Montag, 29. Dezember 2008
Sonntag, 28. Dezember 2008
Als das stolze Messina in Truemmern lag Erdbeben vor 100 Jahren
Was Minuten nach dem Erdbeben der Stärke 7,1 folgte, nannte man damals noch nicht Tsunami: Zehn Meter hohe Flutwellen überrollten die bis dahin so zauberhafte Hafenstadt. Mehr als 80 000 Menschen kamen am 28. Dezember 1908 durch Europas folgenschwerste Naturkatastrophe des 20. Jahrhunderts um. Experten befürchten, dass sich das alles wiederholen könnte - womöglich in den nächsten 25 Jahren.
Das gewaltige Beben von 5.20 Uhr in der Meerenge von Messina, dort wo Sizilien und Kalabrien sich am nächsten kommen, machte im Nu tausende Gebäude dem Erdboden gleich - vor allem den Dom in beiden Städten, Basiliken, ganze Palastzeilen und damit das architektonische Erbe vergangener Jahrhunderte. Wer sich aus den Trümmern des Grauens retten konnte, versuchte in Messina zum Hafen zu gelangen, nur um von einer der drei riesigen Monsterwellen mitgerissen zu werden, die acht Minuten nach dem Beben alles unter sich begruben, was nicht niet- und nagelfest war. Wie viele Menschen in einstürzenden Häusern oder durch den Tsunami umkamen, das konnte nie genau gezählt werden.
"Theoretisch kann das durchaus wieder passieren, wir wissen nur nicht, wann", so meint der römische Geologe Andrea Billi. "Das Erdbeben vor 100 Jahren war Teil des sich fortsetzenden Bebenzyklus in der Region, also bedingt durch die Verschiebung Siziliens in nordöstliche Richtung", sagt der römische Geologe Annibale Mottana. Und er warnt: "Wir benötigen daher vorsorgliche Schutzpläne für die Bevölkerung und ihre Umsiedelung in weniger gefährdete Gebiete."
Solche Pläne in Italien umzusetzen, ist jedoch ein nahezu unmögliches Unterfangen. Das zeigten die erfolglosen Bemühungen der Regierung, die in der Nähe des Vesuvs bei Neapel wohnenden Massen mit finanziellen Anreizen dazu zu bewegen, aus der Gefahrenzone des Vulkans wegzuziehen.
Mittwoch, 24. Dezember 2008
Leave the gun, take the cannoli: Italian food shop offers new way to fight Mafia
Of all the ways to fight the Mafia, having pasta for dinner isn't usually one of them. But now, that's exactly what Italians can do to help beat organized crime.
A shop in central Rome is offering an array of ''anti-Mafia'' food -- including pasta, wine, olive oil, chick peas, and tomato sauce -- all produced on land recently seized from the Sicilian Mafia and handed over to farmers.
''We have transformed the fight against the Mafia,'' said Antonio Dell'Olio, an anti-Mafia activist who helps promote the shop's goods. ''I can eat anti-Mafia. Anti-Mafia is in my own life.''
Italian law allows authorities to assign property confiscated from organized crime groups to cooperatives, social workers, and volunteers.
In the Sicilian capital of Palermo, a consortium called Libera Terra, or ''Free Land,'' turned agricultural fields formerly devoted to illegal activities into a profitable and legal business.
The label on the food produced there even advertises ''the lawful taste of Sicily.''....>>
entlang der Route 66 Gallup New Mexico
28.Juni / Maps
Südlich des Reservates der Navajos liegt die Stadt Gallup. Hier findet man ein besonderes Museum, daß sich dem mit kriegsentscheidenden Navajo-Code im zweiten Weltkrieg widmet. Gallup war früher ein wichtiger Zwischenstopp an der legendären US 66. Der Bezirk McKinley, dessen Hauptstadt Gallup ist, wird zu mehr als 70 % von Indianern bewohnt.
Die Stadt selber ist keine besondere Atraktion.
unterwegs mit dem Wohnmobil durch Amerika
Montag, 22. Dezember 2008
Eisiger Winter im Norden der Vereinigten Staaten in Sizilien scheint die Sonne
Schnee zu Weihnachten - in Sizilien traeumen viele von der weißen Pracht. In weiten Teilen der USA haben die Menschen mehr als genug: Schnee, Sturm und Eiseskälte ließen vielerorts den Strom ausfallen und führten zu schweren Autounfällen.
Der Winter hält die nördlichen USA kurz vor Weihnachten fest im Griff. Rund 100.000 Haushalte waren ohne Strom, hunderte Flüge wurden gestrichen oder starteten stark verspätet. Bei Verkehrsunfällen in Folge des Wintereinbruchs kam ein Mann ums Leben, 16 Menschen wurden bei Massenkarambolagen teils schwer verletzt.
Im Pazifikstaat Washington fielen am Wochenende mancherorts bis zu 60 Zentimeter Schnee. In Teilen von Illinois und Iowa hatten am Sonntag mehr als 35.000 Haushalte keinen Strom, die Menschen saßen bei eisigen Temperaturen im Dunkeln. In Indiana war die Stromversorgung für mehr als 70.000 Kunden nach einem Schneesturm vom Donnerstag wegen starker Winde immer noch nicht wiederhergestellt, wie die Energieversorger mitteilten.
Massenkarambolagen mit Verletzten
Bei drei Massenkarambolagen in Michigan und Wisconsin wurden am Sonntag zusammen mehr als 65 Fahrzeuge beschädigt und 16 Menschen leicht verletzt. Der folgenschwerste Unfall ereignete sich auf einer Autobahn zwischen Chicago und Detroit. Dort verkeilten sich bei heftigem Schneetrieben mindestens 30 Fahrzeuge ineinander, ein Mann kam nach Polizeiangaben ums Leben.
In Seattle, wo sonst eher selten mit Schnee zu rechnen ist, fielen nach Angaben des Nationalen Wetterdienstes 13 Zentimeter Schnee. Im Laufe der Nacht zum Montag wurde mit weiteren Schneefällen gerechnet. An den meisten wichtigen US-Flughäfen kam es wegen der extremen Wetterbedingungen zu mehrstündigen Verspätungen.
Am Flughafen in Chicago wurden rund 150 Flüge gestrichen. In New York und Boston hatten Flüge bei der Ankunft bis zu drei Stunden Verspätung, in Houston waren es laut Flughafen sogar fünf Stunden. Das Wetter beeinträchtigte damit auch den Reiseverkehr vor den Weihnachtsfeiertagen. Der Sturm im Nordwesten war bereits die dritte große Kaltfront in den USA innerhalb von zwei Tagen. von ap
Donnerstag, 18. Dezember 2008
Babbo Natale in Slip Terrasini / Palermo
TERRASINI (PALERMO) — Babbo Natale come non l’avete mai visto. In mutande. Da qualche giorno una sua versione in polistirolo, alta tre metri, ha preso possesso della piazza Duomo di Terrasini, Comune a 30 chilometri da Palermo. Santa Clause indossa un paio di slip giganteschi e se ne sta affossato in una sedia a sdraio a prendere il sole. Il sindaco Mimmo Consiglio (Pd) cercava «un’idea originale» in grado di richiamare la vocazione balneare del suo Comune.
Sicuramente quel Babbo Natale è parecchio eccentrico. E le sue cosce, al pari delle componenti anatomiche che stanno in mezzo, sono puntate contro la chiesa Madre, il duomo della città. Un affronto, a parere di alcuni cittadini che, dopo i primi mugugni e le prime lamentele, hanno deciso di riversare il loro disappunto in una petizione da spedire al sindaco per invitarlo a rimuovere la scultura. L’arciprete Raffaele Speciale, tra i firmatari dell´appello, premette che non vuole fare polemica, aggiunge che non ha intenzione di entrare nel merito della scelta artistica, ma sull’o pportunità di installare l’opera ha qualcosa di diverso da dire: «Questo Babbo Natale è fuori luogo per l’abbigliamento che indossa e per la posizione.
