Abbey Museum of Art and Archeology

Lost in the middle of nowhere in the Sunshine Coast, not far from Caboolture, there is there the Abbey Museum of Art and Archaeology, which  displays the history of civilisation from prehistoric man to the modern age. 

What surprised me it was the manuscripts collection!!!

These manuscripts, together with the paintings they have in the collection, but unfortunately not on display at the current stage, are some of the most valuable pieces of art to preserve.

...and there is more....

Next to the Museum there is even the St. Michael's  Church, which contains stained glass. This collection features windows from medieval through to Edwardian times and charts over a 1,000 years of European stained glass production. 

This is the outside...unfortunately I did not have the opportunity to take pictures inside!!

This place is really worth a visit!

The Trevi Fountain

...My purpose is to tell of bodies which have been transformed into shapes of a different kind. You heavenly powers, since you were responsible for those changes, as for all else, look favourably on my attempts, and spin and unbroken thread of verse, from the earliest beginning of the world, down to my own times....

OVID, Metamorphoses

Ovid is perfectly right, when we talk about shapes and transformations of one of the most beautiful fountains of Rome there are no doubts!!!

Just look and admire!!!

Visiting the Sunshine Coast: Mooloolaba

During the last school holiday we went to Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast, a beautiful place where to go during the summer and pass some wonderful days on the beach!! 

During the winter season it is nice to go outside Brisbane and spend  a different day!! and so we did...on the way we stopped so the children could have a snack and I saw this little bird and I liked it!!

Then we stopped to do a photo of the Ettamogah pub and...

...of the children and Scott next to the pub

and then we continued to drive to reach our final destination: Mooloolaba

No complains to be a winter day on the beach!!

...and then the children enjoyed the work by Mandy Shadfort, an artist in residence in 2006.

.....and after more play we came back to Brisbane...

Still New Farm in Brisbane

I like New Farm. This is the perfect place for who likes to live very close to town and likes to walk and go for shopping and meet people and see happy and friendly faces everyday... and see interesting things while walking to the park....like this one...

the interchange for the rail track

a piece of history

the footpath around the shops 

the church of Holy Spirit

and the shops

Living locally in New Farm

New Farm is really close to the CBD and is a nice place where to live. Easy to move around and with a wonderful park and market and easy access to the City Cat.

The market offers fresh fruits and vegetables, the shops are various and the coffee is not bad. 

the fruit shop

The playground and the park of New Farm are very big, they provide extensive recreations for children and adults.

Especially now that the playground has been all refurnished with new stuff for the children!!

The immense park is perfect for jogging or for children to play soccer...

or for relax like my daughter!!!

If you walk around New Farm that what you can probably see on the way to school when I go to pick up my children.

a nice stop if you get tired especially during summer when it is so hot

the house of my Italian friends

and the flowers....how lovely!!

Have you been to Mount Coot-tha?

Not far from the CBD is possible to have a wonderful view of the city of Brisbane. Take a drive to Mt. Coot-tha  and you will understand what I am talking about. 

Take a break from the city and come and enjoy some green with a walk or a coffee.

View from the top

I went there with my dad when he came to visit us and recently with my mother in law....and the weather was wonderful and so the view.

    

Me and my dad

    

Me and Sally

Casa Italia: a place for Italians in New Farm

Brisbane as many other cities of Australia is really cosmopolitan....even here there is a big Italian community, nevertheless New Farm is still considered the Little Italy, confirmed by the people I meet everyday and speak to me in Italian....here there is a place called Casa Italia, that unfortunately has closed last year and was the subject of my speech for the following events:

‘150 YEARS OF ITALIANS IN QUEENSLAND’ SYMPOSIUM

Dante Alighieri Society

23 Foster Street Newmarket, Brisbane

Saturday, 17 October, 2009

Symposium co-convenors

Catherine Dewhirst, Lecturer in History, University of Southern Queensland

Claire Kennedy, Cassamarca Senior Lecturer in Italian Studies, Griffith University

Francesco Ricatti, Cassamarca Lecturer in Italian Studies, University of the Sunshine Coast

PROGRAMME

8.30am – 9.00am            Arrival; coffee/tea available

9.00am – 9.10am            Introductory greeting

9.10am – 9.25am          Dante Alighieri Society Welcome: Don Dignan

9.25am-9.30am               Housekeeping

9.30am – 11.00am

Session 1: Historiography and Legacies of Migration

Chair: Jonathan Richards

Catherine Dewhirst: ‘Reflections on the Historiography of Italians in Queensland’

Ian Bonaccorso: ‘Stanthorpe Italian Pioneers: Their impact on Queensland history’

11.00am – 11.30am         Morning Tea

11.30am – 1.00pm

Session 2: Wartime Conflicts and Ideologies

Chair: Francesco Ricatti

Karen Agutter: ‘The Italians in Queensland during World War One’

Ilma Martinuzzi O’Brien: ‘Italians in Ingham and Innisfail in WWII: selective and not mass internment?’

David Brown: ‘The Case of the Brisbane Fascio: The Transnational Politics of the Italian Fascist Party’

1.00pm – 1.45pm            Lunch

1.45pm – 3.15pm

Session 3: Community building

Chair: Karen Agutter

Simona Albanese: ‘Casa Italia: a place for Italians in New Farm’

Stefano Girola: ‘The role of the Catholic Church in the migration experience of an Italian association in Queensland: the Italian Catholic Federation’

Silvia Polo and Claire Kennedy: ‘The Trilingualism of Friulians in Brisbane’

3.15pm – 3.30pm            Afternoon Tea

3.30pm – 5.00pm          Session 4: Voices from Lived Experience and the Records

Chair: Claire Kennedy

Franco Arcidiacono: ‘Italians on the Granite Belt – Some Recent Research Findings’

Francesco Ricatti: ‘Hope and fear: oral (hi)stories of Italians in South-East Queensland’

Jonathan Richards: ‘True Italian Crime’

5.00pm – 6.00pm            Closing Drinks

a plaque outside the entrance

a plaque with the name of all the members

Who knows?...probably they will reopen.....