Day 24: Calabria, Day 9

Day 24:  Calabria, Day 9

The anniversary tour hits another wedding reception site; THB and DB are exchanging vows for something like the 10th time on the trip (including fireworks at several sites!)

Quote of the Day: What did you think of our guide today?

Weather: The usual

Twins from another planet

Odd triplets combo (trio?)

First up: THB sleep-talks, sleep-walks, even sleep-reads. Last night he was screaming in his sleep (according to DB). THB was suffering the most painful cramp in his right calf…THB did not think he was asleep, he was being tortured. DB asked him if he was okay and THB kept saying: amp…amp…AMP! After what seemed like an eternity and was probably 5 seconds at most, the cramping subsided. THB fell back asleep immediately, slept well until almost 6:30. His calf was sore in the morning, not terribly sore. DB had a tough time going back to sleep, she said all this happened shortly after midnight. Now THB sleep-cramps: who knew THB had this talent?

Our guide in background leading some sort of ancient Greek cult initiation rite

Once again we struggle with the safe. With an early morning departure to Zurich tomorrow, we knew we were in trouble if anything went wrong tomorrow (and, being haunted, chances were against us). Of course, the safe wouldn’t open and we pleaded with the desk for help. That is, at 7:30am, if we could find anyone at reception. THB ended up retrieving one of the breakfast staff to find someone to give us help, he ended up finding the surly front desk person (shades of check-in and the “lost” …. or “last” baggage fiasco) outside chatting up the other smokers on the staff. Awesome, dude! A little after 8 a guy who spoke zero Ingles showed up and used a master key and opened the safe in 12 seconds. THB tried to explain it was likely the battery was dead. Sorry, no Ingles. THB pities the next guests assigned to 632 at Populia Resort.

We've seen mobiles being swallowed, swung on a swing set, photo swapping, and now some guy on the bus is trying to use it to clean ear wax (unsuccessfully) 

That's Messina, Sicily across the narrow straight. Supposedly this is the site of the scene from the Odyssey where Ulysses deals with Scylla and Charybdis. The town of Scilla (on the Calabrian side) is another picturesque town (we don't stop) and the currents running on either side of the strait are what gave Homer the story content about the dangers of the passage

Mt Etna on Sicily side is always smoking

Reggio Nazional Archaeological Museo

There is some large lecture going on in the main atrium

Long drive to see the National Museo in Reggio. Basically, we see one very old Greek statue, one created about 70 years later, and then one a bit later. This guy is a stud! Or, as our guide said: not man, not a god, Superman!

The guide was late (“bad traffic”) and was wearing the weirdest shirt THB had seen on a guy in quite some time. Marci, sitting next to THB at lunch, immediately asked what I thought and we compared notes: his buttons were on a slant (sort of an arc from the neck to side of his waist), there was a huge stain about 2 buttons down on the right, and he had cuffs rolled up. Conclusion: he was in hurry (remember, he was late) and took his girlfriend’s shirt out of the dirty clothes bag and got dressed in the car. Plus he took a phone call (his ringtone: birds chirping so realistically some of the tour start looking for birds in this pristine museo environment) in the middle of his tour through the museum, Marci surmised it was from his girlfriend urging him to come home and explain himself.

We're sealed in some sort of cleanup room....detoxing from all our long meals and excessive alcohol intake?

Superman from 2700 years ago, they grew 'em big and bronzed in those days

Only kryponite can defeat this guy, and he's got x-ray vision 

Buns of bronze, THB needs to really start working again on his 7 minutes exercise program to get back to his pre-tour figure

More artifacts

Sarcophagus foot

Co-leader leaning in on some statue base from maybe 2500 years ago...kids, DO NOT TOUCH THE ART

Ancient mosaic from sinagoga di Bova Marina

The statue that prompted THB's shining moment on the tour

And, he was excellent!! Well, mostly because he complimented THB on THB’s asking the tour’s first question as a very astute question, very astute (Ed note: THB repeats for emphasis here). THB’s question (we’re not looking at Superman, this is just before we got to him): is it true that these ancient statues weren’t really white, they had been painted at one time? (THB reads the NYT periodically and this question came straight from that article…VERY astute!).

THB interviewed the woman attempting to finish her late-morning snack; her companion on the left did the interpreting. Gelati con brioche...THB would have gone back into the red zone if he ate one of these...just looking at it put him in yellow (TdF joke!)

Violet (vegetarian) and Rick (celiac, eats gluten free) sharing a safe alternative moment 

Mini bus, looks a lot better on outside, inside is well worn, one too many tours have used these seats as flotation devices

For our next stop, instead of our giant bus, we’ve switched to a 25 seat mini-bus (who says old tour leaders can’t learn new tricks) for our trip up to the top of the hill outside Reggio for a quick winery tour and lunch at Tramontana. Pretty, spectacular view and mediocre wines = 250 wedding receptions a year.

