Sheilaclapkin's Blog;

Today was our walking tour of Catania and we awoke to a downpour.  It lasted throughout our entire walking tour.  Okay, so they ordered a bus for us, but we did much walking in the center of town, rain and all.  We went to an open air market, mostly meat, cheese and vegetables. Of course they had erected large umbrellas for their customers. Did you know that they have beautiful purple broccoli that is delicious and red oranges that make a deep tasting and hearty  juice. They turn these brilliant colors because  there is a 20 degree temperature difference between day and night. Catania is at the base of Mt. Etna which accounts for the temperature differences and the color changes.

Catania is beautiful and a wonderful city. The people are exceptionally warm, generous and gracious. The city is a gathering of many cultures past and present.

On our own free time, we did try to visit the Prince of Catania, who entertains visitors from all over the world from all walks of life.  We absolutely could not find the right building. Well, we will have to make an appointment for our next visit.  If you would like to host a meeting and or a banquet in his palace, he will oblige.

Our afternoon tour was to Taormina, a beautiful sea side village on the Ionian Sea.  Not only is the whole town beautiful, the main street charming, but it has a unique place of great interest which is the ruins of a Greek Theater. It is one of the most famous Sicilian monuments in the country. It was an honor to be taken there and spend time in this spot.  They still use this theater in the summer when evenings are warm and they invite top performing artists to perform. It is capable of seating 5,000 spectators. It is my favorite ruin and monument to date.

We did quite well in the rain today, but it is uncomfortable to get soaking wet.

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The Valley of the Temples and Mt. Etna

As you walk through the Valley of the Temples, just down from Agrigento you have an incomprehensible reverence for the Greeks who inhabited and worshiped in this area over 500 hundred years ago. They left some of the best preserved ruins in the world. Later, many years after the Greeks were gone, some of their temples were turned into churches, but the churches soon faded away and the original temples reemerged through weathering.  With just parts of the temples remaining, much of the splendor is left to the imagination.

I do not know why I picked Apollo out of the many God’s in mythological history, but I am certain Apollo, God of light and truth walked along a bit of the way with all of us. Possibly light, enlightenment, and truth are things I needed to explore in this valley.

We had a bit of a drive to Mt. Etna, so our guide said he could not really discuss the Mafia with us, but he did. Oh my, after exploring its ideology we found that it works all the way from the bottom to the top perfectly.  I’ll tell you my favorite story. When the elections are coming to fruition, the money from the bottom all the way to the top finances the candidate of choice.  Now, when it comes time to vote, the Mafia knows what you want, like a new motor scooter, a T.V., or an upgrade on the 90 day wait list to get needed medical attention. You get it and in return, you get an already filled in ballot. You take the marked ballot to the voting station. You get a blank ballot on which to vote. You turn in the already filled in ballot in the polling box and your responsibility is to turn in the blank ballot to your Mafia contact. So it goes. Having elected officials on your side is quite valuable wouldn’t you think?  They don’t kill anymore, so it is said, but you don’t say no to them because there are other consequences you will not like.  It works. Everyone gets what they need and want. How can you argue with what works and makes everyone happy?

The afternoon was spent climbing (in the bus) 6,500 feet into Mount Etna. We saw the effects of the 1984 pyroclastic flow. There was already a snow pack, so imagine white snow and black lava rocks. Beautiful.  Now imagine it starting to snow a little while you get out for a stop. This California girl had to stand out in it and then, it really started to come down hard. I was covered from head to toe in snow. Oh how wonderful, I thought, but it was not so wonderful for the driver of our bus.  The guide quickly gathered us and began to descend the mountain slowly and carefully.  We had no chains and we would have had to wait three hours for the snow plow, Visibility was altered.  Finally we crawled down out of the snow and came down, down, down, from Mt. Etna to the town of Catania.

The photo shows that the lava flow stopped just short of a school.

One of the main reasons we chose Sicily to visit is because my childhood and lovely friend Josie brought back a jar of sea salt from Sicily.  I enjoyed using it so much, I thought this might be the perfect place to pick up another jar of salt. Of course I could have bought it online, I am sure, but being there, being at the salt flats where they are drying salt from the sea is much more exciting, believe me.

