Sojourner - Traveling with the “Canman”

Want to experience a confluence of English gardens, Versailles, France, Greco-Roman sculptures found in Rome integrated with Americana?  Then visit  Brookgreen Gardens  in South Carolina. Located 30 minutes south of Myrtle Beach, this immaculately manicured 9000 acre park is spread over what was formerly 4 southern plantations.  These gardens rival the landscapes and sculptures one sees at the locations above offering a delightful sophisticated, cultural experience-all from iconic American sculptors in an outdoor venue I didn’t know existed in the US. My favorite is, "Time and the Fates of Man" that shows the 3 Fates manipulating "thread of life" under the tree of life. Also displays of the finest wood working I have ever seen in sculptures of fowls where each feather is a hair thin slice of wood that is individually painted and attached (blow up the photo). One also is taken back to a time when slave plantations grew half the rice crop of the US with

Reading , “Immortality- The Quest to Live Forever and How it Drives Civilization”.  So apropos for this most recent trip visiting  Rome and the nearby seashore of Pratica di Mare. Every tribe and society from Homo Sapiens inception 200,000 years ago has incorporated at least 1 of 4 narratives attempting to reconcile our mortality. These 4 narratives are; 1) finding an elixir to slow or stop aging, 2) Resurrecting our earthly bodies, 3) An eternal spirit that transcends our corporeal bodies, 4) Preserving a historical legacy. Egyptian culture holds the record incorporating all 4 into an intricate tapestry. The book's author, Stephen Cave, "pulls the thread" on a myriad of details uncovering flaws with each one of these narratives by asking questions I never considered and illuminating what science has found.  For example, if aging and disease are eliminated one scholar estimates the average age (before death by accident) would be 5700 years.  Would certainly make relati

This weekend excursion again reaffirmed the benefits of spontaneous travel and my love of Italiano cultura.  The weekend following Halloween is a national holiday (All Saints Day).  With a 3 day weekend, I decided to set out on a road trip.  I drove to the mountains south of Asti which is part of the Piemonte wine region.  Enroute, I booked a quaint Airbnb (La Maragliana) tucked in the middle of gorgeous vineyards in the breathtaking mountains south of Asti near Castel Rocchero.  My host, Maragliana, set me up for an scrumptious dinner at a local winery (Mirepua al Cascione) and a tartufo (truffle) hunt the next morning.  The soup and pasta dinner smothered with truffles complemented by vino produced on sight was a fantastic precursor to the next day. I awoke to my driver calling my name at my door. Roberto chauffered me from my peaceful getaway to the truffle fields via a mozzafiato (breathtaking) country road that wound thru small villages each with their own ancient castle. Speaki