Finishing up Sardinia and Off to London

A small story from Noura on the way to Olbia. There was a tourist mini train tour of the city there which we wanted to take and were told that it would only leave when there were 15-20 people. Same happened with other people that asked. As the train was empty at the time we guessed it would never leave. When we returned one and a half hours later - still sitting there.

After a quick freshen up we drive to the ‘centre historico’ which we find we could have more conveniently walked to. We spent around two hours walking through the cobble-stoned streets with their lovely shops.

Clearly the shops are catering to more wealthy people than many of the other placed we have been to but they aren't overstated and not outrageously expensive. Robert and Kathy garner some gifts for the grandchildren which convinces me that when my time comes I will pre-purchase the gifts rather than schlepping them all back from overseas!!!

We retrace our steps to a restaurant (Officina del gusto) which I found on Tripadviser. Wearing our summer clothes we decide to sit outside despite falling temperatures and a cool breeze, Between seating and leaving, the temperature seems to drop from 22 to around 14 degrees. The weather on the entire trip has been sensational - warm sunny and almost no need to wear anything long sleeve, so this was a bit of shock.

We enjoyed a fantastic seafood antipasto degustation, tuna tartar, one giant oyster, cuttlefish ragout and two other small portions. For mains we have a dish I have only ever had before in Turkey, a salt encrusted baked whole fish which was superb. You will be proud - no dessert (see below), but a great great meal.

Back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

Next morning we agree to a latish start (09:30) and head up to Palau where we arrive just in time to board the car ferry to La Maddalena. This is a mixture of resort area and flora/fauna protection area. The resorts are sympathetically inset into the hillsides and it seems that none of them are actually located on the beach proper but we see a lot of people at the various small beaches which we come across. We opt not to visit "another" Garibaldi museum where he is in fact buried – ‘museumed’ out!!!

Lunch in the town and a car ferry back to the mainland and a few hours rest. We meet late for dinner driving up to Porto Cervo where we discover the expensive part of town. We settle on a restaurant il Pescatore and have an excellent seafood meal but continue to discover that desserts in Sardinia simply aren't good. Back along the long and winding road late at night, no joy and sleep before our last full day relaxing in Sardinia.

Next morning and we decide to drive back to Porto Cervo to get a better daytime view of what turns out to be the home of the rich and famous. We arrive at the Marina where we decide that any friends with boats have matchbox sized boats with some being 50 metres and more.

We breakfast at a cafe where we meet Martina who speaks excellent English being a student. She talks with an Irish lilt as her teacher is Irish. Martina is 22 and works 4 months of the year at Costa Smeralda and 8 months of the year at the ski resorts close to her native Torino. She wears a wedding ring and when Kathy asks if she is married she laughs and says "Oh no! When my mother got divorced she was about to flush it down the toilet when I rescued it!!" She shares a one bedroom apartment with seven others and pays $A2,800 per month - HER SHARE! Three sleep in the bedroom, three in the lounge room and two on the kitchen floor. A very sweet girl who gets most excited when I explain the working holiday visa plan for Australia to her.Martina explains that it is not possible to buy coffee with fresh milk in Italy and that only UHT milk is available. Now I have 8 days without an itinerary and was thinking Turin and Lake Como but this could be a dealbreaker!!!

We drive down to Porto Rotondo where we go to the sister restaurant Jaguar which is the first place we had found sat directly on the beach and which, by the way is lined with Jaguar cars. A few Sprumantes (freshly squeezed orange juices) and a purchase from one of the Black African beach vendors and we move on to our last stop Golfo Aranci where we sit on the beach and enjoy a late lunch before we go back to the hotel for an afternoon nap.

Up to Olbia Historica for a walk and dinner. We stumble past what seems like a bar and we stick our head in to see if a meal is possible and the owner/chef almost implores us to stay in what seems to be a bar.

He makes us a very nice meal including some Porchetta (Pork) which was amazingly good and a cheese plate. Up to the main drag for a banana and Nutella crepe which I had been promising myself for three days and
home to bed.

