It's a Classical Life

Hello, and welcome back to It's a Classical Life! If this is your first time here then I hope you will leave a comment saying hi and that something inspires you as you go about your day. As my mother cleaned out her house recently, I inherited a small collection of classic movies on DVD. They had been my grandmother's and my mother, knowing how much I love the classics, offered them to me after my grandmother passed away. I've watched a few of them already and though it would be a great idea to share some thoughts I've had whilst watching. This new little series (which won't be every week) is called Saturday Matinee, so if you're interested in classic films, please be sure to keep an eye out for that heading.  Today, I want to begin with a silly, but fun favourite: Three Coins in the Fountain. This American film was made in 1954 and won two Academy Awards (Best Cinematography and Best Song). Set in Rome, Italy it follows the lives of three American secretaries w...

Yesterday afternoon, after a lovely picnic with my family in the backyard, I sat down and watched The Sound of Music  with my daughter. It was her first time watching this classic, award-winning film from 1965, and the amused and slightly awed look on her face throughout the movie was precious. She said, several times, "this is such a good movie!" I have to agree with her! Do you agree? Perhaps you saw it many years ago, or like my daughter, you've never seen it. Either way, here are a few ways we can draw inspiration from this classic movie.  Have a sanctuary in nature The film begins with Julie Andrews' character, Sister Maria, high in the Swiss Alps singing freely. The hills are, quite simply, her sanctuary. She sings:  I go to the hills when my heart is lonely I know I will hear what I've heard before My heart will be blessed with the sound of music And I'll sing once more I've spoken here on the blog about the importance of having a sanctuary and I s...

  Last week when I was reflecting on my Preparedness Challenge , I turned to some Italian classics to get me started. The books by Machiavelli and Boccaccio are indeed classics, and they, along with Dante's Inferno, formed the basis of my Italian Renaissance education at university. I love the Italian Renaissance and everything to do with it, but as I was reading over those books last week I started to thinking about the Italy that I know. The Italy that I first visited when I was 22 and then again when I was 24. On the second visit I lived in the northern city of Padua for six weeks, to consolidate my Italian language learning. I love Italy. I love all things Italian and just by having those two books out last week, reignited my love. The first thing that I turned to satisfy my desire for Italia  was the classic 1953 movie starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, Roman Holiday.  Have you seen it? If not, you can watch the movie trailer below. Besides starring the amazin...