A Life, Lived

Bones and Skulls in Naples

I mentioned a more macabre side of Naples in a post before we left. I knew that there was an odd  mix of superstitious beliefs with Christian religion in the many ways the people of Naples edthe cult of the dead. Knowing it was one thing, seeing it yourself, another.

I became quickly aware that skulls, bones, and skeletons were on ready display in this city. Bronze skulls, rubbed repeatedly by those passing by for good luck were in front of churches. It wasn't a recent phenomena as we saw in the mosaics excavated from Pompeii. The saints most commonly depicted with skulls and bones were very popular in churches here.

We even noticed skull motifs appearing in graffiti.

I started to collect these images with my camera and thought that today, Hallowe'en, would be a perfect day to share . . .

So What did we Bring Back from Italy?

People have been asking me - 'what did you bring back from Italy?'

Believe it or not but today is the first time I've had a minute to sort and go through things.

I've noticed a big difference in our trip 'hauls' over the years. It used to be that there were lots of what one would call souvenirs - trinkets that gather dust. Now our hauls generally consist of food, drink, art, and clothing with the odd bit of souvenir.

This is the haul from our latest trip:

Now let me state from the onset that we shipped 12 bottles of wine + 1 bottle of grappa. We also have two large pieces of pottery that will arrive sometime in January.

The picture is also missing 1 whole pecorini cheese with truffles, a vacuum packed bag full of assorted pecorino cheese, and 5 1.5 lb pieces of parmigiano cheese. The cheese is all resting int eh refrigerator and I was too lazy to bring it up for a photo opportunity.

It's also missing the 6 copper molds I bought from Cesare, the famous brass artisan, in Montepulciano.

In this haul you'll find a sweater, a fleece (from theday it got REALLY cold in Montalcino), 2 scarves that I bought because I love the way Italians wear scarves everywhere and think this is a fashion trend that needs to move across the ocean, 2 bottles of 20 y/0 balsamic vinegar, 2 bottles of olive oil made by the owner of our agriturismo in Tuscany, 2 calendars, 4 packets of Italian cat for for the 'boys', 2 wallets, 1 purse, and 1 passport holder, 1 sweatshirt to send down to my great niece, about 7 lbs of chocolate including LOTS of the famous gianduja chocolate from Torino, 2 lbs of roasted hazelnuts, the most wonderful fennel tarelli, 2 packages of fruit jellies made with Amalfi lemons and Sicilian oranges, pocket coffe chocolates, 3 ceramic art tiles made by our friend Diana Strinati Baur, a package of dried cranberry beans, a package of dried chick peas, a package of dried pepperocini peppers, 3 packages of spice mixtures for pasta, 3 jars of honey, 1 bottle of limoncello, 1 bottle of limoncello cream, 1 bottle of strawberry cream, 5 bottles of brunello, 1 vino nobile de Montelpulciano (we tried it in a restaurant and LOVEDit), 1 bottle of super tuscan wine made by the owner of the argiturismo in Tuscany, 1 bottle of brachetto, 1 package of wonderful hazlenut bacci cookies, a number of nativity figures made by an artisan in naples, three angles made by the same artisan in naples, and finally 2 large bags of amaretti cookies from Mombaruzzo.

I see lots of wonderful moments ahead with food, drink which always seem to serve as a catalyst for reminiscing about our adventures.

Photo Hunt - Broken

This week's Photo Hunt theme is 'broken'.

It's time to start using the gazillion pics I took while we were in Italy.

This is the famous Farnese Hercules, one of the greatest statues from antiquity. A copy of an earlier statue, it was made for the Baths of Caracalla in Rome (dedicated in 216 AD), where it was recovered in 1546.

 It quickly made its way into the collection of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, grandson of Pope Paul III. Alessandro Farnese was well placed to form one of the greatest collections of classical sculpture that has been assembled since Antiquity. This collection is now in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples.

When it was found the statue was missing its legs - they had broken off. Guglielmo della Porta was commissioned to make a new set of legs for the Hercules and they were so good that the Farnese family refused to remove them from the statue when the real legs were discovered in 1787.

The legs were on display near the statue - it was odd seeing a pair of legs, from the knee down, sticking out of the wall.

