Thursday, March 29, 2018

About antiquarians, hilarious fish heads, Byzantine mosaics and glass Murano beads.

This is the last post about my experience in Venice. Do you love antiques? mosaics? Tintoretto? glass beads?

Campo San Tomà.



If you are found of antiques, the area around Campo San Tomà is THE place to go. You best go in the morning then you have the best chance there is somebody present. I went to Mr. Umberto Guarinoni 's place a few years ago and saw him processing and carving a mirror out of wood that would be finished with a gilded layer. His shop is full of remarkable furniture, beautiful paintings and smaller items like coffee cups, plates, drinking glasses, putti, wall sconces: stuff you can take with you in your suitcase. I always leave some room in mysuitcase for unexpected  purchases. This year I was eager to go to the shop again,  alas the sign on the door said that he would be back in a few moments. I waited some 15 minutes, asked the friendly lady at the mask shop opposite about him; she said he was in his shop in the morning; she added that his shop was one of the oldest of Venice. You can find the shop at Calle del Mandoler 2862, Campo San Tomà. He restores and sells antiques. More antique shops in the area.



Scuola Grande di San Rocco


This Scuola hosts lots of huge pictures, mostly by Tintoretto. The stairs to the Chapter Hall are very grand; they are flanked right and left by pictures and the hall itself has richly carved wooden paneling underneath huge pictures. I asked an attendant which school this was and he explained that it wasn't like a school with students but a place where same-minded people gathered, like a fraternity. They engaged in charity among other things and the fraternity still continues to do so.  It was extremely cold inside. The curtains of the many windows stay close to protect the paintings with a very cold, almost damp inside as result 


Stair case in Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice.
Stair case in Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice.



Paneling in Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice.
Wooden paneling in Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice.



The Fish Market.


Probably the Rialto will be on your to see list. You should go and see it and while there visit the fish market. It is a very colorful and lively event open on Tuesday till Saturday from 7:30 AM till 12:00 PM. When there please look up at the pillars supporting the roof and have a look at the capitals: instead if acanthus leaves, they have fish heads! What a fantasy and imagination! Hilarious!


Capital of the fish market, Venice
Capital of the fish market, Venice.


Murano


If you love glass art, take a vaporetto to Murano, an island belonging to Venice. The houses are not as grand as on the main island but it has a more intimate atmosphere.


Murano
Murano: more intimate then Venice


You ''ll get your fill for glass work but Murano offers a lot more: there are a couple churches worth visiting like the Basilica dei Santi Maria e Donato famous for its Byzantine mosaics. Actually, this might be the only time you can walk on a mosaic, not admiring it from a distance.


Byzantine mosaics in the Basilica dei Santi Maria e Donato, Murano
Byzantine mosaics in the Basilica dei Santi Maria e Donato, Murano

and in the Chiesa di San Pietro Martire you can admire paintings of Tintoretto (for free 😉 ).


Open air glass sculpture, Murano
Open air glass sculpture, Murano


Looked for a gondola atelier and found beads instead.


I had red about gondola workshops in the Dorsoduro area near the sea, found the place and saw some gondelas in different state of finishing. Some one was painting the gondola with small strokes and a rather small brush, while another gondola was still in bare wood. Can you imagine doing this, a gondola can be 11 m long! Too bad the owner didn't allow me to take pictures.

From there I had planned on taking the Accademia bridge to  continue to Piazza San Marco and have lunch in the very beautiful Caffè Florian. Unfortunately the bridge was in repair and I have no pictures to show you.


The year I visited  Murano, I wasn't interested in beads yet. This year, while still at home and  because I had only one day in Venice, I prepared my bead hunting and found some bead shop addresses but the shops didn't exist any more. I had visited several shops on our way to Il Paradiso Perduto  but either the beads were to expensive or the wholes were too small.  On my way to the bridge I saw a shop selling glass works and this time I was lucky: I found some affordable beads at De Laurentis, a "Lavorazione Artistica Vetri A Lume" in  Dorsoduro, 1638, San Basilio, Zattere.  I am very happy with my 5 beads. Wait and see what I'll do with them (Link to my shop).


