what does a semblance of normalcy look like?

September 4th, 2010

Had some good news during the week – the insurance claim for the stuff we lost in Barcelona is coming through. Still to see final details, but it looks like we’ll get 65 cents in the dollar (not new for old replacement) for the the things that were stolen. I have to use some of that to reimburse my work for the iPhone (that has now been replaced with an iPhone 4 which is very nice) and then we’ll have to slowly get things like glasses, jacket, back pack, camera, etc. replaced.

We’ve been home for six weeks already and things are fairly well back to normal routines. The travel/holiday, conference/workshop and the theft did create a bit of a disturbance in the flow of life. Getting back to home & work, and working on the insurance claim was a huge effort, but I can see a sense of normalcy coming back to life now that that’s over. I expect though, that there will be something else just around the corner to upset the equilibrium soon enough. Not really sure what a normal life is like but there’s the familiar routines with the little drama spikes that appear now & then.

In the mean time I have to still sort out how the budget went, process the photos, and finish some blog posts. It will be an exercise to remember what we did over the last few weeks I still have to write about, but I’m expecting the photos to be good prompts…

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it’s all over and home sweet home…

July 18th, 2010

We’ve arrived home safely (with all our luggage & after 24 hours of travelling) to familiarity and much colder weather. Cold, cloudy, overcast and the heating has been on at 21C – in we had the air conditioning set between 19 & 21C! Great to catch up with family again and have started telling our stories. We had a fantastic adventure, seen many wonderful things and have lots of memories to savour. We do keep busy and make the most of the opportunity to see and experience as much as we can while we are away. There’s lots of rushing around and the days are filled with walking so we’re tired but will be buzzing from it all for a while… I’m keen to complete the blog posts of the trip (had started a few when the netbook was stolen) so please keeping checking for updates. There’s still a couple of weeks to come and there will be more photos as well.

We’ve really appreciated the comments of support on the blog and elsewhere, thanks. Everything’s worked out so far, with emergency passports & credit card arriving in time for us to head home – now I have to work on an insurance claim. Work again tomorrow, but that’s OK – will be good to get back into things and see what’s happened while we’ve been away. Ciao for now.

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a little inconvenience

July 8th, 2010

Well, it´s happened and Barcelona has lived up to its reputation. I´m embarrassed to admit that my backpack was stolen from under my nose (while it was facing the other way) and we´ve lost a bunch of very important and precious stuff (inc. netbook, passports, phones – the whole kitchen sink as it were). We´ve done as much as possible to organise police reports etc. and hope to have replacement passports before we have to leave Spain. Lots of other people in the same boat as we noticed at the police station & consulate. Coping reasonably well, and probably suffering shock, but we´re OK. Maryann´s been very helpful and a great support.

So, reporting from the PLE Conference and only a short post till I get my wits together (but maybe not any more till we get home).

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Day 23 – On the trains to Riomaggiore via Firenze, Pisa, La Spezia

July 2nd, 2010

Our room wasn’t a B&B so we had to make our own breakfast and enjoyed some ‘Grancereale’ with some Muller bianco yoghurt. We wanted to see the frescoes (apparently to rival those in the Sistine Chapel) in the Basilica of San Francesco (must find out what makes a church a basilica) which opened at 9:00, so headed out early and followed the girl into the ticket office after a security guard unlocked the doors. Had to wait while the computers booted up and then enjoyed the peace and quiet in the old church with only a few other people. Wonderful to see the old paintings in the Bacci Chapel (which houses the fresco cycle of the ‘Legend of the True Cross‘ (painted in the 1450s) and thankful that we could read the explanations about them as they didn’t follow any recognisable Bible stories. It’s a same that these wonderful artworks are so fragile being painted on render of stone work. Most of the paintings we saw have been restored as time, neglect, and probably cost, have meant they had deteriorated badly.

