We all miss our Italy and are waiting for our next trip.
UPDATE ::TIM & T-Mobile in Italy and USA
NAVIGATING USING MY IPHONE AND T-MOBILE
These are the latest updates to T-Mobile International usage:
INTERNATIONAL AND TRAVEL
In-flight connection
Full-flight texting and Wi-Fi with streaming where available
Simple Global (low flat-rate calling)
$0.25/minute in 215+ countries and destinations
Simple Global (texting and data abroad)
Unlimited text and up to 5GB of high-speed data, then unlimited data at up to 256Kbps in 215+ countries and destinations
Unlimited international texting from home
Included
Use your device in Mexico and Canada
Unlimited talk and text, and up to 5GB of high-speed data
For my last two trips to Italy I have purchased a TIM SIM card from their web site and brought the printed voucher to a TIM store in Italy. In both cases all went well at the stores and in about 10 minutes my phone was up and running in about 10 minutes. Cell service with TIM was excellent and never had problems. The plan allowed 15 Gig data and 200 min of cell service. For some reason the cell minutes seemed to disappear quickly. The cost was 25 Euros (Now 20 Euros) and it was good for 30 days.
Down side was you got a new local phone number (Italian 39 country code), The plan is not renewable. 15 Gig of data can go fairly quickly if you do not have access to Wi-Fi.
These are the latest updates to TIM FOR VISITORS
TIM Tourist
For you 50 Giga and 200 minutes to call in Italy and abroad
at €14.99
for 30 days
14.99€
FOR 30 DAYS Non-renewable offer
Share the best moments from your holiday in Italy
Internet
50GB of 4G Internet
Minutes
200 minutes to call in Italy and abroad
Discover the countries included in the offer
Chats
Unlimited
LEARN MORE
Benefits
Discover the benefits of TIM Tourist
INFO
TIM info:
Cost Breakdown | Offer Details | Rules on Use | Transparency rate
DO YOU WANT MORE?
You might find this interesting
Will your trip take you to other countries?
TIM will be right there with you!
TIM in Travel Pass
If you want lots of minutes, texts and Internet for Europe, the USA, Canada and Brazil!
10 GB
500 minutes
500 text messages
20
€
for 30 days
https://www.tim.it/en/landline-mobile/international-calling/from-italy/tim-tourist
T-Mobile plans include 2G data and 25 cents per minute calling. My wife made many calls relating to her business while we were on a month long trip to Italy. This was included in our $70 a month plan for two phones. The 2G data plan was adequate for her to send texts with photos, read and send email, but it was noticeably slower than what we were used to hear. Considering that AT&T plans for international use were exorbitant this was not a problem. Service was good from Rome to the Dolomites. No problems.
I opted for a 30d high speed package with unlimited calls. We used our cell phones for driving directions on Apple or Google maps every day. I had great refresh rates on web pages and never lost a signal while driving. The package was worth if for me. It is also renewable for 30 days. You will get a text when you arrive overseas in any of the 210 countries T-Mobile includes in the plan allowing you to choose several options for calling. My $50 and an slower priced plans IF YOU WANT FASTER DATA SPEEDS. Otherwise you are all sent. From their web site “The Magenta®, Simple Choice™, New Classic, and Select Choice plans provide unlimited 2G data, unlimited texting and calling at $0.25 per minute in 210+ countries and destinations”
International Pass: 512MB of high-speed data at up to LTE speeds and unlimited calling, to be used up to 24 hours, for $5/day.
5GB International Pass: 5GB of high-speed data at up to LTE speeds and unlimited calling, to be used up to 10 days, for $35.
15GB International Pass: 15GB of high-speed data at up to LTE speeds and unlimited calling, to be used up to 30 days, for $50.
T-Mobile served us well on our trip. Less problems than TIM. Check out the various plans, especially the over 55 plan.
Hard to believe that AT&T would push their inflated rates on travelers and continually raise the monthly cell plan rates. Their plans are very restrictive and expensive.
Cost $70 per month.
Coverage for as long as you need
Unlimited texts to the world
2GB or 6GB of data included
$0.35 per minute for calls
Available in 200+ countries
A lot of money for little return.
My T-Mobile bill arrived and there were no surprises.
T-Mobile is owned by Deutsche Telekom.
GREAT SIGNAL ON LAKE COMO
The Places I Love In Italy: Ischia
There are so many amazing places in Italy to visit, it is difficult to find the best memories.
This lead photo was taken on the Island of Ischia. My wife Angela suggested we visit the island which is off the coast of Napoli. It turned out to be an amazing experience, Hot mineral springs filled a swimming pool.