Non è un bel messaggio per i bambini». Ma proprio i più piccoli, secondo il sindaco Consiglio, «hanno manifestato grande entusiasmo per questo Santa Clause così diverso da tutti gli altri». D’altra parte, aggiunge il primo cittadino, «volevamo ricordare con ironia che Terrasini è una città balneare. Le critiche le accetto, ma l’opera resterà dov’è fino a conclusione del periodo festivo». Il Babbo Natale in versione «tipo da spiaggia», costato seimila euro, è stato commissionato allo scenografo Cesare Inzerillo, che lo ha realizzato assieme a Marilena Manzella, Sergio Chiovaro e Nicola Sferruzza. «Abbiamo pensato a un Santa Clause che almeno a Terrasini potesse riposarsi — racconta Inzerillo — ma volevamo soprattutto far vedere la carne di Babbo Natale, dimostrare che è umano come tutti noi».
Certo però — è l’osservazione mossa dai mugugnanti — potevano risparmiarsi di lasciarlo in mutande. E invece, secondo Inzerillo, quella è una caratteristica sostanziale dell´opera: «Babbo Natale — conclude lo scenografo che ha lavorato con Ciprì & Maresco — è in mutande anche per la crisi economica internazionale. Mi hanno chiesto di correggere l’opera, di mettergli un paio di pantaloncini: non se ne parla nemmeno. Babbo Natale resta in mutande».
Dienstag, 2. Dezember 2008
von Albuquerque nach Gallup Route 66
28.Juni / Maps
... der Interstate 40 Highway frueher die beruehmte Route 66, fuehrt uns von Albuquerque nach Gallup
auch hier fahren wieder Haushaelften an uns vorbei. Umzug auf amerikanisch.
Campingplätze sind jetzt für uns einfach eine Möglichkeit sicher und ruhig übernachten zu können.
Wir suchen Sie aus mit der Überlegung, wieviele Meilen wir am Tag wohl schaffen. Diesmal bleiben wir im USA Rv Park in Gallup.
american dreamroads
Palermo Sicily - Hubby, 82, takes Viagra, wife calls police
Officers told Sicilian daily Il Giornale di Sicilia that the woman, who is in her 80s, feared that sexual contact with her 82-year-old husband, who had taken Viagra, would cause his heart to give out, ANSA reported Monday.
''So much passion at the age of 82, with all the aches and pains he has, could prove lethal", the woman was quoted as saying to police.
Police said the man was "furious" when they arrived but calmed down after relatives arrived. The officers said they left the situation in the hands of the man's family.
Montag, 1. Dezember 2008
Erice in Sicily, walking .....
Mittwoch, 26. November 2008
five Mafia suspects arrested in Palermo Sicily
The assets seized in the operation, codenamed 'Rebus' by police, include farmland and farm buildings, villas, apartments and businesses in Sicily.
Anti-Mafia investigators believe the assets belong to the Madonias, a prominent Mafia family in Sicily.
The family head, Francesco Madonia, died in March last year.
But his jailed sons, Antonino, Giuseppe and Salvatore, have continued to run the Madonia clan, issuing orders via Di Trapani and exchanging information with the Di Trapani clan, according to investigators.
The three Madonia brothers are all in high-security detention under a supposedly harsh regime for Mafia prisoners that is meant to severely restrict their contact with other prisoners and the outside world.
Palermo's chief prosecutor, Francesco Messineo said on Tuesday the 'Rebus' operation had shown the "inefficency" of the current regime for Mafia detainees.
In a separate swoop on Tuesday, police in the southern Italian city of Crotone arrested 24 people suspected of associating with the Calabrian Mafia or 'Ndrangheta.
The suspects are also accused of illegal possession of arms, extortion, damage to local business people, trafficking of heroin, hashish and marijuana.
Police also confiscated six heavy weapons and ammunition caches as well as an entire marijuana plantation worth 1.2 million euros.
During the probe, investigators uncovered extensive 'Ndrangheta interference in Crotone's local politics and the city's administration.
Investigators revealed 'special' relationships with local politicians and administrators and 'Ndrangheta bosses.
The 'Ndrangheta had also tried to penetrate the potentially lucrative 'Europaradiso' project aimed developing tourism in the region, by bribing local officials, according to investigators.
Located in a nature reserve near Crotone - 'Europaradiso' would be one of the biggest tourist centres in the Mediterranean with 120,000 beds and create work for 4,000 people. The project is now on hold.
A report earlier this year by the Italian Parliament's anti-Mafia commission, likens the 'Ndrangheta to Al-Qaeda because of its tentacle-like structure and lack of hierarchy.
It is characterised by close blood ties and a global reach which was highlighted by the massacre of six young Italian men outside a pizzeria in Duisburg, Germany in August 2007.
Montag, 24. November 2008
Porticello
Olive tree between heaven and earth
To know an olive tree well, it is necessary to go to the southern coast of Sicily, where the strong warm “scirocco” wind, which blows across the sea from Africa, reaches this part of the island first. This warm wind is like a gentle caress which rustles those two-color leaves particular to the olive tree.
Here, as Homer describes, the color of the eyes of Athena are at last revealed. I have always considered the olive tree as a gift from Athena rather than a plant introduced by Mycenaean’s or Phoenicians. If the plant was a gift from a goddess, the olive was a tribute from Aristeo, the son of Apollo, who possessed the know-how. It seems that it was he who passed on this knowledge to our ancestors.
A sacred plant?
It has always been so.
Sacred also for Christians. Olive oil is used for Christenings, Confirmation, Extreme Unction, the ordination of priests, the consecration of altars; Our farmers know it well. Perhaps this is why those fruits are still referred to using terms of endearment in the feminine forms “bianculidda”, “nuciddara”, “carbucia”, “ogghiarola”.
A plant for poets?
“There is an Arab olive tree, big in the middle of the scene with which I resolved everything”.
These were the words of the celebrated author Pirandello who felt, death was near, while compiling “I Giganti della Montagna”. It was not a detail, a simple solution to the scene, instead, according to Leonardo Sciascia, another great Sicilian writer, it was a “...solution to catharsis” which defined and concluded the whole work, his whole life. An Arab olive tree as a symbol of a place, a symbol of his Memory”. Looking in dictionaries and agricultural texts for a definition of the “Arab olive tree”, it is not mentioned, even though it would seem to be perfectly eligible for a place at last in a dictionary. Pirandello, Quasimodo and many other writers from Sicily have mentioned it, compiling accurate descriptions with precise details.
Surely you also would have seen the Arab olive tree. It is the one with the twisted trunk which is almost screwed down on itself, rich in cracks and seems to have suffered torture in the past looking at all its scars. Yet in the books it does not exist. It must be a tree which belongs to a unique botanical species, reserved for poets alone, and to those who saw the moon reside there where there is the renewal of life, peace and fertility. A Greek professor used to say, that the sacred olive tree of the Acropolis governed the path of life and destiny of the Greeks and therefore also ours. Planting an olive tree is an act of faith - of hope and trust in the future considering its slow growth and exceptional long life. “The little olive trees are planted for our children” according to the Tuscans.
It is always a pleasure eating a slice of warm bread drizzled with olive oil; It means eating the old way. The sign of an ancient well-being as dreamed by our ancestors.
