A very good reason for a cyprus holidays is to visit the archeological greek sites, particularly the temple of Aphrodite and the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates.  Everybody who has been visiting some “special” archeological area, has experienced a very peculiar and powerful  feeling, something that really can project the visitor back in the past, making him almost able to be phisically in that very place many centuries ago, among the ancient inhabitants and their voices…I suppose that the temple of Apollo in Cyprus makes no exeption: about 2,5 kilometres west of the area of Kourion’s ancient city stands the temple of Apollo “Hylates”. In it -being one of the main religious centres of ancient Cyprus -pilgrims form all parts of the island arrived at the sanctuary of Apollo and entered in it through its two main gates…Can you figure this out?

A trip to Cyprus is also a trip back to greek mythology. According to the myth, Cyprus claims Aphrodhite’s birth from the island waters. The fact that Aphrodite, among hers many names, is also called Cypris (Lady of Cyprus), might confirm this thesis. Wherever she borned, the myth of her birth has been widely depicted by classical art history. Perhaps the most famous reperesentation is  Botticelli’s The birth of Venus, definitely an outstanding masterpiece. In my poor an imperfect illustration, Aphrodhite is giving her shoulders to Cyprus southern area where the Troodos volcanic chain culminates at nearly 2000 mt. This is an area covered by forest that is sometimes quite thick, hiding dozens of richly decorated chapels and small mountain villages. The road stemming from Paphos, on the western coast, crosses lovely mountain sceneries: you might need some car hire cyprus to fully enjoy a road trip to Troodos vallies: once in the area  you will be able to choose the footpaths that go into the forest…

Illustration Friday topic is: imperfect

Andrew was an Australian I met in Boracay. He lived in General Luna, Siargao Island main town, fronting the pacific Ocean. Andrew owned a paraw and he used to go sailing in the Siargao sea, among  unpolluted and enchanting islands: Dinagat, Dako, Anahwan, La Januza. “An obsession!” he claimed. His tales were so enthusiastic that Gino and I could nothing but leave Boracay, go to General Luna, rent a paraw, and go sailing togheter with Andrew. In a nut shell,  there is a special feeling when you realise that you are sailing the immense and powerful Pacific Ocean on board a paraw: such a tiny boat,  a sort of unravel threat! And really our last navigation was threatening. In the late afternoon we found ourselves a mile off La Januza; we decided to head back to General Luna, at a distance of around ten  nautical miles. The wind was dropping; we tacked upwind but I suddenly  realised that the rudder blade was off the hull: its precarious tin pintles had given up. Meanwhile the gentle and constant wind pushed us towards the open sea! No wonder that we felt lost and panicked: no water or food on board, no compass, nothing but a piece of rope to bind ourselves to the mast. In the sunset light we saw Andrew’s paraw sailing home fast, getting far, while on the opposite side the unreachable La Januza looked a mirage. But, hurra! Neptune and Eolus themselves woke up togheter to save us: after a 20 minutes long hopeless drifting, the wind changed and we finally managed to land in the dusk  in La Januza beach. The island people who had previously noticed our drifiting were waiting for us. Perhaps I spent my life dearest night inside a rented room on that remote little island. The next day as soon as we had the rudder repaired, we sailed back to General Luna where an amazed Andrew was waiting for us. What else can I say? For sure our short tour had not been  a cheap package holidays!

Illustration Friday topic is: obsession

Yes, definitely this blog needs a new start! Altough I quit  the  reckless and endless wandering that I experienced for more than a decade, yet I’m still able to take my  time and travel once in a while. Nevertheless my actual travel time shortage, I found out  that there is a lot to say about even a few days, all inclusive holidays : let’s say that as we growing old, we experience and fully enjoy those little details that make life wonderful; off course we  realize  this concept especially when we travel  in a foreign country. So, from now on, I reckon well to spend an hour or two to report some funny stories that happened to me in recent trips abroad. The  Lord of Beginnings Ganesha is here to mark this new start. Not a joke, I really placed a metal Ganesha, a very small and cheap God casted by some Indian factory, on my desk, just beside my computer and the scanner….I believe I bought the tiny little metal statue in Parvati Valley, some 20 years ago: wow! Safari in my mind: by the way, “safari” is the swahili word for journey wherever you are!

