10 days in eastern Sicily - itinerary help needed
Jun 11th, 2016, 07:32 AM
#121
I just want to know who SL is.>>
Sandralist alias Zeppole alias ......
History does not relate which rounds each of them won, but we had a lot of fun looking at what they'd found; I think the prize is still held by a Madonna and child in a church in Siena.
They also had a "thing" about those cherubs' heads with wings, which if you think about it, are very weird.
Sandralist alias Zeppole alias ......
History does not relate which rounds each of them won, but we had a lot of fun looking at what they'd found; I think the prize is still held by a Madonna and child in a church in Siena.
They also had a "thing" about those cherubs' heads with wings, which if you think about it, are very weird.
Sep 22nd, 2016, 01:32 PM
#124
Dear All,
just came back to thank you all for your help with planning our trip, from which we returned on Monday. TR report to follow, but for anyone who reads this, this is what we learnt about the places we stayed:
Ortigia is indeed a gem and we loved it. Because of the traffic it wouldn't IMO make a good base for touring, but for a stay of 2-3 days it was ideal, and the food there was first rate. And [especially for Dickie aka britishcaicos] we did get to see a puppet show. What a hoot! The performance we saw was all about Orlando and his heroic feats in rescuing a Saracen maiden from the clutches of an old Scottish woman. It didn't make a lot of sense but then it didn't need to.
Ragusa [our next stop] was not a particularly good touring base either, due to the drive up the roads leading to our accommodation which was just along the street from the Duomo; a lovely place to be but a b...ger to get to; the wonderful food [almost] made up for it.
Piazza Armerina was much better as a base, save for the fact that there is not a great deal to see in the immediate area apart from the Villa Casale which is about 5kms away. We did go to Caltigirone on the way from Ragusa which turned out to be another hill town which makes demands upon the unsuspecting driver but OTOH it is full of interest and we even had cornish pasties for lunch there.
Taormina turned out to be everything that we had been warned about, and we spent precisely one half day down in the town. Castelmola was charming, but the drive up there was extraordinary; if we'd not had the experiences of driving in the other hill towns I don't think we'd have made it. The views were wonderful and we had a great day on Etna, but from the moment arrived until we left to go to the airport, we were very happy to leave other people to do the driving.
In retrospect we would leave out Taormina and look for a place by the sea to use as a base for seeing Modica, Ragusa and Scicli; we had a lovely swim at Marina di Ragusa one afternoon but though the beach was great it didn't seem to be a particularly charming place to stay, compared to, say, Ragusa.
Overall we had a great time, though we're definitely on the look out for somewhere flat for our next holiday.
just came back to thank you all for your help with planning our trip, from which we returned on Monday. TR report to follow, but for anyone who reads this, this is what we learnt about the places we stayed:
Ortigia is indeed a gem and we loved it. Because of the traffic it wouldn't IMO make a good base for touring, but for a stay of 2-3 days it was ideal, and the food there was first rate. And [especially for Dickie aka britishcaicos] we did get to see a puppet show. What a hoot! The performance we saw was all about Orlando and his heroic feats in rescuing a Saracen maiden from the clutches of an old Scottish woman. It didn't make a lot of sense but then it didn't need to.
Ragusa [our next stop] was not a particularly good touring base either, due to the drive up the roads leading to our accommodation which was just along the street from the Duomo; a lovely place to be but a b...ger to get to; the wonderful food [almost] made up for it.
Piazza Armerina was much better as a base, save for the fact that there is not a great deal to see in the immediate area apart from the Villa Casale which is about 5kms away. We did go to Caltigirone on the way from Ragusa which turned out to be another hill town which makes demands upon the unsuspecting driver but OTOH it is full of interest and we even had cornish pasties for lunch there.
Taormina turned out to be everything that we had been warned about, and we spent precisely one half day down in the town. Castelmola was charming, but the drive up there was extraordinary; if we'd not had the experiences of driving in the other hill towns I don't think we'd have made it. The views were wonderful and we had a great day on Etna, but from the moment arrived until we left to go to the airport, we were very happy to leave other people to do the driving.
In retrospect we would leave out Taormina and look for a place by the sea to use as a base for seeing Modica, Ragusa and Scicli; we had a lovely swim at Marina di Ragusa one afternoon but though the beach was great it didn't seem to be a particularly charming place to stay, compared to, say, Ragusa.
Overall we had a great time, though we're definitely on the look out for somewhere flat for our next holiday.
Sep 22nd, 2016, 02:07 PM
#125
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Great report as usual - could you please elaborate on your day on Mt Etna - where did you go?
Philosopher's Tower and up from there or from the other side, etc.
I took the train around the base of Etna and it were great but nothing like going to the crater I suppose (I would have gone but volcanic conditions closed any real approaches to the crater at that time - the chair lift having been knocked down by lava flows, etc.)
Philosopher's Tower and up from there or from the other side, etc.
I took the train around the base of Etna and it were great but nothing like going to the crater I suppose (I would have gone but volcanic conditions closed any real approaches to the crater at that time - the chair lift having been knocked down by lava flows, etc.)
Sep 23rd, 2016, 05:44 AM
#129
Great report as usual - could you please elaborate on your day on Mt Etna - where did you go?>>
for the long answer you'll have to wait for the TR, Pal but the short answer is not far enough! well, not for DH anyway.
kja/bon_voyage - thanks. I'm working on it, and hope to start before the memories begin to fade; I big danger considering my increased age!
Marija - sadly, no sightings of Salvo, though there are many mentions of him in restaurants etc.; our B&B owner in Ragusa was full of praise for what the series has done for the area and frank that without it, he wouldn't have a business. It is actually a little confusing as the local salutation in shops etc is "Salve" [pronounced with 2 syllables, the stress on the first, just like Salvo, but with an "E" sound at the end] which if you aren't familiar with it, sounds just like Salvo, and made me turn round and look behind me a few times, before I realised what was happening.
BTW, for those worried about car hire, ours was very simple and straight forward. [so far, who knows if they will try something on now we are home]. The driving, however, was quite stressful, far worse than we were expecting, of which more in the TR.
for the long answer you'll have to wait for the TR, Pal but the short answer is not far enough! well, not for DH anyway.
kja/bon_voyage - thanks. I'm working on it, and hope to start before the memories begin to fade; I big danger considering my increased age!
Marija - sadly, no sightings of Salvo, though there are many mentions of him in restaurants etc.; our B&B owner in Ragusa was full of praise for what the series has done for the area and frank that without it, he wouldn't have a business. It is actually a little confusing as the local salutation in shops etc is "Salve" [pronounced with 2 syllables, the stress on the first, just like Salvo, but with an "E" sound at the end] which if you aren't familiar with it, sounds just like Salvo, and made me turn round and look behind me a few times, before I realised what was happening.
BTW, for those worried about car hire, ours was very simple and straight forward. [so far, who knows if they will try something on now we are home]. The driving, however, was quite stressful, far worse than we were expecting, of which more in the TR.
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