Feb. 16, 2026 - MY DAYS ARE BECOMING LIKE POETRY
My daughter Grace, my youngest child put all kinds of effort into visiting me. It was certainly a memorable experience.
Nino Asta drove us to the mountain-top city of Erice, the 4th Century Temple of Seggeste, and then took us to a place I had never been…Gibellina Vecchia… A town destroyed by an earthquake and now a lasting memorial
The cobbled streets of the ancient mountain top town of Erice. Twenty-five hundred years ago it was the temple of Venus now it’s a vibrant town in the summer, but pretty deserted in the winter as it’s usually shrouded in clouds
The ancient Greek temple dating from the 5th century BC. It is set on a rural hillside with commanding views
The history of Seggeste goes back nearly 3000 years. There is evidence that it was inhabited by the ancient Trojans who escaped the the destruction of the homeland.
This what remains of the town of Gibinella which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1968. A new town was created in a safer place for the residents and for years the ancient city was left in ruins. Then an artist got an idea to make it a memorial and filled all of the spaces where the buildings were with concrete and yet left all of the city’s paved streets in intact. You can now walk through the streets and as you do, you feel the presence of the ancient residents.
Grace and Kylan on the streets of Gibinella
My friend Paola, and her dog Rosalita. We met at a café and have become good friends. Her daughter is visiting and working on getting Italian citizenship and she has given me a few hints on how to acquire citizenship, which is something I may do, since my father was born in Sicily.
Trapanese cowboy with "open carry"…. The circus is in town!
This is wild fennel. It grows everywhere in Sicily. in my childhood one of the gastronomical treats, my grandmother would prepare once in a while was called "babalucci",… it was basically snails in a sauce served with a little toothpick for picking them out. I had no idea that those snails grew on wild fennel. If you look closely at the picture, you might see a couple.
On Sunday night, I attended a concert at an old church. The music was Mediterranean tango… an interesting blend of harmonium, bassoon, guitar and bass, plus a lovely vocalist.
My youngest granddaughter, Talia Rose, reminds me that she will be one year old in less than a month. I can’t wait to see her and her mom and dad at the end of March!
MY DAYS ARE BECOMING LIKE POETRY
February 16, 2026
Buongiorno amici,
The past two weeks have been a roller coaster in my quest for identity in the old world. My daughter Grace and her friend Kylan visited for a week. We had a most amazing adventure with Antonio Asta, one of my new-found young friends. Later in the week, my new American friend Paola and her daughter, took me on a trip to Marzaro del Vallo on the southern coast and on Sunday I was invited to dinner with the parents of Mauro Amato, one of the young friends I met last year. The adventures are coming so fast and furious so, sometimes it is difficult to absorb. I’m trying to learn Italian by osmosis and I’m picking up words here and there and eventually getting the courage to say a few things. Walking back home from the restaurant with Mauro and his cousin, an older couple stopped them and asked them, in Italian, if they knew directions to the Via Garibaldi. Mauro explained that he wasn’t from Trapani and the people started to walk away. And then I said, "hey wait I know where the Via Garibaldi is!" and I gave directions:
"dritto, poi a sinistra al grande orologio e poi è la seconda strada a destra"
This week John‘s corner is a flood of pictures that I have selected from the adventure with lots of comments in the captions. I always welcome your feedback and appreciate those folks who are following my adventure. I will be here in Sicily at least until the 21st of March (I have to attend Mauro’s graduation concert on March 19th). Then I head to the Netherlands to be reunited with some of my family, including my only valentine, Julie Ellen Schnepf…this was the first year we didn’t spend that loving day together in 40 years. I certainly miss her and the rest of my family, but this is my adventure, and I have to face it by myself. So look at the pictures, read the comments and chime in if you have something to say. Love to all my friends in Western New York, especially the ones taking care of Bernunzio Uptown Music. They have been doing a stellar job and the month of February has just been outstanding. They have been buying and selling instruments at a furious pace. Below is a little comment from one of our customers. He recently purchased a guitar and consigned a guitar. I am so proud that they are continuing to handle the love of vintage instruments and the respect for customers worldwide. Ryan Yarmel, Sam Snyder, Alex Patrick, Sammy Hirsch and Allison Lindsey are really an incredible team with knowledge and dedication that I would put up against any shop across the country, and when you throw in the leadership of Julie Schnepf…. it is unbeatable.
This message from a customer says so much about our organization.
"Thank you for the glamorous photos and detailed description of my guitar that are now up on your website. The in-depth description reads like a good novel, the photography is astonishing, and your professionalism and appreciation of great guitars is inspiring. I'm planning to celebrate Valentine's Day by writing a love song on the gorgeous guitar I bought from you, my second instrument acquired through Bernunzio's."
Cu la paci,
John Bernunzio
The city of Trapani has been very cold the past couple of weeks. It is February after all and the strong "Tramantana" winds from the north have been bringing the temperature down and some very strong rain. In fact, on Saturday, we were told while we were away that they experienced a hail storm, and on Saturday night, there were reports of earthquakes being felt!
Mazzara del Vallo is another ancient town which has a definite "Arabic" feeling to the architecture and the streetscape. Here are steps that are adorned with beautiful colored tiles
One of the many ancient churches in Mazara del Vallo….
A small old church now houses this ancient bronze sculpture of a Saytr from the fifth century BC. We were lucky enough to be there while a tour was getting an explanation from their guide. The man saying next to the tour guide was the fisherman who found this priceless item in the sea off of the coast at 700 m deep. It was amazing to listen to his story.
The walk along the shore of Mazzaro del Vallo is just outstanding
Mauro Amato, one of the young kids who visited us at Thanksgiving time, wanted me to meet his parents. They invited me for dinner at a wonderful restaurant in Trapani called "gli Archi di San Carlo". This is a picture of myself, Mauro, his mom, dad and his cousin, Martina who did most of the translating. We talked about America. We talked about Sicily. We talked about parenting and we talked about Mauro graduating with a degree in guitar…..and what he’s going to do with it! The Sunday dinner is best food by far that I have had in this town, the secret is: the menu was NOT in English!
Hands-down, the best fish dish that I ever tasted. I couldn’t even begin to tell you what kind of fish it was. The waiter told me it was a rather large fish so they cut it into some nice fillets. It just happened to be the thing was caught that day. It was served over a purée of potatoes, almonds, and a broccoli sort of thing. The red stuff on the top is a crispy pastry made out of very fine flour…. and the herbs gave a very special accent. I could’ve licked the plate clean.
I must include at least one of my "homemade" food pictures. This is a lasagna that I made when Grace was here. It contained fresh tomatoes, porchetta and ricotta and scamorza cheese. It is topped with ground pistachios! It was quite tasty.