Favorite pictures:


To finish off this Venice sequence are some of my favorite pictures. Wandering through Venice, you inevitably get lost. But you experience your visit more intensely, you see the city with your heart, not only with your eyes; just strolling around is the best way to discover a city or place. During my wandering, I came across this picturesque recess, I remember the area but I have no idea where it is located exactly. How very elegant this pillars are!




Recess in Venice
Picturesque recess in Venice.

Here is another favorite picture: look at the colors, the variety and freshness of the vegetables!


fresh vegetables in Venice
Fresh vegetables at a greengrocer


and this picture shows the garden of the Belgian Embassy, viewed from the street. The open doorway to the garden resembles a giant keyhole!


Garden at the Belgian Embasst.
View of the garden, Belgian embassy.


When in Venice or rather when travelling, don't linger in bed! Get out early in the morning, mix with the locals heading for their jobs and feel like a resident! Go early in the morning for the Rialto (covered bridge), take some time to experience the fish market and have a look at the fish headed capitals; from there walk about 15 min to the Campo San Toma and watch out for antique shops. On your way, you'll see numerous churches and old palaces or other grand buildings, most likely open for an exhibition of some kind. In the afternoon take a vaporetto to Murano (you'll pass by an island that is the Venetian cemetery) and admire the skills of a glass blower creating f. i. a glass horse, visit the churches and wander around the on the island.

I hope you enjoyed my tour through Venice! If you have any questions, don't hesitate and ask them, using either the comments section below or the contact form in the left column. See you!



Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Treasure hunting in Venice or Away from the beaten path.

On the internet, there are tons of info about Venice. I don't want to add more general info, I want to tell you about my personal experience, I want to talk about what I've lived, what I saw, what I did and what YOU can do, after all, this posts are for you.

Caffè Florian.


Going to Venice, you have to visit the Piazza San Marco and when on the Piazza you have to visit the Caffe Florian. This exuberant caffè exists since 1720 with its walls and ceilings entirely covered with sceneries, portraits, flowers in very lively colors. Goldoni, Cassanova, Lord Byron, Alexandre Dumas, Wagner, Marcel Proust and many more are known to have frequented the Caffè, even worked on their book, play or opera here in this same place.


Caffè Florian, Venice; courtesy of S Ozonder
Caffè Florian, Venice; courtesy of S Ozonder

Italy and Venice is all about style and flair. How nice it must be to grow up surrounded by beauty. Even if you are poor, you are surrounded with beauty and are able to enjoy it. No wonder artists sensed the magic of this city and frequented this city.

.

Caffe Florian, Venice: entrance
Caffè Florian, Venice: entrance.

Everybody has it about the exorbitant prices of the Caffè; I know, I heard about it too, I visited the place and I said to myself: you should do it once, to experience consuming something in a world famous cafe; you do this once in your life and then.... you want to go back! believe me. The first time, we choose a place outside right next to the orchestra. It was a nice experience: sipping a coffee on the world's famous square in front of the world's famous coffee house. We payed 12.50€ extra to hear playing the orchestra and  payed more for the refreshments too ! I learned my lesson and this time I stayed inside, admired the paintings, the atmosphere and my order came on a big silver tray: my smoked salmon sandwich was delicious and I have never had a hot chocolate so thick I needed a spoon to drink it. And I payed way less then when I would have consummated this delicacies outside.


Silver tray with sandwich and hot chocolate at Florian's
Silver tray with sandwich and hot chocolate at Florian's

If you want a souvenir that you can use, like on your nightstand, get yourself this crystal carafe and drinking glass.

The Jewish ghetto and Campo dei Mori.


The Cannaregio area is an interesting place also.  You can visit the Jewish Ghetto, the only place with high buildings with 4 or 5 floors; Jewish people could only stay in a particular part of Venice, in the Cannareggio area and when their population grew, they only solution to expand was in the height. The entrance to the ghetto is a small doorway we passed by several times before we got it that this insignificant doorway was the entrance to the ghetto; here no palaces but simple high buildings; there are famous synagogues on the upper floors but we didn't visit them. Leave the ghetto and find the "Campo dei Mori". A corner house is decorated with statues of men wearing huge turbans. The story goes that 2 Greek brothers, merchants, lived there in the 12th century. To me, this story doesn't make sense since Greeks don't wear turbans; Muslims do, but Greeks are not Muslims. The small plain house of Tintoretto is in the same area.


