Category: Uncategorized

Today we headed in the opposite direction from the area we have already explored, and saw one of the ancient city gates, complete with gargoyles, intended to scare any bad guests away.

Apparently the ancient bad guys were more easily scared than the current ones. Which reminds me, I haven’t mentioned the topic of safety in Sicily. We have felt absolutely safe everywhere we have been, even in the little back lanes where tourists probably shouldn’t have wandered (but we did anyway). There is poverty in the back lanes for sure, but nothing half as scary as the DTES of Vancouver on its best day.

We definitely spotted more pick pockets in Florence (and haven’t actually identified any here in Sicily) and are returning home with all of our valuables in tact.

Puppets are big here on Sicily and our balcony is just across from a popular venue for puppet shows. We can hear the Punch and Judy style voices, drumming and music as we sit here watching the world go by.

Just enough time to squeeze in one last church, Gesu di Casa Professa. All Baroque, all the time.

And not all cherubs are cute, just sayin’

So that’s it for churches on this trip. We have seen some doozies!

Time to fortify myself for some cannoli and an affogato, because Don sent me out to shop all by myself.

Here is what I didn’t get for the boys. You’re welcome guys.

All shopping accomplished, we are now getting ready to head to our anniversary dinner at a famous roof top terrace here called 7. This time, we actually have a reservation, so no repeats of last night. Here is the view during daylight:

This is how it looked when the sun set:

You can never go wrong when you start with a Cosmopolitan.

Palermo is a beautiful city – on the way home we stopped to listen to a street performer and our photo was taken for the local newspaper (not really).

We have spent the day reflecting on the last forty years – on balance, they have all been pretty good. Ups and downs of course, but when times are tough, we are each other’s person and that is worth a lot. How many more years do we have? Who knows? But we intend to spend all the time we have seeking the beauty in life and enjoying our growing family. Not to mention any favourites (Kaiden) – we love them all and can’t wait to get home to them.

xx

Jan and Don

Today’s goal was to find the famous Ballaro Market. On the way there we saw the Quattro Canti, which is where the four quarters of the old city meet. There is a piazza and the four corners each have wonderful carved fronts. Here are two of them.

We stumbled upon this next church and it is a real beauty.

This church is an accumulation of many different influences, including Norman, Arab, Byzantine, and Baroque it is very cool inside.

Maybe this is the Norman part. Joan probably knows.

Then it was onto the market! Here are some sights along the way – there is beauty everywhere you look. Perhaps not the kind of beauty you were expecting, but a timeless beauty that has survived poverty, war, politics, and time.

The Ballaro Market is bustling and full of sights, sounds and smells! We sat down for a beer at one of the tables and ended up having a plate of delicious bruschetta. When that was my only choice, the lady looked at me questioningly and I said, non mangere pesce. Which I hope means I don’t eat fish. She gave me a sympathetic smile and a nod. I am definitely in the wrong place to not like fish!

So many yummy looking things (if you like fish), but all we had were two beers and some bruschetta – which were very tasty.

We decided to try a few more street food dishes (and more wine of course) – not totally adventurous, but a few more things.

After a much needed siesta, we headed out with Joan and Mike to find a roof top bar. Unfortunately the bar didn’t open until 6, so we had to find another bar to bide our time. On the way, we saw a bride and groom and scooped a few pictures.

We found a place to have a charcuterie board and some wine, and as Joan went ahead to get the men to come back to this perfect place, I saw a guy at the next table, holding a Nikon camera. We bonded over photography and I said, I got the bride! And he said, show me! So we shared photos (he had some from the same wedding in the church as it happened). He and his wife are from the south of England, near Brighton, and we had an wonderful conversation about photography, retirement and travel.

We also had cheese . . .

That is candied pumpkin by the way – actually very tasty.

Unfortunately, the roof top bar that we were aiming for had a private party booked, and the second one we found had the same problem. The only solution was this:

The most perfect cocktail. Everything after that is a blur.

See you tomorrow . . .

Don and I decided that we needed to swim in the sea before we left San Vito Lo Capo, so we all wandered down there and then we plunked down our towels in the free area, while Joan and Mike walked along the beachfront.

The colour of the water is amazing.

