Sunday, October 23, 2011

Syracuse Lite

Hi Gang, Just a quick one to check in and tell you that we are having a great time. Only problem is mom has no time to shop and I have no time to blog. It is now 11:30 p.m. On Sunday, the 23rd. Every day our itinerary is like this: - breakfast at hotel - drive someplace historic - go on a tour of historic place with excellent guide (lots of walking) - drive to trail head - hike for 3-4 miles - gourmet lunch w/ wine (often at 3:00 p.m. Or so) - drive back to hotel (or alternately drive to next hotel (1-2 hours) - crash for 60-90 minutes or quick tour of town where we are staying - dinner at great restaurant for about 3 hours (lots more wine) - back to hotel to sleep at about 11:00 p.m. Lots to tell you and many pics to show you. Hard to believe we head home in two days. But . . . All for now. Da P.S. Amanda, we still do not have your flight info. P.P.S. Nathan and Josh both guessed correctly that my Facebook account was hacked. I've changed the password but I'm not sure what else to do. May just drop the account.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Catch-up

So, it's Wednesday evening the 19th. This is the first successful attempt to get on the net since we arrived. There is a lot to report on so I'll make this short and fill in some blanks later.

Getting to Palermo was a bit ugly but we made it about 3 hours later than scheduled. Met up with the rest of the group Sunday evening, had a casual dinner and crashed.

Woke up at noon Monday and met everyone and our guide Mario (with sidekick Vittorio) at 2:00 p.m. Mario passed us off to a local guide and away we went walking around Palermo. Very good tour about which I hope to write more later. Back to hotel to rest up and then a great dinner lasting almost three hours. (Hope to say more about food later since you will no doubt wonder what the hell I am going to find to eat in this strange land.)

Up early Tuesday, breakfast at hotel, checked out and away we go headed toward our next base - the ancient mountain top town of Erice. (Lots more about that later.) Did a sIx mile hike through some hills above the town of Segesta. Great hike but we were all dead at the end. Great picnic lunch and then zoom to a tour of the Temple and Theater at Segesta . Then drive to Erice. Can't wait to tell you all about this fascinating place. It is really on top of a mountain with a weather system all it's own. Another great dinner here as well.
Wednesday now. Easy hike today. About three miles along the coast of northern Sicily in a national park whose name I'll supply later. Followed by yet another great picnic lunch. The hike included visits to two small museums - one about tuna fishing locally and the other about farming. Followed by a visit to to another site to learn about the production of sea salt in Trapani. Quickly back to Erice and, what do you know, out to another big dinner.
Tomorrow (Thursday) we break camp and head towards Cefalu with a picnic lunch on the way. I feel I 'm not doing justice to these lunches. They are truly impressive. Today it included a salad, bread, mackerel, tuna, fried tomatoes, two other dishes, and, of course, wonderful wines. Clearly, I am the worst person earth to really appreciate all of this food but I hope you get the picture.
That's all for now. We miss all of you but we're having a ball

Da

Thursday, October 6, 2011

We Begin

Herewith my first post to this blog.  I've created the blog primarily to post my thoughts as I travel through Sicily with Kay and several close friends in October of 2011.  I may or may not continue to post beyond that venture.  Stay tuned.