Author: elainehayesblog

Chris & Elaine’s Postcards from Peru 2014

elainehayesblog

9F6EF84E-6ED1-4592-A949-EA57872D0197Travelling to Machu Picchu to see the temple of the Incas has been on our travel wish list for a while, but once we started planning, we realised how large Peru is, made up of some 3000km of coast, the sierra behind where the Andes form the backbone of Peru and finally the jungle between the foothills of the Andes and the Amazon basin.

It is also home to the Atacama desert which may well be the driest and oldest desert on Earth, Colca Canyon just over 3000m deep which is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, Lake Titicaca, the worlds highest navigable lake 3850m above sea level and Nevada Mismi whose glacial streams are the furthest source of the Amazon.

And the Incas are just the last in a succession indigenous cultures, many of which have left their mark, followed by the colonial buildings of the Spanish, and modern Peru where a third of the 30m population live in Lima.

Starting in Lima, we plan to travel around 2000km mainly by coach down the coast and into the highlands (including Machu Picchu of course) then 1000km by air from Cusco to the jungle and back to Lima.

We are also hoping to drink pisco sours and coca tea, eat ceviche and guinea pig (well not Chris as he’s a veggie), see birds including penguins, condors, and parrots, as well as beasts such as alpaca and llamas and even watch a football match! Most importantly, we want to take our time to clamber up hills to enjoy the view, wander round markets and barter for handicrafts and hopefully see the Peru behind the tourist trail.

We hope you enjoy the postcards along the way!

Journal Entries

Lima … Cloudy with Tacos

Paracas … Penguins & Pelicans

Ica … Lagoon & Dunes

Nasca … The Hummingbird & The Spider

Arequipa … Monastery & Churches

Yanque … Colca Canyon Condors

Puno … Traditions of Lake Titicaca

Sacred Valley … Following an Inca Trail

Ollantaytambo … Stepping Stone to Machu Picchu

Cusco … Citadel & Cuy

Tambopata National Reserve … The Jungly Jungle

Lima … Cloudy with Fountains

Map

 

Castellammare to walk Mount Cofano and Zingaro

elainehayesblog

B7B9DAB1-16FA-4A66-A580-F4F94B24ECC1Today we set off on Walk 26 from our guidebook, a 5 mile walk round Monte Cofano which lies between Trapani and Capo San Vito.

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What a fabulous walk, starting with a steady climb to the saddle where the Monte joins on to the headland, during which there is a view back to Erice …

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… then over the top and there is a panorama of the Golfo del Cofano ahead.

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Our descent was via an old zig zag mule track to a 17C watchtower built to protect the tuna plant from Turkish invasion.

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Apparently, not that I have read it, Virgil recounts in his Aeneid how Aeneas organised a boat race to the rock jutting out of the sea – seems amazing that a poem of around 20BC mentions a rock you can still see! A little further and we were caught in a shower, but Chris remembered his boy scout training and brought a bag to keep his camera dry!

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The path then took us round the hill, where there are still remains of old farming terraces, but fan palms, huge grasses and wildflowers have taken the place of vineyards and orchards.

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There was a shrine to St Nicholas di Bari, the patron saint of fishermen and sailors.

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Legend says that a couple on their way to be married were killed by an avalanche here, and the bride’s veil can be seen floating in the sea, reminding us of this sad tale.

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Further on there was a chapel and then another watchtower …

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Cows ambivalent to the interest from paparazzi tourists!

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And then we were back to the start. It took around 4 hours, but we took lots of photos and stopped to eat the almond dolci we bought the day before for energy!

We drove on, catching a view of the extensive marble quarries and a view back to Monte Cofano.

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Stopping briefly at San Vito de Capo we came across a kite festival …

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Then continued to our final stop in Castelllammare del Golfo, stopping to admire the mist coming in and to find another room with a sea view.

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Now, if you remember, Chris was relieved of his wallet at the football in Palermo. Well, a couple of days later the police found it, minus the cash of course, and he had cancelled the credit cards, but the other bits including the driving licence were still in it, so today we drove to the police station, thankfully on the outskirts of Palermo, to retrieve it.