This is where the salt extraction takes place. The extraction of salt from the water, as you can see is in varying stages. They pile it up and then they put a tile roof over each pile so that it will keep dry and continue breathing as it is drying out. You see two piles without tile roofs and those are ready to bag or jar for sale. I do not even remember the name of this little wonderful place, but the bus pulled up and a few explanations were made and then we were on our own. What a lovely little respite.

Agrigento and Marsala Today we left Palermo and stopped in a lovely ancient area to use the facilities, I took off running. I used the facilities all-right, in the bushes. I wanted to get some countryside photos for you to see how beautiful it is in Sicily.  I hiked around the highland and got photos from all sides. Being out of the bus, being on the ground next into its green pastures and peeking first hand at sheep, native flowers was so refreshing, grounding and a very spiritual connection with the earth.

Soon, we ventured  into the town of Marsala to tour Pellegrino, a facility for wine making and to have a traditional luncheon on the top floor over looking the North African Sea.  Have you ever tasted Marsala wine?  First, it is the most beautiful wine with its brilliant amber color. I have never seen amber colored wine. It has the look of a good whiskey with a lighter touch.  Second, it needs to be poured into the most exquisite wine glass you own.  Its taste is sweet and elegant. Third, go out today and buy some Marsala wine and see if you can get it from the town of Marsala in Sicily. Enjoy it and serve it often.

Palermo

Let me begin with the fact that Italian men and especially Sicilian men suck you into their soul with their eyes and you give yours back. It is the purest kind of love, the love of one person to another. Just love and a mutual respect.  The women are very different with a different set of communications.  They are beautiful and delicate with a sense of harmony.  Let us get back to the men. My self esteem has risen percentage wise on the scale from one to one hundred, to one thousand. Look I am an old lady, old lady or not they look and do this soul drawing thing.  I wish I had the power to describe it, but when you feel it you know it has happened.  It is all done with the eyes. These Italian and Sicilian men have magical eyes and beautiful souls.  Oh of course NOT all of them, but the ones that looked and looked back, yes.  To those of you men who looked and showed the humanity of love to this old lady, not as old as you think, grazie, grazie.

By the way one more personal observation of the Italian, Sicilian man thing.  When asking directions, they help as quickly as they can and kind of snuggle up to you shoulder to shoulder and speak directly into your face: face to face, I love it and grazie, grazie again.

We walked for over five miles in the city center, then out to the water and saw so much of the everyday living of the Sicilian people in Palermo. We visited an open market, a magnificent church with the skull of the Saint buried beneath, picnicked at the beach, wandered, saw, did, and had hair raising coffee with pastries, plus realized on our walk back that everyone had locked up their stores and went home for a rest. They will return for business at 3:00 or there about. We came home to rest, too. I guess when in Sicily, do as the Sicilian’s do.

What a set of pipes

I must say that I love and appreciate Palermo for what it is and it is a gracious, magnificent, glorious, city that is intricate and complex in an ancient eclectic way.  There were many people who came to Palermo who were religious and of nobility. Each newcomer left their mark. We visited four churches today, each having a very special meaning to this city.  I love churches, love to sit and pray in each one of them, but four is a limit.

I wish you to know about the Patron Saint Rosalia of Palermo. It is of special interest because I have a very long time friend whose name is Rosalia and I think she will enjoy hearing that she is the Patron Saint of Palermo.  Her sainthood took five centuries in the making. The story is that Rosalia, the daughter of a Duke decided to live the life of a hermit and hide in the caves in the mountains until she died. Long after her death a hunter found her remains exactly at the time the plague ended. She is credited with the miracle of the plague’s end. Her remains were taken to the special cathedral dedicated to Our Lady of Assumption. When Saint Rosalia does a miracle to this day, you will smell flowers When I entered the cathedral with a fellow traveler, Lisa, she said what is that sweet smell. I said that I have been smelling that smell since we arrived in Palermo. Our guide told us that the smell of flowers is Saint Rosalia doing her miracle.  I wonder what miracle she performed on Lisa and me.

We had a special opportunity to venture out to the fishing town of Cefalu. Put an accent on the u. It is a beautiful town and the ride to get there more than breath taking. The drive was between huge mountains, full of gorgeous valleys, seascapes is worth remembering and did you know Celalu, with an accent on the u is on the Tyrrhenian Sea? This is a new sea for me. What a thrill just to learn how to spell it let alone see it and be there on its shores. Oh very happy day. Oh Beautiful Tyrrhenian Sea.

