Hello!
I am back, again, connected to the world, after a week abroad.
Italien ohne Sizilien macht gar kein Bild in der Seele. Hier ist erst der Schlüssel zu allem. J.W. Goethe
The experience was way above any of my greatest expectations. The photos I took during my week on the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea can only capture a poor imitation of life that's happening there.
Fishmarket in Catania, Saturday Morning
Of course, the Vespa is always ahead.
Maybe people just need to get home real quick, because lunch is ready.
Dolce is obligatory
Those agnelli will have to wait until Easter!
And then there was this:
and some lots of these:
not to forget these:
Then there was this one day, starting early on the beach
... leading us up here:
and later the same day we walked around here:
Of course we did not miss this:
So, tell me, how was your week?
:-) Paula
I have been waiting for your report and photos -- what a great variety (I read back from your "packing" post and am more impressed with how light you traveled given the range of climates!).
ReplyDeleteSouthern Italy remains on my list of places I want to see and I'm so happy it was a wonderful trip for you...and by extension, for those of us living vicariously. Welcome back!
Lovely. :) I'm not going to ask you how your trip went because I can't imagine it being anything else. But may I ask: did you find it dirty? I remember you mentioned something a few months back about how you were afraid that Southern Italy was going to be dirty judging by Google satellite images.
ReplyDeleteOh - great! There are so many places in Europe I want to go. My travel bucket list gets longer and longer *seufz*
ReplyDeleteIt seems to be a great idea to go to Sicily. I want to visit some places in the north of Italy and in Slovenia this summer. But maybe I should also go more south... :-)
Vix, thank you thank you! There are about 500 pictures worth to get published. I might create a picasa album and publish it instead of 50 follow up postings. :-)
ReplyDeleteLooking at your bella figura I am not so sure, if your genes are that far from those Sicilian genes. Knowing how much I enjoy nature, skies and plants I dare to say I would love it down there. The boarding in Rome already opens the gate to another world: those people boarding on the plane to Catania, I guess I really love this island and it's population.
Tracy, you are right, I also had the pictures on my mind when I flew there. But the real life is nothing like those streets in the suburbs I manages to find via google street view. Yes, oftenyou find dirt in the streets, but it does not dominate the overall impression. We were very lucky: in Palermo the waste started to accumulate while we were there (due to protests and mayor-elections ahead). After we left it got even worse which is really saddening. Our guide felt so sorry that we had to see Palermo under these circumstances. She pointed out that Palermo is NOT Napoli, Palermo does NOT have a waste-mafia-problem. I hope so and that this was only a short episode and not the beginning of a new problem.
Catania was also very safe. Maybe I was lucky (sure, I left my LV and Tod's-purses in Vienna)?
Gerhard, thank you! It is so funny: you must get the totally wrong picture of my way of travelling, choosing Studiosus for a trip to Sicily. It was my first guided journey ever.
Sicily is definitely worth a visit, especially since you can get there non stop from Vienna. (from Salzburg probably too?). I liked the idea of being opposite of Africa when looking at the sea. Which means really far from home.
My love for borders (mountain tops, islands such as Japan and Sicily) probably comes from the nature of our country, Austria: we are surrounded by so much land, so many limits and even more people, I search for the unlimited experience during my vacations. And also for vast countries. That's why I enjoyed my trip to the Auvergne so much - one of the least populated regions in Central Europe if not THE least populated region. Aubrac, terrific!!