Next morning we drive randomly to a beach with a small hut serving coffees and light snacks and sit in the beautiful sun watching a few people on the nearby sand. The owner tells us he sells an umbrella and chair for $A16 a day which he assures us is cheap when others at more luxurious places sell them for $A28-$A55. In August whern the temperatures are above 35 degrees the beach is 'completo" and he works just
three months of the year and holidays for the rest.

Back to the hotel and a final pack before heading to London and the end of my three weeks in Sicily/Sardinia. Technology is great as I have a three way skype call with Justin/Lindy (including video) and Danielle/Dave who are in the car. Pleased that all, except the weather, is great with them.

Well nothing else to report from Italia.
Keep well
XD

Sardinia

Next morning we decide to take in a few sights in Palermo which we had not yet seen including the Cappella Palatino within the Plazza Dei Normanni which is one of the most ornately decorated churches imaginable. Also there was a hall of Garibaldi memorabilia. Somehow it was 15:00 before we got back to the hotel where we used one of the rooms for which we had arranged a late checkout leaving at 17:00 for the airport.
We had planned to eat somewhere on the way. We had asked Phillipe the concierge where we could eat on the way but he couldn’t think of anything. We asked if the airport restaurant was adequate "like eating at my mother-in-law" he says. After a very painless check in we do have a quite acceptable dinner and board our 40 seater prop plane landing an hour later in Cagliari. Taxi to the hotel which is lovely but in a strange area about 5kms from the city proper and a very sound night's sleep as the driving and touring catches up on me.

Typical Italian breakfast - 15th day of rolls, ham, cheese, yogurt, etc. and we head into town by taxi. We struggle to find the tourist train and get there 10 minutes after it left and 50 minutes before the next one. We try to 'employ' a cab driver for one and a half hours to take us around the sights but he would not move from his asking price of E80 so I placed a curse on him that he should not get a fare for the next one and a half hours and we did some touring by foot.

We got a taxi to the airport - note to self, one needs to call for cabs in Cagliari as they are rarely seen vacant on the street - and collect our car. I have delayed the car collection until today to save one day's rental as the car here is quite expensive. We head towards Pula, a lovely coastal beachside town where the sand is white and pure where we have one of the better lunches of our travels - well prepared with the addition of garlic, something which was lacking in much of the food to date.

Nora is a historical Phoenician Temple and Mosaic and now to be known as the place where Katja sprained her ankle. As we waited for the 15:00 tour she tripped over a small step and quite fortunately didn’t do too much damage but it did prevent us from seeing the temple/mosaics. We decided to drive to Iglesias which was a nice town about 80kms away and then back to the hotel.

That evening we decided on our fourth fine dining experience and it turned out to be our best so far the Dal Corsair. The room was elegantly and tastefully decorated in every sense with some antique (?) furniture and books, paintings, wine bottles etc. all placed so beautifully. My meal was a Foi Gras Terrine - perhaps the Corsican French influence followed by a beautiful Seafood Tempura. Katja's grilled octopus was so tender and tasty not to mention the two desserts we shared. One does need to be a little careful with desserts - as I mentioned before there is no fresh milk anywhere here just longlife so when you have anything with milk it is possible that it has longlife or condensed milk. Anyway simply outstanding.
Things are really bad when I am looking forward to getting to London so I can have a good cappuccino!!!!!

Next morning same old same old Italian breakfast and we head off towards Oristano. On the way are the Nuraghe Funerials. The Nuraghe people are from 2700 years ago during the bronze age. The structures have no foundations and stand only by virtue of the weight of its stones, which may weigh as much as several tons. Some Nuraghes are more than 20 metres in height. Today, there are more than 8,000 Nuraghes still extant in Sardinia, although it has been estimated that they once numbered more than 30,000. Nuraghes are most prevalent in the northwest and south-central parts of the island.[

We then stumble across Sardinia en Miniature, a vast garden with the whole of Sardinia and its interesting points represented in miniature. Without going into details, within Stern family lore France en Miniature stands for how determined Danielle is when she wants to be. Anyway it was a great way to get a perspective of the place. I must say at this point we are a little churched and ruined out so things that may have been interesting two weeks ago get a cursory glance. Just after we leave there are road workers who are grading the unpaved road clearly not wanting to let us past. One of them suggested we should Kangaroo over the grader after he learns we are Australian. He says Luigi is Nervous about letting us pass but after making us wait for a few minutes he moves over to let us pass and as we wave to thank him he waves something less gracious back to us. 

