itsalwaystimeforwine

[itsalwaystimeforwine]

Bridgerton

It's been a long time since a series has gripped me this much. Yes, I saw Bridgerton and fell in love with it, to the point where I immediately started reading the books, whose e-books I'd had for years and, of course, had never read. Epoch, wonderful. The protagonists? I love them. Am I jealous of Daphne? Absolutely! There isn't anything about this series I haven't enjoyed! Simon? Well, give me a Simon too, I think I deserve one. Seriously, the attraction between the two is palpable from the very first meeting, that game of glances, of whispered words... I started the series out of curiosity and found myself pulling an all-nighter, I couldn't stop watching, episode after episode I had to keep going and see how Daphne and Simon's story was going to end. Will Simon be able to put aside his pride about his past with his father and have the courage to let himself go with love? Those were the questions that crowded my mind until the end. I am anxiously awaiting the second season, to see how the other Bridgertons evolve as well. Would you recommend this series? ABSOLUTELY!

[itsalwaystimeforwine]

Thanks Seb!

I didn't think I'd get around to writing this post. Will it almost seem like a goodbye letter? Probably.

The reality is that my heart is split in half. On the one hand happy for what will be your future, on the other sad for the end of a dream, yours, that had become mine too.

I have followed F1 since I was a child, I followed with passion and enthusiasm Michael Schumacher's rise to success, just like you. When he bade farewell to Ferrari, I found it hard to continue following the sport, and it was hard to watch Kimi win in 2007. 

Then I slowly drifted away from Sundays spent on the couch.

Schumacher's return to Mercedes didn't help, for me it was inconceivable to see him with a color other than red on. 

But then you came along.

In the years away from TV I still read some news about the F1 world, I read about you, who slowly climbed to the top of the world.

We have many things in common, you and I, and maybe that's why I feel much closer to you than to other drivers or famous people.

When you arrived at Ferrari, I started to read even more about you, and slowly you brought me back to F1, I started to follow the races on TV, then the qualifying and even the free practice that I had never given importance to.

So first of all I would like to say thank you for that. Thank you Seb, you've made me come back to this world, you've made me passionate about it and you've made me meet special friends.

You have won 14 races with Ferrari, actually 15. Canada 2019 is and will forever remain your victory. Thank you for the emotions you gave us. I don't have a favorite, maybe Singapore 2019 was the least expected though. But you took it, you are always the LION OF SINGAPORE. Thank you Seb. For every win, for every podium, for every pole position that made me jump on the couch.

You had a dream, to win the world championship with the red car. I had a dream, to see you win the world championship with the red car.

Thank you Seb, for everything. And sorry Seb. You deserved more. You deserved more than the criticism of the last few years, you deserved more from the team that you loved so much. You deserved more from the fans, always on the front line criticizing from their couch, fans... I can't even call people like that fans...

This was your last race with the red car. I was devastated.

Yes I know, we've known since May that this day would come, but that didn't help either.

I started crying when I saw your helmet, I continued when I saw Charles' helmet.

You walked out of the pits to the applause of your mechanics. I cried when I saw those images. They have always been close to you and I think they will miss you very much.

You ran this last race with a car that wasn't up to par, just like the whole season unfortunately. You got to the end, and you had the thought to take out that piece of paper where you had written your own version of Azzurro. That's how you thanked Ferrari, by singing, by changing the iconic lyrics of one of the most famous Italian songs. As is your custom. 

With this gesture you have moved everyone, even those who were not your supporters. 

You managed to make everyone love you, or almost.

Now begins a new chapter in your life. You're going to a new team. It will be strange not to see you dressed in red, it will be difficult to think that you are no longer a Ferrari driver.

But I promise you that I will not make the same mistake I made when Michael left Ferrari. I will continue to follow F1, I will continue to cheer for you, regardless of the colors, I am not ready to say goodbye.

I have a Ferrari cap with the number 5 that my friends gave me for my birthday in 2019, I dreamed of being able to get it autographed by you. At Monza I hope I'll be able to cross paths with you, maybe you'll still sign my Ferrari one, or maybe I'll ask you to sign my Aston Martin one.

One thing is certain, YOU ARE FERRARI.

And now I'm going to listen again on You Tube all your radio teams of these years and cry a little more.

Thank you Seb.

[itsalwaystimeforwine]

THE KISSING BOOTH (watch out for spoilers!)

In July I watched by chance The Kissing Booth, it was an evening, I didn’t know what to do so I put this film on.

I know, maybe I'm too old for these teen movies, but I needed something "light" to watch.

I didn't have high expectations, so I didn’t expect it would catch me so much. I watched this movie 4 days before the release of the sequel. That Friday I couldn't wait to be alone without any distractions in front of the computer to see the second one.

It gripped me so much that I felt the need to get on amazon and buy the ebooks. The two books and the two novels: I was so curious to read them, and let's face it, I wasn’t ready to leave the world created by Beth Reekles.

I don't know what really got into me with this movie, I just know that I fell in love with it.

My head needed something nice, light and with a happy ending and I found it.

