Today was very interesting. Jeanne was having a take care of yourself before the big event day. The day started with her getting a Vit B infusion. Then she went for a massage while I visited the Safeway store. Finally she went for a whole body Cryotherapy session. I had never heard about it before, but think I am going to try it before I leave. The person getting the treatment puts on a robe, warm glove, knee socks and rubber slip on shoes. Then the doctor cools down this tall cylinder and you get in. The door is closed and an elevator lifts you until only your head sticks out the Top. You throw out your robe and for between a minute and a half and three minutes you turn in quarter turns every fifteen ... read more

Good morning everyone from SEATAC airport in Seattle. Plane takes off in an hour and a half. I am psyched. I love going first class, especially on Hawaiian Airlines. Had my own line for checking in and it took all of ten minutes. Then I got to go in the premier security line and there were all of eight people ahead of me. There is a big lounge in the Hawaiian hub with comfy chairs, Internet and charging stations and it is open to everyone. Most people do not seem to even see it right in front of them, theyprefer to sit in those crowded seats instead of stretching out. There is a guy sleeping on a sofa right behind me. Wonder if he is going to miss his plain, only thing he has done in ... read more

Well, everyone who was going home should be there by now. Can not believe it is over. It was truly a marvelous trip and there is still so much of Sicily I would love to see. Thought I would kind of give a fun ending to this blog by relating some fun stuff. First of all, I promised Luca I would correct a couple of spellings from an early blog. Luca, if there were more errors, feel free to correct me. I only wrote what I remembered and that can sometimes be way off. The town we saw from the outlook or belvedere in Sicily was Castellammare. The hot ricotta cream pastry was Cassatelli. When one travels in a foreign country, there are always interesting things. First let me introduce you to my fellow travelers, but ... read more

May 10 - Second last day. Started off the day with a tour of Catania, a vibrant city perched on the edge of the Ionian Sea. Founded in the 8th century BC, Catania was once among Italy's most important cultural centers, particularly in the Baroque period. First stop was at the local WWII Landing Museum, dedicated to the Allied landing on the southern coast of Italy. Americans landed on the south central coast and the Brits on the southeast coast. Idea was for the Americans to liberate Palermo by fighting northwest across the island while the Brits fought up the coast. The idea was for the Brits to reach Messina first, but even after fighting across over half the island, the Yanks got there first. The guide told us how the Brits and Yanks used to ... read more

Guess some of you were wondering about the xxxxxx's in yesterday's blog. Could not remember the name of the huge, ornately decorated silver vessel that supposedly held some of the bones of St. George. The word I tried was not recognized by this program, so asked Luca and we finally just decided on a really big, heavy silver thing holding bones. Now the strange thing is, there is no proof that these bone fragments actually belonged to St. George. Seems the Catholic Church sometimes played pretty fast and free with the bone pieces they were selling as belonging to whatever Saint they claimed it was. Seems to be more than enough bones among all the churches to make several men. Today we went to Castelluccio to witness a day in the life of a Sicilian dairy ... read more