2019 Italy Adventure – Page 2 – Lynn's Travel Adventures

Vacation from Vacation

June 15

We decided to take a break from vacationing and hang out in the little beach town of Martinsicuro. We left Trani on Thursday and went to the site of the Battle of Cannne that took place in 216BC. It was a gigantic battle between Hannibal’s Carthaginians and the larger Roman army. Well, Hannibal seriously kicked the Romans’ butt in what is regarded as the biggest defeat in Roman history. In fact, it pretty much spelled the end of the Roman empire.

Unfortunately, the park didn’t open until 10:00 and it was only 8:30 so we didn’t get a chance to walk around. But we managed to grab a couple of pictures from the road.

Then we headed to Lanciano where there is a church that holds the Miracle Eucharist. This event took place in the 8th century in Lanciano. When a monk, who had doubts about Christ’s presence in the Eucharist, said the words of consecration at Mass, bread and wine turned into flesh and five droplets of blood. This event has been investigated over the years, as late as the 1980s, and is verified to be true. The blood is still in the sanctuary of the Church of San Francisco. When we arrived at the church, there were quite a few worshippers so we didn’t want to get too close to take pictures.

Close up of tabernacle that holds the blood.

We also saw the Basilica, but there was a funeral going on so we didn’t stop there to get pictures either.

After getting back to our car, we drove about 90 minutes to Martinsicuro. According to booking.com, it was a beach front hotel….it’s not. It’s about 650 meters from the beach. That was disappointing as we were looking forward to hearing the waves crash along the beach but as neither one of us are that big into the beach (I hate the sand) it wasn’t that big of a deal.

We went to the beach Thursday afternoon and the water wasn’t too cold but it wasn’t all that clean. We only waded for a few minutes, hung out under the umbrella for about an hour, then headed back to the hotel.

Yesterday, we hung out at the pool all day. We got down there at 10am and stayed until about 4:30. The pool area is very nice and the water is a little cold but it was quiet, clean and sand-less. We made sandwiches for lunch and had pork chops for dinner. The only reason we got up to 3000 on our steps was because we went for a walk after dinner to get gelato. It was a wonderfully relaxing day.

So, today is Saturday and we plan the day to be a duplicate of yesterday. It’s a little cloudy today but there is no forecast of rain so it’s back to the pool for the day. We have a little more ham, cheese and bread for lunch but we’re going to go out to dinner. It’s been almost a week since I’ve had a pizza and the place across the street looks pretty good so I think that’s where we’ll go tonight.

Tomorrow we’re heading to Assisi for the day, then it’s on to Bologna and Florence before checking into the Hilton Vacation Resort in Tuscany on Friday. Florence is my favorite city in the world so I’m very excited about visiting there again. We’ve already done the “must see” attractions, so just like Rome, we’ll have a chance to visit the less well-known attractions and take time to sit in a sidewalk café and simply enjoy being in Florence. Can’t wait.

Well, the pool is calling our names so off we go.

Sweltering Hot Day in Apulia

June 12

We cracked a 100 degrees today. Not in a million years would I have expected it to be this hot so early in June. I admit, though, the heat is still better than the rainy, cold weather we had last year in Portugal and Spain.

After checking into our flat in Trani, we headed to Castel del Monte for a visit. After that we went back to Trani.

We had a slow start to our day as Giovanna (Alberobello host) was coming at 9am to check us out. Since we had such a great internet connect, I decided to take time after breakfast to FINISH the project I had been working on intermittently through our trip. It took less than an hour and now it is done, at least what I need to do while we’re in Italy.

We loved our Trulli house but both agree that we wouldn’t want to stay much longer than one night. Any longer and one of use would either get a concussion or need stitches from hitting our head on the stone archways or would break our neck (or other body part) from falling down the stairs.

Once on the road we headed for Bari. The only thing Peter really wanted to see there was a WWII cemetery outside of town and the Basilica of San Nicola. First up was the cemetery which was locked but we were able to grab a pic or two from outside the gates.

Then, according to Gracie, we were only 20 minutes away from the Basilica. Not sure what happened to her today but she was acting quite schizophrenic. She would tell me to turn left then change her mind and tell me to go right; except of course I had already made the left turn. That happened so many times that Peter finally shut her off and we simply followed signs. After about 45 minutes (to go less than 6 km) we finally reached the port where we miraculously found parking. We only put enough money in the meter for one hour as the Basilica was quite close.

