Some may think that I have been freeloading on Karen’s posts long enough… but let me say that while she writes I edit pictures, so I am not being a “loaf” … or should I say “Pane” - a small load of Italian bread! … and there are thousands of pictures to edit… I ask myself… Why on earth would someone take so many pictures and then have to pick only a few to load to the blog site!!!
Aside from the aforementioned whiplash (see Karen's post below), mosquito bites and being force fed Sicilian wine… all is going well…. And then there are the “pepper” things that I have to eat… kind of roasted and pickled and all spiced up… (sounds like a self-portrait doesn’t it?) … and then there is the cappuccino…. My my my….
I haven’t said anything stupid out loud, that I can remember, other than the first stupid thing I told you about that I didn’t really mention in any level of detail…. My level of the Italian language still stinks… una po po … I am good at asking for the “bill” for dinner, and saying “No, I am not 65!” But then I realize the discount on entrance fees I could get if I said I AM 65! And if I just wore a black dress and scarf and scuffed my feet a little while I walked I could get in to everything for free!
My packed items have worked out well so far. It took a little bit of time to get used to where things were packed in the knapsack and what I actually needed to carry in with me each night. If you look carefully at the pictures you will see that I am mostly wearing the same thing, which is confusing when I try to sort pictures as the blue shirt black capris outfit covers several days and a thousand years at the same time….
The camera is still working well (after the drop) sometimes the lens still sticks and will not zoom, but a little thump on it fixes it for the moment. I have been trying to keep the photos from each day in their own file folder (Diva Nurse Students, calm down when you read the words “file folder” … it’s all under control; it’s okay!!). I have also started to keep a small journal of photo numbers and places so I can keep them all reasonably sorted because the days blend into one another quite easily and without any coaching.
Karen has been doing the driving. It is a Fiat 500C, stick shift. It is fast and fun and she has been doing a great job at keeping us moving yet safe at the same time. The Fiat has a handle above the passenger window that I can hold on to while we are speeding up the extremely curvy and steep mountain roads. Only once did we have some trouble with the car, in Erice, on the steepest hill in the town which leads into the perfect little piazza from where everyone was watching. The tires were spinning and the car was going nowhere, but the air was filled with the smell of burning rubber. Karen was excellent handling the car in this situation saving us from sliding down the road and crashing in to the building behind us. The roads in Erice are made of many pieces of individual rocks shaped into squares and then outlined with marble slabs that are positioned perfectly for all four Fiat tires. It was on the marble that we were spinning. We discovered after, that it is best to drive a little more closely to the buildings so that you drive on the rocks not the marble as the marble is slippery... and if someone steps out of their front door... oh well....
We are now in a B&B in Scopello, the photo is posted below. Karen found it at the dead end of a dirt mountain road. It is beautiful here. She is outside reading a Dutch book and I am inside with my Mac laptop perched on the top of a beer fridge as there is no table.
Thanks for reading the blog. The stats show that it has had 754 hits since June 13! We are trying to break 1,000 hits by Friday! Feel free to post a comment if you like.
All for now… I need to go and stare at the sea for the rest of the evening!
Aside from the aforementioned whiplash (see Karen's post below), mosquito bites and being force fed Sicilian wine… all is going well…. And then there are the “pepper” things that I have to eat… kind of roasted and pickled and all spiced up… (sounds like a self-portrait doesn’t it?) … and then there is the cappuccino…. My my my….
I haven’t said anything stupid out loud, that I can remember, other than the first stupid thing I told you about that I didn’t really mention in any level of detail…. My level of the Italian language still stinks… una po po … I am good at asking for the “bill” for dinner, and saying “No, I am not 65!” But then I realize the discount on entrance fees I could get if I said I AM 65! And if I just wore a black dress and scarf and scuffed my feet a little while I walked I could get in to everything for free!
My packed items have worked out well so far. It took a little bit of time to get used to where things were packed in the knapsack and what I actually needed to carry in with me each night. If you look carefully at the pictures you will see that I am mostly wearing the same thing, which is confusing when I try to sort pictures as the blue shirt black capris outfit covers several days and a thousand years at the same time….
The camera is still working well (after the drop) sometimes the lens still sticks and will not zoom, but a little thump on it fixes it for the moment. I have been trying to keep the photos from each day in their own file folder (Diva Nurse Students, calm down when you read the words “file folder” … it’s all under control; it’s okay!!). I have also started to keep a small journal of photo numbers and places so I can keep them all reasonably sorted because the days blend into one another quite easily and without any coaching.
Karen has been doing the driving. It is a Fiat 500C, stick shift. It is fast and fun and she has been doing a great job at keeping us moving yet safe at the same time. The Fiat has a handle above the passenger window that I can hold on to while we are speeding up the extremely curvy and steep mountain roads. Only once did we have some trouble with the car, in Erice, on the steepest hill in the town which leads into the perfect little piazza from where everyone was watching. The tires were spinning and the car was going nowhere, but the air was filled with the smell of burning rubber. Karen was excellent handling the car in this situation saving us from sliding down the road and crashing in to the building behind us. The roads in Erice are made of many pieces of individual rocks shaped into squares and then outlined with marble slabs that are positioned perfectly for all four Fiat tires. It was on the marble that we were spinning. We discovered after, that it is best to drive a little more closely to the buildings so that you drive on the rocks not the marble as the marble is slippery... and if someone steps out of their front door... oh well....
We are now in a B&B in Scopello, the photo is posted below. Karen found it at the dead end of a dirt mountain road. It is beautiful here. She is outside reading a Dutch book and I am inside with my Mac laptop perched on the top of a beer fridge as there is no table.
Thanks for reading the blog. The stats show that it has had 754 hits since June 13! We are trying to break 1,000 hits by Friday! Feel free to post a comment if you like.
All for now… I need to go and stare at the sea for the rest of the evening!
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