Illustration Friday topic is: safari

Hotei – one of the seven gods of happiness, is also the happy god of abundance and good health. Hotei is also seen carrying a large bag over his shoulder that is said to contain gifts and fortunes for those who believe in his virtues.
He is distinguished by his body of generous proportions and round stomach exposed beneath loose robes.
As a wandering jovial monk, a spiritual activist who travels about transforming the sadness in the hearts of people, Hotei is a genuine symbol of of spiritual growt…

Illustration Friday‘s topic is: grow

On June 1, 1967 The Beatles “sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” was released in Great Britain. Upon release the album was an immediate critical and popular sensation and it is still considered the most influential album of all time by prominent critics and publications. Innovative in every sense, from structure to recording techniques to the cover artwork, the artistic effect was felt immediately. I was an eight years old kid then, and I can’t remember anything of the event; presently I appreciate the album very much and really love the psychedelic graphic style of its cover, as well as Yellow Submarine’s. Trying to depict a sort of personal paradise (a hard task indeed!), I can’t escape the feeling with the fab four: peace & love!

Illustration Friday’s topic is: your paradise

Here are three nice takes on last week’s topic: margarida colorida ; monstersofthemind ; sketchblog

“Monkey King (or Sunwukong) was born from a stone. He wanted to be like the immortals and be free from death. He was extremely smart and capable, and learned all the magic tricks from a master Taoist. He could transform himself into seventy-two different images such as a tree, a bird, a beast of prey, or a bug as small as a mosquito so as to sneak into an enemy’s belly to fight him or her inside out. Using clouds as a vehicle, he can travel 180,000 miles a single somersault…”
Monkey is the Chinese classic by ancient scholar Wu Ch’eng-en I am reading these days. It combines the divine and human and is an allegory of own personal journey to spiritual development.

Illustration Friday’s topic is: super hero

“There is also another sacred bird called the phoenix which I did not myself see except in painting, for in truth he comes to them very rarely, at intervals, as the people of Heliopolis say, of five hundred years; and these say that he comes regularly when his father dies; and if he be like the painting, he is of this size and nature, that is to say, some of his feathers are of gold colour and others red, and in outline and size he is as nearly as possible like an eagle. This bird they say (but I cannot believe the story) contrives as follows: setting forth from Arabia he conveys his father, they say, to the temple of the Sun (Helios) plastered up in myrrh, and buries him in the temple of the Sun; and he conveys him thus: he forms first an egg of myrrh as large as he is able to carry, and then he makes trial of carrying it, and when he has made trial sufficiently, then he hollows out the egg and places his father within it and plasters over with other myrrh that part of the egg where he hollowed it out to put his father in, and when his father is laid in it, it proves (they say) to be of the same weight as it was; and after he has plastered it up, he conveys the whole to Egypt to the temple of the Sun. Thus they say that this bird does.” — Herodotus, The Histories, Book II:73

My illustration is done after the Chinese manner. It precisely refers to a painting from the Sung Dynasty depicting a goddess riding the Feng-huang bird, the Chinese phoenix, a painting that I bought in Beijing…

Illustration Friday’s topic is: phoenix

Bali is pure fascination and Balinese traditional masks are a component of it. The Balinese carve many elaborately detailed wooden masks with a wide variety of forms, reflecting the Hindu belief that everything has an active spirit. The mask maker dries the wood and, after the carving is finished, an undercoat of white gesso is applied with the coloured paints applied on top. Some of them are real masterpieces and end up into famous collections. One of the most famous masked dances is that of the confrontation between Rangda, the widow witch, and the Barong, who resembles a small Chinese dragon. Other performances are based on stories of the royal courts, and usually have their clown elements, just as the English Elizabethan dramas do. A village drama frequently goes on all night with the villagers informally coming and going, eating, laughing when the comic characters make jokes at the expense of local people and enjoying the story which they have all known since childhood…Here is my personal demon mask!

Illustration Friday‘s topic is: mask

I have posted this pic a few days ago on ARTFULWISDOM (please check the link on my blogroll) run by very talented and creative Ann Ellis and also joined IF’s Halloween contest with one more illo…
Although Halloween does certainly not belong to my cultural tradition it is becoming increasingly popular among Italian youngsters. Is it noteworthy that nowadays cultural exchanges are held -world wide- on the basis of exporting the pizza “culture” and importing the pumpkin’s one, according to the mesmerizing globalization and permeating market laws? (la mondialisation as the French call it, to mark the difference…)
For now my ghostly sailor wanders in the unlimited ocean of the global Internet among blogs and sites, and -off course- ads; fortunately enough genial Mc Luhan wrote:
“Any ad consciously attended to is comical. Ads are not meant for conscious consumption. They are intended as subliminal pills for the subconsious in order to exercise an hypnotic spell, especially on sociologists.”

Happy Halloween!