Tag Archives: Italy

Diary of a Slow Traveller – You miss one train…

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St Emilion

I was reading one of my favourite travel blogs, Picnic at The Cathedral and WOB’s hilarious reflections on missing a bus in Poland  and was immediately reminded of missing a train in Bordeaux on Bastille weekend and the repercussions of missing that one train!

Some years age my favourite person and I were traveling through Europe with our youngest daughter, who was about fifteen at the time.

We had arranged a train trip from Bordeaux to Taormina. Yes I  know, this involves going across the water and trains don’t normally travel over water, but in Italy they sort of do! They barge the carriages from the mainland across to Messina and then you continue your journey. We thought it sounded like fun.

St Emilion

Back to the story. We were staying in St Emilion and needed to drive back to Bordeaux railway station to drop the car off and then board the train to Paris, travel across Paris to catch another train to Amalfi where we’d planned a couple of days sightseeing before re-boarding the train to travel onto Taormina. As I write this it now seems so obvious it wasn’t going to be straight forward but I didn’t expect it to turn sour even before we boarded our train in Bordeaux.

After a delightful Saturday morning in St Emilion, we allowed ourselves what we considered to be a more than ample time (two and half hours) to get to the Bordeaux train station. I allowed this time because the previous year I’d been in Bordeaux for work and seen how busy the traffic was.

So all packed and seemingly with plenty of time, we loaded the address into the GPS and set off for the station. Continue reading →

Diary of a Slow Traveller – Catania, Palermo, Naples – three cities that you must visit

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Palermo Cathederal entrance

Palermo Cathedral entrance

 

It would be fair to say that when you think of three cities that you must visit, it’s doubtful that Catania, Palermo and Naples immediately come to mind? However they are each cities with enormous character and personality. Each enjoys a reputation of being dark, dirty, unruly and not safe.

The words of warning are appropriate but so are the reasons to visit!

We took the opportunity to visit all three on our last trip to Italy.

While we had visited Palermo twice before, we had steered clear of Catania and Naples previously, due to the general commentary around safety. So  as I said, on our last visit to Italy we decided to visit both Catania and Naples as well as revisiting Palermo. Infact, we enjoyed each of them so much that we made a return trip to Catania while we were in Sicily and extended our stay in Naples. We also wished we’d allowed a little more time for Palermo.

Each of these cities have their own personalities. Continue reading →

The Diary of a Slow Traveller – Do I need a car?

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Does Slow Travel require a car? The notion of Slow Travel by its very nature suggests not being in a hurry and being in control. A car gives you flexibility and allows control as to where you’ll go so it would seem a car goes hand-in-hand with Slow Travel.

So why wouldn’t you drive?

For some of us the challenge is that we drive on the left hand side of the road meaning that to drive in Europe, USA and many other destinations you need to unlearn everything you have been taught.

For all of us there is the challenge of reading signs in a foreign language and learning new road rules, or quickly becoming aware that road rules make little difference to the way the locals drive.

My driving exploits in foreign locations have been the source of many laughs. My four attempts to see the sign to the airport as I zipped around the roundabout on the outskirts of Palermo are regularly brought out by favourite person and daughter when we discuss driving in Europe.

Continue reading →

Diary of a Slow Traveller – San Gimignano – a mix of old and kitsch

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During our sojourn to Italy we took a day trip tof the medieval walled town o San Gimignano. Getting there from Florence is pretty straight forward even if you are not driving.

We’d read the guidebooks and spoken to others, so we knew that we were going to see some amazing sights mixed with shop after shop eagerly seeking to get the tourist dollar. The sites outweigh the endless tourist traps. It is a spectacular place a town set on a hill that dominates its surrounds. It was also just as my imaginings of Tuscany  had been probably  most likely because so many of the photographs of Tuscany in guide books and brochures are from San Gimignano.

The  bus drops you at the gates or if you drive you have a choice of two cents parks which conveniently have signs saying how many parks are available in each.  It felt very Disneyland as we walked through the gates and into Yesterdayland. Just as with Disneyland it is quite special. Continue reading →

Diary of a Slow Traveller – The Food, Siracusa, Sicily

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Sitting at our favourite local coffee shop on a lovely Adelaide Autumn day, my favourite person and I quickly returned to our usual conversation – Sicily and when we can get back there.

There are so many things to talk about when it comes to Sicily but it’s the food that becomes the centre piece of pretty much all of our coffee conversations. Is it the freshness, the fish caught that morning, the local vegetables (seasonal produce only) or  the sweet temptations?

Oranges and Grapes a t the market

Oranges and Grapes a t the market

I guess it depends on what takes your fancy and across our nearly 2 months in Siracusa it all took its turn in delighting us. Staying so close to the Ortigia food market all food thoughts started at this truly special local market, just over the bridge on the island of Ortigia and next to the ancient Temple of Apollo. The choices grapes, pears, carrots, brocolli romanescue, bread, meats, fish and cheeses.

Fresh fish - Ortigia Market

Fresh fish – Ortigia Market

Even on days when we didn’t plan to cook in our apartment,  we still seemed to find things to buy at this delightful local market. Continue reading →