The Holidays

March 31, 2017 Jim Herrmann Leave a comment

I know it is a little late for a holiday post, but there was enough going on that I felt I needed to share a little of that season with you.

We attended several dinners and parties at friends’ houses. I think they took pity on us. We attended a dinner at Paola and Gianfranco’s house before Christmas (Natale in Italian), where we played games and ate and drank and made merry. On Christmas Eve we were invited to dine with our friend’s (Stefano) aunt and uncle Paola and Maurizio, who have also become good friends. Christmas Day was spent at Stefano’s mother’s house where we had another wonderful meal and met new friends. New Year’s Eve we celebrated again with Paola and Gianfranco at a restaurant in their home town of Novoli just a few miles from Lecce. And then on New Year’s Day we went to the Adriatic coast with Stefano and his lovely partner, Sally, for the view and an incredible meal at an out-of-the-way restaurant near the Adriatic. In the recounting of the events, I cannot stress enough the warmth and inclusion of the people here. We were invited into their home and treated like family, and most have only known us a few months. Their generosity and openness is truly wonderful and we appreciate and value it greatly.

Nativity scenes (Presepe in Italian) are spotted nearly everywhere. Every home we went into had a small one of their own:

While we were in Malta I found this ornate one in a cathedral:

A city in the US could probably not get away with this (you know, the war on Christmas and all), but in the ancient Roman amphitheater of Lecce, they built a full-sized replica of Bethlehem. Like most that we saw, it is peopled by not only the standard characters, but many locals also. Here are some views of not only the construction (yes, those are real stone houses). but some of the characters, the scene in the snow and at night:

Scenes around town and elsewhere:

Piazza Sant’Oronzo at night

Holiday market

Small restaurant and the owner had a guitar, Maurizio played and sang

Yes, we got snow

New Years Eve in Novoli with about 30 other people:

Dressed up for the evening

Gianfranco, Paola and their lovely daughter, Camilla

God help us, this is the village undertaker

Holly, Camilla and Paola

Selfies are big everywhere

New Year’s Day on the Adriatic with Stefano and Sally:

Stefano, Sally and me with the Adriatic in the background

Path to the lighthouse

The rest of the crew

The lighthouse

Sally and Holly

The Adriatic. They say on a clear day you can see Albania, I have yet to have proof.

The restaurant

For Holly’s birthday we went to Bari (the largest city in Puglia with a population of about 315,000). Bari’s patron saint is Saint Nicholas and the Basilica di San Nicola is one of its big attractions not only for tourism but also as a pilgrimage site. In its crypt lies the purloined remains (or relics if you chose) of good old St. Nick (taken from a site in what is now Turkey somewhere in the 11th century for “safe keeping”). That is correct, Santa Claus is buried here.

The Basilica di Sant’Nicola

Homage to St. Nick

This is a different version of the jolly old elf

The crypt

The tomb

Couldn’t resist a lighted Christmas tree

Ostuni, Polignano a Mare and Torino will be up soon.

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Malta

March 17, 2017 Jim Herrmann 1 Comment

When Zach and Shannon were here in December, they offered to use some of their Hilton reward points (with their jobs, they earn them by the bucketful) to take us somewhere. We looked at several places, but we unanimously chose Malta. I am sure that there are some of you who know more about this small island republic than I do, but for the rest a little history is always a good thing.

With its strategic location in the middle of the Mediterranean between Sicily and North Africa, it has been the constant target of conquest and control for at least the last several thousand years. To name only a few of the civilizations that have ruled this tiny place: the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Moors, Normans and the Knights of St. John (given to them in 1530 by the Holy Roman Emperor much to the chagrin of some the locals,). The Knight’s domination was ended by Napoleon on his way to Egypt nearly 270 years later (the Knights are now headquartered in Rome and are still very active part of the Catholic Church). The French only lasted a couple of years and it then went to the British. Malta was granted independence in the 60s, became a republic in the 70s and is still a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is also one of the smallest members of the EU.

The national language is Maltese (a derivation of Arabic from the time of Moorish domination) but English is also an official language. Makes it easy for Americans to get around. It famously withstood an Ottoman siege in the 16th century and the horrific bombing campaign of the Germans during WW II. It is home to a banking system that rivals any of the tax shelters around the world and houses some of the largest yachts I have ever seen.

There are multiple small harbors filled with every type of vessel from tiny, brightly colored fishing boats to very nice power and sailboats to the mega yachts I mentioned earlier. Although we were only 6 km or so from the capital city of Valletta, it took almost a half an hour by bus because of all of the weaving around the small inlets between where we were staying and the city. By the way, the bus system was great, easy to buy passes and they went everywhere. They even had an online mobile app that tracked timing of the buses that was correct most of the time.

