P. Buckley Moss e-newsletter

Dear Friends:

I’m back home in Mathews, Virginia, and the grass was long!

After last week’s newsletter, our trip continued in Corfu, Greece; Dubrovnik, Croatia; and finally Venice, Italy. We all had such a fun time together—family and collector friends. Even though there truly is no place like home, we were all a little sad when our happy adventure together ended. Oh! What memories we have, though!

All members of the P. Buckley Moss Society dressed in white for our group photo. Missing from this picture are David and Phyllis Arthur.

We had two formal dinner evenings onboard the ship, and this was our second one. This time, David and Phyllis Arthur are in the picture! We also celebrated my granddaughter Michela Ghezzi’s birthday this evening.

For our formal evening, some of the men dressed up in bowties and tuxedos. What a wonderful group of handsome men! I was so flattered, because I know some of them (Randy) don’t like to dress formally. L. to R.: Dick Binnig, Don Morris, me, Randy Myers, Walter Cubit, and Ronald Kingen.

Corfu is a Greek island that is known for its history of battles and conquests, and many castles still occupy strategic locations on the island today. From medieval times and into the 17th century, the island was recognized as a bulwark of the European States against the Ottoman Empire and became one of the most fortified places in Europe.

This castle, or fortress, dates to the medieval period, and is known simply at the “Old Castle”.

The “New Castle”, although quite old, is newer than the “Old Castle” (see photo above).

I had never been to Dubrovnik, Croatia, before, and it is absolutely beautiful! The Old Town has marble streets that are done better than any bathroom I’ve ever seen. The water is gorgeous, and the people are lovely. From Dubrovnik, some of us took a bus ride to the Village of Ston, which is famous for its great stone wall (second longest after the Great Wall of China). The wall was built to protect Ston’s salt flats back when salt was more precious than gold.

The Village of Ston’s great wall, second only to China’s.

Dubrovnik, Croatia.

This gate structure is part of the wall that surrounds Dubrovnik. The statue represents Sveti Vlaho, or Saint Blaise, the patron saint of Dubrovnik.

This is the world’s oldest working pharmacy, located in the Old Town portion of Dubrovnik near the 14th century Franciscan Monastery.

Our ship pulled into port at Venice, Italy, Saturday morning. I’m pleased to report that Venice doesn’t smell any worse in the summer than it does in the fall and winter. My daughter Becky and I went to the International Art Show and were in and out of the pavilions. Some were air conditioned and some weren’t. It was very hot and humid, and I felt like I was in either Virginia or Florida. My family all met at a lovely restaurant called Trattoria Dona Onesta and had lunch together. It’s the same restaurant where my daughter Mary celebrated a milestone birthday a few years ago. Mary and my son Chris and their families went on a gondola tour of the city. Their two gondolas rode side by side, and the gondoliers told them the history of the entire city. They said it was a great tour.

This was our view coming into port Saturday morning, with lots of fog.

This picture was taken from the shuttle leaving the ship.

Gondolas and their gondoliers are synonymous with Venice.

This picture was taken from St. Mark’s Square. The winged lion is the symbol of St. Mark, the patron saint of Venice, and it is also the city’s logo.

Some of the group from Iowa went to Cortona after Venice. I wish I could have gone with them, but my easel was calling!

Sitting on the steps of the Commune in Cortona are, left to right, Iowans: Linda Buckrop, Sandy Moore, and Sharon & Walter Cubit.

We are all thinking of our friend Bev Mann, whose husband Richard passed away on Friday. Bev is a member of the Society’s Moss on the James Chapter and a past president of the chapter. She and her family are in our prayers.

Love,
Pat

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