The tradition in southern Italy is to name the first son after the father´s father, the second son after the mother´s father, the first daughter after the father´s mother and the second daughter after the mother´s mother.  As the third son, my husband was named after his father.  Because of the tradition, many names show […]

We went to the cemetery in Sciacca looking for Maggios long gone.  The first thing we noticed was the huge parking lot. In a town with very little elbow room there was an enormous amount of breathing space. Then we walked through the gate. I never thought about cemetaries as architectural places. In the states, […]

We are staying this week in Sciacca, a middle sized town perched on a hillside on the southwestern coast of Sicily. All of my husband’s great grandparents – all eight! – were born in Sciacca and died in Norristown, Pennsylvania. Three of his grandparents were born here as well, before the families left for America at […]

As we arrived in Rome, my daughter asked what is the one thing you hope to do while in Italy? I replied, ” See the real Pompeian Red.” I have longed to see the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum since my first architectural history course. The reason had nothing to do with architecture or with history. The reason had to do […]

A friend who collects healing rocks asked me to bring her back something from Tucson. She was very non specific about what she wanted. Her only instruction was to “listen.” There were over 40 different shows this year in the Tucson area, with thousands of vendors selling rocks, gems, beads. It didn’t take long walking […]