Blogs from Italy, Europe

When I mentioned that my feet were itching again, I already said the destination wouldn't be far. In Europe, luckily, you needn't go far to see loads of interesting things. It's what I love about the continent. It's so diverse! And a lot of it I haven't explored, always concentrating on the far away. Jenni and I had various plans when we first started talking about a trip together. Morocco was mentioned, but with Covid and the country shutting it's borders at short notice, we decided it perhaps wasn't quite the time yet. I thought about Spain, particularly the south, Grenada, Cordoba that way. I haven't seen those places yet, and I figured now might be the right time, with less tourists. And then it became Italy! Easier to reach from Jenni, and cheaper to reach ... read more

Well I hope you are all sitting comfortably as I am about to start again... Thank you to those who have come back for some more of my ramblings and to new folks here your most welcome! I write this and will hopefully finish before as we get to Slovenia, country number 3 of what we hope will be a journey of a further 6 countries, maybe more might be less. I write (Graeme does the clever stuff and gets it online) for us mainly but conscious that you the audience wish to be entertained or sometimes educated. That's a laugh in itself as I failed almost all of my exams, well if grade E at CSE level counts but I hope that you will stay with us on the journey... So what does travel look ... read more

Aujourd'hui nous allons essayer de reposer nos pieds et jambettes...Nous irons aux 5 Terres mais nous ferons la visite en bateau... On descendra là où cela nous semblera bon, mais en principe pas partout... Nous reprenons donc le train qui nous mènera de Deiva Marina à Monterosso. C'est le bourg le plus occidental du territoire des Cinque Terre. Il est situé au centre d'un petit golfe. Le vieux hameau conserve toujours le caractère médiéval originaire avec ses case-torri (maisons-tours) et carruggi (ruelles étroites). L'une des anciennes tours défensives, transformée en campanile, abrite aujourd'hui la cloche de l'église Saint Jean Baptiste. À l'ouest de la commune, se trouve la plus grande et la plus fréquentée des plages du littoral des Cinque Terre. Les communes limitrophes sont Levanto, Pignone et Vernazza. Monterosso al Mare est desservie par la ... read more

Nous continuons notre descente vers le Sud.... Après Cannobio, heureux d'avoir revu Angela, nous nous arrêterons à une coopérative qu'elle nous conseillera. Quelle merveille... on y trouve tout ce qu'on ne trouve pas chez nous... (normal, nous ne sommes pas italiens mais bien luxembourgeois pour le shopping alimentaire...) ! Je peux vous dire que j'ai fait le plein de petits pots de ceci... de câpres frais mis sous vide... d'un gorgonzola dont je me régale chaque jour depuis, d'un thé au chocolat et à l'orange... etc... ... et j'en passe... J'ai bien conservé le ticket de caisse car au retour je ne pourrais faire autrement que m'y arrêter à nouveau... Le camping tout à côté et que nous avions choisi n'a rien d'extraordinaire... une vrai colonie de petits bouts... Assez bruyant donc... Même la nuit, on ... read more

'Inspector Montalbano' is my favourite Italian TV series and was based on novels written by Andrea Camilleri. Many of the scenes were filmed in Ragusa. Vigata was the fictional Italian town where the TV series was based. The novels were translated into more than thirty languages and the TV fiction was followed in 65 countries all over the world. From 1999, the Montalbano series were filmed in the alleys of Ragusa, the squares of Ibla, the Hyblean Gardens, the Trabacche Cave and the Castle of Donnafugata My mum and I used to watch the programme together on BBC 4, a British channel. It would start at 9pm on Saturday nights. The film provoked us into talking about aspects of both 'Sicilian' and 'Italian' society. The one we talked most profoundly about was the portrayal of women ... read more