Saturday 14th May

Another nice morning as we headed up Mount Etna (an active stratovolcano, the tallest in Europe). We were told it was still erupting but not to worry because it is continually emitting gas so a serious eruption is unlikely. The last eruption was in the 1940's and a big one in 1928 - seemed like we were safe enough!

We drove up above the clouds to the first level at 1910m and walked around. It was sunny, chilly and windy. We didn't bring jackets so I had to wear layers (t-shirt, hoody, cardigan and rainjacket). We walked around the rim of a secondary crater and Ian walked to the bottom. Some of the group chose to go up in the cable car to the second level at 2500m and they said the wind was ferocious. The last level (2920m) had to be reached by 4x4's and apparently the walk at that level was cancelled as it was considered too dangerous. We were happy at the first level walking the rim, and checking out the shops and cafe's.

We drove back via Giardini-Naxos, the next little town from where we are staying, on the coast. It is where our guide and driver live.

We've just been down to dinner, our last night, and have to pack for tomorrow's flight back to England.

Friday May 13th

It was a lovely sunny day today, nice and hot. I could see a nice sunrise from our window about 5 (before going back to bed).

We left about 8:30 this morning for our journey to Siracusa (Archimedes lived here). Upon arrival we walked down to the old town (Ortygia) harbour area and took a boat trip for an hour. The sea was calm so it was a pleasant journey. We then walked up to the huge Plaza where the cathedral was. White marble everywhere, and the sunshine made it very blindingly bright. We walked around the little streets and found a lunch eatery then we walked some more and took lots of photos. Saw Greek temple ruins under the city hall, went in the cathedral, and saw a Carravagio painting in a church.

Thursday 12th May

We awoke to very misty skies and some rain this morning. We'd heard thunder at 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. Fortunately it cleared up by 9 a.m. so didn't interfere with our plans. We went down into town (our hotel is built high on a cliff side) and headed for the Greek theatre, a Roman amphitheatre (it is thought that the Romans built on top of a Greek theatre). It was a bit of a climb but the views were worth it. We then walked from the Messina gate to the Catania gate, approximately one km, a main street with loads of shops and eating places. We bought a few souvenirs, a bottle of local wine for this evening, and stopped for gelato for our lunch break - loads of choice, it was hard to pick just one.

We returned to the hotel about 3:30 and spent the rest of the afternoon on the terrace. All the rooms have a small terrace, but we have an end room next to Martin & Jean and the four of us share a huge terrace that gets the sun most of the day. We are making good use of the sun loungers.

Had a nice dinner, salmon and lamb, plus a surprise birthday cake from tour leader - very embarrassing actually!

Shared a bottle of Sicilian wine with Ian and Martin & Jean, nice evening.

Wednesday 11th May

We left the hotel at 9:00, all packed and ready to move on to Taormina where we stay for the remaining four nights. We stopped along the way to visit a 4th century Roman villa, an amazing discovery from last century. The villa had been buried under a mudslide, and once discovered, was dug out and found to be in immaculate condition. The villa was huge, and many rooms had the mosaic floors mostly intact. There were also some frescoes, and the remains of the different temperature baths. The whole structure was preserved with elevated walkways above, partial walls had been built so it was easy to see the sheer size of it and the different rooms. There was a high roof covering it and offering protection from the elements. This was the highlight of the trip and we took loads of photos of the incredible mosaics.

We contained our journey to the coast and checked into our beautiful hotel at Taormina. We all have sea view rooms and the rooms and food are excellent, we are to be spoiled here!

Tuesday 10th May

It was an early start today, we left the hotel at 8:00 for our visit to Palermo.

We drove for about 60 mins. and stopped for loos and/or coffee, and then arrived in Palermo about 9:30. We went to the cathedral first and looked around inside and out. It is very big, typical with lots of gold and silver, and lots of visitors too. We then did a driving tour  of the city before dropping us all off for a walkabout on our own. We went for lunch first, we found a small quiet restaurant with kebabs and panini's and tables in the shade, and enjoyed a nice meal.

