Featured Writer: Victoria De Maio

“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.”
Bill Bryson

Those everyday things, when the ordinary becomes extraordinary…a door isn’t simply a door, a window isn’t simply a window. Seen with a fresh eye, they capture our attention with their beauty and uniqueness. These interesting portals, passages that separate us as well as connect us, are often overlooked or taken for granted but if we just take a moment to pause and admire the details; the handiwork, the craftsmanship, the creativity, our experience can be so much richer and rewarding.

Doors and windows…entrances and exits… we step inside…we look inside…we look out on the world…we leave something behind… perhaps we enter the unknown…there is just something I love about it, literally and figuratively. For me there’s a curiosity combined with a kind of mystery and it kindles my imagination. What lies behind and beyond? Why was this particular one chosen and what message is the inhabitant trying to tell us? Welcome, go away, come in, knock first, privacy please, proceed with caution, I mean business, don’t mess with me!…My curiosity is peaked…I would love to know more…can’t I just take a peek, please?

Passages, drama, secrets, stories, lives… all hidden behind and within…who else has passed or looked through them? Beautifully crafted by hand, they now have that lovely patina that only comes with age…many years…indeed, many centuries …a patina that gives them character. Some well worn, maybe even neglected, and some refurbished and polished or given a fresh coat of paint…a new life, new beginnings. Oh, if they could talk! But they remain silent and stoic.

Well, at least they are fascinating to me and I know I’m not alone. Although, as I stopped (often) during my month in Tuscany and the Veneto to photograph doorknobs, door knockers, doors, and windows (and more!), I did meet with a few incredulous stares. Sometimes I felt almost like I was invading someone’s privacy. After all doors and windows are guardians of our privacy, aren’t they? Maybe I just watched too many Disney movies where “inanimate” objects come to life, but I do feel that they have a story to tell…

So, won’t you join me as I revisit some of my favorites? They deserve a little attention and appreciation, don’t you think? Let your imagination run wild…make up some stories…isn’t it fun?

Read more from this author at: http://postcardsfromtravelpizazz.wordpress.com/