We visited the final ruins of our trip, those at Segesta. If you remember, this had been the town squabbling with Selinunte and got it sacked. Anyway it has a 5C BC temple on the top of one hill which was never finished, but the columns still all stand, together with the entablature and pediment, so it looks pretty impressive …

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… and a 3C BC theatre on top of another hill where they still put on events but the only show when we were there was the view of the A29 snaking across the valley.

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Later we relaxed on the beach near Castellammare and watched the mist again …

 

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On our last day we drove to the Zingaro Nature Reserve, catching a great view of Castellammare on the way.

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In 1980, there was a successful local protest against government plans to build a coast road and Sicily’s first nature reserve was born. The day was bright and sunny and we walked from the southern entrance near Scopello, entering through the tunnel that had been constructed for the proposed road.

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We walked passed several bays with a photo opportunity at every turn up to Cala dell’Uzzo …

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… then walked back, stopping at Cala della Capreria for a swim and picnic.

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On the way back we stopped at Scopello, both at the old tuna fishery protected by ruined watchtowers on the coast, and the town above with its central courtyard, old buildings and water trough.

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Last night tonight and then a drive to Palermo airport in the morning.

I hope you’ve enjoyed our Sicilian Soggiorno as much as we have, particularly the wonderful wildflowers which we saw everywhere and made a particular impression on us … and Chris’s hayfever! Time to go home now so thanks for sticking with the blog, it’s been great having you along!

Arrivederci!

Trapani for an island hop and mountain top

elainehayesblog

E3FAE9C8-7C63-453A-93C9-51D1B449D7B9Having driven down the salt road, we entered Trapani by the port and old town, situated on a curved spit of land like a sickle for which the town is named. Running like a spine down the centre is the very grand Corso Vittorio Emanuele, studded with fancy shops and fine Baroque facades.

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The Chiesa del Purgatorio is home to the sculptures, called Misteri, carried through the town on Good Friday by a local guild every year since before 1612. They depict the various chapters in the Easter story and are beautifully crafted showing realistic features and drama of movement.

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Walking to the far end we saw the Lazaretto, built as a military hospital on one side …

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… and Torre di Ligny built as a Spanish defence against pirates on the other.

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We are staying in the newer part of town in a neighbourhood that seemed very quiet at 3pm …

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… but then things woke up and we found we had an audience from the shop across the road!

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Our island hop was to Favignana, one of the Egadi islands an hour away. We were pleased to be off on our ferry when we saw the huge ship of day trippers arrive in Trapani!

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Favignana has a busy harbour, with fishermen selling their catch, with the castle in the background.

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We passed Stabilimento Florio, the mansion built by the man who established the tuna canneries in the 1870s, but factory fishing brought the industry here to an end, and the old buildings lay abandoned.

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We wandered round the town, through a couple of piazzas, looking into shops selling various gastronomic treats heavily featuring tuna …

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… walked quickly past Forte San Giacamo, a maximum security prison then had a coffee and watched the world go by.

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Needing some exercise, and to build up an appetite for lunch we climbed up to Forta di Santa Caterina on the top of the hill and were rewarded with great views.

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After some lunch in a typical little self-service restaurant, we were going to take the little tourist road train for a tour round the island, but it left early and without us, so we returned to Trapani on the hydrofoil.

We allowed the cable car to take the strain for our climb to Erice, 750m up perched on a limestone spur above Trapani.

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It was founded in 1200BC by the Elymians who built a holy temple to the goddess of love here, which was renowned throughout the ancient world, although there are no remains, but we did see a beautiful 5C head of Aphrodite on display in the museum.

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Today Erice has lots of charm with ancient city walls offering great views of Trapani below, with the salt pans on the left that we drove past, Favignana, the island in the distance and the Lazaretto at the end of Trapani harbour.

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In a view the other way there is Monte Cofano that we hope to be walking round tomorrow.

