Adventures with Julia

The Safari Adventure begins – 1/16-19/24

At 9am Kenneth arrived at the Guest House to take us on the first leg of our safari journey. He is a driver for The Uganda safari Company, which is handling our travels through Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He had been our driver during our stay in Uganda in 2018 and it was nice to see him again. He drove us north through Kihihi and Queen Elizabeth National Park to a put in at Katunguru, where we transferred to a 17 foot motor boat.

In 20 minutes we arrived at Honey Bear Bush Camp. We were greeted by the camp crew, including Jonathan Wright, the owner of the camp and a friend. Our first meeting with Jonathan was 22 years ago when he guided us through a couple of parks in Uganda and took us to his home in Kampala to meet his wife and children. That is when the friendship really began. From there he guided us through Queen Elizabeth National Park us to Mweye Lodge, where we met up with Scott and Carol. Two years later when we returned to Uganda he took us to a new concession he was developing in far NE Uganda, called Kidepo. It was not yet open, but there was a skeleton crew who cooked for us and made up a room for us to sleep. We toured around the area with him and saw animals, a little village nearby called Lorokul, and the unfinished remains of a hotel Idi Amin had started. In 2014, we were in Uganda again. We landed in Entebbe and were transferred to Jonathans new home in the outskirts of Kampala. After an overnight visiting with him, we spent a night at a lodge called Wild Waters, where the source of the Nile departs from Lake Victoria on its way to Alexandria and the Mediterranian. Now we were seeing him again for the first time in 10 years. After a hearty greeting we were taken to our bush camp cottage, complete with an outdoor bathroom and an elevated bucket with holes in it for a shower.

We were right at home. For three days we went on game drives and boat excursions to see animals and birds as well as thousands of hippos, some of whom came through camp each night to get to their grazing fields. Each day we had early morning coffee, followed by a game drive coffee break about 10am, lunch in camp about 2pm, sundowners at 5pm on drives or boating excursions and dinner in camp at about 8-8:30pm. It was too much food and too late to eat for me, but we braved it out rather than be impolite.

As the camp was on the Kazinga Channel with water everywhere, so that made for great elephant, hippo and bird watching, all of which I could look at and listen to for hours. One time we even encountered a 3 foot green snake swimming near the boat. It was very pretty. We had two incredible game drive experiences.

The first was a drive up into the foothills of the Rwenzori mountains to see several craters that were all linked together and had erupted only 7,000 years ago. We drove around the ridge of several of them and looked into densely wooded craters or crater lakes. Some of the lakes contained fresh water and had lovely reflections and others were extremely saline and used to collect salt. It was a very scenic drive.

The other game drive was to look for lions and leopards with a research scientist who brought a tracking device. He shared his efforts with us. The scientists track lions until they are able to collar a few of each. Then they followed the collared animals to learn what they were doing. He told us he had 3 lions tagged with collars. Once we got in the area where he expected the lions to be, he got out his tracking device and homed in on the animals. He was always successful and we found the lions asleep in the grass with full bellies. I doubt that we would ever have seen them if not for the tracking device.

The grass was quite tall. The tracker did not tell us what he was looking for. He just kept using his machine and telling the driver when, how much, and where to turn. Finally he had the vehicle stop and told us the animal was 5 feet in front of us. None if us could see anything but grass. Finally the animal moved a tiny bit and we could just make out a leopard. It was very exciting to see it through the dense grass. That was a real treat.

Other activities included a walk through Jonathan’s new, River Station camp, an unfinished, upscale camp near Honey Bear Bush Camp. It will offer guests a choice of style, comfort and price. Jonathan is doing the same thing at Murchison Falls. He currently operates a bush camp in the Murchison Falls area and will now add an upscale option there as well. The last activity I especially enjoyed was a slow boat ride from camp looking for birds. Several I have observed include: Pied and Woodland Kingfishers, Striated Heron, Great White Egret, Grey-headed Kingfisher, Little Bee-Eater, European Bee-Eater and a Crested Crane.

January 19, 2024

Had a relaxed morning and departed Honey Bear Camp at 11am by boat for Katunguru, 20 minutes away. Then drove 25 minutes, stopping midway for a herd of buffalo to pass, to Kasese airport, where we waited until 1pm for a Caravan to arrive.

The flight to Kidepo was an uneventful 2.5 hours through continuous haze, diagonally from SW to NE Uganda. The drive to Jonathan’s Kidepo camp, Apoka, was about 25 minutes. Once there we settled into our very nice bungalow, complete with a normal, indoor shower and an outdoor bathtub. There was even a swimming pool.

Bwindi Community Hospital – 1/12-16, 2024

Uganda, the DRC and Ethiopia – Jan-Feb, 2024

This adventure starts in SW Uganda where the Bwindi Community Hospital (BCH) will be celebrating the ground-breaking of the new Dental/Vision Clinic on January 15, 2024. Mark and I will be joining our local, Nevada County team for the ceremony and a few days of fun. The hospital, referred to as BCH, just celebrated its 20th anniversary since Dr. Scott and Carol Kellermann started helping the Batwa people with malaria and other common ailments. Then, a large ficus tree served as the hospital ward. Today the facility is a fully staffed 155 bed hospital serving an area of 120,000 people including the Batwa, who were driven out of their home in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in 1992 to protect the mountain gorilla. Our team for this event consists of Dr. Scott Kellerman, Dr. Jean Creasey, Dr. Sarah Warner, Mark and myself. There are no dental or vision facilities for hundreds of miles, so this will add major services for the population.

Some of you may know Scott and Carol and the work that they have done in Bwindi during the last 20 years. Please bear with me as I bring those of you who are not familiar up to speed. Scott was invited to do a study of the Batwa in the late 90’s and learned of the desperate straights the Batwa were in when they were driven from the forest, where they had lived as hunter-gatherers for millennia and had their own techniques for securing and preparing food, for creating cover from the elements, for using forest herbs for medical needs, and especially for enjoying life through singing and dancing in the forest. Scott and Carol really connected with the people through singing and dancing. They made the decision to move to Uganda, live among the Batwa and minister to the people, especially their health needs. They sold their practice in Nevada City, left their home and went to live in Uganda in 2001. Once there, they built a small house for themselves, bought a white Range Rover, painted a blue cross on it, filled it with medical supplies and headed out into the countryside. Wherever they stopped people would come out of the forest to get help. I know this because Mark and I went to visit them in 2002 and traveled around with them in the ambulance.

It was quite an eye opener to see a couple hundred people appear out of nowhere and wait patiently to be seen and helped. Carol’s job was to provide wound care for anyone with cuts or sores, while Scott tended to more complex problems like malaria, HIV and other diseases. He used a huge ficus tree as shade cover and hooks to hang the IV’s on. That tree has since become famous for being Scott’s first hospital ward.

Below is a gorilla we saw along the trail. Below that is a group of Batwa dancing to drum beating and singing in the forest.

In 2004 we went back again to visit Scott and Carol and the scene was pretty much the same, except their local language skills had improved, and they were dispensing medicines more effectively, solving medical problems more readily, and dancing and praying a lot with the locals. They had also managed to get enough money donated to build a small clinic for anyone who needed help and could get there.

Years went by before Mark and I would get back to Uganda. We missed much activity. Scott had raised a lot of money through his rotary connections, and several structures had been built and many people from around the world came and continued to come to assist Scott and Carol. A hospital grew out of the ground as doctors, nurses and volunteers came to work and improve the services. A guest house was built as well as housing for staff and volunteers. A maternity ward was funded and built, as was a nursing school, an operating theater and wards for recovering patients. Even a chapel was built. We learned that a ward to provide improved accommodation for recovering surgery patients was needed, so Mark and I donated funds and arrived in Bwindi in 2016 in time to dedicate what was named the Primary Ward. There was only one floor however and it was hoped that a second floor would be added. The left photo is the unfinished first floor. The right photo shows the finished 2 story Premium Ward. In the center, is the leveled ground in preparation for the Intensive Care Unit.

Two years later, in 2018, Mark and I were back at BCH with Scott, Jean Creasey, Mimi Simmons, Phil Rubble, Michael and Amy Shane, Al and Lynne Dover and Larry Faller and his daughter Marleen Becker.

We had been in Bwindi a few days and on the last day we were standing on a hillside overlooking the hospital and discussing Scott’s dreams. He wanted to see the Premium Ward finished and the ICU designed and built on the sight where we were standing. Scott is a very persuasive fellow. Mimi and Phil surprised us all by agreeing to pay for the second floor of the Primary Ward. Shortly thereafter, everyone in the group made a commitment for whatever they could toward building the ICU. As a group we finished funding the construction in 2021. The left photo is the front entrance to the ICU and the right photo shows the bulk of the building with the popular outdoor dining area upstairs.

Five years later, we are finally getting back to Bwindi to see the finished and fully utilized ICU and to do the ground-breaking for another facility, the Bwindi Dental/Vision Clinic. A dental clinic has been the dream of Jean Creasey’s for many years so it is wonderful that she will be with us for the ceremony. The vision clinic is the dream of Stacey Lippert, who heads up Hope Alliance, an organization that provides basic vision care at the BCH. She is from Park CIty, Utah, but unable to attend. Mark and I are thrilled to be able to bring this vision of theirs, and the whole Bwindi community, to fruition.

