Day 5 Sicily Piazzano & Da Andrea

Italy Journal

April 30, 2014

Day 5 Sicilia – Piazzano and Da Andrea

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Today was beautiful in many ways. The weather was perfect, and the place Peter and I chose to go was perfect, as well.

Peter got up early and went to the fish market to buy some fish for supper, then we were off to Piazzano and lunch at Da Andrea.

We arrived a little early, so we spent some time walking around this UNESCO World Heritage town enjoying the sights! The San Sebastian Church caught our eye, and we could tell that it had been around for a long time. It was beautiful, though, and it looked like it had been repaired well “recently.”

Da Andrea brought with it a very nice surprise. On the menu were 11 Slow Food Presidia dishes, so we ordered the two set menus, which included several of those dishes. Each one was better than the next, and we knew we had experienced Slow Food excellence by the time we finished and drove back home.

Gina and Will were waiting for us there. Today is their 9^th anniversary, and they had decided to stay at the beach house to celebrate their anniversary together. They were ready for a walk to town and some gelato by the time we arrived. Of course, I was glad to accompany them.

What a lovely day!

Ciao!

Colleen

Day 4 Sicily Mosaics

Italy Journal

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Day 4

A Lovely Day in Sicily

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Peter and I left early and headed toward the Casale at Piazza Armerina to see the magnificent mosaics. Just before we left, I saw these turtles in their tank begging for food. Each time someone passes the tank, all 3 turtles will follow them from one side of the tank to another!

On the way, we spotted Mt. Aetna, which was looming over Catania. By the time I took this picture, we were 40 miles away. It gives you some idea of how mammoth it is!

The mosaics were impressive. Millions and millions of tiny tiles were used to create pictures all over the floors of this expansive palace. The ceilings had been removed and walkways were built around every room, so people could walk all around the rooms and look down onto the floors below. It was very well done, and the mosaic images provided pictures of everything that had to do with daily like from many, many years ago. We enjoyed our visit to the mosaics.

Just on the outside of the Casale property was a Trattoria della Ruota, where we ate one of the best meals we have had on this trip so far. DEEEEELICIOUS!

We stopped to check out a Strawberry Festival on the way home, but realized that the ad had in small letters under the dates that yesterday and today were not open days for the festival. May 1^st is a festival day celebrating Spring in Italy, so we may get to attend the Strawberry Festival then.

When we arrived home, the rest were there, too, and we all enjoyed sharing stories of our day’s adventures.

Ciao! Ciao!

Colleen

Day 1 in Sardinia Continued

Italy Journal

April 20, 2014, continued

Easter Day

Day #1 continued in Cagliari, Sardinia

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This was a strange day not to be in church! Easter is a special day for us, and it did feel good to see so many Italians getting together as families to celebrate this big day in the Italian calendar. Unfortunately, we missed going to church because of our flight. We’ll definitely check the calendar better before we fly on Easter weekend again!

We were so pleased to find this snail on our walk today. It reminded us of the Slow Food snail, and we wanted to show it to all of you. Of course, it looks big in this picture, but its shell was really just about as big around as a half dollar…still really cute, though.

We were super pleased to find the Museum of Archeology open this afternoon. We discovered that one of the very big finds in Sardinian history was GIANT SOLDIERS (10 feet tall at least) carved out of rock. Those were unearthed around 1970; and, in a different location, these tiny, ancient bronze statues were unearthed many years ago. What’s interesting about that is that there are bronze statues that are exactly like some of the Giant Soldiers. Fascinating!

What an interesting part of Italy Sardinia is!

Colleen

Welcome to Sardinia #1

Italy Journal

April 20, 2014

EASTER DAY

Day #1 Welcome to Sardinia

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Landing in Roma required 2 things…get Peter some decent doppio café, and get me some nocciola gelato! Things can’t be any better than that! What a great welcome to Italy!

After a snooze at the Hilton, we flew on to Cagliari, Sardinia, and found views that cannot be beaten…the sunset overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, magnificent cathedrals, beautiful people and fantastic food.

It didn’t take long to find The Place on Santa Eficio, with Andrea’s taxi taking us there! Andrea’s wonderful, and we would be speaking fluent Italian if we could spend more time with him.

We will stay for 2 nights at The Place. Our room is small, but adequate for 2 nights. It was interesting that a freestanding bathtub was in the bedroom, when a shower was in the bathroom, but hay, it’s Italy.

A nice walk around showed us these palm trees that looked a lot like gelato cones! I like them a lot!

Our internet service is…sketchy. Don’t worry about us if we don’t email every day!

Love to all,

Colleen

Victoria, Sebastian, Carter Ctr

US Journal

April 19, 2014

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Victoria/Sebastian/Carter Center

There’s really nothing like a blueberry pie to celebrate an early birthday for Victoria. It was a proud moment when she asked for a second piece! But, then again, she’s pretty easy when it comes to desserts…like me! Thanks for getting together, all!

Sebastian and Kelly Speaking Italian

Another lunch with Kelly and Sebastian, and now I’m ready for Italy! What a lovely time we had…again! Thanks for being such special friends.

Springtime at the Carter Center

I almost had to shade my eyes to look at the brilliant colors on the flowers at the Carter Center when we went to the Freedom Farmers Market there last Saturday. Wow! What else can you say?

Colleen

Welcome to your new home!