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There are two Norman castles, Castello di Venere on the site of the original temple …

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… and Torre Pepoli …

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… lots  of cobbled streets and gift shops, charming even during a shower …

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… and a 12C Duomo and a surprisingly stunning 19C neo-gothic interior and ceiling.

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Erice is also famous for its pasticceria, making delectable goodies made from recipes refined by nuns since 16C and we visited the shop of Maria Grammatico who entered the convent of San Carlo in Erice where she learnt the “secret” art. We bought a tray of mixed goodies, belli e brutti with odd shapes, sospiri which are a little like almond macaroons and several others to try … yummy!

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Today’s flowers are these tiny purple ones that we have seen growing everywhere, along the side of the road, in cracks between stones and here in the Castello ….

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Our host Mino recommended a couple of great local restaurants like Osteria La Dolce Vita, where they show you the menu, then the waiter comes and tells you which dishes they have cooked today! We had antipasti from a buffet, then a huge plate of pasta each, Chris’s with mushrooms and walnuts and mine with fish roe and cherry tomatoes.

So we are off tomorrow … walking.

 

Mazara and Marsala

elainehayesblog

28017D13-27C5-421F-AE76-0FC4ED8B257BUnfortunately another grey day as we left and drove to the Cave di Cusa, the quarry which was used for stone for Selininte temples and abandoned after the city was sacked. It still has partly cut columns, which stand as they were left.

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Walking along the path, we saw tiny frogs the size of the end of my thumb, hopping left and right, obviously able to feel the vibration of our steps, and trying to avoid us.

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We continued to Mazara del Vallone, the most important of Sicily’s Moorish towns, but couldn’t get our bearings. Fortunately we bumped into Giovanna who kindly offered to take us to Piazza San Veneranda in her car. She expertly manoeuvred her little Lancia through the narrow backstreets with true Italian flair. She gave us a flyer – she is standing for councillor in the local elections next week – and we would vote for her!

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The main reason to visit was to see the Greek bronze Dancing Satyr. Firstly just a leg was found by fishermen, then a year later a torso. It spent 4 years being restored and is now on display in an old church. Unfortunately no photos allowed so Wiki comes to the rescue again! The satyr is depicted in mid-leap, head thrown back ecstatically and back arched, his hair swinging with the movement of his head and in remarkably good condition for having been at the bottom of the sea. It’s exact age is uncertain but at least 2000 years!

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We had a wander round the town …

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Including the Tunisian quarter with its narrow alleys and courtyards …

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And also brightly coloured tiled plaques.

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Next stop Marsala, named by the Arabs Marsah-al-Allah, the port of God. After a long period of poverty, Marsala became home to a prosperous wine trade, developed by entrepeneurs at the end of the eighteenth century, led by one John Woodhouse, from Liverpool, who exported the fortified wine, marsala. Marsala’s fame continued when Garibaldi landed here with his expedition of a thousand on 11 May 1860, entering through the gateway now called the Porta Garibaldi, making it the first city of a united Italy.

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We are staying with Celsa in her lovely B&B in a 400 year old building in the centro storico called Il Profumo del Sale, the scent of salt, apt as the coastline here is lined with salt flats and windmills that once pumped water and ground salt. There were also piles of salt protected covered by terracotta tiles.

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We visited the ruins of Mozia, an ancient Phoenician town, situated on the island of San Pantaleo, and reached by a short ferry ride. There is a museum with lots of bits of pot, but also funeral stele with women in triangular skirts, terracotta masks, a collection of ancient beads and a marble statue, the Youth of Mozia dating to the 5C BC.

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We wandered round the island which was lovely as the day was sunny, but the ruins were less than inspiring.

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Later we went on a tour of the Donnafugata winery, including the amazing cellar below. Danila showed us round and shared her enthusiasm and knowledge, telling us about the history of the family, the grapes used and the different wines made. We then had a tasting and decided to make room in our suitcase for a small bottle of a moscato dessert wine called Kabir, whose grapes are grown on the volcanic island of Pantelleria quite close to Africa. Thank you Danila for such an enjoyable visit.

