Treasure! Treasure!

Treasures are not hard to find these days. You just need to keep your eyes and heart open.

One of these is Snowshill Manor. Not exactly on a popular touristic circuit but then again that's what preserves it's charm and what's a treasure without some traveling to be discovered?

Mr. Charles Paget Wade, a British architect started collecting things in 1890, when he was 7.

In 1911, he inherited a part of the sugar family business in West Indies and after his service in World War I, he bought and renovated an estate and its gardens. The estate has a large apple orchard, a garden, the manor and a smaller house. Charles Wade used the manor as a place to host his massive (22000 objects) collection while living in the small cottage in the garden.

Wade gave the estate to National Trust in 1951.

An opportunity to think about what drives us when we buy things, what's inspiring about them and if they're worth preserving.

Boxes, bicycles, musical instruments, costumes, samurai armours, little houses, paintings, keys, kitchen utensils, books, toys, furniture and your imagination can run wild.



The manor is a dark maze where you walk through 3D dutch paintings, carefully laid out, abundantly detailed for your eye to discover. The collection is insufficiently catalogued but the guides are there to answer your questions.

The lighting is minimal, clothing the collection in mystery, inviting your curiosity to expand.

The garden's elaborate layout resembles outside rooms of a house. Ponds, a miniature sea village, pigeons, vegetable garden, all continuing the explorative nature of the manor. 

Last four pics via google.

TV series worth watching

If you feel like you need something different than the usual netflix menu, here's some series I watched and liked.

So if you're into good crime I recommend Montalbano.

There's two of them. Young Montalbano and Inspector Montabano.
They are tv adaptations after Andrea Camilleri's novels.

I started with "Young Montalbano", having no clue the series I was watching were a prequel on a classic Italian series: Montalbano.

In gorgeous Sicily, foodie Commisario Salvo Montalbano deals with crime. Salvo keeps everyone happy, while gently imposing the sense of justice. His longterm stagnant relationship with Livia (who lives in a different city) is one of the constant themes. His love for Sicily keeps him in fictional city of Vigata. Oh, and he lives in an awful place by the sea.

All characters are absolutely great and I can't really decide which Montalbano I like. The young one or the old one. Both series are impeccably done and same character is beautifully played in both adaptations.

And in a beautiful twist of history, Young Montalbano's music is performed by Olivia Sellerio, daughter of Enzo and Elvira Sellerio, Andrea Camilleri's publishers.

Watch both of them, in whichever order you choose. Let me know what you think

I'm going to leave you with Young Montalbano's trailer featuring Olivia's haunting voice.