Vacation, Italian style.

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Reading on the patio @ il Baglio, Sicily with Morgan.

Ten days, sandwiched between four days of the longest travel days I have yet to experience,  the privilege of travel has been mine, yet again. From Auckland to Sydney, Hong Kong, Rome and finally Palermo,Sicily, I wended my way to a week long family reunion followed by four days in Rome with Morgan and Caleb.

The swimming hole at the villa on Sicily, reefs all around.

This trip has been a lovely repose. Rest from work and from my persistent self-examination of my future plans.  Within our group we had historians, anthropologists, health care providers, psychologists, musicians, writers, geologists, world travelers, thinkers, activists, environmentalists, intelligent and  creative minds.  The ages spanned from 8 to 80.  Each  perspective a different view of the world.  A lovely panoply  with which to experience Sicily.  I let others plan this vacation and as a result I have been a hitchhiker of sorts.  It has been delightful.

Bella, my niece, in the amphitheater in Segesta

In Sicily, we stayed in a lovely villa on the water between Catellemare de Golfo and Scopello.  The deep blue Mediterranean water was the perfect temperature for long swims, the days were mostly sunny and warm.  We dined exceedingly well, but the best food was what we prepared ourselves from the local cheese, olive oil, tomatoes and wine.  

Lion statue that guards the "fountain of shame", Palermo

One of our first excursions was to the ancient city of Erice.  We took the gondola  up through the mist to the walled city and wandered the cobbled streets to the ruins of the cult of Venus.  That night, we dined in nearby Trapani , nearly filling the exquisite trattoria with our party alone.  Sicily, being only 100 miles from Tunisia, has a multi-cultural history from Greeks, Romans, to African travelers.   The ruins were less crowded than those we were to visit in Rome and Pompeii.   Our next archeological site was Segesta.
There, on a sunny day, we viewed ruins of Muslim mosques,  the most well preserved of Greek temples, and whispered messages in the amphitheater.   Availing ourselves of the blue water, the ocean rejuvenated us after hours of viewing ruins.

Daedulus' wall, in the Temple of Venus, Erice

About 3miles down the road from our villa near Scoppello, the Riserva Nationale de Zingaro offered a place to hike, run and swim.   This nature preserve wrestled from road construction through protest of 3,000 people, was the first in Sicily formed only in 1980. I gladly paid the 3 euro entry fee thrice.  The water teemed with fish that were not present just a few km down the road at our house.  Fishing was not permitted in the reserve.  Although fishing has been a way of life for many Sicilians for centuries,  newer fishing methods have nearly demolished the Mediterranean marine life.

Zingaro National Reserve and Marine Reserve, Sicily

Palermo, home to the airport, lays claim to being the largest city in Sicily.    We had planned a birthday present/cooking class experience for my father in Palermo.  There we braved the traffic and met at the palazzo of a duchess for cooking class. Inside the walls, a magnificent home, full of history, secret passages and elegance, hides from the chaotic Palermo street traffic.  We ventured to a loud, bustling street market to buy ingredients for our feast.  Our “graduation”  was the dinner, the sum of our efforts. 

Shopping for our ingredients in Palermo.

As with many places in Rome and Sicily, resplendent churches may have humble appearing exteriors and set in the most unassuming places, providing a sharp contrast to the hustle of the life outside its doors.  A modern city has grown up around many of these churches and ruins, almost despite them.  How does it change one’s perception to grow up in a country where ruins from thousands of years ago exist next door?  Do you have the sense things do not change much?  Or rather does the contrast of modern and ancient remind one of just how much our actions influence the world/earth?

Palermo market

Caleb and Chloe, Palermo

 Our final group archeological visit was to Salinute, the largest archeological site.  Andrew, a historian who had written about the area, guided us expertly through the streets of Salinute.  He embroidered history, recent events, engineering theories into  a lovely background that made the experience much more meaningful.  I regretted not doing my homework more thoroughly prior to my visit for all the other ruins I had visited.  Andrew joined us for dinner at a small inn nearby.  Simple, delicious, set on a patio with overhanging grape arbor and gracious hosts, it was one of my most memorable dinners with the family.  

Temple at Segesta, Sicily

Our best meal, however, was not in a restaurant, or catered, it was a pot luck birthday celebration.  The impetus for our trip and family reunion was to celebrate my father’s 80^th birthday.  His actual birthday, March 12, was the day following the earthquake in Japan, a day I had essentially missed all together, as I was preoccupied trying to reach Caleb in Japan.

