Itala September 18 - 22

9-18-09 Friday Day 7

Venice Ravenna Assisi

In the morning we boarded the bus and were on our way to Assisi with a quick stop for lunch. The landscape varied between cultivated flat land to hilly and mountainous terrain. The lowlands appeared prosperous with many crops growing but the highlands had many buildings with half or all their roofs missing.

We reached Assisi in early afternoon and walked on the cobbled streets to the cathedral, the one Francis of Assisi made famous. A locale guide walked us around, explaining the many fresco wall murals. It was a beautiful building with high, domed ceilings all painted with fresco scenes. Many famous painters left their work on these walls and ceilings. By the time we left the church, we were ready for a nap and almost overslept and missed our supper.

9-19-09 Saturday Day 8

Assisi Pompeii Naples At sea

In the morning we drove towards Pompeii and arrived there in the middle of the afternoon. Pompeii had been buried in ash and hot lava because of its location at the foot of Mount Vicarious. Many people had been buried alive when in olden times, the mountain erupted. Today the city has been excavated of ash, and the original cobbled streets and buildings exposed. On the streets we walked on, about fourteen feet of ash had been remover. The buildings on both side of the street had been stores and places of business. At the time of the eruption, many of the occupants of Pompeii were suffocated and berried in the hot ash from the mountain. On display in glass cases were two petrified bodies caught by the ash. From their positions, it appeared that they had died in agony. In one area the diggers uncovered mosaic floors with detailed pictures of warriors on horse back that look as good as when they were first installed. The colors were bright and vivid.

The local guide told us that the worst problem the preservationist had was the unauthorized digging and selling on the black market of artifacts that are national Italian treasures. The government doesn’t have enough money to protect all the sights were the ground contains artifacts.

After our tour of Pompeii, we went back to the bus. Our driver, Eduardo, stood there next to his wife. He introduced us to her, She was a good looking Italian woman. We next drove to the ferry boat, which was the size of an ocean going ship. In order to board her, we had to climb many steps. Constance Sham, a young lady who lived in Penang Malaysia, grabbed my backpack and carried it up the steps to the hatch where we boarded the Ferry. She said it was heavy but that didn’t stop her from carrying it. Because I was walking with a cane and was limping, our fellow travelers were very concerned and helpful. It was time to eat. We found the ships restaurant on the fifth floor, had a good meal and proceeded to our cabins for our night at sea.

The cabins were small with a lower and upper bunk. The lower bunk was about two feet wide and the upper bunk a little wider. The aluminum ladder to get into the upper bunk was rickety. We puzzled over our sleeping arrangements. First I helped Lorene climb the ladder to the upper bunk. We could see that was too dangerous. Then I climbed the ladder. I thought of how many times I had to get up at night. It would be too much for me. Then we both tried laying on the narrow lower bunk. We would have to synchronize our breathing and not roll over to keep from falling out. Next, in desperation, we took the mattress and bedding off the upper bunk and put it on the floor. That worked. I slept on the bunk and Lorene slept on the floor.

9-20-09 Sunday Day 9

At sea Palermo

The ferry was an ocean going vessel set up to carry many passengers to and from Sicily. It was an overnight trip with enough cabins to take care of the local and tourist trade. It was a sturdy and well built ship that rolled very little when the water got rough. In the morning after breakfast, we prepared to board the bus for our tour of Sicily. Constance Sham, the girl from Malaysia, grabbed my back pack and carried it until we were off the boat and on the bus. I thanked her for her kindness. Most of our group was ready to help in any way if my bad knee held us up. It was comforting to be with congenial, helpful companions. We enjoyed their company. In the evening we went to an optional fish dinner. The waiters kept bringing out platters of shrimp, prawns, oysters, octopus and several types fish. With the meal we were served white of red wine. We became more congenial and drank a few toasts to each other. Sitting to our left were Barbara and John from Florida and Teresa and Joe from Las Vagas.

Lorene and I were the only couples not married in the group. Our table mates began teasing us about stopping the tour so we could have a wedding. Soon the word spread to the other tables and we all had a good laugh but no wedding. After a final toast, we climbed into the bus for a return to our hotel for a nights sleep.

9-21-09 Monday Day 10

Palermo Selinunte Agrigento

This day was spent mostly in traveling. We had lunch at a restaurant on the coast were we could walk on the sand at the waters edge. We stopped at another sight where we were given the choice of walking up hill to the ruins or staying with the bus. Most of our group elected to stay with the bus. One old lady said, “If you see one rock, you see them all.” My wife, Ronnie, used to say much the same thing

9-22-09 Tuesday Day 11

Agrigento Piazza Armerina Enna Taormina [Giardini Naxos]

We traveled through the vineyards of the southern hills to enjoy a visit to see the colorful mosaics of the fourth century Roman Villa of Cosale. Then we were off to see the splendors of Piazza Armerina before stopping to view the fortress town of Enna. Next we arrived in the scenic resort of Taormina where we spent the next two nights.

