FUN-travel: Ragusa to Terrasini, Sicily

November 15, 2013 by · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Ragusa to Terrasini, Sicily 

Day 42 – Sunday, October 27 – Ragusa to Terrasini, Sicily – full sun – high 75 – low 59

3 Agrigento, Italy

Valley of the Temples

What I LIKE

18 Monreale, Italy

Monreale

  • *7:35 – lukewarm cappuccino
  • **8:30 – checkout
  • 8:50 – hit the road
  • 9:45 – 2nd gas station has no attendant but people filling up
  • nice man shows us how to put money in & get gas out
  • ***10:45 – arrive Gela w/gas station open
  • good hot cappuccino too!
  • full of locals – clearly the place to be on a Sunday morning
  • 12:10 – arrive Agrigento & Valley of Temples – $10 Euro pp
  • +1:15 – lunch @ restaurant there – 1 slice pizza, 1 cold pasta salad, 1 diet coke – $15 Euro
  • 1:45 – drive to Monreale
  • rolling hills – green & brown – rocky mountains in distance
  • lots of small Quonset hut like green house growing zucchini & vineyards dot the landscape
  • ++3:30 – arrive Monreale – big beautiful church on top of grand hill just outside of Palermo & free!
  • 4:00 – beer & cappuccino break
  • +++4:15 – off to Terrasini/Cinisi for Palm Beach Hotel – only 20 miles
  • 5:05 – finally arrive – Giancarlo (front desk) very nice & helpful – carries our bags up
  • internet works & they have CNN!
  •  5:30 – down for bottle of wine (only have carafes) – $12 Euro for liter Nero d’ Avola – not bad
12 Agrigento, Italy

Valley of the Temples

  • 7:50 – walk 2 blocks to restaurant recommended by Giancarlo – Primafila
  • #1 TA rated plus have Michelin sign
  • 8:00 – arrive
  • staff eating dinner outside family style – tell us 10 mins
  • 8:15 – menu arrives
  • order Adènzia  2009 Christo di Campobello di Licata – syrah, cab, nero d’avola blend $18 Euro – tri color salad, mozzarella balls, iceberg, tomato – risotto w/veggies – fresh pasta (like really long macaroni)  w/fish (typical/local dish) – tastes fishy $53 Euro
7 Agrigento, Italy

Valley of the Temples

What I DON’T LIKE

  • *no breakfast or server – have to go down to lobby – person on duty doesn’t speak English or know how to make a cappuccino
  • **no one to help w/the bags26 Monreale, Italy
  • need gas and no stations open
  • 9:30 – go to self serve – won’t take credit card
  • put in $10 Euro & no gas!
  • miss turn & detour out of our way – road signs not clear
  • ***take credit card inside but attendant outside has to put money in to get gas
  • +the worst & most expensive so far!
  • ++outside & terraces closed on Sunday afternoon
  • +++once again GPS is confused – turn around & stop for directions – didn’t go far enough
  • elevator is broken
  • missed the eruption of Mt. Etna on the 26th  – left Taormina one day too early!
Mt. Etna 2013

Mt. Etna – What We Missed!

FUN-fact – The Valley of the Temples is a large sacred area on the south side of the ancient city where seven monumental Greek temples in the Doric style were constructed during the 6th and 5th centuries BC. Now excavated and partially restored, they constitute some of the largest and best-preserved ancient Greek buildings outside of Greece itself. They are listed as a World Heritage Site.
More FF – The Monreale church is a national monument of Italy and one of the most important attractions of Sicily. The impressive glass mosaics covering the interior make this church so splendid.

FUN-travel: Ragusa, Sicily – Full Day

November 12, 2013 by · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Ragusa, Sicily – Full Day 

Day 41 – Saturday, October 26 – Ragusa, Sicily – Full Day – full sun – high 75 – low 59

Ragusa, Italy 2013 14

What I LIKE

  • +7:30 – real cappuccino – no machineRagusa, Italy 2013 13
  • 11:00 – walk to old city
  • *lots of steps down
  • then winding street up to duomo
  • walk & window shop plaza area
  • 12:15 – gelati divini break – mmmm yummy!
  • walk back to new city
  • find birthday card for Cinzia
  • **12:50 – lunch caffe italia – 2 salads – caprese w/ tuna & mozzarella, parmesan, bresaola & arugula – 2 capps – $15 Euro
  • ***room R & R
  • internet & email works!
  • ++7:30 – walk to dinner @ Duomo restaurant – Mauro from Rimini made reservations for us (both he & Pierpaolo said it was the “best” in Sicily
  • getting dark & glad I brought my “torch” I won from Seabourn golf putting contest
  • stop @ hotel and ask directions (only place on the street we see)
  • 8:05 – arrive & got more exercise on the way!