Did another lap of the old town and through the Piazza Grande which looked different in the morning compared to yesterday evening. They filmed ‘Life is Beautiful‘ in Arezzo and have some signs depicting scenes from the film in the places where they were shot. Might have to watch the film again and look out for the recognisable landmarks we’ve visited. Up the sloping street to the cathedral with a marvelous interior and a few people practicing some singing in accompaniment to the organ. It sounded lovely and then we realised that a wedding was imminent as people were congregating outside and photographers where taking photos of couple (parents of the bride & groom?) as they were entering the church. Amazing that all this goes on while tourists and other church goers/users are wandering around…

Down to the station in time to catch a train that would allow to to make a couple of other connections during the day and would get us to the beginning of the Cinque Terra mid afternoon. Changed trains in Florence and had to wait a bit for one that would stop in Pisa and managed to catch another train within five minutes in Pisa that went to Turin but would stop in La Sezia where we needed to change again before stopping in Riomaggiore. Lugging the bags up & down stairs is testing my shoulders a little but it’s manageable. The trains that you can walk straight onto are good, but the ones with a couple of large, high, narrow steps are tricky to negotiate with 15 kgs in each hand. After Pisa we were close to the coast and could see the scars of marble mining/harvesting in the mountains near Massa & Carara.

In Riomaggiore it was a hot climb to the accommodation office, from where we had to climb even further to reach our rooms just of a piazza with a church. We had to climb up a set of narrow, steep stairs (minding our heads) to get to our little apartment (sharing a balcony with a couple next door & their little baby) with kitchen and washing machine. So, taking advantage of the facilities a load of washing went in, and we decided to cook our own dinner and eat it (wormy pasta, pesto, sausage, roasted pine nuts, tomatoes and mozzerella, along with some with some Rubentino Chianti) on the three people only balcony, before checking out the ‘Lovers Lane‘ (first section of the Cinque Terra walk from Riomaggiore to Manarola. Very pleasant to do this at the end of a hot day with the sun going down over the headland behind Monterosso 8-9 kms away. It’s all very picturesque alongside the water and in the quaint towns built in steep hillside of valleys, but it’s starting to get busy with other tourists (and the locals are taking every opportunity to cash in) – I can’t imagine what it will be like during peak season in a few more weeks…

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Day 22 – Arezzo through the mountains to Roma and then north towards Florence

July 2nd, 2010

Had time after breakfast for another quick lap of the town on the lookout for some bread. The town is sprucing itself up for a visit from the Pope on the 4th of July so lots of painting, scaffolding and closed roads which we think is getting on the nerves of many of the locals. One of the main thoroughfares was closed except for a narrow pedestrian access, and had a bunch of guys re laying the cobblestones. While we were watching i commented to an old guy next to me that it looked like hard work. He nodded and asked if I was American, and I noted something familiar in his accent. I said no, “I’m from Ourstraarlia” (Australia). He then told me he’d lived there for 20 years, “In Lilydale”. We had a chuckle and swapped stories for a bit. He’s been back in Italy for 35 years etc. etc.

Apparently Sulmona is the capital for ‘confetti’, which is Italian bonbonieri used for decorating wedding tables for guests to take home & is a symbol of fertility. It’s basically sugar coated almonds and made up to look like flowers and other decorative motifs.

A very scenic train ride through the mountains to Rome and stopped in Tirbutina station – had to wait 40 minutes for the train to Florence which would stop for us at Arezzo. I found a bench and sat down with our bags while the girls went off to check out a bookshop. Very interesting to sit at a big railway station and watch the goings on. There was room next to me for a person to sit and it was variously occupied by, a young lady who immediately started smoking so i made my displeasure obvious by turning my back to her, a couple indian guys (one sat on the end/armrest), a young student who read her notes for a bit, a young bloke who was busy checking through the contents of his bag till he found what he was after, a middle aged lady who was dressed up very nicely and became very occupied with her fingernail polish and began picking off bits where it was peeling, another young lady who was working nearby at the SKY booth (selling cable TV I suppose) and who managed to talk on her mobile for about 15 minutes (raising her voice and wildly gesticulating most of the time), an large elderly lady who got comfortable but moved fairly quickly when a nearby bench was vacated by a middle-aged couple who said goodbye to each other and went their separate ways. Behind me on a bench that backed onto mine, similar movements of people were going on. A young family with a couple of kids eating gelato, a couple who where very interested in other, two female back-packers taking a load off for a while, and a few others I didn’t notice. There was one bench occupied by a single person (who may have been homeless), who had filled the bench with lots of plastic bags, blankets, thick jacket etc. She just sat there, doing a little looking around but not really very interested in what was happening. Short, rotund, wearing a white T shirt a little overdue for a wash, navy track pants, white socks and blue canvas shoes, she peered at the world through glasses that seemed a little too thick. At one point she asked a young girl who had sat on the next bench, to mind her stuff while she went off and came back with a sandwich. I don’t think any one walking past had considered taking any of her things. In amongst her stuff she found a drink bottle that was wrapped up in some paper and bags. After having some, spent a long time and was very particular about wrapping it all up again. Bag within bag, and all needing to be tied up with a double knot and then finally wrapped up with newspaper. An interesting half an hour and I also managed to read a bit of my book before the girls came back with some gelato and we headed off for binari 10 for the train.