We drive through some pretty small towns arriving at Oristano. I grab my iPad and look for a hotel and we stumble on the Hotel Duomo. We see lots of signs, they indicate a four star establishment and after much looking we stumble on a simple door for the Albergo (Italian for Hotel) Duomo. Well, any claims to four stars is absurd. The light in the bathroom is a bulb on the ceiling, I wait ten minutes for the hot water to dribble out of the shower, the two foot six inch single bed slopes towards the wall and the room is so small that I stub my two twice on the bed leg. Anyway one night no problem.
It was mid-afternoon where we walk the main streets finding everything shut till 17:00 as per usual but opening while we walk around. Back to the hotel and we agree to meet at 20:30 for dinner. I go out around 19:45 and walk around the open shops and street fair which was good fun and we meet at the restaurant. The owner/chef was very accommodating if not overly cheerful. He came to each table in his chef's whites discussing the menu and taking the orders. His sister and wife helped run the restaurant. The three entrees were great but the mixed grill (sin Phar Lap) was expectedly plain and desserts 7/10. They generously give us miniatures of the local liqueur of blackberries - only one grade above grappa for me and we give them to the receptionist who recommended the restaurant who was MOST grateful.

Word of the day – Transhumance - local seasonal movement of people and livestock.

OK in Italy we do not repeat do not abuse the parking police. For some reason I can only imagine the parking police and the officers of the department of finance all wear guns. I am not sure what answers I would give the Tax Office if they sent people around wearing guns.

Next morning we decide to head to Olbia, the Northern main city and gateway to the Costa Smeralda, the Aga Khan's playground. We stop at an ordinary town called Noura - and hour of my life I will never get back after which we stumble on a holiday apartment complex with three outdoor restaurants where we have lunch overlooking the most beautifully blue seas with backdrops of rocky cliffs, green coastlines and sandy beaches.

In booking hotels it seemed that almost all were away from the beach except those which cost E1000 to E8000 a night. I opted for the new Hilton Doubletree which turned out to be an excellent hotel, lovely rooms, balconies and pools but set in a strange part of the city. A car and GPS makes it mildly irrelevant.

Sardinia seems quite different from Sicily. The houses are better maintained, the people seem more engaging, the roads wider and the drivers more respectful. I check on the per capital GDP in Italy - interestingly the north of Italy is around E30,000 with Sardinia E20,000 Sicily E16,000 similar to Southern Italy. Of note is that Sardinia is the only place in Italy that produces more electricity than it uses.

OK so....Sicily is a fascinating place and entirely different from any pre-conceptions that I had. First and foremost it is relatively safe provided one uses common sense. There aren’t people on every corner waiting to rob you of your possessions.

I had no idea of the history of Sicily – the Greeks, Romans, Germans, French, Spanish and others who have influenced Sicily. And through all of this they seem to have maintained so much evidence of all the past societies. Greek and Roman ruins, medieval churches and buildings, influence on foods and architecture. And then through to the 19th and 20th centuries with Garibaldi and Mussolini and their influences.
I certainly strongly recommend anyone to consider a visit to this wonderful part of the world. While I doubt I will get back here and certainly not for three weeks it has been a memorable holiday so far.

More Soon
XXXD

Finishing Up Sicily - Palermo

We walked along the beach at Mondello and I guess if I wasn't spoiled living in one of the best beach cities in the world I may have been impressed. But a beach with narrow strips of free beach area with intermittent strips of private beach with lounges and umbrellas which are rented 10 Euros per day. But overall the buzz of many people, teenagers and families with young children did make a lovey scene.