Campo dei Mori



Campo dei Mori.


I copied these 2 pictures  from the internet.
Now you are in the neighborhood, have dinner at Il Paradiso Perdutto.

Campo Santa Margherita


We discovered this campo last year (2017). Here they sell fish and vegetables in the morning; locals, old and young, are sitting on benches, surveying the children playing, having a drink standing in front of a small wine bar


Campo San Margarita, Venice
Campo San Margarita, Venice


girls are walking their dogs, outfitted in Chanel.

Campo San Margarita, Venice, dogs
Campo San Margarita, Venice, fashionista doggies
 .

there is also a hotel, at least very old looking from the outside.


Campo San Margarita, Venice, hotel
Campo San Margarita, Venice, entrance to hotel.

In a shop on the campo we asked for a good restaurant and were advised to go to Locanda Montin. A couple of houses before the restaurant, my eye was caught by a medallion, hanging in the window display.


plaster cast, displayed in Venice
Plaster cast, displayed in Venice near Antica Locanda Montin.


On closer look, there were similar items displayed. I got very excited: so beautiful alas! the shop was closed. Two shops down, I saw similar casts and this time, bingo: somebody was in the shop!!! Despite the closed sign, I knocked on the door; the owner was so courteous as to open the door and  I spoke out my interestest in the casts. He told us he was an architect, specialized in restoration and in his workshop, he and his team made casts of existing artefacts or drew smaller pictures of existing bas reliefs, then made a mold and produced the casts. Luckily the casts were for sale and a Venetian Lion in red terracotta, bi-colored angel heads  and chubby putti are now adorning the walls of my house. I have no business card but this office cum shop is a few houses away from (Antica Locanda Montin.) on Fondamenta Eremite; the locanda is at 1147.


Storm at sea


Since we arrived at the summer house, the weather has been bad and rough. On Monday night, it rained in the mountains, the river swelled and rushed all it encounterd on its path into the sea and the sea spitted it out on the shore before the house. The sea is bi-colored: brown from the mud and blue. The seagulls are excited and haven't been that numerous since a long time. Sadly the corpse of a young dog has been washed ashore, probably fell in the water and rushed to the sea and drowned on the way.


Bi-colored sea
Spring rains turn the sea to brown.
We haven't seen seagulls lately because of short sightedness: local fishers have been using trolls and now there is no fish left in the sea AND local factories and communities drain waste water in the sea and kill the small bit of fish that could grow. Seagulls have to follow a plowing farmer  inland and feed on earthworms instead of fish. Only education and sensibility can save the planet.

This is  a lot of information to digest; you'll have the remaining info in my next post with lots of pictures. Remember: as you visit the Piazza San Marco, take a break at Caffè Florian not on the square but inside the Caffè and admire the paintings and savor what ever you ordered.

The Jewish ghetto is worth visiting; it has a kosjer restaurant, there are synagogues, visit the Campo dei Mori and if you are hungry, have some seafood at Il paradiso perduto. If you are there between 6 and 8 pm, you might find a table but if you want to have diner after 8 pm, you should book your table in advance.

In Dorsuduro visit the Campo San Margharita, have a seat on a bench and sniff the atmosphere and go to Locanda Montin and watch out for the window with the plaster casts and get yourself an artful and most Venetian souvenir or give an original gift for your loved ones who stayed at home/behind.

Watch out for unusual and never taken pictures in my next post. Subscribe, so you never miss a post. Tell about your own experience in the comments section, please.

See you




Thursday, March 15, 2018

Finding the lost paradise and experiencing a "Locanda".

yeeeeh, I am in Venice!!!

San marco, Venice
San Marco and the Doge's Palace, seen from the ferryboat.


We arrived by car via the 7 km long bridge, the Via della Libertad in Venice. The farest you can go by car is the Piazzale Roma and our hotel Ca Doge is on this square and our hotel has a parking, one of the few hotels that have a parking. The name of the hotel is fancy, the rooms are not as fancy as the name of the hotel but hey are nice,  in a good size, a  king size bed with excellent mattress, bathroom with shower, toilet, bidet and washstand;

Ca Doge, Venezia, bathroom
Ca Doge, Venezia, bathroom


enough choice in the breakfast room, staff is friendly and helpful and you have a guarded parking space, this is for us very important since Venice is a transit place.


