30 mai 2006, Apt, Luberon, Provence, France
Well.... what a lot has happened since the last blog. this is a normal keyboard, so typing is quicker than in Italy!
I think last blog we were in Sciacca and about to leave for Palermo and the ferry to Genova.
We had a full day, so decided we had plenty of time for Erice, Segesta and Monreale... as usual the day started off extremely well and we mad the right decision re Erice first... lovely hilltop town above the grot of Trapani, almost in the clouds. We enjoyed a capp and to die for almond pastries in Caffe Maria (see book 'Bitter Almonds') and bought more pastries which we are still eating, climbed a tower, walked up steep streets and steps and started down hill.... then the mist descended. Not having seen any local TV, we did not realise that the Scirocco had been blowing (we did notice it was windier than it had been) and the weather had turned. We would not have seen a thing from Erice if we have left it any longer. The next stop Segesta, magic with its Temple and Theatre on the mountain side among olive trees, poppies and pines. Monreale next after a bit of getting lost as we approached it from the wrong side!!
Ferry trip was a total rest as we had a night and a full day, which we spent on deck dozing and reading in the sun. Little were we to know that we would need that rest as we were about to be challenged!
This trip has been so well planned, but we also were allowing a couple of days of flexibility between Genova and the villa. Little did we know we were arriving on the start of a 4 day long weekend including mothers day in France, the Monaco Grand Prix and the end of the Cannes Film Festival.... Thursday night we finally found a hotel in a delightful seaside town on the Italian Riviera, appropriately named Finale Ligure. Friday, we wound around the Cote D'Azur arriving in Nice and (silly us) trying to find a hotel at 4.00pm in the afternoon.... tout complet. From there things went downhill even though we were physically going up - 4 different towns until finally we arrived in Lorgues at about 8.45 and found our wonderful Mareka in the Hotel du Parc, who rang around and found us a B&B which was due to open for the first time the next day..... absolutely magic, lovely postion, wonderful hosts - Lidia and Franz. Parfait.
to be continued
22 maggio (May) -Sciacca Sicilia
Buongiorno da Sciacca - on the South west coastof Sicily, near Agrigento
First a few words about steps. Travelling on a fairly modest budget means you have to be pretty fit, or if not, you will soon become so. Anywhere worth staying is in a verticaltown or village and only a few places have had lifts,. Pensione Colomba in Praiano made up for the gorgeous views of Positano and the coast by the 200 steps up!! Consolation - there was a lift for the baggage. Pensione Svizzera in Taormina had gorgeous rooms, with lovely views but we were on the 3rd floor with no lift.... here in Sciacca we are staying in this incredibly modern (only 1 year old) B&B built in an old 13th C Moorish tower. We arrived in the narrow main street below, found Al Moro, then had to drag our bags up a long stepped street, between ancient houses and wondering what on earth we would find..... and were just blownaway by the lovely interior with modern Italianfurniture, lovely local tiles, turkish carpets ...... but we are on the 3rd floor again.... but the view makes up for it.
Back to a few days ago - after leaving Taormina,on our way to Siracusa we detoured up Mount Etna and took a tour of the craters (up a gondola, then a 4WD bus to 3000m) - WOW - I will post the photos when they are on a disk and have a bit of time. One more plus about Al Moro is there is a free internet, but Rhondda wants to check her emails.
Siracusa and Taormina are chalk and cheese, Taormina very international set, Siracusa more old Baroque Italian. There seems to be a frenzy of restoring everywhere. Noto Duomo was completely covered with scaffolding while they are replacing the cupola which collapsed in 1997, and so are lots of other buildings in Noto and in the old part of Siracusa. It looks like the temples in Agrigento are also partly covered in scaffolding, but everyone says it is still worth going, which we will do this pm. Piazza Armerina was very hot. .. and I have not even mentioned the Teatro GReco in Siracusa where we saw Ecuba on Saturday night.... what an experience, even if it was in Italian.
to be continued...