We sat there for a long time, just watching the families with their little children playing happily in the pristine sand and warm, shallow water.

We eventually cleaned up for dinner and Don took this great shot of Joan and me:

Then it was on to our last stop together – Palermo. But first we had to negotiate our way into the city to return our rental car. I think this trip is only the first or second time we have purchased the zero deductible insurance for our rental cars. It’s quite expensive. But now that we are – of a certain age – we see the value in paying the money, rather than paying the price. We have never returned such banged up vehicles (not by us, but from parking lots). Luckily, the return lot people take one look at the insurance policy related to the rental and then the only thing they want to know is whether or not the gas tank is full. Bumper hanging off, deep scratches from front to back, various dings and dents – no problemo.

They even called a taxi for us to take us to our hotel – one that Joan and I had handpicked months ago. Turns out – it is an amazing little secret spot with only five rooms, just a couple of doors down from the main cathedral. (And no – the bells don’t ring during the night.)

Check out this room!! Those murals are original (there are recovered parts of three different murals), as are the walls. The owners renovated this building and opened their doors in 2022.

This is the view to the cathedral from our balcony. AND the beds are comfortable! Such a great find.

The cathedral is very impressive on the outside, so of course, we had to go in to check it out from the inside.

The rest of the evening was devoted to wandering and finding a place for dinner.

So that’s it for our first day in Palermo. Definitely a lively city and we are in the pedestrian only, historic centre of everything. Pedestrian only is just a suggestion though, because some cars, electric bikes and scooters, and little tourist choo choo trains are going in all directions as well. Don’t even think about walking down the middle of the pedestrian only road.

Beach day in Trapani!! We rented loungers at a beach club (not as fancy as it sounds) and spent several glorious hours on a beautifully sandy beach. A short walk away were these two windmills, so Joan and I wandered down there and got the shots.

So that’s about it for that day, until we went for pomegranate cocktails at a cute spot just around the corner from our hotel

This gentleman brought his own chair to watch the nightly passegiata, where everyone comes out in their good clothes, to see and be seen as they walk around the area before dinner.

The following morning, we headed for our second to last stop – San Vito Lo Capo. Only a short drive from Trapani, this is a beach town and we were looking forward to our pool and long walks along the promenade.

On the way, we saw this hill/mountain?

Not sure what it is called, but in the second shot you can see a marble quarry.

On arrival, we dumped our bags and headed for the beach and a search for lunch options.

The lunch that caught all of our eyes was – of all things – fish and chips. Sometimes, you just need a break from pizza and/or pasta. It was pretty good.

The view from our postage stamp sized pool is pretty amazing.

I hope they paid their photographer extra for making this look like a full sized pool in the ad.

After a good long soak and a siesta, it was off in search of dinner.

Finding dinner any time before 7:00 or 7:30 is next to impossible in Italy. However, we keep trying. All the restaurants are empty, so it is pretty hard to gauge which are the more popular until after about 8. So you walk around and walk around, trying to figure it out.

Finally, we settled on a place that was beach front and also had “pizzeria” in the title. Turns out they don’t do pizza. For some unknown reason. But Joan ordered the complete show stopper of the trip, cous-cous with mixed seafood. It was absolutely gorgeous.

Our dinners paled by comparison – you guys don’t want to see any more food shots, do you?

Oh, ok – here you go:

That’s about it for today – we have another day here in San Vito Lo Capo, then it is on to Palermo for our last three nights, including our 40th anniversary. Yay us.

Made it to Trapani, two and a half hours from Agrigento. Now we are experiencing the west side of Sicily.

Our two bedroom apartment has a peek-a-boo view of the harbour, but we can hear the waves crashing.

We checked out the waterfront and took a little walkabout to get our bearings.

Our hotel’s roof top deck is really cool – not too many people ever up there, but we caught the sunset from there.

And this cool lit window:

The next morning, we set out to see the famous fish market here, only to find it abandoned and devoid of people and fish. Closed on Mondays apparently.

Saw this cool statue along the way though.

Trapani, and all of Sicily so far really, is a real combination of sadly abandoned and neglected, and beautifully created and detailed.

We did see some fishermen’s nets. We also saw a few men mending their nets, but I didn’t have the guts to ask them for a photo – it just felt a bit intrusive (even for me).

