Italy

On to Spain for Christmas

On to Thailand after returning from Spain

Back to England

Tue, 14 Nov

We arrived here last night after an uneventful flight via Frankfurt. I managed myself and pack to Heathrow, via the Tube, from Derek's place with few problems. Was a little nervous about negotiating peak hour underground but started out at 0730 from Hainault and arrived at the airport at 0900, very early for the 1145 flight! I was wondering whether I would find Moira as Heathrow is huge but there was no problem. The booking clerk said he had reserved the seat next to mine for her so off I wandered, not to shop but for a cappuccino! Good excuse as I had a pile of English stamps to use so wrote a multitude of Christmas cards.

After this I wandered up to the Lufthansa lounge. I'm really pleased that we joined Golden Wings as it is much more comfortable in these lounges than the general waiting areas (the exception was the airport in Manaus, they had very comfortable reclining armchairs in the public area there. So comfortable in fact that I dozed off and in the rush to catch my plane at 0500 hours I left my travel pillow behind. That is something I miss. It was the same as your camping one Jenny; it is the most useful bit of gear I had carried around and I miss it badly. I am sorry I did not think to get Marcia to bring another over for me.

While talking of useful gear, the most useless bit of equipment I will have carried around the world and NEVER used, is the impregnated mosquito net. Where required, places have supplied one.

I thought Moira might turn up at the lounge too, but no. Half an hour before take off I decided to go down to the departure gate to see if she was there. I detoured to the loo and who should walk out of the toilet, but Moira!! She was in a panic as she had only just arrived(!!!!) and the seating clerk claimed I had not arrived!!!! Don't know what happened to her reserved seat next to me but she was given one back down the plane.

We did our usual visit to the hotel accommodation centre at the airport and booked into the most expensive hotel yet (4 star and $185) for two nights!!! Beautiful linen, etc, very NICE. Italy seems cheap, but only because we have been to London first. Probably about the same as Brazil, which we thought expensive at the time!!!

At least the wine is cheaper. We sampled some with our pizza last night and three glasses of wine costs $7 as opposed to $7 to $9 a glass in pubs in London.

We have decided that we are back to only two meals a day. A late breakfast which comes with the hotel and an early evening meal, with possibly a coffee and cake stop in between!!

Will go to Perugia tomorrow morning.

Spoke to Marcia on the phone on Sunday night. She seemed to think we could organise some time with you in Italy in January!!!!

Speak to you later

Jane

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Perugia, 17 Nov

The shops are beautifully presented, the clothes stylish and more reasonably priced than London, pity everything is three sixes smaller than my beautifully rounded torso!!!! Saves me money though! But we can afford wine again! This is wonderful having drunk our way through every brand of rum and beer in Central America.

The climate here is a little better than in London too, and that is a pleasant change.

Unfortunately it looks as though we will not be able to join a cooking class as it is winter and most places complete courses in November. The same can be said for language courses. There are fewer available at this time and the one that might suit us is exactly when Marcia arrives, so I'm not keen on that one. At the moment we are looking for a private tutor.

It is surprising also how difficult it is to obtain information here through the tourist bureau. They have not been particularly helpful with information on courses available. That is not quite as we read in the LP guide that says there are so many courses they could fill a book! We have found the Lonely Planet guide is quite lacking or incorrect with some of its information and it’s a little irritating! We will have to wait and see what we do.

I forgot to add in my notes from London that Derek and I had a deja vu from "The Bill". We had been to Camden markets on Saturday and walked up to Islington to buy tickets to a Cuban musical. The theatre was in an area which was mainly council housing, and I made the comment that the area looked a little like a scene from The Bill. We had to fill in some time so went for a wander. There was a clock tower to one side of an housing estate so we went to look at it. There was graffiti and a burnt out moped at its base and we started to wonder whether this was really a good place to be in when all of a sudden from around the bushes appeared two young policemen. At the sight of them I asked them whether we should be there. They were looking for a "hot" moped, and guess what?

For our own safety they would not let us walk to a "nicer" area but bundled us into their police car. Having taken care of police business, and driven past Holloway women’s prison, they deposited us somewhere much more pleasant!!! Just felt like being in an episode of The Bill. They told me it does not really reflect the real situation but from an outsiders point of view it came quite close to it with all the two-way radio talk and their own commentary!

I really quite liked Rome. We stayed in a very pleasant (expensive and noisy) hotel in the historic centre. I had forgotten how exciting it is just to drive past those incredible Roman ruins. I didn't notice the traffic or the pollution! One sight which really amused us was a woman, on the street, wiping her English Sheep dog's bottom after it had done its "business" (just like a mother doing a young child's bot)!!!!!! I would have loved to have a photo but did not have my camera with me.

Will let you know where we are off to next.

Love to Jen et al

Jane

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18 November

It has been a cold, wet day here but we did eventually get up out of our lovely warm beds. I dashed two doors down to the Pasticceria to collect two cappuccinos to have with our breakfast in the hotel room. We had delicious bread, grapes and Gorgonzola cheese!!

Moira has been occupied with trying to get a job application written up and also her notification letter from the examiners telling her she is being recommended for her Masters!!!!!!! We are having some champagne this evening.

The problem with evening meals here is that you can't find an open restaurant before at least 1930. We are trying to economise so we have a late breakfast and no lunch and are then hanging out for our dinner!!! In Brazil we regularly did not have dinner until 2100 or 2200 hours but don't seem to be able to do the same here. It must be the cold weather, although it’s not too cold!!

I have always wondered about these truffles that the French and Italians are crazy about and finally tried them last night. Tagliatelle con Tartuffe (truffles). Well, it’s a very subtle flavour!!!!!! The closest I could get would be a very mild mushroom. I have to say that possibly the truffle was only waved cross the pan and hence the problem in tasting it!!!!

We caught the bus to Assisi today. It really is a beautiful medieval town. Three are lots of narrow winding cobbled streets and little boutiques, lots of chocolate shops (George!), and window boxes with geraniums etc. We also visited the Church of St. Francis of Assisi where his remains are buried and viewed a robe he wore. Moira approved of the deep green colour!! From what I could manage to translate, I think one of the popes declared the remains to be those of St Francis, from the 11th century! Brave man. Anyway it is a beautiful church with the ceilings painted by the likes of Giotto etc. It was not the usual very ornate and heavy affairs in RC countries.

We have not done well with churches and museums this trip. I think today makes it 4 churches in total, but that’s not bad considering these are supposed to be the main places of interest in Central America. However, I enjoy the other aspects of travel!!!

The autumn colours in both England and here are exquisite. Here there are still lots of yellows, brown and some reds. The reds are mainly in the ivy and some varieties of grapevines. There is also an incredible mixture of pines, varying in colour from beautiful blue-greens to standard colours. Needless to say there’s plenty of olive trees and we have been enjoying the olive oil in our food.

Italy certainly wins the style award. Their clothes are quite special and are not ordinary at all. We have been looking at some beautiful cashmere-silk blends and silks, at prices comparable or cheaper than Australia. Unfortunately a few sizes smaller than my wonderful body!!!

Brazil still wins the beauty stakes tho'. I had forgotten that Moira said to me (one day in Salvador) that she had the words of an old pop song going around in her head - "If I told you that you had a beautiful body would you hold it against me?" That amused me greatly because I was being driven demented by the same tune in my head but had not made any comment about it to Moira!!

I don't know where we might go tomorrow. We have not been successful in organising Italian lessons so will probably wander on to somewhere else. We have been trying to plan what we do when Marcia arrives. There’s still probably some walking in Liguria and possibly in Chianti too. The problem, again, is that it is off-season and some accommodation places close. Christmas is also looming.

Moira wants us to rent a villa for the Christmas week, why don't you, Jen, Rikky and Annie just jump a plane and join us????????

