Welcome home.  Its always bittersweet after returning from an epic trip like that, eh?

Sounds and looks great. It is good to hear about your trip.

Welcome back!!! What a trip!! The green Swiss fig looks fantastic. If anyone wants another lead on fig hunting in northern Italy... Cinque Terre had a good number of fig trees when I visited, I think particularly Manarola had a good number if I remember right :)

[QUOTE=andreas]hi Frank
i just found this topic...
you ware just an hour drive from me and i didnt know it. (olympia is less than 1 hour from patras)
i would have made your trip to greece one to remember...
any way 
i am glad you had fun.!!![/QUOTE]

Andreas, had I only known!! Regardless, I met some really friendly people in Greece during our short stay and have great memories to take home.

Thanks everyone for your comments. Still a little jet-lagged but ready to start posting some pictures.
First one is of a huge fig tree in Mykonos situated at a seaside restaurant's property. Imagine sitting under this tree, looking out into the deep blue Mediterranean Sea, sipping a little ouzo. It was a nice moment. 

    


Windmills of Mykonos were a little further out on the island.


     

Nice trip Frank, thanks for the info, I may use the same tour agent next year.

European Diary of “Significant” Figs:

 This will not mean much to anyone except me as part of the journal I am keeping.

1. Monte Bre - Lugano Switzerland. Tallest point in Lugano where you can view the surrounding area including the snow capped Alps, especially MountRosa.

-foot of the Funiculare large unripe with red flesh. May be black if similar to tree spotted half way up the mountain but not accessible

2. Campione D'Italia – Italian territory completely inside Switzerland on LakeLugano

-opposite the old mausoleum and chruch medium black very tasty red vermillion flesh

3. Ponte Tresa - Switzerland less than a mile from Italian border,

-Large tree on shoreline near gas station and chocolate factory we had visited earlier

-figs best in the world!!! Bright green outside - vermillion flesh. See pics

4. Stresa –  Lake Maggiore  Italy

-medium sized black figs up on hillside within villa area

5, Corfu – GreekIsland with Venetian influence across from TarantoItaly

- Large tree near the New Fortress wall ?color and quality unknown

6, Santorini - GreekIsland in a dusty parking lot from a big tree, dust on leaves with some green unripe figs present

7, Mykonos -  GreekIsland

A. Belvedere Hotel - purple figs early. Spoke to hotel worker next door

B. Large white fig as per same hotel worker just down the little lane

C. Taverna Antonin- big dark fig still on tree. Hard to get to

D. Black fig near motorcycle rental place up from outdoor taverna with huge fig tree (picture)

8. Olympia –Mainland Greece

A. Within Ancient Olympian ruins

B. near Olympia souvenir place

C. Port Katakolon from on seashore cafe. Nice ladies told me salt air impeded figs  from maturing, bet were green in color

9. VeniceItaly

-train station near canal-medium large black fig possibly Brogiotto Nero

10.  Padova Italy

A. Pontecorvo. Restaurant  below

B. near Ponte  Corvo  Via Ravignana and Vicolo Santonini green fig with red     flesh

Pictures from the Campione D'Italia fig tree.

The last photo is from our balcony.


                   

Nice photos Frank, thanks a bunch.

Thanks for the report, Frank, what a great time.  I'm jealous.  Maybe some day my son will be done with schooling and chose to run the farm and my wife and I can escape!

Just to be clear, are the photos in post #18 the one of the Ponte Tresa fig?  Too much sun is making it easy for me to get confused, I guess. :)  Please add me to the list for cuttings! LOL

Harvey, yes #18 is the fig from Ponte Tresa and what a fig it was.

I am not allowed to discuss cuttings but I can talk about mule  s h i t  though...

If anyone has been to Santorini, they will know that the only way to get to the top of the town is either by cable car or by riding on the back of a mule. The mules go up and down the paved pathway of 600 steps all day long, doing what mules do along the way. (We did not ride them due to the obvious cruelty these animals face - especially in view of the super-sized nature of American and German tourists)

Anyway, we did walk down the pathway in the twilight hours, taking almost an hour to do so. On the way down, to no one's surprise, we picked up a plentiful supply of the local color.

Furthermore, Europeans love their dogs. I know this because of the evidence shewn on sidewalks and streets.

We also visited a lot of areas with fig trees. Some of these trees had ripe fruit which we tasted. Some had fallen to the ground and rotted. Some of these got swished into the treads of our walking shoes as we carefully avoided taking cuttings.  

Just saying....


 

Great post and photos Frank thanks! How long was your vacation for? Sounds like it wasn't a quickie--you got a lot of awesome stuff done :).

Thanks for sharing your vacation. Looks awesome. Finding the best fig in the world... Priceless. :) Ad me to the list for mule poop too if it isnt full yet. :).. Makes great fertilizer.
Italy is high on my places to visit in the next couple of years. Trying to get the whole family to go. Of course they all think I'm strange wanting to plan a trip around fig harvest time .

Ponte Tresa Green Fig


                         

Oh man... why'd you have to go and do that. I need a bowl of those figs :). They are gorgeous and look so delicious. 

Feasting with my eyes wide open.
Glad you had an eventful trip and made it home with wonderful memories and are sharing with us. Thank you!

Yup, that fig has penetrated my soul and changed my life. If there is anyone planning a trip to the Lugano area, please let me know and I will give you the coordinates to that tree, so your life can be divinely blessed as well. ;))



Jeff, it was the longest vacation I've had since my University days:

One week in Campione D'Italia/Lugano area.
One week in the Lake Maggiore/Come/Venice area
One week in Greece (Islands and mainland)

Wonderful trip Frank and thanks for sharing your fig experience!

How do you compare the taste difference from the figs you tasted there to your own figs in Florida?  