Bye Bye Blues served what I would be pleased to get in a Michelin Starred Restaurant. The food was innovative, exceptionally well and lovingly prepared. One added feature of a classy fitted out restaurant was a large screen LCD Tv connected to three webcams in the kitchen boradcasting the preparation of the food about to reach our table. I ordered an assiette of raw seafood followed by a roll of seafood sponge surrounding shrimps. We shared a selection of nine desserts and rolled back to the car.

Next day (Monday) a good breakfast sitting on a terrace overlooking the Marina and ocean and we head off for Palermo but when it starts raining (gently) we decide on Cefalu, a coastal village (maybe fishing) about 80kms East of Palermo. After a lengthy walk along the bech and the historical part of Cefalu heavily punctuated by stops at Pasticerries, gelaterias and coffee shops we head back to Palermo for the first time and luckily the rain cleared up. The 'book' said to go to the Catacombs Capuchin which is one the most gory things imaginable. People between 1600 and 1800 asked to be buried in the catacombs either simply wrapped in shrouds or mummified. And there the skeletons sit today - hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of them. Gory as I said http://tinyurl.com/bv5489.

We head to the Massimo Theatre where we heard some rehearsals inside. We then walk past an interminable number of shoe shops winding up at La Rinascente, 'the' department store in Sicily. Nice to look at but nothing grabs me in terms of buying. After looking around we head to the rooftop retaurant as it is now 18:30 and the effects of the numerous cakes, pasteries and gelatos has clearly worn off. We stumble on a Sushi Train which pathetically has nothing on it except flowers but the kind sushi chef made everything to order and we shared a great Japanese meal - a nice break from the Caponata/Pasta/Seafood meals of the past 12 days. The food was great even if the service was extremely slow but I guess fresh is better than speed.

After a long day back to the lovely Hilton Hotel and a nice relax. Next morning a later than normal breakfast 09:00 and we leave the hotel knowing we havent really seen much of Palermo. We park the car while our attendant sells us the scratch and match tickets for a small tip $A2. I am wondering whether he is a lookout for the car thieves or just trying to make a small living. We start our walk into Palermo but get distracted by the H&M shop where Katja finds some clothes she likes. We decide to walk back to the car and try very subtly to put the shopping (and my handbag) into the car.

We head back to the theatre Massimo where we 'enrol' for the English Tour of this magnificent opera house. It is the third largest in Europe with the second largest stage area. Interestingly the stage is angled at five degrees to allow the ground level seats and five levels of boxes a good view of the offerings. Fortunately they were rehearsing Lucia Di Lammermore which fills the beutiful theatre with wonderful operatic singing and a full orchestra.

We continue our walk seeing some old buildings, old abandoned building, beautifully restored buildings and all sorts of typically Sicilian sights. Lunch time arrives like clockwork and we decide on a Sicilian style restaurants we had seen the day before in one of narrow lanes.

We walk towards the Palermo Cathederal and Katja has the great idea of taking a horse and carriage to see those parts of Palermo that we have not yet seen. After negotiating down from Euros 50 to Euros 30 a charming 22 year old Sicilian man takes us around the city. Although he spoke no English I managed to find out that he has been doing this job for 2 years full time and one year part time after studying tourism at the University (?). He was getting married next week to a girl he had been with for 6 years and they lived in a 1.5 bedroom apartment which cost them Euros 400 per month.

Interestingly of the 30 Euros he would keep 10 and pay 20 to the 'Patronne'. Now he owned the horse and it was his business so go figure who his 'Patronne' was!! I asked him about the Mafia in Palermo and he simply shrugged his shoulders.

Finishing the buggy ride at the car we head back to the hotel where we have a rest before a meal at a restaurant recommended by the hotel - bad move. Reasonable food in Sicilian style but nothing special.

So tomorrow it is off to Sardinia late in the evening on a turboprop plane which should prove interesting.