On our train to Arrezzo we met a guy in our section of the train who was reading a book on neurology. He’s an artist who makes traditional paper mache masks and was on his way home to Firenze. Great to have a natter about life, philosophy etc. Good fun trying to understand each other… He actually helped us out because we had to ring the accommodation place and the temporary help (Dana) couldn’t speak english and we needed to find out where to find the key.

We got out of the wrong side of the station at Arezzo, but that was OK because we found a good supermarket. Walked across to the old town and found our accommodation after picking up the key from Dana at the Bar San Libertino (when we leave we have to put the keys and the balance of 30 euors in the letter box). A small apartment with two rooms and a bathroom guess the kitchen was for when the regular owners were home). We were on the second floor on a corner with one window looking out over the street and the other over a piazza with a church in it! Had a picnic in our room and headed out for a wander. An amazing looking town. Beautiful belvedere looking our over the old city walls. Nice garden at the top of town behind the cathedral. There’s an escalator that takes you down to a huge car park outside the old city walls… The Piazza Grande is an open, sloping square (a lot like Sienna’s) where they have an annual jousting tournament (rather than a horse race) against ‘the Sarasan’ who is a dummy set up in the square and the ‘knights’ score points if they hit the target/shield or break their lance. The Saracen pivots when you hit his shield and he has a rope in his other arm that can swing round and hit the jouster who then loses points. It must be a hoot, with lots of pomp and pageantry as each of the four quarters/sections of the city are represented. Wandered back towards our lodgings and listened to a little live music in the Piazza San Francesco and then down to the Porto Libertino to see the Chimera statue which is a copy of an Etruscan bronze they found when digging at the wall/gate. A mortally wounded lion with a goat sticking out of its back, and with a snake for a tail (maybe a version of the St. George & the dragon myth?)…

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Day 21 – up amongst the mountains to Sulmona via Bari & Pescara

July 2nd, 2010

Enjoyed our night in our trulli, up early, and a coffee was made in the pot on the stove while I went and found some pastries down the street. Had to go to a restaurant for our breakfast (like in Lecce) but we got more that a coffee and croissant – we actually had bacon & eggs! Excellent service – being waited on by three attentive guys that wanted us to come back for a meal (but we were leaving town later in the morning), and we indulged from the buffet with cake, cereal, & yoghurt. Most of the old town streets had developed into an open-air market and we had time to wander around the transformed car parks looking at shoes, clothes, linen and fresh produce. Lots of interesting things to see, and I noticed the fellow (below) arranging the celery, but Wendy didn’t…

Travelled to Bari on the train and bought tickets to Pescara (*note to reader[s] – you should be following our travels on a map or atlas as it will do wonders for your geography) and thought we’d got some window seats but didn’t. Slightly upset because these tickets cost 25 euros each and our compartment had five people in the six seats while two compartments next to us had one each! This was an InterCity train and you get a reserved seat which is where you have to sit. A young guy and also a girl shared our space – they didn’t talk, but we did and once we pulled out our large ‘Rough Guide’ map of Italy we were able to engage with her and chatted about our travels. In Pescara, raced around trying to get off the platforms and had to go down and out & back in again before I could tickets for the next leg while the girls waited on the platform. Not very well sign posted for travellers in a rush. The next train that would get us to Sulmona was in five minutes, so a mad dash back up, and down, & up again, as we had to move across platforms. Had about a minute spare! Just a little bit too exciting – but good to be on the right train. A very scenic ride to Sulmona with the train weaving along a valley and through tunnels and following an elevated roadway.