Speak to you later

Jane

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Sienna, 18 November

I might even catch up with Kitty in Spain!!!!!!! It’s quite unreal. You and Jenny will be about the only ones not to turn up here!!!!!!

Last night we had the best meal yet in Italy to celebrate Moira's masters acceptance. There was an expensive bottle of French champagne and delicious food. I had a pasta and clam entree and then a mussel dish (mussels, garlic, oven roasted capsicum, parsley, olive oil were all I could identify).

Moira had bruschetta mixto (some with truffle pesto, some tomato and the other with pate). She then moved on to a calarmari kebab which was lightly crumbed and barbecued.

We DID NOT have any pudding but moved on to a bar for coffee. Actually, Moira had a hot chocolate and I had a Cointreau which was about three to four times the standard Aussie sip and when I commented the waiter wanted to add some more!!!!

Bars here are a combination of coffe shop and bar so you can order drinks, coffee and cakes and other light nibbles which very nice!

Today was a lovely sunny one. The air does not ever seem to become crispy clear, possibly the wood fires that people are burning, yes, for warmth! The further north the colder it becomes!!!

We have moved on to Sienna, another beautiful town, and are now in Tuscany rather than Umbria. The guide book says it is a gem, but we visited Assisi yesterday and that was beautiful, and much prettier than here.

We have changed our minds about expense!!!! We discovered when we went to pay our hotel bill this morning that they were saying $100 a night!!! We believe we had agreed on $85, so think the place IS expensive given that tonight it is the same price and the basic, very basic standards seem to be dropping and the prices rising!!! Food is more expensive too.

Sienna is full of tourists even tho it is off season!!! Will look around tomorrow and visit the Dante Alighieri Institute on Monday.

Unfortunately we read in the paper today that there has been a mudslide in the Cinque Terre region where we were hoping to walk when Marcia arrives next week. Our Italian is not sufficient to understand much so am now awaitng a response from the local tourist office on the situation, hopefully in English!!!

We will possibly "do" Florence and Venice when Marcia arrives. Moira is on the next computer putting together her job aplication.

It is now very close to the time of going out in the cold to find our dinner, hopfully something other than PIZZA, the only cheap food here!!

Jane

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Sienna, 21 November

I guess Ricky will let me know if she has to be put down which would be my preference if she is suffering. At a cost the vet will tell Ricky and do the deed!!!

We are still in Sienna. The weather today has been foul, just like London, cold and wet. Che brutissimo tempo, or something like that!!!!

We started a one week intensive Italian course at the Dante Alighieri Institute.

We are also able to go to one cooking class on Wednesday evening. We prepare a whole Italian meal and then get to eat it, including alcohol, just our thing. Unfortunately we could not go to this evenings course as it is booked out.

We are ever hopeful of tapping into some others. Dante has schools throughout Italy so who knows.

We downgraded hotels yesterday so now share (or more exactly) queue for the bathroom but it is clean, comfortable and central.

Will talk again soon

Ciaou

Jane

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After cooking, 21 November

It is STILL wet and miserable here and apparently there is a low over Europe. Moira wants to move somewhere warmer!!!

It is probably time to go and visit a local bar. The bars here are not quite the same as at home. They are more like cafes but you stand to eat and drink OR the cost doubles if you are silly enough to take one of those very inviting seats!!!

We met an Italian Aussie (very Ozzie) at the laundromat the other night, from Griffiths. He was a very rotund little man who tells us that you get much nicer Italian cuisine and better wine in the Riverina!!!!!

He is in the wine business, or so he told us. Apparently, as well as bottling and selling their own wine, they supply bulk wine to Italy too. They bottle and put on their own labels and the label does say that the grapes are grown in Australia. I must take note when we next go to the "bottle" section! Some grapes can't be grown here because of the climate. All that made our time at the laundromat much more interesting!!

It’s funny how Italian Aussies fit the stereotype much more than Italians here!!!!

Moira has finished I must get off!!!

Ciao

Jane

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24 November

Jane and I did a cooking class last night. We thought we might not make it as we got lost (would you believe). After much walking in the bloody cold, we finally arrived just a few minutes late. I hope Marci has a better sense of direction or we may need a little help from our friends as we might get lost on one of our walks. How unusual!!!!!.

During the class we both did various dishes at different times so we have not done a full recipe, so look out when we get back. The meal was 5 courses, which is typical of most Italian restaurants and of course we had some fun and ate and drank too much.

It is hard to believe that we have spent one week in Sienna and will be seeing Marci this weekend to head off on another adventure.

Food in Italy has been an adventure. There is no such thing as a leisurely cup of coffee unless you pay twice the price and sit down. We have been trying to avoid paying the extra but when we order we are asked to sit down, and being polite tourists we do.

People go to bars to order coffee, an alcoholic beverage, or food. The food and drink is generally eaten standing up.

Today in our Italian class we discovered other venues for 'fast food' which we tried but was also expensive.

Moira

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25 November

Yes, it is cold AND wet!!!!!!! Hope you edit some of the things I say before the web page!!!!!! Probably the 3 litres of wine we seem to drink every day that is taking its toll!!!!

Glad you thought Sid (my child substitute, that Dad brought phenobarb to sedate during his stay) was a character rather than a BLOODY awful Pussy!!!!!

Well yes, it is after another litre or two of red wine. We just tried to have a cheap meal. $60 later (this is a CHEAP meal) we have just devoured a chicken stew, roast veal, crostini, a plate of steamed spinach, vari dulce tipo and more sweet wine with it!!!

We’ve had another day of rain and cold and also our last day of Italian classes. Pierluigi, our professore, said he was sorry we were not returning on Lunedi! My other teacher, Chiara, thinks I have an aptitiude for languages, Italian, any way. Do you think I should change careers?????

I must say, it has become obvious to me, after Cuba and here, that learning a language comes easier to me than others, and I don't think I am anything special in that sense!!

Tomorrow we SLEEP in!!!! We don't have to be at school by 0900hours.

What a slob I have become. How will I ever get myself to work by 0700 or 0800 hours each day when I return home???????????

Our mornings this week have included having something to eat in our hotel room and then running to school via the "bar" to have a coffee, on our feet, before class. That’s not the relaxed way I like to take my breakfasts!!!

Tomorrow we see if we can work out how the laundromat functions, or more precisely, if we can get it right and put our powder in the correct hole so that we do not have to do three cycles to remove the washing powder which we have incorrectly placed in the fabric softener hole!!!! Thank you Moira, but I will do it next time!!!!! It’s Moira's turn to try to get us lost instead of me!!!

We will try to be tourists tomorrow too!! I am trying to get Moira to accompany me to the "Duomo" (cathedral) with an incredible history and age. It’s 11th century and very, very, very, very, very, very old by Darwin standards!

We go to Firenze on Sunday to meet Marcia. I don't think we will go for Youth Hostel as it is closed between 0900 and 1400hrs and the weather is SOOOO $#*!#@ miserable. It IS nice to have the choice.

Before I say something indiscrete better go.

Love to Jen and whoever is left there.

Jane

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27 November

I meant to update you on our last Saturday in Siena. We attended a WEDDING!!! We went to visit The Duomo (cathedral) there. It was built in the 12th century - amazing isn't it. In Darwin a house is old after 50 years!!!! It is Romanesque, built from white and green marble.

We were having a wander in the cathedral and came across a wedding service in one of the side chapels. There was only bride and groom and two witnesses. The wrought iron gates were closed but you could see thru into the chapel. It was one of the most beautiful chapels I have seen, not very ornate.

There was an exquisite blue and gold painting, no doubt by someone very famous, have yet to look in my guide book, of the Madonna and Child. Outside of the chapel and above "in the gods" was an organ, so music too. We sat outside in the pews and watched-listened thru the gate. The acoustics were fabulous and the woman singing had a superb voice, Moira had a tear in her eye when Ave Maria was sung. It was one of those rare moments of beauty that happen along quite unexpectedly. We then went looking to see if we could hear some more choral work, unfortunately nothing happening that we could attend. Will have to try here in Florence.

