We spent the morning at the Castle in Milan then caught a train for Rome.  Did some laundry, ate dinner downstairs and went to bed.  Getting all this Italian culture is tiring!  On Tuesday, Diane and I went to get tickets to see the Pope on Wednesday.  She wanted to see if she could get a ticket to see the Scavi under the altar at St Peters, so we went back to the Scavi office.  We go see this on June 5th, so I’ll report then.  On the way back, we see a small cemetery and go check it out.  It is a beautiful little garden like cemetery for German nuns and priests.  There is a lovely little church attached to the cemetery.  There are big slabs on the ground that serve as a tombstone.  Noticed on one that each nun had her religious name such as Sister Mary Francesca and under that was her birth name such as Bernadette Geisen.  Diane catches the Hop A Bus to tour Rome and I go to the Cat Sanctuary to see my cat that I support.  Raptus has nothing to do with me…or any other people…even her caretakers she sees daily.  But she does have a boyfriend named Skye.  

On Wednesday, we went to see the Pope and got good seats, but when he drove by he was facing the other way, so only got to see his back.  It was a very nice morning, altho we had been expecting rain.  I left as he was giving his blessing as I needed to catch a bus for Mexican food and my Quilt Group.  While eating, the sky opened and the rains came down and hail too!  It was pea sized hail.  Only 6 of us showed up for quilting and we decided to meet one more time before summer break to get fabric to make baby blankets for the new born preemies at the children’s hospital.  We will each make one before we meet again in September.  Will appliqué my center and a lady in the group said she would have me come to her home to sew the borders on with her machine.  The rain stopped before I had to leave to come home.  

On Thursday, we went to a church to meet Diane’s friend, Brother Mark.  He is a Franciscan friar from Brooklyn, originally.  We took him to lunch at a restaurant he recommended.  It is right down the street from the convent where i used  to stay in Rome.  It was so good!  We had a three hour lunch and talked to Brother Mark about all kinds of topics…his decision to become a Brother, his family…Mother Italian, father American serviceman in WWII.  The Pope, Mormonism, his job in his order…he is a financial advisor and consultant.  He is very smart and very interesting.   Now for our meal….we started with bruschetta, tomato with melted mozzarella and basil sprig. Then another appetizer of lean porchetta.  A plate of pasta with pepper and black truffles…this was divine!  Can’t wait to have it again.  Then, lamb chops that were grilled to perfection.  Followed by a white chocolate goo in a pastry cup with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce and strawberries.  Diane had lemoncello and Andy and Brother Mark had a grappa.  This is kind of like 200 proof moonshine!  We had cappuccino and espresso to finish.  Then we walked back for a tour of the Church attached to Brother Marks convent.  It is attached to part of the Roman Forum and the church was built in the 500’s.  The back of the altar has a fabulous mosaic with Christ in the center, an Apostle one each side and then a saint on each side.  Below is the band of 12 lambs and the central lamb, signifying Jesus and the 12 disciples.  The mosaic is very modern looking in design and color…altho is was made in the year 525.  Yes…525,  after the tour of the church, we went to see a Nativity scene.  This one is huge and it was made in Naples hundreds of years ago.  It shows the town and all of the inhabitants going about their daily life with Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, the shepherds and wiseman as a part of the town’s makeup.  The Nativity scene isn’t the central grouping, but shows them to be a part of the town’s life…part of the humanity of the town’s inhabitants.  This tableau was made for the King of Italy and he gave it to this church.  Outside, there is a lovely cloister garden with a fountain with goldfish.  The fountain is not old..it was purchased from a cement plant near the airport, but it is covered with gnarly moss and it looks ancient.  After our tour, we came home and sat around til bedtime…still too full from lunch to eat dinner.  

Today, Friday, we are going on a tour of the Coloseum  Underground.  It has recently opened and took weeks to get a reservation.  Will report on it later.    For those of you in Texas with all the flooding, go to Home Depot and get mosquito dunks.  They can be put in standing water in your yard or wherever…even fish ponds.  It kills mosquitoes and the larvae.  The City of Dallas is giving mosquito Dunks free to residents.  This is a Public Service Announcement!

