April 1st, 2024

Good morning friends,

    For John’s corner this week, I’m just going to let the pictures of the 10 day trip tell the story. There were so many adventures, and so many twists and turns that happened but Easter Sunday we spent with a large contingent of our family in Den Haag, which is such a happy place and this week we have all kinds of adventures planned with family members and friends in Holland.

    Travel is experience, in my case, it is an experience earned and not always a vacation…it does not always come without difficulty, pain or disappointment…this 10 day trip to Sicily met with many unexpected challenges and turns of events. First my mobility scooter was lost, then it was broken, then it was fixed BUT it wouldn’t stay charged and then BOTH of us got sick on separate occasions….the travel type of illness which made us not feel like going anywhere. Then, at the end of the trip, as things were finally looking upwards, the air quality turned dismal as the winds from Africa kicked in and filled the sky with a dark, sandy mist. Despite the adversity, it was an amazing experience. We shopped and cooked most of our own food including artichokes and fresh fava beans and pasta alla Norma as taught to me by my Sicilian cousins. We took a drive into the Sicilian countryside towards the ancient ruins of Segesta. This is a Greek style temple that was built around 430 BC, but never finished. It was built during a time of war against Carthage in order to honor the Greeks who had come to defend the locals. As it turned out, the Greeks lost the war, and the temple was never completed. The most amazing thing was that I got out of car at the parking lot and I walked through the entire grounds of the temple. I don’t know whether it was determination or just frustration, but I wasn’t going to let anything stand in the way of me, sitting next to these ancient ruins, I called it the "miracle of Segesta". I walked nearly a mile and a half that day, which is something that I have done in many years. So enjoy the scenery and the commentary in the accompanying photos.

With peace,

John Bernunzio

The amphitheater at Segesta

The 14 stations of the cross are carried through the city of Trapani for 24 hours. These artistic recreations are 500 years old and are maintained by local Guilds who also parade them through town. Is a mixture of the sacred and the profane with the solemn music of a procession and vendors, selling colorful balloons and Sicilian sandwiches.

Verdure…. The entire island is coming into blossom at the same time and every day was different.

Here’s a unique experience in wine buying…much like a gas station, you bring your "tanks" in for refill….select your "octane", insert your credit card and pump away…

Segesta

The African sandstorm approaches