The library attached to the place had a selection of illuminated manuscripts too which were also exquisite. The paintings in the ceiling looked a little too worldly for such an institution so hope my photos work out, no flashes allowed.

Must go we are going to attack the photos again George.

Love to everyone

Jane

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30 November

We spent today looking at "Holy" paintings. That's about all there is to see! Some are exquisite, but there too many for my taste! Roll on the next 100 years where painters were able/allowed other subject matter!!!! We visited the Uffizi and Accademia galleries today. Moira and Marcia were impressed by "David's" body!!! Who brought them along??????

We are trying to organise our tour of Toscany tomorrow, Friday we change abodes.

Will talk again later - enjoy your flat bridge meeting!!!!!!! Sounds really exciting!!

Jane

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1 December

Speak to you soon.

Moira

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Marcia's notes of 10 December

In fact, I have the possibility of doing some work at the B&B we stayed in Tuscany and am thinking about going back to study art, singing, jewellery design and the language sometime. I know I will go back to see more, regardless.

I can't remember what I've told you all so far, so please excuse any repeats. Internet connections weren't that easy and were pretty expensive.

Week one was arrival in Rome and a little exploring before the train to Florence to catch up with Jane and Moira.

I met a really nice US couple on the train (he thought I was 17, she thought I was 29, and that made my day!!!!). They live on an Island that sounds like paradise and have invited me to visit sometime.

It was great to have J and M meet me at the train station. I enjoyed travelling with them and I hope they enjoyed me. Jane said I kept them fit just keeping up with me!!!

We stayed at a little one or two star place right in the middle of Florence and enjoyed lots of walking, coffees, wine and food along with markets and amazing jewellery shops. But it was the art galleries that literally left me breathless. I now have two T-shirts with the Bottecelli Venus painting on it.

One day in the markets we got to talk with someone at a fruit and veggie stall and she put us on to a B&B in Panzano (half way between Florence and Sienna). So, on the bus we went and very windy roads later (I was very green from motion sickness) we arrived and tracked Giulietta down. Luckily she could have us and, as she does cooking teaching, we also did a cooking class. The countryside was amazingly beautiful and her location 2 km of hills from Panzano helped keep us fit while sampling the wine, cheese, etc...

We made a meal that we all agreed was the best we had had in Italy. The English translation is artichoke pie, spinach and ricotta balls, veal fillet cooked in milk (also brilliant for turkey or pork fillet), fennel and cheese, capsicum and tiramisu. (and I didn't think I liked tiramisu!). Amazing meal with homemade wine and olive oil and fresh cheeses. Recipes available! And I'll probably offer to cook it for you sometime!

If you're interested, the B& B is Fagiolari (600 years old) info@fagiolari.it-www.fagiolari.it I've talked with Guilietta about possibly coming back sometime to work with her.

We did heaps of walking in the local area and vineyards and where Mona Lisa lived. The first time I've had a run amongst olive trees and vineyards! A few interesting moments when the roads weren't on maps, or hunters got a bit close, or the walk from Greve to home and it got dark and 4 and a half hours later....

Then there was an adventure of hiring a little yellow fiat to drive south around Sienna. Brilliant countryside, scary for all of us, no matter who was driving!!!!

A night in a marble floored room in Pienza and a magic visit to Volterre.

I was exhausted after driving on the autostrada and then hairpin roads (so were Jane and Moira!). But we survived and back to Fagiolare for a last night before back to Florence and a train to Pisa.

Whilst disappointed that the long weekend public holiday meant I couldn't find anywhere to stay in Rome, Pisa was beautiful. The architecture and the town generally is amazing and the people friendly.

We stayed in a one star room with angels and cherubs painted on the ceiling in the University quarter. Again there was more walking and wine and food (and a little bit of shopping)!

Saturday I was up at 4am and walked the 20min to the train station to get back to Rome and catch my flight to London. The town was very quiet and beautiful. There were a few surprised homeless men and many calls of chaio bella as I carried my packs!

The train started in Pisa, which was lucky for me as all of Italy got on it to go to Rome for the festivities. It was a four and one half-hour journey and many people were standing by the end of it. The train went via the coast and I fought back sleep to see it all (once it got light that is).

I made it to Rome airport just in time to check in and have a last cappuccino and get on the plane to London. Then the train and underground and on to Dean and Stephanie's door at 4pm. What a trip!

Then it was all hands on deck for another dinner party. Dean cooked another incredible meal. It was Scandinavian this time, including Reindeer meat. Yes, Dean has a very sick sense of humour.

I helped the children decorate gingerbread cookies.

By 8pm I was washed and in black velvet, and by 1am I was ready to die and slipped off to bed.

The children were in 3 times this morning but I slept in until 11!!!

The sad news is that while I was away, Steph's mum had a major stroke. So, I'll be doing the school run on the train with the kids this week and we'll see how it goes. I'll also be learning everything there is to know about the UK health and community services system, so any suggestions welcome!

The sexy little Italian designer clothes I bought in markets will have to wait for a bit I suspect (mind you they would have anyhow!!!). So its London now until Jan 9th. Then, depending on how Steph's mum is, Wales, for the meditation retreat for 10 days and then France.

My Bougainville mate, Patrice, tells me that France can definitely compete in the wine and food stakes and that he'll be in the south of France in end January. Hopefully I'll be falling in love with France before going on to New York in February.

Believe it or not, the cold isn't really worrying me, and the art galleries alone are enough to keep me happy.

Hope all this isn't too boring and may even inspire some armchair travellers into action.

More later.

Much love,

Marcia

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14 December, Notes from Jane

I KNOW ALL about e-mail hell!!! Fun isn't it? I think Moira has just left in disgust from this Internet shop after all the usual problems, saying I would meet her in an hour.

I have been really bad with the correspondence the last little while. There is a draft letter on file for the diary but was not too inspired at the time, so this is another attempt!!!!! I suggested to Marcia that she might like to write something of the shared time together as it is quite interesting to get a different perspective! We have been trying to get all the Christmas mail off.

Ricci e-mailed me today to say that she had Sid "delivered" to pussy heaven, although I suspect Sid would not have made the grade, a lot of intervention would be required!!! It won't be the same, anyway. I'll drink to her this evening to send her on her way! It sounds as tho it was probably more upsetting for them than for me, as you know, it really is not much fun watching your animals/pets die. I was quite upset when I first heard the news but expected she would be dead every time there was mail so had adjusted to the fact she would not be there when I returned and I did not have to watch!!

Weather here has been mostly sunny since Marcia's arrival in Florence to meet us. This does not mean it has been warm. I have used various combinations of my scanty warm clothes, but it is not wet and miserable as in London! I am glad you have had some rain (Jenny). It must make it a little more pleasant there although Ricci says the mould is growing at quite a rate in the usual areas of my house - EVERYWHERE!!!

Today has been a gloriously sunny Florence day - but a little cool. In fact, up in them thar hills outside Florence, there was the remains of snow on the ground!!

Moira and I decided we would take a bus out to do a 17-kilometre walk we had read about in one of the guidebooks. Well, it's Saturday, so there was conflicting advice from the bus station about buses out! The first bus we tried to get on said that he did not go to Bivigliano despite the ticket office! He told us NO buses there today, so back to the ticket office for a refund. Of course there is a bus, just not the one we told you (all this in our very IMPERFECT Italian)!!!!

After another 45 minutes we jumped on a bus, and yes, it was going in our direction with an interchange. Up through the hill suburbs to Pratalino and off we gets only to find that a young girl waiting for the same connection had been there for two hours!! Ah, but there was one expected in 10 minutes. Guess what? It did not arrive.

