Tag: Italy

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The Vesuvius Challenge

In the town of Herculaneum near Pompeii 300 years ago ruins from the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius were discovered and eventually a large villa was found containing hundreds of carbonized scrolls. Many attempts were made to read them but they all failed. Until now. New technology and a prize have started to unravel this ancient mystery.

The prize is the Vesuvius Challenge and they are already yielding results. You can read about the technology and the results at the link above. It is possibly to be involved in what has to be one of the most amazing pieces of archeology since the Dead Sea Scrolls.

What we saw was wonderful. Mosaics, murals, roads and almost intact buildings. Definitely worth the trip.

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Humanity

“The real problem of humanity is we have paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions and God like technology. It is extremely dangerous.”

A great quote from E.O. Wilson the Harvard professor who discovered so much about ants as a communal insect. The first photo is of a bas relief discovered at Herculaneum. We toured there yesterday with a great guide. It is like Pompeii but was covered with mud when Vesuvius erupted while Pompeii was covered with ash. So Herculaneum was better preserved but harder to excavate.

A container ship to show our “God like” technology.

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Endurance Hiking

“I like to hike long distances.

I want to feel the high that comes from exertion

and to see strange things that are not near the road.”

Photo is from our day of hiking in the Dolomites in Northern Italy in 2023.

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Words Seldom Seen: Gallivanting

Gallivanting

Verb: To travel from place to place in search of pleasure, new experiences or excitement.

Example: “When they retired they went gallivanting around the world.”

Alternate spelling : Galavanting

The photo is from the American Bar in the Grand Hotel in Trento, Italy. We were gallivanting around Northern Italy.

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A Diaspora

“The costs of migration are greatly eased by the presence in the host country of a diaspora from the country of origin.”

Paul Collier in Exodus

One of the reasons that the United States is so successful at absorbing immigrants is that the new immigrants can find a safe place near their countrymen who proceeded them.

The photo is of a mural in the lobby of the hotel at Lake Iseo.

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Remembering

“The important thing to remember is that I’m probably going to forget.”

Author unknown or perhaps forgotten

I took this photo on the front lawn of hotel where we stayed next to Lake Iseo. It was a perfect spot for writing postcards. The Italian postal system is such a mess that I waited until I got home to mail all of the postcards. They tried to privatize the system and it failed.

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A Happier Life

“The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others will be the beginning of a happier life for ourselves.”

Helen Keller

The photo is from Edolo a small town we passed through on one of the transfer days with OAT. We had time to walk around, have a coffee and, most important, use the bathroom.

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Words Seldom Seen: Busking

Busking

Verb: playing music in a public place for voluntary donations.

Example: Busking is often against the law but tolerated.

A Busker is person who Busks.

It looks like I’m going another week with photos from our Italy OAT tour. The photo today is of a piece of public art in Trento. You could make up a tag line for the “ancient busker.”