Italy – Page 2 – Destination NOW

Oh, To Be Rich in Ancient Sicily!

No one knows for sure who lived in the Villa Romana del Casale. Some think it might have been the country home of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius; others theorize a provincial governor lived and conducted administrative duties here.

It was constructed in the middle of the 4th century AD, and owes its remarkable preservation to the mudslide that covered the villa in the 12th century. The building remained hidden until the 1950’s excavations.

Katya, our local expert, explained that we were going to view some of the finest examples of Roman mosaics in all of Europe, with scenes ranging from Homeric escapades to depictions of daily life, at this UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Katya was excellent, and that was true of all the local guides on our trip. We learned that our main guide, Daniel, had a choice of 4 or 5 different local guides for each site, and I have to say, he chose very well. Katya was interesting and so informative, a delight to listen to.

We began our tour by the aqueduct, which was the source of water for the baths–starting with the hot bath, and ending with the frigidarium, the cold bath.

The slaves kept the fires going in these ovens so that the baths were at the proper temperature.
I wasn’t taking notes, so don’t hold me to it, but I THINK this was the frigidarium. Or it was something else. Whatever. It was impressive.

The main attraction of the villa is the floor mosaics, and they are absolutely magnificent.

Probably the most famous room, the 10 maidens are exercising, wearing the ancient version of bikinis. And look, someone appears to have won the swimsuit competition, earning her a crown and a palm leaf to wave around.

Not quite so famous, but certainly as intriguing were these: one example of the many scenes of a hunt.

This woman’s clothing indicates she was from the eastern empire, possibly Muslim. There is another mosaic of a similarly attired woman, being carried off by soldiers. It isn’t hard to imagine what that mosaic was illustrating.

No commentary necessary for this one.

I particularly liked the depiction of the theater. Looks like the legend of the Cyclops was being featured.

Those white squares on the mosaic–I thought someone had been littering, but no. They were placed there intentionally to absorb moisture.

Here’s a close up of Cyclops. I really DID like that mosaic! Isn’t it amazing what the craftsmen were able to do with little colored stones?

One last look at the countryside and we’ll be on our way. Our timing was fantastic. We were leaving, just as hoards of tourists were arriving!

Phoenicians, Salt and The Port of God

What an island! Strategically placed between Africa and Europe, the east and the west, Sicily was home to successive waves of conquerors, and for our second day, we visited one of the conquering heroes’ settlements. The Phoenicians, originally from the area that is now Lebanon, were among the first waves.

But first, we took a close look at the commodity that gave us the word “salary”. Sal (salt) was once used by the Romans as currency. Unlike other parts of the world, where salt is mined, the salt here is extracted from the sea. The water evaporates from shallow beds, leaving behind a substance that is low in sodium, high in potassium and magnesium. The Trapani salt is practically a health food! The sea, the wind, the sun all work together, with a little help from human workers, to create this miracle ingredient. Doesn’t get more natural than that.

After learning more than I ever thought possible about salt, we boarded a boat for the little island of Mothya, where almost 3000 years ago, Phoenicians built a fortress and a settlement.

There’s not much left on Mothya, just some walls, (header photo) and a museum that once was the home of Giuseppe Whittaker. Whittaker, in fact, owned the entire island. Fortunately, he was interested in archaeology and history, left his home and property to the public.

The salt museum contained this rendition of what the settlement was imagined to be.

It’s not a big island; we were able to walk from one end to the other, working up an appetite for this amazing feast!

Our last stop was at the place the Arabs called “Marsa Allah”, the Port of God, now known as Marsala, for wine tasting. Check out the size of those barrels. That’s a whole lot of Chicken Marsala!

It is rare indeed that my wine glass is still full after a wine tasting. In fact, I would say that this was a first. To me, Marsala is way too sweet. Okay for cooking, but definitely not my choice for drinking.

Next stop, the Valley of the Temples.

Sicilian Celebration

Mike and I stopped giving each other “stuff” years ago. We already have more than enough future yard sale items. No more birthday, anniversary, Valentine’s, Christmas or Groundhog’s Day presents for us. Instead, we mark life’s milestones by making memories, mostly through traveling. Refusing to succumb to the tyranny of the calendar, we are free to celebrate whatever we want, whenever we want. If we happen to be traveling during an anniversary or birthday month, well then, that’s just a bonus. THIS year is one of those bonus years.

