Trains, Planes, Automobiles and Boats

 

We drove to Venice, caught a plane to Palermo (Sicily), two trains to get to Milazzo, and a boat to Lipari in the Aeolian Islands. It took a while but it was worth it.  Lipari is an island set back in time.  As a UNESCO island, there can be no new building.  So this island is a piece of history and will be preserved as a sparsely populated (only 13,000 full time residents) oasis.

The train from Palermo to Milazzo took almost 3 hours.  As a commuter train, it stopped at every village.  The rail line ran right next to the sea.  It was a great view.  We could see our island get-away in the distance.

The ferry is the only way to get to Lipari and the other Aeolian Islands.  The ferries run every few hour throughout the day. As volcanic islands there is really no flat space for an air strip. Characteristic of volcanic  islands, Lipari is several steep mountains covered with vegetation.  They do produce wine but the main income is from tourism.

We are staying in the hills in an authentic apartment that is part of a family estate. Our views are spectacular. Our host, voluntarily, has been our personal tour guide.  He and his wife have shuttled us around the island, prepared pasta for us,  arranged tours, recommended restaurants, and showed us the bus system. He is a native of Lipari.  His wife is French Canadian. They are so nice and helpful.  We feel like we are part of their family.  It's the Sicilian way.  

This is the view from our kitchen table.

 

The main town is ancient. Cobblestone streets, quaint streets, old churches, and an archeological museum that has artifacts from pre-historic times.  Of course everything is built on top of a hill.  That is the way in all of Italy...steep steps and uphill climbs.

We haven't let the cloudy weather and rain dampen our outlook or our shear delight of being on another island. It's so gorgeous and the people a so friendly that we feel right at home.

Steak in Italy

We blundered into this restaurant in Codogne, Italy thinking of real Italian food.  We got a delightful surprise.  We are learning that in Italy a ristorante is a formal full service dining establishment with an extensive menu and wine list. A trattoria is less formal with simpler dishes and more likely family-run. Osterias are places that have brief menus focusing on simple regional dishes and local wines. A taverna is really informal and low-key and is more about drinks than food. This place was an osteria in the front and a ristorante in the back.
 

The menu was in Italian, of course, so we translated it on our phones.  It was a high end steak place featuring Angus meat.  They also had a filet of Kangaroo! We clarified with the waitress and sure enough they served kangaroo meat. We passed on that because it's in the same category as eating horse meat or bunnies.

It was decorated in typical Italian style....baroque complete with statues, gold curly cue trimming with gold accents. There was also a touch of miscellaneous collections like a French clock above the door.

The ristorante had a large wine collection that lined the walls. Rick loves studying wine so he was in heaven looking at the wine collection.

 

 And the food was excellent. The steak with mushroom sauce was sooo tender and tasty, add salad, fried potatoes, and a cold bean salad. And Tiramisu for dessert.

Northern Italy - Part 1

Wine regions define our travels.  This time we are in northern Italy visiting the Veneto Prosecco region.  We are staying in  Roverbasso which is a little village 20 minutes east of Conegliano (pronounced Colenyano +/- for all you non-Italians). It is central to all the places we wanted to visit.  We were here 8 days and took side trips to various cities, towns, villages and sights.

The area is very green which is such a nice change for us.  It's filled with vineyards and tiny villages.  The pace is slow and easy.  The food is pasta and pasta with some pasta.  And pizza and gelato, of course!

First stop was Treviso. The city features a beautiful river full of swans and ducks.  To see this city you must navigate crossing the river many times to get where you are going.  We parked the car and some nice Italian paid for our parking because we couldn't figure out how to make the ticket machine work.  We seem to have problems with working tolls, parking, and gas stations machines...specifically in Italy.

Treviso is home to the first creation of Tiramisu (a desert made of lady fingers, pudding, and coffee flavor). We ate lunch at a cute bar.  Check out these prices.

We found the food and drink prices in Italy to be very reasonable. The grocery stores are very similar to US stores but the pricing is less expensive.

Among the interesting ancient things to see and do in Treviso is the "Fontana Delle Tette" ( translated as Tits Fountain) built in 1559. It is a topless woman squeezing her breasts with water coming out of her nipples.  It's located in a tiny, hidden away alcove steps from the huge plaza.

Next stop was Conegliano and a trip on Strada del Vino Prosecco or The Prosecco Road. It is a scenic route through the Prosecco Hills of Italy's Veneto region. I wish I would have taken pictures along this road because it is dotted with tiny villages, vineyards, rolling hills and just a gorgeous region.  However, we were on a wine tour and you know how I get when I drink wine....

We seldom take a trip that we don't visit a beach.  We went to the beach town of Bibione in Italy but very close to the Slovenian border. We were flabbergasted by the tens of thousands of beach chairs and umbrellas that stretch for miles on the beach.  During high season this place must be packed with a million visitors all laying in beach chairs inches from each other.  Thank goodness we arrived in late September to a very laid back beach scene.

After walking 5 or 6 minutes through the beach chairs, we were rewarded with a really nice beach. The water of the Adriatic Sea was warm and clear.  We walked the beach and enjoyed the people watching and cool water.

The next day we went north into the mountains to the town of Belluno. It was so gorgeous, set in a valley with the Dolomite mountains behind.  One road in and one road out made for a very interesting tour of this tiny town.

We discovered a beautiful mountain lake at the foot of the Dolomites.  Wind surfers on the lake made us think of Sorobon's Lac Bay in Bonaire. Bike riders, kayakers and boaters made this an obvious recreation area.  We were, once again, happy to visit during off season where there were very few people, making it a great place to relax for an afternoon.