Last day and we head for the Cuppolo Palatino which is one of the most stunning churches I have ever seen. The frescos on the walls and ceilings tell all the major Christian stories. This will give you an idea http://tinyurl.com/6c4ezuq
Then bck to the hotel for a relax pending our departure for the airport where I hope that the 2000kms wear and tear on the car doesnt cause any issues when I return it.

Anyway nothing else for now. Will write my thoughts on Sicily in the next few days but it is certainly a great place to mix a holiday with a historical tour and I would have no problem recommending it to anybody as a worthwhile tour.

XD

 

Trapani and Towards Palermo

Ok so I need to update 10 churches in Erice to 60. Maybe being up the mountain closer to G-d is what that is all about. With 750 metres above sea level it is hard to know what possessed the founders to build 60 churches. That said it was an amazingly beautiful place.

In the picture below be assured that I have not started playing scratch and match in Italy. This is what I needed to buy to park for two hours. You then scratch the date and time you started and leave it on the windscreen. This is the only time I have seen this as most places have traditional parking ticket dispensing machines.

Anyway so it's Saturday morning and we decide to do a triangle of Segusta and Marsala and back to Trapani. Segusta had a most wonderful temple (photo below) and half way up the road to the amphitheatre in hot and humid weather we looked at each other and decided NAFAR - Not Another F&*(g Ancient Ruin and abandoned our visit to the amphitheatre. We go to the nearby town but abandon that when it seems to have less  than nothing to offer outside of its proximity to Segesta.

Marsala, which I must confess I thought (without any real thinking) was in Spain is where....they produce Marsala. We have a lovely caffeteria lunch as opposed to the poor one we previously had followed by a lovely selection of pastries, many with sweet ricotta and some with tiny wild strawberries. Excuse me back in a minute while I search for a Paticceria.

We then walk about the historical part - yes a Piazza Garibaldi and Duomo. Now you need to know that every repeat every town has a piazza Garibaldi, Via Victor Emanuel and a Via Luigi Pirandello.

On the way back to Trapani we drive past the salt pans where there are square concrete ponds full of salt water waiting to dry out and have the salt harvested. I have a bright idea that we are sick of  restaurants so buys some fruit, ham, chicken, breadrolls, salad ingredients and have a lovely relaxing dinner at the hotel after what was quite a long day.

Next morning we finish off the leftovers and 'off to Palermo. On the way we stop for a coffee at Castellammare del Golfo, a lovely beachside area which, due to the lack of hotels we think is for the locals.

This is the first time we have seen some fine homes suggesting that it is a weekend holiday house area. I havent been enjoying the coffee as I discovered that, in Sicily there is no such thing as fresh milk only longlife which taste's aweful in coffee so I have been drinking long black (Americano) with a dash of milk. Apparently the only place you can get fresh milk is ona  farm - not surprising as we have hardly
seen any cows, sheep or livestock of any kind.

As you drive around Sicily you see a lot of agricultural activity, vineyards, olives and much more. However Wikipedia tells me that Sicily's economy is only 5% agricultural. Here are some key statistics about Sicily

Population: Palermo 657k Catania 294k Messina 242k Siracusa 123k Marsala 82k total just over 5 million

Economy: Agriculture, farming, fishing 3.52% Industry 9.30% Construction 5.52% Commerce, hotels and restaurants, transport, services and communications 18.28% Financial activity and real estate 21,29% Other economic activities 28.95% VAT and other forms of taxes 13.13%

Robert gives us a ten minute history of Garibaldi along the way which tells the story of the unification of Italy. Interestingly at 50 he marries a beautiful actress. On the wedding night or perhaps the next  day she tells him she is pregnant with another man's baby and he walks out never to see her again.