We will be in Sicily during May, our anniversary month, hoisting our glasses to toast 41 years of wedded bliss. Okay, full disclosure. Those years haven’t ALL been blissful (my sisters would add ” especially for poor Mike” ) but on the whole, it’s been pretty darn great!

We will be embarking on an OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) trip with our good friends, Shirley and Owen. Two years ago we spent two weeks wandering through Tuscany and the Amalfi coast with OAT’s sister company, Grand Circle. They had never been on an organized tour before, but had such a wonderful time, it was not difficult to persuade them to come along again. What’s especially exciting is that Shirley’s grandfather hails from a small village two hours from Palermo. She and Owen plan to make their way to the village on one of our “free” days.

This is what our OAT itinerary looks like. As you can see, we are covering quite a lot of ground.

We will be staying for three nights in four of the cities: Palermo, Mazara, Ragusa and Catania, with a single night in Piazza Armerina. At the end of the OAT tour, the four of us will head to Malta. From Catania, we will fly to Valetta and will use that as our base during our five days in Malta.

As usual, I’ve been learning the history of the places we’ll be visiting, and I have to tell you, theose poor inhabitants of Sicily did not have an easy time of it. Here’s the Cliff’s Note version: There was a lot of fighting and conquering going on–with Greeks, Romans, Carthaginians, Arabs, Normans, and Spaniards taking turns raping, pillaging, plundering and selling inhabitants into slavery. Sicily isn’t at the bottom of “the boot” for nothing. It sure got kicked around a lot!

Augustus, Hannibal, Constantine, Archimedes, and several Williams, Charles and Fredericks all had starring roles in Sicily’s narrative. (Don’t you just hate it when the rulers all have the same name and you need to remember their numbers? At least for the Williams there was William the Bad and William the Good.) Throw in a couple of popes, an emperor or two, some knights plus a couple of earthquakes and an active volcano and you are guaranteed some interesting stories with even better ruins.

What fascinates me more than the political history is the mythology. Unlike the kings, whose moms sorely lacked imagination when it came time to name their offspring, the mythological figures have double names: Zeus and Jupiter, Ulysses and Odysseus, Venus and Aphrodite. So confusing to an already confused American, but that’s what happens when Greek and Roman cultures share the same territory.

For now, that’s all you need to know about Sicily’s history. More will be forthcoming, and there’s always the possibility of a pop quiz or two.

Preview of coming attractions:

Lots of cathedrals, temples, palaces, amphitheaters plus a dancing satyr
Eye popping mosaics, fit for an emperor, like maybe Marcus Aurelius?
an educational encounter with a member of the Mafia
a cooking class (hope we do better than the last time we tried this!)
“Come with me to the kasbah, where we will make ” whatever they make there. (If you got that reference, you are probably as old as I am!)
wine tasting at a Marsala vineyard
a day in the life of a Sicilian dairy farm family
a visit to Mt Etna to watch the volcano do its thing

Please join us for some armchair traveling. I’ll be posting whenever wi-fi and my energy levels allow. But I have to warn you, I plan to be toasting those 41 years a whole LOT! Expect typos.

Oh yeah, about that photo at the top of this post. It’s actually Sorrento, from our 2015 trip. I just wanted a little visual to start us all off.

Fantastic Florence

Although this is a trip that focuses on hilltop Tuscan towns, no visit to Tuscany would be complete without a stop in the birthplace of the Renaissance, Florence.
My sister Sandy and I were lucky enough to spend two days in Florence in July, 2012, and Mike and I had done a day trip about 10 years ago, so we didn’t feel compelled to “do it all” this time around. Instead, we were satisfied with a leisurely and informative stroll with our wonderful local guide, Fernanda.
The evening before Fernanda had given us a fascinating overview of the Medici family, Renaissance art and the connections between the two. I’m sure I heard it all before in various history classes, but Fernanda really made it come to life during the lecture, and again, the next day during our stroll through Florence.

The Piazza Della Signoria was the first home of an important Medici couple, Eleonora and Cosimo I. This arranged match was not off to a great start. Those in the know wondered why this Spanish old maid was not spoken for? (She was 17). The groom didn’t even make it to his own wedding, so they were married by proxy. Fortunately, things improved greatly after that: it turned out to be a love match that produced 11 children.

Well, Eleanora was not happy with her “starter home”. It was devoid of gardens for the children to play in, so Eleanora used her own money (how cool is that–a woman with $$$ of her own back in the 1400’s) to purchase from the Pitti family a little “cottage” across the river.

