Friday 23.5.2014

Warm night in Palermo. Eating supper in hostel after all day walking round:  chiesas every few yards, a vibrant sea front,delectable ice-cream and markets with every conceivable veg (and excellent lunch served by Antonio who said he spent three years working at the Savoy amongst other places before returning home. Certainly his English was very good as was his food). Tomorrow more churches and castles (and ice-cream hopefully) before heading back to Syracuse on Sunday. Hard yakka this holiday business.

Tuesday 20.05.14

Made it: negotiated trains and metros to arrive in Syracuse by Sunday via Milan and Naples and yes they do put the train on the ferry oh all yea of little faith out there. By rattly train this morning to Modica with stopover in Noto. Warm evening, hundreds of martins and swallows zooming overhead, purchase of local cheese,bread, ham, olives, cherries, apricots and chocolate to be consumed back at excellent lodgings * with a glass or three of the local wine. And to top it all, Modica has an amazingly good bookshop. A hard act to follow.       
* www.ModicaOldTownRooms.it

Thursday 15.05.2014

Set off on train this afternoon -- Sicily or bust by the weekend. Reading Italian Ways by Tim Parks, entertaining account of Italian Railways. Looks like we might have fun. :) Hopefully more posts as we travel.

Sunday 04.05.2014

Muggy, banks of clouds piled up on each other, white and grey and slate dropping spits and spots of warm rain. Birds everywhere -first swallow back today and spotted first heartease

and the silly young beasts have been turned out, galloping alongside us up and down the hill, terminally curious.

Oh and did I mention Wednesday`s visitor........

Friday 02.05.2014

A full on perfect May day as in no holds barred, blue sky,fluffy white clouds,warm sun,chirpy birds type day. Lots of fresh green

and to round it off that familiar harbinger of summer...the bird-scarer firing regular volleys across the fields. :)