Martin Fuggle Downunder

The sun is hot today and the temperature in our room is 28

I hate moving from one place to another. It is far too stressful and always seems to lead to another set of problems. This morning we packed our bags and went down for breakfast and the weather and views of the sea were absolutely lovely. I went for a last trip into town to rob the bank of enough cash to pay the hotel (yes - they don't take credit cards) and get a copy of the Sunday Times.
We then took the road to Milazzo where the ferry leaves for Lipari. The drive only took an hour and once we were at the port we had to find out how to leave the car etc etc. It turned out that a friendly policeman told us we could leave the car in a street parking area as long as we bought a couple of daily parking passes and displayed them in the car. We did that, bought the ferry tickets and got on the ferry for Lipari. It only took an hour and we were disgorged onto the dock at Lipari with all of the others. I thought the hotel was right on the sea so wasn't expecting much of a walk to find the hotel. As it turned out it was a fair way up the main street and down a few others before we finally got there a bit exhausted. On the way Peter phoned and we told him what was happening and said we would phone back when we found the hotel. Well there's problem number one because every time we move it seems that the 'phone service providers block outgoing phone calls. It's a real nuisance because often that's exactly the time you want to make a phone call if you need to call the hotel for example.
When we finally got to the hotel we tried to speak Italian to the receptionist only to find that she spoke perfectly good Australian since she was from Sydney. She also spoke perfectly good Italian since she had married a fellow from Lipari and had been on the island for almost eleven years. We had asked for a room with a sea view but didn't get one mainly because the hotel didn't have a sea view! Anyway the room isn't too bad and in reality the hotel is only a few steps from a small port with restaurants, boats and shops. We did a small amount of unpacking and then walked down to the port for something to eat. I had some octopus and Jenny had a lasagne before we walked up one of the main streets to the castle on top of the hill overlooking the main port and the small port on our side. It was really interesting because Jenny found an exhibition about a woman who had done a lot for the Eolian Islands and had an exhibition about her and her work. Her name was Isabella Conti Eller Vainicher and she was of German parents but born in Naples. An old man explained her life to us and then the mayor of Lipari came in and gave an excellent description of the exhibition - it was most interesting.
On our way back to the hotel we booked a boat trip for tomorrow to the islands of Panarea and Stromboli where we hope to see the volcano in action at night. The trip starts at 2.00 and we finally get back at 10.00pm. We didn't bother with dinner since we have had enough food to keep us going through an arctic winter.

It was my birthday today and I got some SMS messages from some of the family and to my pleasant surprise Tania & Graham phoned from Spain, Ian & Pauline sent me an SMS and Brigitte & Gerhard sent me an SMS from Germany.
Breakfast on the terrace was very pleasant this morning and the sun was quite warm. We then took a walk in the garden just below the hotel where there were any number of Americans and Germans painting Mt Etna and the foreground scenery. It seems that they were on some sort of focused holiday where they were being taken on a painting holiday with a 'painting guide'. We looked over the shoulder of some and they were a bit rough! The gardens on the other hand were superb and the views fantastic. We took quite a few photos from the gardens looking out towards the bay below and Mt Etna and we also took some close up photos of flowers. There were some large eucalypts and wattles in the gardens and on the slopes just outside. The air was very fresh and much cooler in the gardens.
We then headed back to meet Liz and Barry Preston for lunch at Licchio's. It had been recommended by the people at The Villa Schuler and we sat in the garden with a number of Italian families. We were the only tourists. We ate very well and the coincidences continued to flow. Tania phoned just when we had arrived at the restaurant and just in case she knew Liz and Barry I asked her and she didn't know them but Liz immediately recognised Tania's name because she had taught her children Edwina and Jeremy. Then a little later Liz was describing her mother's boyfriend and the fact that the two of them were very active for 90 year old somethings. Jenny thought that the boyfriend being described might be Chris Moss' father and sure enough it was - what a coincidence that someone could talk about a person for no more than a couple of minutes and Jenny managed to name them out of the 4.5 million people who live in and around Melbourne. Maybe we should take a ticket in Tatts. We walked down to the bus station with Liz and Barry and then walked back around Via Pirandello and through the garden. Jenny went to the hotel and I went into Taormina to get something to eat in the room.
Unfortunately it is our last day and night in Taormina and tomorrow we will travel to Lipari. For me it has been a really lovely birthday.