The Italians have been very nice to us.  Many of the younger Italians speak English so they were very helpful to us at gas stations, parking lot machines, retail stores, and restaurants. We needed assistance and explanations everywhere.  Thank goodness for Google translate. Even the Italians that didn't speak English used Google.  We had conversations reading from phones. 

Part 2 of Northern Italy will follow....

Northern Italy - Part II

Next stop on the Northern Italy tour was Cortina and the Dolomite Mountains.  This area is so spectacular that I couldn't stop taking pictures. Every turn of the road presented a wonderful picture and I am going to share them with you.  

Cortina (and Milan) will be the site for the 2026 Winter Olympics. It was also a filming site in the the James Bond movie "For your Eyes Only".  It is a typical ski town nestled in a box canyon and full of Swiss chalet type buildings throughout the valley.  The roads are winding and narrow.  It is like Aspen, Colorado only with more money. Most everyone spoke Italian, English and German. Even the menus featured three languages.

We took the gondola up to midway on the ski hill. There was a restaurant and a landing area where all the hikers and bike riders were resting from their adventures.  The views were spectacular.

Here we are on the top of he mountain looking down on Cortina. Gorgeous scenery. We went from the beach (sea level) to peaks of 10,000 ft. within 24 hours and the altitude did affect us. But here we are standing about 3.800 feet after climbing stairs and walking hills.  

Malaga, Spain

Malaga is on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. It is the birthplace of Pablo Picasso. It has a beautiful old town area full of shops, churches and residences. Old town is surrounded by a specular park full of flowering bushes and shade trees. We stayed in a beach front apartment with a great view of the ocean.

The front of the apartment is the beach and the back is a tiny pedestrian street lined with old residential buildings.  In the evening families sit out on their ground floor patio eating and talking, kids play in the street, people stroll down the street visiting with friends and neighbors. It was a glimpse into a Spanish residential community.

 

You really don't know a country until you have navigated its health care system.  We had that opportunity while in Malaga and were pleasantly surprised with the quality of care and facilities.

Rick had developed an infected cyst on his thigh.  It concerned us and was very painful, so we went to the emergency room at the local hospital.  

We did not spend more than an hour in the emergency room. In that time, Rick was admitted into triage, met with the doctor, had an examination, and left with a prescription for antibiotics. Upfront, they charge $600 and after care they refund the portion not needed.  In total it cost us $300. A bargain for the care received.

A Columbian doctor treated Rick. It was just like being in 

Bonaire as we often have Columbian medical professionals treating us and we can access hospitals and specialty care in Columbia. The doctor spoke some English and we speak some Spanish but it was Google Translate that got us through.

Rick saw results in 2 days of antibiotics and will take them for seven.  He is on the mend, but not happy about the "No Alcohol" rule.

We styled our time in Spain to follow their culture:  Breakfast from 8-11, Lunch (the main meal of the day) at 2-4 pm, drinks and tapas at 7 and dinner time starts at 8 -9 pm.  When it got hot outside we would siesta from about 3-6 pm. Most retail stores close at 2 pm and open again from 5-8 pm. Everyone takes a siesta.

 

One of our favorite dishes was the fried aubergine (eggplant) with honey. We ate it everywhere for an appetizer or a tapas plate with drinks (I drank because Rick could not).

 

We typically went out for lunch and had dinner at home.  Our dinners consisted of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, fruit, cheese, bread, olives and a cured meats. Most of the time with wine. The sun sets around 8:45 so that gave us dinner and a show.

Paella was served everywhere and we ate our fair share.
 

Shopping in Malaga was a real experience.  It seems you can buy everything at a hardware store.  It's like our Chinese markets at home...they carry everything and I mean everything.  They are stuffed from floor to ceiling.  

We were in search of two items: a fan and some cheap flip flops for Rick. We found both at the hardware store. We have also figured out European sizes which are different than in the US.  Again, thanks to Google for translating the sizes.

We carried everything home on the bus.  We took the bus everywhere and it was cheap and easy.  You could use a credit card for the bus fare.  The US could learn a thing or two about public transportation from European countries. The trains and busses are easy, cheap and nice.

We are not usually museum people but we had a foggy day and thought we would visit the Picasso museum in Malaga (remember he was born in Malaga and lived here until he was 13). They had a big collection of his work and a history of his life.  We are not fans and didn't really appreciate his crazy stuff.  To prove that we actually went to a museum.....we took a selfie with one of Picasso's pieces.

Next stop is Italy.

Cadiz, Spain

We can't afford ocean front property, so when we travel we make sure to get our fill of beach and surf from our rental condos.  This is our view of the Atlantic Ocean from the patio of our condo in Cadiz, Spain. We have loved walking on the beach but the water is a little cool for us.  We are steps from the sand and spent most of days on the beach... in between eating, drinking and sightseeing.

The beaches are well taken care of in Cadiz.  The sand is clean, trash receptacles are strategically placed, they have life guards on duty most of the day and evening, they power wash the walking trail, and have provided nice lighting. We can't quite get used to sunset at 8:45 pm. 

There are lots of people on the beach on the weekends but it is more reasonable during the week. This is a view from the beach toward old town Cadiz.  The tide comes in and goes out very fast.  It leaves a huge sandy beach with firm sand which makes it perfect for walks. 

Old town Cadiz is full of narrow cobble stone streets filled with stores, restaurants and apartments and condos. It has it's share of historical monuments, government buildings, and churches.

Our favorite place was the city market.  It is full of vendors selling fish, meats, vegetables, fruits, wines, pastries, bread, clothing, and crafts. Bonaire is a fresh food wasteland so this was, for us,  like a kid in a candy store.

That's it from Cadiz.  It's a wonderful city and we hope to visit it again. Next stop is Malaga, Spain.  We will be going by train which is a big adventure for us only using public transportation.