Blogs from Sicily, Italy, Europe - page 64

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Europe » Italy » Sicily » Palermo February 22nd 2004

Chapter 21 Sicily: Part 2 The journey to Palermo had been truly exhausting, so a little lay in was required. Once they finally did arise, they decided to explore Sicily’s capital city, a much larger city then anticipated. Palermo had been an Arab Emirate but became a Norman Kingdom. Described as Europe’s most beautiful city in days gone by, several conquests and the second world war had, like so many Italian cities, given it that familiar tired look. Some describe this look as rustic, which would suggest a certain charm, most of these cities have gone beyond that element and no longer suggest charm but cry out for redevelopment. They caught the 102 bus to the main theatre and the Piazza Castelnuovo, which rather disappointingly could have been delightful, were it not covered in both graffiti ... read more
Palermo
Palermo
Palermo

Europe » Italy » Sicily » Palermo February 21st 2004

Chapter 20 Sicily - Part 1 They awoke at 6.45 am, ready at 7.15 for breakfast with Anna-Maria and her family. The train was at 7.55am so when Anna-Maria was trying to download a floppy disc for our two showing various pictures of Villa Pane, Martin was beginning to regularly check his watch. After saying their goodbyes, her husband gave our two a lift to the station. With 5 minutes to spare before the train left, Maya got stuck with her rucksack in the barriers, finally unravelling herself with just a minute to spare. Once they sat down, two Canadians they had seen on Capri the day before said hello and an Italian teacher struck up a conversation. The Italian guy called Dominic could have been a political comedian, his anti-American stance was rightfully vicious, and ... read more
Sicily

Europe » Italy » Sicily May 11th 2001

11 DE MAYO DE 2001 Carissimi amici: Maravillosa. Así es Sicilia. "La Sicilia", pronunciando la "c" como "ch", al estilo italiano. ¿Qué imágenes nos vienen a la cabeza cuando se piensa en la Sicilia? Inevitablemente, mafia: Don Corleone, pistolas, vendettas. Bandidos en cada esquina, sonrisas amenazadoras, hurtos repetidos e inevitables. También tradicionalismo católico severo: pueblitos de casas blancas, muy soleados, mujeres siempre vestidas de negro, familias que casan a sus hijas sin pedirles opinión, hombres aferrados a un exigente sentido del honor, y todo en un ambiente rural tercermundista. La gente es sumamente agradable, cortés y cariñosa. Hace falta decir eso antes que cualquier otra cosa, la gente es el valor más delicioso de cualquier lugar, y en eso la Sicilia corre con ventajas. También debo precisar: no nos robaron. Ni intentaron hacerlo. Ni sentimo... read more
Sicilia y las Islas Eolias
Eolias: En Lípari, con Vulcano al fondo
Stromboli

Europe » Italy » Sicily May 11th 2001

11 DE MAYO DE 2001 Martedi, otto’ Maggio. Lipari-Panarea-Stromboli-Lipari Eso, eso, sí, que atentos... ahora sí fuimos... pero no, no hubo ascensión. Na. Amaneció soleado, pero, como el manoseado dinosaurio de Montarroso, la bruma seguía allí. Fuimos temprano a Marina Corta, Diana nos dijo que las nubes no se habían movido, y no tenía esperanzas de que mejoraran las cosas en esa semana. Así que ni modo, decidimos hacer, por lo menos, la excursión sin subir al volcán. En el tiempo que nos quedaba antes de la salida, aprovechamos para visitar Il Castello, que alberga, como había dicho, restos de todas las culturas que han llegado ahí (los arqueólogos han excavado para mostrar, de manera bastante confusa y sólo en italiano, las capas de tierra y construcciones de cada época), además de ser la sede de ... read more
Strombolicchio
Stromboli
Pollara

Europe » Italy » Sicily February 15th 1999

In February of 1999, I got my first chance to visit the island of Sicily, the land of my Grandfather's family. I took the train from Salerno to Catania. Was sooooooo cold. Oh, but I thought the further south I got, the warmer it would be. Haa haaa. Train went through a BLIZZARD... got stuck somewhere in Calabria. Twice. Finally we arrived in Villa St. Giovanni and waited... and waited... for the train to be disconnected and transported onto the ferry to take us to Sicily. Sat there on train forever. Finally, we got moving, only to get STUCK on the tracks somehow. They jerked the train back and forth trying to get the train un-stuck, but to no avail. There was some announcement over the intercom, and people began to grab their belongings and exit ... read more

Europe » Italy » Sicily » Acireale August 14th 1977




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