Sicily for you, accommodation in Sicily
Samstag, 22. November 2008
Los Campos RV Resort in Santa Fe
der von uns gewaehlte Campingplatz war sehr schoen und man konnte von hier aus bequem mit dem Bus in die Innenstadt von Santa Fe kommen
Ulla und Gino unterwegs in Amerika
New Mexico, Santa Fe Haeuser im Adobe Stil
27.Juni / Maps
...eine Stadt mit einem unverwechselbaren Charakter. Sie ist die Stadt der Künstler und Kunstliebhaber. Das Ambiente der Innenstadt ist einzigartig, da die meisten Gebäude der City im Stil der Pueblos aus Adobe-Ziegeln gebaut wurden. Die Regierung hat eine Auflage erlassen, daß neuzubauende Häuser in der Innenstadt dem architektonischen Stil angeglichen werden müssen. Es gibt sehr viele Galerien, die wunderschöne Kunstobjekte zu sündhaft teuren Preisen verkaufen. Eine faszinierende Stadt mit Geschichte, die man gesehen haben sollte!
Santa Fe (vollständiger Name: "La Villa Real de la Santa Fé de San Francisco de Asís", spanisch für "Königliche Stadt des heiligen Glaubens des heiligen Franz von Assisi") ist die Hauptstadt des US-Bundesstaates New Mexico. Sie liegt im Santa Fe County auf etwa 2.000 Metern Höhe im nördlichen Teil des Landes, nahe der Sangre de Cristo Range mit ihren über 3.000 m aufragenden Bergen. Die meisten der Einwohner sind Hispanics
Bereits im 12. Jahrhundert bestand an der Stelle der heutigen Stadt eine Indianersiedlung. Im 16. Jahrhundert kamen die ersten Spanier. 1610 wurde Santa Fe Sitz des Gouverneurs der Provinz Nuevo Méjico des Vizekönigreiches Neuspanien. Santa Fe ist damit die älteste Hauptstadt in den USA. Die berühmten englischen Pilgerväter mit ihrem Schiff "Mayflower" betraten erst mehr als zehn Jahre später die Ostküste der heutigen USA.
Ab 1820 war Santa Fe das wichtigste Zentrum des Handels mit den Vereinigten Staaten über den Santa Fe Trail.
Aufgrund seiner Geschichte hat Santa Fe mehrere historische Gebäude, darunter das älteste öffentliche Gebäude der USA, der Gouverneurspalast von 1610, und die älteste Kirche der USA, die San-Miguel-Kirche aus dem Jahr
Santa Fe ist heute einer der bedeutendsten Orte der amerikanischen Kunstszene. Etwa 200 Galerien befinden sich in der Stadt. Daneben ist es ein Anziehungspunkt für Besucher aus aller Welt. Bereits Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts haben die Stadtväter erkannt, wie wichtig die Bewahrung und Verschönerung des Stadtbilds für ihre Stadt ist. So wurde es
zur Pflicht gemacht, dass jeder Neubau im traditionellen Pueblo-Baustil zu errichten ist (Adobe-Bauweise). Erhaltene Gebäude und Anlagen wurden geschützt und restauriert. Das Ergebnis ist ein Stadtbild, das mit keiner anderen Stadt dieser Größe in den USA vergleichbar ist. Die Identifikation der Einwohner mit ihrer Stadt und die große Anziehungskraft auf Künstler und Urlauber beruht ganz maßgeblich auf dieser beispielhaft weitsichtigen Stadtplanung.Diese alte Trading Post (angeblich die älteste in Santa Fé in einem echt windschiefen Gebäude) sollte man mal besucht haben. Ein heilloses Durcheinand
er und gedrängelt angeordnete Ware
Dienstag, 18. November 2008
Police hold billion euros belonging to mafia ‘cashier'
ROME - Italian police are holding one billion euros (1.25 billion dollars) of assets belonging to a jailed businessman accused of serving as a ‘cashier’ for the Sicilian Mafia, a statement said Tuesday.
Working on a court order issued in Trapani, northwest Sicily, police Tuesday seized assets worth 700 million euros in addition to 300 million euros already confiscated from supermarket supply baron Giuseppe Grigoli after he was arrested in December 2007, the regional anti-Mafia office said.
The assets are being held as a preventive measure, it said.
Grigoli, accused of criminal association, was thought to act as the ‘cashier’ for fugitive mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro.
Grigoli's name was on one of many scraps of paper known as ‘pizzini,’ used for high-level communication by the mafia, found in the possession of former supremo Bernardo Provenzano, who was arrested in 2006.
Denaro is widely thought to have replaced Provenzano.
Montag, 17. November 2008
Siziliens Hauptstadt hat eine der größten Altstädte Europas
"Money talks", sagt die amerikanische Touristin mit augenzwinkerndem Insidergrinsen. Und macht pragmatisch aus Palermo und der Mafia eine simple Gleichung mit zwei guten Bekannten. Der Führer, der uns durch den Palazzo Mirto des Fürsten Lanza aus dem 18. Jahrhundert führt, zieht kaum merklich den Kopf ein. Als fürchte er, dass es gleich Putz und Stuck regne.
Gerade hat er uns erzählt, dass der Fürst seinen Titel vom Bourbonenkönig gekauft hat, als Sizilien neben Neapel zum "Königreich beider Sizilien" gehörte. Und dass der geräumige Stadtpalast, in dem Luchino Visconti ohne Platzangst seinen großen sizilianischen Endzeitfilm "Der Leopard" hätte unterbringen können, enorm kostspielig in Unterhaltung und modischer Anpassung gewesen sei; man sehe sich nur das Chinesische Zimmer an. Und dass in Palermo weitere Adelssitze, in denen früher filmreife Sommerbälle stattfanden, pittoresk vor sich hingammeln - manche schon, seit Garibaldi 1860 mit dem feudalen Italien aufräumte und die sizilianischen Adeligen ihre Ländereien in der Obhut ihrer Verwalter zurückließen. Dass überhaupt ganz Palermo von skandalösem Siechtum befallen sei. Weil gutes europäisches Geld für die Stadtruine meist zweckentfremdet auf mafiösen Konten landete. Trotzdem stimmt der Spruch der Amerikanerin nicht ganz.
Futtermeile Piazza Marina
Geld spricht in Palermo nämlich nicht, es versickert lautlos und es wird schweigend entrichtet von allen, die ihren Läden in Palermo einen störungsfreien Geschäftsalltag gönnen wollen. Deutet der Führer an, der dann aber nichts mehr sagen mag über jene mörderischen Schutzengel, die Palermo lange zu einer Art Vorhölle gemacht hatten.
Vor der mit Seidentapeten ausgeschlagenen fürstlichen Mottenkiste Palazzo Mirto pulsiert das Leben so, dass man annehmen darf, die siechende Stadt am Mare Tirreno habe sich vom Krankenlager davongestohlen, um nun draußen mit bester Gesundheit zu prahlen.
Ein Beispiel aktueller Selbstheilung liegt gleich um die Ecke. Die Piazza Marina war eine von bröckelnden Fassaden umgebene Müllgrube, bewacht von grotesk ausladenden Würgefeigenästen. Eine Art zu allem entschlossene Bürgerwehr, die Müll und Tod in der Stadt satt hatte, rückte dem Stilleben zu Leibe und schaufelte daraus einen alten Park mit breitem Restaurantsaum, worum sich nun vor allem am Wochenende gestikulierende M
enschentrauben scharen, die mehr oder weniger ungeduldig auf freie Tische warten. Klingelndes Besteck auf Porzellan ist allemal ein gesunder Sound.
Herrliches Chaos
Gasseneinwärts riecht es nach Wäsche, Staub und Knoblauch, wobei letztere Gerüche mit Sisyphus-Anstrengung immer wieder aus den Klamotten herausgewaschen werden, nur damit sie jene bereits während des Trocknens wieder aus der gesättigten Luft saugen.
