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This morning we were just a moment too late to capture the entirety of this beautiful cake.

Our hostess makes the most incredible breakfast cakes (yes! – I have found my country!!), including the one I had again this morning, an olive oil cake made with regular and almond flour. Laced with European butter and drizzled with honey from their own bees. Heaven on a plate.

Here’s us back in our room, planning our day. Or as I like to call it, me trying to show Don the difference between a photo of something and a selfie.

Then it was on to a luxe winery at Castello di Paneretta. Had to make a reservation, which turned out to be worth it and for which we were the only people on the tour.

A nice young man met us at the gate and showed us the current wine in process, the cellars, and the dining room of the castle, which dates in part from the 16C. Sold to current owners in 1984 and they have renovated and continued to expand and improve the existing wine production.

After the tour came the tasting – the best part of course – and we really did learn some things we had never heard before.

Back to our lodgings for a nap (me) and a lounger by the pool (Don) before we headed out to an old favourite for dinner.

The first time we were in Volpaia, we had lunch or dinner at a tiny outside bistro and noticed that there was a small gang of neighbourhood dogs, carousing around and living their best lives. One of them was a tiny wiener dog that the lady told us was called Arturo. He lived up the street and went home at night. He might have been one of the reasons we ended up with two wiener dogs a few years later.

Anyway, Arturo is long gone, but we still love little Volpaia, so we headed up there today to find some pizza for an early dinner. We shared an outdoor table with three charming ladies, two from Nova Scotia and one from Holland. Then had a stroll around the medieval centre of the village.

Tiny and picturesque, including two churches for what can’t be more than a handful of permanent residents.

So that’s it for today – who knows what tomorrow will bring!?!

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em as they say. Ordering a caffe latte has not netted me exactly what I have been hankering for so this morning I joined the rank and file and said yes to a cappuccino. How gorgeous is this?

Gone in three sips, but you can always order another one.

Duly caffeinated, we headed out for an easy day in Greve.

Because we have been in Greve quite a few times now, I didn’t actually take any photos of it. Probably should have taken one of the piazza, just for posterity.

We are still feeling quite jet lagged and so got a couple of bottles of water and found a locals’ bench. These aren’t just for locals, but tell that to the two ladies with canes, shopping bags and the tops of their knee-highs showing or the tiny elderly lady who said buongiorno to us as she walked by.

Had lunch at one of our favourite places – the owner is a Character (to say the least). Start with a free welcome drink of Prosecco (I get both glasses because Don doesn’t like it), good food, and a free dessert. At dinner, you get a free limoncello or vin sante. Their family also has a winery (of course) and have named their wine after themselves, Mamma, Pappa and this guy, Alessandro.

The rain that was forecast to arrive at about 4:00 arrived – with a bang – at about 1:00. We were sitting outside, but moved to under a big umbrella as the staff scrambled to uncover the tables and stack the chairs. There is something quite magical about sitting outside, dry under the umbrella , and sipping wine while the rain, thunder and lightning unleash their wrath.

So we had another glass of wine and waited for the storm to pass, which it didn’t, and eventually we had to say “Ciao!” And head off into the torrent. It was a similar situation when we met with a bunch of family members here in 2024 – pouring rain and pizza boxes over our heads for cover. Good times.

Back to our place for a nap. Nothing to do but wait it out. After I moved the fallen tree out of the road for Don to pass, that is.

Napping with the rain as a lullaby is one of my favourite things.

And then , as if by magic . . . The sun returned and made everything beautiful again.

We headed down to the pool area, got another bottle of wine, and enjoyed the fresh smell of olive groves after a rain.

Not the most exciting day, but then that is not the goal of this particular trip. This trip is for just savouring the experience of this beautiful country, these beautiful people and the beautiful weather – whatever that may happen to be.

Tomorrow is the first day of the Panzano Wine Festival. We will definitely be hitting that up, and parking where the locals park – cuz we feel just the tiniest bit like locals this time around.

Ok – not really, but it was raining and there were chickens!

We are staying in a different place this time for our stay in Greve in Chianti. Situated just out of Panzano, this place is very remote (you may have heard Don cursing on the last two kms of vertical gravel road to our restored medieval farmhouse and outbuildings). It is still a working farm, producing wine, honey and olive oil. And fresh eggs apparently.

