This year we have chosen to come to Cardiff to celebrate our wedding anniversary.
Chris was sent a couple of free rail tickets following his car being vandalised in Slough station car park so we searched for a destination served by Great Western Railway where we could also celebrate with a boat trip as our wedding reception was held on a boat.
We are looking forward to our trip round Cardiff Bay on the Daffodil as well as popping in to see Dr Who and a turn round Cardiff Castle.
Chris has been looking forward to the highlight of his trip … a Sunday afternoon football match between Hellas Verona and Lazio, a team from Rome. It was typically Italian football with nudges, trips, dives, hacking, drama and handbags! The score was 1-2, Hellas Verona woz robbed! I’ve not been to a match with such good singing and banner waving before … quite atmospheric. Tunes included YNWA, When the Saints, The Red Flag, Que Sera Sera and our very own God Save the Queen, no doubt all with different words! Chris read a Tim Parks book about a season when he followed Hellas Verona to every game, and every character and emotion described at those games, were present at our game!
Then came some sightseeing! We wandered the streets of Verona, dodging tour parties following guides carrying unfurled umbrellas or glitter sticks aloft, seeking the Arena …
various piazza …
churches and frescos aplenty …
climbing the Torre dei Lamberti for views …
perusing art in the Castelvecchio museum …
and crossing a couple of bridges (both rebuilt after being bombed by the Germans in WWII) …
We would have seen the Teatro Romano but it was unexpectedly closed … that’s Italy! The emblem of a ladder is seen all over town, on the football banners and other flags, as it was the symbol of the Scaligere family who ruled the city in the 13-14C, and Arche Scaligere are some of the most elaborate Gothic funerary monuments in Italy.
And then there was the garden … Giordini di Giusti, laid out in 1570 with a cypress avenue leading to a grotto with macherone, hedged parterres, statues and a belvedere, a lovely place to wander on a sunny afternoon and get a view of the city.
Shakespeare called it fair Verona, and set three plays here including of course Romeo and Juliet, based on an old Italian story, which has always attracted tourists here, but now millions come to Verona. Every day, letters often just addressed ‘Juliet, Verona’ arrive in the city … and every one is answered! From as early as the 16C, a place had been identified as Juliet’s tomb, in a building once belonging to an old convent. Lord Byron and Dickens both wrote of their visits and Byron even took a small piece of granite as a souvenir. Visitors started leaving notes to Juliet, then in 1936 a Hollywood blockbuster of Romeo and Juliet was made and the site received a makeover to better suit the legend. A chap called Solimani was taken on as custodian and he developed the attraction through showmanship, encouraging visitors to have their photo taken together by the tomb and making a wish to Juliet, leaving messages to her or signing the guestbook. Soon letters started arriving addressed to Juliet, and Solimani started replying as The Secretary of Juliet on an old typewriter. In 1989 the job was taken on by volunteer secretaries at The Club di Giulietta who have replied to 50,000 letters since then. The letters are from men and women, from all round the world, asking for help in matters of the heart.
Today, you can even send a message by email … Chris is still awaiting his reply!
Visitors such as Dickens were directed to a house on Via Cappello as being Juliet’s House and it was bought by the Commune of Verona in 1905. Following the success of the refurbished tomb, the house got the same treatment in 1940, with the facade improved with a balcony, probably made from a recycled 14C sarcophagus, interestingly too far from the ground for even the most athletic Romeo! Today the entrance is covered in romantic graffiti and the tourists have started rubbing the bronze statue of Juliet for luck in love, and queues of people wait for their chance to stand on the balcony. Fortunately we were there early, entry was free with our Verona card so we too stood on that balcony!
Then to Juliet’s tomb, through a colonnaded entrance and a courtyard garden and down some steps to an old sarcophagus… quite atmospheric, except she was a storybook character!
