APRIL 2016.... THE AMALFI COAST OF ITALY AND SICILY

Wednesday, April 13th, 2016


We arrive at our hotel in Ravello, HOTEL CARUSO, on the Amalfi Coast just in time for a lunch in the garden by the pool. WE flew overnight from JFK to Rome and on to Naples, then drove to Ravello. So the first day was lunch and a long nap. WE took a stroll around this hill town overlooking the Bay of Salerno just to get our bearings, then computer time and relaxation. We are here for a
"Global Financial Services Roundtable" Conference hosted by the McKinsey Consulting Firm.

The Amalfi Coast from our Hotel Room patio. We see Minori close and Maiori further out and near the point.

Cyn poses to show off the arbor and wysteria garden as we approach the hotel pool

A very tempting infinity pool awaits....... its waiting for June or July........

The town of Scala, located just in back of Ravello. The mountains around here are very impressive! And the cliffs down to the water. Just wait!

On Thursday morning, we took a boat ride along the coast from the dock in the town of Amalfi. This shot shows you how people use every inch of land for living and growing food. The houses are built right into the cliffs. Many have now been converted to hotels and B & Bs.

Ray took this shot as the boat departed Amalfi Harbor. We're in an open boat provided by the hotel.

This...... and The next 7 or so shots are of the many towns that dot the shoreline as you see the Amalfi Coast from the water.

Our boat tour ended up back in the town of Amalfi and we had lunch at a great seafood place right on the shore called "Lido Abruzzo". We shared a  seafood risotto , and it was delicious! Then we walked up the narrow street full of tourists and cars  and shops ( a bit of too crowded) and took in the scene.. I got tired and sat and had tea while Ray visited the Church.

Amalfi Cathedral

Rays comment was "Its a really nice old Cathedral." From his photos, it looks very special and a quiet oasis on a busy tourist day. We are told these crowds are nothing compared to Mid Summer. We are very glad to be here before the season gets started! The next 2 shots are also inside the same church.......

Thursday evening in the Gardens of Hotel Caruso, we had our first cocktail and dinner party for the conference.
The hotel provided a pizza chef, a pasta chef, and this guy who did an acrobatic demo with pizza dough. It just kept stretching and growing until it totally surrounded him! It was a fun night with lovely food and wine...

Friday morning we took a guided walking tour of the town of Ravello.

This is the view from behind the Palazzo Ruffolo, and the symbol of the town.

The Ravello town Square with the Palazzo Ruffolo in background. Built by a rich merchant , this very rustic palace once had 365 rooms, One for each day of the year. It is now in ruins but tourists like us pay to visit and see the ocean vistas from the back garden. This garden is the site of many summer Concerts at the Ravello Classical Music Festival.

Side Garden at Palazzo Ruffolo

Amazing garden overlooking the Sea with a "Blue Man" Sculpture in the fountain.

Ray's shot of the town with an Umbrella Pine in foreground and Cypress at Right side. 

A Ravello pedestrian street and our route back to the hotel.

On Saturday morning, I joined a group to take a pizza making class with the hotel pizza chef.  We learned the authentic Italian method, and I can't wait to go home and try it. In the afternoon, we took a boat to the charming but very touristy town of Positano.... All this went on while Ray attended Insurance meetings at the hotel.......... Thanks Ray!!!
On Saturday Afternoon, our entire group took boats to the nearby island of CAPRI......Some went Capri town to browse in the shops and galleries. Ray and I chose to ride an open car to "AnaCapri"
at the very top of the Island and visit a villa originally built and owned by a Swedish Doctor. Villa San Michele... It had beautiful gardens with amazing views of the Tyrrhenian Sea, and the bays that surround Capri.... The Bay of Salerno in one direction, and the bay of Naples in the other. 

These gigantic rocks are just at the entrance to the smaller harbor at Capri. Yes, our boat passed through that little arch in the rock at the left.

A view of the island as we approached it.

At Villa San Michele........ the gardens with glorious views of the sea.

Ray shot the island from the garden at San Michele.

Saturday night was our last in Ravello and our McKinsey hosts treated us all to a glamorous evening at the Beautiful Villa Cimbrone.

Villa Cimbrone. It was once a private mansion, and now is a hotel with a beautiful terrace overlooking the sea. We had cocktails on the terrace and dinner in a beautiful vaulted dining room. After dinner we were treated to a performance by a great American master of mind reading and magic tricks, Steve Cohen. He was remarkable.

