March 16, 2026 - WINDING DOWN OF MY SOLO TRIP
On Saturday, I was delighted to be accompanied by Monica Corselli, on a lovely walk along the sea. Monica was one of the four kids who visited us in Rochester last year. She treated me a slice of pizza and I stole a kiss. I don’t think Julie will mind.
Monica showed me some special spots that I had never encountered. We did have to carry my scooter down some old stone steps, but it was certainly worth the effort.
One of my big disappointments was the closing of Jeri’s Bar and Café, which was my morning hangout. In fact, my third floor apartment looks down on it. It was always the sunniest place on the street and I was always there for cappuccino in the morning.
Hopefully it will reopen in April….
I will miss my daily rides down the tree lined, cobbled walkway, Viale Regina Elena
I will miss the puzzled views of stairways that go nowhere and half restored buildings that tell their own story..
Things that I won’t miss are the construction projects constantly going on. It’s an insurmountable task to restore buildings that were harmed by war 70 years ago and have never been updated for several hundred years…
WINDING DOWN OF MY SOLO TRIP
March 16th, 2026
Buongiorno amici,
Well, it’s getting time to head back….a week from today, if everything goes as planned, I will be in the Netherlands staying with my good friends Howard and Annemies in the lovely town of Leiden. Julie will be meeting me there on March 28th and we will spend a week in tulip land. Trapani has been good to me. It has been a home and it has received me as a lost son, but it’s time to fly the coop. This coming week I have some important events. It is, after all, Saint Joseph Day on Thursday and my good friend, Mauro Amato, is performing a concert for his graduation from music school. Since I’ve been invited to the performance and the party afterwards, I will be staying in the town of Alcamo on Thursday night. Then I will return to Trapani on Friday and spend a couple of days packing and saying my goodbyes. On Sunday night I will take a plane to Amsterdam. My back will be turned on the land of my origin. All this puts me in the mood to look back and say…was this worth it? Did I accomplish what I said I was going to do? Did I check off all my goals? Well… I didn’t learn to speak much Italian, I didn’t read five books, but I did work out in the gym, but not as often as I thought I would; I shopped, I cooked my own food, I took care of myself and I made lots of friends. In that sense… mission accomplished for a handicapped old guy. But a deeper mission was accomplished… something that I did not put on my list. That is knowing where home is…. I will go back to America. It is my home and I will spend my days between Rochester and Penn Yan, New York. This is where my family resides. This is where I belong. This is where I fit in. I’m also interested to get back to the business that I created. To that point, it seems that Julie and I will be going out on buying trip in the middle of April (this is how we will spend our anniversary!). We will be heading down through Pennsylvania, to Maryland and then Virginia. As always, if someone has instruments for sale, let us know. We’d be glad to pick up consignments or purchase quality American fretted instruments outright. Just called the store and we can make arrangements.
Cu la paci,
John Bernunzio
I will really miss the great park, Villa Regina Margherita, which separates the old town from the "newer" side of the city….1870s as opposed to 1200s! I spent a lot of time there sitting on park benches with all the old men.
…. and I will surely miss the sunsets at the Fronte Mare. I would roll up there at the right time and the proprietor, Francesco, would look at me and say, "a Campari for Giovanni?"
….but most of all, I will miss the sea… it sites it sound and it’s changing moods
….the sea
This large building on the north side of the Villa Margherita Park has five animal heads carved above the windows. They are all dogs or lions guarding the place. There are so many details that have accumulated over the centuries that every time I look, I see something new.
dogs or lions…