US Journal

March 25, 2014

Welcome to Your New Home!

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We couldn’t resist dropping off some soup to Eric and Keri when they moved to their new home. It was wonderful to see his dad there to help with the moving in, especially since 1- year- old Ezra is there, too. The backyard is spacious and just right for children to play and grow a garden! As you can see, the house is lovely, and there’s plenty of room for their growing family. When is that new baby due, anyway, Keri?

We’ll miss you in our neighborhood, but never fear…we know where you live!

Love to all,

Colleen

Zebulon's Lexicon of Sustainability

US Journal

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Zebulon’s Lexicon of Sustainability

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 Peter and I thought we might learn a lot by traveling to Zebulon, Georgia, to visit the only other Curator of the Lexicon of Sustainability in Georgia, and we were glad we did. We thoroughly enjoyed meeting Chris. She had mounted her prints on foam core boards and hung them by huge black metal clips all over the place. She also had prints standing on top of the bookshelves everywhere. It looked great and was inviting.

She told us that she always kept them there on display when there wasn’t an event to take them to, and people really enjoyed coming in to spend lots of time reading all the words on the prints. There is a lot to learn, and the words are written all over, in very imaginative ways. It was good for us to be reminded that when there is a large crowd around, people are less likely to take the time to read every word on every picture, too. It was then that we got the idea of printing copies of the sheets the Lexicon people has sent us where the texts on the prints were transcribed.

It was really helpful for us to visit your Pop Up Show, Chris, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to talk with us. We also enjoyed your recommendation of restaurants on the square in Zebulon…The Oink Joint was a great bbq place!!! Everybody ought to try it!

Colleen

(www.lexiconofsustainability.com)

Julie's Slow Food at the Table Potluck

US Journal

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Julie’s Slow Food at the Table Potluck

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The Slow Food at the Table Campaign ended in a happy note when Julie and Traci hosted their Potluck. It was attended by about 15 people. Tables were prepared outdoors, and everyone brought extravagantly delicious dishes to share.

I was truly impressed at the number of people that we met there who were on our Lexicon of Sustainability ”list of interested people to contact.” We had never met Wendy, but when Peter had a conversation with a few people, including her, she heard him talk about the Lexicon of Sustainability. She immediately said to him, “How do you know about Lexicon of Sustainability? I just heard Douglas, the founder of that organization, speak last week; and I came home and immediately applied to be a curator for them. I was all excited, but they told me, “No, because Atlanta already has curators that were just approved last month!”

Peter had fun responding to her by just giving her a tilt of his head, a smile, pointing to himself and saying, “Yes, that would be my wife and me!” Wendy was amazed that she had just run into us at a random party.  We’ve already been exchanging emails about plans for her to help with the Lexicon project.

Two others whose names we recognized were Lois, who represents Agnes Scott College for us, and Paula, whom Julie had recommended to us. By the end of the evening, both of them were eager to become Docents for our Lexicon of Sustainability Pop Up Shows! We set up a date for next week to get together to do a training and set a schedule!

And that’s what the Slow Food at the Table Campaign has been all about…getting together, meeting new friends, seeing friends we’ve known for a long time, and eating our hearts out on local, seasonal, organic, wonderfully prepared food.

Brava, Julie, your Potluck was a roaring success! We may have to keep having those regularly, with or without the campaign, don’t you agree?!

Colleen

Sweet Apple Crossing Farm Slow Food at the Table Potluck!

US Journal

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Sweet Apple Crossing Farm Slow Food at the Table Potluck!

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Wow! Whoever knew that it could be quite so wonderful to gather at a farm where…

-       the 4 baby ducks were huddled together in a large, heated crate for all to see;

-       the “girls”…the laying hens who aren’t laying many eggs as of late due to our erratic crazy cold weather…were happily wandering around at their leisure;

-       the huge dog Bill, who was taken in at the farm when his master was sent to Afghanistan with the Army,  is a delight to all;

-       the youth group from St. Catherine’s was loving the trampoline,

-       the new friends were true old friends by the end of the day, and the old friendships were even stronger and

-       the combination of delightful, fresh, local and delicious food seemed to go on forever !

Thank you, Jimmy and Kell, for a FANTASTIC Slow Food at the Table Potluck! We’re looking forward to your Sunday Suppers this summer!

With love, Colleen

Italian Lunch with Sebastian and Kelly

US Journal

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Italian with Kelly and Sebastian

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YES! We finally actually spoke Italian for an extended amount of time at lunch today! At least 30 minutes! I brought some of my journals that I had translated into Italian, with the help of Google Translate, and Kelly really enjoyed listening to some semblance of Italian. I finally just sent her home with the ones I didn’t read yet! I was so pleased to finally do something that helped her keep in practice with her Italian. She’s so far more advanced in it than I am.

Kelly always does her part of letting me listen to her Italian, too. I do so much better with that than speaking, but at least I’m practicing! Our trip is coming up very soon!

Sebastian was very patient while we were doing this. He’s always interested in what’s going on around him, and the restaurant had lots movement. He’s the cutest little guy…reminds me of some others I know!!!

Thanks, Kelly and Sebastian, for yet another lovely lunch together. I love our lunches! I’m looking forward to our next Italian lunch!

Ciao! Ciao!

Colleen

PS Notice the gorgeous tulips Peter found at the Farmers ‘ Market in Decatur!