By this time it was 1130 (and cold in the shade) and I just said to Moira if the one anticipated for midday did not turn up I was crossing the street and heading back into town; our karma was NOT good!

A bus did arrive and was actually early. Pity anyone else turning up just before the expected time as I think they would probably have had a very long wait for the next one! Well, we go as far as Bivigliano and have trouble working out the orientation given in the guide!!! We had a coffee and home made cake to think about the options.

As the day was moving on, and it is dark by 1700 here, we decided to abbreviate the route and take a short cut up a road to the mountaintop. There is a hermitage at a place called Monte Senario, where the wealthy merchants of Florence in the 12th century could go to meditate on the difficulties of their lives presumably. It later became a monastery sitting in splendid isolation overlooking Florence. The monks used to fill ponds with water during the winter, and cut out the ice and store it in an elaborate ice house for distribution to the local hospitals for relief of pain and swelling.

Walking in the countryside here has its own little dangers because now is hunting season. We were quickly reminded of this (having momentarily forgotten the fact) by the odd blasts emanating ahead along our route!!! We had been told previously in Panzano that as long as we stayed on cleared paths that it would be OK. It is not particularly reassuring to turn around a corner and find two men with guns and dogs looking as tho they mean business.

Each time we approached and asked if it was OK to go ahead and hoped they weren't too gung ho!! (On a previous walk from Greve back to Panzano, with Marcia, we were actually hailed with shell shot!) There seemed to be a few hunters out today, so between walking at a pace and hoping we were dodging any shots we probably sped through those hills!! Lots of pine, oak and cypress trees.

The autumn colours here are beautiful, lots of yellows. Moira navigated us around the course because I would have had us lost hours earlier. The book was clear once you knew you had chosen the correct route, but not BEFORE!! Don't ever let me take you out on a walk!!

We walked through the odd olive grove and there were a few rather lovely villas up there. Despite me, we arrived in Fiesole on dusk and promptly felt the cold whilst waiting for the bus back into Florence.

We are just not used to exercising and then having to deal with the cold in Darwin. Our muscles just tightened!! It all required a lovely hot shower in our very petite bathroom. In fact we have again managed a bathroom where it is necessary to sit on the loo to take a shower, this time in Florence. The previous one was Hotel Anna in Sienna and was a bit like showering in a cupboard - everything including loo paper had to be outside the cubicle when one took a shower!!

Despite the cold I have enjoyed our time in Tuscany and Umbria. The autumn colours, reds and yellows, ripe persimmons on trees, yellow ginko trees in Pisa, beautiful rolling hills, cypress pines, olive groves, vineyards, beautiful old farm houses and villas all contribute to a wonderful and exciting environment (and that is before we even get onto our Italian skills, food and drink). Where else is a golf course in an olive grove? And Marcia made comment one morning that it was her first early morning jog in vineyards and olive groves (no I was NOT out there).

After Marcia arrived, we spent a few days in Florence, sightseeing, shopping and eating!!!!

Marcia's young legs out did mine on all counts!! She and Moira spent a lot of time browsing in the clothes shops and markets in Florence, Pisa and in the Panzano area where we moved for a little taste of Tuscan countryside.

As far as I can tell the fashion here is very much the "unfinished" (no hems, no cuffs, collars, backs) or possibly the "inside out" look (seams on the outside). Of course all with the greatest of style!

There is quite a lot of sixties clothes back in fashion too, especially bell bottom pants, tie-dye etc.

In Italy we move on to "Replay or Miss 60s" as opposed to "Flashback" in London and "Retrospective" in Brazil. It’s a pity children of the sixties are not in fashion now too!!

There was plenty of little fluffy numbers to keep all parties happily window-shopping. Of course the leather goods are something else here too and still cheaper than home, so shoe shops were also on the agenda. You name it and it was there. Boots are obviously back in fashion, as are square toes and wedgies!!

I'm nursing my joggers along and hope they last until we fly out of Italy in February. If not, I might just have to buy myself some shoes. Unfortunately my backpack always seems to be HEAVY, which is a good antidote to shopping!! We all spent a LOT of time in jewellery shops, and some REALLY beautiful Venetian glass jewellery and stones are available at reasonable prices.

Not only is there fashion for people but also for dogs, and there have seen some gorgeous little numbers!! Dogs abound here, in shops, restaurants, bars and on the streets. Everyone should have one! The outfit I particularly like is one that fits over the WHOLE torso which also covers the dogs personal "bits", looks quite a sight. I guess they just ask their owners to take it off when they want to go to the loo!!

I have been meaning to ask Alison how you manage with taking dogs in restaurants etc. We have recently noticed a few times that when a dog looks as tho it is about to go about its business the owner moves it on at a jog so that it leaves a little trail of pee behind it!!! It seems quite cruel really. They definitely don't use collars, but something more like a harness that goes around their front legs. That is a little more comfortable and seems sensible and I wonder why you don't see more of them at home.

Whilst Marcia was with us we went to Panzano in Chianti (having shopped and museum’d ourselves out in Florence), about an hour south of Florence

Index...

Notes from Moira on 14 December

Most of the towns are ancient towns surrounded by town walls, narrow streets and ancient buildings.

Each town had its speciality of red wine that we had to taste.

The Italians certainly eat differently to what and how we eat. You generally have about 5 dishes and the main meal, which is the meat dish, is not served with vegetables that need to be ordered separately.

The leaning tower is pretty amazing and we have found that the people here a lot more friendly than the other places.

Pisa appears to be a lot warmer probably due to the closeness to the sea.

We plan to head to an island of Elba but have very little information on it.

We have until the 17th before we fly to Valencia, Spain to spend Christmas and will fly back in January to spend a further month before we head off to Thailand for a couple of weeks.

We have just come in from the Islo d'Elba. We came to the conclusion that it was the Italian's holiday place. Why did we think that? Well, there were no Internet cafes and so we are currently having our fix now. It is a lovely island but hard to imaging what it would be like in their peak season.

We had a room with a view over the harbour and could listen to the waves break on the beach that I miss very much.

There are walks on one side of the island but most of the activity appears to be on or in the water.

We are now in Lucca which Jane thought was an ancient hill top town. Well it is an ancient town but not on the hilltop.

Moira

Index...

19 December

I don't think Kitty, Elke etc arrive until Saturday so we are still playing tourist.

We tried snails for dinner tonight. I ate 3 and stopped. The salsa was AWFUL. Moira got through a few more!!! It was an expensive dish.

Got to go as the shop is about to close; we stopped in on our way home to the hotel. Jenny has the next partial instalment for the diary; we have been hopeless!!! Marcia says she will contribute some too, of our time together.

Speak later

Jane

Index...

17 January, Moira

We have just got back from Pozzuli that is an outer suburb of Napoli. The amazing Roman ruin we have visited was the Flavian Amphitheatre. The Amphitheatre is still in tack considering the wars, which has been some of the excuses for the state some of the ruins are in and the seismic area in which the Amphitheatre is situated.

The floors are still intact in that the lower floors which held the animals and the props which we winched to the arena. There are a number of trap doors in the floor of the arena that also provides good natural light below. The arena was also used to display sea battles and it certainly baffles me in trying to work out how they managed to fill the arena with water.

Later we visited the Solfatara that is an active crater. Active in the sense that there was steam to which a many Germans come in the summer to expose themselves and some bubbling mud. The whole crater is hollow and the floor is maintained by the pressure of the steam underground.

One of the many delights that we are experiencing is walking across the street. Jane loves the order or disorder of the process. We had read that the some of the drivers do not observe the road rules but what does rule is the pedestrian. As you cross the road the motorist trend to continue on a curve path avoiding the pedestrian. It sort of gives you a sense of power. I find it hard to control my laughter, as I cross the street knowing that it would not be permitted in Oz.