Die Gassen hängen zwischen Stockwerk eins und fünf voll von dieser anrührenden Beflaggung. Wer das unschuldig fotografieren will, kann schon mal von einem jugendlichen Vespa-Ritter zur Rede gestellt werden, weil man gerade auf sein Bettlaken fokussiert. Für uns schiebt sich zur Rettung ein Trauben-und-Tomaten-Händler ins Bild, der einer Frau zwischen flatternden Handtüchern im Vierten eine 
Korbladung Rohkost fertig packt, die dann als schwankende Vitaminbombe am Seil nach oben ruckelt. Nebendran wird gerade die Straße aufgerissen, beobachtet von der allgegenwärtigen Madonna, die aus ihrem Schrein gütig dem Treiben zuschaut. Noch eine Ecke weiter prangt eine Kreuzwegstation aus Verkehrsschildern, deren Gebote und Pfeile sich herrlich ad absurdum führen. Europäische Verkehrsregeln und Ampeln gibt's noch nicht so lange in Palermo und in den Seitenstraßen wirkt das manchmal wie ein poetischer Schilderstreich von Vorschriften-Anarchos.
Zwei links, zwei rechts, dieses Schlendermuster im rumorenden Gassenverlies Palermos funktioniert ganz wunderbar. Irgendwann weitet sich die familiäre Enge immer wieder zu einem Platz mit Geschichte, Schönheit und berühmten sizilianischen Eiscafés, meist unerwartet und in perfektes Licht getaucht.
Mekka für Kunsthistoriker
Zwischen Via Roma und Via Maqueda stolpern wir hinein in ein Stelldichein klassischer Marmorschönheiten aus Mensch- und Tierreich. Die enorme Fontana Pretoria aus dem 16. Jahrhundert wurde anfangs hin- und hergeschoben, weil sie dem König zu groß, der Bevölkerung zu erotisch war.
Goethe empfand den opulenten Brunnen als "Raserei". Jetzt sprengt dieser die Dimension des Rathausplatzes, eingebettet in Fassadenrenovierungsarbeiten, direkt gegenüber vom Studentenviertel mit seinen Bars und Restaurants.
Auch nebenan, auf der Piazza Bellini, müssen sich harmoniesüchtige Blicke an bauliche Stilblüten und den eigenwillig
en Niederschlag der bewegten Vergangenheit Palermos in sakraler Architektur gewöhnen. Die Kirche La Martorana wurde 1143 von Georg von Antiochia, einem Großadmiral der normannischen Eroberer Siziliens, gestiftet. Der gehörte als orthodoxer Christ zwar zu den siegreichen Kreuzrittern der Normannen, hatte sich aber die Sprache der vertriebenen Araber angeeignet. Diese hatten fast 200 Jahre lang Sizilien von Palermo aus regiert.
Folglich sind arabische Ornamentik, byzantinisch-orthodoxe Kreuzform und der später lateinisch veränderte Grundriss sowie die barocke Außengestaltung eingeflossen. Ein toller Tatort für detektivisch angehauchte Kunstgeschichte-Freaks.
Autor Martin Mueller
Samstag, 15. November 2008
For the Mafia, business is booming
There's no downturn for Italy's four major crime organisations, and if shops and businesses in Naples or Palermo don't pay the 'pizzo', they'll feel the crunch, writes Paddy Agnew in Rome
A FEW YEARS ago, this correspondent paid a visit to the handsome and much visited Sicilian tourist resort of Taormina. Such was the mild, sunny weather on a Sicilian springtime day that we were able to eat a splendid meal, sitting out on the terrace of a little beach restaurant that nestled in a pretty cove just down the hill from Taormina.
Whilst we were paying for our meal, we complimented our waiter on both the food and the location, enquiring if he was the owner or part-owner of the restaurant. Surely, we reasoned, this is a thriving little business. Our interlocutor, a Sicilian, cut us short. He told us that not only was he not the proprietor of the establishment but also that he had no intention or desire to ever become the owner of this or any other Sicilian establishment.
"What would I do that for? You'd be working your ass off only to have the 'lads' [members of the Mafia] turn up every month looking for the 'pizzo' [protection money]. Why should I work for them?"
Our waiter in Taormina has a point. In its annual SOS Impresa report, The Hands Of Organised Crime On Business, Confesercenti, the Italian retailers' confederation, this week suggested that Mafia business is booming. Between them, Italy's four major crime organisations - the Mafia in Sicily, the 'Ndrangheta in Calabria, the Camorra in Campania and the Sacra Corona Unita in Puglia - have a combined turnover of €130 billion, whilst their annual "profits" for the year 2007 were approximately €70 billion. Put it another way, organised crime is Italy's number one business, weighing in at 6 per cent of Italian GDP.
In their report, Confesercenti even draw up a hypothetical annual statement from "Mafia Inc" in which they point out that organised crime's major earnings come from drug trafficking (€59bn), garbage and industrial waste disposal (€16bn), money lending (€12.5bn) and protection rackets (€9bn). On top of that, the arms trade, the trafficking of clandestine immigrants, prostitution rings, agriculture and, of course, public works contracts are all healthy earners for the "lads".
As a retailers' confederation, Confesercenti is obviously preoccupied with the flourishing racketeering business. They reckon that retailers in Italy pay out approximately €250 million daily by way of protection money. They point out too that paying the "pizzo" in cities such as Naples and Palermo simply becomes part of the culture, an everyday reality that comes complete with its own price list, as confirmed by a series of "pay registers" that have been seized over the years during anti-Mafia raids.
In other words, a normal shop in Palermo could be paying up to €500 per month protection, whilst a city-centre, upmarket shop could be paying upwards of €1,000. For a supermarket, the price is higher at €5,000 per month while a Palermo building site could be asked for as much as €10,000 per month.
Traditionally, organised crime uses protection money to look after the families of "lads" currently in prison, with a Mafia wife being paid up to €2,000 while her man serves time. One restaurant owner in Gela, Sicily, tells a revealing little tale. When he asked his "exactor" for a delay on the payment of that month's "pizzo" of €1,500, saying that business had been slow, he received a chilling reply: "What do you think, that all our guys in prison are dead?"
Whilst the request for protection money might be made in an understated way, it remains menacing and inexorable. The various mafia organisations have all got thousands of "lads" on the books and they have all got to be paid their monthly "mesata" (wage). Even here too, Confesercenti estimates salary levels which go from €25,000 for a hired killer to €40,000 per month for a family godfather. "Soldiers" on the ground, such as pushers and the guys who collect the "pizzo", earn up to €2,000 per month.
ORGANISED CRIME, of course, exists in a specific socio-economic context. Whilst the Italian unemployment level for 2007 was 6.1 per cent nationwide, that figure was doubled in the "mezzogiorno" (the south, including Calabria, Campania, Puglia and Sicily) where it registered 12.2 per cent. In parts of those four regions, too, unemployment is actually much higher, for example registering more than 40 per cent in certain zones of Naples. Not for nothing, then, organised crime flourishes in Italy's poorest regions.
In a recent article in the daily newspaper Il Riformista, magistrate and former lower house speaker Luciano Violante tells the story of a Neapolitan grandmother who went to visit her local godfather, taking him a handsome present and asking him to find her grandson a job: "There was a time when you went looking for a job for a boy to keep him out of harm's way. Today, you go looking for a job so that finally the boy will find himself in harm's way, on the only road which in that context can offer him both a role and survival," comments Violante.
If organised crime flourishes in (and indeed greatly contributes to) the relative poverty of certain regions, it has, of course, always relied on an alarming level of infiltration of the judiciary, the police forces, the media and, last but not least, the political class: "While I was on the run, I often met deputy Nicola Cosentino. He told us quite clearly that he was at our service for whatever . . . We had helped the deputy get elected and he was at our service for whatever we wanted to ask him. If we were to ask him for a certain contract, there was no way that he could refuse." The speaker is Dario De Simone, a member of the crime organisation the Camorra, who made the above accusations in a detailed statement to police on September 13th, 1996. In the 12 years since then, four other men, three members of the Camorra and one businessman, have confirmed these accusations, claiming that not only did Cosentino help the Camorra win various contracts in return for electoral support but also that he had carried messages from the imprisoned Camorra boss, Francesco "Sandokan" Schiavone, to his "soldiers" outside.