We ♥ Naples

Much has been written about Naples - it's dirty, it's dangerous, there is dog crap laying about, everyone who visits will be robbed . . . the general impression that is created isn't one to encourage tourists to stay there. It was fascinating for me to watch the expressions on people's faces when I told them we were staying for 5 days.

Clearly they were convinced that l had taken leave of my senses.

Most folks seem to visit naples as a day trip. They base in Sorrento or on Capri and  pop in for a whirlwind day of touring, shopping, and clasping their purse strap for fear that the guy racing past on the Vespa is going to yank it off as he races by.

As we worke don our trip planning it was apparent that Naples was no day trip; there was just so much to see and do! We didn't scratch the surface during our time there. In fact, I think it would be so overwhelming as a day trip that I'd want to turn around and flee back to my cruise ship.

Naples is a definitely gritty city - even the parts that had the sophistication of the porticoed-lined streets of Torino had some edge to them. However, 0ur experience was very positive - no one cheated us, robbed us, or was unkind to us. We kept looking for it  . . . perhaps this is why it never happened. We did see garbage - generally laying around a garbage container. Yes to grafitti as well - at times it looked as if we were in Venice or Rome.

I'm not diminishing the experiences of those who have gone to Naples and had a dire time, all I'm saying is that is not at all what we experienced.

In the end we loved Naples and would happily go back.

Beware -though if you are contemplating a visit . . .  Naples is a big city. If you don't like cities than you'll not be happy there.

Many think of the lovely Tuscan scenery when they think of Italy - Naples is far from that. It is a bustling, busy, vibrant city. In fact, it is one of the most denselypopulated cities in the world. Houses rise more stories that the original builders intended them to and encroach upon the narrow streets. Apartments are tiny so ground floor apartments open up on to these same narrow streets and the folks (and their furniture) spill out on to the street.

Some parts of Italy seem as if they are a museum - Naples is no museum. It is clear that people are living and dying here. Cooking smells waft through the canyons created by towering apartment buildings. Children play soccer in the piazza. Lovers hang out everywhere - including in churches making good use of the back pews. Things, sometimes homemade treats and sometimes illegal goods, are sold on every street corner. Vespas zoom by. Nonna rushes home from the market. Laundry hangs across every street.

They say this is what Italy used to be like.

We experienced some great kindness in Naples as well. The old guy who insisted on walking us to where we wanted to go rather than showing us the way. The museum attendant who let us in for free. The limoncello maker who bestowed a bottle upon us when we exclaimed about how wonderful it was. Taxi drivers carried luggage for us and even took less than the fare they had quoted us as we set off on our journey. People seemed genuinely happy to have these three craxy Canadians in their midst and went out of their way to make us feel welcome.

Don't get me started on the amazing food . . . the pizza, melt-in-your-mouth mozzarella cheese, crisp pastries, rum soaked baba, baked pastas, fresh seafood. It would a good thing we walked a lot in Naples or we would have had to be buying new clothes before we headed to Tuscany.

Naples is beautiful - given the nature of the city as a Royal center for so many centuries it is naturally chock-a-block with ornate churches, castles, palaces, palazzos, and cloisters. The city itself is blessed with on the the most beautiful natural environments in the world (even though humankind has done everything possible to blot it out by the advancement of history). The hills spilling out into the brilliant blue bay . . . Vesuvius lurking off in the distance. Sometimes you need to look for the beauty of Naples -  it isn't like some parts of Italy when the beauty is worn on the sleeve - you'll need to look but the rewards when you do are stunning.

Naples has an energy that is thrilling - it grabs at you and propels you along. You'll likely not move at the breakneck pace of life as the locals but you'll live baby, oh yes, you'll live.

I don't know if I have ever been in a city like this before . . . but then again, I'm not sure a city like this exists anywhere in the world.

Rick Mercer Rants About Teen Suicide

Recently a young Ottawa teen committed suicide because he was bullied for being gay. Sadly this isn't a new thing and there are far too many examples of gay teens being taunted to the point of suicide. Much has been written about what we might do to deal with this.

Over the past year there has been a movement for famous folks (and regular folks as well, for that matter) to create videos telling gay teens that 'it gets better'. This week Canadian funnyman took aim at that in his regular rant feature on his TV show.

