Ferdinand the Bull is 75 years old today. Tanti auguri, Ferdinand!
Along with the famous Japanese cherry blossoms, we have an Italian festival going on, too. One of the main events is the ongoing Canaletto exhibit at the National Gallery of Art. Bella.
GG's readers should enter this contest. What have you to lose? Any travel photograph, whether half-way round the world or in your backyard. Upload your photographs for the chance at a 1,500USD first prize award. There's a second & third prize, as well as three honorable mentions. Go for it, peeps! See the most popular photographs, here. 
Aren't these lovely? And free shipping - what more could you possibly want? Hmm?
So today Giulia & her editor are sort-of in beloved Roma. OK, well we're in Washington, DC. But we're looking at our photographs of the Villa Borghese & the website of the museum (bella!). Tonight's dinner is cacio e pepe with real pecorino from Lazio. (Try Lidia Bastianich's recipe - it's the real deal)
Calling all human servants of domestic cats. For just $5, you can help National Geographic's Big Cats Initiative save lions, tigers, cheetahs and other big cats. Upload a photo of your little kitty to show your support! You absolutely must click here & see Kitkat, Pumkin, Ernest, & fellow felines from around the world. (Little Kia is the Kitty of the Week. Congratulations!)
The Cherry Blossom Festival begins this weekend in Washington, DC. Giulia & her editor are hoping to be at the walk & to report back. Please read on if you are here (or will be). People are encouraged to gather to reflect and participate in the walk around the Tidal Basin, where the cherry blossom trees, gifted to Washington, DC from Tokyo in 1912, have stood the test of time for 99 years. Our relationship with Japan is at the heart of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, and the Festival is uniquely positioned as a natural conduit to unite the millions of people who want to assist and express their support in a show of unity, and the evening of hope and perseverance occurs before the 16-day celebration begins on Saturday, March 26. The Festival’s diverse and creative programming honors the gift of trees each year and the enduring friendship between the two countries.
ciao-meow/GG Cherry Blossom Central
(an artist at the Tidal Basin painting cherry blossoms via DC Public Library Commons)
There are people in Japan who have not eaten very much, if at all, since last Friday. (Update - this is a re-post from Friday)
We love daffodils & know you do, too. Visit the lovely Daffodils 2011 website. You can upload your daffodil photographs & look at beautiful ones from fellow fanciers. Hang out with your daff-peeps from Canada, the States, England, Wales, Scotland, & Ireland. (And probably more countries but this is in haste, like everything else these days.) You can also visit them on their Facebook page. 
From GG Central to all our friends, especially those in Ireland, Happy St. Patrick's Day. We're feeling floopy with all the sad news. A brisk cup of coffee + a slice of toasted Irish soda bread has fortified us. The Celtic cat turned up her bright pink nose at any caffeine (she really does not need it!) but deigned to eat a few raisins her editor pried loose from the toast. (Yes, yes, we know, it's not authentic Irish soda bread. OK, it's Irish-American soda bread. It is delicious & that's all that counts today.) 
A GG Central favorite - fellow cat lover Grace Coddington. Read a terrific new interview in Intelligent Life.com. If you are a Netflixer of the Instant Variety, The September Issue is available on demand. It's just the thing to escape for a bit during this stressful time. (The fun of a fashion magazine with none of the stress: we'll take it.)
Here's a little fun for some young ones in your life. The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has a children's link on its website. It includes a coloring page of VVG's bedroom. There's also a diorama craft project using the Roulin family members who befriended Vincent in Arles. (Bedroom in Arles, 1888)
Living only for the moment, turning our full attention to the pleasures of the moon, the snow, the cherry blossoms and the maple leaves; singing songs, drinking wine, diverting ourselves in just floating, floating; ... refusing to be disheartened, like a gourd floating along with the river current: this is what we call the floating world--Japanese novelist Asai Ryōi
Best wishes & concerned thoughts to all in Japan, including our nephew & his wife (who is having a baby next month). Also to our friendly fellow blogger Sapphire, intrepid chronicler of Japanese culture in Through the Sapphire Sky. Much love.
We should be seeing daffodils as it's March but snowdrops (perce-neige in French) are still about as spring is slow to arrive to GG's city. If you know any children who like to color (or adults...GG's editor likes to break out the crayons now & again), here's a coloring page of spring flowers, including a snowdrop. And here are more online art resources for kids of all ages. 
Love these black & white ensembles. Hop over to Venice via Michelle Fabio's article in Go Italy. There's even a little video. GG & her editor may have to go next year - this is the last of the lovely 2009 photographs by the mysterious (& generous) wax0r. 
Today is the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day. Giulia & her editor wish our friends, female family members, & readers bouquets of yellow mimosa. (As a bonus, it's also Carnevale/Mardi Gras/Fasching. More about which later. At least have a doughnut or good chocolate without shame.)
Giulia & her editor are pleased to report that a special edition of the Basket of Peace, crafted by weavers at Darfur Peace & Development Organization’s Kassab Women’s Center, is featured in the National Geographic Society's Spring 2011 Catalogue. 