The Basilica of Saint Nicholas is actually two churches in one. The main floor is Catholic and the lower floor is Greek Orthodox. It was built between 1081 and 1197. It was built to house relics of St. Nicholas who had chosen Bari as his burial site. The Basilica was quite crowded with not only tourists, but there was a service going on in the Greek Orthodox part and a wedding was just about to start in the Catholic portion. We saw the bride pulling up in a Rolls Royce just as we were leaving.

The main altar in the Catholic part of Basilica of St. Nicola

Main altar in Greek Orthodox portion of the Basilica

After stopping for a snack on our way back to the car, we headed for Trani where we are spending the night. For some reason our host wanted us to check in at 2pm instead of the usual 4-5pm so we had to cut our day in half to accommodate her. Of course when we got there the flat wasn’t ready but she showed us around and gave us all the pertinent info before we headed back out.

We drove about 40 minutes to the Castel del Monte which is a 13th century citadel and castle. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is in magnificent condition. The castle is engraved on the Italian version of the one cent Euro coin. Of course that coin is so tiny it’s hard to see, but it’s there.

We scored another free entry with our handicap placard so we’re up to about $80 in savings. That will just about pay for all the gelato we’ve eaten while we’re here.

Castle Del Monte; these four towers are repeated on the back side so there’s a total of 8 columns.

After the Castle we drove back to Trani to settle into our flat. We have no food so we’re going to walk out a little later to grab some groceries. Unlike other trips, though, we can only buy what we can eat before we leave. It’s too hot in the car to carry food from one city to the next. Yesterday I threw away some cheese I found in our grocery bag which had been in the back of the car for at least 3 days….eww.

Tomorrow we’re heading to a beach resort in Martinsicuro where we’ll stay for 3 nights. We’re starting to reach the saturation point for churches, castles and other old things so we thought we’d hang out at the beach for a few days. It’s about 3 1/2 hours from here and it’s supposed to be beautiful. We may “go quiet” for a few days but I’ll post if anything exciting happens.

The Coolest Place Ever

June 11

Happy Birthday Mom! We miss you!

Went to the beach right about where the box is to the east of Ostuni

Today has been a wonderful day. We left Lecci heading to Alberobello via the beach. We didn’t have any specific beach in mind, just ones we found in google. We struck out a couple of times but on our 3rd try we hit pay dirt. Well, actually it was a very nice beach that had sand, not rocks. I even waded in the water up to my mid-calves. While cold, it was warmer than the water in the Hilton pool. I think I could have actually gotten used to it enough to swim but I didn’t have my suit on and there wasn’t anyplace to change. Besides, then I’m all sandy which I hate.

Look at me swimming in the Adriatic; the water is almost up to my knees

Very nice beach; we had a snack at the restaurant in the background before we left

We spent about an hour at the beach before getting back on the road and heading for Alberobello. The unique feature of this town is the Trullo Village, a large collection of stone houses with conical roofs. Symbols meaningful to the owner are often painted on the roofs. It is a much bigger tourist destination than I realized. There were people following flags all over the place.

Most people no longer live in trullo. The part of town we visited are for the tourists with tons of shops and restaurants. Then there is another section of homes across town that are used mainly as rentals.

Here are several pictures of the tourist part of the village.

It’s crazy hot again (had not idea it would be this hot this early in the summer; technically it’s still spring) so we had a lighter lunch of panini in an outdoor café. We were under an umbrella so it wasn’t too bad.

Then we headed to the trulli house where we are spending the night. It’s on the other side of town from the tourist village and is wonderful. It has all the character of a 100 year old trulli but is nicely renovated. Our host, Giovanna, is wonderful and left us all kinds of goodies. Hopefully, Peter won’t either hit his head on the low arched doorways or break his neck on the stairs when he gets up to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Barring those catastrophes, it is a very cool place to spend the night.

Here are a few pictures and a video Peter took.

There’s a little garden area; maybe it will be cool enough later to have dinner out there.

Notice the welcome sign in upper left corner; very nice touch.

Queen size bed; it’s a tight fit but it should be fine.

Here’s the link to the Airbnb listing which has more pictures. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/20097875?source_impression_id=p3_1560263122_bgHB3A1GNh7KBYdt

And here’s the link to the video Peter took that we posted on YouTube.https://youtu.be/HGUtDCriBEU

It’s still early, just 4:45pm now but we’ve been settled for a couple of hours. And this is where we plan to stay for the evening. It will be nice to have a home-cooked dinner for a change. Unlike other adventures, we’ve been staying in more hotels than flats and I’m getting tired of eating out. As much as I love pasta and pizza, too much of a good thing is, well….too much.