The churches, of course, are all gorgeous inside.

Lunch was a shared panini and two piccolo birra alla spina (small draft beers)

While we spent the day just wandering around Trapani, Joan and Mike went on an adventure to the little hill top village of Erice. Sounds like it was wonderful, and when they returned, they joined us on the roof top deck for cocktails.

Shenanigans ensued . . .

And for my “Donna” friends:

That’s it for tonight – tomorrow is going to be a beach day at an actual beach club. Sounds very fancy, but we are going to give it a try. Then there are possible plans for a unique photo op at sunset, but we will see if we make it that far. Buona notte tutti . . .

Long travel day from Modena to Agrigento, our next stop in Sicily. We were really exited as we neared our destination and caught our first glimpse of the impressive UNESCO Valley of the Temples, which includes the oldest existing Greek temples out of Greece and the remains of a buried metropolis.

We decided to save our visit to the Temples for the next day, and spend the rest of this travel day at the pool.

And checking out the bartender’s versions of Aperol Spritz and Limoncello Spritz. I have had an epiphany – and have converted to the Limoncello side (not a surprise to anyone who knows me). The guys needed beer . . .

Bright and early this morning, we headed towards the Valley of the Temples for opening time of 9:00 am. It was already hot.

For anyone wondering if it’s still hot in Sicily at this time of year, I can confirm – it’s hellish hot!! Even though the locals think it has cooled off a lot from the hellish summer heat (which it has) and may be wearing an extra layer.

We wisely chose the option that has us paying 3 euro each for a taxi to the top of the site, thus having the walk through it be downhill.

Just to be walking around and amidst these ancient buildings was truly amazing and an experience right up there with seeing the Parthenon and Acropolis in Athens, which we did on our honeymoon, 40 years ago.

We (gratefully) made our way back down to our car, but near the end we happened upon a Medieval display of clothing, tools and remedies. They were just getting set up, but Joan got this amazing photo of these characters.

I got the lesser shot, from behind.

I thought this one was fun though, these two were asking a Medieval character for directions and he was happy to oblige.

The cactus pears are kind of cool, but not the easiest to get a great photo of. Too much direct sun – the bane of all photographers.

The food here in Western Sicily is a bit different than what we had experienced in Eastern Sicily. More meat, less pasta and pizza, caponata (broad bean soup) and some very interesting translations that I should have been making note of along the way. Last night I had “cube meat with ash oil” and it was actually just a grilled piece of meat and then there were the “Sicilian style pork bags”. I will let you all take your best guesses on that one!

Tonight we wanted to sit outside with a view (our hotel caters to big tour groups and the restaurant is in the basement!), so on the recommendation of the concierge, we walked to a nearby restaurant whose name we can’t pronounce – lots of “g”s.

This was the view along the way:

Dinner was amazing – get ready for some serious food porn, start with the warm tomato and burrata salad:

Don and I had our first beef Wellingtons, they were so good. A little puréed potato would have been a nice addition, but it was absolutely delicious.

The pool area back at our hotel was extremely inviting, but when dinner doesn’t start until 7:30 pm, it isn’t over until half past bedtime, so you can take the Canadian out of Canada but you can’t take the Canada out of the Canadian. Or something like that.

Stay tuned for our next adventure – heading to Trapani tomorrow.

Travel days are always a bit stressful, especially when you are not sure if your vehicle and/or its hubcaps will still be where you left them three days ago with a couple of gypsies.

Don, the seasoned traveller – two carry ons, two totes, some cheese and salami and half a bottle of red.

But, Good News!! Car is good condition and the gypsy guy compensated with another couple of euros, and we are off and running. On to the hill top town of Modica.

I know Don and I managed to get ourselves from Greece to the top of Scotland back in the 80s, but now we don’t know how we would find our own backsides without Google maps. Seems totally impossible, but we’re glad we did it and even more glad that we don’t have to do it that way anymore.

We arrived in Modica at about 10;30 — even before check out time, but were greeted warmly by reception and told that we could have a drink and relax if we wanted and even use the pool while we waited. Don took that to mean that the bar was open, and ordered us all beers. Which we enjoyed, looking at our view:

Modica is gorgeous!