The interior of the "starter" house — The interior of the “starter” house

Sandy and I spent a day wandering through the Pitti Palace, a glorious edifice, which now houses 6 or 7 museums. The Pitti Palace does indeed have spectacular gardens, plus a breathtaking view of the river and the duomo. No photos of the Pitti from this trip, because there was no time to visit it. You’ll just have to take my word for it that it was grand.
But I digress. Back to the Piazza Della Signoria . In front of the “starter home” is a replica of Michelangelo’s David. The original was moved from there to the protection of the Academia, but it was not initially created for that plaza. Instead, it was supposed to be placed on the facade of the Duomo. Fernanda explained that was why the hands are so enormous. When viewed from below, the hands would be correctly proportioned.

Formulating his Goliath slaying strategy

There are lots of other wonderful sculptures, but my favorite is below–the rape of the Sabine women.

We had considered visiting a museum during our free time. Instead, we decided to take Anna’s advice not to succumb to “Stendhal Syndrome” and become over saturated with culture.
After a fantastic lunch at Boccadama, Mike and I stopped for gelato, then wandered up an alley near the church of Santa Croce to visit Italian Loves, a wonderful little shop.
The proprietor allows you to sample his wares. You can taste the olive oil, the balsamic vinegar and the wine. I was deeply regretting having a gelato BEFORE visiting Italian Loves. What to do? Why, buy a little of everything. Those near and dear to me know what THAT means. Yes, there just MAY be a gift in your future.

Yes, that wine was wonderful-and yes, we have already polished it off

Although my BLOG is only on our second day in Tuscany, WE are actually in Sorrento. The problem with posts lagging well behind the visits is one can get confused. Particularly when that “one” is me. If you are following my posts, true confession time. We didn’t stop at the American cemetery after our feast at Giuseppe’s Pianciorciano Cheese Factory. It was after this visit to Florence, which is only important if you want to find the cemetery. You’d have a hell of a time if you were looking in the Radicofani area, because it is located between Florence and Chianciano Terme. Ah well. Accuracy is a small price to pay for all the wine drinking and cafe sitting done instead of blogging, right?

“A Joy That’s Shared is a Joy Made Double”

Nothing would have made me happier than to have all my favorite people with me on this trip. Although I was unsuccessful in recruiting all of you (not from lack of trying), I DID manage to convince our good friends, Owen and Shirley to “double our joy”. For those of you that are making the journey with us via this blog (especially my sister, Sue, who refuses to fly), I’m so glad to have you riding along.
Now, back to our first full day in Tuscany. After Radicofani, we made our way to Giuseppi’s (Pepe’s) sheep farm. Unfortunately, according to Pepe the sheep had a “party” five months ago, which resulted in a lot of very pregnant sheep, so for a reason I have since forgotten (but was definitely connected to the party) the sheep were all in the barn. Too bad. It would no doubt have made for a lovely photo op. Instead, the photo at the top of this post just shows you the picturesque fields. Take a look at the lengths I go to so you don’t have cars or garbage cans cluttering up your view.

Back to the sheep that we didn’t see. They are Sardinian sheep, because that breed produces the milk that makes the VERY best pecorino cheese. In case you haven’t guessed, Pepe and his family are from Sardinia. Like Silvana, Pepe was highly amusing and quite informative.

Of course we had to sample some of that wonderful cheese. Eight different kinds. Washed down with wine, accompanied by prosciutto and salami and bread.

According to the official itinerary, we were done for the day, but Anna had a little surprise for us. We stopped at a cemetery for Americans killed during World War II, just in time for a brief lecture about the military campaign, the men buried there and the MIA. After taps, the flag was lowered. A very sobering experience, especially given the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It made me think about the differences: WWII was the pain and sacrifice was shared by all. The recent wars are so very different. A small percentage of our population is giving so much, while the rest of us go about our normal lives.

Normally I like to end on an upbeat note, but for this post all I can say is “Thanks for your service”.

Chianciano Terme–“The place to cure your liver”

That’s right. That’s the slogan for Chianciano Terme, our home for the next six days. Although my liver doesn’t need to be cured–at least not yet, if it ever ails me, I’m definitely coming back to this sweet Tuscan hill town. Twenty years ago, before socialized medicine stopped covering spa treatments, people came here for a week or two to drink and soak in the mineral waters. One hopes they were not drinking the water they were sitting in, but who knows? For some reason, once the treatments were no longer free, business dropped off dramatically, so now it is a much quieter place, which suits us just fine.

