Lens-Artists PC: Small town country

• Manja Maksimovič

I admit that I remembered only the “small town” part of Amy’s theme, ignoring the “countryside” part, that’s why my gallery is heavier on towns than on countryside, no matter that the country is where I live now.

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When I moved to the countryside of Tuscany six years ago, my only life experience until then came from living in the capital of Slovenia. With less than 300,000 people it’s not the largest metropolis but I still find the move quite significant and life-changing.

Not only that, our neighbour is a nature reserve. There is everything but humans, and that’s how I like it. Until the summer, that is, when crowds start rolling in and I flee.

Here are twenty small town photos from the last three months. Some are around here in Tuscany – where the biggest city is Florence with less than 400,000 inhabitants – while others are in Slovenia. Both regions can be called small town countries.

To lead us there, here are lyrics of the song by Pearl Jam entitled Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town:

I seem to recognize your face
Haunting, familiar yet
I can't seem to place it
Cannot find the candle of thought to light your name
Lifetimes are catching up with me

All these changes taking place
I wish I'd seen the place
But no one's ever taken me

Hearts and thoughts they fade, fade away
Hearts and thoughts they fade, fade away

I swear, I recognize your breath
Memories like fingerprints are slowly raising
Me, you wouldn't recall for I'm not my former
It's hard when you're stuck upon the shelf

I changed by not changing at all
Small town predicts my fate
Perhaps that's what no one wants to see
I just want to scream hello

My God it's been so long
Never dreamed you'd return
But now here you are and here I am

Hearts and thoughts they fade away

In other news, WordPress changed my theme’s gallery settings overnight so bear with me. It seems that the option of viewing the photos horizontally in the gallery by clicking on them is no longer present. The photo opens but you can’t move to the next one. (Or better: you can but then the photos are not in the right order! Grrrrr!!!)

And one more thing: Slovenia reached the Men’s European Volleyball Championship finals which will be played on Sunday. There were times when this would have made me much happier. They have an Italian coach.

  • Where I’m at. This was last week.
  • Here towns have fractions. This is ours. The main town is up on the hill.
  • There it is. Capalbio.
  • The view from up there.
  • Another Capalbio fraction, Borgo Carige. Look at the light in the windows. It’s the setting sun.
  • From the other side.
  • We had company. The local girl dog came to check out the visitors. Notice limoncello and Ichnusa beer.
  • Pitigliano is not very big either.
  • But they take care of the thirsty.
  • And gelato is in every town, no matter how small. This is Sovana.
  • There is really only one street in Sovana.
  • This is Grosseto, our regional capital. Inhabitants? 82,284.
  • In Porto Ercole there is this monument to all the town’s fallen. He is not happy to be dead.
  • Porto Santo Stefano, a small coastal port town. This part of Italy is fully unknown even in its neighbour Slovenia.
  • Here it is: Piran, Slovenia, 17 882 people.
  • Lake Bled and the town Bled that is even smaller. 8,171.
  • The Vinarium tower in Lendava with the view of four countries: Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, Austria.
  • Lendava is quite big with 11,151 people.
  • We took a shortcut through Austria. This is Bad Radkersburg with 3,158 people. The bridge over the Mura connects it to Slovenia and the town of Gornja Radgona.
  • Whereas this is a small town for bugs, brand new too. Way to go, World Wildlife Foundation at Lake Burano, our neighbour in Tuscany.

For Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, hosted by Amy at THE WORLD IS A BOOK…: Countryside and/or Small Towns

27 thoughts on “Lens-Artists PC: Small town country”

    1. Soothed, Amanda? Well, I am. 😀 But I wonder if it was auto-correct. My favourite spot from these? I guess the featured photo. I stopped by the road to take this photo. I like its nothingness. And thanks for your good wishes! Serbia will be the opponent. I’m 1/4 or so Serbian. Perfect. 😀

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      1. Darn Auto correct!!!! I wonder what it autocorrected from? I continually forget to proof read every comment on this new phone. It has a demonic auto correct setting! AhHHH! But I am glad to hear that you are soothed….Lol… Did you win? I really hope so.

        Liked by 1 person

  5. So enjoy this wonderful tour, Manja! Both Slovenia and Tuscany are beautiful. I, too, think you are lucky!
    Love these photo selections. Btw, we were in Lake Bled a couple of weeks ago. 🙂

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  8. Quite the tour! You have an embarrassment of riches in your two home countries, from the charming little Tuscan towns (and fractions thereof!) to the natural beauty of your Slovenia. How nice to be able to move between the two of them at your whim.

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      1. I knew you’d call me out on that “whim” word! None of us can move around as easily as we’d like, with things like jobs and other responsibilities, etc. I guess I mainly meant that at least they are sort of close! 🙂

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  10. That was fun, comparing all the towns. And my favourite is often here with you: Piran. I will go there one day. I will. “Cannot find the candle of thought to light your name” is one of my favourite phrases from song lyrics of all time. I have loved that line since the first time I heard it.

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  11. Pingback: Lens-Artists PC: United colours of autumn – An Embarrassment of Riches

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