I went a week without speaking about the primary! Just back from Sicily...

[CTyankee]

saw the last Caravaggio in a church in Siricusa (my dream!). Ate pasta, saw wildflowers on Mt. Etna, greeted little schoolchildren ("Ciao, piccolini!" and one said "Ciao, nonna (grandma)!" in return), drank heavenly Sicilian red wine (grapes grown in Etna soil), lit candles for loved ones in the duomo in Monreale. For the week I said "Non importante."

Back now for the rest of the grind in the U.S. primary and election...

[Trust Buster]

1. Lovely picture. You managed to capture everything.

[CTyankee]

4. That shot just about sums it up. I was in that Greek theatre. One helluva place...

I brough back some grappa for some men in my life...the first one to take a shot of that will get a hero's medal from me...

[longship]

2. Welcome back, CTyankee!

Nice picture!

[CTyankee]

7. not mine. But I must say being in that Greek temple looking at Etna gave me a sense

of perspective about time.

Our guide kept referring to Etna as "Mamamone." She lived on the side of Etna as a child and has great affection for it.

[seaglass]

3. Beautiful :-) Post more pics if you have them please CTYankee - my grandmother was born in Sicily.

Someday I want to go.

[CTyankee]

5. I must confess I did not take this pic. No talent. I just "absorbed"....

[seaglass]

6. No problem. It sounds like a lovely trip and a nice break from US politics :-) n/t

[CTyankee]

8. Didn't miss it at all! Too much surrounding beauty.

[lark]

22. Know how you feel.

We just returned from a river cruise to from Antwerp to Amsterdam. Spent the whole week walking around medieval areas, learning history, seeing beautiful sights, eating great food. I am normally consumed by American politics, but didn't think of it once in the 10 days we were there.

[CTyankee]

44. Oh, yes! I did a river cruise in a barge. The light was fantastic and so much of it captured

in the paintings of the artists during the Golden Age of Dutch art! I had a meltdown the last day of the trip and was in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. I was standing in front of the wheat fields with crows and the tears came and would not stop. I wondered if other people cried in front of paintings...

[Divernan]

9. Thank you for your lovely post!

[CTyankee]

10. glad to oblige. It was a lovely, if fast, trip. I had to do some soul searching on that trip

and it was a perfect place to do it. Just what I needed....

[secondwind]

11. Sounds like the perfect week to me... I can relate.. hold on to the feeling as long as you can. :-)

[CTyankee]

12. Here is the painting I saw, "The burial of St. Lucy" who is the patron saint of Siricusa.

[panader0]

13. How wonderful for you!

To see all of those things, the Caravaggio, Etna and the ruins--I'm jealous.
Breakout the grappa-I need a medal.

[CTyankee]

15. I got some flavored grappa too. The Sicilian men just toss it down quickly.

I tried once a few years ago and choked but maybe now I can get a few drops down just because. I didn't want to make a spectacle of myself on the trip....

I also brought back some lava from Etna that I just picked up off the ground. My husband said it looked like dried doggie poo. That never occurred to me...

[awoke_in_2003]

14. Fantastic...

I hope to see Italy before I die.

[CTyankee]

16. Oh, you must go...

as my guide kept saying "Madonnamia!"

[CurtEastPoint]

17. Good! You got to see 'Lucy!'

It sounds wonderful! Sicily is on my list.

[CTyankee]

18. they have it in this strange place. It is behind and above and large statue so you have to see it

somewhat sideways. Just a few candles around and that is good since a lot of soot would NOT be a good thing for the painting...

[Phentex]

19. Welcome back!

Sounds like a wonderful time. Gorgeous picture!

[safeinOhio]

20. This time last year I was in Italy.

It was wonderful.

A trick I learned a few years back while in Ireland, always, when asked,say you are from Canada.

[malaise]

21. What a magnificent phpto

Glad you had a good time

[CanonRay]

23. I'm half Sicilian

and got to go back to the villages my grandfather and grandmother came from. Wonderful place, and I'm going back.

[CTyankee]

25. what part of Sicily were they from? We went everywhere on that island...

[CanonRay]

26. They were from Villalba and Marianopoli

in Catalnisetta province, center of the island, south of Palermo. I still have cousins there with the same last name, although I'm still trying to figure out the exact connection.

[CTyankee]

27. near Catania?

[CanonRay]

32. No, about 90 miles west of there

and about 70 miles S/SE of Palermo. Little places, but they are on bing maps.

