All of the talk about the upcoming launch of Artemis 2 has jogged a few of my space memories. Flash Gordon! On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik. I was 9-years old and fascinated. I knew space travel…
From the garden behind our hotel in Agrigento, we could see a Greek temple, the Temple of Concordia. This was the first of many temples we would see over the next two days. The Temple of Concordia Valley of the…
We packed our bags. It was time to move on from Siracusa. On our way to the bus we passed a portrait on a fence near the hotel. I had not seen this style of portrait before. The entire image…
Since arriving in Siracusa, we had been fairly busy with field trips to Buscemi and the Neopolis Archeological Park, but we also had ample time to do interesting things on the island of Ortigia during our three-day stay. The view…
In the fifth century BCE, Siracusa was the dominant military and economic power in the Greek world. The last of its remains now lies in the outskirts of modern Siracusa in the Neapolis Archeological Park. This is Siracusa's greatest concentration…
The Italian diaspora of 1880-1920 had a significant impact on the population of Italy. This was driven by poverty and harsh conditions, especially in the south. An estimated four million people left Italy for the United States at that time,…
Mt. Etna was located due west of our hotel. We knew it was there, but we'd not yet seen it. It was always hidden in the clouds. Finally, one morning as I walked out of the hotel to check out…
We're heading to the theater today, a Greek one. Before that, however, we had to try our first Sicilian breakfast. I read that Sicilians, like other Italians, prefer to have a sweet rather than a savory breakfast. Our breakfasts were…