Umbria is the center of Italy.  Hillsides are filled with grapevines and olive trees as well as homes ancient and modern. Towns cling to hillsides and hilltops. You will not see this kind of thing unless you venture out into the countryside of Italy.  The hilltop positions were located as a means of defense as are many medieval hubs at summits. As you enter the gates of these towns and venture through these ancient walls it is like walking through a time warp and ending 400-800 years in the past. All of the ancient, narrow lane towns have one way roads, one going up and another one going down. To get through walking any of these ancient wonders is a good huffing and a puffing. Your legs will feel quite rubbery the next day, but after three days you are a perfected walking machine. After discovering these lovely towns there is as great sense of satisfaction and you feel you have had a front row seat into history.The countryside of Italy is quaint, ancient, modern and one of God’s great treasures. We have never had better Italian food. I learned something about keeping it in my mind and will practice at home.There is a taste of near Godliness in this food and re-creating it will b a culinary challenge.  We are fortunate today to be able to take a tour into the countryside far afield. Let us begin.

Montefalco is a place that uplifts your spirits and you absolutely must taste the local wine which is called: Sagrantino and another local wine for tasting is Passito. Wine and the production of Olive oil is basic to this region.

Photos are: Montefalco from the road, the entry gate and the area.

Spoleto: You have all hopefully had Spaghetti Carbonara, but never like that dish that was served to us in a quaint restaurant on a little antiquated alley in Spoleto. The bowl of special soup with mushrooms and barley was wonderful as well, but the Spaghetti Carbonara caught the ummm’s and ahhhh’s. The chef spoke no English and we speak no Italian, but we all got our messages across to each other. The chef was so happy we were happy, she kept coming out of the kitchen with a wink and a smile. We kept winking and smiling back. We were the only diners and it was special that she cooked fresh food just for us. Mama Mia, YUM!  I am going to copy that dish, and don’t think it will ever be the same.

This is Trevi hanging onto the hillside: It is truly lovely isn’t it?

My favorite discovery was the glorious town of Assisi. Of course the great draw is the Basilica of San Francesco d’Assisi ( St. Francis of Assisi) and is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Order plus the birthplace of St. Francis.  We visited his tomb in the lower church and in the upper church with 51 stairs leading to the viewing of the frescoes by many medieval painters. Because of the church, the town of Assisi is the most frequented town in Umbria and has become more modern. There is the medieval section of Assisi, and the new part of town which is separated by a vast area of farmland. It is beautiful and fascinating.

The  photos are of the Basillica, the floating father( loved getting this shot of him floating down the stairs) and the farmland that separates the old and new Assisi.

SPELLO IN THE UMBRIAN COUNTRYSIDE: (At the beginning of the IX century, Constantino the Great gave Spello it’s name, separate from Perusia and gave permission for Umbrians and Estruscans to celebrate their annual feasts in the city. Spello flourished and during the Roman period there was intense activity in art and literature)

This morning quite early we boarded train 9824 in Roma and ended up in Foligno, Umbria. We lugged our bags up gigantic stairs and came out to a line of Taxi’s.We were driven up, up, up, to the the Medevil town  of Spello. Spello hugs the hillside and the hills are the whole town.  Skip and I walked up to the top winding through lanes with cars making you splay your body up against the building lest you get smashed by a speeding oncoming car. My idea of a quaint little town is Spello minus the cars. One has to realize that cars are the 21st century and Spello once ancient and still maintains ancient buildings is now part of the 21st century. Our first walk took us to the top where we overlooked the beautiful countryside. I would like to enclose some photos of the beautiful recesses viewed on our walk. I dropped my jaws around each bend with the new view.

After a lovely siesta, we were awakened by the church bells right outside of our bedroom window. I assume they turn them off at night and hopefully do not start them too early.