There was a small amount of dissension about what we might do today. I was keen to get the car out and take a trip to Mt Etna and then perhaps take a trip up to the crater (or wherever it was possible to go). Jenny felt that it would be too cold (after all there was plenty of snow to be seen on the mountain) and it would require special shoes which we didn't have. Instead we took the autobus to Giardini Naxos which is also called Taormina Giardini. The trip down the cliff was very pretty but Giardini Naxos is not one of the better places in Sicily (or Italy for that matter). We walked along the sea front for ages and didn't see much of interest and hardly anywhere to eat and eventually decided to take the autobus back to Taormina. However the bus stop was outside a restaurant which was right on the sea with waves crashing down below and we decided to have something to eat there before taking the 2.00pm bus back to Taormina. The food wasn't too bad but we were certainly glad to get back to Taormina.
We stopped off for the paper but the newsagent is closed until 4.00pm so we went to the hotel and I went for a brioche with gelato and picked up the paper on my way. We went out for a pizza and found a place just a little way up from the hotel where the pizze were very good indeed - probably the best we have had in Italy.

Breakfast on the terrace was lovely. We could see the sea and Mt Etna in the background with snow covering most of the top of the mountain. The weather is much improved and we can see the sea which is no longer covered in mist. We can also see the Italian coast of Calabria even though it is not really clear. Breakfast was good but not great but the setting was certainly superb.
We aimed to look at the Greek Theatre and then take the Funivia down to the beach. The Greek Theatre was most interesting and dates from 260 BC. It was developed in five phases and was in the most fantastic setting with views across the bay towards Giardini Naxos and Mt Etna. We took some photos and I hope they come out well. We then walked down to the Funivia and went down to the beach. It was typical of European beaches insofar as it was mainly small pebbles and private. We didn't let that worry us and we walked along the beach before deciding to head back to Taormina at the top of the cliff.
Jenny had seen a small bar the day before which looked like a good place for a light lunch so we had a 'Tutti Cca' which was an antipasto and then started walking back to the hotel when we bumped into the Australians that we had met the previous day on the way from Palermo. We sat down for a coffee and another member of their group walked by and joined us. He came from Uvadale Avenue in Kew and used to walk his dog in Victoria Park at the bottom of Argyle Road. He knew Lily and when he gets back to Kew next week he will tell the dog walking people that he bumped into Jenny in Sicily. He had to catch a bus back to his hotel but Liz and Barry Preston stayed and we chatted for quite a while. I am absolutely certain that I have met Barry before but we haven't worked out if I have and if so where and when. We planned to have lunch together on Sunday so maybe we will stumble across any coincidences then.
We came back to the hotel and spent the rest of the day reading the British papers (Murdoch has done a dreadful job on The Times) and then got a take away pizza for a quiet evening 'at home'.