Talk soon.

Lecce – Florence of the South

June 10

Evidence of Lecce can be found as early as the Trojan War (12th or 13th century BC) but then it was called Sybar. Lecce has been occupied continuously (but with different names) ever since. Now it is considered Florence of the South because of the amazing architecture.

Original city wall with bastion of St. Francis in the background.

Today was slightly cooler (only upper 80s) than yesterday and it was pretty windy so there was a nice breeze, especially in the shade. It was still hot, though, so we decided to have an easier day (only 16,400 steps; about 7 miles). We started with the Charles V Castle built in the middle of the 16th century. The ground level was free and since we just saw a big castle yesterday, choose not to pay to see the interior.

Castle Charles V; One of the outside walls

After strolling through a market, where Peter got a beach towel, we headed to the Basilica of Santa Croce. Once we finally found it, we discovered that we had to buy tickets at the Piazza Duomo, about a 15 minute walk back in the direction we came from. But we made good use of our time and found a few other cool places, including the Roman Amphitheater which was built in the 2nd century. Over the centuries other monuments were built above it so only part of it has been excavated.

One of the original city gates is to the left of the amphitheater.

We also stopped at a couple of churches (of course we did) between the amphitheater and the Duomo. The first was the Chiesa Del Gesu, a small but beautiful church. It contained the relics from St. Bernadino, the patron saint of Lecce.

The last stop before the Duomo was the Chiesa di Sant’Irene. This church is considered the historic center of Lecce and was built beginning in 1592. This one was built in the Baroque style and is, therefore, much more ornate. The carvings on the columns were amazing.

Just one of the many side altars; one was more ornate than the other. What looks like dark grey on the columns is actually intricate carvings.

We finally made it to the Duomo, which we had seen last night when we went to dinner. The Cathedral was built in 1144 but was rebuilt in 1659. The remains under the main altar are those of Saint Orontius of Lecce, yet another patron saint of the city.

We also visited the crypt beneath the main altar

In addition to the church, our ticket allowed us to visit the church museum. There were some nice paintings, silver pieces and statues. It was very reminiscent of the museum at the Abbey of Monte Cassino but not as large.

Once we were done here, we headed back to the Basilica of Santa Croce which was built over 300 years from 1353 to 1695. Once again in the Baroque style, it’s richly decorated. We didn’t get to see the outside as it’s undergoing renovations. To tell the truth, the Basilica, the Duomo and St. Irene’s had very similar looking interiors with the carved columns and ornate decorations.

Can really see the ornate carvings in this picture.

Once we finished at the Basilica, we stopped for a light lunch then decided that 4 churches, 1 castle and an amphitheater was plenty for one day. We were hot, tired and wanted to get back to the hotel and the pool. It took about 45 minutes to walk home because we stopped several times to look at a few things on the way, including the Naples Gate, which at one time, was the main gate of the city. It was erected in 1548 in anticipation of a state visit from Charles V. It was beautiful.

Column was at the other end of the park from the Naples Gate. Not sure what it is but it was pretty.

Then it was home for a swim (for Peter) and laundry (for me). The laundry is on the same floor as the pool so it was easy to keep up with the clothes while hanging out under an umbrella on the pool deck. Of course, in Europe laundry is never easy so it took almost 3 1/2 hours to do 2 loads, but now everything we have is clean; at least for now.

Tomorrow we’re off to Alberobello where we are staying in a Trulli house; we can’t wait.

Castello Aragonese in Taranto

June 9

Stopped at a beach (sort of a beach; at least it had access to water) between Taranto where we visited Castello Aragonese and Lecce.

Even though it was a low-key day, we still managed to walk over 22,000 steps. After a short 1-hour drive from Matera, we visited the Castello Aragonese in Taranto. The current fort was constructed in the late 15th century, but it was built over older Greek fortifications that date from the 3rd and 4th century BC.

They have guided tours but since we were the only English speakers on the tour, we had our own tour guide. Arianna is a 16-year-old student who is doing a one-week internship at the Castle. She was as cute as could be and has a very good command of English. She can also speak French and Spanish. We were her first formal tour, and she did a great job. She made us feel pretty old though as she literally hopped downstairs while we took forever to get up and down the many stairs we had to climb.