We are currently waiting to go to Sardina on Thursday. The ferry does not leave until then. How long we will stay there is currently unknown approximately 2 weeks. We thought that the south would be cheaper or at least warmer. The temperature today increased from yesterday to a magic 8° and sharp rise by 3°. At least there was no wind.

I suppose we were expecting something cheaper but the quality of the accommodation has not been too fantastic.

Moira

Index...

18 January, Moira

We have a bit of time to do some editing. Jane has finally gone to the dentist after a brief talk to Alison on the phone so I am pleased. She has been nursing her broken tooth since our arrival in Italy.

The more south we go the harder the bread crusts become so the tougher it is to chew.

We have changed our plans in leaving for Sardina on Thursday and possibly consider Sicily, as it is closer to warmer weather. Our time of departure will depend on what work is done to Jane's tooth.

Index...

Tue, 23 Jan 2001

It became a little bit painful as the infection was causing severe referred pain to the whole of the opposite side of my face whenever I tried to eat or became cold (and it is VERY cold here).

An hour and a half ago he removed the tooth. That was drastic action I hought, but he seemed to think that it was the best option. He can't do any more for about 4 weeks until the inflammation has subsided so I will wait and visit my own dentist at home.

He was recommended to me and was certainly very pleasant. I hope it has not all been shortsighted and creates more pain when I have a new tooth later!!!! I had an intelligent and pleasant woman doing the translating. While the dentist was being concerned about whether I had bleeding tendencies and reactions to anaesthetics I was more concerned with the hygiene aspects and AIDS!!!!

It’s interesting that they don't glove up or use masks etc. The needle and syringe was in one of those sterilisation packages and I just hoped that they didn't multi-dispense their local anaesthetics!

Anyway; I'm in pain at the moment, but they have given me a very effective painkiller. It is called Aulin and I have not seen it in Australia. You seem to be able to buy most things over the counter here even when a prescription is required!!!!

The dentist did not speak ANY English! That was an interesting experience when we were working it out with my broken Italian and Spanish. I have to admit that with a decent English speaker there it was very reassuring to know that we both really DID understand each other!

We have been doing all the tourist things one does in Naples, such as visiting Pompei, Capri, Sorrento, Amalfi, and walking around the Sorrento Peninsular. Unfortunately we are finding it all a little expensive after Spain, and my full pay has not come through yet. I must e-mail salaries to see what is going on!

We understood the south would be much cheaper than the north, but that has not proven to be so. Capri was beautiful, but after $7 for a cup of ordinary coffee, and all those very expensive shops there, we decided we would leave it to the rich and famous. It was not for us!

We did visit Axel Munthe's house, San Michele, at Anacapri. The position of the house on a cliff looking back to Capri, and his garden, are idyllic. The scenery and colours are quite spectacular and the sea is a beautiful deep blue, grading to aqua closer to the shore, with rocky cliffs dropping down to meet the sea and grottos.

I think a cruise around the Mediterranean would be fantastic. Start saving!

Naples is an amazing place. It is utterly chaotic, dirty, busy and there are people, people, people! I don't know what the population is here, but must be some millions.

I gather that Naples has an unemployment rate of 20% (for youth it is about 40%) but with all the bustle it is hard to see the effects of this unemployment, although there are police very much in evidence on the streets.

When we have commented on the disrepair of the place the locals have said people are too busy trying to make money to worry about the look of the place. That reminds me a little of Havana except that there are shops here!!. New Year sales are on and the shops all seem very busy.

There are street hawkers EVERYWHERE. Someone was trying to sell us a Rolex this morning just outside our pensionne! The odd person has sidled up to us with gold jewellery in their jacket, so I guess there is quite a lot of underground business going on all around.

There are lots of Africans from Somalia, Ethiopia, and North African Arabs trading on the streets too.

When I say it's utter chaos you should see the traffic; both pedestrian and vehicular. It appeals to my perverse nature (that I'm sure I inherited from Dad). Pedestrians seem to rule. One very nonchalantly strolls through four or six lanes of traffic, at will, with no cares in the world, despite the fact that the pedestrian lights indicate not to walk!

Of course, at a pedestrian crossing, the cars do not stop and you have to assert your rights! There is a tendency for the vehicles to not observe the red lights at intersections, or anywhere else. No one seems to get too uptight about it all. It is all very interesting.

We thought accommodation in Naples was expensive so changed scenes to Sorrento whilst waiting for my dentist appointment. Sorrento was even more expensive and a little disappointing. The whole area is very much for tourists; both local and foreign.

Once again the coastline is quite spectacular up to Amalfi but very expensive too. Coffees are only $3 each, but when you have a few of them a day it all adds up. In Florence a delicious coffee was only $1.80.

We have been having lots of picnic dinners to reduce costs. That is still quite pleasant although, with my tooth, nothing much has been pleasant in the eating department for a week or so!!

Amalfi, further down along the coast from Sorrento, was very similar to Capri. There were incredibly windy roads along the cliff face, and tunnels through some of the cliffs.

It has narrow cobbled streets, and the town itself is like a rabbit warren up through the mountainside.

It is wattle time here with a profusion of yellow. It's quite strange to have it flower in January; it is just not right!!

The cultivation that occurs throughout the area up these very steep mountain slopes is amazing. I don't know where they find the soil to cultivate. It has all been terraced, with olives up higher, and lemon and oranges further down.

The citrus trees are all sheltered from the winter elements by shade cloth or bamboo shades, over pergolas of sorts.

The big local produce is a lemon liqueur; limoncello. It is made from the peel of the lemons. There are lots of other liqueurs that I would choose in preference. I gather the lemons are a particular type that is peculiar to the Sorrento peninsular. We saw some that were enormous, don't know whether they are the ones used.

Now my tooth has been extracted we will probably head over to Sardinia and then Sicily before flying out of Rome on 25th Feb.

Today was a landmark not only because I lost my tooth but also because I finally bought another pair of shoes. Moira can't believe that I would spend money on an expensive piece of jewellery but not buy another pair of shoes, particularly as I had resorted to wearing plastic bags on my feet, inside my joggers, to keep them dry. The joggers were my Lima buy, for the Inca Trail, and I was hoping they would last until Rome. Then I would ditch them, and buy something fashionable as my Italian souvenir for home.

Now I have a new pair of navy joggers that I'm sure will not be ready for disposal in 8 weeks, so there will be no new shoes for the trip home. My pack is ALWAYS heavy!

Tuesday I did not stay at the Internet cafe very long as I was waiting for Moira who had taken our clothes to the laundromat. She had not turned up by 2030, so I thought I had better go looking! The cafe is on Piazza Garibaldi near the railway station and it's not a very "nice" part of town, particularly after dark.

Tomorrow night we sail to Palermo.

I have survived my dental trauma, with the help of drugs!! I have not been able to enjoy my Neopolitano breakfasts because of the tooth. This breakfast consists of Cafe latte and sfogliatella (a pastry filled with lemon flavoured ricotta). I do miss the Spanish breakfast though; the toasted baguette with garlic and chilli infused olive oil drizzled on it.

We have not yet joined the locals for their shot of alcohol for/with breakfast (beer, red wine or amaro). It seems to be both an Italian and Spanish habit for quite a few men.

Yes, unfortunately the girth is expanding, I think!

Ever since a wonderful meal we had in Sienna at a restaurant called Cats and Dogs, (I think Moira wrote of it, the meal we could not actually afford for $100 each!) we have been looking for a particular type of wine. It is a prosecco (similar to a champagne) called Valdo, from the Valdobbiadine region in the north of Italy. Today we found it on our walk to the Internet cafe, so we decided to buy a bottle. Apparently the only bottle available was the one in the window, so we hope it is drinkable.

We have been trying the local wines on our way around. In Naples we sampled "Lacrymi di Cristo" (or something like that) because of the name. It is a very drinkable red from grapes grown on the slopes of Vesuvius. Up north in Chianti territory and Tuscany we tried some of the well-known wines with Marcia. In Panzano we had a Chianti Classico. In Montalcino we tried a Brunello (barrelled for 3 years and bottled two years prior to selling).