We were originally booked into the Mercure in Palermo as the Hilton Villa Igiea was booked out for the dates we needed. Yesterday, because we had so many recommendations for this hotel I decided to try again and lo and behold we managed to get two rooms in the Marina Pavillion - one smoking (not a problem for me) and one not smoking. Now I should recound the problem I encountered when Linda and I stayed at the Ville d'Este in Florence where we got a room in the Pool Pavillion. It was magnificently appointed but tiny. So with this experience I was priming Robert and Kathy for a small but good room. Surprisingly however the room was magnificent and large. http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hotel/PMOHVHI-Hilton-Villa-Igiea-Palermo/index.do

We arrive around midday and Robert and Kathy lunch and liunge around a beautiful pool while I catch up on some work, watch the French Open final and add to my blog. Tonight we plan a dinner at Bye Bye Blues located at Mondello Beach http://www.byebyeblues.it/menu_eng.htm which, again has been recommended.
More soon
XD

 

 

 

Agrigento II and Trapani

The next morning we met our guide Carmelina in the lobby of Robert/Kathy's hotel and drove up to the historical part of Agrigento where she showed us all of the historical buildings, their meanings and history. It was quite absorbing but equally was her recounting the current trends in Sicily.

The young people are leaving in large numbers for better lives elsewhere. With the ease of working anywhere in the EU they find better jobs on the Italian mainland, Spain, London and elsewhere. Not that life here is poor and I must say the general standard is much higher than I had envisaged, but it is moving to the big smoke syndrome.

We checked out of the hotels and drove on to Trapani, a city we were somewhat questioning going to. However it is an amazingly beautiful city. After entering my hotel in the GPS it showed that the street in which the hotel was located was not navigable by road so I phoned the hotel. First problem was that there was a plumbing problem in one of the rooms I had booked and would it be OK to move us into a two bedroom apartment - alarm bells ring in my head - but all was good and the hotel was great and in an excellent part of the city. "Yes not problem driving to the hotel" hmmm BS. After 20 minutes circling the hotel we leave the car and walk the rest of the way.

We check in and go to a restaurant downstairs where we have a superb meal and discover we are at Tripadviser's number two (of 60) restaurant in Trapani. The owner of the restuarant is (Italian) charming explaining that his business has been affected by the NATO bombing of Libya as NATO have taken half the capacity of the Trapani Airport being only 545kms from Libya thereby reducing inbound tourism. In general though tourism has been declining he notes.

Off to move the car and drive to nearby Erice a Medieval village perched 750 metres in the air. http://tinyurl.com/42wqua6
Driving there the temperature drops 5 or 6 degrees to 19 and we are shrouded in fog driving hairpin bend after bend. Anyway we arrive safely and this is a town of 10 churches and tourist shops all rather well integrated into the historical town that it is.

There is a Pasticerria Maria Grammatico (cake shop) there which is superb Have a look at the Marzipans.
http://www.pbase.com/wabarletta/green&page=2
http://www.pbase.com/wabarletta/erice&page=11

We of course participated before we momentarily lost the car finding it outside a church where a wedding was taking place.
Back down through the mountain, fog and hairpin bends we drive along the ocean road looking at the beaches and resort areas. We get back around 18:00 and walk around the historical part of Trapani before a light meal and bed.

We are now 9 days into our holiday and Sydney seems such a far away place and memory having taken in so much history, holiday, sights, people, food and atmosphere. Unbelievabley I have hardly bought anything but there is a lovely leather store below our hotel which I may return to if time permits. Meals are incredibly cheap by Sydney standards with fine dining costing around $A50-$60 max and two coffees, a freshly squeezed orange juice and a pastry costing less than $8. I think people's preconceptions of Europe being expensive is very ill-founded as I havent found anything I would regard as being more expensive than Sydney.

Today we continue in and around Trapani and then head towards Palermo for three days. I believe that I need to be cautious there perhaps not be as willing as we have been so far to walk down empty back lanes - we'll see.

Anyway hope all are well
XD.

 

 

  

More Taormina and to Agrigento

Now where was I? Yes wake up next morning, pick up Robkat and drive north to Milazo where we put the car on the ferry across to Lipari on the Aeolian Islands. Lipari is a very nice Mediterranean Island with most things seeming typical. We walked the length of the main part of the village, lunched at the local Trattoria where I learned [1] Gamberetti are smallish prawns (I knew Gamberi were prawns but…) and one should asked if they are shelled before you order them!!

