Fun with Sally

A couple of posts ago I talked about Sally coming to Italy to visit us.  I neglected to mention that she made an immediate friend while she was here and seemed to easily fit in with the Italian people.  She is one very special lady and I'm proud she is a part of our family!  She was always trying to say things in Italian to others(which to me is very brave) and even ventured out of our apartment to go on an excursion of Bari while we were in Switzerland.  Here she is with Angela--one of our YSA's

She came with us to a sister's house who was having a birthday party(middle lady in pink-MariaPia) and experienced how Italians enjoy their singing!!  They sang for us "O Solo Mio" and a song"La Casetta in Canada" which is about a little house in Canada and is a very popular Italian children's song--then ended it with a bit of "Volare"!

The man in the middle is Vito who was born on the same day as Chris and the same hour!  Twins!  It is actually Sally's birthday today!  Happy Birthday, sweet sister--we love you!

Temple trip to Switzerland with YSA's

We had been invited to attend a week long stay in May at the patron's quarters at the temple in Switzerland but it got cancelled as they didn't have enough people to fill the 50 seat bus.  They opened the trip up to more YSA's in Italy and it got filled.  Chris and I ended up taking a flight to Milano then hopping on the bus with them the last 4  1/2 hours.  Normally it is about an 18 hour drive by bus which I was not excited about.  ( I have a hard time sitting still in church).  We have to say that Switzerland is one of the most beautiful countries we've seen.  

Breathtakingly beautiful!  The temple is located in Zollikofen, Switzerland 

This is our pitiful attempt to do a selfie in front of the temple. Then a perfect picture from the internet!

One day Chris and I went for a walk and when we returned we heard this beautiful music coming from one side of the temple.  We started walking closer to the music and found a senior missionary couple on the lawn of the temple playing alphorns!  The music was amazing and they played in perfect harmony

They even let us try to play but we need more practice, I think!  

We were able to stay at the patron's quarters next to the temple and got there on Monday and left the following Saturday.  Everyone did multiple sessions at the temple and 100's of baptisms! One day Chris went with the YSA's to Bern which is not far from Zollikofen to see the sights while I stayed and took in a temple session.  Here are some of the sights they saw...

Bern means bear--and yes, they saw a bear....

Great kids--every one of them! 

Then on our last day we had to say goodbye to one of our favorite people--Gianni Armenise who is staying in Switzerland to work.  We will miss him A LOT!

Some of the most beautiful girls-inside and out are from Italy--all single!!!??! Ginevra, Taisia, Mariateresa, and Gabriela

September rain-- or should I say torrential downpour?

We have had some amazing weather here in Bari.  The whole summer has been around 30 degrees Celsius and now we are getting into some fall weather.  The evenings are getting cool enough to wear a sweater but it is so pleasant.  We experienced an unbelievable rainfall one day in September that had me worried.  We were on our way to choir practice and had to pick up someone on the way.  It started to rain and then to rain with a vengeance!  It was up to the cars bumpers by the time we got to the church.  Chris was having a great time!  I was envisioning having to be rescued from the roof of the car...

Below is a picture of us with Anziano Borough-our zone leader.  Such wonderful missionaries we have here in Bari and he's no exception. He's returned home now to San Diego.  He will do amazing work for the people there now.

Here we are with Claudio Cutrignelli and his girlfriend Noemi.  He was on his way to serve a mission in Milan, Italy.  First of 3 from the Liberta ward to go on a mission from now til December 2016.  There are 2 sisters already on missions from  that ward in Milano and Spain.

We had the pleasure of spending time with Sally when she came for a visit to Italy.  We had to leave her on her own for a week while she was here in Bari as we had to go to Switzerland to the temple with the Young Single Adults (called GANS here in Italy, not YSA)  We managed to take her to a couple places--this in particular was fun--Alberobello.  We found some beautiful linens here and I think I will make another visit just before we return to Edmonton to grab a bedspread that caught my eye!!

Yes, and believe it or not we went back to Zoo Safari--this time I made Sally sit in the front with Chris and I sat in the back with my windows rolled up!  I didn't have a mean daughter with me this time to unroll them...