At last we are leaving Palermo. We took a taxi to the Hertz depot in Via Messina just off Via della Liberta and headed out of town for Taormina. It's a bit scary driving in Italy but Palermo takes the cake. There are streets which appear to one way with the exception of authorised vehicles (taxis, ambulances, carabinieri and the like). So you can be driving down a one way street and suddenly there is a car coming straight for you and a head on collision. Luckily this didn't happen to us but it was certainly scary to think about it. Jenny was navigating from the Hertz depot to the autostrada and seemed to be anxious all the way until we found the autostrada and got well out of Palermo and on our way to Taormina.
About half way to Taormina we stopped at a service station for a break and a coffee and ran into twelve Australians in a tour all from Hawthorn, Kew, Camberwell etc. They were also going to Taormina but staying at Giardini Naxos which is a little further on down the coast I think. After a few stops to pay our way on the autostrada we reached Taormina and the Villa Schuler. It is very pleasant and we have a small suite overlooking the sea. We have a bedroom, sitting room and a balcony as well as a bathroom. The facilities are terrific and everything seems to be good quality and works properly - except the Wi Fi internet connection which doesn't reach our room so I have to wander down the corridor to get a decent signal. Probably not such a bad thing given that it costs 10 euros for an hour. At least I don't have to wander down the street to find an internet point.
Once we had settled in an unpacked we walked up through the garden and hey presto we were right in the middle of Taormina. For the past ten days or so the weather has been absolutely perfect but as soon as we set foot out of the hotel it started to rain and continued for the rest of the day. As usual we walked around to get our bearings and were pleasantly surprised to see a rather beautiful town centre. We wandered towards the Greek Theatre and back to the Piazza 10th April before heading off to the hotel and then out to dinner.
We went to a place close by and had a fish antipasto followed by pasta con sarde. It was a pleasant end to a rather full day having started out in Palermo traffic.

Another day in Palermo and we can't wait to get onto Taormina. If we come again I think we will fly into Catania and give Palermo a miss - it's just as crowded and dirty as it was yesterday and the day before.
We walked down to the station along via Roma and picked up the bus to take us around the part of the city that we hadn't seen before and we decided to go round twice as a means of passing the time. The traffic was so heavy that the bus took about twice as long as it was supposed to so we didn't get off until about 1.00pm. We got off at San Domenico and walked back towards the hotel through the Vucirria market and decided to have a lunch at the place we found on the first day. We found it quite easily and we opted for 'menu 2' which allowed us to have a two plates of stuff and canola. We made th mistake of getting two plates of caponata di melanzane which is OK but in bulk it's a bit too much melanzane. Anyway off to the hotel where we had a bit of a rest, packed the bags ready for the trip to Taormina and went out for dinner at a place recommended by the hotel where we shared an antipasto and Jenny had a spaghetti with calamari and asparagus and I had calamari and prawns with grilled vegetables.
I have finally decided what it is about Italian food that is so boring. It's not that the food is actually boring since the cuisine is excellent and the variety from region to region makes it very interesting. The problem is as follows - in any particular region all of the restaurants are Italian and they all serve exactly the same menu described as typical of the region. Some are better quality than others but by and large it's the same stuff. Contrast that with places where there is a choice of Italian, French, Greek, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, etc. and the difference is amazing. No longer is the food boring because it is possible to experience a variety of different styles in the one place. I remember when we lived in Tuscany for a couple of months, every restaurant served as an antipasto a dish of crostini and there were always three pieces on the plate and they were always the same three types. They were certainly typical of the region but after a few weeks of the same cuisine it would be good to find something completely different.
We have been suffering from this sameness in Venice, Palermo and now Taormina. If you want to eat fish it's likely to be fried or grilled and will look the same and taste the same no matter where you go. Surely there must be places where they do something a bit more interesting. In London some years ago I used to have lunch at a place called Sheekey's in St. Martin's Lane behind Trafalgar Square. It was in the middle of an area where they were not allowed to fry because of the fire hazard. It's hard to admit this given that the restaurant is in England but it was the best fish restaurant I have ever been to and if frying fish was disallowed in Italy maybe they would generate some more inspiring ways to serve fish dishes!