A swim and a bite to eat were in order before heading down the 200 steps at least, to town.

At the bottom of the stairs is another set of stairs up to the cathedral.

It’s pretty cool

With angels . . .

Our hotel is at the tippy top of the cliff.

Next item on the agenda was to taste the famous Aztecan chocolate – apparently Spanish explorers brought it back from the new world and it is still prepared as it was then – without heating. Which makes it a bit grittier and flavourful (we think – after innumerable tasters). Of course we bought quite a few bars and a cannoli each as well. The lady said that the outside was coated with chips and Joan was pretty excited when she thought it was potato chips. But alas and alack, it was pistachio chips. Although Joan may be on to a new way to coat the outside of the ancient cannolis.

Don had to pose in front of his favourite car.

So many churches – this one is at the very top on the other side of the cliff from our hotel.

We found the restaurant that our hotel and Rick Steves recommended, but it didn’t open until 7, so we had to stop for a drink. Or two.

The restaurant is quite the place – full of locals, and a tour from the US. We tried the caponata (bean soup served in fondue pots) and other regional dishes. It was a nice change from pizza and pasta (but we’re not complaining!).

Absolutely delish. Then we asked them if it was possible to call a taxi for us. They said they would try, but there were only seven taxis in town. We got lucky on the seventh one – whew! Don wanted us to trudge back up the hill, but he got out voted. Best ten euros we ever spent.

And the night view from our hotel is absolutely priceless.

We are reluctant to leave, but tomorrow we head to Agrigento and there is a pool there too, so we are okay with it. Next time, we will stay longer here.

There are many, many tiny lanes in Ortigia. We went down lots of them today and only hit one dead end. All the rest lead somewhere, which lead to somewhere else.

These two little sweeties were following Don from the courtyard into the little church until they realized that their parents weren’t still with them.

More handsome carabineri just standing around doing nothing. No wonder these G7 and similar events cost so much – the entire security sector is busy standing around waiting for who knows what. We haven’t seen anything “happen” yet.

I thought David, Cam and Kaiden might like these cute lemon ties, until I saw the price. Not our kind of store. . .

This is what Don does every time I enter a store. Although he is in the market for a new hat. None of these were “the one”.

Eventually we came upon the market – look at all the different sizes of delicious tomatoes. And another lady had massive amounts of tomato paste and sun dried tomatoes.

This guy was really hawking his wares, it was quite charming, but I didn’t get a video of him.

We had bought some meat, cheese and olives from this deli at the end of the market yesterday, but today we were early enough to snag a table. Fantastic people watching and the huge sandwich that we shared was delish. We have been ordering the house wine here in Sicily and it has been cheap AND good. Six euro for a half litre. I learned how to order another half litre from our server today: anchora la meta per favoure.

Success!! Brava!!

Ortigia is a seafood lover’s paradise. Luckily for me (definitely not a seafood lover), there is always pasta and/or pizza on the menu. Not my fault if I have to have pizza twice in one day. (It has only happened once so far.)

This guy was hawking his wares too, but stopped after one sentence and then started up as soon as I stopped taping.

We really enjoyed our day of aimless wandering. I had an iced coffee that was like slushy soft ice cream. The first time I got the piccolo (small), which unfortunately meant really small (the size of a large shot glass). So then I went back in with my licked clean shot glass and said, “bisogno una grande” (I need a large). Which still wasn’t all that large, but good enough to satisfy and even share a bit with Don. Yum!

Tomorrow we leave Ortigia behind and head for the hill towns of Noto and Modica. We will be staying in Modica for one night enroute to Agrigento, and we really have only one “must do” on a the list – eat chocolate.

That should be a fun stop.

Look up! Look waaaay up! That is where Castelmola is from Taormina. Of course, the only rational choice was to take a taxi.

Feels like the very top of the world

There are the remains of a wall from the Hellenic period. Probably a good choice strategy-wise, but a helluva slog to bring up supplies.

It’s a tiny village, with a few shops and more restaurants. Main claim to fame is the Turrisi Penis Bar.

Joan and I did some window shopping and some real shopping, and here is where we found the men (one of whom is trying not to be found yet):

A fabulous little car and a cute little girl later, and we headed back down the hill.

