Scopello

Scopello - 17/9 to 19/9

Last stop in Italy - Scopello, a tiny 2 street town which borders a National Park and has pristine waters ideal for snorkelling.

We bumped into a couple of Barwon Heads girls - Holly and Stacey - which was a total spin out, so we shared a few beers with them in the piazza before they were picked up by a Jesus lookalike in a comby van.

After making a hell mission through farmlands to take a massive shortcut down to the beach we spend the day discovering underwater caves in the most untouched and best snorkelling environment in Europe. Big call....but we stand by it.

From here we went to Palermo for our flight out of Italy. Palermo...... dodgiest place we have been in Europe and for the first time ever - there is nothing positive to write about. To top it off we searched the city for an hour to find a pizza........and failed!!?? Couldn't believe it. Enough said - get me out of here!

Highlights

- Bumping into a few locals from back home.

- Snorkelling through caves, crevices and 100 foot underwater drops in the clearest water we found in Europe.

- The hotel owner in Palermo who was watching them play football in reception - all we heard all game was "Bla blah blah AHHHH FUNGOL!" The only classic moment in Dodgy Palermo.

Cefalù

Cefalù 10/9 to 17/9

We were hoping to stay in Capo d'Orlando a few extra nights but couldn't get onto the owner of the apartment so TC decided that we would board the next train to Cefalù. Dazza was a bit hesitant as he had read that it was a huge tourist town and not the tranquil little village he was after where an old Italian lady would take him in and cook him a 5 course dinner - stop dreaming Dazza!

With no plans and no accommodation we started walking towards the town centre. I think it was literally 5 minutes later when Angelo asked whether we needed accommodation. He took us to the centre of the old town right next to the main piazza with the beautiful Duomo Cathedral. Our third floor apartment was fully equipped with a great balcony overlooking the narrow blue stone street below. Perfect for afternoon drinks while watching the action below.

We told Angelo we would stay 3 nights however after discovering the true beauty of Cefalù with its white sand beaches, excellent snorkelling and great body surfing we stayed 2 more..... and then another 2 more! It was truly amazing the first day the sun was shinning, the sand was glistering and the waves where 2-3 foot - Dazza was almost rabid. The the next day it was completely still - perfect for snorkelling! In between our swims we got 5 euro massages from the friendly Chinese and Thai ladies. Total bliss - cant wait for SE Asia!

Highlight of the week

Falling in love with the locals particularly the old lady in the fruit & vegetable shop who gave Dazza his daily Italian lesson.

Highlights

- Flashpacking by having a mouthwatering 3 course meal in a restaurant set over the coastal rocks and 1ft from the sea - amazing food, amazing view!

- Walking the cliff above the old town and seeing the ancient fort walls and castle.

- The sunsets against the beautiful old town of Cefalù where the houses are literally the sea walls

MOC MOC

Siestas - don't get us wrong, normally we are the worlds biggest fans of the 'after-lunch-nap' but closing the Internet cafes right in the middle of Collingwood Vs West Coast - we couldn't believe it and aged Dazza another 5 years!

Taormina - Capo d'Orlando

Taormina 1/9 - 6/9/07

After a leisurely 1 hour train ride we walked to our 4 star hotel in Taormina (Giardini Naxos). After hostelling in Catania - this place was flashpacker heaven! An unbeatable deal on the Internet (asiarooms.com - thanks little Waz) gave us free breaky, an awesome pool, Sky TV and free...... yes FREE Internet!! We settled in for the Liverpool v Derby game with a few Sicilian beers for company and watched the Pool demolish them 6-0. Torres is the real deal!! 5 nights here allowed us to catch up on calls to family and some long needed emails - that is when Eddy the 16 year old English kid let us on!! The place is pretty stylish with a fair bit of $$ getting around.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK

After overhearing a tour guide talking about an 'explosion' we followed a group of old fogies for a 45 minute walk around the bay to see Mt. Etna in all her glory spurting lava high into the sky. We were later informed via Australia that there had been several small earthquakes that had caused Mt. Etna to erupt. We sat and watched spellbound!

HIGHLIGHTS

- Limone granite!!

- Best gelati we have had in Sicily.