Finally, apparently no visit to Verona is complete without a taste of the Baci di Giulietta, or Juliet’s Kisses, a sweet treat invented by Pasticceria Perlini in 1940, consisting of a pair of chocolate and hazelnut shells sandwiched together with hazelnut cream, now joined by a white almond version … very tasty, very sweet!
Other gourmet delights have included courgette flowers stuffed with a cheese filling, bigoli with duck ragu and risotto made with Amarone, a very delicious local red wine.
And now with our minds full of all we have seen and our tummies full of pasta and pizza, the time has come to bring our Viaggio a Verona to an end. We hope you enjoyed the trip too!
Desenzano has been a popular holiday destination since Roman times, and remains so today, with a street of very chic and expensive shops and lots of restaurants and cafes. It was a bit overcast when we arrived and there had been a storm the day before.
We took a turn round town and found our first lakeside villa, the Villa Romano, a grand Roman country estate dating from 4C, and while ruined still gave us an idea of the layout and we saw some lovely mosaics.
The inner harbour is pretty with the small boats bobbing with the backdrop of pretty pastel coloured buildings with balconies and shuttered windows, especially when the sun shines. We climbed to the small castle for a view of the town.
We took the 20 minute ferry to Sirmione, another chic destination, dominated by the 13C Rocca Scaligera, built to protect the promontory from attack, but looking less fearsome with a moat containing swans.
The small historical centre gets choked with tourists, browsing in shops and consuming ridiculously large cones of gelato so we escaped and went past the little Chiesa Di San Pietro with a fresco of the crucifixion …
… to to the Grotte di Catullo, ruins of another Roman villa which have belonged to the poet Catullo. The ruins are extensive, perched on the top of the headland, and offer great views of the lake.
Finally, we took the ferry further, to Gardone Riviera, which was once the smartest of all the lakeside resorts and still has hotels where suites are hundreds of euros a night. We were here to visit Il Vittoriale degli Italiani, former home of Gabriele d’Annuncio, soldier, poet and nationalist hero, who was given the villa by Mussolini to keep him away from politics. He was a shameless egotist and the villa is both grandiose and bizarre containing a huge eclectic collection including beautiful art and sculpture from all over the world and even a huge stuffed tortoise.
The huge garden contains not only his mausoleum …
but also an amphitheatre …
a battleship …
A corpse of columns with bombs …
and a blue horse.
Overall a really wacky place with great angles and shapes for photos, according to Chris. Do pop in if you are passing or google him for more info!
Departing, we looked back at the very splendid promenade, featuring the Grand Hotel.
We passed Isola del Garda, a private island topped by a confection of a villa surrounded by gardens and also the ruins at Sirmione on the way back, and there was even a sunset.
Our visit here has proved to be a very pleasant lakeside interlude to prevent museum and church overload. Relaxed and ready we set of for our last and probably busiest destination, Verona.
Mantova is a very appealing and walkable town, with four interlocking piazzas in the centre surrounded by civic buildings and churches. Unfortunately an earthquake in 2012 resulted in damage to some buildings which are still under repair.
The Gonzaga family was one of Renaissance Italy’s richest and most powerful families and ruled in Mantova for 300 years. Lodovico II gave the city a facelift when a visiting Pope complained it was a backwater, Francesco II swelled the family coffers as a mercenary while his wife Isabella D’Este spent it on a huge collection of art and Federico II married into a ducal title and built Palazzo Te but then Vicenzo I squandered the lot in debauchery, leaving Mantova open to rule by the Hapsburgs.
The Palazzo Ducale is an enormous complex, in its heyday convering 34,000 sqm, with a population of over 1000. The highlight here is the the amazing Camera degli Sposi or bridal chamber, commissioned by Lodovicio and frescoed by Andrea Mantega. There are interesting scenes of the Gonzaga family on two walls and the ceiling has a beautiful trompe d’oeil of a balustrade and open sky above.