As we pulled into one of the stops along the way, a young bloke seemed to be loitering behind Maryann who was standing at the window. He seemed to be undecided about something, and as the train pulled to a stop, rushed past us and gave something to a girl behind us, said something, and jumped off the train. He had given her some sort of note (written in rough block letters and finished with ‘CIAO’ (yes, dear reader I did sneak a look over the back of the seat). The girl read quietly and then rang a friend and had a chuckle about it, and then she got off at the next stop. We can only imagine what the note may have said. It was nice that the third train trip for the day wasn’t as crowded as the previous two. A fairly long day on the trains today and a couple more to go before we get all the way up & across Italy to Riomaggiore, the beginning of the Italian Riviera at the Cinque Terra.

Caught the local bus up to town and got off the bus a little too early (someone misunderstood our question) and asked a lady for directions and she turned out to speak very good english. She’d been born in Sulmona and married an Englishman and had come back for a visit because the Pope was coming. Checked into our digs and took a turn around the centro and enjoyed the atmosphere with everybody out doing their stroll. Groups of old men chatting and gesticulating, old ladies on the benches clasping handbags in their laps. Past the fountain, under the ancient aquaduct, and through Piazza Garibaldi with lots of scaffolding and chairs piled up getting ready for a big event. Later we checked out three restaurants on the map before we found one that was open and tried some pasta. I had mine served but the girls were still waiting after I’d finished! Apparently the waiter mixed up the order and a couple on another table got the girl’s cabonaras, and they had to wait while they made up some more. We didn’t find out about this till later though, and were a little annoyed that we paid then 4.50 euros for service and no apology!

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Day 20 – Lecce to Alberobello and a detour underground…

June 28th, 2010

We were served by the same waiter for ‘breakfast’ at Cin Cin this morning. He is from Afghanistan, been in Italy for seven years and speaks reasonable English. He said it was a struggle to get ahead as the waiter job just covers living expenses and he’d like to go to university. I dashed off to the supermarket for some supplies while the girls went to see if the book shop was open. The bookshop didn’t open till 10 and then closes at 12 and re-opens from 4 – 9. Crazy hours for business from our point of view. We heard a telephone ring nearby and saw one on a pillar of the verandah, and a guy wandered over from his taxi and answered it. It was the local, plug in your own phone, taxi rank just outside Cin Cin. Rather odd way to get your fares, but obviously effective… I’ve been collecting photos of manhole covers and noticed one with the old roman symbol (fasc/community) of some sticks bound together with leather and including an axe, representing the strength in numbers of those with a similar cause. The fascists used this as their symbol early last century and strange to see it on some manhole covers…

Picked up some coffee and more pasticaotto (our most favourite pastry so far) on the way to the station and then took a little time to find platform (binari) 6 for the FSE (regional) train (rather than Trenitallia). The sottopassaggato (underground walkway/subway to the platforms) only had platforms 1 to 5 listed but someone told that 6 & 7 were on the other side of a train waiting at platform 5. So, walked to the end of the train and walked across the tracks to the next set of platforms to wait for the 10:26 to Alberobello. Enjoyed a quiet trip and the scenery of farms, olive groves dotted with trullis. Trulli are unique small houses with conical roofs made out of stone that the locals built to dodge the rates inspector. They’d dismantle them, taking the roof apart before he came, and declare that they didn’t have a permanent house and therefore shouldn’t have to pay the rates tax. We’ll be staying in one tonight.

Donato was able to meet us at his office early and he took us to number 34 via M. Nero which was our very own tiny trulli house. Sweet! Small living area with sideboard, cupboard & table, two alcoves with beds in them, a tiny kitchen and bathroom. On the outside, our home had three conical roofs and a chimney were the stove range-hood vents too. Very comfortable and homely.