We then met at the bus again and went for our visit to Monreale to see the Benedictine Abbey. It is noted for it's fine medieval mosaics and cloister. We had to climb 100 steps to get up to it, not an easy task with the heat and humidity, but we made it. We had a sit down in the abbey while our enthusiastic local guide told us all about it.

We got back to the hotel about 7, dinner at 7:45 and organize ourselves as it's our last night at this location.

MOnday 9th May

Monday May 9th

We left the hotel at 8:30 for our visit to the Valley of the Temples (Unesco). Once we arrived we waited half an hour for security to check us in and let us through. Italian organization at its best!

This area includes 7 temples, in the Doric style, from the 5th century BC - we saw 4 of them. It was fairly high up and we could see for miles. It was a walking tour, with a local guide, and a visit to the archeology museum which has many interesting finds from the area. 

Afterwards we went into town (Agrigento) and had a pizza lunch sitting outside. We returned to the hotel at 3 and spent some time pool side in the sun.

Four-course dinner again - not sure how many more I can eat.

Sunday 8 May

We were up at 2 this morning getting ready for our taxi to the airport for our 6 a.m. Flight to Catania. Everything was on time and we arrived in Sicily at 10 a.m. local time. Riviera travel were waiting for us and we soon got on the road. There are 50 people on the tour, we haven't been in a group this large for a long time. Everyone came on the Manchester flight, there is another tour for a group that came from Gatwick, business seems good.

It was about 18C, but still early in the day. We had about 2 and a half hours drive south east to Agrigento where we will stay for three nights. We stopped for a lunch break along the way and after being told our rooms would have a mini fridge we bought some Peroni beer for later.

The hotel Kaos is in a really nice setting with a large outdoor pool and extensive gardens with lots of olive and orange trees. We explored the grounds this afternoon and then sat on the loungers around the pool in the late afternoon. Some people were swimming but not us.

We had dinner and tried a few new things. It was four courses: salads, pasta, main course and dessert. Jean and I tried the tagliatelle with sardines and fennel followed by the sea bream. We listened to the lounge singer until we could stand it no more and called it a night.

Saturday 7th May

We went into Sheffield today to return the rental car. Good job we had the SatNav to find our way as all the roads are different from when we lived there. Sorted that out and then we headed to the city centre for a look around. Ian hasn’t been back as often as me so he was interested in looking around and taking a few photos. Lots of changes over the last forty years! We went in the Winter Gardens, a nice glassed in area with lots of big plants, it was nice with the sun streaming in. Stopped for a coffee. We also walked around the Town Hall, Peace Gardens and Cathedral areas. There were several brass bands performing together, they were doing some Pop Beethoven and getting the crowd moving. Went in Marks and Spencer for a bit of shopping and had a spot of lunch. We then got the bus back to mums, which was an experience for Ian - he hasn’t caught the bus for a long time. Have managed to do the ironing and our packing ready for going to Sicily early tomorrow morning. We are now relaxing over a beer before our roast lamb dinner . . .  yummy!!!

Friday 6th May

It has been overcast all day - we should have stayed in the Dales!!!

Up early this morning to do a few chores. First stop was Ecclesfield cemetery to do some tidying up/repair of my grandparents grave. Exciting stuff while on vacation, Ian is thrilled  : -)
Almost a couple of hours, and we did get it done. Looks a lot better now, and hopefully no weeds for a while. We then treated ourselves at the coffee morning at the church and I had a toasted teacake and Ian had a Cress Scone (sounds weird but he said it was good).

We went out with Mum this afternoon to a garden centre at Shelley. Pity it was still overcast as it is high up and you can see for miles. Mum shopped for some plants and then we sat in the cafe looking out at the scenery.

We have to return the rental car in the morning, so have just emptied it of all our bits and bobs. One more day before the Sicily portion of our holiday so we have to pack too.