None of these accusations, however, seem to have done Cosentino much harm since his political star has, in the intervening years, risen and risen and he is now a junior minister at the Italian department of finance. Cosentino has been defended by prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and when his case came up in a parliamentary question last month, the minister for relations with parliament Elio Vito pointed a finger at those media sources (in particular weekly magazine L'Espresso) which had highlighted the case, saying that they had threatened "the credibility of state institutions". In the meantime, however, Neapolitan mafia investigators have opened an enquiry into Cosentino.
The point about Nicola Cosentino is that he comes from Casal di Principe, the little Campania town that is dominated by the Casalesi crime family, a family whose violent activities have received international attention thanks to author Roberto Saviano's bestseller, Gomorrah.
Now a film, Gomorrah won an award at the Cannes film festival last May, and it has been selected to represent Italy in the foreign language film category at next year's Academy Awards in Los Angeles.
Since writing his book, Saviano has lived under constant police protection because of fears that the Camorra would try to kill him. Media reports last month claimed that a supergrass had told his police contacts that the Camorra intended to kill Saviano by the end of this year, prompting an international show of solidarity for the Neapolitan writer led by public figures such as Nobel Prize winner Mikhail Gorbachev, writers Günter Grass and Ian McEwan and film directors Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee.
In the meantime, as it tries to reassert control, the Casalesi family is believed to be behind a campaign of terror and intimidation that resulted in the killing in September of six African immigrants in the Campania town of Castel Volturno. Investigators believe that the Africans, who may well have been small-time drug pushers, were killed because they had moved onto Casalesi "territory" without either "permission" or paying their dues.
It was partly as a memorial to those six immigrants and partly as an expression of solidarity with Roberto Saviano that legendary black South African singer Miriam Makeba agreed to sing at a concert in Castel Volturno last Sunday night. It was, sadly, to be her last concert because she died shortly after being taken ill on stage.
It would be nice to think that the concert and Miriam Makeba's insistence on singing there will change something. Nice but by no means guaranteed. Last Saturday, as workmen were putting up the stage on which Makeba was due to sing, "unknown persons" walked onto the concert site and arrogantly asked the workmen to pay the "pizzo". It may have been an anti-Mafia event, but the "lads" still wanted their cut. For the Mafia, business is business. Quelle; Irishtimes
Freitag, 7. November 2008
Cadillac Ranch Amarillo Big Texan Steak Ranch
Die Cadillac Ranch war ein Kunstwerk in Texas, das 1974 von Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez und Doug Michels errichtet wurde. 10 Cadillacs der Baujahre 1948 - 1964wurden mit dem vorderen Teil in den Boden gerammt.
Gesponsert wurde die Cadillac Ranch von dem Helium-Millionär und Prärie-Mäzen Stanley Marsh 3, welcher der Künstlergruppe Ant Farm aus San Francisco ein Grundstück neben der Interstate 40, westlich von Amarillo zur Verfügung stellte. Einer der Künstler bezeichnete die Skulptur als "weißen Schrottraum", aber zumindest die Bezeichnung "weiß" ist mittlerweile unzutreffend: Über die Jahre haben Touristenscharen selbst Hand an das Werk gelegt, die Autos besprüht und zerkratzt. Stanley Marsh meint, die Cadillac Ranch symbolisiere "die große Flucht, die Freiheit der Wahl, die Möglichkeit, einfach abzuhauen."
Da die Interstate 40 an dieser Stelle 1984 die legendäre Route 66 ersetzt hat, findet die Ranch auch oft in deren Zusammenhang Erwähnung.
Leider ist jeder, der diese Cadillac Ranch besucht mit einer Spayflasche bewaffnet, um seine eigene Creazionen auszuleben und man sieht wirklich nichts mehr von der urspruenglichen Kunst. Schade...
Ulla und Gino unterwegs in Amerika
Samstag, 1. November 2008
Palo Duro Canyon der Grand Canyon of Texas
25.Juni / Maps
Der “Grand Canyon of Texas” ist der zweitgrößte Canyon der Vereinigten Staaten – 194 km lang, 32 km breit und 243 m tief. Schon vor 12.000 Jahren diente die gigantische Schlucht den Indianern als Jagdgrund. Auch der spanische Eroberer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado machte 1541 auf seiner Expedition mit dem Canyon Bekanntschaft.
1874 war Palo Duro Schauplatz zweier Schlachten zwischen den Truppen der US-Armee und den Indianern, die daraufhin aus dem Gebiet vertrieben wurden. Bereits zwei Jahre später ließ der texanische Ranching-Pionier Charles Goodnight hier seine Rinder grasen. 1933 wurde das seinerzeit in Privatbesitz befindliche Gebiet dem Staat übergeben und im darauf folgenden Jahr als Park der Öffentlichkeit zugänglich gemacht.
Der Name Palo Duro kommt aus dem Spanischen und bedeutet “hartes Holz”. Der Canyons besticht durch farbige Felsschichten und Steinpfähle (“Hoodoos”), die im Laufe der Zeit von Wind und Wasser geformt wurden. Juniper- und Mesquitebäume säumen die Wände der Schlucht. Im Jahre 2002 wurde der Park um weitere 814 Hektar Land erweitert.
Der Palo Duro ist mit dem Auto befahrbar: Durch den Park führt ein 16 Meilen langer “Scenic Drive”, der sechsmal den Red River kreuzt, der diesen gewaltigen Canyon einst geschaffen hat. Doch gibt es auch abseits der asphaltierten Strecke zahlreiche Wege, um das Innere dieser beeindruckenden Landschaft zu erkunden. Die meisten Trails führen zu dem berühmten “Lighthouse”, einer 22 m hoch aufragenden Felsformation.
Der Park ist ganzjährig geöffnet und offeriert ein breites Angebot an Outdooraktivitäten, wie Wandern, Angeln, Mountainbiken und Reiten (Pferdeverleih im Park). Zur Übernachtung stehen mehrere Campingplätze zur Verfügung. Grundsätzlich sollten Besucher ihre Aktivitäten zu früh wie möglich beginnen, besonders zwischen Mai und September. In dieser Zeit wird es tagsüber im Canyon sehr heiß. An den Sommerabenden ist das Pioneer Amphitheater Schauplatz des Musical-Dramas “Texas”. Vor der spektakulären Kulisse des Canyons wird die Geschichte des Panhandle aufgeführt.
Der Weg fuehrte uns durch den State Park des Palo Duro Canyons und wir haben eine Vorgeschmack bekommen auf den Grand Canyon. Wir haben hier allerdings nicht uebernachtet sondern sind weiter gefahren nach Amarillo
Amerika im Wohnmobil, 180 Tage quer durch die Vereinigten Staaten
Wooden Spoke Guest Ranch in Snyder Texas
23.Juni / Maps
Campen auf der Ranch,
Mittwoch, 22. Oktober 2008
Buffalo Gap Historic Village
23.Juni / Maps
von Fredericksburg geht es weiter Richtung Amarillo
vorbei am Historic Village von Buffalo Gap
..durch die Beschreibung im Reisefuehrers hatten wir erwartet, einen historischen Ort vorzufinden, in dem man das Leben der Leute zur damaligen Zeit darstellt. Wir haben einen ziemlich grossen Umweg gemacht, um hierher zu finden und waren enttaeuscht, nur einige zusammengetragene Stuecke Altertum vorzufinden. Es war den Umweg nicht wert
Buffalo Gap Historic Village is a large museum of fifteen outdoor structures and West Texas artifacts that reach back to the late 19th century and the early 20th century located in the small town of Buffalo Gap south of Abilene, Texas. The museum focuses particularly upon the years 1883, 1905, and 1925. The village is centered on the original Old Taylor County Courthouse and Jail from 1879. Several entire buildings have been moved to the village from other parts of the state for display, including an early Texaco gasoline station.[2] The Old Taylor County Courthouse and Jail building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.Other buildings include pioneer log cabins, a medical display, a barbershop, railroad depot with working telegraph system, blacksmith shop, two-room school, bank, post office, and air-conditioned chapel. Additionally, there is a large collection of firearms, Indian, and farm/ranch-related material, all displayed informally. The gift shop has an assortment of books and Texas gifts. A short video on the history of the region is presented in the visitors center. Picnicking facilities and playground equipment are available.