In other rooms there there were elaborate ceilings and lots of paintings but we particularly liked a garden room, looking out over a hanging garden, which must have been quite a showstopper in its day.
Several rooms are decorated with grotesque decoration which was first used in Ancient Rome, with fanciful or fantastic human and animal forms interwoven with foliage. It was copied in the 15C, and again in even more refined form in the 18C when the Hapsburgs redecorated parts of the palazzo.
The Hapsburg heritage also includes the small but perfectly formed Teatro Bibiena Mozart played his Italian debut here when young and his father wrote to his wife “Today I saw the most beautiful theatre in the world”.
Palazzo Te is the masterpiece of Guilio Romano built as a pleasure palace for Federico II to share with his mistress Isabella Boschetta, originally on an island linked to the mainland only by a bridge.
The motif of a salamander is found throughout the palazzo because they were thought to be asexual and Federico’s accompanying motto of ‘What this lacks torments me’ is a reference to his legendary appetites.
The decorative scheme in the rooms of the ground floor is amazing, every one sumptuous, especially in the Camera di Amore e Psiche, where erotic frescos romp round the walls. See if you can see the salamander.
The Camera dei Giganti shows the destruction of the giants by the gods and a continuous fresco covers every part of the walls and ceiling …
The Giardini di Piazza Virgiliana, named for the Roman poet Virgil who was born here gets a mention, especially as it was just by our B&B and it was on our route into town.
Mantova is surrounded on three sides by artificial lakes, created during the 12th century, as the city’s defence system and we enjoyed walking round, watching walkers, cyclists, dog-walkers and fishermen. There are also small canals or ria which cross the town between the buildings.
One afternoon we took a boat trip which gave us a good view of the city from the water and took us to the Mincio nature reserve which is rich in birdlife.
We’ve tried a number of local specialities, the most famous here being tortelli di zucca which we knew was ravioli with pumpkin filling, served with a little melted butter drizzled over, but we were really surprised by the sweet amaretti flavour when we tried it.
I also tried stracotto del cavello which was delicious, but barely indistinguishable from a good beef stew despite being horse …
… and also luccio en salsa or pike in a warm pepper and olive sauce which was also good.
There are several local sweet treats including sbrisolina (a crumbly vanilla flavoured biscuit) …
… torta tagliatella (crispy as if made with pasta and almond flavoured) and torta elvezia (thin layers of almond sponge sandwiched with zabaglione) …
… and we have tried them all …all very sweet! We have also had the best gelati here, mine cream cheese and pear and pumpkin and amaretti, Chris’s ricotta and peach and pistachio!
And there is always time for another Aperol moment …
We’ve really enjoyed our stay in Mantova … but time to move one once more, north this time to Lake Garda.
The Scrovegni Chapel is Padova’s most famous sight with its remarkable cycle of frescoes completed in 1305 by Giotto. It was commissioned by Enrica degli Scrovegni, a wealthy banker, as a private chapel once attached to his family’s palazzo. The fresco cycle details the life of the Virgin Mary and Christ and has been acknowledged by many to be one of the most important fresco cycles in the world. To help preserve the chapel, each group of 25 has to wait in an air-locked room watching a video while the climate equalises and then has just 15 minutes to admire the chapel before being asked to leave. I thought this would be a real rush, but actually it was plenty of time and we were able to move around freely, following the pictures of the bible stories like a cartoon book. The detail and realism of the frescos was amazing, they were in very good condition for over 700 years old and the colours were really bright. I’d love to say I’d taken some pics but no pics allowed so I’ve lifted these two from the Internet.
Other frescos in Padova included the Baptistry by Menabuoi with a lovely view of Paradise on the ceiling and the Oratorio do San Giorgio telling the stories of St George, St Lucy and St Catherine albeit with a sorry end for both the ladies.