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Just to catch up with the fabulous food lately, there was a lovely meal at Osteria San Lorenzo starting with an amazing antipasti buffet, then followed by greengrocer pasta for Chris and swordfish involtini for me and also at Assud including free water which is unheard of in Italy and excellent swordfish rigatoni for me.

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We finally managed to photograph some gelato before we ate it … shown here Sicilian style in a brioche and also our breakfast!

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We said goodbye to Celsa and were given a bag of sea salt perfumed with cinnamon as a souvenir … thank you!

Onwards now along the salt road!

Castelvetrano and the Selinunte ruins

elainehayesblog

48A7FE96-C43D-457B-AC18-4D493413A3C8We have woken to grey skies and drizzle. The road has taken us past a chimney for a ceramic factory, a thriving industry locally, and into a patchwork of farmland, including vines, and having got a little lost in Menfi, we came across a very high class vintners selling wine in a plastic bottle for 2 euros a litre!

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We are heading to the ruins at Selinunte, but by the time we are close, it is pouring with rain, so we detour to Marinella di Selinunte to look at the moody sea, browse the ceramic shops and have an early lunch. Fortunately after lunch the rain had stopped.

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Selinunte, named after the profuse wild parsley growing there, was at its peak in the 5C with some 30,000 inhabitants. When it’s rival Segesta requested aid from the Carthaginians, they sent an army who destroyed the city, demolished the temples and killed 16,000 people. Selinunte is in many ways unchanged since it’s sacking, with piles of rubble left abandoned. The best of the archaeological finds, including sculpted panels called metopes that decorated the temples are in the museum in Palermo, unfortunately closed for renovation indefinitely, so the nearest we could get was Wikipedia. One surprise though was that it was International Museum day, so we got in for free.

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The first sight on the East hill is the Temple of Hera, reconstructed in the 1950s. We were able to walk inside it and get a feel for the size of the place.

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Behind are remains of a couple more temples, with rubble everywhere, interestingly some pieces show grooves that would have been used in construction to lock stones together.

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We walked across the valley to the acropolis where there are remains of three temples, one of which had 17 columns re-erected in the 1920s and is excitingly called Temple C, residential buildings and a row of shops, showing that temples and everyday life were side by side.

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Not being any kind of expert on Greek architecture, I got more from taking pictures of the rubble with the flowers growing through …

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During the walk back, we met a very enterprising chap called Filippo who was selling delicious lemon granita from his mobile gelateria and promised to give him a mention.

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We continued to a Tenuta Venezia, a farm on the outskirts of Castelvetrano for the night, where our room overlooks an orange orchard, and there are peacocks, puppies, geese and ponies.

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Whether it was in sympathy for the grey day or not, by chance both our lunch and dinner were at Ristorante Pierrot, albeit 10kms apart. I watched tonight as they scraped some hot embers from the pizza oven and piled them under a grill to cook my involtini or little meat rolls with a herby stuffing, delicious … as was Chris’s pizza, and as for breakfast, it was a feast fit for a king!

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Moving on …

Sciacca and the garden of many faces

elainehayesblog

5A47136F-B219-4320-A8E5-DA3C5AB0AD4DWe stopped briefly at the ruins at Eraclea Minoa, enjoying the view out to sea more than the site as very little was uncovered or explained except a theatre which was covered to prevent further weathering.

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But there were flowers …

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We also made a stop at the Castello Incantato or Enchanted Castle, a garden filled with sculpted heads made by Filippo Bentivegna. He had emigrated to America, suffered mishaps including a serious head injury which affected his sanity and returned to Sicily where he bought a plot of land and worked on his sculpture garden for over 40 years till his death in 1967. The number of sculptures is staggering, and while fairly roughly made, individual expressions could be seen, and it made us wonder what he was thinking when he made them.

