Tag Archives: Italy

The Diary of a Slow Traveller – Sunglasses at Mt Etna

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Coffee after our early morning bike ride is part of my weekly ritual.

During the week I was sitting with my riding buddies at coffee lamenting not having sunglasses to deal with the morning glare. It provided me with a great opportunity to talk about how my sunglasses got wrecked at Mt Etna.

Mt Etna

Mt Etna

It was on our two daughters’ last day in Sicily before they headed off for the next part of their holiday. We organized a day tour to Mt Etna. While my favourite person, our youngest daughter and I had been there before, our eldest daughter hadn’t and was super keen so I arranged a tour rather than a self drive. Continue reading →

Diary of a Slow Traveller – We are in no hurry

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Sitting with a friend over a coffee discussing our recent trip to Italy I started to discuss how we got there

Sure the centre piece of our trip was spending three months in Italy but we had a strategy for getting there. We weren’t going to be hurried. We’d take our time. Fly only during the day and not any long haul.

This meant a stopover in Singapore. We were spoilt for choice for accommodation that fits any budget. We are fans of Tablet  a boutique hotel website. We found a nice little hotel reasonably priced and a short walk from the MRT that linked directly to the airport. For my favourite person there was a relaxing bath for me a gym.  It also provided us the opportunity for a relaxing evening, nice meal and a sleep in a comfortable bed something that being in a hurry to get there doesn’t allow.

The Bath!

The Bath!

 

After a relaxing sleep it was an early trip to the airport on the MRT and check-in, where we were surprised to have been given an upgrade for the short flight to Colombo. Silver service and more leg room!

Silver Service!

Silver Service!

When you are not in a hurry, why not enjoy the journey. Continue reading →

The diary of a Slow Traveller – Walking the streets, Siracusa, Sicily

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The very nature of  Slow Travel is that you can establish a daily routine because there is no  need to race to the next new thing.

Over our weeks in Sircausa our daily routine became a leisurely walk through the streets of the Island of Ortigia and its  nearby mainland. Siracusa is a place that has  seen so much over more than 20 centuries. it was something that we came to appreciate as we walked the streets each and every day.

These shoes are made fro walking!

These shoes are made for walking!

While our daily routine almost always started in search of a coffee and a pastry  we were always captivated by  Ortigia’s narrow streets that were laid out centuries ago.

Who else has walked these streets?

Who else has walked through this archway?

These are streets that Plato quite possibly walked. It was amazing to imagine Archimedes having walked the same streets pondering some problem as we sought to solve the difficult problem of where to go for our morning coffee!

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Did Archimedes walk down here?

Reading the guides or Jeremy Dummett’s book about Siracusa makes it impossible not to wonder whose footsteps we were retracing as we walked to coffee or just meandered through these narrow streets. In one of these streets Archimedes was murdered. Continue reading →

The diary of a Slow Traveller – Markets

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One Love of slow travel is being able to frequent the local market.  That means not just a walk through the local market as you take in the sights but the opportunity to visit and revisit a market that overtime becomes your local.

Ortigia Market from the Temple of Apollo

Ortigia Market from the Temple of Apollo

Our time in Sicily gave us the chance to visit the Origia Market on an almost daily basis for nearly 7 weeks. The market is nestled between the Temple of Apollo and the sea. By  the Temple of Apollo  vendors have stalls selling ceramics, belts and clothes and then a turn to the left and you have a wonderful choice of fruit, vegetables, bread, fish, meat and cheeses.

Fish & produce

Day One purchases

Day One purchases

On Day One there was no doubt we were  “ripped off”. Continue reading →

Diary of a Slow Traveller – A state of mind

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Slow Travel is a state of mind.

As I am writing my Diary of a Slow Traveller as a reflective diary,  I have good reason to scan the thousands of photos I took while traveling through Italy. They are definitely snapshots that capture a moment rather than a work of art.

My favourites are the ones that look out over an expanse of water. Sometimes its just looking out to see or across a lake, other times it’s at a lone sailing boat or a lone fishing boat.

Lake Como

Lake Como

Lone Sailor - Ortigia

Lone Sailor – Ortigia

Lone fisherman - Ortigia

Lone fisherman – Ortigia

These photos  were taken at Lake Como and Ortigia, Siracusa.  All were taken at a time when I could immerse myself for perhaps a few seconds or minutes in the scene.

They provided me a “sense of place”. Continue reading →