This photo shows much of the hospital grounds including the ICU on the right.

Here are a collection of photos from our 2018 trip.

The girl in the photo with Mark and me is our godchild, Juliana. The girl just above with me is a Batwa Mark and I are sponsoring through school. Her name is Anivious. The large group is the staff in prayer at the beginning of the work day.

We leave home Tuesday, January 9, and we are very much looking forward to the adventure. Below is a map of Africa. The Bwindi Community Hospital is in a small town called Bahoma in the far south west corner of Uganda. It is just north of Rwanda and east of the DRC. The continental USA would fit comfortable in West Africa.

The image above is a closeup of the area where the dense forest is located and the gorillas dwell. Next to the forest is the village of Buhoma with the Bwindi Community Hospital nearby. The populated and cultivated area north and west of Buhoma is clear. The line indicates the border of Uganda with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

January 9, 2024 – 2:36 pm Categories: 2024 Uganda, DRC and Ethiopia, Adventures | Post a comment

Tagged africa, gorillas, national-park, travel, uganda |

Three days in Florence

Saturday, October 8 through Thursday, October 12, 2023

We had a very relaxing morning to end our 6 days at the Iniala Harbour House in Valletta, Malta. Our next adventure was to Florence after a 1.5 hour flight. I was not ready to leave Malta, as we had enjoyed the islands so much. Did I tell you Malta is smaller than Lake Tahoe? It is only 17 miles long and 9 miles wide. Anyway, it was time to go so we went. We arrived in our next hotel room at the Hotel Lungarno by later afternoon and settled in. Our room was much smaller than the rooms in Malta, but we had a lovely location near the Pointe Vecchio Bridge on the Arno River. We had no car and were glad that everything we wanted to visit was in walking distance. After walking up and down so many hills and stairs in Malta, it was nice to be on level streets in a flat city. My body appreciated the change.

On the morning of the 9th, w were picked up by a driver, Ewan, whose task it was to take us to a small wooded village where we were to go truffle hunting. The idea sounded like fun to us so off we went. Ewan drove us on what is known as the scenic wine trail, SR 222, between Florence and Siena. Along the way we passed by a cemetery . Ewan told us it was a cemetery for American soldiers who died in the world wars. He agreed to stop and let us walk around. The place was pretty and peaceful. Yet it was sad to see so many buried so far from home. It was called the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial.

We continued on to Greve in Chianti, the town near a villa we had rented for 2 weeks in 2000. We remembered the town and were happy to revisit it. We checked out a few meat shops selling cured meats such as prosciutto and cured pork. It was of more interest to Mark than to me. I was content to wander around.

We did buy a cappuccino and then drove on to the village of Montefiorelle to meet the person who was to take us truffle hunting. It turned out to be a woman named Letitia and her dog. We learned that there are 7 different kinds of truffle. Black ones can be cultivated, but white ones only grow wild. To get a license to be a truffle hunter she had to take a course and pass an exam. She must also have a trained dog for the job. She introduced us to her dog, who was gentle and friendly, and told us he was a good truffle hunter. Then we wandered into the woods near Montefiorelle, where she let the dog off the leash. She told us the dog does most of the work of sniffing out the truffles and she digs them out of the fairy hard ground. Apparently conditions are not very good at the moment as there had been a long drought, but she was hopeful. I thought we were supposed to go on the hunt with her, but she asked us to stay on the road while she and the dog did the work. We got bored and wondered what we were supposed to be doing as our part of the truffle hunt.

Eventually she came up to the road with what looked like a small, old, dried out, white truffle. I actually wondered if she really unearthed it while in the woods without us or just pulled it out of her pocket. I did not ask. Instead we all went back to town to a shop where she shaved a few slices from the truffle, sprinkled them with truffle oil, salt and pepper and let us taste the slices. They did have a nice flavor. We thanked her for her service, gave her a tip and headed to a restaurant waiting to serve us a truffle filled lunch. Each course had truffles in it and we enjoyed them all.

After lunch, Ewan drove us to a castle-like palace in a village called Passignano. The castle was named Castelo Bella Paneratta. The tower was built in the 13th century. The house was built in the 15th century by the Vettori family. The current family, the Albisetis, bought the property in 1984. The owners have 300 hectares of land including 23 in vines and 20 in olives. They sell 100,000 bottles of wine a year. We were shown the public rooms, including the painted ceiling in the main room in the house and then the underground wine storage before tasting some of their wines and buying a case, which they shipped home for us.

The 15th century castle with the 13 century tower

Ewan then drove us back to our hotel and said good bye. It had been an interesting day. We walked over the Vecchio Bridge and around the neighborhood and had dinner in a nearby restaurant. The streets were still full of people.

Tuesday, October 10, 2023

This was our day to see David and we were looking forward to spending time with him. Our guide for the day was a delightful young woman named Alicia. She gave us a lot of history on the walk to David.

The Ponte Vecchio Bridge, near our hotel, was built in the 14th century and survived WWII and the flood of 1966. It originally was the street of butchers and meat sellers, but the Medici’s, who traveled regularly across the bridge between their two palaces, the Patti Palace and the Uffizi Gallerie built in 1560-80 as a government building, hated the smell and changed the vendors to gold sellers. Easy for the Medici’s, who basically owned control of the city. They did not have noble blood, but were bankers in the city and eventually became bankers to the popes. Papal troops surrounded the city in 1532 in an attempt to turn it into a monarchy. The siege lasted 9 months and eventually one of the Medici’s became Duke of Florence. This first Duke was an illegitimate son of the Pope. He was a very arrogant tyrant named Alexander who did not last long. In 1527 another Medici became Duke, Cosimo I. He started in Florence but expanded his territory and, in 30 years, became Grand Duke after conquering all the city-states in the territory of Tuscany. He was a great leader and added much wealth to the Medici family. He also had books translated from Greek into Latin, which caused the beginning of the Renaissance. Few people could read including the Medici’s and he hired scholars to teach them to read Latin. The Medici’s remained Grand Dukes for 200 years until the last one died in 1743. The most famous last Duke was a Duchess named Ana Maria Luisa, who had no children and gifted all the extensive Medici property to the city, on the condition that all the contents of her property must stay in the city of Florence.

Duchess Ana Maria Luisa, the last Medici

Meanwhile, Leonardo De Vinci lived from 1452-1519 and Michaelangelo lived from 1475- 1564. During these years Florence was a Republic.

Our first stop was the Piazza Santa Croce, where the Basilica di Santa Croce is located. It’s neogothic facade is quite grand from the outside and the gothic interior even more grand on the inside, where we found the tombs of Galileo, Michael Angelo, Machiavelli, Rossini, and Danti, although Danti’s is empty. There is a statue dated 1870 above the grave of Freedom of Speech, by A G.B. Niccolini, who wrote theater dramas. It looks very much like the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.

After leaving the Basilica, we stopped for a break. Then on to the next piazza and the huge Duomo, Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral, which was built during the late 3rd century and completed in 1436. The facade is made of white, green and red marble, which has faded. It is the 4th largest cathedral in Europe. To climb to the top takes 464 steps, a feat I had no desire to try. We did not go into the building as we had tickets to see David in the Galleria del Academia.

David is 16 feet tall, weighs 5 tons and is the result of Michael Angelo’s imagination. Michael Angelo worked on David from 1501-1504 when he was 26-29 years olds. He lived with the Medici’s for 5 years from the age of 13 to 18 while he studied cadavers. Then he worked in Rome from the age of 21 and completed his Pieta when he was 25. Then he moved back to Florence.

After leaving the Gallery, we had lunch at Trattoria la Casalinga. It was a very nice meal that Alicia had recommended. Then we walked to the Borgoli Gardens in the Patti Palace, which had been purchased by the wife of Cosimo I, a Spanish noblewoman named Elanora, in 1549.

Grand Duke Casimo I in 1568. He looks to the right because he is crosseyed.

Duchess Eleanor Cosimo 1522-62 and son Giovanni in 1545. Notice the rich brocade fabric Elenore is wearring.

She hired the garden to be made for her own pleasure. The garden is very vertical. We did not get to the level top until we had climbed several hundred steps through very tired spaces. The view was very nice from the top.

It had been a long day with much information and many steps and stairs. The fewest steps to dinner was our hotel so we had a simple meal at an outdoor table overlooking the river and went to bed.

Wednesday, October 11, 2023

It was our last full day on this trip and our guide was another dynamo like Alicia. Her name was Monika and she wasted no time getting us up to speed. She told us the name Firenze was given by Julius Caesar and the lily is the symbol of Florence, the city of luxury goods. We walked around a corner from our hotel and found ourselves in on a deserted alley. This she said was where a synagogue used to be. There used to be 370,000 jews in Florence, which had the largest and one of the most influential Jewish communities in Italy. but they were decimated by the Nazis. There are only about 1400 jews left in Florence. They started arriving through Rome in 59 BC and began to increase as they prospered. They began the process of making brocades and other products. In 1437 they were invited by Cosimo I to do money lending. In 1865 Florence was elected capital of the new Republic of Italy and Jews were given Italian citizenship and built a new synagogue.