Sunday morning, Ray attended his last meeting while I went to a salad making class back in the kitchen. The chef made 7 different local salads for us. After a lovely Farewell lunch in the gardens, we headed to Naples to catch a plane to PALERMO, SICILY, and Hotel Villa  IGIEA. This is the beginning of an 8 day tour we planned with our NYC based travel agency, "Artisans of Leisure".

Monday morning at the Cathedrale of Monreale in Palermo. We are posing in the Beautiful Cloisters behind the cathedral.

The ceiling at Monreale

Exterior of the Cathedral of Palermo. It's a huge church!

Palermo Fountain and Sculptures. After visiting this, we took a walk on a pedestrian shopping street and had a beautiful Gelato! It was a quiet day in town because a lot was closed due to a voting day. It was a referendum about whether to prohibit the oil company from constructing drilling platforms off the coast of that area of Sicily. Apparently it lost and the drilling will go on. Our guide, Marcella, was not happy.

Here I am again. The pink Wrap was a purchase from Ravello as the evenings are cool here. Cooler than I planned for. It is Monday evening. We have been touring Palermo all day , and we are overlooking the hotel port before taking a cab to dinner at Ristorante "Cin Cin".

But before we wandered off to Dinner, we noticed these guys in the harbor below us playing water polo in little kayaks.They we so much fun to watch!

Tuesday morning, we departed Palermo and headed out to explore the Western  and Southern regions of Sicily.  Our first stop was an ancient site called Segesta.

Beautiful Sicilian countryside on the way to Segesta

Greek Style Amphitheater from 5th Century BC in Segesta

Ray shot this from the Bus that took us to the temple. This is an elegant Doric Temple built in 430 BC.  The Temple and the remains of the amphitheater are all that is left of the town.

Ray's close up of the temple columns. They were left unfinished ( not plastered over or
decorated) and the invaders didn't care about it. But what is there is very beautiful.

Segesta temple

After Segesta, we drove to the town of Erice ( Pronounced Erichee ). Its a medieval town full of narrow cobblestone streets. The main attraction there was the enormous cliff it is built on, and the stunning views from the windy top........You could see for miles!

View from Erice. We had a really good lunch in a local place our guide, Pina, knew about. Then tasted almond based desserts that were way too sweet!

Salt Flats on the way to Marsala. Later in the season the salt will emerge and be collected for use and sale.
Our last stop on Tuesday was the town of Marsala, yes, the original place where they made Marsala wines. We were set up for a tour of a local winery called "Donnafugate" just outside of Marsala.
WE joined a couple from San Francisco and toured the winery and tasted their wines. Ray bought a
bottle of a good red to take home.

Our home for the next 3 nights was a seaside resort called VERDURA....... For good info on the place I refer you to the website, but it had golf, pools and a great SPA!!! Our room looked right at the Sea. It is outside the town of Sciacca ( pronounced Shockaa ).....

Wednesday we started our touring in the late morning with a visit to another well known local winery called PLANETA....... This is the name of the family that owns it. The main winery is at the old family home in a town called Menfi. They have 5 properties all over the island. We had a tour along with a couple from New York, then we tasted a lot of good wines, and the four of us had a pleasant lunch together and tasted more wines. Our guide Carlagene, was a young winemaker, and a great host.

After Planeta, our driver, Daniele, took us to another ancient site called SELINUNTE. More ruins of Greek Temples, these overlooking the sea! The town was founded in the 7th Century BC. It was destroyed twice, by the Carthaginians ( from Tunisia), and later by the Romans. What is left are the scattered ruins of various temples.......

Another temple at Selinunte, seen from a distance. You have to do a lot of walking and climbing to visit these places.

Thursday we spent a couple of hours in the morning visiting the nearby town of Sciacca. Our guide was Nicoletta, and Daniele, our driver, walked with us and bought me a coffee. Sciatica has an impressive port, which you see above. Fishing is a very big deal on the whole island, and they do a lot of it here. We visited a beautiful Cathedral and walked around town. Lunch was at a local seafood Trattoria down by the harbor. I think we were the only patrons who weren't locals. The food was very good.

Nicoletta took us inside an old Baroque church that has fallen into disrepair. There just aren't as many good Catholics here as there used to be, and many churches like this one are used for other purposes. This one is now an art gallery.