The Palazzo della Ragione sits in the heart of the city, between Piazzas Erbe and Frutti. The upstairs is one huge room which was originally frescoed by Giotto, including a blue starry sky, however these were destroyed by fire in 1420 and were replaced by an amazing 333 panel astrological cycle by Miretto. There is also a large wooden horse which was made for a joust in 1466 and a black stone which could be sat on with bare buttocks by a bankrupt to have his debts discharged … not sure that would catch on now … or would it?
The Piazza del Santo is overshadowed by the huge basilica dedicated to St Anthony decorated with minarets and domes outside and Romanesque and Gothic styles inside. Pilgrims still visit and we queued with the faithful to see the amazing relief sculpture panels showing the life of St Anthony round his tomb and the miracles he had performed. Outside is Donatello’s monument to Gattamelata, The Honeyed Cat, as the condottiere Erasamo da Narni was known. It is the earliest large bronze sculpture of the Renaissance but basically just a man on a horse!
Padova’s garden is the Orto Botanico del Padova, which was founded as the garden of curative herbs attached to the University’s faculty of medicine and still contains an important collection of rare plants. It also has the recently built Garden of Diversity with tropical and temperate greehouses containing plants from round the world. It was relaxing to wander round among the plants having spent the day in the town.
Close by is another green space, the Prato della Valle, which follows the oval plan of the extinct Roman amphitheatre – a grassy island surrounded by a canal with four bridges and statues of 78 local worthies. Fortunately we had a chance to take pictures without the white vans and market stalls which had been there all weekend.
Time to catch the tram to the station and a train back to Verona, then south out of The Veneto to Mantova in Lombardy.
We are visiting Vicenza on the trail of Andrea Palladio, a 16th century architect, whose fascination with Greek and Roman buildings led him to develop the Palladian style which spread throughout the world.
Our flight touched down in Verona just after lunch and in a couple of hours we had taken the airport shuttle to the station, caught a train and arrived in Vicenza. Having checked in we went for a passeggiata along the Corso Andrea Palladio, studded with palazzos with ionic columns soaring skywards and stopped on the way for a gelato and later an aperol undernthe eye of the man himself.
We had a fabulous dinner at Il Molo, a small restaurant near the hotel, dining on tiny stuffed sardines and tomino cheese then huge bowls of pasta.
Piazza dei Signori is the heart of the city and is faced on one side by the magnificent Basilica Palladio, which isn’t a church, but a building containing civic offices and shops. The pre-existing building had proved unstable, and Palladio suggested a scheme to clad and reinforce the building, creating facades with two floors of beatifully proportioned loggias.
The piazza also contains the Rua or emblem of Padua, which had been part of an annual festival since 1444 and also a lion on a column signifying that Vicenza was once ruled by Venice.
Next, a couple of Paladio’s palazzos. First Chiericati, stunning from the outside and containing the city art collection, with the most fun being a frescoed ceiling featuring a charioteer from below!
Next was Theine, built for a family who had made their fortune producing silk on their country estates but now owned by a bank. Past the impressive facades, the interior is full of stuccoed decoration and frescoed ceilings, but no photos allowed. It’s jewel was a rarely displayed crucifixion by Bellini.
We stopped in a self service restaurant filled with locals and tourists for lunch, which runs on an honour system – you collect your food from the kitchen, eat, then tell the cashier what you’ve had at the end! My risotto flavoured by bacala, the local speciality of dried fish was particularly good.
I promised gardens and the first, albeit small, was Giordini Salvi, with a very pretty loggia and view from a Bridge.
Finally, Palladio’s last work, the Teatro Olympico, in the style of a Roman theatre with a curved auditorium and stunning stage with a central triumphal arch surrounded by columns and statuary, just like the grand facade of a Paladian palazzo. Behind this is an elaborate stage set with trompe l’oeil views of the streets of of Thebes designed by Scamozzi. There was a dead fox hanging down in the centre, part of the scenery for Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians, a play in Spanish with Italian subtitles but sadly it was sold out!
That evening it was warm enough to sit out under the stars in Piazza Signori as we ate.