Wow! What deep colored red flesh, YUM! I bet those greens could compete with any dark skinned figs. Thanks Frank.

Wow that Monte tresa is absolutely stunning. I may have to spend September in Italy next year. Any idea if they have an earlier crop or breba crop?

Welcome home!

@ Frank
you never gave me a chance to show you what greek figs are all about...

 

 
next time... ;-))

Frank,
Thanks for sharing your wonderful experiences and lovely photos.

Monte Tessa Green Fig...Wow!
I know Frank. I know. There is another thing I know. We will talk about that when I see you.

Nice Nice Nice

Wow!  That Monte Tresa fig is stunning.

I know what you mean about being too big for the mules.  Even on one mission trip to Nicaragua I felt very bad for the small horses we rode atop.  It rained heavily later on and on the way down from this very poor settlement I did not trust the horses to carry my weight without falling so most of us walked down on foot and we all got very muddy.  At least it was only mud.

 That fig is what dreams are made from.  What an experience. The perfect vacation. 

Frank
Great thread, I'm loving your photos and hankering to get back to Italy and Greece.
Keep them coming

Beautiful pics, Frank.  Thanks for sharing with us.  Sounds like you had an incredible vacation.

Did the rest of the family enjoy the fig part of the trip as much as you?

@Pino - Aside from the Ponte Tresa fig, the others I tasted were pretty much in line with my Florida figs. Most were not fully ripened.

@Jeff - I don't know about brebas or other details regarding this tree. I must have spent a total of 5 minutes with it. The rest of my travel companions were waiting for me at the gas (BTW, it cost over 100 euros to fill up a compact car's gas tank !!)

@Andreas - next time I am in Greece, I know who I will call. Same goes for you if you are ever in Florida. That is a very nice looking fig you posted.

@Ed - yes, the vacation could not have gone better. The fig hunting part of the trip actually made for a great time for the rest of the vacationers as well(wife and a female couple). I can tell you that everyone was blown away by the Ponte Tresa fig, even the one member who had never tasted a fig other than a fig Newton.

One of my favorite activities while traveling is to visit the local open markets. We truly lucked out when we happened on a little town on the Eastern shore of Lake Maggiore called Luino. Every Wednesday they hold a huge open air market selling everything under the sun and people visit from miles around. The market covers the entire downtown area near the lake shore and it becomes so congested that it is almost impossible to go from stall to stall. Anyway here are some pictures of figs from the Luino Market as well as some from a Como market.                    

That market looks amazing. One of my favorite things to do when I travel is find those as well. For some reason they always seem better in other countries.

My daughter also loves figs so shes already signed up for this adventure for next year. I may be able to get my brother to join us as well. If not looks like just me her and her BF.. Time to go learn Italian. :).

[QUOTE]From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Monte Brè (925 m) is a small mountain east of Lugano on the flank of Monte Boglia (1,516 m) with a view of the bay of Lugano and the Pennine Alps and the Bernese Alps. It is considered one of the sunniest points in Switzerland.

Since 1912, the Monte Brè funicular has led from Lugano Cassarate to Monte Brè.[/QUOTE]

Here I am sticking my nose where it shouldn't be again.
         

Wow, thanks so much for sharing this with us!

Frank, your nose is exactly where a fig hobbyist's nose should be.

Epic!

What a great trip!  I've been following along in this thread for a while... I'm glad you had such a great trip, Frank!  Nice photos too, and a great fig diary.

Mike   central NY state, zone 5a

Again, I thank all of you for your comments and good wishes. I am glad you are enjoying the pictures.

Mike, every couple of years we like to take an "epic" trip like this to clear the cob webs and to recharge. The previous trip was to Ecuador and the one before that was on the infamous  Costa Concordia (before it went down). A common thread has always been figs. Time-wise, fig-spotting is only a small part of the vacation but it seems to supercharge the experience...creating indelible memories as well as other concrete benefits that last a lifetime. 

I have a few more pictures to post before I am done.

thanks for taking the time to post all the pictures. and thanks for the mini vacation. some really tasty looking figs. cant wait till we go again.

Sounds great Frank!  Those pictures in post #64 look incredible.  I'll look forward to seeing the rest of them.

Mike   central NY state, zone 5a

Very nice figs, Frank!
I think though, to get that quality, the figs must be pollinated.
Any guess if they are Smyrma?

[QUOTE=greenfig]Very nice figs, Frank!
I think though, to get that quality, the figs must be pollinated.
Any guess if they are Smyrma?[/QUOTE]

I have no idea how to tell if these figs could be Smyrna types. Perhaps someone like Lampo would have an idea.

    

I took this picture in Corfu Greece from inside a bus. Look closely at the tree. What is going on there?

I can't see what is going on in the tree, but I see 2 men with man bags. 

Hopefully you didn't come home with one of these.   Well, I guess it would be a good place to stash some cuttings.  :)

LOL, ...man bags. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Mike, focus on the tree in front of the blue structure. This was a first for me. I didn't know it was possible.

Fig tree growing out of that other tree?

Thats what it looks like to me too. A fig tree growing in another tree?

Yes! A fig tree growing out of the trunk of another healthy tree. I didn't think it possible. This is a parasitic phenomenon...not saprophytic. The will to thrive has no bounds except when it comes to some of my rarer cuttings that will dry up, sprout mold and perish without a second thought. Lol.

Hi Frank,
Do you mean you didn't think it possible for a fig tree to do that, or for trees in general?  Lots of parasitic trees, especially in the tropics.

Meanwhile, my mouth is still watering over those beautiful jammy looking figs you've posted pictures of here.  Wow.

Mike 

Mike, I was indeed referring to the common fig. Have you ever seen such a phenomenon? No wonder you see them growing out of cracks in concrete walls and roads all over Europe.