The Legacy of Ancient Greece and Rome in Italy |
March 25
March 25 9:17am
March 25 9:12am Strait of Messina All aboard on our journey over water. Let's hope that there are no sexy sirens to tempt us to run aground. We must all lash ourselves to the mast until we are out of hearing range of the sirens. |
March 25 9:23am
March 25 9:22am  Strait of Messina: ferry Bye bye Sicily. Look. I think I see a gelato stand that we didn't go to. We must go back. |
 Strait of Messina: landed I just like saying the name of the ship. Fata Morgana. Fata Morgana is an optical illusion named after Morgan le Fay, a shape shifting fairy half sister of King Arthur. Temperature inversions act like refracting lenses and cause objects on the horizon to appear elongated and floating. The first mention of "Fata Morgana" appeared in 1818, referencing a mirage in the Strait of Messina. Ding Ding Ding! |
March 25 9:52am  On the Road Many years ago, my Aunt told me that I've loved trains since I was a baby. My grandfather would take baby me to ride the trains at least a few times a week. Sometimes many days in a row. We would ride the train to the end of the line, and ride it back home again. We'd spend most of the day riding in the train. And I'd be a happy toddler. And my grandfather was happy too, since he was a very frugal man, and was proud to entertain me in such a cheap way. My parents had no clue about any of this. |
March 25 9:59am 
Useless compass flashlight Left at Home: useless contraptionAs we were packing, Nancy and I discovered that we both bought the same useless compass flashlight doohickey, thousands of miles apart. It was so much cooler in the store. Utterly useless, not even mildly entertaining. But it does follow the color scheme for the trip. |
| On the Road Orange is the new black. These models are wearing the hottest color in fashion today. This collection's signature color is so orange that the fabrics are practically glowing and reflective. |
March 25 11:23am
March 25 1:42pm | On the Road: autogrill Even highway rest stop food is yummy. |
March 25 3:11pm 
March 25 3:11pm| Prunus amygdalus Family Rosaceae Almond Related to pears, plums, apples, apricots, and roses. Early types of almonds were actually bitter and contained cyanide, used medicinally with little success. But those undesirable traits were eventually selected out as sweet almonds were domesticated. Thank goodness for that, otherwise, marzipan would be poisonous. Mmmm... marzipan... |
| On the Road I just liked the color combination of the safety railings and the rhythmic repetition of pattern. |
March 25 3:18pm 
March 25 3:35pm | On the Road: tunnel |
March 25 4:18am 
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