Staying in a Hilton hotel with executive lounge privileges is a rather new experience for Holly and me, but we adapted and made major use of the food and drink offered there.

For the first few days we had great weather for exploring not only the largest island in the group, Malta, but also Gozo, the second largest. Then a storm moved in and we got treated to wind, rain, thunder and lightning with waves large enough that it seemed at times that they would swallow everything close to the coast.

With its varied background and its place in the middle of the Mediterranean, it has become one of the most international places we have visited. People from all over the world seem to collect here and their varied influence make for a real diversity of ethnic restaurants and businesses.

Malta is also known for housing some of the oldest freestanding stone structures in the world, boasting several UNESCO World Heritage sites.

There was only one regret we had after our visit. The island of Gozo had a natural arch on the sea called the Azure Window. It was featured in several movies and other productions. We intended to go see it, but just ran out of time. Unfortunately, the whole structure collapsed on March 8th and we will never have the opportunity again. I wonder when I will ever learn that lesson. The arch pictured below was on the island of Malta and although beautiful, just not the same.

One of the small inner harbors

A tribute to 3 Boys Do Rock

Beautiful seascape at dusk

View from our room

City walls at Valletta

Lots of mega-yachts

Lots of sailing

A lone fisherman

View from the castle on Gozo

View from the cliffs

Megalithic structure

Natural arch carved by the sea

Christmas tree made of Maltese glass

Christmas lights

Doors are important

They love to paint their boats with lots of color

Waves breaking inside the harbor

Although I know it is a bit late, I do want to share some of our holiday experiences with you and that will be my next post.

In the next couple of months we have trips planned to Torino (Turin), Barcelona, Budapest, Albania and Venice. Should be some fun posts.

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Matera take 2

March 11, 2017 Jim Herrmann 4 Comments

Looking at the last post and also finding pictures for the next, I looked at some more of the Matera pictures and just could not resist adding more of them to the blog. Without a lot of fanfare and description, here are the ones I just really wanted you to see.

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Matera

Gallery March 3, 2017 Jim Herrmann 4 Comments

What can I say about Matera that will begin to describe the wonder of this place? It is one of the most interesting places I have visited in my life. I will do my best to convey some of the magic this place holds for me.

When you first arrive, it seems like any other Italian city, a mix of new and old, lots of gelato, trinket vendors and street musicians. But it is so much more. I was really unprepared for what I would discover.

It has the distinction of being one of the longest continuously inhabited human settlements in the world. Its history dates back to the paleolithic period. There are still caves that were inhabited millennia ago and subterranean Roman ruins. Then there are the Sassi, ravines leading down to the river where the original settlement was established.

The Sassi are filled every imaginal type of structure. Some dug right into the rock, some built around the rock and some freestanding. When you are in them, it is so easy to imagine that you have traveled back through time. So much so that many films use the location to depict ancient cities. The latest of which was Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of Christ”.

These areas have not been without their difficulties. They had been allowed to deteriorate into squalid slums, where some people had squatted without any access to utilities or sanitation. Finally it was realized that something had to be done and in the 50’s the government stepped in to clean things up. Now it is a place with restaurants, hotels and B&Bs: all nestled into these ancient structures.

We took our first trip with our same group of friends (sans the two teenagers) with whom we went to Alberobello. Holly and I liked it so well that we took train there to see more. We have barely scratched the surface of what is to be seen among the layers of human history to be found there and will probably go back so we can stay for a day or two.

When we arrived, we strolled around the city, saw the entrance to the subterranean roman ruins and then one of the many overlooks to the first of the Sassi. It was breathtaking. As we descended into this ancient tangle of streets and buildings, it finally dawned on me how special of a place this is. We came back up for a wonderful lunch and like many meals in Italy, it was not fast food. When we came out of the restaurant it was getting late and in December that means that it will get dark soon. Our Italian friends started hurrying us along so we could see the rest of the city. The first Sassi had been remarkable in its antiquity and charm and so I was surprised when Maurizio said we needed to hurry as we wanted to see the “old” part of the city before nightfall. Are you kidding me? Well, he wasn’t. We descended from the plaza outside of the 11th century cathedral (was that a humble brag?) into the next warren of streets, buildings and caves. We finally arrived at another plaza that overlooked the river along whose banks the original inhabitants settled, but we had no time to descend to it or ascend to the caves we could see on the other side. Some of the caves are natural and were inhabited in the Paleolithic era and some were dug of the rock by early Christians and others as the centuries have passed.

On our return rip, Holly and I did have time to descend to the river, but did not have the time to explore the other side. That will need to wait for another time.

The cast of characters.