That movie introduced me to an actor like Jacob Elordi, and then it led me to watch the Euphoria series (hats off to all the actors in that series).

Obviously the films have some details that are not in the books, personally I appreciated both, so I will not say that the books are better or that the films are, because for once I loved them equally.

In the books we can say goodbye to the rules of friendship (fortunately), some characters like Marco and Chloe are completely different from how we see them in the movies (even the names are different); some scenes - like the thanksgiving one - are "set" differently; we don't see Elle going to Boston, but we see Noah come home to surprise Elle.

I probably fell in love with this movie because as a good dreamer as I am, I've always wanted to live in one of these teen movies, to have my own personal Noah who loses his mind for me and goes against everyone to be with me. Let's face it: who has never wished to live in a movie?

But going back to TKB, I also noticed a growth in the characters as there should be. They tested themselves with a long-distance relationship, which is not at all easy to manage.

For example, the character of Noah has gone from being the coolest guy in high school to be a more serious man; he’s completely in love and has his weaknesses (just notice how he decided to hide the university situation), and he finds himself in a city without any reference point; it’s clear that in one way or another he found in Elle that reference point, even before getting together.

As a young girl who hadn’t even have her first kiss yet until long ago, Elle found herself living a long-distance romance, in the company of her insecurities that led her to doubt the one who loves her.

Another thing I loved about these two films is the soundtrack. I spent the summer listening to it (indeed I still continue to listen to it); there are pieces like Good Vibration that can relax my mind as very few things in life.

"Swimming in stars" makes you dream of receiving - maybe not the first kiss - but a kiss like the one in the movie from your old crush (even without a kissing booth).

My favourite scenes? From the first movie I would say Elle’s first kiss. Absolutely the first kiss between Elle and Noah. Although Noah's confession in the gazebo... what a difficult choice.

I’m undecided about the second film. I love the phone call between Noah and Elle, when she is at school and he tells her that he doesn't want space, he just wants her always. That's it… where is a real-life Noah? I also love when she takes his motorbike and runs to the airport to him, but he is in their personal place, and she runs to him.

Yes, I know: I’m an eternal romantic in the end.

I really loved everything, and I can't wait for the release of the third movie, and of the third book of course.

Every now and then it’s good to pull the plug, to get away from work, from everyday life, from all the demanding things you need, and why not, every now and then it can only do you good to take refuge in a light world and to enjoy the tranquility of a film where the happy ending is assured.

This is what The Kissing Booth was for me: a little refuge where I thought of nothing else but enjoying watching and reading a story of young lovers.

[itsalwaystimeforwine]

Nothing is more beautiful than the Italian anthem

I know, I know, another post on F1, but unfortunately these are racing weeks here in Italy, and between home and work they keep me company. 

On Sunday the race was run in Monza. First of all, let me I say that I’m very sorry I couldn’t attend in person, but because of Covid there was no audience allowed.

And I'm even more sorry because it really was a crazy race, one as beautiful as we haven’t seen in a while.

Ferrari - and consequently the driver I prefer most - unfortunately did not finish the race. To say how disappointing this team (not the drivers) has been this year is to say little; race after race things get worse, but there was someone else who made us hear the Italian anthem this year, a guy who let's face it, not even he would have imagined to be on the top step of the podium.

We could talk about how the history of the team that won has evolved: based in Faenza - and therefore Italian -, it was once Minardi, historical name in racing, then Toro Rosso, and from this year it’s Alpha Tauri. We could talk about how 12 years later a driver has won for the second time a grand prize for this team - a team that’s usually from the middle of the ranking. We can talk about anything, but I want to talk about the one who won it: Pierre Gasly.

I don’t usually like the French, but Pierre is the exception. I love Pierre as if he were my younger brother. Thanks to Pierre I felt moved because of a winning, and I was even while I was watching the reruns.

Pierre deserved that race, and the compliments from all of the motorsport world and his colleagues are proof of it.

Two years ago, Pierre ran in Toro Rosso, his first year in F1; he had had a good season, which led him to be promoted to Red Bull, one of the 3 strongest teams on the grid, but in Red Bull things were not so simple.

The races were going badly, the pressure was great, the points were few. To the point that in Red Bull they did what they always do, exchange drivers with Toro Rosso. Starting from the GP of Belgium, Pierre returned downgraded to a minor team and Alex Albon got promoted to Red Bull. And with hindsight, we just have to thank this exchange, because it gave new life to Pierre.

That Grand Prix of Belgium was cursed. He raced again with the Italian team that always supported him, there was less pressure, it was more psychologically relaxed. It's a pity that on that Saturday, fate took away one of Pierre’s dearest friends. We all witnessed that accident, helpless in front of the TV. The accident occurred during the F2 race, Anthoine Hubert left while doing something he loved, leaving an immense void in the hearts of those who loved him. That Sunday, before starting the F1 race, Pierre approached Charles Leclerc, Ferrari driver and also a great friend of Anthoine, and simply told him "win for Tonio”; and he did, Charles won his first F1 race in Belgium, on that track that had taken away a dear friend of his. Very poetically we all think that Tonio from up there celebrated that victory with them. A year later, Pierre still drives the Toro Rosso, or rather Alpha Tauri, and when he arrived in Belgium the first thing he did was to bring flowers to where Tonio died. 

