Against Medical Advice

I finally woke – I mean really woke and was able to sit up and process things, at 10 am. I had periodically stirred all night, always noting that the empty 500ml IV bag had not been replaced. At some point breakfast came, involving milk and something I could not eat, so I had kept […]

A Most Imperfect Day

“[Butterblogger] are you OK? Are you OK? You passed out,” is the first thing I remember when I came to. I had woken this morning with a headache and some gastrointestinal symptoms. So I medicated and ate breakfast and was feeling great. My symptoms were truly minor. Our hotel brings a breakfast tray to our […]

Not Trying Too Hard is Sometimes Just Right

One of the challenges I have when traveling is recognizing when it’s time to stop packing stuff into the agenda. Every day isn’t a competition to do as much as I can, and I have to remind myself of that sometimes. Some days are more about the place than a specific site. This was one […]

A Near Perfect Day

In the darkening purple light of a disappearing day, we wound down toward the Amalfi Coast via the pass that cuts from the northern side of the Sorrentine Peninsula to the southern, hugging hairpin turn after hairpin turn. “This is curvy, but I didn’t think it would be this bad,” Lisa groaned, “This is like […]

Of Etruria and What Came After

It all goes back to the Etruscans. Well perhaps not all, but some of it anyway. Tuscania is the town we are in now, but despite the name, it isn’t in Tuscany. It’s in the northern reaches of Lazio, one of the 20 Italian regions, known to most as home to Rome. This area is […]

Guccio Has Some Serious Muscles

The day began with a rooster finding its way out of the henhouse and into a small fenced in area adjacent. Flora and I had a plan to move the rooster back to its roost, but Guccio would have none of this. Instead, he found the smallest of crevices and bound into the pen, frightening […]