Thursday afternoon and evening were at leisure. R & R was very welcome! We both went to the Spa
for a massage, and I went early to explore the Thalassotherapy pools. 4 different pools at different temperatures with sea water. Your body absorbs the minerals and nutrients. It felt great! We had dinner at one of the resort restaurants over by the golf club, called Liola..... casual and yummy food.

Friday , April 22nd, we visited two amazing sites on our way across the Island to the town of TAORMINA.
First stop was The ancient site of AGRIGENTO....... It's a vast site with several temples and ruins to visit. It endured both a Greek and Roman period.  This graphic bronze is a big hit with the tourists!

Ray is with Daniele, our driver for 4 days. He drove a LOT of Kilometers for us, and we enjoyed his company.
Daniele lives in Agrigento, so after the tour of the ruins, we had lunch and a walk around his town.

After departing Agrigento, we drove East and toward the center of Sicily To visit a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
It is an expansive Roman Villa called VILLA ROMANA DEL CASALE.  Located near the town of PIAZZA  ARMERINA, it was Built by a prosperous Roman family and it took 10 years to complete. 5 of those years were dedicated to designing and installing the decorative mosaic floors. It's an expansive property with a gymnasium, gardens with fountains, and many living areas and rooms for entertaining. The roof went years ago, so the top of the entire building has been restored using  beautiful woods to protect the mosaics, and keep the tourists cool. And there are a lot of visitors.

Female athletes in Roman times...... Who knew?

An amazing hunting scene in one of the living areas.

Ray's photo of the remarkable town of Piazza Armerina. Very Compact.... way tighter than usual.
Then we drove for about 2 1/2 hours heading Northeast, to arrive at our final Hotel destination.
The GRAND HOTEL TIMEO in the fabulous and charming town of TAORMINA. It's truly a grand Hotel, with gracious public areas that take you back a century or two in time. Art and antiques and flowers everywhere. Our room looked out over the bay below, and Mount ETNA was just beyond the bay. An amazing sight. 

We arrived Taormina just in time for dinner and walked through the narrow crowded streets to find
OSTERIA NERO D'AVOLA. It's where the locals go for a good meal and very yummy & full of atmosphere.
This is Rays grilled calamari.

One of Taormina's churches. You can see it's a busy place. There were tourists from all over enjoying the charms of this town.

Taormina piazza.

There was an ancient Greek Theater in Taormina. It is in fact the 2nd largest in Italy after the one in Syracuse.

Greek theater Seating area. There is more remaining here than at  Syracuse because the Romans later fortified it and added on.
Much of what we can see now was actually the Roman part.
Ray went to visit Syracuse on Saturday. It is a very famous town, but he went alone as I required some R & R. I went to the hotel spa and later had a nap.

Here, by contrast, is the Syracuse Greek Theater. It was larger in it's time, but not as much is left now when you compare it to Taormina.

The Center of town in Syracuse

Dinner Saturday night was at Oliviero in a lovely hotel right on the beach in Taormina.
We dined seaside, and it was grand! Steep hike back to the hotel after. Lucky we found a taxi!

Sunday is the last day of this trip and we are spending it exploring MOUNT ETNA with our naturalist guide, Francesco.
HE lives in a town on the mountain called Lingua glossa, population 5,000. ( Down from 15,000 )
Our midday stop is this winery, Barone di Villagrande. 

The vineyards of Villegrande

A more expansive view of those vineyards, with town and sea beyond.

Mount Etna has erupted many times. It is a very active volcano. But Francesco tells us the lava flows very slowly and as it cools, it hardens and just stops making its way down the mountain. WE are standing at the edge of a lava flow from 2002. Now it is hard and crusty.

Ray liked this sign. It means "watch out for hairpin curves in the road"

Etna lava and the trees it has killed

Ray shot a photo of a photo in a coffee stop booth. I think this is from an eruption in the 1960s.

WE need to mention that Sicily is FULL of wildflowers in the Spring. Everywhere! Some have managed to persist even in  the volcanic soil and lava. Certain grapes grow very well here and there are at least a couple of hundred wine producers on Etna alone. We tasted some of them and they are delicious......

 Our Last Dinner Sunday evening was in a wonderful hotel in Taormina that is in an old Monastery. Located in the SAN DOMINICO PALACE HOTEL, The Restaurant "Principe Cerami" is a Michelin starred Restaurant. It is named for the Sicilian nobleman who bought the building from the monks in the 1860s and converted it to an elegant hotel.
WE had a delicious dinner with Wines from the region that we loved.