Our second walk took us down out of  ancient Spello and into the newer part of town.(by the way it is all up hill coming back)  We decided to buy our dinner in the market because this is the winter season and most of the restaurants are not open. I mention this because when you are in a market in a new country, especially way out in the countryside, things are different.  We did get the hang of slicing and buying meat and cheese. The bread was as hard as a rock, no flavor, yucky, only you do not know it until you try to eat it. Italy is known for it’s exquisite bread, not in Spello. We also bought an apple, a banana, six tangerines and when we brought them up to pay, we were supposed to have weighed them.  Try standing there, smiling, saying you are sorry, no one understands one word you are saying and feeling silly while the checker goes and weighs each piece of fruit.  In the US, people would have been grumbling.  Here, well we did not know what they were saying, but they had smiling faces and seemed kind.

I think this is the time to show you some of Spello’s treasures rather that tell you. Remember a photo is worth a thousand words, well, only one of these makes that mark. This photo is out of our hotel room window.

Roma: Day 2

Today we took a large map and decided to walk the city and we did. It is not hard and you hardly get lost, because everything goes around. The journey was grand and Skip said that he saw more of Rome that he had intended. Just a few photos from the day. I am not taking photo after photo because I am watching my step. All cobblestone streets and walkways make for watching your feet more often.

Here is the scoop, If you are not wearing a goose down padded jacket, sporting a cigarette, wearing knee high and above boots, walking a dog, talking on a cell and speaking Italian, you are a tourist.

Today we outdid ourselves.  We began early in the morning and ended too exhausted to move. We did something called a Piazza Crawl. We took a cab to the furthest point and walked home. We started in the “Italian Quarter” of Rome.They have narrow streets, people are eating outside at all hours of the day and we made it in time for the outside Farmer’s market.  We crossed the river at Ponte Garibalde and visited a synagogue there on the banks.

After visiting the Piazza Margana, we took to following a map and went on to an appointed route to Piazza Navona and Piazza Campo, where there are two famous fountains by Bernini. We had a standing up lunch with an Italian couple from Padua. The pizza was awe inspiring and we learned to eat in places connected with bakeries. You can’t mess with the flavor of good authentic food. The couple from Padua were quite informative through broken English and map pointing. We spent a little extra time with them because even though we did not understand each other fully, we laughed a lot.

After crossing the bridge and seeing the magnificent Sant’ Angelo Castle, we knew we had better head home and knowing some previous navigational terrors we started before the falling down feeling set in.  We finally saw home and the Via Condoti, saw the Gelato shop, walked into the Spagna Piazzaa and the sight of our Spanish steps made the whole day a circle of success.

Day 3:

We felt so proud of our walking journey yesterday that we felt confident to do another.  I purchased tickets ahead of time online to the Galeria Borghese, which is about a 45 minute walk from our location. Off we went. We walked a little over an hour, but arrived through a city walk and a gorgeous walk through the park. There is such a high demand for this Museum of wonderful art, you must arrive on time, plus you are only given two hours to complete your experience. I will not continue writing about the artwork except to say it was as privilege and an honor to view Borghese’s collection of art and I will remember it in my dreams.I will remember the walk as well. Also up there for the day’s memories is the lunch taken in what else, a bakery. Lovely, lovely and the place was packed. Salutations to the couple from Padua who shared eating in a bakery as the ultimate dining for lunch experience.

Tomorrow the train to Spello and the Umbrian Countryside. Before we go let me tell you in all our time here in Rome, I have been looking for a David or any man with such or near physical prowess. He does not exist.  These Italian male descendant of the Roman’s are very handsome with twinkling eyes and stern faces, but they are short, thin and not a David to be seen except at the museum.  Forgive me guys, but Italian men out and out tell you anything you want to hear.  It is their nature, I was told.  They try  to make it happen.  If it doesn’t happen, they are very apologetic.  (I’m gonna get in trouble over this one)

In observing the lies, I asked an Italian woman and she is the one who told me they all lie, but they don’t mean to, they just use it as a means to see if they can accommodate your wish. Now that is a sweet way of expressing the trait. Don’t go ballistic Italian fellows, not all lie, just a lot do according to some of the Italian woman who told me.

Before we leave Rome you must know, as you walk down he streets full of stores, very often you see two huge wooden side by side doors with a lock in the middle.  Out apartment is behind one of those doors and up a caged elevator.  I loved it. During the rest of our stay, we saw people putting their keys in the locks on the double wooden doors, going inside and going up to their apartments. We never, ever would have known that the people were going up to their apartments behind the closed doors if we didn’t have a key of our own. Being in the know about apartment living in Rome makes me feel on the insider track. I keep playing in my head, When in Rome…do as the Roman’s do.”