Our family owned and operated hotel is cute and comfortable. If you are wondering why I am including the following photo, it is because the shutter visible on the top of the door to the balcony rolls up and down with the press of a button, just like a garage door opener.

I don’t know why, but I find that enchanting.

This time, we didn’t win the room assignment sweepstakes. Our balcony overlooks the parking lot, while those on the other side view the rolling hills. But no matter. Our bus rides offer us views aplenty.

The first half of our trip focuses on hilltop towns of Tuscany. First up is the lovely hilltop town of Radicofani, a stopping place for pilgrims enroute to Rome.

Here’s Anna, our wonderful guide, pointing out the Pilgrim icon on the side of one of the buildings.

Ghino di Tacco, Radicofani’s most famous resident made his living robbing those pilgrims, but he did it with class. He made sure he left the poor ones enough to eat. But still, he was a robber. So how come he is immortalized with a statue on the outskirts of town?

All was forgiven after he kidnapped an Abbott, who had digestive problems (perhaps on his way to Chianciano Terme to get a liver tune up?). Instead, after living on bread, water and dried beans, the Abbott was miraculously cured of whatever ailed him, was released, made his way to Rome, and convinced the pope to make Ghino a knight of the Order of St. John. Who says crime doesn’t pay?

Here are a few more images of this hidden gem of a town.

One of the many reasons I’m loving this tour with Grand Circle is because of the experiences I never would have had if we were on our own. Silvana is one of those experiences. We stopped for a snack at her shop. Silvana not only fed us, she kept us entertained with a monologue (translated by Anna) that Jerry Seinfeld would have envied.

Anna, our fantastic tour guide, and Radicofani's delightful shopkeeper. — Anna with Silvana, Radicofani’s stand up comic. Check out those pastries!

Silvana is the youngest resident of Radicofani. Her 78 year old mama is still working, taking care of 5 of her “elderly” neighbors.

Mama, saying hello from the window over the shop.

Our trip to the sheep farm will have to wait till tomorrow, or I’ll never get this post finished!

The Eternal City

Our first trip with Grand Circle is off to an amazing start! After an uneventful flight (and these days, uneventful is about as good as it gets), we were met at baggage claim by a Grand Circle representative who escorted us through the airport to meet our driver. What a pleasure not to have to hang around the airport waiting for other travelers to arrive.

Although we hit big city morning traffic, our driver took some “sneaky roads” that not only got us to the hotel quickly, but also gave us a little extra tour of the eternal city.

Anna, our tour director, was waiting in the lobby to greet us. When I expressed surprise at her American accent, she explained that she learned English in the USA. She IS Italian (and Greek), but it turns out her dad was a “rocket scientist” who worked on the lunar rover in Huntsville, Alabama. No, she did not have an Alabama accent. And despite graduating from Harvard, she doesn’t have a Boston accent.

Before the trip began, Anna had communicated with us via email, asking what we particularly wanted to see and do during our time in Italy. Although the group is big, (42 travelers), we are already experiencing the kind of attention you get with a much smaller group.

Much to my amazement, we weren’t tired after our overnight flight, so Anna gave us a map, marked the places we wanted to visit, gave us great directions and off we went.

The Hotel Albani is close to the Borghese garden, so we strolled through it on our way to the Museo Dell’Ara Pacis, one of the “not to be missed” places on Mike’s list.

The birthday boy, doing his Borghese prince imitation.

Anna directed us to an overlook that provided a fantastic panoramic view of the city.

And now a close up of the statue in the square

But today wasn’t just museums and statues. We also people watched. I continue to be fascinated by the ability of women to navigate cobblestone streets in unbelievable footwear.

After a late lunch at a sidewalk cafe, and a detour to the Spanish Steps, we hiked back to the hotel for a quick nap and a peek at CNN for an update on the pope’s visit in Washington DC. Time to meet the rest of our group for an introductory drink.

Happy Birth Month to You!

Mike has a milestone birthday this year, and what better way to celebrate than with Italian food, wine and scenery? I couldn’t quite get the trip scheduled so that we would be in Italy on the actual date, but then we have never been good at following calendars.

In the past, I just used to declare that according to the Mayan calendar, the date was really—-and fill in the blank with whatever date we were celebrating.

But then I thought why not start for a new tradition? Instead of Birth Day, why not celebrate Birth Month? Think about it–you would have a full month to schedule that special event. The odds that you could find a day that would allow everyone to attend just increased 30 fold, except, of course, for those born in February. Sorry.