Siderno, Palermo and friends along the way

 We just got back from a road trip from Bari to Palermo,Sicily and back. There was a purpose for this other than just seeing the sights.  I'll tell you about this later.

We traveled along the east coast from our city of Bari (this map isn't the best--Bari is about an hour north on the coast from Brindisi-on the heel of the boot) and our first stop was in Siderno. (at the toe of the boot) Chris worked with a fellow at the Edmonton Ski Club who lives in Italy part of the year where his wife works as an accountant and runs her family's hotel which her father started years ago.  She is an Italian and lived in Siderno growing up.  They invited us to come stay at the hotel on our way to Palermo and what a spectacular place it was!  We will ever be grateful to Anna and Lorne for the kindness and hospitality for the short time we were together in Siderno.  We don't come across much steak in Italy and Chris was dying for a steak so Lorne provided the place....And what a steak it was!! Wish we took a picture but it was a 2.2 lb porterhouse.  Definitely satisfied Chris's carnivorous needs!  Here's the hotel--The Grand Hotel President.

They put on multiple events at the hotel--there were 3 weddings just in the 2 days we were there.

The hotel is directly across from the beach

Lorne also took us on a guided tour of Siderno.  It never fails to amaze us that every town in Italy has an amazing castle and cathedral as well as an ancient centro.   

in one of the cathedrals--all inlaid marble...Bellissimo!

Here we are on our last day with them before going on to Palermo.  Many thanks!!

after we left Siderno we headed to the west coast to catch the ferry across to Sicily.

along the way we discovered there was a town in Italy named after me.......well, of course there is....

The purpose of our trip was to go visit one of Chris's special friends that he had confirmed a member of the church over 40 years ago in Palermo.  She is a very special lady.  Her name is Ida Luinetti

.  She joined the church when she was about 20 and then went on a mission to Padova.  Since then she has sent two sons on missions and is one of the stalwart, faithful members in Palermo today.  She invited us to pranzo with some of her friends and the sister missionaries, Sorella Littlefield and Sorella Bellomo.

she ordered us this beautiful cake and it was DELIZIOSA!!

Ida's mom is 93 years old and now suffers from dimentia but still carries her sense of humor and was so delightful to visit with.  She is so sweet.  She was baptized just a couple of months before her daughter.

While in Palermo we checked out the sights.  Below is one of the many castles on hilltops that we see often in Italy.

Past by this and Chris informed me that this is where they were extracting salt from the sea--if you were ever wondering where your sea salt came from...a bit self-explanatory, I guess...

We found this tree in the middle of a park.  It was the biggest of its kind but there were others like it.

Believe it or not--this was a restaurant sign.  We ate at the restaurant next to it--didn't dare go to that one!!

This area is called Quattro Canti or 4 Corners which is in the center of Old Palermo.  Built around 1600, each corner has these beautiful structures with scultures--all different and in the baroque style.

Another cool place we went to was the Palazzo dei Normanni.  We didn't take pictures as they wouldn't allow it so here's one from this web site:

  https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187890-d195308-Reviews-Palazzo_dei_Normanni_e_Cappella_Palatina-Palermo_Province_of_Palermo_Sicily.html

If you click on this picture at the web site you'll be able to see all the beautiful things we saw.  This was a palace.  It is the oldest royal residence in Europe and palace of the kings of Sicily.  The palace was begun in the 9th century--complete with their own gold personal chapel inside.

Then...off we went to the Capuccin Catacombs--yes, I had to see this....

This place was a 10 on the creepy scale and I didn't really want to stay long.  Originally the catacombs were for the dead friars but centuries later it became a status symbol to be buried or entombed in the Catacombs. The catacombs were maintained through the donations of the relatives of the deceased.  Each new body was placed in a temporary niche and later placed into a more permanent place.  As long as the contributions continued, the body remained in its proper place but when the relatives did not send money any more, the body was put aside on a shelf until they resumed  payment.  

Yup...schifo.