We went into some of the shops and met an interesting older lady with her boxer dog, was a Swiss lawyer who spent six months of the year living on Lipari and running a beautiful and unique dress shop and the rest of the year in Basel.

After some  difficult to negotiate streets, a visit to the beach (Bondi has nothing to worry about) we head down to the wharf and catch the ferry back to Sicily. Yeah, while on the subject of the ferry – the ride is about 1.5 hours and they do not allow passengers outside the saloon. The ship, with around 2,000 seats and only about 20 passengers is so overstaffed one wonders why they operate the service. Perhaps in Summer (July/August) things change – who knows.

We arrive back around dinner time and venture a restaurant with a lovely view – something normally to be avoided but the meal is quite acceptable. Back to the hotel to pack for tomorrow’s departure for Agrigento.

Robert and Kathy have insisted that I come to their hotel for breakfast as they claim it is the best breakfast they have ever had at a hotel – I agree there was so much variety of so many different types of food it was amazing.

We leave around 09:00 with our first stop at Piazza Armerina which is a beautiful Medieval/Baroque/Norman town which one could easily miss were it not for the guidebook. Like most places in Sicily it is perched atop a mountain with narrow and barely navigable streets. We park the car and wonder through the streets, numerous churches and spectacular views around the lush surrounding valleys.

This city is a gateway to the nearby Mosaics which is quite spectacular. Covered by mud they have survived, in many cases totally intact, for 1700 years. Have a look here as a description would be difficult http://tinyurl.com/6f7acj9.

We then move to Enna which is a regional capital where we stumble across a lovely modern and funky restaurant where we enjoy an excellent late lunch after which we wander the streets, see the church and sights around this village which…..is perched atop a hill.

Another 90 minutes and we arrive in Agrigento where we see the Valley of the Temples tomorrow. Having been a long day we agree to do our own thing for dinner (I am in a different hotel 200 metres from Robkat) and a nearby Trattoria does the trick.

Next morning I check out breakfast at my hotel and decide it must be better at Robert's - score one for me. Afterwards we drive the 500 metres to the Valley if the Temples which I would regard as one of the best historical tours I have ever done. These photos will give you a good idea of what is there http://tinyurl.com/68x8exa. We decided on audio guides over a person which I suspect was a good choice as it was exceptionally informative about how different cultures dealt with the site. Interestingly one of the temples was converted to a church and then back to a temple. I come up with the genius idea of getting a cab back to the starting point and we give a lift to a guide who we engage to show us through historic Agrigento the next morning. Anyway the temples are certainly a not to be missed experience.

We head down to the port where we discover it is a Festivi (festival) today and Katja notes it is either Fiesta or Siesta in Sicily as shops and other things seem permanently closed. We then drive past Luigi Pirandelli's (Nobel winning writer) home and down to the beach where we actually see pure sand where we grab a table and have a caffeteria snack - the word cafeteria should have been a big enough clue - not for us!!!

Around 15:00 we agree to afternoon at leaisure and then meet for dinner. The restaurant we had chosen was closed, surprise surprise and we eat at the same restaurant I had gone to the night before - very nice meal indeed.

Anyway one week has passed and I am really enjoying Sicily. I imagine it is one of those places that I will visit just once in my life but which is well worth the trip and of which I will have fond memories.

Anyway hope the weather has improved for you guys
More Soon XD

Taormina and Beyond

Next morning up early and depart from Siracusa at 09:00 heading towards Catania. On the way we drive through a number of small villages before arriving there. We park the car in the car park near the markets and pay the “attendant” €2. I have my doubts that we needed to pay anything but he was a nice enough man and gave me a little ticket akin to a raffle ticket in Australia.