The reason I write the times is that in December all of the advertisements were pushing "Novello" which we discovered was grapes picked in September and bottled in December! It was drinkable, but was it "wine"?

Montepulciano supplied us with a Nobile. Along with the above we have been testing our livers on Vino Della Casa because it is the most affordable and usually quite acceptable vino rosso available. It is decanted from barrels in the restaurant or available in unlabelled bottles.

Campari and grappa are eminently forgettable (the locals suggested that perhaps we had not acquired the taste yet).

They have quite a tradition of aperitivo (Campari) before and a digestivo after a meal. The digestivos are called amaros.

Each region has its secret recipe for making this infusion, which seem to be made from local wild plants. It is usually fairly bitter and supposedly aids the digestion!

In Tuscany they also have a Vin Santo. A sweet liqueur made from grapes allowed to dry on the vine, a little like a sweet sherry. That was useful for the Tuscan variation of tiramisu that we made in our cooking class. For nostalgia we found a bar in Elba that served Caiparinhas; a lemon and cachaca cocktail from Brazil! We had one of these in Alicante too!

Moira thinks it is time to go do some more shopping!!!!

Hope all goes well there. Love to everyone

Jane

Index...

Tue, 23 Jan 2001

We gave up the idea of Vietnam after spending too long in Central America. Our argument is that Vietnam is closer to Aussie so we opted to spending more time in far away places.

At the moment with the temperatures below the 10's it may be a sensible option.

We leave for Thailand on 26th February to spend a couple of weeks. A friend of mine, Alison will catch up with us.

The past few days have been spent in Sorrento.

During the off peak season a lot of the hotels have obviously closed down for repairs. As there is little in the way of competition, the prices are definitely not low. The same goes for the restaurants.

We used Sorrento as a base to investigate the Amalfi Coast and the Sorrento Peninsula.

The Amalfi coast to Amalfi was done by bus and we sat on the side facing the sea. It is amazing how these large buses engage the curves that drop down to the sea on what we would call one way streets. The drive was breath taking from both the view and the fear of toppling into the sea.

The road is about 200 meters above the sea and is cut into the cliff. The top part of the cliff has netting and ropes to hold the land and to prevent rocks falling onto the road.

The trip would be fantastic on bikes. It is probably one of the few occasions when I felt that our bike licence would have come in handy. The next time will need to be by boat.

The towns that dot the hillside appear to cling to the cliffs.

Positano was one of the pretty towns. We had thought of spending a night there but it would have been difficult negotiating the slope with our packs.

Amalfi is a town built on top of a stream that you can hear in some parts of the town. It is surprising how far back into the valley the town goes.

We decided to have lunch of Amalfi fish in tomato sauce and pasta. This suited Jane's situation as she bravely ate her meal. Our evening meal in Sorrento was taken in the hotel room with bread, cheese, salad and wine at half the price.

We managed a couple of walks one from Saint Agata that took us on either side of the Sorrento Peninsula with out too much stress.

From Saint Agata we walked back into Sorrento. My knees and feet hurt from walking down hill. I am definitely feeling my age.

As Jane was feeling much better we did a more energetic walk to Punta Della Campenella where the sirens were suppose to seduce the sailors of mythical times. The walk was all down hill. The view is quite spectacular of Capri.

We opted for a circuit and since the weather was still on our side but threatening rain we took to the hills. The climb up Monte Saint Costanza was a total of 496m by approximately 1km. It was very steep but worth the view of the Amalfi coast line.

The climb down was even more interesting as it started to rain. With our umbrellas up, and an even steeper climb down, we managed to get to the next town of Nerano.

Our time is up so catch up with you soon.

Moira

Index...

25 January, On the way to Sicily

It is 1735, Wednesday and we are booked on the overnight ferry to Sicily with the hope that being further south it might be warmer.

The boat does not leave until 2000 hours but we can go on board at 1800. A first class cabin, I wonder what that means here? One learns not to have too many expectations when travelling. I guess if you are at the 5 star end you might, but from where we stand it is always a bit of a surprise package, sometimes pleasant and other times not!!

We have vaguely thrown about the idea of going on to Tunisia from there if the weather does not improve.

This morning we visited Mount Vesuvius. It is an interesting place although the wind was very cold, and it was not a clear day. There were a few fumaroles but that is the only obvious evidence of its volcanic activity.

We could not see the ruins of Pompei.

It is amazing the way people just keep on living in an area subject to dramatic eruptions every so often! The last eruption was in 1944.

It was the same at Solfatara where people were still living around the rim of the volcano and in that area is subject to bradesism (where the height of the ground above sea level changes). In the 80s it changed elevation by 5 metres!!! Apparently the ground has dropped again but still people build there.

I don't know what the housing authorities do, but if it is like everything else around here the locals simply ignore the law if they don't agree with it!!!! There does not seem to be the will to enforce the rules in this region!

I wonder how they will go in the European Union when there are certain requirements to be fulfilled!!

We must away for our embarkation

Love to all.

Jane

Index...

1st February

Palermo is wonderful. There are many areas still showing signs of the bombings of the second world war! The amazing meld of past civilisations has left a remarkable treasure trove to explore, particularly architecture and food!!

The weather is TERRIBLE and we are miserable. My new shoes are not waterproof and since we headed west out of Palermo we have been thwarted in every attempt to play at tourists!!!!

Love to all

Jane

Index...

04 Feb 2001

This has to be quick, yet again, sorry.

We have now had 3 days of measured doses of sunshine but it still remains cold!!!! Even I think it is cold.

We are now in Agrigento further around the coast of southwestern Sicily. It’s a place full of very interesting Greek ruins, and is another hilltop town! We are in time for the Almond Blossom Festival.

Tonight we are off to see Papa Wemba. I'm sure you would have heard his music at my place at some stage,. He hails from Central Africa and has worked with Peter Gabriele on the world music stage.

I must get off as Moira is sitting here waiting her turn. It is amazing here; there are no Internet cafes and when you can get access there is only one terminal!!

There will be lots more editing of photos!!! We sent another 6 from Naples!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look after yourself.

Love,

Jane

Index...

Jane's note of Friday, 9th of February

By leaving there and heading down the coast to Agrigento we found the sun again. What a relief and all that misery has been left behind!

Agrigento was one of the furthest west of the Greek colonies in Sicilia and was founded by people from Rhodes and Crete. It has a loooooonnnnnng history. Apart from the beautiful scenery, (and yes, it is another hilltop town) its modern claim to fame is the remains of a series of Greek Temples in the valley below the modern city.

We arrived in time for their Almond Blossom Festival, the start anyway, and managed to see plenty of Sicilian dancing, singing and music. Associated with the festival was an Ethno-music Festival and we saw Papa Wemba who was performing as part of the Ethno bit. It was an interesting affair.

The concert was to start at 9pm. By 940pm it had not commenced and the place was only about 25% occupied. Within another 5 minutes a hoard of people arrived and the concert started. Well, the audience looked as tho they might have been going to an opera!!!! It comprised middle-aged matrons and spouses in their “bestess”. I don't think I have been anywhere in years where there have been so many well coiffeured ladies all in the same room!!!! Oh, I almost forgot the fur coats too. They are just our scene!! I was also surprised at the response of the audience who obviously enjoyed the music!!!

I could not help comparing the audience to how it might be in Darwin. I can visualise all those ferals, aging hippies and US!

After our few days in Agrigento we hopped a train to Central Sicilia in the limestone hill country, to visit a place called Piazza Armerina. The train trip was interesting! After about an hour our train started to head back in the direction from which we had started. I looked at Moira, and she looked at me, and we wondered!!! I thought we must have been heading for a siding but the train still continued with us travelling backwards! Finally asked a fellow passenger where the train was going!!!!! Our concern caused some amusement to the other passengers, but we were on the right train. It was just backtracking and heading off in a different direction!!

