Woke up at 6:00 am, packed, had the B&B breakfast of sweet cream pastry, pear juice and strong coffee. Managed to get my bag down the stairs and walked to the train station, about 5 blocks. I saw my nice train agent and asked him again to help me remember my schedule. It went like this: Gallipoli to Zollino: 9:25 – 10:03 Zollino to Maglie 10:07 – 10:18 Maglie to Otronto 10:19 – 10:45 You can see that I had 4 minutes for the first connection and 1 minute for the second. I wrote down the next trains because I did not expect to be able to drag my heavy suitcase out of one train, across tracks, and on to another train. Amazingly I MADE ALL THE CONNECTIONS! It was difficult to figure out which train ... read more

I woke up early! I was warned that several rooms would be leaving at 6 am, and they were noisy but it was ok, just part of a B & B! I got up and walked along the waterfront. Mt. Etna was postcard perfect, so I have some nice shots. What a surprise to see a huge cruise ship pulling up to the pier!!! Ugh. Buses lined up, tour boats ready, all the restaurants and bars open, and a very friendly talkative guy cleaning up the street messes from the night before. He pointed out Etna, Castelmola, Taormina, etc. etc. in Italian, but I understood perfectly! I returned to my "villa." Breakfast this morning was the same as yesterday except fresh mozzerella was substituted for the spinach. I decided I would picnic on the beach today, ... read more

5 am: awoke to catch the 6:45 am ferry to Sicily. My internet contact Kyle said I was to be at the port promptly at 5:45, so I WAS! I got a primo seat at the front of the observation deck, with a round table and 2 club chairs, 5 feet from the glass windows. What a beautiful boat, only 15 months old, felt like a cruise ship… 2 decks, one a club section with a center staircase worthy of a bride, the other full of regular passengers like me, 2 deli bars, and a deck for cars. I got a ham and cheese baguette, grilled, and a diet coke for breakfast. 70 euro for the trip from Malta to Catania. We arrived on time, at 8:30 am. I continued the trip on the (ferry) bus ... read more

What a great day of sight seeing!!! I went to bed at 8 pm last night, and had a wake up call for 6 am (why???). Slept in until 7:30. Got my gear together and headed for the old town of Valletta just a few blocks away. I opted out ot the expensive hotel buffet breakfast and got an ok "ham roll" from the street vendors for one euro. First stop was the Cathedral in the center of Valletto (main town, walkable). I found it last evening on my 4 hour "walk of the lost." I had a map but somehow I ended up at every end of the town except mine! (My great uncle Walter Williams said: "If you have a tongue in your head and money in your pocket, you can go anywhere." The ... read more

I'm off! Kansas City to Detroit... to Rome.... to Malta. Should arrive (if on time) around 1:30pm Malta time.... read more