Chiara interpreting for the tall and lanky winemaker

The town is dead...except on the 250 days a year that wedding attendees snake their way through the small town streets to end up in a spectacular site

Awwwww....aren't they cute?

The winemaker leads our tour, THB asks and it turns out he played volleyball for 10 years or so around the time he was attending college. He definitely did not have the short, stocky body we see over and over here. He’s also a consulting winemaker, handles several smaller sized wineries.

We dine with a giant door open to the outside giving us a nice breeze throughout the meal. DB and Melinda trade satirical comments of each wine while they are swirling and sniffing: are you getting hints of the sea?

Lots of food and wine, no surprise.

Remarkably, a non-alcoholic beverage on the wine tour

A terrific starter: all fish, a dish that in the Bay Area many of would  order as our entire lunch...here it is just one of many dishes today

THB includes this pic to remind him to tell you this red wine was served chilled. It was very good cold and vin ordinaire when it warmed to room temp

THB's "giving up coffee" ends after about 6 days...though drinking a thimble full is definitely easing back to his wicked and wild ways

Rick is holding up the gluten free indicator. THB and others suggest he just pin it to his back at all meals...the tour has been one very nice accommodation to his illness (and sometimes outright jealousy when, for example he gets gelati for dessert). Same for non-fish eaters and vegetarians. The leaders did a good job on this, there are 4 tour members that need menu alternatives and for most part this is seamlessly done. 

The mini-bus is awaiting and we have a meet-up with our giant chariot near the main highway running north and south through the south of Italy; group smoothly handles transfer (remember, many have had a lot of wine at lunch). This meet-up short of Reggio means THB misses out on another shot at the local fave: the brioche-gelati sandwich.

It's dark when we head to the last supper

90 minutes later we’re back to Populia to pack and rest up. THB takes a dip in the pool, he’s pretty sure that no one has used this giant in many a day. It’s also only 3 feet deep for the most part and thus the no diving warnings are serious. The packing is a bit easier: our two bags to check won’t be opened until we’re back in the loft; our three carry-ons have everything we need for the next two days in the frozen tundra of Zurich and the Swiss Alps: temps are projected to be in the 30s and 40s (Fahrenheit, not Celsius) over the next few days, complete with rain.

Marci is a well-known TV personality and tambourine specialist; the band is usually a duo, not a trio

She is a nationally known gender reassignment surgeon dealing with transgender and female genital mutilation. She's the Lu (from Antarctica trip) tour member: witty, outspoken, beloved meal-mate and has been on Oprah, done a Ted Talk...on and on and on! We were lucky to have her along.

Tonight is the going away dinner. There’s musical accompaniment, a duo that rotates through a lot of unusual and home-made instruments. Exceptional! And THB doesn’t say that just because their first encore is a sing-along of Blowing In The Wind. Marci is part of the first number, handling the tambourine (sorry, no Mr Tambourine Man in the set) and dancing along in easy rhythm…multi-talented!

That's a lot of instruments for two guys

THB is so close that most of the tour group probably has his bald spot in 90% of their pics

Instrument #2 for this guy; he made pretty much everything he plays, probably even including the accordion

Instrument #3

#4 (the guitarist plays the tambourine later)

#5

It's sort of a guitar

#6, played like a cello while sitting on his lap

#7

he removes the cover on the wheel in the center and plays it by turning a handle on the left while somehow playing the "piano" on the right

The winemaker is on hand to discuss his wines. He’s a cardiologist, studied in the US at UC San Diego, and THB is right there with the first question of the night: THB had a stent implant 5 years ago, does he have a recommendation on wines for a guy in this condition. His answer is the exact same as THB’s rheumy: 1-2…OH, 1-2 glasses a day; THB’s rheumy’s reco is 1-2 tablespoons a day. Same-same but very different.

Chiara interviewing THB's new cardiologist: do you recommend white wine as well as red for Necrotizing Myositis? Regular check-ups for grandparents of identical twins? Using the same  grape varietal for making white and red wines?

Yes, my cardiologist replies, and Shemale wine for the in-between cardiac events

The winery is near one of the famous Roman ruins

Mute: THB has to take his medicine while not talking

Say nothing, just drink your medicine

Somehow, dinner is actually only a four course meal; a manageable amount of food is served, including a Safeway cake in the shape of Calabria with Populia scripted on the cake…like we’re celebrating the Resort’s b’day. Hmmmmm…..

First course. Calabrian asparagi is extremely potent (if you know what THB means) for the urinary tract 

Main of black pig...potatoes a lot better than the pork

Possibly best pasta dish of the tour, THB finally finishes a pasta course

It's not Rosetta's b'day though she easily qualifies as Calabria's number one promoter

THB is not sure why since the cake is served last at  tonight's dinner, on the last night of the tour: Greeting Cake

Lots of hugging and farewells, half the tour is leaving on the 6:30am shuttle bus the next morning so maybe it is only half a lot of hugging and farewells.