After the tour we walked to the Duomo, first stopping at the Spartan Museum. Taranto was originally founded by the Spartans in the 8th century BC and is the only colony ever founded by Sparta. The Museum is privately owned and, while small, offered a nice exhibit of items from that era.

It was just a few more blocks to the Duomo. As Cathedrals go, this one was pretty understated but pretty in its own way.

Side chapel was much more ornate in the Baroque style

We walked back to the Castle to find the one restaurant open that wasn’t a fish bar. My pasta (gnocchi with pink cream sauce) was delicious, but Peter had a miss with his. It was pasta with Turnip Tops (which would have been a non-starter for me) but he gave it a shot. There were way too many turnip tops, which he said are quite bitter. He did his best but didn’t eat much.

His one recurrent complaint about Europe has been the amount of coffee he gets when he orders one with his meal. If you’ve ever had coffee in Europe, you know that the coffee is strong, so they only drink a little bit of it at any one time. He usually orders coffee Americana lungo (large), but they didn’t have that today.

With his tiny cup of coffee; maybe 3 swallows at most

We made one more stop before getting to Lecce. Peter is always looking for a beach so after about 30 minutes we found this. Not exactly a beach but it was a place he could get into the water. It was rocky but he had his reef booties, so he did okay. I sat on a rock and put my feet in the water; it was really cold.

When we finally made it to the Hilton Garden Inn in Lecce, we discovered that they have a roof top pool. Since it was even hotter than yesterday (98 when we got to Lecce) a dip in the pool seemed just the thing. The water was cold but once used to the temperature it wasn’t too bad. We hung out there for about an hour and then I went for a massage before going out to dinner.

At the desk clerk’s suggestion, we went to a very nice restaurant called Nautilus Garden. We ate outside (mid-70s by 8pm) and it was lovely. To walk off dinner we headed for the Duomo which was beautifully lit. We’ll head back tomorrow to see the inside.

It’s almost midnight so it’s time to wrap this up and check on the Cub score. Fingers are crossed we sweep the Cards. Go Cubs!! Just checked…. they don’t start until 6:05 central which is the middle of the night for us. Will have to wait until morning to see the final score.

Night.

La città sotterranea (The Underground City)

June 8

We skipped breakfast this morning to catch an early ferry. This one was more direct, only 20 minutes across the strait so we were back on the mainland and on our way to Matera by 7:45.

This was parked just in front of us on the ferry; must be race weekend.

It was a beautiful car ride, following the sea to the west then to the east. Of course, to get from one side to the other we had to go through some mountains. Unfortunately, when we got to that part it was Peter’s turn to drive. He hadn’t driven in 10 days, but he did a great job through the steep road full of twists and turns. I took over again to get us into the city and amazingly enough we found parking right around the corner from our flat.

Since we had skipped breakfast, we were starving so the first thing we did when we arrived was eat lunch. There was a nice restaurant about 10 feet from where we parked. Even though it’s blazing hot today (into the 90s) we ate outside in the shade. There was no air conditioning inside the restaurant, so it was even hotter than outside. We both had delicious pasta. I took a picture of the menu so I can remember the names and, hopefully, find a recipe that I can make when we get home. These were just as good as the Pasta alla Norma we had in Sicily. One of the things we love about our travel adventures is trying new foods and luckily, we get more hits than misses.

We couldn’t check in until 4pm and it was not even 2:00 when we finished lunch, so we decided to explore the city. The area of Matera has been inhabited continuously since the 10th millennium BC (Paleolithic Period or Old Stone Age). Those residents lived in underground caves, some of which still exist and are available to tour. More on that later.

Part of the excavation of the subterrean city

The old city is beautiful, filled with ancient buildings and narrow alleyways. The cobblestones are rough on the ankles, though, so we both had to be super careful.

Part of the old city; Duomo is in the background.

The Matera Cathedral (Duomo) is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and Saint Eustice. It was built in the Romanesque style in the 13th century.

Another beautiful church was the Church of St. Francis of Assisi. This is even older than the Duomo as it was built in the 11th century. One cool feature of this church is that it was built over the Church of Saints Peter and Paul. There is a trap door in one of the side chapels that accesses that ancient church.

If you look closely at the floor of the altar you can see the outline of the trap door. How fun would it be to check that out.

