Showing posts with label Italy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Italy. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Home Sweet Home!

Good morning everyone. 
We arrived home safe and sound Saturday, October 7th after a long day of travel!

                 “HOME SWEET HOME”


During our 32-day adventure we travelled in excess of 19,000 kilometres (or 12,000 plus miles) by planes, trains, automobiles, buses, cruise ship and our own two feet. 



We flew a total of 13,500+ kilometres from Toronto to Paris, Paris to Barcelona and returning from Toulouse to Paris, Paris to Toronto via Air France. 
Our cruise ship travels on the MS Riviera throughout the Mediterranean Sea covered (2165 nautical miles) 4009 kilometres. 

Our lovely rental car “the Orange Captur” transported us over 1285 kilometres of highways, city streets, narrow rural roads throughout France and Spain.
And luckily the built in “Molly the GPS” didn’t take us through any vineyard dirt tracks like it did in 2005.
There was no question that we would not find our car wherever we parked it! The bright orange colour made it easy to find! 






Our TGV train ride from Barcelona, Spain to Perpignan, France was a flying ride of only 159-kilometres ... oh how I forgot how we used to travel only by train while in Europe, a relaxing and enjoyable method of travel. 



I’m not sure how much distance we travelled by bus, taxi and on foot but it seemed like plenty.  
 
We visited/ explored many communes, cities, towns and villages in the countries of France, Italy, Malta, Monaco and Spain.

Using our five senses we fully experienced the life and culture of the many places and people we met during our travels. 


We spent two days in Barcelona one on each end of the 10-day cruise, rented the same apartment “Ciel Bleu” in Céret, France for a couple of weeks and then spent our last week in the Lot Valley visiting “lots”of friends. 

We are just getting ourselves sorted, back into some regular routine and catching up on some lost sleep. 
Still working on laundry and putting things away, did get the grocery shopping done on Sunday in between an emergency call to the plumber (no hot water, yikes) ... bad news is not just a repair, water heater needs to be replaced and we are still dealing with this today (Tuesday) ...it  was a holiday weekend here in Canada celebrating Thanksgiving! 

I’m very thankful for our friends and family for hot showers and a delicious “Turkey Supper”! 

I still have many photographs to cull and edit plus many stories, posts to write and share on the blog. 

I’m writing and posting for Monsiuer Honey and myself so when we are old and grey, okay maybe I should say “older and more grey”  sitting in our rocking chairs we will be able to look at the photos, read the stories & reminisce about our wonderful travels! 

A big part of our travels is meeting up with old friends and making new friends ... so a big thank you for being part of our adventure to you all!

A big shout out to the new friends made in Barcelona from Monsiuer Honey’s birthplace aka Geordie land, South Shields, Great Britain ... Dawn & Ian, Pippa & Darren, and our new friends made on the cruise Kathy and Steve from B.C. and so many others. 

Thank you so much to our New Zealand/ Céret friends, Karen and John! 

Thanks again to our “old” friends in the Lot ... Laury, Clare, C &B (original French Connection)! 

Everyone of you were a special part of our travels! 



Friday, September 29, 2017

Pat's Postcards from Palermo, Sicily


Day 6  Wednesday, September 13, 2017  approaching Palermo, Sicily, Italy ... 
We aren't exactly certain how our day in Palermo evolved. 
Did we walk to the centre, was there a shuttle bus service? I know it matters not to you but I'm trying to reconstruct our day. 
For me it is my diary of our travels. 
This is what happens when you don't post / write as the adventure is happening ... my memory fails me at times ... might be time to keep a written journal! 
Although the photos do trigger some memories. 
I do remember that my first impressions were not favourable as we wandered towards the centre, but I can't put my finger on what it was ... and then I really opened my eyes and saw the uniqueness and beauty in all that surrounded me! 

Views from our balcony as we were approaching the dock. 





Palermo located on the northwestern coast of Sicily is "considered a jewel in the crown of Sicily". It is the largest city on the island. 

The post office ... 



Beautiful architecture ...



No this is not a stained glass window in a church, it was in an entrance door to an apartment building. 
What a beauty! I think this would be a lovely feature in my front door side lights. 



Chuesa di S. Domenici e Chiostro



Santa Caterina / Saint Catherine Church in the Plaza Bellini. (Baroque)



Plaza Bellini is home to three churches Saint Catherine's (pictured above) and below Santa Maria dell' Ammiraglio and San Cataldo with its three domes ... both of these are Unesco World Heritage Sites.
 
My "Signore Honey" in the square ... 
they say "when in Rome do as the Romans do"  what a whirlwind of title changes for my man! 
Monsieur in France, Señor in Spain, Signore in Italy! 


 
Praetorian Fountain - the most important landmark of Piazza Pretoria was built by Francesco Camilliani in 1554 in the city of Florence, Italy and then moved to Palermo in 1574. 







Quattro Canti 



The Palermo Cathedral ... Saint Mary of the Assumption was built in 1185.











A little time to just relax and people watch! 



Ok Signore Honey, let's see what else we can find on our self guided walking tour! 




Teatro Massimo (Opera House) 





Another busy day and lesson learned don't always judge a book by it's cover, first impressions may not always be accurate ... lots of beautiful history in Palermo. 

Departing from Palermo, Sicily we will travel 167 nautical miles and wake up in Naples, Italy tomorrow morning.