium is created which constitutes a sort of bridge between the history of Polish Jewish towns and the contemporary, multicultural world.

The Museum of the History of Polish Jews has been creating this modern tool at the time when the construction project of the museum building is just beginning. The Virtual Shtetl is a museum without walls, a logical consequence of the initiative to build the Museum , it also provides the answer to social expectations.

The Virtual Shtetl depicts the history of Polish Jews, which in great part was created in towns (Yiddish: shetl). On the Portal one can find the information pertaining to the past but also to the present, to little towns, but also to large cities. The Portal presents both contemporary and also pre-war Poland. The English version will enable the Polish Jews and their descendants scattered all over the world to use the Virtual Shtetl Portal.

A full picture of Polish-Jewish history and relations has been and will be presented thanks to the effort of many institutions, organizations and private persons. Due to the richness of the subject the list of initiatives to be taken up is unlimited. A source of precious information has been provided by the Polin Portal as well the local community portal Jewish.org.pl. In the execution of the Virtual Shtetl Project the experience of the following Internet projects has been used: izrael.badacz.org and Diapozytyw (Adam Mickiewicz Institute) as well as many years’ cooperation of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews with the Jewish Historical Institute.

The Virtual Shtetl is not a place, but the community by which it is created. Let us take pictures and look for the relics of the past, let us listen to accounts. Let us exchange information and encourage one another to take up initiatives. Let us get to know one another and act.

In some ways, the site is similar to the Polin portal of the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland (Fodz). (And in fact, some of the material appears to be the same -- looks like there is the same little video of the Jewish cemetery in Bielsko Biala.)

Jewish War Memorials

In honor of Memorial Day in the United States, Sam Gruber has posted pictures on his blog of war memorials to Jewish soldiers who fell while fighting for their (varied) countries in Europe....

Like Sam, I, too, have long been intrigued by these memorials and the stories that they tell -- at least the stories that they hint at. When you see a memorial in a Jewish cemetery in Germany, honoring Jewish soldiers who died fighting for Germany in World War I, a conflict that ended just 20 years before Kristallnacht and the start of the Holocaust, it does make you think.

Last week, in Bielsko-Biala, Poland, I photographed the World War I memorial in the town's Jewish cemetery.

Bielsko-Biala, 2009. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber


The Israeli political scientist Sholmo Avinieri, who was born in Bielsko-Biala and who has restored the tombs of his grandparents in the cemetery, told me that the list of names included those of three Muslims -- two Bosniak Austrian soldiers (Dedo Karahodic and Bego Turonowicz), and one Muslim Russian prisoner of war (Chabibulin Chatybarachman) who died in an adjacent POW camp. "Who would bury them if not the Jews?" Shlomo commented.

One of the most poignant such War Memorials is in the wonderful, and historic, Jewish cemetery in Mikulov, Czech Republic -- it was founded in the 15th century and has about 4,000 tombstones. The oldest legible dates from 1605.

The World War I memorial honors 25 Jewish soldiers. "Oh, how the heroes have been cut down!" it reads, in German. The names of the dead include Moriz Jung, Max Fedsberger, Heinrich Deutsch, Hans Kohn, Emil Spitzer...


Mikulov. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

Mikulov. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber



Sovana

Sovana. The Etruscan and the Roman. The splendor of a city as tiny as peculiar.

The picture you see belongs to the remains of the “Tomb ILdebranda”, the biggest Etruscan mausoleum ever found. The impressive funerary monument was decorated with 12 columns at the time and the access to it was through two stone staircases, and an underground one, which led to the large funerary chamber. The “Tomb ILdebranda” is found in the fabulous Etruscan necropolis, in the Tuscan territory of Maremma, near the border with Lacio. The “Tomb ILdebranda” as well as the whole necropolis is excavated in volcanic tuff rock. The access was and still is through “vie cave”, paths with high walls the Etruscan opened in the rock to move from one area to the other or to use as trenches at times of war.

“Tomb ILdebranda” dates back to the III y II centuries B.C and it was discovered in 1924 by the Rosi brothers. Not knowing to whom the impressive temple had been originally devoted, it received the name of the most illustrious son of the city of Sovana: Ildebrano de Soana, born around 1020 and elected pope in 1073 under the name of Gregory VII, who is known as one of the most cultured and spirited popes of the middle ages, protagonist of the most important reforms in the Church at those times. His unprecedented reform is essentially contained in the 27 axioms, which make up his “Dictatus Papae” of 1075, where he clearly defines the powers of the Emperor (Sacred Roman Empire) and those of the Pope, in which the former cannot interfere. Thus, he faces Emperor Henry IV, who he excommunicates twice. In 1080 the Emperor, supported by the German clergy highest ranks and Lombardo appoints Clement III pope and make the antipope excommunicate the legitimate pope. Gregory VII dies exiled in Salerno in 1085. He is canonized in 1606. One way or the other, we have introduced ourselves into the peculiar city of Sovana, a beautiful city loaded with history. Nowadays Sovana is a tiny city with a main street with houses and beautiful mansions and a marvelous main square. However, its interest only resides in its splendid and homogeneous medieval architecture, perfectly preserved, which visitors revere with the enthusiasm of those marveled before a sanctuary attached to a glorious past.