My favorite, though, was Chiesa San Giovanni Battista. It was much more simple but very beautiful. The construction on this one started in 1230.

Gorgeous Pieta; the expression on Mary’s face is amazing.

We headed back for home about 3:30 as we needed to cool off a bit. The flat is very nice and most importantly, the fridge had a bottle of cold water. I actually used the glass bottle as an ice pack for my ankle which had swollen a little due to the heat. The house is built almost in a cave style with the high rounded ceiling; it’s quite lovely.

Talking with our host from our kitchen/living room combo; bedroom is in the back. It has a king bed and two twins.

Painting in bedroom; looks like a fresco.

Can clearly see the domed ceiling; there a small reading nook up there but we’re not planning to explore that; we’ve already climbed enough stairs today.

After hanging around the house for a couple of hours, we headed back out to check out one of the cave houses. It was quite a walk downhill. While downhill is good, it just means that eventually we’ll have to walk back uphill to get home.

There are several homes to visit. We choose the Case Grotto for no reason other than it was the closest to the house. It was very well done with life size figures. Here are a couple of pictures and I also uploaded a video.

Here’s the video: https://youtu.be/hEc-9VXLXI4

Across the street from the house was a shop displaying the work of a local artist who created an entire village from the stone. It was incredible.

The artist created an amazing village; it was beautiful.

On our way home with our freshly made panini sandwiches, we saw some street entertainers in the main square. It was a lot of fun. https://youtu.be/mtJcgowOe-A

Well, that’s it for tonight. Tomorrow we’re off to Lecce. See you there.

Moving On

ciao ciao Sicilia. è stato divertente e ci vedremo presto.

Sunny, Hot Day in Beautiful Taormina

June 7

We left Catania early, around 8am to get to Taormina before the hoards of tourists arrived and to, hopefully, find parking. We’ll we succeeded on the 2nd goal as we found a lot on the north end of the town. Of course, we had to drive through town to get to it, but we had an easy trip out at the end of our visit.

As for beating the hoards of tourists, not so much. We passed bus parking lots that already had quite a few busses parked. Once we started walking along the streets, we saw at least a dozen tour groups following the flag (the kind of tour I hate). There were a lot of people in Noto yesterday but nothing like this. We hadn’t seen this many people in one place since we left Rome.

Porto Messina (City Gate) This one is on the north side of the town. Porto Catania is on the south.

But, with no choice other than to join the hoards, we wandered the streets of this beautiful town. It’s filled with narrow streets lined with shops, bars and family run restaurants. Of course, we had to stop at one of the latter for our daily granite and cannoli. Since both of those delicious treats are specialties of Sicily, they may be our last. We can get them on the mainland but I’m not sure they’ll be as good.

After snacks we headed to the Greek Theater. While it’s built in the Greek style, the brick used comes from the Roman period. It was built in the 3rd century BC. Like the one we saw yesterday in Siracusa, it is still used for events.

Seating; some new and some ancient bricks

Here’s a video I took. https://youtu.be/Njo1l10j3EA

Here are a few pics from around town.

They’ll put a market anywhere; even on the stairs.

Thought this was the coolest building; It’s actually a personal home.

Sicilian cart; drawn by elaborately decorated donkeys used for festivals.

After walking around for a couple of hours, we took the funicular down the mountain and had lunch by the beach.

This pizza was much better than yesterday which had way too much cheese and sauce. This is the way an Italian pizza is supposed to look. Peter had Pasta al la Norma which is also a Sicilian specialty. We both had it the other day in Erice. I’m going to have to find a recipe for that so we can make it at home.

After a couple more hours at the beach we headed back for the car for the short trip (less than an hour) to Messina. On the way we decided to stop for Peter to put his feet in the Ionian Sea. We walked on the beach after lunch but we’re back to rocky beaches (versus the sand beaches of the Med coast) and his reef booties were in the car. So, we stopped in Roccolumera and went to the shore. He got into the water up to his ankles and that was enough. It was cold and got deep very quickly. Since he was in shorts, not swim trunks, he decided ankle deep was enough.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my trip back to Sicily. The drivers are still crazy, and the roads are still lined with garbage. But it’s a beautiful island (if you ignore the garbage) and the people are so friendly. Yes, the base was totally different, and I couldn’t find my apartment (I think they may have added a gate to the entrance which meant I couldn’t see the building) but it was still fun to revisit all the places I remembered.

