Alba, Wine Country

Alba, in Northwestern Italy, was a nice place to unwind and uncork from the intensity of my few days in Rome. And what an uncorking it was, literally! The area around Alba is known for wine and its gorgeous countryside that still maintains the feel of the small city-states of old: each hill having a town, topped with a castle, with a sea of vineyard fields flowing out to the foot of the next hill town. Some of the wines we tried in the area included dolcetto, barbera, barberesco, nebiolo and barolo.The Corkscrew Museum with the Barolo castle shown in the reflection.

I can't talk about Italy without mentioning food. Italians have one way and one way only to eat: their way. One evening when I asked for coffee along with dessert I was curtly informed of the Italian eating sequence by the waiter: "Absolutely NOT. No drinking espresso with gelato! I will bring it after you finish ..." But I am happy to eat and drink by the rules: dress up when you go out, order vino spumante first, then several courses, dessert, have coffee (after!), and take a really long time dining. All fine by me! I'm happy to abide by any rules that involve more food, drink, lounging and looking good!









The little dog above is excited about the cheeses and ice cream. That's pretty much how I felt! except I was a little better, I hope, at not showing it quite so much.

Total weight gained on the trip from the Islands to Italy: 4 pounds. It was worth every single bitty ounce of goodness! I even as much as ventured to try carne cruda (and that was my first and will be my only time).

Thanks to DrH and many others again for making the trip possible.

At Last Italy, We Meet in Rome

Rome: amazing food, drink, art, churches, ruins. What could be better? My friends and I have known for a long time that Italy and I are soulmates of sorts who'd never met. We've finally gotten a chance to meet for the first time, starting in Rome. Starting in Rome is a myriad of wonders. Rome is at once romantic - at every corner, history; behind every nook, beauty - and, like the old days, a circus spectacle, a clash of tourists and charged locals that is inevitable once a city has become the numero uno most visited place on earth. And who wouldn't want stare in awe at the Colosseum? And stand inside the sheer enormity of it, imagining when almost two thousand years ago, people inside cheered on gladiators or the latest Christian being torn apart by a lion?

There's no way to describe Rome, I can but give a taste with my impression, and hope people aren't sick of hearing about the plazas and the Caravaggios and Da Vincis and the crypts. Here are a few favorites.

The Pantheon (above). I was impressed by this great concrete dome that stood alone for so long, and how they pulled off such a huge and ambitious architectural project. It was later taken over by Christians of course, and is used to house tombs - like Raphael's.

Some things in the Vatican Museum worth mentioning. In terms of classical sculpture, The Laocoon and his Sons, and Apollo in the Belvedere garden of the Vatican Museum (above). All photographs posted are taken by me or DrH, so this shot doesn't capture the full frontal complexity of the Laocoon, but you can see how amazing it is. You can also understand from the sensitive facial expressions why there is controversy about whether it is in fact classical or whether Michelangelo is the real secret sculptor after all.
There are two Raphael paintings I want to share. The first is Raphael's The School of Athens. I've been waiting to see this painting for a long time now. I preached one of my first sermons at the Boston Temple using it as an illustration, with Plato and Aristotle's argument about where to find truth. I changed that be where to look for God: Plato pointing up to the forms, and Aristotle pointing to down around us.
The other is Raphael's painting of The Ascension which I couldn't stop looking at. With two centers, what is most moving to me is the woman. my eyes go right to her pose and her blue robe, blue being the most expensive paint, a sign of importance. She exemplifies faith by being calm, bold and courageous through the confusion of doubt and fear.

Then there is the Sistine Chapel, which needless to say, is amazing. I know because if it weren't so, the crowd of people would have driven me insane (so many people! so loud!). Below is the most famous anthropomorphic creation story, The Creation of Adam, God touching fingers with Adam to bring him to life. (My favorite character representation is the oracle of Delphic Sibyl.)

On to St. Peter's Basilica. St. Peter's is so loaded with art of all kinds, relics, and tombs of great leaders at every corner wing and on every wall as far as your neck allows you to look up, you hardly even notice its interior magnitude. It's hard to imagine worshiping inside a church with 60,000 other believers (its capacity!).

Two more sculptures that I'm still thinking about: one is in the Basilica, Michelangelo's La Pietà. The Virgin looks so young and natural, yet powerful holding her son's body (below, left).

The other is Bernini's The Ecstasy of St. Theresa in the little church of Santa Maria della Vittoria (above, right). Those facial expressions, an almost mischievous angel, and well, the Ecstasy of Theresa! Need I say more? I'll go back in a second and just visit churches and ruins, and of course eat and drink. Soulmates!? A very special thanks to DrH for making it possible.

Easter Weekend Beaching in Bonnaca

In mainland, mostly Catholic Honduras, Easter is filled with religious celebrations, processions, flowers, as should be at the height of the most important Christian holiday. The whole country closes down for Semana Santa. But on The Bay Islands in the Caribbean which is mostly Protestant, the dominant mode of celebration is going to the beach. Days and days of beaching! Days and days of local food and music, celebrating with friends and family. It's the time of year islanders living all over the world 'come home.' It's also a time for those who live in the mainland to get in a beach holiday. It's been years and years since I've had a chance to spend Easter at home.
I'm very grateful I got to get there this year. Here's a few pictures, and a favorite Soca style song from our local Roatan band, Sherman and the Boys:

[Listening may require Quicktime plug-in and settings]