We left the alley and Monika introduced us to a gold smith shop and a paper making workshop and we purchased items in both places. That was a surprise as I had not planned to do any shopping.

We also visited a mosaic making workshop, Scarpelli Mosaics, which has been in business since 1972. The stone carvers make their own tools. It was very interesting to watch as young women painstakingly designed and cut the stone to make images with mosaic patterns.

First the right piece of tile is selected fora mosaic

We took a break and Monika bought us a gelato treat.

Then we visited the Medici Chapel, where many of them are buried. It was Casimo I’s idea to have a special burial place for the Medici’s. The underground crypt was for average Medici’s and the upstairs intended for the Grand Dukes. The mosaic work in the building is mostly muted Jasper stone, as appropriate to honor the dead. As it has turned out, only 2 grand dukes are buried here. Others died elsewhere and never made it here, so their tombs are empty. The building is exquisitely detailed and designed like the parthenon in Rome.

In the nearby New Sacristy are 2 important works by Michelangelo that he carved between 1524 and 1534, when he abruptly departed Florence for Rome. The New Sacristy was never completed. Two side wall tombs he did complete are the Tomb of Guiliano de Medici with larger than life marble sculptures of Night and Day and the Tomb of Lorenzo Il de Medici, which has sculptures of Dusk and Dawn. Both of these men were in the military, which explains the sculptures of them above the tombs.

Finely, we reached the Uffizi Gallery to see the art inside. It was built between 1570 and 1590 and became a government office building when the Hapsburgs took over the facility. Monika had a plan to show us the highlights of the museum without burning us out. We agreed to go with her plan and actually made it through the museum in under an hour and a half. The collections represents the evolution of western art from the 1200’s through the 1600’s–from the gothic through the baroque. We will be looking for: 1 Michelangelo; 3 de Vinci’s; 2 Botticelli’s; 4 Rafael’s; 3 Caravaggio’s; 2 Titian’s ; 2 Rembrandt’s and 1 Reuben. ere are some of the works she directed us to consider.

1423– Adoration of the 3 wise men. by Filipo Sarozzi. It is the first signed and dated art in history. Has 18 karat gold frame.

1450-60–Madonna, Child, and Angel by Filipino Lippi.

1485, The Spring by Botticelli. It was a wedding present to a Medici. Not religious. Spring is presenting Venus to the 3 nymphs with cupid watching. Flower petals are sprinkled on the ground

1490– Venus.–commissioned by a Medici and is the first naked female sculpture.

1480–The Birth of Venus by Botticelli.

Madonna, Jesus and John the Baptist

The Dream

Cosimo’s young son

1538–Venus of Urbino. A Medici bride preparing for her wedding

Madusa seeing himself in the mirror and Bacchus on a drinking spree. 1597–Caravaggio. Medusa reinterpreted here switch the eyes wide open in horror and the mouth frozen in a cry of revulsion, the writhing tangle of serpents seemingly at odds with the drastically severed neck.

1521–Rafael’s portrait of an angel playing a lute.

1619-20–Adoration of the Child, by Gherardo Delle Notti

2 Rembrandt paintings in the Uffizi Gallerie

a whole week to compose. We hope you enjoy the post. It has taken us a whole week to compose and I have not been well a couple of the days. We have fond memories of our week at the Villa and hope that you do too. Blessings and good health to everyone.

Julia and Mark

October 19, 2023 – 1:49 pm Categories: Adventures | Comments (6)

A day in Gozo

Sunday October 8, 2023

We were all excited to go to Gozo. We had heard so many good things about the island. Catherine and her driver, Herbert,who hav e been showing us around the countryside all week, picked us up at the hotel and drove the short distance to the pier where we drove onto the ferry, left the car and went upstairs to watch.

The ride to Gozo took only 20 minutes and was very smooth sailing, but not much to see. Back in the car, we were soon off the ferry and headed for the neolithic temples. The countryside was very similar to what we had seen on Malta with gentle rolling hills. However, the landscape was not as fertile or green and there are few villages. More desert like. On the way we passed an unexpected structure in a town called Xewkija. It is a church built by the knights of St John and it is called the Church of St John the Baptist. It is renowned for its majestic rotunda. We drove by, but did not stop.

Church of St John the Baptist in Xewkija, Goza

We drove on to Ggantija Temples near the middle of the island. At 3600 BC, they are the oldest free standing structure in the world. This UNESCO World Heritage site is 1000 years older than Stonehenge of the Pyramids at Giza. It was only after the site was excavated that the remains were dated to the Neolithic.

After having the temples we drove to the coast to see the Xwejni salt pans still in use.

From there we drove back to the center of the island to visit the Citadel or Citedella as it is known. It was first fortified during the Bronze Age, and later by the Phoenicians and the Romans until it was a complex Acropolis. Up until the 18th century it was the only fortified refuge against attack for the inhabitants of the island.

Inside the basilica the main alter looks a bit like St Peter’s in Rome. The church is very decorated and painted.

We left the Citadel and were happy to get out into the countryside for a picnic provided by a local lady. She presented the food and left us alone for over an hour. It was delicious and welcome.

We stoped at the beach in Victoria for a foot in the Mediterranean

Back at the Iniala Harbour House we enjoyed our last night in the room and said good bye to Mimi and Phil, who were leaving at 4 in the morning. Our departure was not until the afternoon of the 9th so we were able to relax before heading to Florence for our last 4 nights.

We could see the canon go off from our room at the Iniala. Nice parting touch.

October 15, 2023 – 3:52 pm Categories: 2023 Sept-Oct: Italy/Sicily/Malta, Adventures | Post a comment

Off to Mdina and other activities on Malta

Thursday, October 5, 2023

At 9am the 4 of us met our guide for the day and got into a van for a drive through the countryside. We learned that the country was first formed 7000 years ago due to the existence of a land bridge at that time.

By about 2000 BC man arrived, as evidenced by pottery shards found. Today the population is only half a million. It feels like many more due to the tourists, who arrive on huge ships on a frequent basis. In 218 BC Malta became part of the Roman Empire and remained connected to Rome until 500 AD when the Empire collapsed. We drove to Mdina in the middle of the island to see the original capital of Malta. It is the high point on the island and was a thriving community. The story is that the country became christianized in 69 AD when St Paul survived a ship wreck on the shores of Malta. By the time the Arabs arrived in 890 AD, the island had been thoroughly christianized. They demolished Roman buildings, killed or enslaved the citizens and abandoned the islands. Very few people remained. By 940 AD the islands had been repopulated by muslim Sicilians. By 1121 the Muslim Arabs were told to convert to christianity or leave. The Arabs made Mdina the small, fortified and noble town that it is today. In 1530 the Knights of St John arrived and took over the town. The earthquake in 1693 destroyed the city. The then current Grand master of the knights, Manoel de Vinhena, paid to restore the area and build a castle for himself in 1724. He was long lived and did many good deeds for the community.

THe government building with the crest of the great Grand Master

Driving through the countryside, we saw many fewer people, and the scenery was lovely with gentle rolling hills covered with fruit trees, fields of vegetables and conifer trees, interspersed with small, charming, old villages.

Once on foot, we entered through the gates of the Old fortified city of Mdina (which means fortified) and wandered through the streets admiring the Baroque, Norman and Arabic touches on many of the old buildings. The streets, meant for horses, were very narrow and winding . The town was very small, with only 250+ residents. There were few shops and cafe’s, which added to the charm for me. We were invited into the home, Palazzo del Prelato, of a Noble family that had occupied the property for over 200 years. A young, well dressed, family member, Michael Lanfranco, showed us the house, and told us about the furnishings and the art as well as the the faces hanging on the walls, all of whom were his relatives. He took us up to the roof for a good city view. The place was obviously lived in as we saw a BBQ grill sitting on the roof. He did not, however, serve us any food.

ILooking at the ceiling in St Paul’s Church

After wandering around Mdina awhile, we drove into the very pretty countryside to a co-op farm that makes its own wine and oil and raises animals as well as fruits and vegetables. It was a charming, jumbled place on 5 acres of hillside. The owner, Charles and his wife, Belle, welcomed us with open arms. They bought the property in 2000 and have been working it every day ever since. They eventually developed a co-op of 27 farmers like themselves. They agree it is hard work, but they love what they do. Bringing in some tourism has helped with expenses. Then they layed out a very nice spread of all the fruits of their labor. We ate and drank vey well. Finally, it was time to go. They bid us a fond god bye.

After lunch we went to the Hypogeum to see the underground temples. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any photos, so I bought a book and took photos of some of the pages. Will have to do. While waiting to get into the Hypogeum we saw a large poster that Catherine told us was of her daughter. What a surprise. They do look alike.

Catherine and her daughter posing in the advertisement

The largest room in the underground Hypogeum.