How do you say, “We’re in Italy” without saying a word?

A little lunch and then it was time to head back to our hotel for a little siesta.

Another day, another wedding . . .

And more beautiful people

Definitely drinks at our roof top bar

Two pizza, a bottle of wine and four gelatos later, we are ready to pack it in. Tomorrow we have a reservation at the resort made famous by the White Lotus series. 40 euro pizza – can’t wait.

After a bit of a rough introduction to the island yesterday, today was a wonderful surprise. Taormina is absolutely gorgeous. Colourful and beautiful people crowding the streets, stores brimming with unusual (and kitschy) wares, and so many places to get gelato, freshly made pistachio brittle, granita,wine, beer, chocolate – pretty much anything you could desire. And the clothes . . . Oh the clothes . . .

Not to mention ridiculously impractical – but exquisite – handmade baby items. A looky loo’s dream streets.

Check out the street vacuum:

We checked out a few churches while following Rick Steves’ walking route.

We followed the route and made it to all but the acropolis before we decided that it was time for lunch,

Definitely time for a siesta before carrying on with our sightseeing.

Then it was on to the ancient acropolis and all the sites along the way.

Finally, we made it to the ancient acropolis and it didn’t disappoint.

So that’s it for – I’m going to call it Day 1 in Sicilia (“Sichilia”) because I would very much like to forget yesterday.

Until tomorrow friends . . .

Sicily here we come! Only an hour’s drive to return the car, a shuttle to the airport, two flights and another shuttle before we get to our next destination – Taormina.

We needed to leave Greve by 7:00 am in order to have time to return our car and for Tina and Dave to check in for their 9:45 flight to Munich. Sounded early the night before, but at 5:00 am I was wide awake anyway, so that made it easier. Maybe all that wine last night helped, but I had a pretty good sleep.

So off we went, a few minutes before 7 and made it to the car rental place with only one wrong turn just before the end.

We were there in plenty of time, said our good-byes to our dear friends, and then Don and I had no trouble boarding our first flight with our overweight carry ons and two massive “personal items”. Even though, when we were waiting near a different gate, I saw several people made to check their items and be charged 65 euros to boot. I think it is very much up to the discretion of the flight attendants at the gate. Our lady didn’t seem too bothered.

That small kindness really helped us at our Rome connection, because then all we had to do was move from the gate we arrived at to the gate we were departing from without further ado. Which we did. And grabbed two amazing paninis on the way to eat later, since both of our puddle jumpers have no food service. Best airport sandwiches we have ever had – prociutto cotto e fromaggio.

We eventually boarded our flight to Catania, Sicily and are currently in the air as I am typing this part of the blog. We can hardly wait to land, grab the shuttle to Taormina, and meet up with our friends Joan and Mike, who are waiting for us at our hotel there.

We are definitely looking forward to four blissful days of no planes, trains, busses or automobiles.

As we were hurrying up and waiting for the second time today, we decided that future travel is not going to include connections on the same day. Wherever we land first, that is where we are going to stay. For at least three days. Then, we will try to plan a minimal amount of moving from one place to another for the balance of the trip. It’s just not that fun anymore. Though I do still get a thrill when we finally take off and are on our way.

After a bit of a rough start (I think Tina and Dave probably made it home before we got to Taormina), I think Sicily might be starting to grow on us. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

It was an early start today – off to Siena to see the famous cathedral and the Piazza Campo, where they hold the famous Palio horse races. Not a lot to write about – I will let the images of the cathedral and the Piccolomini Library speak for themselves.

Funny story about this painting. Don and I are standing there, admiring it, when he leans in and says, “I wonder who that guy was?”. I look at him for a moment and said, “Are you kidding?”. “No”. I pulled out his ear and whispered, “it’s Jesus Crist”. “Oh” he said, looking for carefully and not quite believing me.

Then it was off to the Il Campo Piazza for a bit of lunch before heading home. Pretty much our first sandwich in two weeks!

Then it was off home for a well-earned siesta, charcuterie dinner on the patio, and off for an early night. Tomorrow will be our last full day together with Tina and Dave here in Italy, so our only plans so far are to chill, do some shopping here in Greve, and meet up with Don’s siblings for dinner (long story).

Over and out for today.