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Arriving in Sciacca (pronounced Shacka), we checked in to Hotel Aliai where we had a lovely room overlooking the harbour, then climbed the 245 steps from the harbour up to the main town to have a look round and get a gelato, and are pleased we can eat in a little trattoria steps from the hotel rather than make that climb again!

Next stop … more ruins.

Agrigento and the Valley of the Temples

elainehayesblog

619956FC-2F58-4F1F-9938-F4436F3195B9Today we drove from the north coast to the south coast. We started on a minor road, most of which have the odd broken edge, buckle or pothole …

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… then we joined the A19 that stretched across the valleys on stilts …

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… and finished our journey on the 640 to Agrigento, which is being replaced with a new road, but only bits have been built so one minute we were on a brand new dual carriageway and the next on an old bit.

As always, there were flowers that wanted their pictures taken …

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Once in Agrigento we had a look round the Archaeological Museum, to get a bit of background. Akragas as it was known, became one of the richest and most famous of the Greek colonies in the 6C BC. Several of the temples have standing remains, but many were toppled by earthquakes and stones have been plundered for other buildings such as the local port as late as the 18C. They had some impressive vases showing mythological scenes, clay masks, terracotta figurines and vases that had been used as offerings, a marble statue of a young man and several sarcophaguses. They also had a reconstructed Telamon, a row of which would have held up the now ruined Temple of Zeus, and a model of what it might have looked like.

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The archaeological site is huge, with a lot of stones and bits of ruins lying about. So much has been removed, it is unlikely that anything more can be reconstructed, and there are five temples with standing parts. The Temple of Castor & Pollux was the first we saw and looked quite amazing with the town in the background.

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It is the symbol of modern Agrigento, even though it is a 19C reconstruction with columns from various temples. The Temple of Zeus has no standing remains, just a Telamon on the ground.

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The Temple of Concordia has survived so well as it was used as a Christian basilica, but the Christian structures were removed in the 18C and it has been repeatedly restored.

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There are various modern sculptures in the valley, but this one looked particularly impressive.

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Next comes the Temple of Juno, my personal favourite, a view from each side, the second just before thunder and lightening shower, during which we sheltered under remains of the arcosolian tombs.

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Lastly we saw the Temple of Heracles, which is the oldest temple and whose 8 columns standing today were resurrected in the 1920’s by an Englishman called Hardcastle.

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Needless to say, there were some blooms, even here …

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Afterwards, we drove down to the sea and to visit Scala dei Turchi, or Turkish Steps, to see the marl cliffs, rich with calcium carbonate, giving the white colour.

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During our stay, we had a lovely B&B in Agrigento called Camera a Sud where we were made very welcome and also ate well including dinner at Trattoria Concordia where Chris had sformatino, a fabulous vegetable mousse finished with cheese sauce and pistachios.

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Tomorrow we drive west along the coast.

Collesano and the epic artichoke lunch

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01DE7BAB-A7EF-4685-9BA1-91AA888E06CCAs we left Pettralia Sottana, we got a great view of the town.

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We drove through gently sloping hills and pastures on to Polizzi Generosa where the small houses huddle on the mountain. A short way on we reached our destination, the beginning of Walk 21: Vallone Madonna Degli Angeli from our Sunflower Sicily guide, which is 5 miles and should take 2.5 hours.

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We had a great walk, following a good track, with several climbs but some fabulous views and clear instructions.

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The spring flowers were lovely …

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… and we also saw several Nebrodi firs which only survive in this valley, relics of the ice age with candle like cones …

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… and an intrepid walker!

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We found a couple of good stopping spots too …

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We finally got back to the car 4hrs later, but had two rest stops to admire the view and took lots of photos so I think we did pretty well.

We drove to a Rifugio on Piano Battaglia which we had booked for a night stop, only to find nobody there, a closed sign in the window and no answer to the phone, so after a ponder, set off instead to Collesano and ended up staying there two nights instead of one. Casale Drinzi is a restaurant just out of town with rooms, and I’m sitting on the terrace early evening writing this to the sound of cow bells across the valley, with the sun making the yellow flowers in the meadow glow.