Having seen Paladio’s urban architecture yesterday, today is the turn of his most famous villa, La Rotunda, just outside the city. It stands on a small hill commanding great views of the surrounding countryside, a jewel of a building intended for entertaining and built for the retirement of a papal bishop who was part of the refined cultural circle of the time. The central round hall has a domed roof and is within a square with four facades each with portico, steps and ionic columns. Every interior surface is frescoed and stuccoed and statues and marble floors and fireplaces.
On the way back we stopped at Villa Valmarana ai Nani, not by Palladio, but filled with frescos and named after the nani or dwarves along the wall outside …
… and also Monte Berico for the view across the city. It was built following a sighting of the Virgin Mary at a time of the plague and is an important pilgrim site, connected to Vicenza by an arcaded walkway.
After our pleasant morning walk, it was time to retrieve our luggage and catch a train east to Padova.
Verona is our starting point for a little jaunt letting the train take the strain and spending few days in Vicenza, Padova, Mantova, Desenzano del Garda and finally Verona.
We are on the trail of Palladian villas and frescos by Giotto and Mantegna but there will also be Roman ruins, the oldest botanical garden in the world, the largest lake in Italy and possibly a famous balcony!
Chris is looking forward to Hellas Verona playing Lazio at the end of the trip as well as pizza and pasta and risotto but we may well find some slightly more unusual dishes on the menu too.
Hoping the sun will be warm and the trains on time … Viaggio a Verona here we come!
Today we set off on Walk 26 from our guidebook, a 5 mile walk round Monte Cofano which lies between Trapani and Capo San Vito.
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 …
… then over the top and there is a panorama of the Golfo del Cofano ahead.
Our descent was via an old zig zag mule track to a 17C watchtower built to protect the tuna plant from Turkish invasion.
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!
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.
There was a shrine to St Nicholas di Bari, the patron saint of fishermen and sailors.
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.
Further on there was a chapel and then another watchtower …
Cows ambivalent to the interest from paparazzi tourists!
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.
Stopping briefly at San Vito de Capo we came across a kite festival …
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.
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 …
… 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.
Later we relaxed on the beach near Castellammare and watched the mist again …
On our last day we drove to the Zingaro Nature Reserve, catching a great view of Castellammare on the way.
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.
We walked passed several bays with a photo opportunity at every turn up to Cala dell’Uzzo …
… then walked back, stopping at Cala della Capreria for a swim and picnic.
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.
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!
Having 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.
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.
Walking to the far end we saw the Lazaretto, built as a military hospital on one side …
… and Torre di Ligny built as a Spanish defence against pirates on the other.
We are staying in the newer part of town in a neighbourhood that seemed very quiet at 3pm …
… but then things woke up and we found we had an audience from the shop across the road!
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!
Favignana has a busy harbour, with fishermen selling their catch, with the castle in the background.
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.
We wandered round the town, through a couple of piazzas, looking into shops selling various gastronomic treats heavily featuring tuna …
… walked quickly past Forte San Giacamo, a maximum security prison then had a coffee and watched the world go by.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In a view the other way there is Monte Cofano that we hope to be walking round tomorrow.
There are two Norman castles, Castello di Venere on the site of the original temple …
… and Torre Pepoli …
… lots of cobbled streets and gift shops, charming even during a shower …
… and a 12C Duomo and a surprisingly stunning 19C neo-gothic interior and ceiling.
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!
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 ….
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.
Unfortunately 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.
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.
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!
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!
We had a wander round the town …
Including the Tunisian quarter with its narrow alleys and courtyards …
And also brightly coloured tiled plaques.
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.
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.
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.
We wandered round the island which was lovely as the day was sunny, but the ruins were less than inspiring.
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.
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.
We finally managed to photograph some gelato before we ate it … shown here Sicilian style in a brioche and also our breakfast!
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!
Off Travelling Together 