Wendy had read about the caves at Grotte di Castejlana, and  with the help of a girl at the information point down our street, we worked out that we could get there and back before it got too late. In the meantime we took a saunter around the streets marvelling at all the little houses and their quaint rocky roofs. They are quite low to the ground and often the edges of the roofs are at eye level. I’m not sure of the construction process, but the flat slabs of stone are just layered up getting smaller the higher they go. Capped off with little flat round rocks they do look impressive. When two cones meet on the one house,  the two meld into each other, or there is a gutter to help direct the water out onto the street. It seems many of the houses that face onto the street have been turned into shops and people sit outside inviting the passerby to come in and look at the authentic regional artefacts and wares, or the view from upstairs form a window or balcony. I lost the girls for a moment and found them in a house/shop with the main/front room full of a weaving loom. The proprietress had made some lovely scarves and ended up selling us a couple. I noticed a hole in the ceiling with a ladder hanging out and she told us that that was where they sleep. No waste of space with an internal staircase here… One side of the town has  1000 trulli most of which are shops and the other side has 400 which are mostly domestic dwellings. We wandered over to the non-commercial sector and overheard one guy telling an Italian tourist who was taking a photo that he couldn’t live here any more because he was a victim, held captive by the tourist gaze. I could understand his point – people wandering around the neighbourhood taking photos of me & my house would upset me too! It is difficult to walk around and not take photos – it’s all very photogenic, but as a visitor/guest, you can show some discretion.

The  3 km round trip underground was just fabulous, and can easily compare with our Jenolan or Margaret River caves.
The tour in english was at the wrong time so we had to settle for an Italian one, but a couple of people helped out with translations. Met Andre (a retired businessman) who was from Florence and travelling around southern Italy (because it was cheap) and trying out a campervan. He spoke good english and had lots of questions about Australia. They are thinking about coming out for a visit and buying a camper-van and seeing a bit of the country. Also another guy with good english who had travelled a little, and been to see the caves a few times before. His grandfather’s brother had help the guy who discovered the caves explore them further and he kept coming along in respect to them. This guy’s wife bumped her head on a rock ledge and a guide raced up to a first aid box (a hundred metres along the path) and grabbed a bag of ice and went back to help her. By the time we’d got back to the surface she had a really nice egg on her head, luckily no broken skin.

Back in time and just made it to a small supermarket for some supplies for a picnic dinner of nuts & dried fruit, eggs & bread, and peaches & yoghurt.

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Day 19 – Lecce is made from stone (some of it carved extravagently)

June 28th, 2010

Beautiful sunny morning and had to head out to get out breakfast (using a voucher) from the Cin Cin Cafe. Ordered a coffee and asked for pastiocotto’s – liked them very much. A sort of light, crumbly, almond cake filled with light lemon cream/soft custard (the closest we’d have to this would be something like a vanilla slice, but you can’t really compare them). Hmmm.

Lecce’s a nice compact old town good for wandering around, making sure you keep looking up to see what’s above street level. Lots of amazing porticos, doorways, balconies, carvings, windows and sculptured bits. The town is built mostly of a stone called St. Pietro (something) and has a nice golden, creamy glow in the early morning light, but fades out when the sun is overhead. Went to find a supermarket and wandered through the outdoor market set up along the est side of the old castle. Lots of household goods, flowers & plants, clothes, shoes etc., and I nearly bought something but they didn’t have my size. Did a few laps/blocks before we found the underground Carrefoure supermarket and then back through the public gardens where we heard a whistle and saw a uniformed person having a go at a young person for littering. We’d also seen a parking inspector blow a whistle while reaching for his book to write a ticket and within 5 seconds a woman appeared and hopped in the car and drove away. Very interesting that you get a warning just before they book you…

Lecce is also know as the Florence of the south with a distinct baroque flavour to many of the buildings. The decorations on a few churches here is to be seen to be believed. Way over the top, and so much detailed carving and sculpture, all thanks to the talent of the brothers Antonio and Guiseppe Zimbalo. We just made it to the Basilica de Santa Croce before they shut at 12:00, and the old church is a highlight – the more you look at the facade the more you notice in the intricate detail.