The village originated as an historic site in 1956. Three years later, Ernie Wilson, a lawyer and historian, rancher, and churchman, purchased the courthouse building and established a small museum of Indian and Western artifacts. Wilson also procured two other Taylor County structures, the Hill House and the Knight/Sayles Cabin. All are incorporated in the Buffalo Gap Village. Wilson died in 1970, and the site was purchased in 1977 by R. Lee Rode, M.D., and his wife, Ann. The Rodes expanded the site by acquiring more regional historic structures. When Rode retired from medicine, he offered the village for sale. Through the efforts of the Taylor County Historical Foundation, the village was maintained intact and acquired by the Grady McWhiney Research Foundation. It is operated as a non-profit educational facility. The village charges a small admission fee.
Since 1999, the McWhiney Foundation has developed an interpretive theme for the site. Visitors can learn the history of the last half century of the Texas frontier between 1875 and 1925. They can obtain an understanding of the forces, such as the automobile, that brought change to the region. The village offers special events and lectures. A short book, The Texas You Expect: The Story of Buffalo Gap Historic Village, is now in publication.
Buffalo Gap Village offers the public access to the Chautauqua Learning Series. These are monthly lectures based on the Chautauqua movement which spread throughout the rural United States at the turn of the 20th century. Speakers on the circuit included the entertainer Charles Ross Taggart and the three-time Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan. A sample lecture is entitled "Victorian Underpinnings: Why Did They Wear That?" about heavy women's clothing in the 19th century.
Buffalo Gap also hosts musical events, including the annual Bluegrass Festival.
The community is four miles northeast of Lake Abilene and the Abilene State Park. Less than ten miles away is the new state-of-the art Frontier Texas! museum in downtown Abilene, which features narration by the former Gunsmoke star Buck Taylor. Lake Kirby within Abilene offers fishing and picknickin. Quelle:Wikipedia
Sonntag, 19. Oktober 2008
Fredericksburg in Texas, Biergarten Bratwurst und Sauerkraut
22.Juni / Maps
man sagt eine sehr deutsche Stadt im Herzen von Texas mit Biergaerten, einer Brauerei und Speisen, wie Bratwurst und Sauerkraut, wobei der Anblick der Stadt doch sehr wenig mit deutschen Staedten zu tun hat, eins ist aber wohl noch sehr deutsch, um 18 Uhr haben alle Geschaefte, die meisten davon sowieso nur Andenkenlaeden, geschlossen
Fredericksburg, the county seat of Gillespie County, is seventy miles west of Austin in the central part of the county. The town was one of a projected series of German settlements from the Texas coast to the land north of the Llano River, originally the ultimate destination of the German immigrants sent to Texas by the Adelsverein. In August 1845 John O. Meusebach left New Braunfels with a surveying party to select a site for a second settlement en route to the Fisher-Miller Land Grant. He eventually chose a tract of land sixty miles northwest of New Braunfels, where two streams met four miles above the Pedernales River; the streams were later named Barons Creek, in Meusebach's honor, and Town Creek. Meusebach was impressed by the abundance of water, stone, and timber and upon his return to New Braunfels arranged to buy 10,000 acres on credit. The first wagontrain of 120 settlers arrived from New Braunfels on May 8, 1846, after a sixteen-day journey, 
accompanied by an eight-man military escort provided by the Adelsverein. Surveyor Hermann Wilke laid out the town, which Meusebach named Fredericksburg after Prince Frederick of Prussia, an influential member of the Adelsverein. Each settler received one town lot and ten acres of farmland nearby. The town was laid out like the German villages along the Rhine, from which many of the colonists had come, with one long, wide main street roughly paralleling Town Creek. The earliest houses in Fredericksburg were built simply, of post oak logs stuck upright in the ground. These were soon replaced by Fachwerk houses, built of upright timbers with the spaces between filled with rocks and then plastered or whitewashed over.
The colonists planted corn, built storehouses to protect their provisions and trade goods, and prepared for the arrival of more immigrant trains, which came throughout the summer. Within two years Fredericksburg had grown into a thriving town of almost 1,000, despite an epidemic that spread from Indianola and New Braunfels and killed between 100 and 150 residents in the summer and fall of 1846. The first two years also saw the opening of a wagon road between Fredericksburg and Austin; the signing of the Meusebach-Comanche Treaty, which effectively eliminated the threat of Indian attack; the opening of the first privately owned store, by J. L. Ransleben; the construction of the Vereins-Kirche, which served for fifty years as a church, school, fortress, and meeting hall; the formal organization of Gillespie County by the Texas legislature, which made Fredericksburg the county seat; the founding of Zodiac, a nearby settlement, by a group of Mormons under Lyman Wight; the construction of the Nimitz Hotel; and the establishment by the United States Army of Fort Martin Scott, which became an important market for the merchants and laborers of Fredericksburg, two miles east of town. After the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1849, Fredericksburg also benefited from its situation as the last town before El Paso on the Emigrant or Upper El Paso Road.
Religion played an important part in the lives of the German settlers of Gillespie County. Devout farmers drove as much as twenty miles into town for religious services and built Fredericksburg's characteristic Sunday houses for use on weekends and religious holidays. Though most of the original colonists were members of the Evangelical Protestant Church, there were also Lutherans, Methodists, and Catholics. Initially, all communions held services in the Vereins-Kirche, but in 1848 the Catholics built their own church, which was supplanted in 1860 by the Marienkirche (old St. Mary's Church). Also in 1848 the German missionary Father Menzel erected a large wooden cross on Cross Mountain just north of Fredericksburg. The Methodists withdrew from the Vereins-Kirche around the same time, and another group left the Evangelical Protestants in 1852 and formed Zion's Evangelical Lutheran Church under Rev. Philip F. Zizelman. Their church building, completed the following year, was the first Lutheran church in the Hill Country.
The German settlers were also passionate believers in the importance of education. The first school in Fredericksburg was established under Johann Leyendecker, in whose home Catholic services were held immediately after the town's founding. Leyendecker was succeeded as teacher a year later by Jacob Brodbeck, who was in turn succeeded by Rev. Gottlieb Burchard Dangers. In 1852 Heinrich Ochs replaced Dangers; Ochs remained an important figure in the community until his death in 1897. The first public school, with August Siemering as teacher, and the first official Catholic school in Fredericksburg were established in 1856.
Fredericksburg, like many of the German communities in south central Texas, generally supported the Union in the Civil War. Still, despite widespread opposition to slavery and secessionq on philosophical grounds, a number of Fredericksburg residents supported the Confederacy. Charles H. Nimitz organized the Gillespie Rifles for the Confederate Army and was later appointed enrolling officer for the frontier district. The Fredericksburg Southern Aid Society subscribed more than $5,000 in food and clothing for Confederate soldiers in 1861. In general, however, the people of Fredericksburg and Gillespie County suffered under Confederate martial law, imposed in 1862, and from the depredations of such outlaws as James P. Waldrip. Waldrip, the leader of a notorious gang, was shot by an unknown assassin beneath a live oak tree outside the Nimitz Hotel in 1867.
The bitter experience of the Civil War strengthened the traditional German determination not to get involved in state and national affairs. The Germans tried to maintain their independence by steadfastly refusing to learn or use English. The first newspaper in the county was the German-language Fredericksburg Wochenblatt, established in 1877, and a teamster who drove freight from Austin to Fredericksburg in the 1880s claimed that the local sheriff, who spoke German and broken English, was the only person in Fredericksburg who could act as an interpreter for him. The most authoritative history of early Fredericksburg was Fest-Ausgabe zum fuenfzig-jaehrigen Jubilaeum der deutschen Kolonie Friedrichsburg, written by Robert G. Penniger for the town's fiftieth-anniversary celebration in 1896. Not until after 1900 were the first purely English-speaking teachers employed in Fredericksburg's public schools.