1st order – wine from Sicily (take recommendation)
2 appetizers arrive complimentary from chef
1st app – shrimp w/coconut & ginger
2nd app– sardines (thank goodness Chris likes those)
1st course we ordered – Ragusa cheese – baked with onion – VG!!
then more comps – bread, bread sticks & pizza foccacia
2nd course we ordered – gnocchi w/pork, clams & mussels
another comp – ice cream sandwich – tiny fried waffles w/ice cream between
3rd course we ordered – 2 different cuts of pork w/wonderful sauces decorating plate
+++then more comps – plate w/4 chocolates – $222.00 US

Ragusa, Italy 2013 15

View of Ragusa Ibla

  • 10:20 – Guiseppe arrives (taxi driver hotel recommends) takes us home – $10 Euro
  • 12:00 – night night

What I DON’T LIKE

Ragusa, Italy 2013 5

Cathedral of San Giorgio

  • +breakfast spread pretty mediocre for ****
  • *dog poop on steps
  • stores close @ 1:00 until 4:30
  • should have followed GPS into Modica so I could have seen it – don’t even want to get in the car today!
  • **only place open
  • ***clouds rolling in
  • ++didn’t bring map & take wrong turn – never occurred to me I could get lost in this little town – or that you could just go in circles!
  • +++we’re stuffed! don’t even taste it

FUN-fact – The city has two distinct areas, the lower and older town of Ragusa Ibla, and the higher Ragusa Superiore (Upper Town).
More FF – The ancient city is located on a 300 meter high hill with the Cathedral of San Giorgio as the main focal point featuring a flight of 250 steps and massive ornate columns.
More FF – In 2002, Ragusa and 7 other cities in the Val di Noto area became UNESCO World Heritage Sites because of their Baroque Architecture.

FUN-photos: Rimini to Palermo, Italy

November 11, 2013 by · Comments Off on FUN-photos: Rimini to Palermo, Italy 

We arrived in Rimini the afternoon of October 15th. We were there for the TTG Incontri Travel & Tourism Industry Show where Susan spoke. On the morning of the 19th we picked up another car and headed south with our first stop in San Marino and then on to Sorrento for 3 days where we visited Capri, the Blue Grotto, Pompeii & Herculaneum. We continued south along the Amalfi Coast with stops in Positano & Amalfi and spent the night in Tropea. We drove to Villa San Giovanni where we picked up the ferry to Sicily. Our first stop there was Taormina for 2 days, then off to Ragusa for 2 days with stops on the way in Giardini-Naxos, Siracusa & Noto. Our last 2 nights were spent in Terrasini, a small seaside town next to the airport since we had a very early flight out on the 29th. We stopped and saw the Greek ruins in Agrigento & Segesta as well as seeing the fabulous church in Monreale on the outskirts of Palermo.

If you click on the first picture it will allow you to create a slide show. And it turns out they are in ascending order (in other words, the first is actually the last) So if you click the back arrow you will see them in order. Enjoy!

FUN-travel: Taormina to Ragusa, Sicily

November 9, 2013 by · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Taormina to Ragusa, Sicily 

Day 40 – Friday, October 25 –Taormina to Ragusa, Sicily – full sun – high 75 – low 59

What I LIKE

  • 7:30 – really good, hot, strong cappuccinoGiardini Naxos, Italy 2013 6
  • 10:00 – Paolo calls official registration office in Giardini-Naxos
  • shows us how to go there
  • Chris’ dad was born there
  • 10:30 – check out – no charge for any food!
  • this is one of the best places we ever stayed! service off the charts!
  • 10:50 – drive to Giardini-Naxos
  • 11:20 – arrive Ufficio Anagrate
  • taken back to archives – metal cabinet w/ledgers
  • 1916 – page w/Nov 15th births
  • makes us a copy to take
  • no charge!
  • 12:40 – drive through town to Archaeological Park – $2 Euro pp
  • nice walk to stretch legs
  • 1:15 – drive to Siracusa
  • **2:10 – arrive & drive around
  • find huge park w/greek ruins
Giardini Naxos, Italy 2013 5

Giardini-Naxos

  •  2:50 – lunch @only place we find w/parking
  • Pizzeria Don Chisciotte – order 4 cheese pizza – turns out its 4 items – ham, olives, mushrooms & peas – diet coke – $8.50 Euro – pretty bad
  • 3:20 – drive to Noto
  • ***4:15 – arrive
  • 1:45 – finally get to old city – JTC!

    Noto, Italy 2013 7

    Noto

  • wish we would have come here to eat
  • nice sidewalk cafes
  • +5:00 – head to Ragusa
  • 6:30 – arrive Hotel Villa Del Lauro
  • free parking on street (more like an alley if you ask me)
  • Domenico checks us in
  • ask for room on 1st floor – he says not as nice as 2nd floor room
  • he is so right
  • beautiful big room w/french doors to patio
  • overlooking big grass yard w/swimming pool
  • ++carries our bags up for us
  • was originally a palace
  • free mini bar – water, beer, snacks – JLT!
  • 8:30 – short walk to new town
  • +++9:00 – dinner @ Konza – mixed salad w/olives, carrot, mozzarella, capers, tomatoes, corn – tagliatelle w/mushroom & sausage – pretty good – 2009 Baglio Caruana, Vilucchio cab/merlot – $19 Euro
  • 10:05 – walk back
  • internet & email works here! (hotspot is the provider I don’t like)
  • 11:45 – night night

JTC – just too cute!
JLT – just love that!

1 Noto, Italy

Noto

What I DON’T LIKE

  • *pretty disappointing – not much to see
  • can’t find city center for lunch options
  • put  piazza in GPS but nothing there
  • ***once again – crazy one way streets – no clear signs to old city center
  • +GPS wants to take us on back roads – don’t want to do that!
  • more confusing road signs
  • ++no elevator (3 story)
  • +++couldn’t find recommended ones on map

FUN-fact – The theatre in Siracusa is one of the largest ever built by the ancient Greeks: it has 67 rows, divided into nine sections with eight aisles. Taormina’s is the second largest of its kind in Sicily.

Noto, Italy 2013 2