Taormina .... again and the weather is stunning, Etna is steaming and there is still snow on the slopes. Everthing is so green and fresh lookin and there are lots of flowers everywhere, wild flowers, particularly poppies . We drove across from Cefalu yesterday, first along the now completed autostrada over the incredibly high bridges that we saw under construction in 2001. We left the coast near Capo Orlando and took a very windy road through Novarra in Sicilia - a gorgeous town where we had a picnic lunch on the terrace overlooking the valley.
We are staying in the same place as in 2001 but it has been renovated and is much better even than before. We have been to the Teatro Greco this am and had an obligatory gelato, but we need to find some food for lunch so we can have a picnic on the private terrace outside the Maltbys room!!
Sicilia at last
Stupid mouse - I just lost everything I posted about our Italian adventures - Oh well ...start again.
We are now in Cefalu and the weather is GORGEOUS. If you think that is a strange statement, try pouring rain and cold in Roma, thunderstorm and torrential rain in the middle of the day followed by sunshine in Capri, rain in Positano and sunny though cool weather in Amalfi and Ravello. ARthur is well into the Italian driving spirit (renamed Fangio). Who says driving in Palermo is a nightmare? All you do is do as the locals do, ignore the road rules, take your chance when you see it and everyone give way ...no such thing as road rage in Italy. We only have a couple of scratches on the wing mirror..... a very handy gauge for the driver to tell where the walls.... other cars.... pedestrians are on the side of the road, particularly when allowing a large coach to pass on the Amalfi coast roads... and they pass with cms to spare!!! The local buses know exactly the width unlike the Frog drivers who seem to need the whole road and really clog up the roads. We got behind one on the way up to Ravello!!!!
Ravello is absolutely gorgeous and seems to have less tourists than Positano and Amalfi and we really loved Altrani which was empty .... no Duomo with a square and no tourists shops, so.. no tourist buses!! Even though we had 3 days in the area it was not nearly enough.
Palermo, where we spent the day after the ferry across and before arriving here was just great. I dont know why we did not go there before. There is so much to see and of course the great weather made a difference. Everywhere there are flowering trees, roses, bouganvillea, jacaranda, greenery .... and the fruit..!!!
Food and coffee have lived up to our expectations most of the time. Baby artichokes, fresh swordfish, delicious clams, mussels, fabulous oxheart tomatoes with the buffalo mozzarella for the Caprese salads, loquats (nespoli), cherries, strawberries, rockmelons, oranges and of course lemons everywhere - particularly around Sorrento and the Amalfi coast ..... limoncello (lemon based liqueur) everywhere.
We still have not got a simcard for the phones - no time to go looking for a place to buy them. It is hard work this travelling and being on holidays. And I still have not got all the email addresses into my webmail address book. Please send emails ... that is the easiest way for me to update the address book.
Today is il giorno del madre here as well (where are the mothers day wishes from my children - Rhondda had a fax), and the Duomo is a picture with azealeas in pots up the steps. This am while having breakfast we watched lots of very bella Italians with their even more belli ragazzi (kids) arriving. most of the kids were dressed in long white robes with a gold cross on the front...... lots of pictures which i will attempt to download when there is more time. Today is a rest day ... just enjoying the town and will swim this afternoon.. the beach looks inviting, but no locals in the water - what does that mean?
7th May, Heathrow Airport en route to Rome - time 6.30am.
Just arrived from Hong Kong after a very comfortable flight courtesy of BA and Frequent Flyer points in Business Class. Unfortunately you can very quickly become accustomed to travelling this way. Flat out sleep, loads of room. In fact there were only a few passengers in the cabin.
Brush with celebrity in Hong Kong Business class lounge for you 'The Bill' watchers - Jack Meadows (don't know his real name), was sitting just near us.
Hong Kong was just great and we packed a lot into one day. We decided to do our own thing and using a very good map (!) found our way to all sorts of places. Transport options were many and very cheap. We took the heritage Star Ferry from KOwloon where we were staying, to Hong Kong Island, then the Peak Tram to the Peak - way up in the clouds (by the way HOng Kong is like walking around in a sauna) which came and went. We spent quite a bit of time walking around to all the vantage points with the incredible views of the city below, the outlying islands and the mainland to the north.
to be continued
