Lucca
Worlds apart from intense and frenetic Naples, Lucca is tranquil and serene by comparison. Travel yesterday was agreeably smooth and uneventful … trains left on time and were barely full. Daniele met us on the platform as the train pulled…
Onwards to Naples
We knew it was going to be a tiring day of travel. The Regional Train to Messina was packed with people travelling home for Easter gatherings … huge foil-wrapped chocolate Easter Eggs and fancily wrapped packages were carried carefully and…
Taormina, and ….
We lucked out today … the mist and wind of yesterday — gone. It had been fun on the Lime electric scooters the evening before… whizzing down the bike lane … hats and hair flying. Till we got to the…
Siracusa and Ortygia
Awoke to rain. The patio and furniture were dripping, the sea obscured by mist. But wait … things suddenly looked brighter. A check of the forecast for Siracusa …. SUN — all afternoon. Yes! Threw stuff in a backpack and…
On to Catania
Squeezed into Helena’s car and deposited at the bus station … ticket said to be there 30 minutes beforehand, but that would have been a waste. People stood around in a desultory manner … on phones … eating … chatting.…
How to Move
Elevators in apartment buildings here are generally really compact — 4 people maximum and maybe a bag of groceries. Definitely not designed for moving furniture. We got a front row seat of the apartment building across the way … one…
Markets, Mercury & Modica
Another cool, cloudy day. Helena mentioned there was a big market in upper Ragusa every Wednesday and Thursday morning. We timed the number 31 community bus beautifully and the driver waved away payment. It wound its way through ridiculously narrow…
Chocolate, Cars and Buses
It was cloudy and cool today … dark skies threatened but after a sprinkle or two, didn’t do anything. There are countless ways of walking down to the lower section of town (Ibla) — all involve stone steps of varying…
Welcome to Sicily
Breakfast in a sun-filled room with blue and while table cloths and a wide selection of comestibles — such a civilized way to start the day. Ernesto swept in with a large pot of freshly brewed coffee and another of…
Off to Mdina
Rather than dragging our bags a significant distance along rough sidewalks we called up a Bolt car instead (similar to Uber) and ridiculously cheap. A local gift shop conveniently ran a business to store visitor’s luggage so we deposited ours…