07 Oct 2008 Caught the train in from the Pompei Scavi (Villa Dei Misteri) stop. The train had lots of stops, and about 45 minutes later we arrived at Piazza Garibaldi. There we found the 201 bus to take to the National Archeological Museum. The Arte Card kit has a set of bus route maps which came in very handy. We hopped off at the Piazza Cavour, which happens to be a train (subway) station, and found a delightful children's playground. So the kids had a run and a swing and a climb on some [View Full Entry]

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06 Oct 2008 We got up early today - well relatively early I suppose, and into the Pompeii Ruins after 9am. Pompeii is surprisingly large. One has impressions from photos and descriptions that its a few buildings clustered together like a hilltop italian village, but Pompeii is extensive. We spent three hours traversing it, and then only looked into 4 buildings. First we headed for the Villa De Misteri, or Villa of Mysteries. This attracted us because it houses the popular red frescoes that you see splashed around the souvenir stalls: [img=http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg71/ins [View Full Entry]

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05 Oct 2008 First a taxi to the train station, where I again made the mistake of not agreeing a price before we left. I've found taxi transport very disheartening in Italy - any drivers who don't use their meters create a level of mistrust in Italians. Once at the train station, we had the simple task of checking the departures board for our train. Yep, platform (binario) 1PG. Only there was no 1 in sight, and what does PG stand for? Finally by enquiring at the ticket office we were directed downstairs, to platforms 2 and 3, then by asking [View Full Entry]

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04 Oct 2008 With a bit of forehand experience of the A19 and other roads, our trip across to Palermo was quicker and easier than the drive out. Kylie's sense of direction worked pretty well - even in the traffic madness in the older part of Palermo that we had to traverse to get into the port area (possibly almost as bad as Naples). At the port, thanks to the magic words "Maggiore rental" we got past all the security and were able to park at the rental place, where we left our luggage still locked in the car and went [View Full Entry]

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03 Oct 2008 The SS124 from Taormina to Giardini Naxos is incredibly narrow and windy. It still managed to fit us, a car going the other way and a scooter, with the occasional bus thrown in though. Giardini Naxos was pleasant to drive through, and we followed signs out along more windy roads up the valley to the Galle Dell Alcantara (Alcantara Gorge). As a side note: I've decided at this point that I am sick of driving Italian roads. Now unlike larger gorges you may have experienced, and certainly what I expected, you couldn't see this one from the road [View Full Entry]

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02 Oct 2008 We headed back to see the archeological area of Syracuse, and maybe the catacombs, and to check out another beach. Today was again set to be a lucky day - all day we dodged the rain. First we visited the archeological area. Although most towns have greek or roman ruins of one type or another, this is probably the first real ruins (as opposed to existing structures) outside of Rome that we'd visited. Liam had a great time, chasing all the green lizards that were sunning on the rocks around the greek theatre (Teatro Greco). [img=http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg71/inspi [View Full Entry]

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01 Oct 2008 The aim today was a drive to Syracuse, to see the sights there and at the island of Origia. We decided first however to visit a beach, the Fontane Bianche, that was recommended in Frommer's. The exit off the A that we needed for FB was closed, so we ended up at a place called Avola, with long yellowy sandy beaches. The waves were enormous, and Joseph, Liam and I had a ball romping around in the surf. We then wandered our way back to Syracuse on the back roads [View Full Entry]

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30 Sept 2008 Ky and Liam opted for a quiet day at the apartment, while Joseph and I headed for Mount Etna. We'd thought Liam wouldn't like the climbing, but as it turned out he could have come along. Following some fairly easy signposting, even through a labyrinth of little streets in a number of small towns, Joseph and I were soon driving up the side of the mountain. We really were in luck today: the clouds cleared and gave me an excellent view of the summit on the way up. Now, a little wo [View Full Entry]

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29 Sept 2008 (these blogs being uploaded from Letojanni -have to do pics later) Another sunny day awaits us: breakfast was excellent. The residence provided fresh croissants, normal cornflakes, chocolate cornflakes, coffees, fruit juice and jams. I imagine the jam was for toast, but didn't see anyone having toast. We asked for bowls for the cornflakes (you can guess what flavour the boys chose), but apparently there were no bowls. The idea was to fill a plastic cup - like a glass - with the cornflakes, add milk, and eat with a spoon. The boys liked this as it meant they [View Full Entry]

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28 Sept 2008 Fortune was with us today: the ferry docked and at reception I asked where the Maggiore rental car company depot was. The man informed me right there (pointing off the side of the boat). I looked out the starboard window and sure enough, there was a building right there with the sign in plain view. Just a short wait for the office to open at 7:30, and then we were off in a VW Passat. I immediately found my driving style for Italy had adapted to the smaller narrow car we'd had before, a Lancia Muro. The Passat [View Full Entry]

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