Where to sharpen your taste buds?

Il Paradiso Perduto


Three years ago, we visited the Jewish ghetto and the Cannaregio area.  Around 6 pm we got hungry. Since this part is far less visited by tourists, there were not any restaurants visible. We accosted a local lady, asked her where we could eat real Venetian food and she advised Il Paradiso Perduto! on the Fundamenta Misericordia 2540 in the Cannaregio part of Venice, closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. I didn't find a website but here you have some more info.The instructions to get there sounded very easy but I assure you, finding your way in Venice is  quite difficult But it was worth every effort! Outside, in front of the place was  a crowd, people sipping wine, eating chichetti (equivalent of Spanish tapas) having a good time; the inside looked weird, crazy with the floor laid in bricks tilting to one side, not one table or chair the same, crazy paintings of creatures half fish half human on the wall, a fire place with huge logs burning but the food, the food, probably the best restaurant I have ever been to. I say was because the place has been revamped with a level floor, a stove instead of the fire place and the weird paintings have been replaced by blurred ones but the food is as delicious as before: as starter or antipasti we had a mixed seafood platter for 2 persons: scallops, stuffed squibs, giant shrimps, sardines with tomato sauce, mussels, calamari salad, white fish paté, sour  sardines, grilled radicchio and carrots and peas. DELICIOUS!



seafood at Il Paradiso Perduto, Venice
seafood at Il Paradiso Perduto, Venice

As primmi piatti I had spaghetti cooked with the ink of the squid (it is really ink; I used it to draw and you get a darkish brown color when dried!) and my husband had a fish soup: mussels and different parcels of white fish and 2 big chunks of bread, delicious.


Fish soup at Il Paradiso Perduto
Fish soup at Il Paradiso Perduto



We were not the only one that appreciated the food: a cat choose out a table, begged for food, got food and then took things in her own "hands" and finished the bowl. The cat was the star until one of the waitresses picked her up and took her away.

The cat gourmand at Il Paradiso Perduto
The cat gourmand at Il Paradiso perduto


the Antica Locanda Montin


Last year, we were in Venice on a Tuesday and we learned that our beloved Paradise was closed. In a way it was good because we discovered another very good "Locanda". Wandering around the Campo Santa Margherita (more about the campo in the next post) we got hungry and asked a local for a good place to eat. Again it took us almost 30 min to find the place that was really only a 10 min away. It is a restaurant and a hotel. Here is their website.

The  Locanda montin is a very colorful, picturesque place to stay and eat. The interior is very interesting with its disparate and comic picture collection:


Locanda Montin, Venice
Locanda Montin, Venice; Photo courtesy of Suat Ozonder.



and a wonderful collection of Venetian glassware:

Locanda Montin, Venice
Glassware at Locanda Montin, Venice


and there is one word for the garden: gorgeous!

Locanda Montin, Venice, garden
Locanda Montin, Venice, garden.

and at night the ceiling light casts beautiful shadows:

Locanda Montin, Venice, ceiling light
Locanda Montin, Venice, ceiling light.

The food is as good as the interior: we had mussels and then each had a sole because we hadn't eaten sole in ages. The grilled eggplants and zucchini as a side dish and the caprese salad were excellent; one of the owners spoke French what made my husband very happy. The food pictures I took turned out blurred, sorry no pictures of the food.


Al vecio pozzo


The hotel recommends this place and it is frequented by Italians and tourists. There is a huge choice of pizza's and pasta's; but you should try their other very original dishes like the fried vegetables (a spectacular view and taste); we split the mussels and sardines Venetian style (sarde in saor). then I had the pasta spinacina, very simple but delicious with the spinach and butter and my husbands 4 formaggi was nice also. The red house wine is good and the next time I want to try out the prosecco house wine. The address is: Santa Croce 656, tra campo de la lana e rio martin. It is on a dead end street. Here is their website

Ristorante Taverna dei Dogi.



we had lunch at this restaurant the very first time we were in Venice. We had covered a lot of distance, were hungry and were in one of the most touristic area of Venice, not far from San Marco and the bridge of Sighs. My husband spotted the place; I had my doubts: a huge place, full of tourists, lots of groups, almost 3 pm. A waiter took us to the other end of the salon. I outed my fear of waiting too long but he said: you won't wait. We ordered fish and to my surprise, it didn't take long and the fish was good.  This happened a long time ago, maybe 7 years, but the taberna still exist and I have good memories of the place, despite the kitschy decoration and interior.

