A beautiful day in Milan... almost tempted to take a dip before lunch at Ceresio 7.

Taken by friends to the opening night of Simon Boccanegra at the Scala. What a treat!

One happy girl in her cowgirl shirt which just arrived from Arizona. Thanks Vi!

On a recce in Wicklow. As magical as ever.

Just seen this wonderful film directed by Pawel Pawlikowski ('My Summer of Love', 'The Last Resort') and beautifully shot by Ryszard Lenzewski and Lukasz Zal. Initially appearing to masquerade as a Polish New Wave film (if such a thing exists!?) of the late Fifties/early Sixties it soon becomes clear that this is much more. The wonderful Agata Trzebuchowska plays an orphaned girl about to take her vows as a nun but is sent out into the world to meet her long lost aunt and an adventure/road trip ensues. Exquisite visuals (the camera never moves), sublime music (Coltrane's 'Naima' becomes a motif) and wonderful acting. Go see.

Here's another spread from the D Fairy Tales story

Just received a copy of D magazine with this story. 

Walking down Henry street in Dublin and this caught my eye! Must get some of those cardboard cutouts.

Viisting David McDermott of McDermott and McGough fame at his charming residence in Co. Meath.

A wonderful place to browse. So many books I would love to read. Picked up a copy of the collected writings of the painter Nevill Johnson. In 1952 and 1953 he made a wonderful series of black and white photographs between the canals in Dublin published as 'Dublin: the People's City'. In the late nineties I went to visit him in his flat in Peel street, Notting Hill Gate, London. Times were hard and I don't think he ever received the recognition he deserved. "Like the first intriguing image of a foreign land the magic of Dublin enlarged my heart. Tatty and peeling maybe, but what relief from pew-brown facades and the lip-pursed ardour of Belfast. Through its people, thonged as they were by dogma and tacitly in thrall to the hereafter, ran a maverick undertow. These folk laughed and winked like boys behind Godmaster's back". http://www.lilliputpress.ie