Had a little rest before heading out again in the quiet afternoon to wander the streets. Found the three old gates that would have been built into the walls of the old city. Enjoyed the meander through the mostly deserted streets while siesta was happening and managed to get into the duomo just as it opened again at 5 o’clock (unfortunately we couldn’t get into the crypt with its 98 columns). Things started to get busy with lots of people coming our for their stroll and much gelato was being consumed. I can’t understand how all the expensive boutiques survive – but then maybe they don’t need to sell much at their prices to turn a profit…

Tried some more local cuisine for dinner and ended up in the vaulted second floor of a restaurant and took a while to decipher the menu. An Italian gentleman at the next table helped us a bit and I ended up with a steak, Maryann some gnocchi and Wendy some slabs of fried cheese! We had a giggle over that and did share some of our food/flavours around so Wendy wouldn’t get too much carbohydrate in her diet. The cheese was nice enough, but it was really just two chunks/medallions of pan fried cheese the size of a piece of thick sliced toast bread, but round. We asked for a 1/4 of house wine and got what looked like a jug big enough to hold a quart (2 litres)! It didn’t hold that much but had more than the couple of glasses we expected.

Wedding seem to happen at anytime and on any day. We’ve seen the red carpet rolled down the stairs in front to cathedrals, orange Hummer’s carrying the bridal party, lots of flowers, organ music and Ave Maria’s and also saw a stand full of paper cones of rice for guests to throw at the happy couple.

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Day 18 – Cosenza to Lecce by train in the rain

June 28th, 2010

(Sunday 27th June – It’s been a while since the last post as interweb access is a little difficult, and we’ve been busy getting out & about, so here’s a few posts to try and catch you up.)There was very heavy rain overnight in Cosenza and nice to hear it on the roof, except for when it started raining inside the room… We were on the top floor and it was just a small leak that lasted for a few minutes and got mopped up with a towel – happy that it wasn’t over the bed!


Morning with blue skies with fluffy white clouds up behind the castle. During breakfast down in the kitchen with its long (like most of the of the side of the room of about 3 mtrs) white enamel wood stove with a modern gas hot plate installed, it started raining again and it now it looks like it’s here to stay for the day. We did venture out to get some supplies from a small supermarket and did a quick tour of the old town and visited the duomo, and then down to the confluence of the two rivers that join at one corner of the old town. Both were flowing well after the rain, and the water was brown with mud. We’d heard that a scenic steam train ride from here up through the mountains has been closed because of landslides – apparently they have had a lot of unseasonal rain. Seeing lots of tokens of love locked onto significant landmarks, I remember we saw this phenomenon first on a bridge in Vilnius on 2007. Padlocks with engraving or black texta left by couple betrothing love to each other.


Back to the room for bags and then down to the old station and bought tickets for the short ride to the new station where the intercity trains leave from. Met an American girl who was spending a couple of weeks travelling at the end of a year of study abroad. She’d been studying art history (in Italian!) and applied for a travel scholarship to see some of the churches in the south and was hoping to catch up with her mother in the next day or two. The train ride was great, travelling through some picturesque countryside with farms and orchards and olive groves galore. The train wasn’t  crowded, the people were happy and in good humour, and conductor was helpful. At one point we stopped on a siding and all the Trenitallia personnel hopped off the train and lit up a smoke – we apparently had to stop here to let another train through on the single track. The Italians do seem to smoke a lot (not inside of course) and at all ages. We clicketty-clacked through a wide valley lined with mountains, very cultivated with more olives, peaches, citrus, rolled hay bales, and cows and appreciated that the rain stopped. Lots of wind turbines sprouting in stands along ridges and rotating gently, and I’m guessing, supplying the electricity needed for all the trains. We changed trains in Taranto and again in Brindisi before getting down to Lecce in the early evening.


Found our way into the old city and our B&B where Tullio gave us the run down on how things worked, a quick survey of the old town and where we could go for some dinner. He gave us some vouchers for a cafe where we need to go for breakfast and have a 1.80 euro credit for a coffee and a pastry and he suggested we try a pastiacotto which is a local pastry from the Puglia region. He lived another floor up, on the roof-top terrace and showed us the view and landmarks from there. The room was nice enough but a couple of draw backs. You need to use your room key to turn on the lights, power and airconditioning. So, when you go out, nothing gets re-charged (netbook, phone, batteries etc.) and the room doesn’t keep cool. We grabbed a map and did a bit of a tour around the old town as the locals and heaps of Italian tourists were doing their stroll. Found the Roman amphitheatre (being set up with red plastic chairs and a stage for some dance recital), the Cin Cin cafe (breakfast destination), and some other landmarks that we’ll need to check out more thoroughly tomorrow.

