Life's about experiences. These are mine.
When we first arrived here a couple of days ago one of the first places we made it to was the castle right at the end of the island. This being Italy we had missed the tiny window of time when it was actually open but did happen to notice that it was open today …
There are several distinct areas to Siracusa: Ortiga, the tiny island joined to the main island by a bridge, the modern and unintersting town and the archological area where we went today. The main attraction on the site is the huge Greek theatre. Unlike the one we saw in Taormina this one is more complete …
Today was our last full day in Taormina and I was really sorry to be leaving as it is a lovely place. The hotel was superb and really well located for the town which was just a short walk away. We spent our final morning walking through the main street and down, once again, into …
Continue reading “Sicily 2016 – Day 6 – Taormina to Siracusa”
Between Taormina and Castelmola sit two peaks holding the church of Santurano Madonna della Rocca and next to it the Castello Saraceno Monte Tauro. They dominate the view looking between the two towns and we decided that it would be jolly fun to walk to them. So earlyish this morning we set off up the …
Continue reading “Sicily 2016 – Day 5 – Castello Saraceno Monte Tauro”
Over the last few days we have seen numerious companies offering hop-on, hop-off bus services going to various local places. However, there was really only one place that we were interested in visiting on these routes – Castelmola. Turns out that there is a local bus that goes there and for only €1.90 rather than …
Unsurprisingly the best time to see Taormina is first thing when the light is soft and all the tourists are still in bed. We discovered this fact when walking through the town at 7:30 am this morning on our way to the bus terminal. There wasn’t a soul in sight. We were at the bus …
The hotel we are staying in, the San Domenic Palace, is housed in a 14th century monastery. It’s a beautiful place but it is a bit like staying over night in a museum. Not only is it architecturally interesting it is also littered with period furniture, some of which is roped off just like in …
So we are off on our adventures again. This time it’s to Sicily, that island being constantly kicked by the boot that is Italy. We’ve never been before and are making a visit solely based on how attactive it looks on the Inspector Montalbano TV series! Sicily is a three hour flight from the UK …
Continue reading “Sicily 2016 – Day 1 – Gatwick to Catania to Taormina”
TL;DR Tap water is great, buy a reusable bottle and drink with pride. In the Oracle shopping centre in Reading over the last few weeks there has been a pop-up stand for Virgin Pure which, to quote their website is “the smart appliance that dispenses unlimited pure water, hot or chilled, at the touch of …
Continue reading “Virgin Pure – a Solution to a Problem that Doesn’t Exist”
When I told people that I was going to take a tour around the Reading Prison the general question was “why?” My response is that other than Porridge and on news reports I haven’t been into a prison – not having the pleasure of being at Her Majesty’s pleasure and all that! It’s just not …