If you are only for a couple of days in Venice,  and you want to avoid the beaten path, this choice of 4 places should be enough to start with. If you stay longer, you can discover your own favorite place and tell us about it! I love to try new food, new places to eat if they are authentic or honest. So please leave your suggestions in a comment below!

Next week, we'll go treasure hunting! Be sure to get the next post in your mail box by subscribing in the column on the right.

See you!

Thursday, March 8, 2018

What have leather, skin care, dental abscess and inflammation in common?

What could this be?


What possibly could this very disparate items have in common? This post will tell you all about it: it is coconut oil, a real miracle medium. As you can deduct from the title, I use it for a lot of things. But first things first:

Leather. 


This week, only one product has seen the daylight: a man bracelet. I haven't that many items for men, so I concentrated on a man's bracelet. The bracelet will look good curved around a strong male wrist.

Lovelea's men bracelet with leather button.
Lovelea's men bracelet with leather button.

 I only used leather and glue, no metal snap buttons however a button is needed, I made a leather one, out of 3 layers of leather and a leather loop as buttonhole and white cowhide to make the bracelet tougher. View it at my fb shop

Lovelea's men bracelet with leather button., button detail.
Lovelea's men bracelet with leather button., detail.



Lovelea's men bracelet with leather button, loop detail.
Lovelea's men bracelet with leather button, loop detail.


 What has leather to do with coconut? 


I use it to soften leather.  I have had it about this subject but if you don't remember or haven't read yet, never mind, here is the meant post, 2.th paragraph. Always try the coconut first at a not visible space; watch if it absorbs well without leaving a greasy spot.

Want nice tight facial skin?


When I was a teen, I bought a sun oil that contained coconut oil. It stated that the native people used it for skin care. I don't remember who the natives were, this was many many years ago. I reasoned that since advertising is strictly regulated, the info must be true. I bought a big jar and smeared it every night and every morning on my face. It makes your skin tight and radiant, it really does, try and see for yourself! The product was excellent but the jar was very down to earth and the eye wants something too. I visited antique shops until I found this purple bottle that I filled with rose water (rosewater is excellent to clean your face from pollution, not to remove make up and it is excellent to wash your eyes when they hurt from tobacco smoke) and the green ceramic recipient was perfect for my coconut oil. The transparent bottle I bought for the love of the stopper. The green jar made me feel more glamorous and it was more pleasant to use, less a duty! Yes, package is important! I have been using the jar and the oil for decades. My skin looks healthy and well fed, anyway that's what my daughter always tells me and of course, I believe her.

My skin care personalia.
My skin care personalia.


How I saved my tooth!


Besides caring for your skin, it cares for your health. A couple years ago I had a dental abscess. My dentist said: I'll give you antibiotics and then we'll pull that tooth out. I said: no way, I want to keep this tooth. A year later, my tooth again had an abscess; I went to another dentist and told her about my problem; she said: if you can save your tooth by taking antibiotics once a year, lets not pull this tooth. I was quite happy with  this solution; a book about coconut oil stated that the oil is good for dental health. Since then, every morning I hold one spoonful of coconut oil in my mouth next to the problem tooth and let it melt; I haven't used any antibiotics since then! In fact, I almost never take antibiotics.

Caring for wounds


And a third use for coconut oil is for dressing wounds: when we were moving, I bumped my leg heavily on a corner; it bled a bit and then stopped; I was wearing stockings and getting them out to have a look was too much of a bother and I left it as it was. In the evening I had a look, washed the dried blood away, put some coconut oil on a gauge bandage and then forgot about it for 2 days. When I took away the bandage, my skin around the wound was red, very red and very hot and had pus. It looked pretty bad, the look of it scared me, I had a serious inflammation on my hands. My husband said: you should take antibiotics; but then I have to go to the doctor, get a prescription, go to the pharmacy,... way too much of a bother.  I cleaned the wound, applied the coconut oil diligently 3 times a day and in about 5 days, the inflammation went away and the wound healed perfectly.