It is especially helpful for those of us that left the Homeland (Massachusetts) for the Hinterlands (New Jersey). My family has sorta gotten used to my inability to be calendar bound, although I DO usually get the month right. Anybody ready to join the Birth/Anniversary Month movement?

To celebrate Mike’s birth-month, we will be wandering through Tuscany, ending up in Sorrento. This will be our first trip with Grand Circle, a sister company of Overseas Adventure Travel. Although the group is a bit larger than we normally choose, we liked the itinerary, which has us plopped in two towns, each for one week. Another selling point was the number of optional trips, so we can stay with the group, or choose to strike out on our own, should we feel the need.

The best part? Our good friends, Shirley and Owen, will be on the tour.

We arrive in Rome, then head for a town I never knew existed, and whose name I am probably mispronouncing: Chianciano. It will be our base for a week, as we explore the other Tuscany towns shown on the map above.

Our second week will be in Sorrento, a great base for all of the incredible area attractions.

We already received a lovely welcome note from our guide, Anna (pronounced like Donna, without the D) Costes, full of helpful information. She very kindly responded to my questions about our day trip to Florence. We are off to a great start!

Memories…

Today’s snowfall looks like it could actually amount to something. The trees toppled by hurricane Sandy, lying every which way on the ground, might create some interesting sculptures.

Mr. and Mrs Cardinal are wisely loading up at the bird feeder. If the flakes keep falling, it might be a while before the feeder filler (otherwise known as Mike) gets back out there.

So, what’s a girl to do as she hunkers down for some serious indoor time? Why, start looking through photos of days filled with sun and fun. And, having just seen several of my Villa Buddies over Christmas –Diane, Karen, Denise, Emily, Wayne and Sandy– (We missed you, Greg and Sally!), I decided to take a trip down Memory Lane, all the way back to July, by reliving one of our day trips.

We had heard so much about Cinque Terra, we decided to venture forth from our villa to explore a couple of the five seaside villages.

The Lucca tourist office offers a series of regularly scheduled day trips, however the Cinque Terra trip wasn’t scheduled for the day we wanted. Instead, the tourist office helped us find a far better alternative: a private tour. Our driver, Wolfgang, picked us up at our villa, drove us to the ferry in Portovenere, got us our ferry tickets and an itinerary, then met us at the end of the day in Monterrosso, to return us to the villa.

Of course, we COULD have managed this on our own, but that would have meant driving in two separate cars, figuring out parking, the ferry schedule, taking a round trip ferry ride–nothing tremendously difficult, but the driving had fallen to the one person willing to brave the Italian roads, and it was time to give Diane a break.

We drove through La Spezia, the cruise ship port for those cruisers bound for Cinque Terra, on our way to Porto Venere, a cute little seaside town. We had just enough time for a cappuccino and pastry before boarding the ferry.

It was the perfect ferry ride: warm, with a cool breeze, clear skies, with spectacular views along the way. We could see the cultivated fields stretching up the side of the mountains.

I wouldn’t want to have to plant and weed THOSE gardens!

As you can see, stone was quite plentiful, and incorporated into the seaside buildings.

Why is it that even laundry looks picturesque in Italy?

P1040087_2 — Manarola’s bathing beauties

There was only time for a quick stroll up into the town, (and I do mean UP), then it was time to board the next ferry for our last stop, Monterrosso. We were told there is a hiking trail between the villages, but given that we were now in our lazy phase of the trip, decided to take the easy method of transportation. The trip UP into town may have helped us make that decision.

This village had an actual beach, with umbrellas and chairs for rent.

I, however, was more interested in this lovely alcoholic version of iced coffee. I got all of the benefits of the beach, without sand in my seat, or sunburned shoulders.

And since today is a day for looking through photos, I decided to include a couple from a trip Mike and I had taken in 2004 to Portofino, another seaside village further up the coast. Like Cinque Terra, the houses were sherbet colored, built tightly together.

It too was lovely, and for THAT trip, we actually DID stroll along the hillside trail. Take a look.

Come a little closer…

Although it lacked a beach, there was plenty to see on that day trip.

Ah, Italy– something tells me I’ll be back!

I Love a Parade

We were fortunate enough to be in Lucca during a festival. Several nights worth of parades with costumes, music, flags, scary weaponry…who could ask for anything more?

One question: What do you think would be more difficult–tossing and catching flags, or marching with a flag covering your face? These guys were masters at both.

True confession time: i just learned that WordPress will arrange photos into a collage, so I had to give it a try. Pretty cool, huh? And very easy–at least from my home computer.

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