Ortigia and Siracusa

Our first full day was taken up mainly by heading over to Sicacuse and the Archaeological Park and Museum. (they are two different things) 

On our way there, we stopped and had a great espresso at a coffee shop called Violet. All the baristas were woman. I am not sure if this is there thing, but they do make good coffee.

It lit us up.

Then we saw some street art. Potato head street art. It was all gone by the time we went home

We also walked by the fish market. I am a real sucker for a nice fish market:

They had other things, too. Like olives:

and sun dried tomatoes:

The first thing you see in the park is an old Norman church. One of the last one's here. If you read Norwich's book about Sicily, you learn a lot about the Normans.

 There are Roman ruins, this one is a cistern:

and this is a stone bench. Look at the volutes on the end. It looks like a sofa!

There were hundreds of  these niches. The guard (and the books) tell us they are Votive Niches. Votive plaques (see next post) would fill these. Imagine!

Archimedes was a Sicilian. I am pointing to his tomb here:
 

and here is a closer view. You can't get too close to it, or I would be sitting inside.

There were a couple of the niches that had more detail on them. Here are two:

This whole area was a quarry. They also used it as a jail. This is one of the stopes that was used by the ropemakers:

and this one was called "Dionysus Ear" because of its shape and the acoustic properties within:

It was HUGE! They said that they worked 6,000 slaves to death in here. If you couldn't repeat some Greek plays, they would leave you to die. Brush up your Shakespeare!

This was a torso just lying around

I tried (somewhat unsuccessfully) to get near it:

The big payoff was the Greek amphitheater. They still use it!

 Something to see:

It has been hot here.

An Expedition to Ortigia

Our 14th anniversary is next week. As part of that celebration, and, of course as part of the ongoing Year of Expeditions, we have made our way to Italy. This week in Sicily, next week in Rome.

We are staying in Syracuse, in particular on an island in the old part of town called Ortigia.

I came via Norway. This time I stayed at a place called Holman,

Here is a view from my hotel:

I met Doreen in Rome, where we then took a short Vueling flight to Catania. These small airlines everywhere are sort of the same. Friendly folks, but I wouldn't want to trust them in an emergency.

We are renting via AirBnB (more on that later) and the place is very nice.

And what a view!

This is from our rooftop terrace:

and this is just in front of the apartment:

There is a belvedere right across the street, that is in almost constant use:

We look east, over the Ionian Sea:

That is the sunrise, not sunset:

And it was the start of a good day.

An Expedition to Oslo (again)

I'm in Oslo for work.

But staying at a nice place in Holman - the Holman Fjordhotel. And "nice" may be a strange word for it.

Great view:

but at odd place.

Have you ever stayed in a hotel where you need to lock your room when you leave?

Well, you do here:

It was all nautically themed with many, many figureheads.

In any case, I am leaving today.

More later.

"I now pronounce you spouses for life!"

Nicole Neiditz and Charlie Nordholm entered into matrimonial bliss on August 15, 2015 at 5:00 PM.

It was a lovely ceremony, performed by Charlie's uncle (and my brother) Matthew Piette. Matt has been performing wedding ceremonies for some time now, and his experience shows. He obviously spent a lot of good quality time with the kids, understanding how their friendship turned into a romance, and grabbing at the essence of what they mean to each other. It was a moving and exciting time. And a great way for these two young folks to start their lives together.

They married in Union, WA (appropriate, no?) at a very nice hotel/spa that is located right on the Hood Canal.

It was a gorgeous setting. 

Here is a picture of the reception area before the storm:

Here is the celebrant, shaking down his thoughts.

The MOG and the Uncle. (That is Mother Of the Groom, to those of you who don't go to many weddings)

Me with Doreen. I love weddings. It always makes me think of ours, and how lucky I am. I always make a silent wish that whoever is getting married is half as happy as we are, since they will then be twice as happy as most people I know.

And here is Matt and Charlie, calming each other's nerves before the ceremony starts:

"By the powers vested in me..."

"Hey Eric! Can you believe she went through with it!??!?"

A great couple:

Congratulations and Good Luck!

The Bluest Skies you'll ever see, are in Seattle! A very short Expedition!

On our way home from Alaska, we stopped in Seattle for my nephew Charlie's wedding to the Lovely and Talented Nicole. Before the wedding, though we stopped in to see our good friends Rick and Tony. They both worked for Boeing their whole careers, and retired about four years ago - showing a good example to everyone out there!

That is me with Toni and Rick. I was not rolling my eyes, I was trying to look up at the sculpture that towered over our heads.

See?

This is at the Seattle Center, which also includes the Space Needle.

We went up into the Space Needle last time we were in Seattle, so we enjoyed it from afar.

If you are not familiar with Dale Chihuly, he is a glass artist. Not an artist made of glass, mind you, but an artist who works in glass. He got his PhD from UW-Madison, so we think he is OK.

He does crazy work:

We wonder who dusts it. Then a friend of mine mentioned he knows a really rich guy here in town who owns one of these pieces. There are, evidently, Chihuly Dusters who go around the country taking apart Chihuly pieces and dust them. I don't think I could do that.

They were amazing

and well integrated into the gardens

If you find yourself in Seattle, watch out for tsunamis and make sure you go and see the Chihuly exhibit.

Reflections on Alaska

Our Alaska Expedition was not one of our usual vacations. We tend to favor cities over parks, older over newer, and food over exercise. But we really wanted to visit Anchorage to see the Roes, Doreen wanted to take a long vacation, and it is always good to get out of Houston in the summer.

So the trip was planned, and was very well enjoyed. The Roes were a joy to visit, the weather cooperated to an extent that we felt very, very, lucky, and we experienced things that we have never seen  before.

There is an old saying about Alaska, usually in reference to the fact that there are many more single men than women in the state: The Odds are Good, but the Goods are Odd.

And you could see that. There is a fiercely independent streak in most "non-expat" Alaskans, or people who have moved up there on their own. They value their ability to carry guns in public, to park where they want to, to "take" their annual moose, to snag their salmon, and to fish for their halibut.

At the same time, they like to cash their annual Permanent Fund checks, take much more money in Federal funds than they pay in taxes, and try to live off public lands as if they were their own. (The Mining Law of 1872 and rules about sustenance livers help)

In places like Talkeetna, where "hippies" showed up in the 60s and have been integrated into the community alongside the outdoorsmen, the fugitives, and the fishermen, you get a good feel that the locals (ALL the locals) are using their unique situation to make money off the tourists (like us). But we felt no resentment from the folks who were taking our money - unlike places such as Colorado where Texans are roundly resented.

Overall, the service industry is in bad shape in Alaska, I believe because there are many options for people to do other kinds of work. That means that in Seward, they don't eat sandwiches "per se", and in Anchorage you can (and do!) wait up to two hours to get a pizza. Granted, a very good pizza (Moose's Tooth) but it is a pizza none the less.

So I would say that this Expedition was a great success. We were never bored, we never wanted to be somewhere else, and in all honesty, we were not ready to come home.

And you can't get a better definition of a good vacation than that.