When we arrived at Enna there was nothing there except the station!!! The town itself was on top of a hill and there was no transport up!! Then Moira checked the GuideBook that was very specific about NOT taking the train to Enna for this very reason!! Someone (we don't know who) must have phoned their mate, the taxi driver, who appeared after about 30 and started bargaining with us!!! We ended up taking a taxi ride to our destination.

We found that our hotel in Piazza Armerina was miles out of town but close to the Roman villa we wished to visit and there were NO buses!!!! It was very peaceful out there in the country after all our city time!!!!!

Moira has written in more detail about these things and others..

We move on to Noto tomorrow. It is a little further south from Syracusa. We hope to go out and do some bird watching and walking there.

We have not determined yet why some places have Internet and others not!! In Sicily we have found that most places only have one computer. We discovered this place tonight as we were wandering around the old part of town. It has about 4 terminals.

Talk to you later,

Jane

Index...

Moira's note of Friday, 9th February

We found that Palermo much brighter than Napoli and put this down to its lower buildings that allowed more light into the streets.

There are some magnificent buildings here with the Arab and Norman influence. The Duomo in Palermo and in Monreale, of course has some impressive work but there is competition with each era as they built over the existing buildings.

The non-church buildings were La Cuba and Ziza that were grand buildings with large ponds built in front of the 3 story Arab buildings.

We met an Australian couple who was keen to talk to other English-speaking people. The discussion started a Norman Church and was finished over a cup of coffee when we were asked to leave the church. That was a bit rude of us!! Is that typical of Australians???

What can I say about Trapani, another old town on the sea. It rained and made it all-too-difficult to see any thing.

We decided to go up to Enrice that is a beautiful mountain top village, but could only see a few feet in front of us. With wet shoes we then decided to catch the next bus down to warmer climes as we trying to fight off colds.

There was no solace in Internet places that were only points (plugholes) which means only one outlet!!!!! From the point of view of Internet we have decided that there around here the tourists are either short-term visitors or have their own laptops!

From Trapani we decided to make a day visit to Masarla hoping the weather may be fine there. We travelled all that way and had a wonderful seafood lunch overlooking the rough sea as the rain came through, but we did not try the Masarla. Jane was a little disappointed with me because she could not drink any alcohol.

We are now in Agrigento and are recovering from a cold picked up along the way. It has been difficult to keep warm as not only has it been raining but also miserably cold. I am looking forward to Thailand before heading home.

We caught the bus into Agrigento that is in south of Sicily. This place has some interesting history of Greek mythology. Here are the Greek temples to Zeus and Hercules, and evidence of the Roman and Arabic invasion.

Of even more interest is the Mafia.

There are three different types of police here, one type is called the finance police who check up on whether you have a receipt after eating at a hotel etc. I presume that this is to do with going into the Europe Union.

While travelling across the island I have noticed some of the freeways are not being used. They must have either have closed down , run out of funds, or someone has run away with the money. The reason is most likely to be the latter.

We have met some interesting people. Last night a lady who was on her own joined us for a meal. She is from Nova Scotia and did not realise how cold Sicily could get. She just brought her summer things along and is now feeling the cold.

We also met a couple this morning while we were trying to find a temple. They are Sicilian, and are starting an accommodation business. The husband is an artist and the wife is going to look after the house and flat. They have a Greek ruin in their yard and were very keen to show us the yard.

One night we went to a concert to see Papa Wemba as part of an international cultural festival. It was very interesting to be surrounded by women in their furs. It became obvious that the seats in front were free because the people in their furs turned up at least 1 hour late. The show was held up for that time.

We had and interesting time trying to organise a taxi back into town from the concert. We gained more faith in our command of language after we found our taxi driver at the entrance waiting for us.

From Agrigento we caught the train to Enna, only to find our selves at the foot of the mountain top-town and buses coming only every 2-3 hours!!! I took a quick glance at the guidebook to discover a note saying not to catch the train here as it was difficult to get into town.

Have no fears!!! Someone had rung a taxi for us and we managed to get to our Piazza Armerina destination where we wanted to get to see the amazing mosaics in the Villa Romana.

The building has every room covered with mosaics depicting mythology and the events of the time. The events are stories of bringing animals from Africa to Italy to be used in the Colosseums. The works and the setting of the Villa are beautiful. The tiles have been preserved by a flood that covered and preserved the works.

We then caught the bus from Piazza Armenia to Sergusa and the 120 km drive took us 4 hours. We managed to get a front row seat and we called into every town on the way to pick up and put down school children.

Today we have been to the Greek Amphitheatre and will head off to Noto.

Moira

Index...

Tuesady, 13 February 2001

We arrived in Catania Sunday afternoon and will probably stay for a couple of days as we look into yet another volcano; Mt Etna. It will all depend on the weather because Etna is also covered with snow.

Our footwear does not allow us to walk in the rain let alone in snow!!!

Our hotel manager was useful with some information but we needed to know about the snow and walking so we decided to wait another night and check with the local tourist office who basically said you need to go to the town on the mountain to get further detail.

Catania celebrated its Patron Saint Agata Day last week and the celebrations have continued (we think), or maybe they are beginning to celebrate carnavale???

There are various costumes for children to wear which are sold in the streets and shops.

You would think by now we would have tuned into the Italian times of shops closed on Monday morning and closed from 1.00 till about 4pm, or is it our optimism that things will change. We did manage to find a shop open and spent sometime practising our Italian and walking out with some bargains. Well we think???? We will need to buy another suitcase on wheels to take these buys home.

Another way of filling in time in town on Monday morning is to find a café. Better still is an Internet cafe.

The clothing shops, some museums, and some of the restaurants are closed until the afternoon, or all day. It is lovely walking through the towns in the late afternoon to evening along with the locals in the city. Where ever we have gone this has been common practice. The walking is also very social

Moira

Index...

Tuesday, 13 February 2001

Sicily has an important strategic position in the Mediterranean and has been home to almost every influential civilisation in the region, inheriting a great variety of flavours and dishes from Greek to Arabic, and the use of chilli.

Sicily is supposedly THE home of ice cream (gelato) in Italy. It is quite delicious and there are so many interesting flavours such as Baci, torrone, almond, wild strawberry, pistachio, ricotta, as well as ALL the usual. And they are all sssssoooo creamy.

The one item that really caught my attention was something I saw last night and I found it quite unbelievable. At one of the street stalls I saw a man slice open what looked like a hamburger bun and proceed to fill it with soft serve ice cream! Not quite believing it, Moira confirmed it but insists that it was a sweet bun???!!

People actually order such things and eat them. They seem almost as improbable as a pie floater!

Sicilians like their sweet dishes, almond and ricotta, in particular. They have numerous varieties of almond biscuits, pastries (cannolo a pastry filled with ricotta or cornetto, croissant to us, filled with marmalade, chocolate or ricotta), cakes (cassatine, a speciality) and any variety of sugarcoated nuts, toffeed nuts, torrone and marzipan. We are in the home of the almond sweet tooth. We even sipped some very delicious almond wine yesterday while waiting for our bus to Catania (and incidentally bought a 1.5 litre of red).

It is very interesting that despite all that tucker the Sicilians are not an over weight community,. Moira reckons that by eating a sweet pastry for breakfast it stops that craving for something sweet at other times.

Even though we were in Agrigento for the Almond Blossom Festival we were hard pressed to find a tree, let alone one in flower. Apparently some years ago the area suffered a big storm that destroyed most of the almonds and the people replanted with olives Olives are not the same when it comes to almond blossom festivals. In the past the valley was white with blossom at festival time.