A small statuete of 2 people sitting on a sofa like piece of furniture

After we left the very impressive Hypogeum, we went directly back to the hotel. I was sorry we could not take photos in the Hypogeum, but understand the need to protect the underground system from too much humidity . The belief is that the rooms were mostly used for burial of decomposed remains. It is believed that over 7000 people were buried in the pits of the various rooms after partially decomposing. Unfortunately, houses were built on top of the hypogeum and structural elements were driven through walls and roofs resulting in much damage.

We catch a beer on a downhill street cafe.

Mark and I walked up into the city to see it by night and found ourselves drinking beer on a steep downhill street cafe. Then we walked around absorbing the boisterous, youthful atmosphere. In short order we turned down hill to our quiet, cozy hotel and bed.

Friday , October 6, 2023

We took a traditional Maltese boat (called a Dghajsa) ride across the bay to the 3 Sisters side of the harbour to visit Birgu. The bastions were very well fortified on this side. We had to cross under 3 gates to enter the city. The bastions and walls are quite high. Birge’s position in the Grand Harbour was of great importance and several military leaders wanted to take over the city to get it. Yet no one did more for the city than the Knights of St John, who arrived in Malta in 1530 and made Birgu the capital of Malta. The Grand Master LaValletta was the leader during the siege.

The 10 story elevator to get from the harbor to the city center without climbing

We learned some things about the Inquisitions. The Roman Inquisition from 1574-1798 was abolished by Napoleon when he was in Malta for only 6 days. It was not as bad as the Spanish Inquisition, wherein a man could be tortured for eating sweets or meat during lent, for gambling, or other light crimes. The 3 judges were an inquisitor, a Grand Master and a bishop. Napoleon also abolished slavery and nobility. We also learned that the Maltese were gamblers, but not in casinos. The Maltese cross, with 8 points, is a symbol of the Order of St John. The 8 points refer to the 8 Beatitudes. Sorry I cannot remember them. Maybe one of you will look them up and tell me.

From BIrgu we drove north through more countryside to a desertlike place where we met up with Lawrence, the Maltese Falconer. He has been caring for birds for 43 years. Currently he has 13 birds and brought 2 of them to show us. They are a girl named Jessie, who is the tamest of his birds and Gustof, a less tame boy. Mostly we spent time with Jessie. We took turns holding her while Lawrence instructed the bird to fly where he wanted her to fly, which was usually over one of our heads and onto his hand. We all took turns holding the bird and having her fly over our head, It could make for a good video, if we could master the skill. We each got to hold Gustof. But did not get much action.

Passing the Blue Hole to get to the Falconer

From our visit with the falcons, we continued driving inland to visit ancient temples from 3600 BC.

First we learned that there are two kinds of limestone on the island. One is called clobigerina. It is soft for easy carving. The other is Caroline limestone and it is harder. These temples were excavated in 1839 and are thought to have been built to worship a type of fertility goddess. They are about 1000 years older than the pyramids at Giza and Stonehenge.

Architectural drawing from the time Saga Sim was built

From the Hagar Qim Temple construction we went a short distance to the Minajdra Temples. Very similar in construction and time period. Excavations began in 1952-54

For neolithic cultures without a written language and so many centuries ago, the work is remarkable. I wonder what they must have been like, how they lived and where did they go? Archeologists seem to have learned all they can with so little remains to study. Will more details come to light? Who knows?

On our way back to Valletta, we stopped at the largest fishing village in Malta, called Marsaxlokk, to have some fresh fish. The colored boats in the port are called “Luzzu” and are Maltese traditional boats. They have small eyes painted on their bow that are supposed to protect the fishermen and bring them good luck. We acth ordered a different fish and enjoyed a fine repast.

Back at the hotel, we were all done in. We had seen and learned so much. Tomorrow we take the ferry to Gozo . More to see there.

October 15, 2023 – 11:37 am Categories: 2023 Sept-Oct: Italy/Sicily/Malta, Adventures | Post a comment

Valetta and the Grand Harbour in Malta

Tuesday, October 3, 2023

We arrived from Palermo at 1am after a 50 minute flight. Directly to bed and up at 8am. Looked out the window and saw a huge passenger ship float by into the Grand harbor of Valetta. Quite a sight. Later on we felt the effects of so many people wandering around the city. However, our suite was perfect. We had a small balcony and a fabulous view of the harbor and the towns and bastions and docks on the other side. We are overlooking the deepest natural harbor in the Mediterranean. After a light breakfast we went for a walk about to see what we could find. This was our only day without a guide and we wanted to make the most of it. We saw ancient and modern buildings, many shops and cafes and thousands of people. The weather was perfect. Warm, but not too hot and a slight breeze. Most of our entire trip has been like this and we are very happy about it. About mid afternoon, we connected with Mimi and Phil in a cafe overlooking the bastions toward the harbor entrance. After a drink, Mimi and I decided to go to a documentary called the Malta Experience. The boys passed and off we went.

The film was excellent and we learned a lot about the history of Malts from ancient times as well as the history of the Knights of St John and their activities taking care of wounded soldiers and civilians during the crusades and many crises since then including the two world wars. Currently there are a few hundred knights and one was being inducted the next day. They are a very chivalrous group. After the film, we were invited to see the room used to hold patients during the world wars. The room held 800 patients in what, we were told, were clean and orderly conditions. Hard to imagine. It was a huge space: 155meters by 11meters or 18,000 square feet.

In the evening the four of us joined Harry and Mary Jane Swenson for dinner at a street side cafe and had a delightful time catching up on each other’s activities since leaving our Sicily Villa. For those of you who do not know them, they are friends we met through church in Incline Village a few years ago. After dinner, we walked back to our hotel through crowds of mostly young people.

Wednesday, October 4, 2023

This morning we met our guide, Catherine, and began our informed walk through Valetta, the capital of Malta that dates back to the 16th century. W started near our hotel at the Upper Barrakka Gardens, which overlook the Grand Harbour with a panoramic view. We saw several old cannons installed on the bastions and are fired off every day. One evening we saw the firing from our hotel. We saw several British phone booths and Postal boxes.

We walked through several streets paying attention to the architecture,

which is mostly Baroque. On many building corners we found niches carved out and statues installed representing saints and important religious figures. In the middle of the city we came upon the most important church in Valletta, called St John’s Co-Cathedral. It is rather dull on the outside, but the interior his a different story. Monreale is awesome with all the glittering gold on display. This church is stunning in a more intimate way. The vaulted ceiling is painted with the life of St John the Baptist. and the entire floor is covered in multicolored marble tombstones, the burial ground for many Grand Marshals of the Knights of St John, some of whom were also popes. Best of all, in the oratory, are the two paintings by Caravaggio. On the side wall was his painting of St Jerome. Taking center stage was the only piece ever signed by the artist, The Beheading of John the Baptist (1608). It took my breath away.and was even tear provoking. It is worth a trip to Malta, if only to see that painting.

Our next stop was to see the Valetta underground. We were given hair caps and helmets and told our sandals would not do. So three of us ran to the nearby shoe store and bought the cheapest tennis shoes we would find. Mine cost 7 euro. They were too tight, but they did the job. The underground was vital for the city to survive during the siege of 1565 and during WWII. Apart from storing grain and being used for cellars, water storage, and drainage, the tunnels were necessary for troop movement and shelters. During WWII, tunnels were expanded and shelters enlarged to hold big families. We traveled through a section of tunnels and shelters and got a sense of what it must have been like to live underground in the dark while 17,000 tons of bombs were dropped between 1940 and 1943. Once out of the underground, we donated the shoes to future tourists and walked away.

Catherine treated us to some special chocolate coffee that had anise, chicory and cloves in it. Very tasty. We also bought some chocolate to take home.

We then went to our 3pm date with a gold gilding expert. Ditte Darmanin was perfect. Proud of hid talent, but not smug. He has been in business since 1947 and considered himself one of the best gilders in town. He has 2 small workshops near each other in the down town and goes back and forth between them. We learned that has old meteorite burnishing tools that he keeps for posterity, but does not use as they are no longes safe. Today he uses modern flint burnishers. First he makes a gelatin out of ox glue, rabbit skin glue and fish glue. He boils them until he gets a perfect gelatin. This same gelatin is used to repair books. He wets the gold leaf and applies it to the surface. When that is dry he burnishes the gold leaf until it is smooth. A very slow and tedious process. We watched him work awhile and then we left him. He was gilding a large clock and it will take him 3 months do complete.

Ditto Darmanin showed us one of his shop

Phil, Mimi, Mark and I had dinner that evening at a Michelin Star restaurant called Under Grain. We were all very disappointed. I can’t even remember the food. All I remember is that the service was extreme;y slow and unfriendly and the cost was exceedingly high. We agreed not to have any more Michelin experiences on this trip.

October 13, 2023 – 7:24 pm Categories: Adventures | Comments (2)

Palermo

Monday, October 2, 2023

Mark and I went on a guided tour of Palermo. Among the churches and other buildings we saw, we explored the Maxim Theater. It was very interesting and made me wish we had such a facility in Nevada County. The stage is 38m wide, 50m deep and 70m high. The orchestra pit raises and lowers to stage level when needed. The theater holds 1700 people. We learned there are 5 million people on Sicily and 1 million in Palermo. A large earthquake in 1693 damaged much of Palermo and reconstruction was done in the Neo-classical style. In 1943 Palermo was bombed and 50 % of the city was destroyed. Today there are many new buildings that retain the look of the old styles but are completely new inside. There are 5000 illegal immigrants living and working in Sicily. They are composed mostly of Indians and Africans. There are 160 churches in Palermo.

