Blogs from Sicily, Italy, Europe - page 11

We wake up an email from Ryan Air telling us that we need to check in on-line for our flight to Malta on Monday. This includes a reminder to print out our boarding passes, and that if we don't we'll need to pay a 50 Euro fee each to get them printed at the airport. This seems like an awful lot of money to print out a piece of paper; the fare was only 65 Euro each. Maybe this is how Ryan Air makes its money. We don't usually carry a printer with us in one of our suitcases, so we're not quite sure what to do. We look through the Ryan Air website and are relieved to find that they also accept electronic copies of the boarding passes. Our relief is shortlived; the fine print ... read more

We drove a lot yesterday, so we decide to stay closer to home today and do some relaxing. The clouds and rain of the last two days have cleared and it's sunny again. We retrieve our trusty Fiat 500 and set off for a beach on the opposite side of the bay from Ortigia. It's supposed to be only a short ten minute drive away ... and it probably would have been if not for the inevitable traffic jam. This is the result of another road rule here, this time regarding what you're supposed to do if you need to pick up or drop off passengers or goods in a street that's only wide enough for one lane of traffic. It seems to be mandatory in such situations to come to a complete stop without any ... read more

We wake up late and hungry after the stress of yesterday's travel. We assume that there’ll be a supermarket nearby, but the Google machine seems to suggest otherwise. It tells us that there are some "Italian grocers" on the island, but we suspect that these probably aren't going to sell Corn Flakes. The nearest supermarket seems to be a couple of kilometres away, and it‘s off the island. I set off. It’s been raining, and it soon starts again, so I take shelter under a balcony. I‘m quickly approached by an African street vendor who wants to sell me an umbrella, and a few minutes later by another, and then another, all trying to sell me rain protection. They seem to be very good at knowing what you need, and having a large supply of it ... read more

We sleep in and spend the morning lazing around the pool. It's a bit hazier today and more humid. We've read on TripAdvisor that the number one thing to do in Lipari is visit the Chiesa Vecchia church in Quattropani on the other side of the island. We trudge down to the port again. I head to the ferry office to buy our tickets for the ferry to Milazzo in Sicily for when we leave tomorrow, while Issy goes to look for bus tickets to Quattropani. I don't know too much about the ferry service, and as I wait nervously in the queue I begin to think that maybe I should have looked into it a bit more carefully before we left home. I hope there is a ferry tomorrow. TripAdvisor said that the bus services ... read more

Issy's arm's still very sore, so she decides to pass on today's tour to climb Stromboli. I wait anxiously for her to give me this morning's breakfast order. I've been having nightmares about trying to smuggle a bowl of cereal, a plate of bacon and eggs and four pieces of toast out of the breakfast room without anyone noticing, and these usually end with me being carted off by the police. Thankfully this morning's order is only for a couple of croissants. Despite its apparent simplicity I hear someone walking behind me as I leave, and panic. Fortunately it's just another guest. First stop is the neighbouring island of Panarea, where we stop offshore for a quick swim before heading into the port. We pass a giant cabin cruiser with a yellow water slide running from ... read more