As the town grew in size and importance, however, its self-imposed isolation was beginning to break down. The first Gillespie County Fair was held in 1881 at Fort Martin Scott and moved to Fredericksburg in 1889. The fair, celebrated as the first in Texas, soon attracted relatively large numbers of visitors to Fredericksburg. The town got its first electric-light company in 1896 and its first ice factory in 1907; by 1904 the estimated population had risen to 1,632. Another factor in Fredericksburg's decreasing insularity was the construction of the San Antonio, Fredericksburg and Northern Railway, the first train of which rolled into Fredericksburg on November 17, 1913, and was greeted with a three-day celebration. The railroad was reorganized as the Fredericksburg and Northern in 1917 and remained in operation until July 25, 1942, when it died, a victim of improved roads and automobiles.
By World War I a number of residents of Fredericksburg considered Penniger's editorial newspaper too pro-German. Another symbol of change was the spring 1928 vote to incorporate, a move the people of Fredericksburg had resisted for eighty-two years because they preferred to use the county as the unit of local government: why, they reasoned, pay two sets of public officials when one would suffice? At the time of the vote Fredericksburg was the largest unincorporated town in the United States, and the increasing size and complexity of both the town and the county made a change necessary. The 1930 United States census, the first in which Fredericksburg was included, gave the town's population as 2,416. Thereafter the population grew slowly but steadily, reaching 3,544 in 1940, 3,847 in 1950, 4,629 in 1960, 5,326 in 1970, and 6,412 in 1980. As Fredericksburg grew it became the principal manufacturing center of Gillespie County. At various times it has had a furniture factory, a cement plant, a poultry-dressing plant, granite and limestone quarries, a mattress factory, a peanut-oil plant, a sewing factory, a metal and iron works, and a tannery. As early as 1930, however, the town was also becoming known as a resort center, with a tourist camp and hunting and fishing opportunities; a significant part of the town's economy continues to depend upon its ability to attract the tourist trade. One of the organizations that has helped make Fredericksburg an important tourist center is the Gillespie County Historical Society, founded in 1934 to preserve local history and traditions. Its immediate goal was the completion, with the help of the Civil Works Administration, of a replica of the Vereins-Kirche, which had been torn down in 1897. When it was completed in 1936 for the Texas Centennial celebration, the structure became the home of the Pioneer Museum. After the museum was moved in 1955 the new Vereins-Kirche became the home of the Gillespie County archives. Another local structure of some historical significance is the Admiral Nimitz Center in the old Nimitz Hotel, commemorating native son Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, a hero of World War II.
In the 1980s Fredericksburg had thirty-eight restaurants, thirteen motels, a resort farm, a campground, three art galleries, and twenty antique stores. In addition, the town was the site of a number of annual events, many of which recall Fredericksburg's German pioneer past, which attracted visitors from throughout the state. Among these events were the Wild Game Dinner (for men only) in March and the Damenfest (for women only) in October, both of which benefit the Fredericksburg Heritage Foundation; the Easter Fires Pageant; the Founders Day 
wir sind mit unserem Camper etwas ausserhalb auf den Lady Bird Johnson RV Park gefahren, sauber, fuer Passport America Inhaber auch sehr guenstig. Wie Ihr auf unserem Photo sehen koennt, haben wir unsere Kraeuter um italienisch zu kochen immer dabei.
Ulla und Gino unterwegs in Amerika, reisen mit dem Wohnmobil
Mittwoch, 15. Oktober 2008
San Antonio in Texas, the Alamo, Riverwalk
2o. Juni / Maps
San Antonio ist eine Stadt im US-amerikanischen Bundesstaat Texas und liegt am gleichnamigen Fluss. Es ist County Seat des Bexar County.
Mit 1.256.000 Einwohnern ist San Antonio die siebtgrößte Stadt in den USA und nach Houston die zweitgrößte Stadt in Texas. Der wirtschaftlichen Bedeutung nach liegt San Antonio im Staat Texas an dritter Stelle, hinter Houston und dem Ballungsgebiet Dallas-Fort Worth.
Die kulturelle Vielfalt der Stadt ist von spanischen, mexikanischen, angloamerikanischen und deutschen Einflüssen geprägt.
International bekannt ist die Stadt San Antonio durch ihre Basketball-Mannschaft, die San Antonio Spurs, durch das Fort Alamo, sowie den River Walk.
San Antonio ist die älteste Stadt in Texas. Das Gebiet wurde 1691 erstmals von einer spanischen Vorhut erkundet. Der Name geht zurück auf den Heiligen Antonius von Padua, an dessen Gedanktag die Missionare in der Gegend haltgemacht hatten. 1718 bauten die Franziskaner die Missionsstation San António de Valero erbaut wurde, jenes Gebäude, das heute gemeinhin als das Alamo bekannt ist. Bei einem Militärstützpunkt zum Schutz der Missionare wurde 1735 die Siedlung San Antonio de Béxar gegründet, von der die heutige Stadt abstammt.
Die Stadt war zunächst Teil der spanischen Besitzungen und dann derer von Mexiko. San Antonio wurde am 9. Dezember 1835 von Truppen der bald daraufhin ausgerufenen Republik Texas im Aufstand gegen das mexikanische Regime von Antonio López de Santa Anna erobert.
Sehenswert sind die fünf spanischen Missionen, einschließlich der Mission San António de Valero (1718 gegründet). Sie wurde 1793 in ein Fort umgewandelt, das Alamo (spanisch: „Pappel”) genannt wurde. Ebenso zu besichtigen ist der 1722 erbaute spanische Gouverneurspalast. Weiterhin von Bedeutung sind die San-Fernando-Kathedrale (1873 fertiggestellt), der historische King William District (König-Wilhelm-Viertel), ein von deutschen Kaufleuten im späten 19. Jahrhundert besiedeltes Wohngebiet zu Ehren von König Wilhelm I. von Preußen (dem späteren Kaiser Wilhelm I.) benannt, sowie der 228,6 Meter hohe „Tower of the Americas”. Weiters der River Walk -- eine durchs Stadtzentrum führende Flusspromenade entlang des San Antonio River, im Kern gute fünf Kilometer lang, gesäumt von reifer subtropischer Vegetation, Cafés und Boutiquen. Der Bau der Promenade geht auf die 1920er und 30er Jahre zurück, zuerst aus Gründen der Flussregulierung, dann zur Zeit der Weltwirtschaftskrise zum Zweck der Verschönerung sowie gleichzeitig als Arbeitsbeschaffungsmaßnahme (unter der Schirmherrschaft der Works Progress Administration). Quelle:Wikipedia
Ulla und Gino unterwegs in Amerika
Freitag, 10. Oktober 2008
Sounds of Volcanic Eruption
The study, detailed in the Oct. 10 issue of the journal Science, could help geologists make better forecasts of volcanic eruptions.
Volcanic eruptions aren't just the lava, ash and other material that spews out of the volcano's mouth; they're also seismic events that shake the ground, just like an earthquake. And this shaking isn't the only seismic event that the eruption creates.
The other kind of seismicity associated with the volcano occurs after the initial shaking, but before the eruption, "when you have fluids and gases moving through the edifice and cracks and fault zones [and] you get this characteristic ringing and a resonance," said study team member Philip Benson of the University College London.
These so-called "low frequency events" are below the range of human hearing, but are detectable by instruments. Because they occur before the actual eruption, they could help predict when a volcano is about to blow.
Geologists have suspected that these low frequency events were created by the fluids interacting with damage zones in the rocks.
"But no one's actually seen these damage zones," Benson told LiveScience.