The green color of the water is from the high mineral content.
Castello Aragonese d’Ischia is a great place to visit.
Some great restaurants are all around the island.
This was a great light lunch of antipasti.
We took the bus to the small village of Sant’Angelo on the tiger side of the island for dinner.
Il ristorante Lo Scoglio was amazing, The name means the rock
Seafood us the specialty. It comes with some amazing views
A view of the Rock
It is well worth the quick trip from Napoli to Ischia. Take the ferry it is a good day trip of a long weekend stay. You can also visit the island of Procida. This is where “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and “Il Postino” were filmed.
More posts coming on my favorite places.
More of Italy Food
When it comes to food, Italy tops.
Here is a one minute video of some of my finds.
Cycling the Domites to Venice
Here is a link to a bike trip from northern Bolzano to Venice.
Great areas to see by bicycle
I LOVE VENICE
I miss my trips to Italy and I miss Venice. We never had a bad moment Venice. 
Here is a 30 second video depicting some of our trips.
Venezia always beautiful.
CASTELBUONO, SICILY
What: the charming village in Sicily where you can get away from the crowds and see the sights. A short drive to Gangi where the dollar or one Euro homes were very popular
Where: about a 45 minute drive from Cefalu on the seacoast. A scenic drive.
When: best in spring and fall to avoid the heat.
Why: lots of sights and places to dine. Small enough to park your car and walk everywhere.
From visitsicily.info
A small medieval village in the Park of Madonie with a delightful, still well preserved old town that captivates you from the very first moment, the town develops around the castle of Ventimiglia, near a Byzantine hamlet called Ypsigro. Walking through its narrow streets, is like entering another dimension, it’s like seeing a parade of knights and beautiful ladies wearing rustling brocade clothes and complicated hairstyles. Not by chance, at the beginning of summertime, during the ”Infiorata of Castelbuono”, the historical parades really take place through wonderful tapestries of fresh flowers.
We start our journey from the beautiful Old Madrice. Built in the fourteenth century on the ruins of a pagan temple, the church is preceded by a Renaissance portico added in the 16th century and enriched by a portal in Catalan style. The interior, originally with three naves, has been expanded to four at the end of the fifteenth century. A magnificent polyptych dominates the main altar, a true masterpiece depicting Christ enthroned in majesty with saints, attributed by some scholars to Antonello de Saliba, by others to Peter Ruzzolone.
The lovely marble statue of Our Lady of the Angels by Antonello Gagini and the fresco depicting the Marriage of the Virgin dating back to 15th century, are other wonders not to be missed. Some of the columns separating the aisles, are decorated with frescoes of saints among which stands out for its elegance and delicacy the one portraying St. Catherine of Alexandria. The crypt is entirely frescoed (XVI sec.) with episodes of the passion, death and resurrection of Christ.
Castelbuono is, therefore, a little enchanted jewel and, as in any respectable fairy tale, there must be a castle and here’s an impressive one!
It was built by the powerful Count Francesco I Ventimiglia in 1317, upon an existing watchtower of the 12th century. It hosted the court of one of the most influential families of Sicilian history, even more powerful than the Vicerè!
These potent counts, who rebelled against the Sicilian rulers, had their Palatine Chapel which is still a precious casket, with wonderful stucco on the bottom of pure gold leaves decorated by the brothers Giuseppe and Giacomo Serpotta (1684-87); behind the altar, kept in a fine, silver reliquary bust of 1521, is the skull of St. Anne, the patron saint of the village.
Today the Castle of Ventimiglia is the seat of the Civic Museum of Castelbuono with its several sections: Archeology, Urbanism, Sacred, Modern and Contemporary Art. Its rich program of exhibitions and cultural activities makes it a dynamic landmark for research, meetings and experimentations .
Castelbuono is in the Parco Delle Madonie or Madonie Natural Park. It is not too far from Cefalu and worthy of a two to three day visit. 
We enjoyed our three day stay in an Airbnb a short walk from the center of town. The ride from Cefalu was scenic and added to our enjoyment.
Piazza Margherita, Castlebuno
Via Castello
View from our AIRbnb
Lunch downtown ( in Centro)
Flascorano bakery ships all over the world.
A link to their website. English version
A performance at the museum in the castle.
Dinner at one of the many fine restaurants in town.