Breakfast wasn't too bad and we decided to walk from the hotel to the main shopping centre in Via della Liberta. We had decided that we would not return to Palermo the night before we leave for Spain and that we would try to change the arrangements so that we stayed one more night in Erice, kept the car for one more day and then dropped it off at the airport instead of coming into the city. Given our luck this sort of change in the arrangements could be a major challenge but in fact it turned out to be quite straightforward. Hertz was no problem, later in the day I was able to use the Hotel's Internet site to cancel our booking and book another night at Erice.
Anyway we walked around the city and decided to take the afternoon city sight seeing bus at 2.00pm. We went to an Internet site, sent an email to Catherine and had a panino before picking up the afternoon bus around the city. It was a bit chilly on the bus but it was worthwhile and gave us an idea of the way the city was laid out and the various ancient buildings. For some reason Palermo has not got us enthused about it's history and current state to the extent that we didn't really feel we wanted to spend the effort to look at the various sites. They seemed dirty and in a poor state of repair and the effort to get on and off the bus every hour or so was just too much trouble. We went round once in the bus, got off and bought the most delicious gelato in a bun (something that must be eaten in Sicily) and got back onto the bus for another round. This time we got off at the Capo market and walked through the market and back to the hotel. On our way we bought some salami, cheeses, oranges and bread and had a picnic in the room. I wanted to get out to the Internet again (still trying to sort out the banking) and found that there was an internet point in the hotel. Unfortunately there was a mousy English woman using it who stayed there for over an hour knowing full well there was someone else waiting - she must have been writing a diary of her travels!

We got up at 6.00am and got ready to take the 51 vaporetto to Piazzale de Roma where we picked up the bus to the airport. Our plane didn't leave until 9.30 and we arrived at the airport at around 7.15am - we didn't want any mistakes! Fortunately all went well and we caught the plane to Palermo and arrived at the Palermo airport at 11.10am. There are some places that I always feel I am being taken down and Palermo airport was one of those places. We took a taxi to the hotel in Via Roma and I was watching the meter which gradually went up to around 40 euros and then when stopped outside the hotel the driver seemed to do something to the meter and hey presto it was 55.60 euros and then when I gave him 60 euros in note he didn't have any change! Hmmm - maybe there was some charge for going on the autostrada or handling the cases or something else but I just got the impression that I had been done.
The hotel was OK and the room had all of the things that we needed except no rooms seem to have tea/coffee making facilities which would be nice. It was on the second floor of a building and there was a really old style lift that moved at a snails pace but it was much better than carrying the cases up two flights of stairs.We unpacked and then went out into Palermo to see what it was like.
Our general impression was not all that good. It's dirty and nothing was open so the streets looked deserted and unwelcoming. We walked towards the Vucciria market and found really old restaurant where we had some melanzane and sarde for lunch. It was good and one of the cheapest meals we had in a long time. We then went onto the market and it was really dirty. Stalls everywhere, dogs being fed by emptying the cans of food on the pavement and generally not a very pleasant place. We walked and walked through more markets streets until we decided to head up Via Vittorio Emanuelle towards the cathedral. We had a look inside and were generally unimpressed. It wasn't well preserved and maybe we have been spoilt by the various churches in Rome, Florence, Urbino and Venice where they were all in a great state of repair and generally clean. We found that there was a sight seeing bus, well two in fact, that would allow us to tour the city and get on and off as we pleased so we decided we would do that tomorrow.
We headed back to the hotel and went out for a meal at a place nearby. During the day it's hard to see where the restaurants are and then at night they open the shutters and suddenly they appear. So we stopped at one of them and Jenny had a salad with lots of fishy bits (but presented in a very boring way) and I had a grilled fish which was a bit like a snapper.
We headed back to the hotel a little bit unimpressed by Palermo and wondering how we would spend two more days before leaving for Taormina.

Today is our last full day in Venice before heading off to Palermo, Sicily. We had booked into the Secret Itineraries Tour of the Doges Palace at 11.35am.
After breakfast we went off to the Piazza di San Marco and picked up our tickets for the tour. We were a bit early so we had to wait in the courtyard before meeting the guide and a bunch of other English speaking people. The tour took us into a section of the Doges Palace which is only available to people who pay around 30 euros for the privilege - it was well worth while and we not only saw the places of the inner workings of the government and legislature of Venice before Napoleon but also the prisons and the secret passages between the legislature and the prisons. Another interesting place was the suspended ceiling above one of the largest rooms in Europe - it was certainly the largest suspended ceiling and was constructed in the sixteenth century. The timbers in the ceiling were really substantial.
After the tour we went around the public parts of the palace and finished up going across the Bridge of Sighs into the new prisons which were very cold and unpleasant and I was pleased to get out of the place and back on the vaporetto to San Marcuola.
We stopped at a caf