Scaling down
Benson and his colleagues set out to simulate these events and test theories with a scaled-down experiment in the lab using cylindrical rock cores drilled from Sicily's Mt. Etna.
The rock samples were placed in a chamber that was pressurized to simulate being buried at a depth of 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) underground. A piston is used to fracture the rock, to mimic a volcanic tremor.
"The first stage is to create a fault in the sample, and a damage zone," Benson explained. The next step is to decompress the sample.
"The pressure release stimulates rapid fluid movement," Benson said.
The fluid movement produced acoustic emissions just as it would in a real eruption, "but in the laboratory, because we're scaling down the whole process, the frequencies go up, and now it's above human hearing range," Benson explained. "But the physical mechanism responsible for these effects is the same."
Benson's team could then take samples of the rock cores, slice them up, and look at them in a microscope and "pick out the exact spot where these low frequency events occur," Benson said. The team was able to find the undulations and cracks that various theories predicted would be in the rock.
"So this is going to just simply improve our understanding of exactly how these processes occur," and will help volcano forecasters sharpen their forecasting models, Benson said.
Recreated By Andrea Thompson, Senior Writer
Volcano Quiz, Part 1
Natural Disasters: Top 10 U.S. Threats
Images: Wild Volcanoes
Montag, 6. Oktober 2008
Blue Ridge Parkway Besucherpass
Blue Ridge Parkway
Neuer Besucherpass
Für die Touristenroute Blue Ridge Parkway im US-Bundesstaat North Carolina gibt es jetzt einen Besucherpass. Er bietet freien oder ermäßigten Eintritt zu 29 Attraktionen entlang der Strecke, teilt das Fremdenverkehrsamt von North Carolina mit. Dazu gehören unter anderem 
Der insgesamt gut 750 Kilometer lange "Blue Ridge Parkway" gilt als eine der abwechslungsreichsten Autorouten im Osten der USA und wird jährlich von etwa zehn Millionen Touristen besucht. Auch neue Informationsangebote für Urlauber stellt North Carolina bereit. Im Internet lässt sich eine neue Broschüre zum Bundesstaat in deutscher Sprache jetzt kostenlos herunterladen.
den Blue Ridge Parkway sollte man nicht unbedingt im April besuchen >>>
Mittwoch, 1. Oktober 2008
TAUCHEN IN SIZILIEN, diving in Sicily
Giftige Skorpionfische, riesige Zackenbarsche, majestätische Wracks: Trotz seiner eindrucksvollen Unterwasserwelt ist Sizilien für Taucher bislang allenfalls ein Geheimtipp. Die schönste Schiffsruine liegt so tief, dass Anfänger am Strand bleiben müssen.
Nur müde spritzt die Gischt am Bug des acht Meter langen Bootes empor. Es ist ein heißer und windstiller Tag, das Mittelmeer liegt träge und glitzernd dar, als hätte es jemand mit Öl überzogen. Sechs Männer sitzen auf den Holzbänken im Schatten des Sonnensegels, ihre Tauchausrüstung fest mit der Reling verzurrt. >>>> weiter
eine sehr gute Tauchschule befindet sich hier vor Ort in Terrasini
Ferienwohnung in Terrasini
Dienstag, 30. September 2008
der Weg nach San Antonio TX
19. Juni / Maps
wir ziehen weiter und andere auch
Umziehen auf amerikanisch, man nimmt gleich das ganze Haus mit
dagegen ist unser mobiles Heim ja richtig niedlich
Wir wollen uns San Antonio anschauen und haben einen Campingplatz ausserhalb der Stadt gefunden.
Travellers World RV Park San Antonio, ein sehr angenehmer Platz, nur zu empfehlen. Vor allem auch guenstig wenn man Mitglied bei Passport America ist.
Reisen und erleben unterwegs in Amerika
mehr Bilder
Freitag, 26. September 2008
von Galveston Nach Surfside Beach in Texas
der Weg von Galveston nach Surfside Beach ist war sehr eintoenig und das Wetter unterstrich die Eintoenigkeit noch
Donnerstag, 18. September 2008
Aglio rosso di Nubia near Trapani in Sicily
.... The garlic is one of the most famous Sicilian vegetable and the best known for its healty properties, which are appreciated and widely used both in cooking and in traditional medicine since ancient times.
This vegetable is very rich in protein, vitamin C and potassium. Its healty properties lower the blood pressure naturally and considerably.
It is also a good antiseptic for the respiratory and the digestive system thanks to its typical smell and taste.
Most of these properties are only in raw product, whose taste is very strong. The garlic is widely used in cooking.
In effect, the garlic is one of the most important ingredients of the Sicilian gastronomy, whose fragrances and tastes are generally strong. So that it appears rich of aromatic and delicious dishes.
Garlic can be founded in entire bulbs, in dust or in grains, in cloves and in paste, potted or tubed.
However it is better to buy the entire bulb and use its cloves after taking the pod off. They can be cooked entire, crushed in a mortar or garlic press or minced thinly.
discover Sicily, accommodation in Terrasini, Ferienwohnung in Terrasini
Galveston nach Ike
wir sind einfach nur traurig und entsetzt so etwas zu sehen
Ulla und Gino unterwegs im Wohnmobil in Amerika
wir sind so froh wieder in Sizilien zu sein
Montag, 15. September 2008
Memories of Galveston 15.6.2007
15. Juni / Maps
Amerika im Wohnmobil
.. vor genau 15 Monaten waren wir hier in Galveston auf unserer Reise 180 Tage durch Nordamerika
Hurrikan "Ike" hat alles vernichtet
es ist schrecklich daran zu denken
Ulla und Gino unterwegs in Amerika
mehr Bilder
Sonntag, 14. September 2008
On Sicily's Salt Road, an ancient art stands the test of time
Sicilians along the island's smooth western shore, blessed with saline water and hot windy summers, found themselves sitting on an almost priceless resource. They refined the technique of raking salt out of evaporated seawater, transforming the coast into a vast salt factory dotted with ponds, sluices, and nearly priceless white mounds.
Two thousand years later, salt costs a dollar a can in every supermarket in the world, and Sicily's biggest export for the past half-century has been its people. Modernity has created deep contradictions here: Tourists flock to extraordinary Greek ruins and the terraced four-star hotels of the east coast. There's a ski resort on volcanic, 11,000-foot Mount Etna. Behind that facade, the island remains a network of farms and poor villages struggling to lift itself from its corrupt feudal past.
But I had also heard that on the remote west coast there were still wide , shallow pools of seawater, and still a handful of people who spent Sicily's excruciating summer months raking evaporated slush into mounds of white crystals. It sounded so pointless, so labor-intensive, so Italian. Of course, I had to see it.
We were going to Sicily in any event. My wife studies ancient art, and we had mapped out a two-week trip around the island to see the remnants of Greek and Roman rule. The salt would require a modest little detour to the coastal city of Trapani, the unofficial capital of the salt industry.
It was March , well before the tourist season. To the east, resort hotels were just starting to unfurl their awnings. In the mountainous heart of the island, stiff winds were kicking up squalls of snow. Airport posters always make Sicily look like the Costa Brava, a playland of golden vineyards and beach umbrellas, but not this time of year. I stuffed my bathing suit into the bottom of my suitcase and bought a pair of thick felt pants.
We rented a white Fiat with a trunk that barely closed over our bags and headed west, away from the capital Palermo and the big resorts. I had been warned about the terrors of driving in Sicily, but we floated almost calmly across its broad ribbon highways, cutting through green hills speckled with the island's ubiquitous half-built concrete apartments. We laughed about our car's tiny engine and its tiny name -- "Punto," the Dot -- until we started noticing other Fiat Puntos passing us at 120 miles an hour, straight into oncoming traffic. Far sooner than we expected, maybe an hour from the airport, we found ourselves approaching the salt coast. continue>>>