Suana, as it was called, was one of the most relevant Etruscan centers of that civilization, whose epicenter was the territory of Maremma. The Etruscan unified different settlements by the river Flora, at the top of a volcanic tuff hill between the tributaries of Calesine and Folonia, and there they founded Suana.

The city immediately became the most important one in the area, where a huge number of farmers and hunters settled. Thanks to emblematic roads carved into the rock these dwellers could communicate and trade with other major centers such as Satonia, Saturnia, Chiusi and Cetonia.

To confront the unstoppable expansionist policy of Rome, Suana was allied to the not less powerful Vulci until III century BC, time when Cayo Tiberto adjoins the territory to the Empire. The Romans give Sovana the rank of “municipium” and continue boosting the growth of the city to the point that Suana becomes one of the richest cities in the territorial area, experimenting a significant commercial expansion due to the development of the agricultural and farming activities and the growth of a prosperous craftwork industry, which is still nowadays one of its most relevant commercial characteristics. However, Suana was reluctant to abandoning its original Etruscan culture to such an extent that even inscriptions from the I century BC were still written in the original language.

The first glimpses of Christianity only reached the city in the IV century AC. Saint Maximiliano, the patron of Sovana, was one of the protagonists of the evangelization. The new faith must have had a deep impact on the people and the saint must have been really influential and exceptional as at the turn of the century, in the V century AC Soana was elected as the Episcopal venue.

How many prodigies happened in Old Times!

Sylvia

Snake Skin

The weather was beautiful yesterday. We took the kids for a walk and brought along the camera for taking pictures. My husband who usually doesn't like taking or having his picture taken has graciously been volunteered to take my picture because of my blog. He doesn't have any experience in this field and he just tries to do his best. Thank you my darling for taking my pictures and I'm very proud to be his wife. He's a sweet man.

When we were walking along the park. I wore flat shoes, of course. I wore these new Marni shoes for the photos and these are super comfortable because of its thick platform. Anyway, I just bought these python pumps for 40% off, plus no 8,25% tax at the store 4510 and I love them very much. I always love Marni shoes because of they're comfy and flattering on the feet. In these pictures, I wore snake skin printed Prada S/S09 top, Prada python belt that I bought 5 years ago at Neiman's last call, Forever 21 shorts and rings, cuffs/bracelets are from F21 and Target. I'm usually not a big fan of snake prints and this is my first purchase.



Hope you all have a fabulous day!!!xoxoxo....;-))

3 days at Uluru

Hectic times with no time for blogging at the moment, so why don't you head over to Viator and take a look at our piece 3 Days at Uluru, on Australia's star attraction and one of our favorite spots in the country.

Have you been to Uluru? If so, what did you think? I went the first time with my parents in 1980, just a month before baby Azaria Chamberlain was supposedly taken by a dingo from her parents tent. It was a very different place then with a far fewer tourists, just a service station, general store and a simple camping ground close to the base of the Rock near the Aboriginal community. Now, it boasts a handful of brilliant hotels and restaurants, with loads of activities and tours. It was a completely different experience this time, but I loved both. To me, it's a magical place and an unmissable attraction, and should top traveller's lists of things to do in Australia. Is it on your travel list?

Zero + Maria Cornejo

Many of you have asked for the Larue recipe that I posted in previous post. I would love to share that, although I'm not the best chef ever. At least I'm told that I can cook a beautiful meal for my family. I don't cook every night. It's probably three nights a week and that's enough(but I prepare fresh food every night for my kids, want them eating healthy). I mostly prepare Vietnamese dishes, and a few Thai or Chinese dishes for variety. I sometime like to creative my own recipe, and love doing that. Cooking is one of my passion.

Here is the recipe:

You marinate chicken with chopped garlic, tomato sauce, a little yellow curry, salt, sugar, and fish sauce. All these you saute in a hot pot with oil and let it sit for about 10' (remember stir it occasionally to cook the meat evenly).

In the meantime, you'll put in chopped onion, potatoes, and carrot in another hot oil pot and stir for about 10'. Then, you add water, chicken broth, let it boil. Now, you combine two pots together. After that, you add some canned beans of your choice. I prefer red kidney beans, cannellini white kidney beans, garbanzo beans....Good luck!! In home-cooking Vietnamese dishes we usually don't have exact measurements for the ingredients. We just do it from memory and experience.

BE ELEGANT.
I wore Moncler top by Giambattista Valli, Zero skirt, Balenciaga space rubber shoes.
The shoes are awsome but not comfortable. It's just good for walking from car to dining table.



MORE CASUAL.
I wore Helmut Lang tank, Valentino belt, Alaia shoes.

Have a great weekend, everyone!!! kisses ....!!