Time to blog again,
It has been a while, Angela and I hibernated for over a year. Our every other year to Italy trips were now memories.That time is over. Now we will be planning our next viaggio. During the Covid day we purchased a Winnebago and took a 6,900 mile trip across much of the US. We are embarking on a second trip of two to three months and it will give me time to write and plan our next trip.
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CATANIA, SICILY FRESH SEAFOOD FOR EVERYONE
I recently watched an other episode of Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown. It took place in one of my favorite cities in Sicily, Catania.
Take a brief look at the you tube video that shows what he sees in Catania
Angela and I came upon this frenetic splendor in 2008,. We had a small BnB around the corner and walked to the market after breakfast.
Crowded and lively, it is an amazing spectacle.
The market is in full swing by mid morning..
It is not all about fish, the market spill out to the street
Dinner out was a simple antipasti from Via Monte St Agata which we discovered by accident
Trattoria Monte Sant’Agata
Yes we enjoyed the meal. 
Not fine dining,but good food at a veru resonable cost
We always stop at an Ikea store.
A one night stay in Catanioa before we haded over to Cefalu
We found La Canoica on Via Raddusa. What a great little restaurant
Catania night time walks
GOTCHA, again, and again, Italy’s New Way To Collect Traffic Violations
There is nothing like coming home from an Italy trip and receiving a letter, or email saying you screwed up and it is time to pay. In recent years I have not run afoul of the law recently, but last year they got me good. Our trip to Italy took us to Padua and Vicenza both beautiful cities. The FAMOUS ZONA LIMITATO or limited traffic zone is found in many major cities in Italy which have congestions. My first experience was in Rome back in 2009 while returning a rental car and enjoying the sights. I went by the Coliseum and several other location while heading to the airport. Never once did I see any signs saying ZTL.
But the camera saw me. This was no big deal and paid by credit card. 100 Euros is not cheap but this was easy and I was notified soon after returning.
TRAFFIC TICKET PAID BY CREDIT CARD
This year while in Vicenza and Padua I saw one sign and tried to avoid the area. Apparently I did not do it very well. We were in these town in October 2019 and I received my first notification from Hertz/Thrifty on January 28 2020. A bit of time had gone by. I was told there was a violation in both town and I would be notified by the municipalities shortly and be advised how to handle them.
ROME TRAFFIC CAM PHOTO
SOME SIGNS YOU SEE, OTHERS YOU DON’T
A lot to time passed. In fact I was not notified until December 2020 of the amount of the violation and the need to do a wire transfer. International wire transfers are not cheap. These were $45 each for a total of $90. The fines were $139 and $156. Now we are talking about really money, no cheap lira banknotes from old times. The old way was quicker and easier. Certainly it was less expensive
My advice is to be aware of limited traffic areas before you arrive in the cities. I did this successfully in Florence. I most likely will go back to Italy again (now that the fine is paid). I will plan more carefully.. Elven years between violations and It is not the end of the world
DUOMO PADUA, ITALY
DUOMO WITH WATERCOLOR FILTER
VICENZA , ITALY
SALVATOR DALI VICENZA ITALY
MUSEUM OF JEWELRY , VICENZA ITALY
I have not posted much this month, but will continue with posts about our previous nineteen trips to Italy. 2021 has to be a better year. To escape the virus and so some travel we purchased a motor home and this has helped us travel safely.
OUR RV IN APALACHICOLA, FL
ANGELA HEADING UP I95 IN COCA FL
TI AUGURO UN FELICE ANNO NUOVO
I WISH YOU A HAPPY NEW YEAR
Mi Manca La Sicilia I miss Sicily
We understand that this year Italy and our favorite Sicily is out of the question. 2022 will be in our minds while we travel in a Camper Van where we can in the US. Waiting for time to pass
It started in 2001 when we made our third trip to Italy and Sicily. The goal in visiting Sicily was to discover relatives of Angela’s family.
This is where it all began. The park in Melilli,Sicily where Angela’s Family came from My wife knew that this was not a huge town and we might find some people at the park where we could get some information. We spoke only a few words of Italian at the time and now we are straining to get some information. One gentleman referred us to a man named Tommy. He had returned to his home town after retiring from a company in Connecticut ( that is where we are from). He referred us to the Girgenti family and arranged a meeting. We met and managed to communicate with help of Enza who spoke some English and Patrizia who also spoke some. We met Ludivico and his wife and we have kept in touch and visited for almost twenty years. This began our love affair with Sicily.
St. Sebastian Church in Middletown CT was built to have the same appearance as the one in Melilli. Many residents or Melilli moved to Middletown CT over the years.
So much more.Will continue with this post next time Ciao a tutti.
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