Jan. 13, 2025 - WEEK THREE OF TRAVEL ALONE
I ventured farther out from town than I had in the past because I wanted to go to this music store. I got in the front door and unfortunately it was a lot of like a lot of other music stores that you see all over the world. Lots of cheap new stuff, no customers and one guy trying to fix three people‘s guitars. Magic Music….however, when you open the door, it played the notes of a G cord, I like that.
…. so I turned the corner and headed towards the Museo de Peopli…. it houses a tremendous collection of art and artifacts from the wealthy Count Augustino Pepoli which was donated and then turned into a museum situated at former Carmelite monastery. I strolled around the grounds, but I haven’t gone to the museum yet. I’m saving that for another day.
The grounds of the museum are a beautiful park with lots of art.
If you’re gonna donate your artwork, you might as well have a good statue of yourself.
A snazzy water spout….
…a beautiful park surrounds the museum.
Yes Trapani is a gritty and often dirty city with challenges for anyone who has a handicap, but they’re always seems to be a person stepping up to help out and while they’re in a hurry, they also have time to watch out for each other.
Then it exudes this beauty and the flowers are still blooming!
The monastery…. with some great faces carved in the stone.
Gazing into the trees and wondering what is next?
Like I said, it’s not a vacation…it’s job
WEEK THREE OF TRAVEL ALONE
January 13th, 2025
Good mornings folks,
I am now in my third week of travel away from home… away from everything that’s familiar: the loves of my life and the business that I care so much about…..friends and family are thousands of miles away. But I didn’t go "on vacation". I came for introspection, to spend time with myself, looking back at my life and trying to make sense of some of the decisions I’ve made. I’ve also been working out in the gym here at We Live Trapani, shopping, cooking, and of course posting lots of pictures on Facebook. People can follow there if they want to see part of the adventure.
Several folks have asked why I came to Trapani. It is a valid question. I have no historical or familial connection to this town. I’ve been here twice before so I’ve visited most of sites. But I came here to live a life, as close as possible to a native person… hanging out in an ancient European town. Trapani is a gritty city. It’s certainly not as easy as I thought to get around. Once you’re away from the center, there are not a lot of handicap accessible areas and I’ve had to lift my scooter over many a high marble curb! A good deal of this town was destroyed during World War II. I feel pangs of guilt about that.
The best part of my visit so far has been my guide (yeah, I know a guy). I meet with him once a week. Last week, Gianni Grillo, of Easy Trapani, gave me an historical tour of the oldest portions Trapani. We are in the process of making a plan for this Thursday. On his website, he advertises tours of wineries and culinary tours, but it is the history that I’m most drawn towards….and that is his expertise. This man is a walking encyclopedia of ancient history, archaeology and anthropology. I think he is a little bit worried about the weather and what kind of experience I’m going to have as a tourist but instead, I’m posing the following questions to him and I’m looking for his interesting feedback. He is a teacher and that is most important to me….to have a rewarding dialogue with a local expert is something that I feel very privileged to be able to undertake. So I made a list of questions for him and here they are:
Questions for Gianni for this week’s tour:
What does it mean to be Trapanese ….today and in the past?
What language are people speaking? Sicilian or Italian… in church and other places? Is there a future for the language of Sicily?
How do the schools teach language and history….are the schools secular ?
How many people still subscribe to the old culture and old ways? Sunday dinner and nonna’s house. Everyone today is on their cell phone so is everyone going to blend into one culture?
Where does your family trace its history? How many generations back do you go?
Let’s talk a little bit about politics, global politics, national politics in Italy as well as America
What is the importance in food in today’s culture? Do people pay attention to what they eat? Do they still continue to create the old recipes? Are things evolving?
Can we talk a little bit about inter island politics? How is the west of Sicily different from the east and how the mountain regions differ from the rest of Sicily?
Of course, any conversation about Sicily, at least for Americans, is the question of the role of the mafia. It’s a very tender subject, but I would be some comments of a local person and then I will tell you what my father used to say…
I’d like to know what you think about the future of Sicily and Sicilian culture
I’m back in a classroom once again. I’m hoping this week‘s tour is even more exhilarating I will be taking notes!
Sincerely,
John Bernunzio
Of course, a great "shout out" goes to everyone back on Rochester, NY for taking care of things at the end of the year including my dear wife Julie, who has been helping out her parents, preparing for a baby shower for our daughter Rose, as well as taking final inventory and closing the books on 2024.
For those who may be interested all of the past "John’s Corners" are available for your perusal in the following link:
https://bernunzio.com/johns-corner-archive/
With peace,
John Bernunzio
Fountains and…
Reflecting pools are everywhere…
I attended the 11AM service at la cresia di San Petru (in Sicilian) or la chiesa di San Pietro (in Italian). I am trying to learn the differences.
Downtown Trapani before the passeggiata……
……and less I be remiss, even though we are thousands miles apart, yesterday, my younger brother Tom reached a milestone in age which I’m not at liberty to repeat here, but this is a nice medley of his mug!