Ah … Holidays!
Sometimes you receive a picture postcard – although less and less in this digital age – that arouses deep inside you an instant longing to be there; to see the scenery with your own eyes; to take it in with all your senses. That is of course the whole purpose of a postcard, to pull you towards the place in the picture – and spend some money there. But some cards do better than others. Those are the ones that I like to hang on our fridge, with a small magnet.
The attraction a good picture postcard can have, is partly because the photo is taken at the right spot, but the attractive qualities of the subject portrayed also play a role. For the photo above, the high viewpoint is indeed favourable. We look down on this small bay which forms a perfect, natural little harbour. The small town that is built around it is not of recent date. It breathes the atmosphere of a place rooted in history, and that is an attractive quality. Harbour, houses, church, fort, together they create an impression of a secure, close-knit community, while the opening to the wide, blue expanse of sea may guard it, we may hope, against the danger of narrow-mindedness. Yes, let’s take a path down and enjoy a good espresso in a café on the square. We are in Italy after all!
Sun, deep blue sea and history: this is the real attractive power of the Mediterranean. The photo below was not taken from a house at the little harbour in the picture above, but elsewhere in the Mediterranean. It exerts a similar irresistible attraction, intensified still by the inviting open doors that frame the view. Ah … How much I would like to sit there now on that balcony.
Symi, Greece, 2000
Photo of the week: Vernazza, Cinque Terre, Italy, 1997
καιρός remembered 
Always wanted to go to Italy and Greece, and now am convinced! Beautiful photograph, so evocative.
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