California: San Diego's Sunrise Highway

The two-lane Sunrise Highway (S1) runs between Interstate 8 and State Road 79
in eastern San Diego County, skimming beside and up into the Vallecito Mountains and
 providing access to the Cleveland National Forest, Cuyamaca Rancho State Park
and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

About an hour east of San Diego but still in San Diego County, the Sunrise Highway is a world away from the busy coast and the jammed highways of the city.  It's a full-day trip if you take hiking seriously, a bit less than that if you settle for an hour or so on one of the trails in Cleveland National Forest, which was established by Teddy Roosevelt in 1908 and is 460,000 acres (720 square miles) of rocks, canyons, pines and scrub.

Other than trailheads (including access points to the Pacific Crest Trail) and a couple of lodges and cafes, there's little to see along the 24 miles of the Sunrise Highway except magnificent views of the Vallecito Mountains to the east. The Salton Sea is on the other side of the mountains, and perhaps the sliver of blue water we spied a couple of times was the sea. Or perhaps it was just another of the several artificial lakes that dot the area.

Here are some snapshots taken along the highway, starting from the southern end.

The Vallecito Mountains rise in the distance in this view from the Sunrise Highway.

We drove the Sunrise Highway on Oct. 19, 2018, a sunny
and hot day in San Diego (high in the 80s at sea level),
but the temperature dropped to 60 once we were 5,000 feet
and more above sea level. The humidity was 29 percent, so
the chill felt even chillier.

Dead trees resemble art works along one
trail in Cleveland National Forest. Maybe
they were killed in the forest's famous
2003 Cedar Fire, one of the worst wildfires
in the state's history.

Pine trees, even big ones like this, have thin foliage.

Another remnant of the 2003 Cedar Fire? Yet the
little pine beside it does not seem discouraged.

Jane said this tree reminded her of the charred tree where
Smokey Bear was found in New Mexico in 1950.

More apparent fire damage ... and regrowth.

A view of Anza-Borrega Desert State Park.

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

No trees, just brush in this desert.

Isolated rocks stick up like termite mounds in the plains of Africa. 

Some piles of rocks resembled Inuit inukshuks and others resembled
African kopjes. There are warnings about rattlesnakes and mountain
lions, and I can easily imagine one if not both waiting at these
rocks for an unaware hiker.

Italy: Holy Palermo!

Amazing mosaics adorn the Palatine Chapel in the Royal Palace of Paleremo (also known
as the Palace of the Normans). The palace began as a 9th-century Arab fortress and was converted
into a royal residence in the 11th century after Normans conquered the island. It was the site
 of the court of the cultured but brutal Frederick II, king of Sicily (and later Holy Roman
 Emperor, among other titles) who reigned here for  more than 50 years, ending with his
 death in 1250. Architecturally it is a blend of Islamic and  Romanesque styles. The Palatine
 Chapel is the crown jewel of the Medieval period in the  Mediterranean.
It exists today virtually unchanged over the centuries. 

Palermo was our last stop after three months in Italy. From there we returned to Rome for two nights and then flew home. After a relatively short and pleasant drive from Marsala, we arrived in Palermo, dropped our luggage at our hotel, Palco Rooms & Suites across the street from the Teatro Massima, returned our rental car to Hertz and set out to explore the city on foot.

Buildings in the central (and historic) district reflect the city's unusual history, ruled by Rome, Byzantines, Arabs, French Normans and more. Churches incorporate Arab and even Islamic motifs, sometimes behind a Spanish Baroque facade. The center city is a swirl of singular buildings and amazing art.

Our room at Palco looked out on the Teatro Massima, one of Europe's largest opera houses. The late 19th-century theater was the setting for the final scenes in "The Godfather Part III" when murder was accompanied by an opera performance on stage.  The building is open for tours, which we took, and we got to see the hallway where the murder took place, the royal box where actors sat, as well as the backstage area. The impression is that you're in a giant jewelry or music box.

The Palco's location, at the intersection of the uninteresting Via Cavour and the must-walk Via Maqueda, is close to ideal. North on Maqueda is the "new" city with expensive shops, lovely apartment or condo buildings and few tourists. Via Principe di Belmonte, a pedestrian area of bars and restaurants just off Maqueda, is great for people watching during passeggiata. Go south on Maqueda for ancient and unique churches and the intersection with Corso Vittorio Emanuele, another must-walk street and one that takes you to a small-craft harbor and a tiny beach.

