Bonjour from Corsica, postcards from Sicily,...arrivederci Italy

Bonjour!

I've just returned from a morning walk, Jane and the kids are asleep, .....good time to do some blogging. It's so beautiful and peaceful here, the sun is shining, birds are chirping, I can hear the cascading of water in nearby streams, and this (shown below) is the view out of the window just in front of me, ahh life is grand.  We are staying up in the mountains of Cape Corse which is a long peninsula at the northern tip of the island of Corsica, so we're back in France!

The little hamlet we're staying in has two names, "Barisgioni" and "Bariggione", a French name and a Corsican name which is close to Italian. Corsica was briefly an independent country from 1755 to 1769, and for centuries before that it was ruled by the Italian Republic of Genoa. It became part of France in 1769. The Corsicans are still very independent.

 

We had a fantastic day yesterday. We drove around the whole Cap Corse peninsula, one of the best drives I've ever done. The views were amazing. We saw some gorgeous beaches, one we couldn't resist the look of from a lookout above so drove down a long winding road to find it. Jane took this photo of the beach at the end of that road. Sophie used googles for the first time in the sea and was buzzing about seeing under the water, she "saw two fishies!". You can see Connor behind her and myself further out enjoying the clear blue water.

Dotted along the whole coast of Corsica and Sardinia are medieval stone watch towers which were built to warn off potential invaders. In Corsica's case it was the Italian Genoese who constructed them and the Spanish bourbons in Sardinia's case. There's a tower in the hamlet here that's been converted into a house. You can see the sea from up here in Bariggione, ....anyway back to our trip yesterday, below shows a tower and some of the coast we drove along....

We drove up into a mountain town and came across a big old abandoned church, as shown below....

It was stunning in all its rustic, broken down splendour. This photo shows the old pulpit where the local priest would of once stood...

It was time to have a picnic. We forgot how good French bread is, so we've been munching on a few baguettes since we've arrived. Here's the kids enjoying the picnic, Sophie is pretending to be pregnant :)

The kids have loved all the toys in this house,  here they are sitting in a toy box in their bedroom.....

I took this photo this morning of our little hamlet....

It was sad to leave Italy, what an amazing three months we had in that wonderful country, seeing so many aspects of Italy from travelling it almost from tip to toe.

Here I am with Connor waving good bye to Sardinia and Italy. "Arrivederci Italy", which literally means "we will see each other again Italy", I'm sure we'll be back one day. I was saying to Jane maybe one day we can do the same tour and see some of the people and places we saw along the way, it would be exciting to show the kids where we ventured when they were little "bambinos".

 

The trip from Sardinia, Italy to Corsica, France takes about 50 minutes, and what an exciting little trip for us. The sun was strong, the sea was a vibrant blue, and we were looking forward to exploring the island. Here is Jane with the shores of Corsica in the distance....

Our boat arrived at the gorgeous town of Bonifacio which sits majestically on the edge of a line of cliffs. This photo below shows the view of Bonifacio as we approached, the beauty of France was with us again.

 

We stayed the first two nights in Corsica's capital, Ajaccio, a stylish port town. So this was where Napoleon Bonaparte was born and Ajaccio is very proud of this. We visited the home where he was born and snapped away at some very large Napolean statues in various key points through out the town, including the one below. We were lucky enough to be in town for the summer solstice party which meant there was live music happening everywhere and it was Saturday night, Ajaccio was alive.

 

 

From Ajaccio we drove right through the middle of Corsica, along some stunning mountain roads. We stopped in the town of Corte which is in the centre of the island and was the capital of Corsica during its brief independence. By accident we discovered this swimming hole behind the town, a great find, and just perfect for a midday break. The photo below shows us swimming in the stream with Corte's citadel up on the hill behind us...

 

And this a view of Corte's citadel, the same one shown in the photo above, taken from a lookout above the town...   

 

 

And us having a little picnic after our swim, it was one of those lovely, memorable days. That evening we drove up to Cap Corse to find our little Corsican mountain hideaway.

 

 

Sardinia was very relaxing. We went to the beach a lot, Sardinia is well known for those, hung out around the house enjoying the village atmosphere, and going for long drives in the country and along some magnificent, wild coastal roads. We stayed in this cute little cottage in a town called Bonarcado in the quiet south west of the island. I snapped this photo of the front of the house one morning as we were heading out. 

 

This photo shows a huge canyon we passed in the mid east of Sardinia on the way to Bonarcado…

 

This is the beach at Santa Caterina di Pittinuri we enjoyed a few times, Sophie still thrilled about being able to swim now..