Then we walked the streets looking at buildings and the insides of churches. It all becoming a bit muddled as the day progressed. But the art works were beautiful.

Mark, Phil and Mimi on a street in Palermo.

Some exquisite side alters, built for wealthy patrons and Grand Masters of the knights of St John. These were in the church of Santa Maria de Ammirragleo. The front half was Norman from 11th century done in gold leaf. The back half was baroque from the 17th century.

A Lapis lazuli side alter in Santa Maria de Ammirragleo

A Lapis Lazuli and gold leaf side alter with a beautiful painting above it in the Cathedral of Palermo dedicated to Santa Maria Assumpta.

After our day in Palermo, we flew to Valetta, Malta and checked into our digs overlooking the Grand Harbour. It was hard to remember Palermo after moving to Malta. There were so many new things to see and absorb in Malta. Mimi and Phil joined us for most of our activities there.

A parting shot of Mt Etna from Catania. Not sure who sent this to me. Anyway, it is a lovely image by which to remember Sicily.

October 10, 2023 – 9:57 am Categories: Adventures | Comments (2)

Adventures in Sicily continue

Saturday, September 30, 2023

We did a walk through part of the Villa property with Gabriella and saw some caves and a couple of tombs. Then we finished packing up and departed. We were among the last to leave. Here are a few more images of the property.

These images add to our memory of the Villa. And we received a few more images that belong in the last evening photos.

We still had a few more days in Sicily and headed first for the Villa Romana del Casele in the middle the island, to see the tile work we have heard so much about. The drive through the countryside was very pretty and interesting. Mark had no trouble with the roads as they were reasonably wide and he could go fast. He especially enjoyed the stick shift of the MG SUV we are traveling in. We reached the Villa Romana in about 1.5 hours. After finding a place to park among the large busses, we waited for our guide to arrive. She was late, but by the time she arrived, the crowd had dissipated and we could walk freely along the overhead walkways and see the tile work easily. We spent a couple of hours at the Villa Romana. The tile work was most impressive. It was all made of marble in the 3-4th centuries. We walked on elevated walkways throughout the Villa and could identify the purpose of many of the rooms from the size, shape and images on the tile.

The ladies above were gymnasts or olympians. Notice how different they look from women in other scenes, who are much more voluptuous. There are scenes of hunting for animals; bringing animals from Asia and Africa onto a ship. Carrying animals in boxes. Catching fish in nets. Pictures of many different animals. There are intricate geometrical patterns throughout the property in the service areas and passageways. Below are people gardening and harvesting plants; Mermaids swimming with unusual fish; voluptuous naked ladies with animals and fish and more. It was a lot to take in. It is unknown who the family was that lived in the Villa or who built it and designed the rooms. The tile has survived in such perfect condition because it spent centuries covered with mud from ancient earthquakes and mudslides.

More voluptuous ladies, mythical figures and wild and domestic animals. About 2:30pm we finished with our guide at the Villa Romana del Casale and drove another 1.5 hours to Agrigento and checked into our hotel, the Villa Athena. We wandered around the Villa and then ordered a drink for our patio. Soon we encountered Mimi and Phil, who had the room next to ours and we moved over to their patio. About 7:30 we went upstairs for dinner on the terrace. Martin and Catherine White joined us and we enjoyed the evening as if the birthday week had not ended. The view of the Temple Athena from. our table was a treat. Afterward, we said our good bye’s to Martin and Catherine and went to bed. Tomorrow we will explore the temples in Agrigento before heading for Mon Reale and Palermo.

Mimi, Phil, Catherine, Martin, Julia and Mark having dinner at our hotel looking up at the parthenon

Sunday, October 1, 2023

Mark and I took a morning tour through the Valley of the Temples. Our guide met us at our hotel and we walked through a gate into the archeological park. The park was quite large and we walked several kilometers to see the best preserved temples. The first was the Temple of Athena. It resembles the Parthenon in Athens, except that it is complete. Several centuries after it was built and destroyed, christians restored it and made it into a church. More recently, it was returned to the shape of the original temple and became an archeological site.

Temple of Athena with a sculpture made by a local artist

After walking around the Temple of Athena we walked to and around The Temple of Concordia and the Temple of Zeus.

The Temple tour took about 2 hours. Fortunately we did it early enough in the morning to avoid the crowds and the heat. We packed and headed cross country for Palermo via Monreale, the famous cathedral we had heard about. The scenery was full of small towns and villages and various agriculture fields and orchards of orange, olive and almond trees. We arrived in Monreale about 12:30, took a long time finding a place to park and then went to lunch, as the cathedral was closed until 2pm. The cathedral was huge and spectacular. It was built by Norman King William ll in the 12th century. The walls were mosaics of glass and gold leaf. Very stunning to see. The interior of the cathedral contains three naves, each of which has its own group of mosaics, which cover about 10,000 square meters in total.

The front of the main apse of the cathedral

The building was overwhelming in every way.

From Monreale, we drove to the airport to return the car. It had been a good companion for over a week, but we were ready to be free of the burden of the risk of hitting other cars in the very narrow streets and finding parking in those same streets. Then we took a taxi into Palermo city to our downtown residence, called Hotel Villafranca. That evening we reconnected with Mimi and Phil and had dinner in a pizza joint a few blocks from the hotel.

October 8, 2023 – 3:29 am Categories: 2023 Sept-Oct: Italy/Sicily/Malta, Adventures | Comments (1)

The end of our week at the Villa

Friday, September 29, 2023

This was our last full day at the Villa. A few people went on excursions, and others found another beach nearby to swim in. Jean and a few others tried to erase the scratch Terry had managed to put on his rented car. The extra coat of mud made all the difference. Can hardly tell where the scratch was.

The scratch is barely visible and the rental agency never even noticed.

The rest of us hung out at the Villa. The puzzle got finished and was given to Catherine and Martin, who had spent the most time working on it and are taking it back their home in Fingal Bay, Australia. Mark and I hung out around the grounds, had lunch on site and visited with people as they came around. It was a relaxing afternoon.

The evening entertainment was created by all the participants and choreographed by Terry. Mark and I were kept in the dark. First up during the cocktail period was a history talk about the Villa given by the owner’s wife, Gabriella. We were all captivated by her story and several of us accepted her invitation to walk the property in the morning before departing. A few things we learned were that the property is 250 acres and the family has owned it for 200 years. Originally it was built in the 1300 BC by the Greeks. It was later overtaken by the Romans and other cultures before becoming a monastery in the late 1700’s. In the early 2000’s the current owner remodeled the buildings into a rental facility, which is how we came to use it. They still occupy a portion of the property for their own personal residence.

Gabriella sharing the history of the Villa with us.

Once Gabrielle was finished, the presentations began. First up was Julie and Ken doing a roast that converted to a toast and made everyone laugh. Then there was Jean, who read a book she had made for us. It was beautiful and touching. Roxanna and John humorously shared their 20 years of history with us. She touched on a lot of mostly happy and fun memories.

Julie and Ken open with a roast that turns into a toast

Harry and Mary Jane gave a delightful poem about their relationship with us. Then we all recessed to the pretty dinner table set up in the garden under twinkling lights.

Between courses several people took a turn sharing. Hilda sang Volare with the assistance of Judith. We all joined in on the chorus.

Liz played a song she wrote for our birthdays

Al spoke and simultaneously provided sign language and managed to make us all understand his English translation about his and Lynne’s joy in our longtime relationship. Catherine and Martin did a Q&A game about Australia that most of us flunked. Mark and I are convinced we should make a trip down under to visit our friends and get to know more about Australia. Scott stood up and gave a talk about the value of relationships. Mimi gave an extemporaneous and then recited a limerick she had written. Cheri talked about her appreciation for our gift of the week.

Terry had a Q&A game to see what people knew about us. It was no surprise that Roxanna knew the most. Liz played her guitar and sang a song she wrote for the occasion. It was clear that the table was overflowing with love and joy. Even the table setting was a labor of love provided by our chef Francesca. She ended the dinner festivities with a beautiful homemade Sicilian birthday cake. The cake was delicious, but the party was not over yet. John had made a video of our week’s activities and we all retired to the living room to watch all 17 minutes of the delightful video. I sure hope I did not miss anyone. We were so engaged in enjoying the evening that we did not take any notes and very few photos, I am sorry to say.

Mark and I were both overwhelmed by the demonstration of love and appreciation. The week had been a stunning success.

October 5, 2023 – 8:56 am Categories: 2023 Sept-Oct: Italy/Sicily/Malta, Adventures | Post a comment

More of our week at the villa Commenda di San Calogero

First I want to make a correction. All the time I have been calling the villa “Il Borgo” thinking that was the name of the villa, but I just learned that Borgo is not the name. It merely references a place. So the name of our villa is Commenda di San Calogero. This explains why everyone was having a hard time finding the place. Thank goodness that problem is solved.