For us, three nights in Palermo at the end of a long trip through southern Italy was enough, but some people make it their only stop in Sicily. We met two young men who were staying in Palermo and had gotten up at 4 in the morning to make it to Catania in time for a Mount Etna tour. They returned to Palermo after the tour. Palermo, as intriguing as it is, is a very busy and not always pleasant city, but it's a must on any tour of Sicily. I'd say the same about every other city or town we visited on this island. Each had its own unique attractions and its own appeal.

A narrow street off Via Maqueda south of Via
Cavour is lined with sidewalk restaurants,
most with people stationed outside trying
to catch the interest of passers-by.

Looking south on Via Maqueda. It looks like the street dead-ends at a mountain. 

There are four of these Spanish-Baroque facades,
one at each corner of the intersection of Via Maqueda
and Corso Vittorio Emanuele, more or less the
heart of Palermo's historic district.

Dining al fresco on a small piazza off Vittorio
Emanuele. The piazza had several vendors
offering fried and grilled seafood.

The same small piazza was also prepared
to provide your dessert. Nutella, anyone?

A bistro window on Via Maqueda.

The Palermo Cathedral is impressively large, but its interior is not particularly interesting. It dates
to the late 12th century, but the history of the site goes back to a 4th-century basilica, then a
6th-century basilica, which was converted into a mosque, then converted back to Christian use
 in 1072, then rebuilt and modified over the centuries. It contains the tombs of kings and
emperors.

At the intersection of Via Maqueda and Via Cavour, the Teatro Massimo has become a tourist
attraction due to its appearance in "The Godfather Part III," in which the camera lovingly
shows the elaborate interior.

The theater's steps figure in the movie's final scene.

The royal box, where we were told Al Pacino sat in the movie.

The small panels in the ceiling slide open to
allow natural ventilation to cool the theater.

These two churches are at Piazza Vincenzo Bellini, just off Via Maqueda. The Church of
Santa Maria Dell'Ammiraglio (left) is also known as Martorana. The little one on the right
with the three red domes, is the Church of San Cataldo. Each is considered an important
example of the blending of Arab and French Norman styles. This photo was taken
from the roof of the Church of Santa Caterina d'Alessandria.

Looking up into the domes of San Cataldo, which was built around 1160. It reflects the reign
of Roger II (1095-1154), king of Sicily, who embraced diversity and encouraged Muslim
artisans to remain in Sicily and included Englishmen and Greeks in his government,
which consolidated all of the previous Norman conquests on the Italian mainland
as well as on Sicily. He was considered one of the greatest kings of Europe at the time.

Catalda is a surprisingly small and rather simple on the inside,
despite the complicated stonework. Today it is not used as
a church and is owned by the Equestrian Order of the Knights
of the Saint Sepulchre of Jerusalem. 

The Martorana's elaborate mosaics rival those of the Palatine Chapel. They were
completed between 1143 and 1148. 

Stars adorn the ceiling. Martorana still has its original
wooden door with Islamic carvings. Unfortunately, the
glass that protects it made it impossible to photograph.

Across the Piazza Vincenze Bellini from Martorana and Cataldo is the Church of Santa
Caterina d'Alessandria (Saint Catherine of Alexandria). It is larger than either
of the other two and once had its own convent. The convent preceded the church, founded in
the 1300s and built where Roger II's greatest admiral had lived. The church,
in full Sicilian Baroque extravagance, came in the late 16th century.

Jonah is about to be swallowed by the whale
in one of several plaques telling Bible
stories at Santa Caterina.

Nuns from the convent observed services from the choir loft high at the rear
of the church. The grating, including that above where they sat, was
apparently intended to prevent nuns from hurling themselves to
the church floor far below. A docent told us that suicide was not
uncommon among the cloistered nuns, some of whom had been
pressured to become nuns by their families.

The ceiling of Santa Caterina goes Baroque in a big way.

Santa Caterina sits between the Piazza Bellini and the Piazza Pretoria,
both of which can be seen from its roof. This fountain is the
centerpiece of Piazza Pretoria. The street on the other side
of the fountain is Via Maqueda. On the other side of Maqueda
is yet another massive church, one that we did not visit.

This courtyard is the heart of Palermo's Royal Palace.

Mosaics in the corridors around the courtyard
depict scenes from Sicilian history.

Another courtyard mosaic.

Biblical scenes are depicted in the mosaics
of the palace's famous Palataine Chapel.

Eve is created from one of Adam's ribs in this Palatine Chapel mosaic.

What is known as Roger's Room or the Room of the Winds is covered with mosaics
that represent King Roger II's scientific and intellectual curiosity. 

One gets the impression that mosaic artists had little contact with real lions.