We’re spending tonight in Messina at the same hotel we stayed at when we first arrived in Sicily last Wednesday. We’ll catch an early morning ferry tomorrow and head to the heel of the boot. I’m very excited as I’ve not visited that part of the country before so it will be a new adventure.

Day Tour Noto and Syracusa

June 6

If all day tours were this good, I would take them every day. It was a small group, only 7 people, which helped a lot. We started the day with an hour drive to Noto. I had never been there before and wouldn’t have thought to go today if we had just gone out on our own. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage city and is absolutely beautiful. Like much of eastern Sicily, Noto was destroyed in the 1693 earthquake, so much of the town is consider the “new” town. Guess new and old are relative terms. It’s hard to imagine anything over 300 years old being new, but the buildings that were destroyed were 400 years old at the time of the earthquake, so…

Gate of the city; I’m talking with 3 young women from California who were on our tour.

Of course, there’s a church on every corner. We saw 3 of them within 2 blocks but they were all beautiful.

Church #1 but I can’t remember the name. It is in the Baroque style and is much smaller inside than the outside would lead you to believe.

Inside Church #2 Chiesa di Santo Chiara; with the white baroque style, it looks like the first church. Neither one of us got a picture of the outside of this church. It actually just looked like another building.

After seeing the churches, we had about 20 minutes free, so we had a little snack. I had a lemon granite and Peter had his new favorite dessert…. cannoli. Then it was back into the van for the short trip to Syracusa.

We started in Ortigia, which is the historical center of Syracusa. It’s an island connected to the main city by two old bridges. It was beautiful and, as in most places in Europe, a mixture of old and new.

Our first stop was the remains of the Temple of Appolo from 700BC.

In front of the fountain dedicated to Diana, the goddess of the hunt. This is in the Piazza Archimede.

We walked to the Syracusa Cathedral which is of Norman design with a Baroque main altar. It’s dedicated to Santa Lucia and there are several side altars containing relics from her.

Rather stark interior until you get to the main altar which is a baroque style

Side altar with relic from Santa Lucia within the altar.

Once we were done at the Cathedral, we headed to the port where we took a break for lunch. It was another beautiful day and there were several yachts in the harbor. I saw one I really liked, and while Peter was willing to check into it for me, I decided no because it didn’t have any place to land the helicopter. I mean if you’re going to have a yacht, you might as well have one where you can land your helicopter.

It had been a week since we had pizza, so we indulged at one of the seaside cafes. Unlike most Italian pizza, this one was a little heavier with more cheese and sauce. While good, it wasn’t one of my favorites.

Enjoying a cold one with pizza at Al Vecchio Lavatoio

After lunch it was back in the van where we visited the Syracusa Archeological Park. This is divided into two sections: the Greek and the Roman.

Series of caves dug into side of hill; still on Greek side.

I had been using my cane a little as my ankle was a bit painful (oddly, it was hurting on the opposite side from where I had surgery) and when I propped it up against the fence to take the above picture, it fell into the Amphitheater. So, my cane will be forever part of Roman antiquity, or at least until someone who works there sees it and climbs down to get it out. Never a dull moment on our adventures.

From here we headed home, tired but very happy about our day. Tomorrow we’re heading back to Messina with a stop at Taormina, one of the biggest tourist spots in Sicily. It’s only an hour away so we plan to leave early to get there before the bulk of the tourists arrive. It was hard to find parking there 25 years ago so I can imagine what it’s like now. Fingers are crossed.

Day of Nostalgia

June 5

Not a long drive but a challenging one with traffic, weird GPS directions and Geep.

After starting the day with a delicious breakfast on our back patio (from which we could see the Med if we stood up and looked over the bushes), we checked out of our flat and headed to the interior of the island.

The drive to the base was under 2 hours but we got stuck on a road behind a herd of geep (sheep/goat cross breed). I’ve seen a lot of geep herds, but I’ve never seen one this large. There had to have been at least 150 of them. Since there was no way to get around them, it took about 10 minutes before they cleared the road, and we could get around them.

So, we finally got past the geep and back on to a major road. Since Gracie seemed to be on track, we didn’t expect any further difficulties. Well, she had a little trouble once we got close to the base. She kept telling us to turn down this tiny little road, then make a right where there was no road. After about 3 tries, we gave up and decided to go straight to the WWII museum in Catania that Peter wanted to see. Gracie got us there with no problem but then we couldn’t find any place to park. We decided to bail on the museum and head to the hotel where we thought we could get directions to the base.

