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.

Loved one found! Travels to Ostia

This picture was taken on the way to Ostia.  There are windmills everywhere dotting the hills and valleys.  There is also an abundance of olive trees (not ripe until November) and vineyards with luscious,ready to eat grapes everywhere.

Chris had been searching for a special family he baptized 40 years ago and was about to give up. The mother and father were divorced and he couldn't remember her maiden name and couldn't find their name online anywhere. One day he made a search for their last name Ippolito and found what he thought could be a marriage certificate of the son Rino who was 12 years old at the time he was baptized.  From this certificate he went to facebook to see if he could find him--unsuccessful...then he went to the wife's name on facebook and found her.  Chris messaged her asking if she was married to Rino Ippolito from Ostia and she said yes!  She messaged him later and said Rino remembered him and so did his mother.  His mother is now 80 but looks like she's in her 60's.  With the Presidente's permission, we decided to make a trip to Ostia to see them and she and Chris were like long lost buddies.  There is truly a wonderful, loving connection there.

Chris and Sorella Ippolito

 
Since Ostia is only a short drive from Rome we stayed in Rome overnight and took in a few of the sights that we have seen before but always enjoy seeing them again.  Below is the temple--still being built--When people ask when the temple will be completed the Italians say--Even the angels in heaven are unaware of when that will be....2018??

Below is Piazza Navona--extremely busy with tourists in August

Chris thought we should have a picture of this cinque cento(Fiat 500)--it was so nicely restored.

Below is the norm here in Italy.  People fold in their side mirrors after parking in hopes that their mirrors won't get hit...This guy solved his broken mirror with zip ties...hmmm...There are very few cars on the road without major dents or scrapes on their cars because of the narrow streets and the way they drive here.  Seriously we pray every day for protection on the roads here!

missionary life

We love the work we do here in Bari.  The young missionaries are amazing and set a good example for us.  Teaching about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ is what we love to do and what our mission is all about--along with a fair bit of service too!   We have a district meeting with all 10 of us missionaries every Tuesday morning and after the meeting we all usually head over to a close Panificio for panini.  They love us there because we come so often--anyway, they gave us a whole bunch of apples that they were going to throw out--perfectly good but a bit bruised so I told all the missionaries I would bake them some apple crisp.   I went home and Chris got busy peeling and we whipped up 6 batches of apple crisp.  We delivered them to each household and to the panaficio shop as they provided the apples.  I told one set of missionaries to be on the street and we would be by in 10 minutes to drop off apple crisp to them. I shot the next two pictures of them teaching someone on the street while they waited for us to pull up.  Anziano Cannon and Anziano Haws.  No time wasted for them! So proud of them.

One of my many favorite Sorelli is Sorella Torres.  She was born in Venesuela and moved to Milan when she was young and she speaks very little English.  The other Sorelli are teaching her.  This is a picture of her teaching the English class to Italians.  I thought it was pretty funny that she was doing that when she speaks so little English.  She did amazingly well!  Always adapting to any situation...

Once a week we go to Molfetta to teach Samuel--always along the Lungomare (long sea--coast).   We always bring a picnic lunch and feed everyone.  He writes songs and this time he brought along his guitar and sang a few for us.  All his songs are Christian based and beautiful.

New (Nigerian) Grandson!

I am patiently awaiting #16 grandchild but meanwhile I might have to adopt this little guy.  He is the son of one of our Institute students and he was born 2 days ago.  His name is Honesty.  His dad's name is Endurance and his mom's name is Treasure.  Love Nigerian names!! He got so excited to see me for the first time that I ended up having to change his diaper....love being a Gramma...

PDay in Galipoli

This isn't a a great picture but I took it to show the blossoms along the Italian freeways here in Puglia.  These beautiful shrubs are everywhere along the roads and are in bloom from May to end of July.

It was a beautiful hot day to travel when we headed for Galipoli a couple weeks ago. We had been told that Galipoli was one of the most beautiful places to see here in the Puglia area.  Below is  a view of the sea from a seaside restaurant we went to.

Rosa Marina with Giulia and Piero

We got an invitation to visit with our new friends that we teach at English class at their villa at Rosa Marina.  They are in their late 70's and are so much fun to be with. They live in Bari for most of the year and then go to their villa in the summer. We have visited them in their home in Bari a few times and now to their summer home.  They were so kind and hospitable.  It was extremely hot--about 35 Celcius so we were able to really enjoy the sea.