some people
bring back
souveniers
I bring back
rocks

…

1999
The oldest rock in the above pic is from 1999 and it’s from the Alps. I was traveling with Rick-and-Sarah and Shana and Mimi. British Airways was running a $99 special – Pittsburgh to London – and we went. I saw the commercial while I was having breakfast and I immediately called Rick.
We flew Pittsburgh, London, Paris and from there we got a car and drove.
– Paris overwhelmed me to the point where I just didn’t talk, because I was taking it all in
– in Lucerne, we had the best breakfast and the coffee was so rich and thick and black
– we had gotten up and the city was shrouded in fog; the gondola took up above the cloud-cover and there were the Alps – it was the first time I had ever seen real mountains

2006
Seven years later, Derrick, Rose and I went to Calabria. We stayed in Gioia Tauro and did side-trips to Tropea, Martirano, Cosenza, Aprigliano. The rock was from the dirt road leading to the small chapel of La Madonna di Portosalvo.
– Gioia Tauro was not a great place – it wasn’t ready for foreign visitors. Tropea, in August was full of tourists and Cosenza was all but abandoned in mid-August.
– even though Gioia Tauro wasn’t ready, we had one of our most sumptuous meals in the old town.
– the most memorable aspect of the trip was the drive from Gioia Tauro to Tropea – the Calabrian coast was as magnificent as the Swiss Alps.

2011
This was the beginning of my love-affair with Le Marche. Rose had found this lovely farm-house run by an Australian couple – Earl and Suzanne. Set among the rolling hills of Le Marche, this converted century-old house became our go-to home-base for the next three summers.
– the summer of 2011 we did side-trips to Orvieto, Urbino and Bologna.
– the Cathedral in Orvieto with the Luca Signorelli frescoes, and the Emilio Greco’s doors has become one of the favorite places in all of Italy.
– in Bologna we discovered gelato, mortadella and Cafe Lucy; and we’ve returned to Bologna to eat its amazing foods every time we were in Italy.

2012
La Tavola Marche is an agriturismo run by an American couple who have made Le Marche their home. Our week-long stay was OK; it was great to be out in the country away from civilization. The side-trips this time were to local small towns around that area most notably Piobbico and Sant’Angelo in Vado.
– Piobbico was for our afternoon snack of espresso and ice-cream; Sant’Angelo in Vado was for take-out.

2015 – Puglia
Earl and Suzanne got us interested in Puglia, specifically Martina Franca; they were in the process of buying an abandoned farm-house and renovating it. Puglia is amazing, but it’s not the hype the travel press promises. It’s much like Calabria, worth it if you were born there and returning to see friends and relatives.
– Alberobello with its trulli is surreal.
– Lecce is claustrophobic. 

2015 – San Francisco
This was my first trip to California. Rick and I went to see the charter school bankrolled by Qualcomm