[CTyankee]

34. I brought back a map! I'll look it up!

[CanonRay]

36. Find Catalnisetta, the biggest city in the province

then about 25 miles NW.

[CTyankee]

38. thanks. will do when I unpack it...I'm still in disarray with an open bag and tons of

dirty laundry...

[WinkyDink]

53. 25% here: Palermo.

[appalachiablue]

24. Wonderful trip break & sites, thanks for posting. The fine Caravaggio, glad you saw it.

[procon]

28. I'm so envious! nt

[ancianita]

29. Getting out in the world is what all of us Americans need. Thank you for your post.

[CTyankee]

31. I planned the trip a long time ago but was ready to go after all this primary fighting.

It was a complete change of scenery and subjects of conversations. Only a couple of Sicilians made some comment about Trump. They thought he was an idiot.

[ancianita]

35. Rearranging our brain cells is so healthy and inspiring. Glad you felt so much joy.

Yeah. Anyone on the planet -- even the billionaires in their bubbles -- can see how laughable Trump is.

[CTyankee]

37. I made no comment. I did NOT want to even THINK of him on this wonderful trip.

Mostly, the Sicilians were gracious and nice. I just loved all the gaggles of schoolkids visiting the sites we were seeing. Adorable!

[oldandhappy]

30. Lovely!!

Happy for you.

[CTyankee]

33. thanks. it might be my last trip to Europe, altho a trip to Rome sounds good...

[AikenYankee]

39. On my bucket list ...

sounds like you had a wonderful time. Very happy for you!

[Hekate]

40. Thank you for the lovely postcard from your travels.

I'm so glad for you.

[CTyankee]

49. nice to see you, Hekate. I just adore my DU buds...

[riderinthestorm]

41. Fantastico!! Thanks for taking me away for even these few moments

So glad you had a wonderful time!

[CTyankee]

45. well, if you're gonna be taken away, this place was a good place to be...hope you can go

there some day...

[Hortensis]

42. Welcome back, CT. A productive week's

soul searching sounds like you keep yours a lot tidier than mine. Thanks for the wonderful pictures.

[CTyankee]

43. a sticky situation that has been mostly resolved with a loving attitude and a grateful soul.

Or at least it feels that way! Thank you for understanding a very human predicament that I am sure many people face. I feel as if I have been afforded some grace...

[Hortensis]

46. I'm so glad. It sound as if you managed to

bring some grace to the process as well.

[CTyankee]

47. hope so. Thanks, Hortensis, for your understanding...it's been a difficult time...

[ChisolmTrailDem]

48. I'm soooo jelly! It's something the kids say these days.

Magnificent photo, thank you for taking us away from the fray if only for a few moments!

[CTyankee]

50. glad you liked it. I wish so many of my DU friends could go there and come back

as refreshed and happy as I have been. It's a good thing, a very good thing...

[Skittles]

51. I've been in Sicily- beautiful scenery

I very much disliked driving there though - no real rules of the road - maniacs everywhere! I kept thinking, back in Texas you'd get SHOT for that kind of driving.

[CTyankee]

55. I would never do the driving. We were on a brief tour. Our group was great...

we had a musician and a few professors and others like me who were just tourists. It was great. I am too old to do driving on my own so it worked out fine.

[WinkyDink]

52. La bella Sicilia!

[elleng]

54. Thanks for the pics, yank!

Tell us EVERYTHING!

[CTyankee]

57. hey, ellen. We just went everywhere on the island. what a great trip...we saw the

Greek temple (turned Roman when they came in) I did not show but also the the Greek temple didn't show. Plus, of course, the Greek theatre in the first pic.

This is really everything, ellen. We were on the road every day. I'm tired but very happy...

[elleng]

59. Great to hear!

Will check my itinerary (from honeymoon, 1984,) and confirm our small details; we were only there for a couple of days, during our trip around Italy, and don't have pics (except in my memory.)

[ljm2002]

56. Wow, good for you!

After reading your wonderful art lessons, so wonderfully informative, insightful and well written, I would say that if anyone has earned a trip like that it's you!

[CTyankee]

58. Oh, thank you ljm! I'm so glad you like my essays and please know that I might have

one ready for this coming Friday. I finally have a proper desk and my health issues are pretty much over or in control. This trip was like going for a cure in a spa. It was quite active, we moved around the island a lot. And that was good. In the evening we had the Etna Rosso wine waiting for us and some delightful food. It was very good...