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01DE7BAB-A7EF-4685-9BA1-91AA888E06CCWe awoke to a windy morning with flashes of sun and large clouds scudding across the sky, and very large grey clouds obscuring the top of the mountain outside our room. We had planned to walk up to Pizzo Carbonara, the second highest peak on Sicily at 1979m, but since the purpose is the view, we’ve decided discretion is the better part of valour and have changed our plans.

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Instead, we visited Caccomo castle, built by the Normans, then owned by the Chiaramonte family and very picturesque commanding a great view over the artificial lake made by a dam in 1993.

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On the way back we stopped at Cerda for lunch, which hosts the Sagra del Carciofo – the annual artichoke festival. They’re carciofi crazy here and even have a sculpture of a giant artichoke in the town square. I’d read about Trattoria Nasca that served artichokes every which way and we had mixed antipasti including artichokes served plain boiled, stewed, battered and fried, grilled, in a salad and our personal favourite – stewed sweet and sour with fennel.

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We’ve had two excellent dinners at Casale Drinzi including pizza, pasta, and wild boar stew complete with complimentary digestifs and local spiced fig nut biscuits called cuccidati.

Tomorrow we head to the south coast.

 

Petralia Sottana and the Parco della Madonie

elainehayesblog

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The road climbed through olive groves and gave us a final view of Cefalu.

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We stopped briefly at the Santuario di Gibilmanna then continued to climb until we entered a green valley, with the central Madonie massif behind.

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Next stop was Castelbuono, named for its castle which was closed. We wandered round the town, and tasted manna made from the sap of manna ashes which has been extracted for centuries and valued for its health and sweetening properties. Pistachios are also grown and processed here into pistachio cream and pesto which were far more tasty.

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The road continued through a rolling landscape where we encountered goats grazing, and then a glimpse of Mount Etna in the distance.

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By the time we reached Petralia Soprana clustered on a hill, in true Italian fashion, everything was closed for lunch, but we snapped a couple of the churches.

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Further on, and we arrived at Petralia Sottana and B&B Domus Lilio, our stop for the night, again with a balcony and mountain view.

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We had another delicious meal, this time at Petrae Lejum,with grilled vegetables followed by gnocchi and mushrooms and pasta with lamb ragu. Before leaving town, we stopped off to get our picnic made up by Giorggio himself in the local grocers shop.

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Cefalu and a steep climb for a view

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F0E108D3-0940-4D26-8E9E-B6CFE59211E3Having picked up the car, Monreale was our first stop, to visit the Duomo which was built by Roger’s grandson, William II and is huge

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2,200 kg of pure gold were used to make the 6,370 sqm of mosaics which include a huge Christ Panocrator in the apse and continue to run round the nave like a biblical strip cartoon illustrating the testaments for a congregation who could not read. Unfortunately, by the time we thought about taking some pictures, we were asked to leave for the morning service. Afterwards we went into the peaceful 12C cloister where arcades were supported by mosaic columns each with a carved capital showing scenes from daily life and the bible. The fountain was used by the Benedictine monks to wash before eating.

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We also found outside walls decorated by carving and inlay, and a great view of Palermo.

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We continued to Cefalu (pronounced chefaloo) and after several circumnavigations of the town, realised the right road was the one with the restricted entry sign as confirmed by a nice policeman! We found the B&B, dropped the luggage and set off again down a very narrow alley to park the car. Cefalu is very picturesque with narrow cobbled streets, decorated with flowers and drying laundry. There is a long stretch of golden sand with lots of visitors on a sunny Sunday. The Duomo was built by Roger II to be his burial place, and is very impressive from outside, on a hill with soaring towers. Inside the apse is decorated with mosaic but you can’t get very close to see them properly.

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We walked up rather a lot of steps to Parco della Rocco, high above the town where there were some lovely views of the town and out to sea.

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Returning to the B&B, we sat on the terrace, watching the swifts flit about and the sheep precariously graze the mountain, while listening to a folk group playing outside the church.

Next we continue inland.