Sadly, we had to get home, so we departed Monday morning and flew from Catania, Sicily, to Rome, and on the JFK. From there , Ray went back home to New Hampshire, and I caught another flight to Orlando to visit our kids.

CIAO , SICILIA!!!! We loved you !!!

AUSTRALIA TRIP CONTINUES .........FROM BAROSA VALLEY ONWARD

This is Part TWO of the Australia travels......To see photos from the first half of this trip, go back and click on the link for February.......That's when this journey began.

It is Wednesday, March 9th, and We are at THE LOUISE hotel in The Barossa Valley in South Australia,  just North of Adelaide.
We visited two of the most prominent wineries down here, although there are many great producers.
They call Tasting Rooms here the "Cellar Door" , which is pretty charming.  Today we visited Peter
Lehmann Winery and had a formal tasting with 4 whites, four reds and bread and cheese. The wines were wonderful and quite a range in style and price. We stopped for coffee at a wine country institution... Maggie Beer started out making sandwiches and preserves and is now a famous purveyor of all sorts of food related items. She was in the shop promoting her latest cookbook as we arrived.   Lunch was at The Vintners restaurant and was yummy! Our afternoon stop was the famous Penfolds winery.... they are famous for their fine reds... "Grange" at the top. We had a class on blending our own wines using 3 varietals. It was like Chemistry class.... Photos of this day are in the previous section of the blog ( The Feb. Link).....
Tomorrow morning we will make a 2 hour drive to another wine region south of Adelaide called McLaren Vale. The climate here is very Mediterranean, and perfect for growing grapes. It is Early Fall here, but they are still getting some very hot dry days. Yesterday afternoon it was about 102 degrees F. Beastly..... But today is cloudy and much cooler. Like 85 or so.

It is now Thursday afternoon and we did our McLaren Vale Tour today. It's located about an hour South of Adelaide, and is a lovely region with rolling hills and the ocean to the West. Those sea breezes provide a cooler climate for the rieslings and pinot noir varietals. We visited Oliver's Taranga
Which is a small Family winery. Loved the M53 2010 Shiraz! Next was D'Arenberg, then lunch at
Coriole, which had beautiful flower gardens and an outdoor restaurant. Fresh salads from their gardens and cheeses from their sheep. Last stop was a place called Samuels Gorge for a quick taste but we were tired by then.

More fruit than we've ever seen on the vine. This is ready to pick! and delicious stuff! This vineyard is at the Oliver's Taranga winery, our first stop of the morning in McLaren Vale.

11 am among those vines......

Oliver's Taranga is a 6th generation family winery, started in the mid 1800s. This is their original home, updated.

In a completely different style, the "Cellar Door" tasting room at d'Arenberg Winery

The gardens at Coriole Family estate and winery. This one is similar in Philosophy to Preston, where Dan works.
They are self sustaining and grow or raise  everything they sell in the shop and restaurant. They also host weddings on the lovely patio.

Looking up the hill from Coriole's cellar door

Ray's beautiful shot of the vineyards with farmland in the distance. They don't grow a lot of crops here, but rather raise cattle and sheep.

Adelaide was our destination on Thursday evening.  We Liked this town of about 1.2 Million residents. The downtown goes all the way to a beach neighborhood and all is accessible by trams.  Dinner at a fun place called Press.....

Adelaide downtown with the old Parliament building in the foreground.

Friday morning we departed Adelaide and flew way up North East to the town of CAIRNS.....It is the closest access to the famous tropical DAINTREE RAINFOREST.  Our hotel there is the SILKY OAKS LODGE, and it is set right in a rainforest world with a spring fed river, the Mossman, flowing by outside our cabin. The nighttime critter sounds are amazing, and the restaurant is opener overlooking the river valley. A very special spot.

The balcony outside our bedroom looking into the rainforest. Just outside is the Mossman River......

The cabins of the Silky Oaks are just barely visible through the forest.... this is seen from the Mossman River.

A Boat ride on the Daintree River on Saturday morning

Rays shot of the rainforest that falls right into the river. We spotted a small crocodile along the bank.

Cyn along the rainforest boardwalk. This is a happy solution to protect the floor of the rainforest from our feet, and to keep us from the critters that bite. We walked for an hour with our naturalist guide, Rick Hall, who told us all about
the living flora and fauna.... it turned out to be a beautiful day and we did not need the "brellies".... It had rained hard most of the night before.