We walked across the street to our train and we had already bought tickets for this leg of the trip.  The train was scheduled to leave at 8:15 and we got to the right train track.  A train pulled in at 8 and I asked a conductor if itmwasmthemtrain to Milan and she said yes.  Only problem was…it wasn’t OUR train.  We discovered this as it is pulling out of the station.  We had a talk with three conductors and since we couldn’t get off and the train was going to Milan we stayed on.  So we got in 15 minutes early.  I’m sure they deal with dumb tourists daily.  We got to our hostel that is part of the group where we stayed recently.  At the last hostel we had a large room with a single bed and bunk beds.  Perfect.  They were full, so we booked at the 2nd hostel expecting the same thing for a room for three.  Oh no…there were two double beds!  IN EVERY ROOM.  No place else to go…so we hauled the mattress off of one bed and had one real bed, one box spring bed and a mattress pallet…all three just fit in the space.  Much better than the sardine single beds at the convent in Milan…but not by too much!  

We went to see when Diane could get tickets for the Last Supper and Andy decided to see it again.  They had two different times, so I waited in a restaurant across the street for them to finish and the. We had lunch.   We left and went to see the first of the Da Vinci exhibits at the courtyard of the church where the Last Supper is.  They were his drawings and writings.  When Diane went to we the Last Supper, we went to see the old church attached to the Royal Palace.  They had just finished refurbishing the church and they were setting up for a concert.  There is a painting on the back wall of the church done by Giotto and his students of the Crucifiction.  It had been outside on the bell tower until 1929 and is heavily damaged.  It’s a wonder that there is anything left of these old masters the way they have been abused.  Like the Friars enlarging the doorway to their kitchen and destroying the feet of Jesus and several disciples in the Last Supper.  We saw the Gallaria across from the Duomo and all the pretty shops.  Back to get Diane and have Andy see the Last Supper again.  Had lunch.  Then we went to the Memorial Cemetery of Milan.  What a magnificent place.  There is a central building that looks like a huge Gothis church with side arms with arched windows and then smaller octagon building on each end.  Altho it isn’t as big as the Duomo, it is almost as impressive.  It contains the graves of anyone who was famous or important to Milan’s history.  The central huge building is a great open space with plaques on the walls with sculptures and tombs and magnificent leaded glass windows that look out onto the cemetery grounds.  A big concert was set up in this space with orchestra and choir to perform in a bit.  All along the arched arms were small crypts, maybe for ashes and larger tombs with sculptures that were amazing.  At one end I walked down a couple of flights of stairs to the Jewish burial ground.  Row after row of beautiful tombs.  In the center was a huge building and the walls were all made of stained glass depicting scenes from the Torah.  There was a big memorial to the Jews from Milan who were part of the Resistance and ones who died in the camps.  In two different spots in this section were simple rounded tombstones that were either very old or from poorer people.  Just plain with the inscriptions worn almost off.  Each stone had a number on it, probably to denote who was buried there and the office would have a record.  Beautiful trees, flowers, shrubs and vines all over this area.  Then, I walked to the opposite side of the cemetery to the Protestant cemetery that was a separate area just like the Jewish section.  And it was just as lovely.  After that, a stroll through part of the ret of the massive grounds.  One of the most impressive tombs is that of the Campari family…a larger than life-sized rendition of the Last Supper in bronze.  The table and all 12 apostles sitting around it.  Jesus standing in the center.  After this stroll, it was time for the concert, so I returned to the central building.  Turns out, this day and the concert were to commemorate Italy’s Memorial Day for victory in WWII.  Our Memorial Day is the next day.  The orchestra and choir did Hayden’s Mass #11 and it was beautiful.  We walked back to our hostel a few blocks away and stopped for dinner.  If and when I go back to Milan, I want to fix a lunch and spend the entire day at that cemetery.  It is awe inspiring!  With all of the ornate grave structures it is as impressive in the opposite way as the simplicity of our Military cemeteries.  

On Wednesday, I had Mexican food and went to Quilt Group.  Several of my dear friends there gifted me with little squash blocks for my squash quilt.  When I make the quilt in 2016, I will bring it back for show and tell with their names on the blocks.  Came home and we packaged again for our trip to Turin and Milan.  