Dad, Kate and Chloe at dinner in Trapani

Thankfully, I was able to celebrate his birthday during this visit.  A slide show with pictures from Dad’s life had been created, a collaboration by Lynn, Kirsten with some input from every family member. It was a lovely tribute to a kind, generous man. There were many causes for celebration during this trip; Margaret’s birthday (June 3), Kimberly’s recent graduation, Brent’s upcoming 50^th birthday.

I have a lovely, loving extended family. This trip represented a perfect time to renew our ties.  If anything, I wish I had more time to spend with each of our family.  More time to discuss what was meaningful to their lives.  I hope to make more time to continue to connect with each member.  

Following our Sicilian family reunion, Morgan, Caleb and I returned to Rome, to spend a few days together before dispersing to different sides of the globe.

Cobbled streets, Erice

Fountain of Shame: Why? "Because the monastery faces the sculpture devoted to nudists" said the carbinieri of Palermo

Rome.  A city of ruins, art,  and food.  Cobbled roads leading to piazzas with magnificent statues, ruins from ancient Romans reused, or strewn on the ground.  Yesterday, we walked to the historic city center.  We walked on streets that thousands tread annually. The same the Romans built. We visited the Colloseum, Roman Forum, Piazzas that Michelangelo designed, we made wishes at the Trevi fountain, climbed the Spanish steps, and ate fried artichokes in the Jewish quarter.  With guidebook in hand, we recalled the lives of Caligula, Nero, the Renaissance.   

The Colliseum, Rome, of course. Only a 3 hour wait to get in.

We have been accosted and succumbed to some of the typical tourist traps in Italy. Our “apartment” has no kitchen,  just a hot water heater and a refrigerator.  It does have bed bugs.  The train tickets we purchased were done so at the assistance/insistence of a woman who later asked to be paid for her help.   Sometimes ordering in a foreign language leads to interesting meals, but it is Rome, and the food has been sublime.  Particulary at a small trattoria in the Trastavere neighborhood.  The chef sat on the steps of his establishment, smoking.  He later came by to each table, talking.  Through stilted Italian, I asked if he could teach us how to prepare his dishes. He volunteered that we could come and cook with him. Perhaps on another trip to Rome...

Morgan

Caleb

It is 11:38pm the night before we depart Rome for our various homes.  The day  was spent in Pompeii wandering ruins of a city that dates to the 2^nd century BC.  Copulating frescoes, amphitheatres, wagon ruts in cobbled roads, and casts of bodies, caught fleeing the gaseous emissions of Vesuvius will live in my memory. In Pompeii, we met Kate and David (sister and her partner) which provided a sense of completion to our adventures.

Home, Pompeii

  It intrigues me that the Romans lived much as we do now.  What we revile in their culture (gladiator battles, brutality) we mirror in our own reality shows, violence on TV.  The walls of the city of Pompeii were plastered (pardon the pun) in political graffiti, dating from 2 BC!  The town was comprised of many houses, a central living area, atrium, kitchen, bathrooms.  

Fresco, in the house of prostitution, Pompeii

Mosaic floor from house in Pompeii

Large houses (2000 square meters) were built by the wealthy, while the merchants lived in the rear of their stores (bakeries, wine merchants) or in smaller homes removed from the pastoral view or main attractions.
What have we learned since Pompeiians walked these streets... in that 2000year span of time?  Electricity, the industrial revolution, democracy, nuclear reactions, motor vehicles, flight, space flight, the internet… where has it brought us?

House of Mysteries, Pompeii

 Art. Music. Sport.  All  ageless, favorite pastimes evidenced in Pompeii, Rome and Sicilian archeological ruins.  After spending the day with frescoes by Raphael and Michelangelo, I also thought about how growing up with them might impel one to sketch, to aspire to venture more into the arts than if one lived in a newer culture or lived within a more electronic/internet aged culture.

Outdoor market, Hong Kong... (with similarities to Palermo)

Outdoor market. Hong Kong

  The internet has brought us the ease of answering questions, of witnessing great art, music, of connecting with others across the globe even as I do now.  Standing in the Sistine Chapel,  walking in the footsteps of ancient Romans, seeing walls purportedly built by mythical heroes, swimming in the blue ocean, smelling the sun baked earth of Sicily, hugging my sisters, playing with my niece… the richness of experience cannot be surplanted by tales and photos delivered on a screen.

Eat. Converse.  Seek out art, music, people.  Live history.  Experience.  This is what I bring home with me. Hopefully, I will remember to do the same once I am back in my usual routine!

Ciao Roma!

Downtown Hong Kong fountain

Roof top in Hong Kong with windmill. Green energy at work