Thursday 5th May

Another lovely sunny morning - we won’t need to go to Sicily (for the weather) if this continues!!!

We drove back to Sheffield from Ripon this morning and went to Martin and Jeans to have lunch with them and finalize our plans for travelling to Sicily on Sunday. The four of us went to The Millhouse for a pub lunch and back to their’s for a chat, at which point Martin let us know the taxi will be picking us up at 2:35 a.m., to get to Manchester for our 6 a.m. flight. Not sure if it is worth going to bed or not.

Ian’s camera had a rest today - no photos.

Wednesday 4th May

We awoke to another lovely sunny morning. Once again, we had a leisurely breakfast and lingered over coffee until we’d decided where to spend the day. Today’s choice was York, an old walled city. We set off and parked at the park and ride, which made it very easy. We set off walking the top of the walls surrounding the city. We passed lots of interesting buildings and looked down onto hidden gardens, roman ruins and newer houses. We took a break and had a pub lunch, then walked back along the river and sat a while in the Museum Gardens. Lots of people were sat on benches or the grass enjoying the sunshine. Late afternoon we all headed back and had a break before going out to dinner at The Royal Oak (pub) for our last night in Ripon.

Tuesday 3rd May

It was a lovely sunny morning so we decided to drive up to Hawes in the Yorkshire Dales. We passed lots of baby lambs in the fields with their mums. Once we arrived we must have been under a black cloud because we had a quick hailstone shower. Didn’t stop us, we had lunch and then a visit to the Wensleydale creamery and sampled some of their cheeses. We also visited Fountains Abbey and had a walk in the grounds before heading back to Linda’s.

Monday 2nd May

We set off for Whitby this morning, an old fishing town on the coast. It was a little dull and we had a few small showers during the morning but didn’t get wet. On arrival we walked down the hill to the harbour, then through town, over the harbour bridge and up 199 steps which took us to a church and the old abbey grounds, way above the harbour on the other side. We then walked down to the town again and it started to rain so we went in for lunch. Once we’d filled our stomachs and had a nice coffee we set off back to the car. On the way back to Ripon the sun came out and it was gorgeous, I remembered why they call this Gods Country. Dave drove along narrow one lane roads with hedges, had to slam on the brakes a few times as cars came in the opposite direction and someone had to back up and let the other car past. We stopped for a walk and ice cream at Rosedale Abbey, then we stopped again at Rosedale Chimney where there was the ruins of an old iron ore smelting place that closed in 1920. We were very high up and could see for miles, we also got a little wind swept.

Sunday 1st May

We had a leisurely breakfast this morning and spent quite a while chatting, and waiting for it to stop raining. Finally we decided to go out anyway and headed for Skipton, an old market town on a canal. First stop was a pub for lunch. After that we went in a few of the shops as both Ian and Linda decided they wanted to buy a fleece zip up sweater. Four shops later Ian found one he liked and ended up wearing it as it was a bit chilly. There were some Morris dancers performing so Ian was happy taking photos. The rain had stopped and we walked along the canal. There were lots of canal boats moored as it was a celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Liverpool to Leeds canal. We then made our way back to Ripon and warmed up with a cuppa before we had our meal and another chit chat.

Saturday 30th April

We ended our visit to Suffolk today and headed north to the Yorkshire Dales. It was another sunny morning.

We'd decided to make a detour along the way and visit Crowle and Eastoft, in Lincolnshire. I was curious about these places as my Great Great Grandfather was from this area. We’d guessed we would be there by about 1 pm but due to an accident and traffic jam it was more like 2 pm when we arrived. We checked out the Crowle church and then the cemertery, by which time it had started to rain. We then moved on to the Eastoft church, which is in a small village. It is very flat here, and all agricultural. I can see why people would move away for work. We only found a few Scholey graves but they weren’t likely to be our ancestors family. We continued on to Ripon and got there just after 4:30 for our stay with Ian’s sister Linda and her husband Dave.