Early Thursday, we went to Termini to catch our train to Turin.  When we got there, we got a cab for our hotel, which was literally across the street from the train station!  We could have walked it faster than the cab ride, due to one way street the driver had to take.  We settled into our nice room and later went out for Japanese food which was very good.  the next morning, we went down for a very nice breakfast…typical European buffet style.  Scrambled and hard boiled eggs, sausages, fruit, yogurt, cereal, rolls, cakes and juices.  And of course, my cappuccino.  We walked a bit and found a street flea market.  Bought two beautiful scarves for 3€ each.  Quite a bargain!  Then we went to the Cathedral by trolley car to see the Shroud of Turin.  We had to walk to the back of the cathedral and get in line.  Diane was on her last leg at this point and asked for a wheelchair.  A volunteer got one for her and pushed her the whole way and went to the front of the line with me and Andy in tow!  This is now our secret weapon to skip the line.  I am sure the interior of the cathedral is beautiful, but so much was covered to showcase the Shroud.  We saw a film before we went into see the Shroud that explained what we would be seeing and where on the almost 12 foot long cloth.  It was suspended up high with a splendidly dressed soldier on each side. Since it is a ‘positive’ and not a ‘negative’ it is very difficult to see the face and body images.  It may or not be the actual shroud of Christ, but it is very compelling and we were glad to have had the opportunity to see it.  Afterward, we went to lunch and walked around.  For dinner, we went to a restaurant that had been recommended by the Information center and our Hotel…Tre Gallini…Three Roosters.  We got there early only to find that we needed reservations and they couldn’t take us. They sent us to a sister restaurant, Tre Galli, (Three Chickens) and along the way we ran into a nice couple from Dallas!  They joined us for dinner.  I had lamb chops that I could cut with a fork…so tender and good.  Back to hotel for bed before our train to Milan tomorrow morning.  We will be able to WALK to the station with no problem!  Good night to all….

Today, Father Joe took,us by bus to Palma.  First, we went to the Franciscan church.  We got a wonderful tour that most people would never get because we got to go into locked rooms of the convent.  There is a beautiful cloistered garden in the center.  We saw beautiful paintings and ancient vestments.  Later, we toured the church and the chapels.  Very ornate with lots of gold and beautiful,statues and carvings.  We walked for awhile and stopped for a cappuccino.  Father left to go back to his convent for a meeting and we were on our own.  I left Diane and Andy and went to a quilt store.  It was a very nice one and the prices were slightly more than in the US and half what they are in Italy.  I was able to get some fabric I needed for a new project.  Since my dear quilt ladies are making squash blocks for me, I will meet my goal of squash blocks sooner than I thought.  So on to another project of 121 bunny blocks.  Diane bought a beautiful opal ring, and Andy got Mallorcan pearl earrings and drop necklace.  We do believe in helping the economy where every we go.

On Tuesday, Diane and I went to get a manicure and pedicure at a place on the beach.  Andy went on a two hour Segway ride up and down the beach.  We met later and had lunch on the beach…paella…but not as good as the dish we had on Saturday.  Back to the convent to pack and say our goodbyes to Father Joe and head for the airport. I was sad to leave.  It was a wonderful, welcoming atmosphere at the convent…Father Joe could not have been nicer to make sure we had a good time and all the priests were friendly and kind.  I will look forward to going back someday.  Got our plane back to Barcelona and Rome and arrived home after midnight…tired but happy.  Go to Mallorca if you want beautiful scenery and fabulous food.  And try those little Padron peppers!  And the mayonnaise!

Today we took our rental car and headed to the other end of the island to the sea.  The views are spectacular with the waves crashing on the rocks and the pretty beaches.  The water is clear and beautiful,colors of blue and blue green.  We traveled up a mountain with switchbacks to see the sea from way above.  Glad I wasn’t driving.  We stopped at a seafood restaurant and had a wonderful fish paella.  And more peppers!  Don’t really want a meal without them.  When we got back to the convent, Father Joe was ready for,dinner, so we walked across the street to a fairly new restaurant to try it out.  It was good!  We had peppers….again, aioli, and we split two grilled lobsters. Walked back to the convent and headed for bed.  