Monday, September 25, 2023

Today was the food tasting tour in Catania. Another event arranged by Terry. Almost everyone got themselves to the elephant sculpture in the middle of the main piazza at 10am.

Our group in front of the elephant in the piazza

The fish and vegetable market under the umbrellas

Peppe and Liz enjoying gelato. Julia tasting her Cafe Granita with whipped cream isn lower right.

There we met the walking food guide, Peppe. He spoke English well and was loud and clear to hear. We wandered through the fish market and arrived at a café that served us the most traditional, Sicilian food item called arancini. It consists of a ball of rice and breadcrumbs filled with cheese and ham and deep fried. It was delicious. Then we cruised through other streets and tasted other foods that did not capture my taste buds. We stopped for different drinks along the way too. The most interesting was a mix of sparkling water, lemon juice and salt. Supposedly it is an energy drink. I drank it, but would not ask for it again.

Along the walk Peppe took us to an ancient underground river and spring which were fascinating to see. He finished the tour at a café that served us a variety of ice creams and coffee drinks. I tried to get the drink we had had with Silvia a few days before, but it was only a partial approximation. While at one café, I noticed it was very close to the Osmundo hotel we had stayed in a few nights before. I wanted people to see how unusual it was, so I invited a few ladies and got in to see the public rooms. They enjoyed the art as much as we had. Once we were finished with Peppe, we drove back to the villa to enjoy the pool and visit the rest of the day. In addition to sunshine, the sky blessed us with several sprinkles of rain drops. No one was bothered by the rain. Most everyone stayed at the villa for dinner. It is hard to keep track of who was doing what, but everyone seems to be having a good time.

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Our fisrt day with no planned activities and everyone had an idea how to spend their day. For me it was about the jigsaw puzzle I had brought from home. It is a map of Italy indicating all the wine growing regions. I set it up in the poolside dining area and put in the edges. Soon others came around and started adding pieces. My hope was to engage people in a collective activity and it seemed to work. The steam room was on and hot. The pool was delightful. A small group went to Agrigento and another to Villa Romana for sightseeing. Some went to nearby Brucoli for dinner. Others stayed at the villa with Mark and me. Here are a few images taken by others.

Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Today was Cannoli making day in Taormina, another activity Terry McAteer had arranged. High on a hillside overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, Taormina was a lovely place to see and visit and even more special having an activity to share. The drive was 1.5 hours north of the villa and everyone went on the adventure, although a few did not engage in cannoli making.

We set off at 8:30 to be in time for our 10:30 date at Porto Messina Restaurant. The restaurant was ready for our large group of 21 and we were each assigned a station in front of a small pile of flour, a half cup of wine, a quarter cup of sugar, an egg, a quarter cup of butter, a dash of cocoa powder and a pinch of cinnamon. We mixed it all together and kneaded it until it was firm. Then we rolled the blob into a thin flat shape we then cut into rings with round or square cutters. Then we rolled the rings around split metal tubes and sealed the dough rings with egg white. Some of us never quite got the hang of the process, but we all had fun making a mess any why. The rings that were decent looking, went into boiling oil and came out fried. Immediately after the dough was cooked, we removed the split rings from under the cooked dough by twisting them. If all went well, the cannoli came out whole and was ready to be stuffed. Once we had made the filling of ricotta or lemon curd, we stuffed as many as we could and then ate them, almost as fast as we stuffed them. Much fun was had by all.

After cleaning up as best as possible, Catherine and Martin White and Mark and I went on a guided tour of the city.

The town was packed with tourists, many of whom were from ships parked in the bay at the bottom of the town. After wandering past many upscale shops and interesting facades and churches, we reached the 3^rdcentury BC Greek-Roman Amphitheater on the same level as mid-town. It affords a super view of town and the sea in the distance. Then we stopped at the Hotel Metropole in the middle of town and had a pizza and beer.

Excavations of an ancient site in Taormina.

We drove back to the villa and relaxed a while. Then the 4 of us changed and went back to Catania for a Michelin Star dinner a place called Sapio. The table was big enough for 8 and we had a hard time talking to each other across the expanse. We laughed about the ridiculously oversized table and agreed to order a very nice 7-course meal that did not leave me overstuffed. Mark, however, said he was more than full.

Thursday, September 28, 2023

This was our day to drive to Ragusa, walk the town per Rick Steve’s book, get a tour of a private home in the downtown and walk to another Michelin star restaurant. This one was reputed to have 2 stars.

As everyone was booked for the lunch, we all carpooled and enjoyed the scenic drive to Ragusa. Parking was a bit of an issue for some, but eventually we all got parked and met up in the town. The beginning was a lovely garden at the bottom of the rather steep hillside town. After walking around the garden, we slowly walked up hill passing more shops, and trinket stores.

Midtown, we reached the private home we were scheduled to tour and met the owner. Once we were all assembled, he walked us up a large central staircase into the formal rooms of the palatial home. We were invited to inspect the ball room, drawing room, dining room and an office space. We saw paintings and photographs of his relatives going back 5 generations, a ball gown worn by a great grandmother, several Venetian glass chandeliers, several generations of furniture. His parents still live in the half of the house he did not show us. His ancestors had been aristocrats, and public figures in the community. It was an interesting tour that lasted about 45 minutes. Then he pushed us out the door as he had an Italian group coming right behind us. I suspected this was his way of paying for the maintenance of the property, but it looked quite neglected

Exactly at that moment Scott Kellerman appeared with his luggage in tow. He was expected, but it was still a surprise to actually see him.

We all continued up hill to the cathedral, which was lovely to see and visit and then, at 2pm, we converge on Ciccio Sultan Duomo, the Michelin 2-Star restaurant Terry had booked us into for a 3-course lunch. We took up the entire placed sitting in overly padded, all white chairs in 2 all white rooms. The wine flowed freely, and everyone became quite jovial. It was a delightful afternoon with wonderful, delicious food.

After departing the restaurant everyone ambled downhill to their cars and drove back to the villa with a stop along the way in the little town of Modica, famous for its chocolate, especially the factory called Antica Dulceria Bonajuto

The factory was located on a side street off the main street of town. Eventually everyone found the place and we all bought bars of different flavors to take home and indulged in a cold; very dark chocolate drink topped with heavy whipped cream. If we were not stuffed already, the drink finished us off. By the time we got back to the villa, the sky was dark, and we were all pooped.

October 2, 2023 – 9:43 am Categories: 2023 Sept-Oct: Italy/Sicily/Malta, Adventures | Comments (1)

Our week at the Il Borgo Villa, Sicily

September 23, 2023

We flew from Bari, the capital of Puglia, to Catania, Sicily on the evening of September 22 and took a taxi to our hotel in the heart of Catania’s Old Town. Our travel agent, Martina, had booked the place but not told us what to expect.

It was the most outlandish accommodation we have experienced as well as the most humorous and appealing. For starters, there was a huge, ceramic black foot in the middle of our room, not to mention the life-size ceramic sculpture of Spiderman outside our door, as if standing guard. There was pop art in all the public rooms and on every shelf and wall space. We wandered around smiling at everything. The hotel was on a pedestrian only street with several restaurants. We selected one and had a delicious meal of fresh fish and pasta. We were joined by the first of our selected group to arrive, Jayna and Craig Ashcraft, Ken and Julie Zuckerman and Jean Creasey. They had all arrived early for our group gathering and we were happy to have them join us for dinner. We were all giddy to finally be together in Sicily after a year and a half of planning. We lingered over dinner a long time umtil we were all getting sleepy. We crawled into bed giggling about the foot at tne end of our bed.

September 23, 2023
Breakfast was on the plant bedecked terrace overlooking a piazza. It was the usual European breakfast of cappuccino, cheese, lunch meat, fruit, yogurt and fresh breads. Each day we try to eat less, but are not very successful. Thankfully we don’t eat like this at home, or we would be blimps. Then we went for a stroll around the old town and observed that our hotel was literally on the same street as the busy and entertaining Fish Market.

The Fish Mongers are all shouting about their products and wanting us to taste and buy different fish. Above the street was a roof of colored umbrellas that provide some shade and rain protection. Then we followed Rick Steves walking directions and saw several ancient buildings as well as churches and underground antiquities.

Back at the hotel by noon, we checked out, got some lunch, picked up the car and headed for our villa for a week called Il Borgo. It was a half hour drive south of Catania in the middle of orchards of fruit trees and grass land. It definitely contained the required 12 suites, public areas and large swimming pool. It was just a bit more rustic than I expected.
Mark and I busied ourselves deciding where to locate each of our 21 guests, putting name tags on each door and laying out T-shirts Mark had designed and made for everyone. Before we knew it, our first guests appeared and by 6:30 everyone had arrived, except Judith Ciphers, whose flight plans delayed her until mid-day on the 24th. The weather was very warm and the pool very inviting. As people arrived they put on their suits and hung out in the water. Everyone ordered cocktails and the party began.