 

One day we went for a long drive to Alghero, a port town in the north west where they still speak Spanish. It goes back to when the Spanish Bourbons ruled for a few hundred years and they colonized this part of the country. Sardinia’s history is fascinating. Below shows a street in Alghero with a restaurant showing off four flags, the Italian flag, the interesting Sardinian flag with four blindfolded heads of Moors, a hybrid of the Spanish Catalan flag, and, I'm not sure why, the good ole classic pirate flag.  

After watching Australia almost draw with Holland in the Soccer world cup at a friendly little bar in Alghero, and then having some pizza for dinner Sophie talked me into buying some treats, how’s this for a lolly shop…
 

 

Below shows us leaving Palermo on the overnight ferry to Sardinia. Our cabin had no windows which was a bit unnerving, but the beds were big and comfortable. We really enjoyed our little cruise across the Med. Sicily was amazing, it would be great to come back one day.

 

John and Ross Sciacca are two great mates of mine, I basically grew up with them up in Brisbane. They’re brothers and their parents come from Sicily. So we just had to visit the town of Sciacca in south west Sicily. It’s a pretty town overlooking the sea. Here I am near the centre of Sciacca, “Just Love It” as the sign says.

 

And here’s the view from Sciacca out over the blue Mediterranean, you can see some of the original town walls on the right …..

 

So this is where we stayed near Palermo at a beach side town called Mondello. I found it by googling the best beaches in Sicily, it was like the Bondi Beach of Sydney. The house was cozy, sea side rustic, and would you believe it we all slept on four bunk beds in one room, good fun, and needless to say the kids loved it. Below shows Jane walking out our front door on the right and the kids playing with our Italian neighbours’ kids. 

 

The first morning we strolled down to the beach, all of four minutes walk away, and this was the colourful sight that greeted us…

 

So despite that fact that we had so much to see in this area of Sicily we made sure we had plenty of beach time and the weather was ideal….. Here is Connor and I making sand castles…

 

And here is Jane with the kids. The atmosphere on the beach was great, music playing, Sophie and Connor dancing away…

 

And Mondello, Palermo will go down as where Sophie first swam. Admittedly, she had the help of some arm floaties which we bought on the beach there, but still. She, and us, were so excited about this first big step; now she wants to go to the beach everyday! This photo shows her enjoying her first day ever of swimming.

 

How’s this for a town setting…. This is Cefalu in the mid north of Sicily. You can see the dominating cathedral which was built by the Norman King Roger II around the 12th century.

 

Here is Connor at the beach at Cefalu with his Tour de France hat on, and behind him you can see remnants of the ancient town walls. 

 

Palermo was a big day. It’s the capital of Sicily and it was my birthday. So much to see! The Arabs ruled Sicily for almost two hundred years up until 1040 AD with Palermo as their capital back then too. The huge old gates below show some Arabic figures.

 

With the Popes' backing,the Normans from the north of France then took control of Sicily for about the next 200 years. Instead of sending the Arabs away they lived in harmony with them. The result was this very interesting architectural style, the “Arab-Norman” style. The Normans built like mad - castles, churches, palaces…..Below shows the interior of the Palatina Chappel in the Norman Palace, you can see tourists snapping away and looking up in awe at the 12C mosaics.

 

Below shows the 12C Palermo cathedral. You can see the various styles due to additions or alterations over the years, for example the Arab-Norman castle like roof trimming, the Renaissance dome and the Gothic tower on the right.

 

This is a photo of a typical side street in Palermo. It shows the rustic beauty that's everywhere in this city – so many layers of history….. 

 

For something completely different and totally bizarre we visited the “Catacombe dei Cappuccini” (entrance shown below) where there are close to 8,000 dead bodies all lined up on the walls, dressed in their Sunday best. It was fascinating and only slightly eerie really, they all looked kind of content……

 

You weren’t allowed to take photos so I got this one off the web to give you an idea of what we saw inside …..

 

Due to misleading tourist maps we ended up walking for about five kilometres through the busy, hot streets of Palermo and then our “hop-on, hop-off” bus didn’t turn up, so when this tuk tuk driver pulled up at the bus stop offering to drive us where ever we wanted, I couldn’t resist. This shows us flying through some back steets of Palermo. You can see the look of amazement/terror on Jane and Connor’s faces in the rear view mirror on the right….  

 

Our tuk tuk driver drove us to the 12C Norman Palace, La Zisa, a great example of this Arab-Norman style of art and architecture. Our driver said it was closed but we rushed over to find it still open! Below shows an internal shot of La Zisa..  