On Sunday, we went to Mass at Father Joe’s parish church a few miles away.  There was a good crowd and I suppose a wonderful sermon, all in Mallorcan.  Father had done a wedding the day before.  It was done at a chapel at a Hilton.  Hilton had bought an old estate and remodeled and restored the old buildings.  There was a huge windmill on the property as well as the courtyard and out buildings.  One was a huge gothic chapel build as a gift to the owner’s wife for having a son.  (All I got was the son!). (But he’s the best gift!). It was built in the 1500’s and was small, simple and beautiful.  We were very glad we stopped there to see it.  We had an (almost) American hamburger and fries for lunch.  The gardens were lovely and there was a big fish pond.  A beautiful spot for a wedding and honeymoon.  We had dinner at the convent and off to bed again.  

Father Joe took,us on a tour of the Church on their property.  It is an amazing building with a dome.  The church is an oval shape and all the walls are stained glass windows depicting the life of St. Francis.  The church was built between 1964-68 but looks as modern as if it were built this year.  The altar is a slab of black marble resting on 4 kneeling angel’s wings.  It is an amazing piece of architecture and absolutely beautiful.  I think,it is one of the most beautiful contemporary churches I’ve ever been in.  Later, we went to town and to the Cathedral of Palma.  It too is amazing…baroque and Gothic and contemporary…all blended together.  The Barcelona artist, Gaudi did the high altar and was unable to finish it.  But the cardboard prototypes of his plan are still in place.  They are circular lights around the altar.  We walked around town and looked at Mallorcan pearls in every window.  Too many choices.  

That evening, we went to dinner at a Grill. We had baby lamb chops and more of the peppers and the wonderful mayonnaise. These people know how to cook!  Absolutely delicious.  Back to the convent for a good night’s sleep…disturbed only by drunk Germans singing on the beach all night.  Fortunately, they are far enough away to sound good.  Tomorrow, we do a road trip…stay tuned.

We catch a cab before dawn and get to the airport for our flight to Barcelona and Mallorca.  Of course, we go to the wrong terminal and have to walk to another, but catch our plane  to Barcelona.  Short layover in Barcelona before we catch another flight to Mallorca.  This is a small island off the coast of Spain.  Diane speaks Spanish so I won’t have to confuse myself trying to speak what little high school/college Spanish I remember.  We arrive and begin looking for Diane’s friend, Father Joe.  He is a retired Franciscan priest who lives in a convent for retired priests and we will be staying with them.  Have no idea what is in store for us.  We meet him and he is a charming and witty man.  He is Mallorcan and spent many years in a parish in Waco, Texas where he became best friends with Diane’s cousin…thus her connection to him.   She had been to visit him a few years ago.  We arrived at the gated grounds to their compound.  About half of the acreage is forest-like.  The rest has a large school, a big building that used to have a windmill attached to pump water for the whole compound, a museum of their history  there (since 1914), a swimming pool, the three story convent and the church. And a couple of more three story buildings that are not used right now.  After getting settled in our rooms, we have lunch with Father Joe and the other priests and then we go back to the airport to rent a car to use when Father Joe can’t haul us around.  He is the Father Superior of this convent and also has a parish church with its responsibilities.  For dinner, we take him to his favorite restaurant…now MY favorite, too.  First, we have a small raw fish that is ‘cooked’ in vinegar and olive oil…like cevice is ‘cooked’ in lime juice.  They are called Boquerones. Mouthwatering good!  Then an order of little green peppers called Pimientos de Padron.  If I can’t duplicate these in Dallas, I may have to move back to Mallorca!  They are grilled or lightly fried in olive oil and then heavily salted with course salt.  They are not hot. I did get a hot one once and it was very mild.  Then we got toasted bread and aioli mayonnaise.  Mayonnaise was invented in Mallorca.  This aioli is mayonnaise with lots of garlic in it and is the best you have ever tasted.  Hellman’s  could corner the market with this stuff.  Then we had grilled shrimp – BIG ones and a squid in its own ink.  What a fabulous meal.  One of my top 10 best all time meals!  The dessert was a tray of bite sized sweets like truffles and tiny cakes infused with liquor.  With all of this, we had Ribeiro white wine.  It is traditionally served in a white ceramic pitcher and poured into small white ceramic flared cups.  Served icy cold and very light.  Back to the convent to bed with our windows open to catch the ocean breezes from a few blocks away.  So far, Mallorca rates an A+.  