We checked in without problem, but the desk clerk had no idea what base I was talking about, but he was kind enough to call the Navy Lodge for us. The clerk there told me what to put into the GPS to get there. Mind you, the driving in Catania makes driving in Palermo look like a picnic in the park but we really need to get to the base, so off we went.

This time we made it without difficulty, but the entire base is different from when I was last there 25 years ago, so it took a little while to find the laundromat. Once the clothes were in the washer, we took our stuff to the pack and wrap place to get ready for mailing. We had to leave it for several hours but that was okay because we still had to do laundry.

On base with Mt. Etna in the background. I always looked for smoke coming out of the mountain which meant it wasn’t about to blow its top…..there’s smoke, we’re good.

While waiting for clothes we walked to the Hospital where I was stationed from 1992-1994. In fact, I am a plank owner of the hospital, which means I was a member of the “ship” when it was first commissioned. On a ship, a plaque is placed onboard with all the names of the crew members who were assigned when it was first commissioned. I’m sure there’s a picture of the crew on commissioning day some place but we had no idea where to look. In the old days, a plank owner could request a deck plank from the ship when it was decommissioned which is where the name comes from. That practice ended many years ago but the name “plank owner” stuck.

I first arrived in July 1992 for the purpose of setting up the inpatient nursing department. At that time Sig only had a large clinic but the hospital was opening in 1993 so it was my job to get the 4 inpatient nursing areas (multiservice unit, labor and deliver, nursery and the operating rooms) ready to open. I worked on that for about 6 months before the hospital opened, and was commissioned, in early 1993.

I have to say that very little seemed familiar to me. Just like the rest of the base, much had changed since we opened the facility 26 years ago. First, it was much smaller than I remembered. I did, though, recognize my offices. I had two different jobs while I was there (first Inpatient Nursing Department Head and then Health Promotions Coordinator) and I had a different office for each one.

My corner office when I was Health Promotions Coordinator; now the person that hold that position has an office in the fitness center.

While Peter and I were hanging out in the hall in front of this office, the XO (Executive Officer; second in command) walked by and asked if we needed help. I told him who I was, and I just wanted to see my old duty station. He very kindly offered to take us to the multiservice nursing unit, which it turns out, was just around the corner. When he saw the nurse at the duty station he said, “we have a special guest; a plank owner of the hospital is here to visit.” How cool was that of him! Of course, I had to explain to the LTJG (same as 1st LT in Army) what a plank owner was but we had a very pleasant conversation.

She took us to meet the current Department Head, which is the job I started with. That LT (same as Captain in Army) was also gracious with her time, offering to give us a full tour. But she was clearly busy with a few of her staff, and we didn’t want to take up anymore of her time.

We talked with the LTJG (who said it was an honor to meet me; who’s crying; I’m not crying) a little longer than headed back to the laundromat to get our clothes into the dryer. After stopping at the exchange and commissary (can’t wait to get into to puffy Cheetos when we’re back in the car on Friday) we stopped for lunch. There is now a very nice complex that houses the gym, pool, movie theater, and a variety of other activities so we had a juicy American cheeseburger and fries for lunch.

Then it was back to the laundromat to get our clothes and to the post office to mail our boxes home. We were only on base for about 3 hours, but it was nice to see the place again even if I didn’t recognize much.

Since I was on a bit of a nostalgia kick, we decided to head to Aci Trezzi to find my old apartment. We have to drive back through Catania to get there and about 2/3 of the way there, Peter remarked that it was a long way to go every day. Yes, it was but I told him that I wanted to live with the Italians. He commented that the entire island was full of Italians and that I could probably have found something closer. While that’s true, I loved my apartment.

Anyway, I knew the street (Via Litteri) but couldn’t remember the house number. But I was sure I would recognize it when I saw it. Unfortunately, I didn’t. We got to the top of the road without anything looking the least bit familiar. So, we turned around and came back to the hotel. It was a little disappointing but at least I got to see the hospital.

That was our day. Tomorrow we planned to drive to Syracuse, which of course I was dreading because I would have had to drive back through Catania and into another big city. But the desk clerk mentioned a tour, and as much as I hate tours, it was better than driving so we signed up. The best part is that the bus will pick us up at the hotel, so I don’t have to move the car. So, we’ll follow a flag like lemmings, but I can suck it up for one day of not driving. We’ll let you know how it goes.

Buona note.