We head into the markets including an Arab style fish market both of which were very active, busy, noisy and interesting. The meats were in open air and being sliced skilfully into the thinnest slices imaginable. I noted that the would certainly be closed down  by the food authorities in Australia but then again I didn’t see the entire population keeling over with food poisoning.

We spent some time walking around the shops and residential areas seeing the “Duomo” on every second corner before heading back to the car. Although having paid for just one hour and being there for three, our “attendant” simply guided us out of the spot and saw us on our way.

Next we stopped at Acireale, a coastal village with a Norman fortress ruin protecting the waterfront. Interestingly the girls were at the beach – let me explain – they climbed down an extremely large number of steps to the rocks at the foot of the Norman fortress and lying on the rocks.

Another forty kilometres and various coastal towns saw us arrive at Taormina having the negotiate a serious road of hairpin turns before arriving at Robert and Kathy’s Hotel and then moving on to my hotel 300 metres up the road. After a period to recover from the drive I walk down to Robert’s hotel where we have an average meal at the rooftop restaurant.

Next morning we meet and head up towards the main part of Taormina – about 300 metres. I must say this is a most charming shopping district which goes on forever and is interspersed with the various historical sites such as the Greek Theatre and various churches.

Around 14:00 we have a quick bite at a Trattoria and head to our hotels for a bit of a relax. I head back to town to buy a present for one of the kids and then collect the car to go for a drive up the coast. We stumbled upon a beachside resort which I would describe as one of the poorest excuses for a holiday area that I have ever seen. It was as though time stood still with partially derelict three storey buildings lining the road along the beach with some cheap and nasty looking restaurants on the beach proper. I guess I should describe the beach – pebbly, blackish, strewn with litter and cigarette butts.

Anyway back to town where we go to dinner at the Capaldi Restaurant within the El Jebel hotel on the high side of Taormina. The restaurant was open air on the rooftop looking up and down the coast and over Taormina. The food, service and atmosphere was sensational. Our waiter, a Sri Lankan, recounted his passage to Taormina and Italy which was fascinating. He spends 4 months a year in Sri Lanka with his family over the European winter living the rest of the year with his Sri Lankan (they met in Italy) wife.

The food was superb with my choices being Bresaola with goat cheese dressing and a black Mt Etna mushroom, bacon and truffle sauce. The waiter insisted on bringing a dessert degustation which Kathy and I polished off. I would regard this restaurant as a must not miss food destination. I then rolled home for a relatively early night.

Next morning we left for North Mt Etna which was around 1.5 hour drive partially through mountainous winding hairpin roads. During the drive the temperature dropped from 22 degrees to 11 degrees in just 15 minutes. On the way there were massive fields of black lava rocks often with colourful wild flowers growing out of them.

Reaching 2000 metres we had intended to get a four wheel drive for the remaining 1000 metres but they told us it would be a one hour wait while the weather cleared (hopefully). As it appeared that the weather would not clear we decided (luckily as it did not seem to clear) to our next stop Randazzo. This was a very interesting city with much of it medieval with much of it in disrepair – in fact most of it. But it seemed to work for the people who lived there. It was a bit hard to understand why more of the city had not been restored as there was no apparent poverty and lots of newish cars etc., but it seemed that the people that lived there enjoyed their way of life.

After some paninis made  by momma in the bread small bread shop we decided to head up to Messina which we originally planned to give a miss as not having too much to offer – as confirmed by my hairdresser of 35 years Joseph. Anyway I would have to say he was basically right. There were a number of magnificent large imposing buildings most of which were in disrepair and not in use. One building which looked similar to the Queen Victoria Building and with a magnificent glass roof was all but empty. After seeing all the churches and what little there was to see we decided we must have missed something so programed the GPS to the Armani shop which took us to a nice shopping street but that was all.

Forty minutes later we were back in Taormina and decide on a meal at a simple restaurant with a stunning view. Robert was adverse on the basis that the view and the food are inversely proportional but luckily (for me anyway) this proved wrong with a nice meal with great views.

Anyway I think the 750 kilometres of driving in 5 days is catching up with me so an early night.

Regards to all

David