By 7:30 we gathered in the courtyard for dinner. The villa staff provided us with a delicious buffet with typical Sicilian dishes. The sky sprinkled on us and most of us moved under cover. Al Dover gave a lovely welcome thank you to Mark and me for hosting the week. It was very touching. Then I talked about housekeeping matters and Terry McAteer talked about the planned activities for the week. I was thrilled that everyone had arrived safely and were already enjoying themselves. Success. We had been so busy chatting that we forgot to take photos. Sorry.

September 24, 2023

We woke up to a sunny and warm day. Breakfast was at 8am. Some of us stayed by the pool while 8 of us went to the beach at Agnon Bagni Beach about 12 minutes from the villa.

The water was a comfortable temperature and we had fun bobbing around. Liz and Jean went for long swims. I thought the beach was pretty dirty and a bit disappointing. The pool was a much better place to cool off. Some of us worked out with Roxanna back at the villa.

We changed, ate a fast lunch and drove in several cars to Syracuse for a walking tour led by Terry. It included Greek antiquities in the middle of the modern city, the ancient city walls, the large and lovely Piazza Duomo and the Cathedral, which had originally been a Greek temple, later replaced by a muslim mosque and finally by the Roman Catholic Church . We attended Mass in the Cathedral at 7pm and dinner at a nearby reserved restaurant at 8pm. The food was terrific. All went as planned by Terry. Love that boy.

September 26, 2023 – 1:56 pm Categories: 2023 Sept-Oct: Italy/Sicily/Malta, Adventures | Comments (1)

Martina Franca and Alberobello-our last 2 towns in Puglia

September 21, 2023

We spent our last full day in Puglia with Silvia visiting 2 more towns in the Valle d’Itria and watching a cheese maker create his specialities of mozzarella and burrata cheeses.. The landscape consists of karst Murgia hills and large caves covered in dense vegetation and a cultivated plateau with red terrain that extends to the sea. The countryside is dotted with conical, white stone structures called trulli.

I was taken with these houses and wanted to see many of them. Here are a few of the offerings. We did get into an abandoned house Silvia knew about and that helped add to the story.

Our first stop in town was at a cafe shop called Bar Adula in Marina Franca. It was Silvia’s favorite place and we could understand why. The coffee choices were extensive and the best was a cold coffee drink called Granita Di Caffe that had an iced coffee mix at the bottom with dense whipped cream on top. Even I had to admit that it was excellent.

Once fortified with the coffee we walked under the entry arch into the Old City of Marina Franca. The first thing we saw was a statue of St Martino cutting his cloak in half in order to give half to a poor beggar. St Martin is the national patron saint of France.

We explored the Palazzo Ducale, a huge building that had belonged to the Caracciolo family of Naples. This family administered the town from 1600 to the 1800’s. Many rooms were frescoed with scenes from mythology and the Bible. Several doors were linked together to create a telescopic perspective with a baroque effect. An annual opera festival takes place here that is very popular, the Itria Valley Festival.

Martina Franca is the largest town in the valley with a population of 50,000. The town is named for St Martin and Franca refers to a tax free zone officially established in the 1300’s . The tax free zone helped establish the development of the area. Local products could be shipped in both directions to either sea. In the 1743 an earthquake damaged homes and public buildings. The new baroque style was used in new construction to good effect in the late 1700’s. Rococo decorations were also included in the structure. In front of the church is the Piazza Plebiscito.

Entrance gate to the Old city of Martina Franco

Many buildings were originally built in the 1300’s, but an earthquake in 1743 caused much destruction. It was a good excuse to use the new, modern styles of Baroque and Rococo in late 1700’s construction, including the Basilica of San Martino, the Church of St Dominic and its attached cloister and many houses.

Basilica di San Martino. Built after the earthquake of 1743

In front of St Martin’s Basilica is the Piazza Plebiscite. The piazza is surrounded by a covered archway that is popular for vendors in the summertime. Around the neighborhood we arrived at St Dominic Church, also from the late 1700’s. Attached to the church was the Dominican cloister, which is now used for a preschool. There were few people in the town. Almost no tourists. The streets provided very pleasant strolling with many upscale clothing stores. We found a store where Mark bought another shirt. This makes 3 new ones for him and one purple outfit for me. Enough!

We learned that many people who had lived in the town through the centuries had been very wealthy, but the younger generations turned to spending rather than investing and eventually they could not maintain their salacious homes, so they sold them. Today we see fancy entry doors, but plain walls on the rest of the building. New owners maintain the property as best they can. Here are a few.

A colorful scene of Martina Franca near the Basilica. From here we headed for the UNESCO Heritage site of Alberabello, which was begun in the 1500’s. The village is the town full of Trulli, round structures with cone shaped roofs that were dry-stacked. Many were whitewashed to protect the walls from crumbling as they built without cement. The people who initiated the structure were the Acquaviva Family. The first house was built in 1428. They paid no taxes because the roof was not permanent. By dry stacking, the owner could remove the roof and no longer have a taxable home, only a stable. As soon as the government taxing authority agreed there was nothing to tax and departed, the owner put the roof back on the building. The concept became popular. The town, having no taxable buildings, had no name either and was known as a ghost town.

Today Trulli houses are valuable as tourist attractions and second homes. Many of them are lived in full time and have all the conveniences of modern houses. Here is an abandoned countryside house Silvia found to explore. It had olive trees, and wheat fields. We pretended to be proud new purchasers of the fixer upper. This would be our 5th remodel. Nice huh.

We went into the town and found a Trullo house that the owner uses to attract tourist money. She does not live there but spends her days there to show off the place. Remodeling an old historic Trullo with a modern bathroom is illegal, but she has managed to get away with it because she did it before the restrictions took place.

We walked around the town an saw many trulli and eventually had enough.

From Albebello we headed into the countryside to a cheese factory called Itria Bonte and the home of the cheese maker, Georgio, He was a man of few words but oh could he make cheese. He took us through the process of making Mozzarella cheese, as well as burrata, which I much prefer. Mark, on the other hand, prefers mozzarella. I got so involved in the process that I forgot to take photos until we were standing with the finished products. After the demonstration, Georgio and his wife served the three of us lunch of a selection of cheeses, homemade salami, capicola, home made olives and wine and cheese cake for dessert.

We are at the end of our stay in Puglia and we have enjoyed every bit of it, just as our travel agent, Martina, said we would. Now we are headed for Sicily, where a whole new adventure begins.

September 22, 2023 – 2:55 am Categories: 2023 Sept-Oct: Italy/Sicily/Malta, Adventures | Comments (2)

Polignano a Mare, a town on the Adriatic

September 20, 2023

We’v been slowly working our way up the east coast of Puglia and today we visited Polignano. It is a small seaside town with colorful character. Our new driver, Carlo, is the owner of the company that has been driving us around. He speaks very good English and was very pleasant to be with, especially as Silvia did not meet up with us until we reached Polignano, an hour after departing Ostuni. His tourist driving company is very lucrative and he and his wife and daughters are able to travel a fair amount. He goes to Sicily every year and has been to the US 4 times. He was driving us in a new Alfa Romeo today. We met up with Silvia at Elisa’s office at her guide service company, called Southern Visions, in Puglinano. We visited awhile and complimented Elisa on the excellent service we have received.

Me, Elisa, Silvia and Mark in Elisa’s office.

From there, we drove to the main gate and did a short walk through the gate and into Polignano.

The Church of St Maria di Asunti. Medieval exterior

We went inside the important town Church di Santa Maria Assunta and saw a real marble altar with lovely wooden choir, a beautiful organ, and an exquisite sculpture of the Nativity by Stefano da Putignano. Apparently it is so well regarded that an Italian stamp has been made of it.

Nativity scene sculpted by Stefano di Putignano

From the church we wandered around the small, narrow streets enjoying the views of town and the Adriatic See. Before getting on a boat to see caves, Mark had another cappuccino . I was concerned that the water would be rough, as it had been the other day, but the Sea was only slightly choppy. We, however had no interest in swimming. The caves were larger and easier to enter and experience than the last trip, which was nice. The rocks were colorful, there were lots of shells and it was fun to see the town hanging on the edge of the cliffs. The tiny, rocky beach was full of people enjoying themselves, but it did not occur to us to join them.

Mark downs a cappuccino before going boating

Carlo drove us back to our hotel in Ostuni, where we relaxed by the pool until it began to sprinkle. The first rain we have seen on this trip. It lasted only long enough to drive us out of the garden and into our room. After a couple of hours, we walked down into the old town and got a bite to eat. The couple sitting next to us spoke English so we got into a nice conversation. He was from Australia and she was from New York. Currently they live in Australia and are in Italy on a month long holiday. Well after dark, we slowly walked back uphill to our hotel and dropped into bed.

September 21, 2023 – 12:26 am Categories: 2023 Sept-Oct: Italy/Sicily/Malta, Adventures | Comments (1)

Ostuni and nearby communities

September 18, 2023

This morning we gave up our rental car and were picked up by a new driver, Roberto, who took us to Ostuni. Before heading that way, however, we drove into the town of Surbo to a large shopping mall so Mark could buy an adapter. No problem.