PS: Please note that I spelled mannequins WRONG. Let me tell you that I am working on a completely new computer with no spell check and the editing program is all gray and cannot be accessed.  So I am doing ok without help of editing and spell check. Oops again for the future miss-spellings. This is a new computer for travel. Oh my!

GETTING THERE: Roma, Italy

When writing about travel you usually you do not start with getting to the airport, the horrendous check in, the lines, and the x-ray machine, unless you are a kid writing what you did on your spring break…so I won’t, but I am going to tell you about the 12 1/2hour plane ride. I hear the groans folks, but you are wrong, stick with it. The plane is half full, extra seats galore and if you were smart you got three across. Oh glory be, three seats across on a 12-13 hour flight is something you have to write about because it does not happen in a lifetime of travels. It happened to Skip and I.  Our seats were three across with a middle seat empty. That’s great in itself. That’s a miracle these days with packed flights and bumper to bumper people.  The three seats directly across from us were empty when they shut the doors. Skip moved casually across and sat smack dab in the middle seat daring anyone to sit next to him and no one did. The scramble began and people re-seated themselves. I am no kid, I am not on spring break, I am writing because this is not just a miracle, but a travel experience. I worked very hard to upgrade to business class in any way possible. Our tickets were not in a class for any possible upgrade for love, money or points. The three seats in a row is a much better deal. I felt like I had my own little apartment on the plane. It was still a long plane ride, but what a difference a couple of  extra seats make.

ROMA: Day I

Our hotel is a few yards from the Spanish Steps in the PiazzaDi Spagna. We settled into a quite apartment with a view of a special ruin, so special they keep it lit at night. Thank goodness for black out curtains, but with jet lag everything is lit. Morning is night and night is morning and the two go on and on until you find you have awoken in time for lunch. Going back to the day of arrival, we timidly walked out into the piazza noting an enormous crowd. Well, we thought it is Sunday and everyone was off enjoying a family day out in the Piazza. We picked to walk right and the crowd got thicker and thicker. It began to get uncomfortable and a little scary. The police with dogs and clubs were thick and people kept coming. We got very close to the Piazza del Popolo where later we found out there were above the 200,000 number of people in the Piazza and still coming when we turned and walked another way. There was no escaping the crowds.  We stopped to ask everyone and through broken English and some fairly good English we were able to gather that this demonstration was for the dignity of women and against the Prime Minister Berlusconi.  It seems the old geezer has allegedly been having unions with underaged prostitutes and has not been active for women’s rights the way the citizens of Italy want him to act. One man in the streets said, “Sure he go with women, but that is their job.  They do their job, that is good.” I didn’t discuss with the man that the girl doing her job was underage.  There were fifty cities in Italy who participated at exactly the same time and day. There is much, much more to this subject and the political feelings here, but we are only visitors.The reason I mention it is because to be swept up into a huge demonstration after viewing Tunisia and Egypt, hits a note of high interest and it was a huge excitement to all who participated. I am all for dignity of not only women, but the dignity of humanity. That’s a big hope and a huge order.

We had dinner outside all bundled up with heaters all around. The whole town was eating outside, so we did too.  Our table was placed so perfectly in front, facing the streets.  My seat faced a very popular dress shop.  The clerks inside were wearing the most elegant clothes.  They had two manikins in the front window.  They would dress these two front facing manikins in sensational outfits and within five minutes someone would come in and buy the whole outfit.  We sat at our table and I would say this went on every time she dressed the mannequin, the outfit sold. Remember there were huge demonstration crowds there that evening, but still I will venture to say that those manikins are worth their weight in gold. Splendid advertising and marketing using their mannequins wouldn’t you say?  Before we left the dress shop, I had a look inside. With more time on hand, I would have been in that number who bought beautiful clothes off of those manikins.

The day ended with closing eyes and the onset of jet lag symptoms…but before I nod off, let me tell you we do not intend  experience the kind of Rome you are thinking about with all the notable ancient sights. There are ancient sights wherever you step and we have seen and done the noble ones in the guide books on an earlier trip.  This time we plan to just set our feet on the ground and take off walking for three days.