He raises come interesting points. Is it enough to say 'it gets better'? The message of 'it gets better' is that sure things are rough right now but somewhere down the line they will be grand. Imagine that - its an open admission that its going to be hell for awhile. . . you just have to deal with it. A tacit acceptance of the bullying.

Mercer's point is well made - why do we accept this? As adults we shouldn't accept it - we should stop it.

My friend Wendy posted an article written by a reporter, a former student of hers, who was covering Hubley's suicide and he raises some critical points as well:

You've no doubt heard about the movement online now where adults post videos aimed at younger people, telling them that it gets better. Urging them not to make the same painful decision as that young man I mentioned in Ottawa made.

I agree that it gets better, at least it did for me. But I also think adults have a huge responsibility to make sure it gets better for young people. In particular, straight people – especially men – must speak up, must intervene in the hallways and hockey dressing rooms when they hear a child call another child a homophobic name.

As adults, we must be brave and, if necessary, endure the social isolation that sometimes comes with being progressive, in solidarity with young people who have and continue to endure so much and who, too often, graduate from high school with a diploma and a heavy degree of shame.

So there you have it. We shouldn't take the easy route and tell kids its going to get better one day. We all have a collective responsibility to make it better for them, starting today.

As Seen on Facebook

I've noticed lately that I've been getting fewer of those 'cute cat e-mails' - you know the ones . . . those e-mails containing adorable pitures of kittens, babies, or ponies in cute poses and I think I know why - everyone is posting the pics they used to send in e-mails on facebook. I don't mind them there as they nicely break up the string of posts from friends and other fabulous people who are leading far more exciting lives than I could ever lead.

Yesterday there were a few pics/thoughts posted that I thought I'd share here - not because I'm exhausted, work is busy, and I am really not in the mood to think, of course never that. Certainly this isn't the Jerry's blog equivalent of a clip show on TV.

Never that.

Well, perhaps a tiny bit.

Anyways . . . two things to make you think and one to make you giggle.

(and yes, I know anyway doesn't have a 's' and isn't written as anyways . . . I did it on purpose - just saying)

Travel Tuesday - Naples

It's time for another edition of Sandi's blog 'event' - Travel Tuesdays. It's easy to play (I like THAT!) all you need to do is to post one of your travel pics (and who doesn't have a gazillion of those) and then pop on over to Sandi's blog to join her Linky.

I missed the last few Travel Tuesdays because I was actually traveling. Now that I am back home and coping with a body clock still on European time I'm back in the game!

This post is about Naples. Italy, not Florida.

Back to Work

The horror.

Is there anything worse then returning from work after a vacation? I suspect that there are many things worse given that the vast majority of the world doesn't even grasp the concept of a vacation let alone have the means to jet off to Italy for 2 + weeks. That being said, I shall indulge in a titch of self pity and make MY problems seem as if they are THE.WORST.PROBLEMS.IN.THE.WORLD.

My goodness, today sucked. Yes, sucked, it did.

But happy news first - mom's suitcase has been found. Apparently it decided to stay in Italy (who can blame it?) and will jet back to Canada tomorrow and should be delivered to her in the next few days. Good news for mom. Bad news for those of us who envisioned the end of the green cat vest.

So here I am trying to survive on 4 hours sleep over the past 48 hours. This isn't easy. This is even harder for those of us who love sleep. This morning my body was firmly on Italy time - wide awake at 1:30 am looking out for a espresso drunk in the neighbourhood bar and a cornetta creama to nibble. Sadly all there was was snoring from Beckett and Paolo, Dante licking the top of my head (he has GOT to stop that as I can ill afford to lose any hair), and nary an espresso or coffee bar in sight. I like waking up in Italy and listening for the sound of church bells - snoring from morbidly obese cat and non-morbidly obese human was a poor substitute. A poor substitue, indeed.

I tried to will my body to fall asleep. Anyone who knows what that is like knows the futility of it.

Finally after three hours of tossing, turning, and trying to hide my growing bald spots from the grooming of one seriously mixed up feline, I woke up, ate breakfast, and headed to the office. The office is a lonely spot at 5 am. I, being the twisted soul that I am, loved it. Apparently I need a workplace accommodation - in order to get work done all of my colleagues must be banned from the office.