Back on the road, the drive took about an hour. We began to see more olive trees that were alive and appeared healthy. We hope to learn more about what is happening to them soon. Soon we could see the white city of Ostuni. Roberto stopped to let me capture a photo.

Roberto drove through and around the Old town before finding our hotel. Sure glad we were not driving and having to find which narrow streets to navigate and where to park. After he dropped us off at the 11 room Paragon 700, at the top of the town, we dropped our bags and went for a walk about. Very narrow and hilly streets. The town was full of tourists shopping, eating and hanging out. After a while we had a bite to eat too and went back to the hotel to check in and cool off. There is a lovely garden in back of the hotel with a swimming pool too. Hope we have time to enjoy it. At 4pm we met our guide, Silvia. She had been with us a few days ago. Today she showed us around Ostuni. We had already walked much of the town, but with her, we saw the place in depth. We got much exercise in walking stairs and hills as well as exercise in history.

The man kneeling next to the virgin is the founder of the church. — Cathedral di Santa Maria Assunta

After our tour of Ostuni with Silvia, we stopped at a charcuterie restaurant in the Piazza della Liberta and got a bite to eat before heading for the room and bed. We are not late night people these days. Thankfully our hotel is a short walk from the center of town.

September 19, 2023

We were up for breakfast at 8:00 in the garden. Then met our new driver, Michael, who drove us to the train station, where we met Silvia and headed for Cisternino. We walked through a small park and found three gentlemen more than happy to chat with us. They were all alone in life and found pleasure in companionship with each other as well as talking to strangers. We had a a pleasant visit and then walked on into the small town with narrow streets, few people and fewer cars. There were good views from the belvedere, which was at 500 feet asl. The area produces many fruit trees including seeds, nuts, pomegranates, peaches, figs and more. We passed a carob tree and learned that any seed from the carob is the measure used for diamonds. The weight of 1 carob seed equals the weight of a 1 carat diamond. because all carob seeds weigh the same. This is how the use of the word carat for diamonds came to be. So we learned something new.

There are many stairs in the Cisternino and we took plenty of photos. Apparently there is no tax charged for exterior stairs, only interior ones. No wonder we saw so many.

St George Church in neoclassical style from the 1800.s

We drove away from Cisternino and headed for an olive masseria to taste olive oil and learn more about it. The name of the place was Antica Masseria Brancati. The elder owner met us at the entrance and introduced us to his 2000 year old trees. His great grandfather had purchased the Masseria many years ago and now he is getting ready to turn the business over to his 21 year old son. He is very proud of his work and hopes his trees will be saved from the Xyllele bacteria which travels on a bug that is slowly moving north through Puglia.

Silvia gave us a tour of the olive cellar and how the olive pressing process works. It was familiar to us, but still interesting to see how it was done so many years ago in a real live press. Today the work is done elsewhere in a sterile environment. After studying the press we went into the garden for an oil tasting and lunch. We tasted 4 different oils, with different grades and flavors. One was pressed with lemon and rosemary. They were very tasty. As was lunch. It consisted of a bottle or Rose wine and platters of appetizers followed by a pasta dish. Dessert was fresh peaches with mint and ice cream cannoli. We were stuffed, but feeling most satisfied. We drove back to Ostuni knowing we would skip dinner.

The elder olive producer and head of the business — The owner of the olive business, Corrado Brancati.

A 2000 ear ofd olive tree — The owner of the olive business, Corrado Brancati.

The Paragon 700 Hotel in Ostuni, where we are staying. After relaxing for a couple of hours we went for a walk about the city center and had a cocktail. The air was comfortable but not vey cool. We were happy to get back to the A/C in our room.

September 20, 2023 – 1:33 am Categories: Adventures | Comments (1)

The east coast of Puglia from Otronto to St Maria di Leuca

September 17, 2023

This was our last day at the Masseria Trapana. We have enjoyed having several days in the quiet countryside. Today we drove back toward Otronto and south along the Adriatic coast. Our plan was to enjoy the coast line and see the beaches along the way.

A Bauxite quarry near Otronto. Reminded me of Malicoff Diggins

The route was mostly high above the sea and very rocky. Where there were housing settlements, the traffic was very congested and the beaches were not close. The countryside was so rocky that the vegetation was sparse and dry. We were disappointed in the drive, even though we did see a few rocky coves with small sandy beaches.

The high point of the drive was our lunch stop at a place called Lo Scolo in the village of Marina di Novaglie. It was a charming place overlooking the sea and a popular swimming spot with no sand, just boulders. I had local lobster and Mark had sea bream. The lobster was superb—tender and sweet. I probably will not have it again as the price, which I learned when we got the bill, was astronomical. Glad I ate it before knowing the cost.

After lunch we drove to the tip of Puglia and got on a small boat with 6 other people. First we motored up the east coast through the usually rough water of the Adriatic. The boatmen stopped several times at various caves to show us points of interest. After the first couple of caves, we were ready to be finished as there was nothing special to see and the caves were too shallow to enter. Eventually we turned around and headed south to the place where the Adriatic and Ionian seas meet. Almost instantly the water calmed down. Turns out the Ionian See is always calmer than the Adriatic. We saw a few more caves and stopped twice to snorkel and swim. Mark and I had not intended to swim, so we watched the others.

About 5:30 we were back at the dock and on our way north by the inland route. We had a couple of mis-directions returning home but made it safely by 7:30, as it was just getting dark. We went directly to dinner, had a light meal and headed for showers and bed. We agreed that other coastline drives were far superior, such as Highway 1 in California, the Amalfi Coast in Italy and Hwy 28 and 89 around Lake Tahoe.

This was the side deck off our bathroom. It had a nice view of the countryside and was pleasant in the early morning before the heat got to it.

September 18, 2023

September 18, 2023 – 5:53 am Categories: 2023 Sept-Oct: Italy/Sicily/Malta, Adventures | Comments (2)

Galatina and Gallipoli

Galatina is a small town famous for the Church of St Catherine of Alexandria. It was built in 1391 in the Romanesque and Gothic styles.

It was commissioned by a man named Romandello. He was the forth son of a local rich lord and not expected to receive any wealth from his father. So he became a crusader knight and a dignitary in the court of Naples. He married up to the countess of Lecce. Supposedly he bit off the finger of the dead St Catherine in Naples and brought it home to create a pilgrimage destination of the Church of St Catherine. He died six years after marrying the countess. She then married her husband’s enemy, the king of Naples. After 8 years, he died in battle. She returned from Naples and commissioned frescos for the church in her first husband’s name. She did not like the work and recommissioned the frescos to be painted again by different artists. The church is spectacular. All the scenes are from the Bible: the Apocalypse; Genesis; Life of Jesus; scenes from St Catherine’s life.

Raymondello, who commissioned the church to be built.

From Galantine, southwest of Lecce, we drove to Gallipoli on the Ionian Sea. There we wandered around the town and enjoyed watching the scene. Being a beach town, Everyone was casual and relaxed. Gallipoli is an island with a strong ancient defensive position that makes for a good tourist visit today.

Entrance to our suite 18 steps up once inside the door

When we have not been sightseeing we have been hanging out at Masseria Trapana, our digs for 5 nights. Today we had a day off and tomorrow we plan to drive the east coast from Otronto to Santa Maria di Leuca. I apologize again for the content mishap. Hopefully it won’t happen again.

September 16, 2023 – 8:15 am Categories: Adventures | Comments (2)

Masseria Trepana, our home while we visited Otronto and Lecce

September 13, 2023

Masseria Trepana is a villa near Lecce that our agent in New York, Martina, thought we would enjoy. A Masseria refers to a farm house surrounded by local orchards including oranges, persimmons, pomegranates, figs and especially, olives. We arrived at noon time after having spent the morning on a self-guided walk about Matera. Got a few more photos that we included in yesterday’s post. Massimo drove us from Matera to the villa through flat countryside full of what looked like thousands of dead olive trees. We asked about the trees and were told that many thousands of olive trees had been attacked by bugs that caused a virus and killed the trees.

I have spent many hours updating the blog and was nearly finished with our time in Otronto, and Lecce, when my computer died and I lost all the text from several days. I do not have the energy to recreate the text, but will send lots of photos to try to make up for it. Our first day at the Masseria, we went to Otronto and met our guide, Sabrina.

We carried on and visited the Church of the Martyrs, the results of Ottoman savagery in 1480 and Renaissance architecture, and a huge tiles floor inside the Church of the Martyrs, along with 72 columns in the crypt, plus a lovely frescos. The Ottomans beheaded 800 people for refusing to give up their religion. The church contains some of the skulls.

Lunch included this wine-like bottle of beer.

On to Lecce, the capital the province. Turns out Puglio is the capital of the region, not a province. We took a break after lunch and reset with Sabrina at 5pm for another walking tour. This one was of the Old City of Lecce.

This Basilica shines in the setting sun. The top is Baroque and the bottom is Romanesque.

After the tour Sabrina took us to a special restaurant in the middle of the city called Vico dei Sotterranei. We had an excellent meal, found our way back to the car and drove home.

Excellent appetizers at Vico dei Sotterranei

September 16, 2023 – 6:38 am Categories: Adventures | Comments (2)