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Day 17 – Taormina, three lots of train tickets and farewell to Sicily

June 23rd, 2010

We helped cheer up a guy in the biglietto office at the train station this morning. We asked for three tickets to Taormina and he thought we were done when we said we only wanted a one-way (solo-andata) fare, but then we asked for a ticket from Taormina to Villa san Giovanni. “Today?” he asked, “Si, tre biglietti,” we said. He gave us those tickets and said, “bye, bye”. “Non”, we said, “We also want three tickets from Villa san Giovanni to Cosenza for today.” That was it, his eyebrows rose and he cracked up and laughed, probably couldn’t believe we’d be crazy enough to do so much travel on a Sunday> Maybe he was also impressed that we knew what we wanted. We told him we were from Australia, and his mood had changed for the better as the last set of tickets were printing up. So, we were set for a day’s travel on the train (which will include crossing the Straits of Messina) and looking forward to checking out Taormina.

Happy that we could leave our bags in a locker at the very quaint (with a touch of the East about it) station at Taormina-Giardini Naxos before catching an expensive bus up the hill. Fantastic views of the Ionian coast (or probably better known as the Sicilian Riviera, as we took a winding road up to the town. Big boats anchored near the beach and a real sense of an over expensive tourist town as we wandered through the shop & souvenir stall lined streets. So many, books, maps, postcards, tea towels, T shirts, aprons, shoes/sandals, puppets, fridge magnets, flags, hats, nicknacks, jewellery, and ceramic plates, cups, figurines etc. (some of the painted dishes we saw looked very nice). All a bit sad really, and didn’t go to the Greek theatre because it couldn’t be worth 8 euros (as they warned us that most of it was covered up by a screen and seating used for the recent film festival). A plain pizza bianca (oil & herbs) was 5 euros for a medium! And it’s Sunday (Dominica) and the tourist office was closed and probably more Italians out for the day/weekend that usual. Did enjoy having a picnic in the gardens, the views, watching the punters strolling along, and glad we’re not staying overnight.

I got a little stressed (as I’m wont to) when we went to catch the bus back down to the station for the 14:22. The bus was supposed to go at 14:00 but the driver kept letting people on and it was after 5 past when we pulled out. We stopped a couple of times on the way down and these people had to put their bags under the bus, buy tickets – and the driver didn’t have any change (they never do), so people are hunting for coins in their purses, and I’m pacing up & down the bus praying the train is late. By the time I bolted onto the platform to get our bags out of the locker, the train was pulling in… The girls were going to hold up the train while I did the 100 mtr sprint with two 15kg bags that no one of my age should be doing. So, got on the train (probably to the amusement of the train driver & conductor who would have been more than happy to wait for me anyway), found a seat and then proceeded to wait at the station till I caught my breath and the sweat had dried, before we pulled out. I must learn to chill a little more… and be more like an Italian. I’m feeling out of place a little because I’ve got no style or dress sense and my wardrobe is functional rather than fashionable. At least my travelling compainions are attractive and they catch people’s eye rather than me.

Safely on the train and heading for Messina where they break up the train into ferry sized pieces, shunting in and out of the boat leaving a few carriages on board at a time, till they fill up the four sets of tracks inside the warm and fume laden bowels of the ship. Great to get out and up on deck for some fresh air and the crossing to Villa San Giovanni. Wendy suggested that we disembark and walk to the station as it was only a couple of minutes away, rather than stay on the train for 15 minutes and risk missing the connection to Cosenza. We smiled at each other as our Cosenza train left the station with still no sign of the train we were on… Enjoyed travelling along the coast for a bit before heading inland and noticed a change in the weather with some amazing cloud formations developing that looked like they might drop some rain. We were very thankful to be picked up at the new train station and driven into the old centre of town and to our lovely hostel. Enjoyed a wander around and had some local cuisine (pasta laced with pepper), home made wine and liqueur (a little like ouzo but not white). Had fun conversing with Pappa & his daughter and some other guests who were from Turin & Sardinia.

Posted in Calbria, Sicily, Transport | 1 Comment »

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