The last post

We are now in Jedburgh with Betty, and it is time to bring the blog to a close.  Arrivederci!

Through France

France was lookin' good as we progressed up from Mont Blanc to Zeebrugge.  All the trees in bloom or in leaf, with wonderful shades of green all around. As the landscape changed, the farming changed - from the peaceful dairy cattle in the alps to giant fields of oilseed rape and wheat in the flatlands of the Champagne region -  we are always surprised how little space is given over to Champagne's most famous product.

After a night in a small hotel in Sezanne, we proceeded to Zeebrugge for the ferry on Tuesday evening.  Temperatures dropping spectacularly - 25 degrees as we left Italy, then 15 in north France, then a bit less than that in Hull ...

Coming up the Humber estuary, we caught sight of the Grimsby docks water tower - built in 1852, but basically a copy of the Torre del Mangia on the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena, built in 1340.  We saw it in Siena just a few weeks ago.  A strange reminder in Yorkshire of renaissance Tuscany ...

Last of the sun on the mountain opposite

And a full moon shines over Mont Blanc now almost released from cloud 

Morning view of the village from the balcony

Barbara outside La Croix d'Or in Sezanne

From the car - wheat and rape in champagne country

Heavy-duty manoeuvres at P&O Zeebrugge

The cranes of Zeebrugge recede as the sun prepares to set

Grimsby Dock tower - I was just too slow with the camera, so this is not my photo

On the road again - in chalet country

We were only back from Sicily for two night to ready ourselves for our homeward trip.  Cleaning and tidying and packing took up all our time.  We had farewell visits from some friends and neighbours, and of course went to say goodbye to Luciana and Mariano and Sofia at the farm.

Today (Sunday) we left in some haste - not even time to take a last photograph of our familiar view of Barga and its Duomo.  We drove up the beautiful upper Garfagnana valley to Aulla, then took the autostrada all the way to the Mont Blanc tunnel and beyond to the alpine hamlet of Cordon, where, after the long drive, we have had a wonderful peaceful evening and a very fine meal.  We go to sleep looking over to Mont Blanc bathed in the light of a full moon.

Paddy fields near Alexandria - where the arborio rice is grown

Through the windscreen, no time to stop - Mont Blanc rears its head in the distance

And a more relaxed first view of Mont Blanc from our hotel balcony

Panorama from our room - Mont Blanc now on extreme right

An alpine feel to our room ... 

... and an alpine beer to follow - main ingredient - "Eau de Mont Blanc"!

Palermo 2

More photos from Palermo.

Cool dame in late night shop window

The opera house where we heard the rehearsals

Street view showing how near the countryside is

Spoilt for choice of antipasto in a pavement restaurant that evening

A similar variety of veg on offer at Ballaro market next morning

Waiting for the airport bus opposite the Teatro Politeama 

Palermo 1

Getting a bit behind!  We are now in France, just passed through the Mont Blanc Tunnel in fact.  But I had started the Sicily blog, so I will finish it!  In no particular order (no time to sort!)

The connoisseur judges Palermo's best gelato ...

We were so lucky to join have a tour of Palermo opera house when rehearsals were in progress - the music was fantastic - including Strauss's Also Sprach Zararathustra

A painted ceiling in the opera house

Renaissance fountain in Palermo - Barbara is the one with clothes

Santa Ana church - one of many (500?) baroque churches in Palermo

But there are also Norman/Moorish buildings from the 1200s

Beautiful byzantine mosaic tree in the Norman cathedral of Monreale

Cherubs galore in the Jesuit church

Island-hopping, part 2 - Favignana

Favignana is a larger island than Levanzo, and has a sizeable town and a few metalled roads - we visited last year and hired bikes and decided to repeat the experience on Wednesday.   Again, the flowers were a major feature, with huge swathes of colour on every hand.  The weather is getting more settled, and despite the huge speed of our cycling, the wind was warm and pleasant.

A cow luxuriates in a wild flower meadow

Almonds fattening up in the sun

What can I say - a riot of poppies?

A more sedate host of wild gladiolus

Like the lizards, the gulls were tame - this one was reluctant to leave its two eggs.  The gulls are like our herring gulls but with yellow feet

Back in Trapani - the local authority have forgotten to plant up this tub, so nature has done the job for them

Older citizens yarn and watch the sea and the strollers

Later on, we enjoyed our aperitivo - and, no, these are not cheese footballs, but delicious hot mashed tattie balls - yum!

Back home through the city wall

Island-hopping - Levanzo

From Trapani, the mountainous island group called the Isole Egadi dominate the near horizon.  They played an important part in Sicily's tuna fisheries, during the post war years.

As we know at home, ferries can quickly transport you from the bustle of town or city to the tranquillity of the countryside, and so, on  Sunday we took a hydrofoil to the island of Levanzo and walked over the island by its only road - to the other side.  It was blowy in an island sort of way, but very warm.  Similarly, in an island sort of way, there were relatively few trees, but the wild parts were covered in flowers in profusion making a natural garden.

Lizards abounded and were very tame, this one was just six inches from my foot

The main road snakes through the vegetation

Looking back down the road towards the village and the sea 

Plants of giant fennel rise in the foreground, whilst Marettimo,  the farthest flung island, lurks in the distance

Wild gladiolus compete for space in the throng

A well-weeded plot showing broad beans already in flower

Time for home - our hydrofoil approaches, as the ro-ro ferry approaches in the distance

Back to Sicily

Last year we were rather desperate for some spring sunshine, which led us to Sicily. This year we don't have that excuse, but have come anyway - flying Pisa to Trapani, same as last time. The weather has been a bit blowy, with some rain, but improving in both areas ...

Trapani viewed from the north side

Barbara sits in the sun in our tiny flat

Roman theatre at Segesta, in its stunning setting. we didn't visit it last year.

Column inches ... the Greek temple, which we did see last time

The flowers were again fantastic, although a bit buffeted by wind and rain (yes rain!)