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Fabergé: Sparkling Gems and Loos
The Bay-Tree Egg, 1911. Source In 1685, the Huguenot family Favri left Picardy in France because of religious persecution, and settled in Pärnu, today’s Estonia. Back then, they had no idea their descendants would reach great recognition and their works would be admired in European courts and beyond. This is a family that has survived… Continue reading
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Not for the Squeamish: Mummy Treats
Before Carter discovered King Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922, and mummies took Manhattan in 2017, mummy-mania had attacked many a society. Before we screamed and hid behind the sofa when mummies scared us with their curses in literature and films, mummies were used for surprisingly beneficial and happy endings. Well, most of the times. Since the… Continue reading
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The Prince’s Tax
One day in 1847, when Pedro II was 22 years old and apparently bored with his Oh, so tedious life as an emperor, he decided to play a type of Monopoly with the vast lands he had inherited from his father. Well, no, the lands were not inherited directly. His father, Pedro I, had abandoned… Continue reading
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Pedro II, the Magnanimous
You may remember D. Pedro I, the fickle-hearted emperor. Now we have D. Pedro II, who was Pedro I’s only surviving male son born in wedlock, who became the second emperor of Brazil. They say that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, but how did Pedro II fare? Pedro II, whose mother died… Continue reading
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Venice, Beloved
Shame on me. I had never heard of writer Jan Morris until recently, when I watched a rerun of the 2016 BBC programme titled “An Extraordinary Life: Michael Palin and Jan Morris”, celebrating her 90th birthday. Born James, Morris had been an intelligence officer when he first arrived in Venice in 1945. Later, he was… Continue reading
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Remembrance of Parties Past
All parties are outstanding, but some are more than others for all the right (or wrong) reasons. Once in a while, something triggers a specific memory, and I hurtle into long-past moments. And sometimes I don’t even need to attend a party to have all the joy of being present. Chilli & Balinese Dancers Bachelor… Continue reading
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Deadly Colours
Colours have different origins, compositions, and meanings. Some pigments’ names evoke distant and exotic lands, brought to the west by merchants’ caravans or ships that have crossed seas teeming with, what they thought back then, monsters. While some pigments used by painters and manufacturers are run-of-the-mill stuff, others are, or were, deadly, such as the… Continue reading
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The Queen of the Road to Bali
My mother’s whisper from Brasília reached me through the crackling phone line in Jakarta, “You’re doing what?” “Going to Bali by bus. “Are you out of money, out of mind, or both?” “We want to see all of Java, the north coast, and take the ferry, Java Sea! A truly wonderful trip.” “I see… Continue reading
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The Emperor’s Fickle Heart
When Dom Pedro I, the first emperor of Brazil and later King Pedro IV of Portugal, died in 1834 at Queluz, Portugal, he left a will ordering the transportation of his body to Brazil, and his heart to Porto. Could such an exalted man have made his feelings clearer? He loved Portugal beyond life itself… Continue reading
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Welcome to Regina’s Rants
Welcome to Regina’s Rants, where I write about whatever tickles my fancy, for I have to keep up my reputation of being irascible. The idea of Regina’s Rants started as new things usually do: I had the flooring of my home changed and in the process of removing items from one room to another, akin… Continue reading
Regina's Rants 