- Lounging around the pool.

- Having a cheeky vodka and soda by the pool!

- Exploring Taormina.

- Unable to find a bus down the mountain from Taormina (height of 1,500 feet), we decided to walk down back to our hotel (sea level). TC wasn't happy, but hey we can't spend our holidays waiting for buses!

- Sampling a great bottle of local Vino Nero D'avoli.

- Eating some delightful seafood dishes with the lobster ravioli a standout.

- Losing 4 kilos each - not sure if it was food poisoning or gastro, but who's complaining!

- The local family at the mini market who were watching the Motorbike GP in their shop. After dropping Casey Stoner's name, they made a big fuss over us (free fruit) and were super friendly to us all week. That's what we love about travelling - meeting friendly locals!

Capo d'Orlando 6/9 - 10/9/07

Another train ride - this time to a small beachside town. I saw a good picture of this place in a mag, so we thought - why not? We got an apartment (with a massive kitchen!) in the centre of town that was a whole 100m from the beach. It was a 8km stretch of sand that had fantastic sunsets. We soaked up plenty of sun and cooked up many a feast for lunch and dinner. Great to have a home cooked meal!

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK

Talking to Narelle and Glen to find out that the PIES and CATS had both won!!!! Finals fever has hit Sicily!!!

HIGHLIGHTS

- watching some amazing sunsets.

- cooking up plenty of spaghetti con aglio é olio é pepperoncino as well as a mean snitzel!!

- watching cheesy Italian game shows (a highlight for TC anyway!)

- 6am walks around the coast.

- mauling sun!

MOC MOC AWARD - or as this week called the moc moc moc moc moc award (literally). After a bit of gastro we were both running at 0% for 3 days. Lucky we had 4 star toilets. Good prep for TC in Asia!

SICILY - CATANIA

We plan to spend the next 4 weeks travelling around Sicily - the island of hot summers, lemon everything, the mafia and a touch of African influence into the Italian culture.

First stop - Catania.

CATANIA 28/8 - 1/9/07

From one mafia stricken city to another, an exhaustive travel day led us to the land of the black trench coated mafia - Sicily! The hostel (which was a Grechy recommendation) had an excellent location next to a huge fresh food market which stocked everything and anything! It also had a great restaurant/bar that at 11pm on the dot, filled with 200-250 locals who ate, drank and were very merry.

After dropping our bags off and heading to the bar we were approached by about 10 young Sicilians who were mostly studying medicine at the local uni. They turned out to be awesome people who were very interested in talking to some Australians about life, love and of course.... the football! The Grechy lookalike was an absolute classic bloke who had us in stitches! We shared many a laugh and hope to see them again in Australia where we can repay their hospitality! Saluti!!

As the temperature hit a soaring 35 degrees, we spent the next 2 days at a private beach - Aci Castello, where we had all day use of the sun beds, showers, umbrellas, pool and assorted luxury items for a reasonable 7 euro per person. The beach itself is made up of black basalt rock from Mt. Etna - a massive volcano sitting behind Catania. The turquoise water was super warm but had a series of random ice cold patches coming from some volcanic fissures. It was quite exhilarating hitting one of these patches but was a welcome relief from the heat!

We found a beer stand which sold the local brew for 1 euro a bottle next to a great little park. We sat next to the fountain with the locals and contemplated life in the true Italian way!

The locals didn't start eating until at least 10pm. We couldn't resist the smell coming from a BBQ cooking fresh meat from the market. After a 10 minute explanation of his assortment (all in Italian) we Si, Si'd our way to 2 mouthwatering 'steak' sandwiches. They could go down as one of the best things I have ever eaten! It wasn't until several hours later that our local mates informed us that it was actually horse! They couldn't understand the look of astonishment on our faces...... eating Phar Lap?? Tastes better than it sounds!

MOC MOC AWARD - The springs in all the bunk beds in the hostel were the loudest springs in the world! The only thing that was louder was the express train zooming past our window early each morning! And the only thing more annoying than the noise was constantly getting eaten alive by the mossies.

FOOTNOTE - The people, location, 2 for 1 drinks and everything else about the hostel was fantastic!