Italy September 15 - 17

9-15-09 Tuesday Day4

Rome Pisa Florence

In the morning after breakfast we left the hotel Diana and drove to Florence and Pisa. Our bus dropped us off at a terminal where we boarded a rubber tired train

The train took us to a station within walking distance of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. With my bad knee, the walking wasn't easy, but was the only way to the tower. When we finally came within sight of the tower, it was a beautiful sight. I began to take pictures. I had imagined the tower being separated from other buildings, but, although it is not attached, it appears to be apart of a large group of buildings of the same architectural design. The way it is leaning it’s amazing it doesn't fall down.

Our hotel for the night was the Grand Marquee, a much more modern hotel than the Diana. In the evening, we went to a monastery. Our meal and entertainment were served by the monks, who gave us a delicious meal including drinks and followed it up with wonderful entertainment. They played the violin and accordion and had a talented vocalist. They were the order of monks of the Henupitti Monastery and were a pleasant surprise, the young monks, in their twenties, were a fun bunch who left us laughing.

9-16-09 Wednesday Day 5

Florence sightseeing Venice

At 7:00 AM we ate breakfast at the hotel dining room. At 8:30 AM we climbed into our bus, greeted our bus driver, Eduardo, and drove to a part of Florence with many narrow one way streets lined with what she shops carrying all kinds of goods including jewelry, leather goods, rugs, tee shirts, and souviners to tempt the last dollar from the tourist My knee was hurting from all that walking from shop to shop. Lorene did what she could by holding my hand and Annie and Clive stayed with us to give a helping hand. They were on their second honeymoon after selling their 7000 acre station in Perth, Australia. We walked to a Plaza where we entered the Santa Cruz Cathedral. A local guide took over and told us about the many frescos. The most famous fresco was painted by Michael Angelo. Cabeling had been set around the outer walls because the plaster walls, painted with many frescos, were being renovated. The center section remained open and was crowded with tourists. Our guide stopped at the many objects of interest and talked about the artist and the marble carvers. The remains of many famous people, including Michael Angelo, were interred here. Their graves were marked with white marble slabs level with the floor and inscribed with their names. We walked on and over their graves. We looked through some more shops around the plaza before retuning to the hotel. In the afternoon we drove to the Laguna Palace Hotel in Venice, our best hotel yet. It was next to a marina with many expensive yachts. We were served a nice dinner in the hotel dining room. At the next table were Bob and Terry Dyer who had moved into their new home in Ocean Shores, Washington. My son, Ken’s old partner in the custom cabinet shop that they had operated in the Olympia area, Adolpho Capistani, had built cabinets in the Dyer home. Adolpho had became friends with the Dyers. Bob and Terry spoke well of Adolpho. Another couple [I don’t remember their names] sat across from us. He had been an optometrist. After retiring he became a forester because he loved the woods. He was a serious photographer and, with a quality camera, he took lots of pictures.

9-17-09 Thursday day 6

Venice sightseeing and at leisure

In the morning the bus took us to the Venice waterfront. We boarded a water taxi and sailed to the Isle of Capri which was very popular as a tourist attraction. Our first destination was a glass factory. In the lobby on display was a full size horse made of glass. The glass horse was the only full size glass horse in existence. Our group gathered in a room where there was a glass oven. A glass craftsman took a ball of glass heated it red hot and formed it into a vase with glass handles. We all admired the vase. Then he shocked us by purposely breaking the vase. He explained that, as the vase cooled too quickly it would have broken anyway. He said that the only way to keep it from breaking was to put it in a cooling oven that would cool it slowly.

On the shelves in the next room was a collection of beautiful colored glass goblets of many colors trimmed in gold. Some of the goblets that were real collectors pieces sold for thousand of dollars. The man explained the process of incorporating the rich blue and pink colors combined with gold leaf to create these perfect beautiful pieces. Some of our group bought goblets but not the ones that cost thousands.

Next Tony took us to a small square so we could have lunch on our own. Lorene and I choose an indoor outdoor restaurant that specialized in sea food. While we were eating, a pigeon flew in and walked around between the tables looking for scrapes. We dropped some of our lunch for him or her. He walked around as though he owned the place. It must have been its regular stopping place.

Two salesman came in and sat at the next table to us. The older of the two tried to talk to us but the language barrier was complete. When we finished eating and were ready to leave the, they shook hands my hand with such a firm grip that my fingers hurt. Salesmen the world over are good hand shakers.

As the time came closer for our gondola ride, we walked down a narrow street to the gondola mooring sight. There were about twenty gondolas tied to poles sunk in the bottom. The gondolas bobbed in the water because of the waves. We were the only ones from our group but soon the others began showing up. We were helped aboard by the gondola man, four to a gondola. Our gondola mates were Annie and Clyve, the couple from Australia. The gondola man, with his long oar steered us into a narrow canal where buildings lined the canal waterway on both sides. Looking into the open doorways, we could see that at high ride the first floor would be covered with a foot of water so the first floors here useless. The second floors were occupied.

We floated under several arched bridges. I attempted to take pictures of the people on the bridges but mostly I took pictures of Clive’s hat because he was sitting in front of me. It was a pleasant, peaceful ride with many picture taking opportunities. Before the gondola ride, Tony had taken us to a plaza where the floor of the plaza was covered with water at high tide. A raised wooden walkway had been built so people could walk through the plaza without getting their feet wet. After the gondola ride we were driven to our hotel for a meal and a nights rest.