 

That night we went to a fantastic restaurant, again with great smiley, friendly service. Just perfect for a celebratory dinner and an ideal way to finish a challenging, but exhilarating day. I’m now 46, I feel like I’m 36! 

 

We drove up into the mountains behind Palermo to visit the magnificent 12C Norman cathedral at Monreale. The photo below shows us in the cloisters next door. We lost Connor’s “ruggy” along the way, very sad, …. since then he’s adopted one of Sophie’s pink leg warmer’s as a replacement. I don’t think he’s totally comfortable with it, a search continues for another replacement…

 

One day we drove south from Palermo to Segesta. The sight of the 430 BC Greek Temple there was something I had been looking forward to. It did not disappoint. Jane took this photo of Soph, Connor, and I in front of this 2,400 year old structure, wow!

 

From the Segesta temple we then caught a bus up the hill to the 3C BC greek theatre. This was a special place, still remarkably very much intact, with views out to the Mediterranean. Below shows Jane and Soph enjoying the atmosphere…..

 

Here's me and the kids at the base of the theatre, Soph striking a nice ballet pose (we had seen a professional ballet dancer a bit earlier there striking some elegant poses for her mum's photos)... 

 

Below shows the backdrop of the theatre. Right in the centre of the photo you can see Sophie continuing here ballet steps…….. As I’ve said before, the Greeks really knew where to build an open air theatre. It was a magic spot, unforgettable.

 

On the way to Palermo from Ragusa we visited the Valley of the Temples at Agrigento. It was a very hot day, but enjoyable and remarkable to see these huge structures built so long ago.

Here is Jane and Soph seeking shade next to the Temple of Hera Lacinia which is at the top of the ridge (it’s not actually a valley, but a ridge)

 

Below shows the four of us in front of the Temple of Concord, dating back to around 400BC.

 

 

Near the bottom of the ridge was the Temple of Olympian Zeus, erected in 480 BC after a victory over the Carthaginians, who came from the top of Africa. The photo below shows a replica of one of the huge “telamons” or male statues which held up the roof of the temple. The original is in the nearby museum.

After some more cool refreshments we headed to the Temple of Castor, built in the late 5C BC. I’m sure I’ve seen pictures of this sight before…… 

 

 

From our Ragusa house we visited these some interesting catacombs at Cava d’Ispica. No dead bodies here, but a fascinating burial chamber dating back to the 4^th century.

 

We stopped in at Modica one day, not far from Ragusa. Below shows one of its grand streets. The original inhabitants of Modica where troglodytes, ie they lived in cave dwellings up on those hills.  

 

It was the day for a big road trip form our country house near Ragusa. Firstly to visit the 3C BC Villa Romana del Casale, famous for its extensive Roman mosaic floors and then secondly to Enna, perched stunningly on a plateau in the exact centre of Sicily, earning it the nick name of Sicily’s look out.

Below shows Soph and Connor playing around in front of Villa Roma. The main reason why the mosaics are so well preserved is that a land slide covered the Villa for many centuries before it was rediscovered in the 19th century.
 

The photo below shows a pig hunt in the Room of the Small Hunt at Villa Romana.....

 

And here is Connor taking particular interest in the bikini clad girls in the Room of Ten Girls. It was extraordinary to see a snapshot of life 2,300 years ago.

 

And later that day when arriving at Enna we parked near the Norman Castle at one end of town and then strolled through its pretty ancient quarter before arriving at one of the best views I’ve seen in my entire life. It was almost sunset and you could see glorious Mt Etna off in the distance, a stream of smoke trailing from it’s peak, and some gorgeous hilltop towns with the late sun reflecting off their stone buildings. It was time for a beer, some granitas, and nibbles whilst admiring the vista……

This was the view from the Norman castle out over Enna....

 

Here was one of the nearby villages as seen from Enna..

 

And here is that magnificent view all the way out to Mt Etna ....

One sunny morning at Ragusa I headed off for my usual walk, this time with my camera and took this photo showing an interesting looking little lizard and a red poppy. We’ve seen this cute little red flower all the way from the battle fields of The Somme in northern France to Sicily at the very bottom of Italy.

 

One day I headed off (Jane and the kids where happy to have a day around the house) to: 1) see a painting by Caravaggio in Syracuse, that was very impressive, worth the trip (the church where it hangs was shut the first day we visited Syracuse), and 2) to visit the very southern tip of Italy (shown below), .....time to reflect on our grand Italian trip all the way from Lake Como at the top of Italy, .....and to reflect on life as well. I had the southern tip of Italy to myself, and then, from nowhere this friendly dog appeared as shown below, it was a good sign....    

 

 Bye for now and best wishes from

Jane, Sophie, Connor, and me