Between Syracusa and Noto (a famous Baroque style town in the south) we finally found hillsides of almonds in bloom, and a beautiful honey perfume with it! Just as spectacular is the clover in bloom that were whole areas of bright green and yellow. There are many citrus orchards in the region too.

They have a wonderful orange here that can be blood red so your fresh orange juice looks like tomato not orange!

I have unfortunately discovered that Lindt, my favourite chocolate, is owned by Kraft, and so also is Cote D'Or!!!! This discovery has not stopped me eating it though! They have many more flavours here than in Darwin, for example, menthe and champagne!! You would like this George, you can even buy chocolate salami here in Italy!!

Sicily is famous also for its seafood. I have had every variation on a theme. We’ve eaten whitebait balls, calamari - fried, barbecued, roasted, stuffed, whole fish (no tuna because it’s not the season), octopus, mussels, clams, prawns, fish roe. We even tasted some ricci (sea-urchin) the other day, but they had surprisingly little meat in them.

Their famous pasta dishes are pasta with sardines and pasta norma (a tomato, aubergine combination). This has not stopped us from trying Pasta with swordfish, artichokes, rabbit mince, arrabiatta, and on it goes.

The pasta itself is mainly dried although most places have a few dishes using fresh pasta also on the menu such as ravioli, tagliatelle, and papadelle.

An Arabic influence is seen in the cuscus dish served in the west of Sicily. Moira tried it one night and it was delicious. That reminds me that I must pull out Dads recipe for cuscus because I think it tasted something very similar. The problem with Dad’s recipe is that it’s written in French if I remember correctly! He always liked a challenge.

Also, arrabiatta is a piquant sauce used for their pasta too.

Antipastos here are something else too.

I will bore you all to tears about it later on: time is up!! Off to climb Mt Etna tomorrow

Love to all

Jane

Index...

Thu, 15 Feb 2001

Moira is at this very minute doing some editing of the photos on the web site, but not for long because this place is very expensive at $10 an hour.

We posted off another 8 roles of photos from here this morning!

We are now in Taormina, a little further up the east coast of Sicily. In fact, this place is almost the top corner from where one can jump back across to Calabria.

We are not sure where we will move to next; maybe the Eolie Islands, in particular Stromboli, to see an active volcano.

Moira has just received notice that the P3 job has been advertised and closes in 4 days so we may just stay here a few more days or find somewhere with cheaper Internet.

The trip up to Etna was beautiful. We had a clear day so could see the summit.

Sorry George, I have to get off as it is 1300 hours and they shut shop here for a few hours in the middle of the day.

Think we are now going to climb up to the fortress overlooking this town.

Love to all

Jane

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Friday, 16 Feb 2001

We looked in the paper today for the temperatures. Rome is supposed to be 5-12 degrees today, whilst Florence and Venice will be a little warmer!!!!! I guess we could titillate ourselves with a dose of freezing temperatures in preparation for our return to the humidity and unpleasantness of Darwin.

We decided to stay another day so that we had Internet access as Moira has to write up and post a job application by Monday. She is in the next booth writing up for the P3 position. From the the job description it sounds like they want super-person on a low salary!! Her P2 position, which was a Darwin one, is now out at Gove and she may have to move there if something does not change.

It sounds like it might be a change in life if the department tries to force her out there!

It is a beautiful sunny day out there. From my seat I look through a bunch of citrus plants over to part of the old Norman city wall. I will probably climb the mountain behind town for a bit of exercise before Moira's next stint at job applications, just to freshen up the mind!

Yesterday was overcast so did not attempt the climb as there were no views.

Jane

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Mon, 26 Feb 2001, Sicily Notes from Moira

The photos of the Birthday party looks fantastic especially the food. We are having problems finding something that tastes great in Italy.

I noticed that I have not written anything since Agrigento mainly to do with applying for jobs etc. Well as you know we are in Roma and leave for Thailand tomorrow morning.

From Agrigento we headed towards Enna by train. From Enna we planned to visit Piazza Aremina. Much to our surprise we found ourselves at the station of Enna which is at the foot of the hilltop town, but then we read in the trusty guide not to catch the train!!

There is a bus service that takes stranded passengers to the town. In the meantime a taxi driver stopped to offer us a lift. After discussion as to where we really wanted to go and waiting to see if the bus did turn up at the designated time, we took the taxi to Piazza Armenia.

Why Piazza Armenia? Well, it has the amazing Villa Romana that has been preserved over the years by floods. The floors of the villa are covered with amazing mosaic tiles that depict the history of that time as well as some of the mythology. Jane has just bought a book on Greek mythology so it helped us understand who was in the mosaics.

We then opted for the bus to the next town of Siracusa that is on the sea, so there were no problems about the hilltops.

At Siracusa we visited a Greek and Roman Amphitheatre. Enclosed in the Greek Amphitheatre is the original quarry that spans quite a large area. You actually walk on the roof of the quarry. The roof had collapsed after all those years of carving away the rocks for the buildings.

We felt sorry for the man with the buggy after being molested by the "cookie man", and we decided to take a tour of the town. One of the sights was a necropolis where Archimedes was buried.

The following day we managed to make the Italian time and visit the museum that was well laid out and where there was information in English. I soon discovered that all the "chalky" hills that we have been passing through in Sicily are literally filled with necropoli of many indigenous people and early settlers in Sicily. The extent of the history in Sicily makes it well worth a visit with a historian.

We zipped down to Noto (pronounced Nodo), to look at some more baroque work and visit the local national park. Most of the major buildings were behind scaffolding and we could not see too much of the baroque work. The dome of the duomo had collapsed after an earthquake.

We did have some wonderful meals but had troubles with our beds. The mattress were so hard that we could not get a good night sleep even after our 8 hour walk through the national park and making our way home.

The national park consisted of mainly farmed areas except for some of the waterways that reminded me a bit of Fog Dam without the mossies. The sign that showed the conditions for entering indicated that foreign animals were prohibited by means of a picture of a kangaroo. The sign was set in front of a grove a gum trees that were in the park.

We saw a couple of flamingos that disappeared when we returned after one walk to look at them. Another unusual sight was cormorants sunning themselves in the gum trees; very much like the Magpie geese.

Our next stop was Catania from where we could make it to Mt Etna; another volcano. We were lucky to have a clear day when we went up by bus.

We were unsure as to how our footwear would cope with the snow. Jane has leakage problems and mine have no grip. Did this stop us when we made it to the top? No!!!!. Out on the snow and all rugged up in our non-water non-slip proof shoes we climbed in the snow to one of the craters. On our way up we could hear the rumbling of Mt Etna as she smoked away.

After our adventure we decided to have glue wine and try the local firewater. It certainly burned the back of your throat.

Taormina was our last stay in Sicily. Our manager at the hotel in Catania informed us before we left that there were playboys to buy in Taormina. I don't know why he was informing us of that! We had been told it was just a lovely "hilltop" town to visit.

It turned out to be very much a tourist resort for the very rich. There were some spectacular views and we did some not too strenuous walks to the beach and to the next hilltop town.

When we caught the bus from Taormanina to Messina, Messina did not look inviting so we decided to catch the train to Rome.

After leaving the harbour, we saw a better side of Messina that looked very much like Palermo.

While in Rome we decided to go shopping at the local markets basically looking for bargains.

Following that we did some sight seeing around Rome.

We decided on going to Venezia and we were surprised to learn that the Carnival was on from meeting an Australian couple who had troubles trying to book a hotel. How unusual! We should know by know that anything we decide to do involves some form of celebration in the town we are planning to visit.

After visiting the tourist office we discovered an agency that books outside of Rome and managed to get an expensive room. The room in Venezia was a pleasant surprise and is very central to most of the sights.

Venezia has been very interesting as you are continually meeting water and have nothing to do with cars. The skippers of the transport and cargo boats and the gondoliers were very adept in steering in such confined and congested places.

I spent some money on glass wear of course.

Will leave now.

Moira

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