We only stopped long enough to drop our bags and then took the same (and only) route back out, with somewhat less cursing on Don’s part. It’s going to get better once we are used to it. This road is one of the many reasons we spring for zero deductible insurance!

So back to Panzano to a restaurant that we remembered from previous visits. These days, they are all about the reservations, so as walk ins, we were seated as far away from the view seats as humanly possible. But we know about this and it is just the way it is – when we can, we make reservations.

But because of this seating, we met the nicest Dutch couple (also walk ins) who had just gotten engaged – at the opera in Verona!

And we had the kind of wonderful conversation with complete strangers that you only seem to have when you are traveling.

We were feeling quite proud of ourselves, getting our car at Avis, negotiating the toll gates to the highway, arriving at our accommodations without getting lost, and parking in the lot only the locals know about. And we saved a bunch – Avis offered to take care of the tolls for the sum of 10 euros per day, which would amount to about 190 euros. We’re like – what? – the tolls aren’t that much – so hard pass. She tried to negotiate a few euros off – still no. Then we went through the toll and it cost 80 cents. Won’t face another toll until the one day we head to Assisi – might be a few euro. Now THAT is a racket – designed for travellers who might think the tolls are expensive and Avis is doing them a big favour by taking care of them. Hah!

Panzano is a small village only about 10 kilometres past Greve. And they just happen to be having their annual wine festival while we are here. Almost like we planned it.

So back down our road to our place and out to the pool. We just got settled in the lounge chairs when we started to feel the sparkle of tiny rain on a hot day. None of the guests moved – it felt really nice.

Then there were the free range (and this is the best kind of free) chickens. Clucking all around us, they were here and there finding all kinds of seeds and whatever they were looking for.

Now the sun has set and Don is trying to stay awake by watching girls U20 soccer (China v. Italy) narrated in Italian. Another early night trying to get over geriatric jet lag, which is no joke by the way.

So Buona Notte from beautiful Tuscany – we can hardly wait to see what tomorrow brings. xx

Travel days are harder when you are older. That is a new truth. [Insert a lot of grumbling here.}

However, all is forgiven after a quick swim in an unheated pool and that first icy drink on the Piazza Della Signoria, watching the passing peasants (“other” tourists who haven’t had the sense to stop and get a drink yet!) and contemplating pizza choices.

Still worth it. The desserts at this place look amazing. As I was taking a pic, the waiter jokingly turned off the light on the glass case – I guess they have to get their kicks where they can in tourist season.

There was a loud table of tourists just behind Don and in my line of sight. I can’t fault them too much (though there were definitely a few cringy things), but every time the waiter turned away from a seemingly happy and engaging interaction with them, he had a “look”. I couldn’t blame him really, they were obviously going to be big tippers. I told Don that I really wanted to go over and talk to the one lady, who seemed to be “in charge” and let her know that the word is pronounced “Gra-tzee-eh” and not “Gratzee”. On our last trip, an Italian asked me why oh why the Americans pronounced it this way.

Don’t worry – I didn’t.

Then on the way home we saw a huge Diner en Blanc starting to take shape. Long tables and beautiful people.

We did manage to stay up until 9pm.

This morning we got an early start – even though we had absolutely nothing planned for the day. Except to take some exceptional shots as we wandered.

The Arno was so calm.

Lunch was at a steak place (as it turns out). Anyone who has eaten with us in the last year or so knows we have to share things, and I don’t know if you know about Florentine steaks, but they are massive and for sharing with the whole family. Although the young Chinese couple next to us actually ordered a pasta each, with a steak to follow. We wanted to see it, but finished and left before the steak arrived.

We shared bruschetta and a wild boar pasta, and we couldn’t even finish that. You could smell the garlic as the bruschetta was being served and oh . . . the tomatoes . . .

Back to our room for a two hour nap and we are back at the pool. Next stop – dinner! Ah la vita Bella . . .

If anyone of our readers is still out there, please drop a like on this post so I know you’re there. We are leaving on Sunday so stay tuned for some great pictures and some new posts. Ciao. 

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.