A very tall fern tree.

Australian Green Ants..... if you squeeze the green sac, you get medicine.....

Before lunch, we took a walk along the beach. The rainforest runs right up to the shore, and the water is heavenly warm!

Our lunch place was a cafe / zoo and this guy oversaw the lunch crowd.

His buddy.... gorgeous colors!

Rick, our guide, put his hand behind the web to show the size of this spider......

This was fun.... they had a collection of wallabies and small Kangaroos in captivity there. We went inside the "paddock" and fed them slices of sweet potato. they came right up and took it from our hands.

Ray and the wallabies .

This flower is called a "Backscratcher" because of it's spines. 

Our last stop on Saturday afternoon was this lookout point.... We see the rainforest, the sea, and the mouth of the Daintree River. 

Sunday was our day to check out of the Silky Oaks Lodge and begin our journey to the town of Cairns. Enrollee to Cairns, we stopped and took a delightful hour to take the "Skylift ride" on a big cable so we could look over the top of the rainforest and eventually arrive in the outskirts of Cairns. This is the view of from the ride, looking out over Cairns and the Coral Sea.

We flew Sunday afternoon from the Cairns airport in a tiny Cessna plane ( just us and the pilot) to the island resort in the great Barrier Reef at a place in the North Reef called LIZARD ISLAND...... THIS IS THE BEACH IN FRONT OF THE MAIN LODGE.

Here is the resort from the water. The only things on this small island are the resort and a marine research station.

Snorkeling at Eagle's Island with our guide, Cassie. The water, the coral and the fish were a brilliant combination for a delightful morning. They gave us full length black suits to wear to protect us from the sun. Very helpful.

We saw a turtle similar to this one. Our guy was a green turtle and he was nibbling on small sea grasses.

We saw many beautiful fish.... all sizes and colors. this guy is a gorgeous specimen!

Inside the Concert Hall at the Sydney opera house. SYDNEY is the last stop on our 3 week journey in This great country.
We arrived on Wednesday afternoon, the 16th March. They were setting up the stage for a "Pet Sounds" concert by Brian Wilson of the Beachboys.

A city pose with the Sydney Opera House and the bridge behind us.

The 2 shells on the right are the Exterior of the opera house. There is an opera theater, a concert Hall...and 3 other smaller theaters in this complex. The shell to the left is the exterior of a restaurant. What a good idea!

Here's a beautiful shot of the Opera House and Bridge.

This shot gives perspective on the grandeur of the Sydney Harbor. We had a few great meals here . One at Tetsuya's,
a famous Japanese seafood restaurant, and a dinner at EST right on George street, the Main drag. Also a very fun Chinese lunch at Orchid Dumpling near our Hotel, the Park Hyatt.

The day we toured the Opera House we had lunch at this wonderful Italian place in the Paddington neighborhood. The art is from the owner's personal collection.

The building in front of the bridge is the hotel we were in... The PARK HYATT.  It was a great location.

Manly Beach on Saturday afternoon. A beautiful thing...... We walked the shore and along the coast.

One of Sydney's harbor areas. We went by on our fast ferry to Manly.

Another opera house shot from our little balcony.

We finished our trip on Saturday night with a stroll around the harbor area and up to a historic neighborhood called "The Rocks".  Dinner was at " Fish at the Rocks", a much more casual place

with lively vibe and good food. 

Sunday morning  at 11 am we departed Sydney and flew for 12 hours over the date line. So we arrived in LA at 6am the same morning. By the time we get to JFK, it will be Sunday evening. A very long day, but Australia is worth the journey. We want to thank our travel agent, Leah Reilley at Artisans of Leisure in NYC for finding us great things to do and wonderful places to stay.....

This is your BONUS photo and belongs in the Melbourne section ( sorry)....... These little guys are the "Fairy Penguins"
on the beach at Philip's Island, off the coast of Melbourne. Every evening after dusk, groups of them return from their feeding expedition in the sea and make their way across the beach to their nests in the sand dunes. As usual, this event has become a tourist attraction. Large groups of people buy tickets to watch their little parade. But since it happens at night, it is very magical, as we can't make noise or take any photos. I borrowed this photo from the web.
SO GO BACK TO THE FEBRUARY LINK AT THE TOP OF THE BLOG AND VIEW THE PHOTOS FROM THE FIRST HALF OF THE TRIP.  I had to divide it up between 2 entries, and can't reverse the order at this point. But YOU will figure it out!