And after Belgium comes Monza, the Grand Prix of Italy. Pierre has now moved to Milan, driving a car based in Italy. Nobody would have ever bet that it would have been his turn to make us hear our hymn; 12 years before it was the turn of a very young Sebastian Vettel, at the time he drove a Toro Rosso, he was 21 years old, and under the flood he won in Monza his first race, and the first race of the Faenza team. He had made us excited, the one who had as a mentor “a certain” Micheal Schumacher.

A crazy race, sometimes even absurd, but because of a breakage of the brakes of his Ferrari, Vettel was forced to retire after seven laps. On lap 19 Pierre is called for the pitstop, then a series of events shuffles all the cards on the table. Magnussen stops at the entrance of the pit lane, the safety car enters, two drivers, including Hamilton who is currently the best driver on the grid, make the pit stop and take a penalty that forces them to restart from the bottom. Charles Leclerc goes to the wall with the other Ferrari and the race is interrupted with subsequent resumption... and Pierre finds himself there, in front of everyone. And he wins, struggling to keep in front of Sainz who was about to surpass him with the McLaren until the very last corner. He won it like that. We all cheered for him, because he deserved it, we were not present at the circuit, but everyone from home on the couch was there with him, under the podium to celebrate him. He too was incredulous, 12 years later he brought the Faenza team back on the top step, 12 years later to what is his reference driver (yes, Pierre is a fan of Vettel).

Charles at the end of the race went to hug him, just as he did a year before in Belgium, and everyone else went to hug him too.

And the next day you think about it, and you notice that he won because the pit call on lap 19 was providential. And 19 was the number that Anthoine Hubert had when he ran in F2. It's probably a coincidence, but who knows...

He won for himself, he won for Tonio. 

And I'm still here, I'm still moved when I see the images of Sunday.

Thank you Pierre, you made us remember why we love this sport.

[itsalwaystimeforwine]

Something about me, and my passion for F1

Years ago I made the decision to leave my job, to leave a permanent position because for different reasons there were no longer the conditions to continue that working relationship. And suddenly I found myself staying 24 hours a day at home, fortunately I was living with my parents, so economically I didn’t have many problems, but it was mentally devastating to suddenly be without anything to do after being used to be in the office 8 hours a day.

I have always watched many sports: I watch soccer, I have my team of the heart that for better or for worse I continue to cheer; of course I follow the national team when they play, I love to watch the Olympic Games every 4 years with all those sports that I would never see normally; I love to watch swimming competitions, I am excited to hear the anthem when one of our athletes climbs the top step of the podium, and I love motorsport.

I have always enjoyed F1 since I was a child, I remember the Sundays spent with my father, my brother and my cousin sitting on the sofa watching Ferrari.

These Sundays went on until Micheal Schumacher's retirement, I followed Kimi's World Championship of course, but after that I gradually moved away; I was growing up and I spent the Sundays with my friends rather than in front of a TV. When Micheal came back to the track - but with Mercedes - I almost experienced it as a personal betrayal, I couldn't see him with any other colours than red.

I didn't watch the races but I was always informed about the results, I lived Alonso's period in Ferrari from the outside, I read news and comments, but I didn't pour any more time to F1.

Slowly in 2014, I went back to watching the races, one Sunday I began with “I'll only watch the beginning" and then I found myself following the race for two full hours. Sunday after Sunday I went back to watching all of the races; did I skip one? Never mind! I didn't even know how many races were scheduled on the calendar, in my mind as a child I remembered obviously only the circuits of Monza, Silverstone (only because of Michael's bad accident) and Imola, the track where Senna lost his life.

2016 was the turning point; by then I had learned to recognise even the minor teams, I recognised the drivers, and the races had become a fixed appointment that I could not miss. In July of that year, I decided to say goodbye to a toxic work environment and with a lot of time on my hands with only the races to watch, I started to follow the entire race weekend, from the press conference on Thursday to the race on Sunday, along with the Friday practice and the qualifying on Saturday.

The TV commentators had become someone to rely on, a part of the family, in my homely loneliness as an unemployed woman with just a few friends; the TV, the commentators and the F1 protagonists had become an important part of my life, they managed not to make me feel lonely.

This is how I can say that F1 saved me from the loneliness and apathy of a life without many friends.

[itsalwaystimeforwine]

Something about this blog

I've never used a blog to write about me, I've always reblogged only posts about my favorite actors or my favorite TV series, but I now have this blog, and I decided to use it to tell a little bit about myself. So yes, welcome to my blog! A blog where you will find passions, such as motorsport, TV series, movies and actors. A blog where you will not miss out on what I’m currently reading, desserts I’m loving (maybe  you’ll even get a few recipes), and controversial arguments... those will always be there!

Welcome to my blog, welcome to my world!