Vivian Hsu: Where shadows and sunlight meet

I had a few cereal bars in my bag and a bottle of tap water. I would not spend my time waiting in a restaurant. There were some benches at the top of the Scala Fenicia and I thought that I would not find another terrace like this one, with a beautiful view on Marina Grande and the sea. The last clouds were struggling on the rocky slopes of the island's mountains. Sometimes I could see the city of Capri near the cliff of Capodimonte, but a cloud would come down with a dark shade and hide the houses and the roofs again.

When I had finished my simple meal, I stepped down the stairs of Scala Fenicia in order to take the picture of the Chapel of San Michele and the auburn sphinx that seemed to be looking at me. I found the right angle towards the rocks that would show similar to the picture in the photobook.

And while I was climbing up again, I dreamed again of this lovely chinese girl in her wedding gown. But I knew that I would not meet her here to-day. Dreams, only dreams, because she was living in my thoughts more genuinely that she had ever lived here.

I was again standing in front of the main door of Villa San Michele. I bought a ticket and was left alone by the warden who would stay in his office. I found myself immediately on well-known ground because there are so many pictures of the small museum on the Web that you cannot but recognize the vessels and statutes that are shown on each and every holliday report of tourists in Campania: the barking dog from Pompei with the words Cave Canem (Beware of the dog) is included in most latin text-books in the world and the green statute of Hercules at the entrance of the garden belongs to the most well-known images of the demigod. But it is indeed a pleasure to see all these items packed in a very small house where the windows glow in each room as if they were the eyes of the sun.

The garden is not very large either, but it uses cleverly the principle of multi-roofed planting. Flowers grow in the shadow of bushes, that receive the protection of fruit trees, themselves overshadowed by high palm trees. Invisible brooks run under the meadows and their murmur unites with the singing exercises of the birds.

The Chapel and its sphinx is at the opposite corner of the garden, far from the house, above the end point of the colonnade. It seems to be some hiding place for the celebrated bachelor while the maids were preparing the meals. The sphinx is at the edge of a gallery outside the chapel and he has a breathtaking view on the sea shore and on Marina Grande. When the clouds are showing some good will, the peninsula of Sorrento appears with majesty like a queen in the dance hall.

In one sense, I was sad because I had not found the right white colonnade that shows up behind our beloved Vivian in her first photobook. But I was priviledged to see one of the most beatiful properties on the island of Capri, one with no large blue swimming pool but one with a soul, with the remembrance of happy days and a useful life. And this thought brought me back to my Angel, Vivian Hsu, whose life is not only oriented towards success and money, but is also devoted to her family and to her friends and fans. She is no medical doctor, of course, but she brings happiness and good will wherever she goes. With her angelic smile, she will be associated in my memory with Villa San Michele by stronger ties than if she had posed in each and every room of this estate.

If you would like to see the most recent pictures of Anacapri and San Michele, please feel free to click here.