There were a gazillion things on my desk which were classified as a crisis by others that didn't approach the crisis level on my meter of 'work crisis measurement'. This is also known as the famous 'Jerry Work Avoidance Scale'.

I decided to focus my initial attentions on deleting the 50+ e-mails from poor spellers trying to convince me I had won a billion dollars through a variety of lottery schemes or would have my bank accounts enriched if all I did was send a starving Russian woman my banking information.

At about 7 my colleague started to drift in and a steady stream popped in to ask how my trip was. Finally I shut my door to lend the appearance of 'serious work being done by Jerry inside this office'.

My colleagues known me and knew it was a farce. Generally they knock (just in case I'm rearranging my shirt or something - there has been the odd embarrassing incident with this) and then barge in and sit down.

Everyone commented on how tired I appeared.

Yes. I know. That is why I'm trying to get work done and then head home early to nap.

Then one came in with good gossip and my tiredness was gone in a flash. A lot can happen in a two + week period in a highly political office environment. Gossip being the lifeblood of our office, I revived long enough to get the dish.

Finally my wonderful assistant Joyce, herself just back from a week of rain in Cuba, walked into my office and said 'Jerry go home. You'll fall asleep at your desk, fall and crack your head open. I'm too old to break in someone new.'

I love Joyce.

I was back home by 2:30. There were 12 shirts and 8 pairs of pants to deliver to the dry cleaners. By 3:30 I was asleep for a long nap until Paul arrived home at 4:30 wondering how my day was. So it was a short nap.

Of course my day was hell. Shut up and leave me alone.

Well-rested Jerry is a cranky ass.

You don't want to know about sleep-deprived Jerry.

Finally at 6:00 I was nudged awake by Paul wondering if I was ever going to wake up and cook dinner. This actually revived me - I had missed cooking while I was on vacation - sick is my middle name, don't you know.

Now it is 8:15 and my body is screaming for sleep.

But . . . tomorrow our leadership conference starts at 10 and 320 + folks will be arriving expecting some razzle dazzle. My razzle dazzle has gone up and left. My mind is saying - go to bed Jerry, you'll be up early and you can pack, write your speaking notes, review all of the details, etc when you wake up early.

You know what is going to happen, don't you?

We're Home . . . Sigh

It was a whirlwind travel day but we're home (except for mom's suitcase which is missing somewhere in the world). Our cab driver showed up early in Torino and had us at the airport in less than 20 minutes (I noted he was driving 160 km per hour but it was Italy so what the heck).

I admit I will be happy when they finish the construction at FCO - what mess that airport can be. Air Canada flies out of Terminal H which is a like a cattle barn when it is busy. Of course it was busy and chaotic today.

It was a quiet flight from Rome to Toronto. There were no annoying women in front of us this time. Nordid we have a medical emergency (although I did witness on passenger strap on a nitro patch before the place boarded at FCO).

Customs was a breeze. We didn't get pulled over for secondary screening as we sometimes do. In fact, everything was a snap. . . except for mom's missing suitcase.

Mom didn't take the loss of her luggage with all of the special treats she had bought for people well . . . imagine that? We assured her that it would turn up - we've had luggage go missing at least 5 times over the years and it has always turned up. I'm not sure our assurances made a hell of a lot of a difference.

Finger crossed.

Other than mom's missing bag it was an uneventful trip home.

There were two cats in the window looking out before we had unlocked the door.

We brought the luggage in. Excessive attention was paid to two very demanding felines. We picked up enough groceries to egt through the next couple of days (back to the office tomorrow - argh).

I was craving anything but Italian food so we had a stir fry for dinner tonight.

Now to unpack and unwind. No doubt heading back to the office (and then our Leadership conference which I an responsible for on Tuesday and Wednesday) will be hell.

SIGH

Photo Hunt - High

This week's Photo Hunt theme is 'high'.

Today is our last day in Italy so my entry will be brief.

I saw these candies while shopping in the Piazza San Carlo yesterday. I wonder if they would make you high?

And for the feint of heart - this is Torino's highest building . . .

We took the elevator up to the highest level where we had amazing views of the city . . .
 (once we found mom who had gotten herself lost fo 45 minutes that was).