So good to see Home Folk!  We get Diane settled and then go across the street for dinner and a pretty early night to bed.  She has brought me my prescription meds, more Euros and a present from my quilt teacher and friend, Sally.  Also, a batch of glue sticks as gifts for my quilt group gals here in Rome.  Diane and Sally had met this week and rode the McKinney Trolley on the newly opened route for the Inauguration.  Sally sent me a darling thingy used for fabric scraps on the table instead of a trashcan.  And she sent fabric and a pattern for a bunny quilt.  I’m nearing the end of the 100+ squash blocks I’ve been making since I got here, so need another travel project…and I need to make 100+ bunny blocks.  

On May 13, Diane and I caught the bus to go for MEXICAN food and my Quilt Group.  She brought a book to read while I was sewing.  The girls all seemed pleased with the glue sticks and I had sewn some Grandmother’s Flower Garden blocks for three ladies to add to their quilts in progress.  Diane went to another classroom and fell asleep.  I saw my group huddle together and heard my name…but didn’t pay much attention until Francesca (who speaks English) came over and said the ladies wanted to know what they could do for me to help me with my quilt projects.  I gave them some of the background fabric I had and asked that they make a little squash block using their squash colored fabric.  They all seems excited to do this.  These ladies are the nicest, kindest and most generous group I have met in a long time.  Of course, their kind offer made me tear up.  I will write their name on each block they make and add to my quilt when I put it together in January.  And I will bring the finished quilt to Show and Tell when I come back next year to visit.  After group, Diane and I head for home and have dinner at the Chinese place around the corner.  Tomorrow we leave for an EARLY flight to Mallorca…leaves at 7:15.  Mercy!  Off to bed early!

Im back!  Home with wifi.  I need to backtrack to May 13, I think….our last day in Milan area.  We took a train to St. Moritz in the Swiss Alps.  Caught the tour bus and headed to a small Italian town where we will stop to see the cathedral before going to the Italian/Swiss town to have lunch and catch the train.  It is on the border.  The cathedral is beautiful…all of them are and after seeing it and walking around a bit we move on.  Beautiful flowers are in bloom, roses, azaleas and iris are everywhere.  At the border town we have lunch and our guide recommends a pasta dish with buckwheat noodles, boiled cabbage, boiled little potatoes and a cheese melted over it.  I will find the name of the cheese and let you know.  It is worth fixing this vegetarian dish.  Delicious due to the cheese used.  We get our train tickets and board the small electric train for our trip thru the Bernina Pass.  This train track is over 100 years old and on the World Heritage List.  We go for miles thru the snowy Alps seeing huge waterfalls and glaciers and frozen lakes.  It is a beautiful day as we climb thru the clouds and wind our way up and up.  When we get to St. Moritz, we walk around the town that is still basically shut down as it is still not the tourist season.  Just as well…the stores are very high end.  Fun looking in the windows and then going to the chocolate store which is open.  Beautiful row upon row of every kind of chocolate you can think of and a bit pricy.  I go to the cafe next door for a delicious hot chocolate and am joined by a nice couple from Boston who are so kind and pay for my drink!  It is cool, but pleasant enough to sit outside and visit and people watch.  Then it is time to head back to the bus and head for home.  The bus drove to St. Moritz as we were on the train.  Our bus driver got a loud cheer as we made it down the winding road to more level and straight highway.  We made it back to Milan after another long day and went to the end of the block from the convent to a bar…got a drink and bar snacks and pizza for dinner and went to bed.  The next morning, we went to the train station after telling Suzanne goodbye (she flew home from Milan) and caught a non stop train back to Rome.  Loads of laundry and cleaning to get ready for my friend Diane to arrive from Dallas in two days.  A new adventure awaits!  We have definitely decided we will NOT stay at the convent when we return to Milan in about ten days.  If we can’t get into the Monastery hostel we will get a hotel room.  Can’t do the sardine routine at this point in life!  

We are in Mallorca, Spain and wifi is sketchy, so you might not hear much from me until 

Wednesday.  We are staying in a retired priest’s convent and the grounds and church are beautiful.  Dinner last night was divine and I’m taking notes on it all to tell you about with more wifi time.