Palermo's Royal Palace, in addition to being the home of the regional
legislature (which meets in a large room with depictions of the labors
 of Hercules), Roger's Room and the Palatine Chapel, also has exhibition
space. We were there during a showing of Medieval and Renaissance
Sicilian art. This work particularly caught my eye: "Pieta e Simboli della
Passione" by Ignoto Pittore Fiammingo. It was painted in the late
15th century, but the disconnected and floating icons
reminded me of a 20th-century artist: Salvadore Dali. 

Italy: Marsala, Wine and More

Marsala wine at a sidewalk table in Marsala. One
of the city gates is in the distance.

You've heard of Marsala. You've probably drank it or used it in cooking or at least had restaurant dishes that use it: chicken Marsala, shrimp Marsala, etc. Marsala, the westernmost town on the island of Sicily, is where the popular fortified wine originated. Marsala tastings and winery visits are among the town's attractions, though I have the impression that not many Americans or other international travelers visit here.

Of course, as with almost every bit of land in this part of the world, there is history. Marsala was once under the control of the North African Phoenician city-state of Carthage, which fought Greece and Rome for control of Sicily in the Punic Wars.  Though that all ended a couple of millennia ago, it is recalled at a small museum on the nearby resort island of Favignana.  It contains bronze rams that were mounted on Roman and Carthaginian ships in 241 B.C.E. when an important naval battle was fought in nearby waters, the Battle of the Egudi Islands. Two hundred Roman ships, powered by oarsmen, defeated four hundred Carthaginian ships in the last naval battle of the First Punic War. The rams were about all that remained when ships sunk in the battle were discovered in the late 20th century. The museum is housed in a former tuna-processing factory, which also has a museum on the history of tuna fishing and processing. You can easily walk to it from the ferry landing, though signs pointing toward it can send you astray.

We visited Favignana as a day trip, taking a ferry from Marsala's small harbor, but we met a couple from Palermo who frequently make the drive to Marsala, ignore the town, and spend long weekends entirely on Favignana. Beaches -- sandy or rocky, your choice -- and loads of inns, restaurants and shops make this a popular getaway for Sicilians.

Other adventures out of Marsala included visiting Salene della Laguna, a traditional sea salt harvesting operation north of town. We walked among the pools where evaporation of sea water was leaving behind salt. We didn't see the seafoam process, in which, on rare windless days, foam forms on some of the pools and is scooped off and dried, producing a rare and expensive fine white salt, not the large grains of salt that often go into grinders. We bought several jars of the "soffi di sale" as gifts and for our own use at home.

After a morning visit to the salt works, we drove about an hour to visit the Gorghi Tondi winery east of town. We're not particular fans of Marsala wine, so we went to one winery that doesn't make any fortified wine, though Gorghi Tondi does make a sweet dessert wine from the grillo grape, which figures prominently in making Marsala. The sweetness comes from late harvest and botrytis cinerea, the "noble rot" that is used in making Sauternes in France. The tasting here was well worth the drive, and we made it home with a half-case of wine embedded in our luggage, including three bottles of the dessert wine.

Lemon-based drinks are sold on the piazza outside
the Duomo in Marsala.

Jane and I are reflected in a mirrored ceiling at a wine bar in Marsala. Those little
bowls all held different snacks.

A wine tasting in the courtyard of
what was once a ducal palace.

A G&T and an Aperol spritz at another sidewalk
cafe on a sidestreet in Marsala. 

This bronze ram was mounted on a pole at the front of a Roman
ship in 241 B.C.E. when the ship was one of many sunk during
a naval battle between Carthage and Rome. The stempost sheath
bears the relief decoration of a Montefortino-type helmet with
three feathers. An  inscription indicates that the ram's construction
was inspected and approved. During an attack on another
ship, a badly built ram -- its pole was essentially an extension
of the ship's keel -- could cause its own ship to break apart.
It and many others are on display on the island of Favignana
 in a small museum in a former tuna-processing factory.

A food truck keeps visitors well fed on the island of Favignana.

Anglers fish from the rocks off a seaside promenade
on Favignana.

Steps from a seaside sidewalk allow people to venture out onto the rocks and to swim
in the water beyond them. This area seems to once have been a quarry.

Did you notice these carvings in the preceding photo?  My guess is that they were
carved by quarry workers in rock that was too soft to be  harvested.

The straight lines in the stone are signs that this was
once a quarry. 

A hilltop fortress looks down on Favignana's small but busy harbor.

Windmills once provided power to pump sea water from one pool to another at
Saline della Laguna near Marsala. 

The trees in the distance are on an island
that protects Saline della Laguna from
storm-driven waves that could interfer
with its age-old system of drying seawater
to collect salt.