When travelling, I always have a good closing mini jar with me. Coconut oil is solid till 22 à 24° C so be sure your jar closes hermetically! You arrive in your hotel room, exhausted and want to brush your teeth before sleeping and your toiletry bag is inundated by coconut oil? You don't want that, so choose a good closing jar.


Start right away,

the sooner you get a jar of (organic and with smell) coconut oil, the better. Massage it gently in your face after cleaning with rose water and in the morning; hold a spoonful of coconut in your mouth until it melts and do this for a week and from time to time preventive and if you or anyone got injured, use coconut oil to clean and care for the wound.

What I am telling you here, is not from some web page, it is my own experience. I am sure there are lots of other uses; coconut oil is an all round, versatile remedy. This is what I use coconut oil for. Do you have other uses? Please, leave a comment, I would love to learn more.

I will hit the publish button when I am in Venezia, la Serenissima! So don't miss the next post, subscribe  to my email address. or use the  subscribe button in the right column. There will be plenty of tips about Venice!

Thursday, March 1, 2018

How to stay warm elegantly and how not to sabotage yourself.

Warm and elegant!


In winter we try to stay warm with layers and layers of thick wool and we end up looking like a Michelin Man! Is there another way? Yes, there is and it is a large leather cuff that keeps your wrist warm. If your wrist is warm, your arm is warm and if.... It is incredible how much help this cuff is; this is not magic but logic: the cuff is close enough to your skin to maintain your body warmth  and not to close it makes you sweat. I made this one for me, in fact it is my prototype and I am so glad I found out how useful this cuff is, I recommend it to everybody. Not only useful but cool and versatile. I made tiny incisions in a geometric pattern I contrived hoping the pattern will show while wearing, but until now only a couple of incisions have become more visible. Maybe it is just as good, it will keep me warmer.


LoveLea's cuff in red leather.
My personal leather cuff, made by LoveLea. 

And this cuff is a in a lovely moss green leather in a spiced up Western style with fringes and studs, not handy while working but cool for shopping, city hopping, elegant when salsa dancing and whenever you are outside (available here).


Lovelea's moss green leather cuff with fringes.
Lovelea's moss green leather cuff with fringe


The picture above is my presentation picture and below you can have a full look.


Lovelea's moss green leather cuff with fringe, closeup.
Lovelea's moss green leather cuff with fringes, closeup. 


And I have a gorgeous white one; when I was a child, you could only ware dark colors in winter and white or other light colors were reserved for the summer. Nowadays you can wear any color at any time, so why not wearing this glamorous white one now ( available here ) and later in the year to a beach party?


LoveLea's white leather cuff.
LoveLea's white leather cuff.

Don't sabotage yourself


I spent the weekend at my daughters place. She has applied secretly for a job and she got the job. We are leaving for our summer house in less then 2 weeks and she wanted us to come over to her place before we leave. Once working, there won't be much time left for being together, drive around, visit antique and brocante shops, spoiling the grand children.

But why did she keep her applying secret? It is the thing to do, a must; if you have a goal and are working to get there, you mustn't  tell anybody about it not even a friend you trust, not even your Mum! (Not that I wish her ill or bad luck, I might have opinions that differ from hers and the outcome could be different.) There are forces working behind you, in spite of you and someone might be jealous, are is a phony friend, your friend might have an opinion that differs from yours, a different view on the situation and all this together might be stronger than your spirit and then you don't attain your goal! When not telling anyone, there is no interfering. When she told me she got a job, I was flabbergasted, but very very pleased. So please, keep everything to your self how difficult this might be until you attain your goal.

Defy the cold weather with this cuffs from my cuff collection.

Do you have any story or experience with this type of sabotage, tell us below in the comments box.

Next week I will be on the road 💨💨💨 ! hopefully with lots of nice pictures and thrilling stories to tell. See you!

P.S.: my muhammara recipe offer is still open. Muhammara is based on healthy ingredients like tomato paste, garlic and walnuts and is delicious as a meze, a dip or a little snack. If you're interested in getting the recipe, click here.




The event of the year (in my town), Pro's of having a dog, How I excorcise inspiration; My revamped quote!

The event of the year Last Friday it was my daughter's birthday and it was the first day of Suikerrock, a 3 day rock festival in our...

The event of the year (in my town), Pro's of having a dog, How I excorcise inspiration; My revamped