Another Italy post

here is another update from italy. we are in palermo, sicily now for 5 days total. each day we do an excursion.

wednesday we drove 2 hours to Agrigento to visit some greek temples older than the parthenon - 6 century BC! The ruins were quite in tact and it was inspiring to see such primitive/sophisticated architecture in person for the first time after years of studying it in school! for a society that built everything manually prior to machines the scale is immense even for todays standards. one temple was as big as a soccer field and 11 stories high! that one was only the lower framework on the site. other smaller ones still had all the columns and pediments, but no roofs as they were built with timber (lighter than stone - duh, no roofs are made of stone) and we havent seen wood that lasts 2500 years just yet, have we? actually there was some wood preserved in Ercolano - but that was in cooled lava and basically burned black and crumbled.

it was a long trip - baby was excellent - slept most of the way there, ate at the museo, slept when we walked in the africa hot sun to the temples - then nearly made it home until the last 30 min where he was sick of the car seat! i cant blame him!

yesterday we were closer to port - only a 30 min drive to a small town called Moreale on the outskirts of Palermo. we saw the most INCREDIBLE church i have EVER seen in my entire lifetime. Upon entering my jaw literally dropped and we all gasped. It was more intricate and detailed than I could have ever imagined. The entire interior of the romanesque church was covered in tiny mosaics depicting stories from the old and new testaments. The mosiac fragments were each the size of a dime or smaller and the stone fragments were mixed with bits of gold covered glass which caused the entire building to sparkle. It was breathtaking. the walls, ceilings, columns, arches, domes, etc... the floor was marble with some inlays but not at the small scale. The church was such a large building and the complex designs with such small pieces had an extremely powerful impact!

There was a wedding ceremony that was beginning upon our visit. The organs were playing and echoing thru the whole sanctuary. I am kicking myself for forgetting to bring the video camera - i had so much to remember for the baby! but - i did take a video with the regular camera. I bought a book on the church so that we could relive the beauty.

After the sites we went to a local restaurant and ate delicious pasta that is specific to the region. GP had buccatini alle sarde - with fennel, raisins and pine nuts. i tasted it - cant say that i liked it. maybe a 2/10 since i dont like small fishy tastes. GP didnt love it either but said he HAD to eat it since without trying it, you havent really tasted sicily,.

the buccatini are special to this region. its a spaghetti that is thick and has a hole thru the center (like a tube). we saw all the wheat fields on our tour where they grow local hard wheat for bread and pasta..

Irene, g-ma and I all had "pasta normale" - a thick flat spaghetti with tomatoes, eggplant and ricotta. it was excellent! real comfort food.

these primi piatti were followed by gamberi rossi. we all "ciucced the heads" (sucked the juices out) as Irene says. GP got some fresh ones too and he is grilling them up tonight. we eat these regional fish daily. yum. Mom, I am sure that if you were here you would be saying "this is the best fish I hav ever had" daily and we would actually believe you. I still doubt "the best salmon you ever had" was from Outback steakhouse as you claimed one evening after dinner.

the other thing about the ristorante was the decor. the whole place had pieces of or full siciliani carts - finely painted with stories in bright colors. the aperitivi were laid out on a massive cart that was covered in hand painted vases and platters covered in local dishes. it was tempting but we just ordered from the waiter. there were no menus.

there was a darn mosquito on the boat and i have 30 bites on my legs and they are bothering me and ugly.

the driver took me shopping this afternoon. i got a pair of sneakers so i can walk tomorrow on some mountain excursion. also went to a store with all wooded toys. got the baby a measuring stick that hangs on wall measuring in centimeters. also a neat puzzle box with different shapes to help develop his IQ. also a neat bowling pin set where the pins are lions with fuzzy manes.

i felt like such a princess. the taxi driver helped me cross the street, carried my packages and treated me like royalty. you would also be very proud - he only speaks italian and we conversed the whole time so i made good practice of my italian. people here are so nice and helpful!

so excited gioel returns tonight for the weekend! sicily has such an incredible energy and the center is said to be magnificent. we are scheduled to visit an arab market on sat morning - it has all fresh fish, veggies, exotic spices, etc and its all open stalls - the guide today told us it is very "folklore-istic" whatever that means. you walk around tasting all the local goods and sampling items. i bet it will make for interesting pictures too. after the market we will walk around the center to view the architecture. a mix of arab, byzantine, greek and roman catholic styles - there were so many different people settled here over the years that the city of palermo is an amalgamation of cultures and styles that it is totally unique!

today we will visit a medieval town on the northern coast. gotta run and feed luca!

www.pbase.com/gmolinari/italy2006-2

Hello from Italy!

big day today! luca rolled over for the first time! this morning i went to get luca from the crib and he was on his back! i put him to sleep about 11:30pm - he slept until 7:15am ( bit longer than his usual 6:30-7) Each day he sleeps in just a bit more... He has really been amazing. Since we got to Italy he has been eating 5 times a day - when he wakes at 7, then at 11, 3, 7, and 11. works very well for us since we can take him to restaurants for lunch and dinner (we eat late here at 8:30 or 9:30) and he has already been taken care of. if not, then i just feed him at the restaurant which happens every now and then. of course he still spits up all day long and i now wear this great perfume called "sour milk".

yesterday we went to capri. the water was smooth going over from naples, but in the harbor it was pretty rocky and i felt a bit queasy in the morning - luckily it passed and i didnt have to take any meds. the boat couldnt be docked in capri so we dropped anchor and GP, Gioel and I took the tender to shore. Irene watched the baby and gave him a bottle at 11. he took it just fine. she said at first he was a little snobbish about taking it, but then i guess realized that if he was to eat he better get comfortable with it! and he finished about 6 oz.

Capri was beautiful. We got off the boat about 9 am, so the crowds had yet to arrive and we walked across a good part of the island taking pictures. the shops were all pretty fancy and not too unique (the usual gucci, ferragamo, LV, etc) so we didnt shop. by noon we were ready to return to the boat and have lunch. at that time, there were hundreds of people swarming and we were glad we got there early and could enjoy the island at a peaceful, quiet time.

we ate lunch on the boat just before we sailed to Ischia. GP wanted to swim so he jumped off the back of the boat. The water was beautiful and I was tempted to join, but it was choppy and it seemed like too much effort. Today we will swim in the thermal baths of Ischia after breakfast.

We arrived in Ischia in the afternoon - we walked around a bit. Its an island like Capri but it has lower elevations around the shore, so the charming port town we are in lies low along the coast (in Capri you have to take a funicular up to the town atop the island). lots of neat boats in the harbor, colorful low buildings dotting the shore and tons of kids running all over the street and beach. We had dinner late at a local place right on the water. The best pizza I've had - with artichokes salami and mushrooms. I ate the cheese and the baby is fine. today we lounged by a pool at a hotel on the beach and had lunch on the boat. we are about to depart again for naples so tomorrow morning gioel can leave for london. this will be the last email and pictures since he is taking the laptop with him...

here is a link to a few pictures from our first week here.

www.pbase.com/gmolinari/italy2006-1

love ronni, gioel and luca