I was sitting with some friends at the Nofara café, just outside the back gate of the marvellous Ommayad mosque in Damascus. It's a historical place standing in the vicinity of an old fountain, which explains the origin of its name. Its walls are hung with old pictures, traditional calligraphies and beautiful designs. The story-teller's raised stand was still empty, but he would come soon to rejoice the evening for patrons and first-time visitors alike, attracted by the fame of this institution.
The so-called hakawati, wearing a red fez on his head, comes to recite stories while people chatter and sip pitch black cardamom-flavoured coffee. For more serious tales, he enhances the performance by wearing an elegant white robe and even brandishing a sword to highlight outstanding passages in the narration.
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Val di Mello is a delightful little valley in the Rhaetian Alps branching off the main Valtelline valley along which the river Adda flows. Although it’s a secondary valley, its landscape is simply stunning, as towers of granite soar up in vertical heights that loom sternly over the bottom. The rock face is visible even at the lower elevations, but here its smooth surface is made gentler by the presence of beautiful specimens of various conifer trees growing perched on the ledges. If you look higher, the vegetation gives way to the awe-inspiring realm of pure rock, a grand landscape that makes the paradise of climbers from all over the world.
This image comes from the drawing album I had when I was in primary school. It was mostly girls who kept an album, but a few boys had one too, in which they asked friends, schoolmates and relatives to draw something and write a thought dedicated to the album’s owner.
My Syrian friend Alaa, who likes writing stories, sent me an interesting tale. It's the story of Little red hood as told by the wolf's grandson. According to this version, the wolf is the good character, with a deep aversion to preying on other animals and contrary to eating meat, which has prompted him to become a vegetarian living on grasses and berries. Layla (or Little red hood), on the contrary, is an evil character, leading a dissolute life in the forest, treading the grass, plucking flowers and destroying the natural environment.
Yesterday, Andrea U. and I were undecided whether we should join a small group of other associates who had planned to hike to Piani di Artavaggio. The destination was not particularly appealing as the way is a dirt road that has nothing of the classical mountain path; the itinerary unfolds in verdant mountain scenery, but it’s got no dramatic features such as the rocks or cliffs of wilder valleys. As an alternative we’d given a thought to climbing up to the Coca hut, but the hike being considered a demanding one, I was reluctant to embark on it given that I had to be in town by 7 pm. Just before leaving I then talked Andrea into joining the others, and we both were glad we did.