Day 16 - Palermo 5/27/17

Final pictures and a few videos of street music and coffee roasting are HERE.

5:30pm: back at the b&b for a rest after a day that was probably longer than it should've been. Woke up around 6 then went back to sleep and suddenly it was 8??!! Rushed to shower and get ready and talked to the b&b owner about the taxi I need at 4am tomorrow. She booked it for me so that's good, I guess. I also asked her what the activities at 5:30am yesterday morning were. Apparently it was something related to organic food? Well ok then.

Sicily Day 15 - Cefalu', Castelbuono, Palermo 5/26/17

Pictures HERE.

10:30pm: at the b&b after a long and full day and the day is ending like it started at 5:30am, loudly. And because I am tired I expect there will be lots of typos in this post and I am sorry in advance. Anyway, I was awoken then by cheering on the street. Since I have a view I looked outside and there were people running on the streets. I have no idea what for, it was not their marathon. I later saw people walking with the shirts that said "15.30 Palermo" and I still do not know what that means. And right now there is literally drumming going on outside. It is a special night event for school kids, but more on that later.

Anyway, I had planned to take a train to Cefalu around 8:30 but since I was up I figured I might as well catch the one that left around 7:15. I took a city bus to the train station and got a croissant and marocchino - that is the first time I have had one of those this trip - it is espresso with a little milk and cocoa powder. The train was a much nicer one than the early ones I had taken at the begining of the trip, and it arrived right on time just after 8am. It went right along the water the whole way and was quite pretty. Once in Cefalu I made the short walk to the water and walked around the city, which was just waking up. It is very pretty with walls and lookouts along the water, beaches, crystal clear water, medieval looking streets, and plenty of restaurants and shops for the tourists. 

Made it to the main square and into the Duomo, one of the most important Arab-Norman churches in the area built in the 1100s. Unfortunately, the main mosaic that is so important is covered and undergoing restoration. I wandered around the town a bit and then went to the cloisters, which have old colums presumably taken from elsewhere. Actually, so did the interior of the church. There is also a castle above town but is apparently so steep that it takes half an hour of stairs to get up there. I trully cannot fathom. 

Caught the 11am bus to Castelbuono, the capital of the Madonie mountains, which I believe is a national park. This is an adorable little medieval town with one main drag and a lot of offshoots. Luckily this castle is easy to reach and houses the city's museum. Checked that out and wandered the town a bit. 

Then what I really came here for - lunch at Nangalarruni. I had made a reservation but did not really need one. They are known for using local products, especially mushrooms. I wanted to try everything on the menu but I decided to go for the "small" tasting menu. It was four courses - roast beef and smoked pork loin slices, spring veggies and mushrooms with ricotta under a gratin of smoked cheese, homemade pasta with spring veggies and mushrooms in I think a ricotta sauce, and a local dessert that was like a milk gel flavored with cinnamon. And delicious local wine and water and the whole thing came to only 29 euros. RIDICULOUS. What a dining experience. 

The other good thing was that the food came out really fast so I was able to make the 2:30pm bus rather than wait until 4:40pm. The bus also had some beautiful views of the towns it passed and the water. It arrived back in Palermo just after 4pm. I was not hungry but a famed gelateria is right near the station so I got a combo of pistachio/dark chocolate and almond. It was cheap, only 1.40. Then I walked over to the botanical garden, which is neat but kind of a huge unkempt mess and I hate to say it but there are a lot of dead plants there. 

Caught the bus back and took a bit of a rest at the b&b. Set out a little before 7 and heard some music coming from a main square. I believe I said it early on in the trip but when you hear something in Italy you follow it. There was a whole setup with a stage and other activities. It appears it is some special event for students called "notte bianca" - I encountered one of those the first time I went to Rome, they are special evenings in Italy when people are in the streets and things stay open later. Hence the drmming I am hearing outside. And the streets are packed with families.

Went for an early dinner at Bistrot Bisso, which is in an old bookshop. Everyone said to get there by 7:30. I did and had no trouble getting a spot but by 8, forget it! I had cous-cous, traditionally served with seafood in Sicily, with veggies, and then a veggie "stack" - potatoes and tomatoes and mushrooms just kind of stacked up. That and water and wine all totaled 12.50. Cheap! 

Wandered back to the opera house where another stage was set up and kids were performing. Took some pictures and went back to Lucchese where I got a small dark chocolate/cinnamon gelato. 

Today's absurd totals: 30,192 steps and 12.01 miles. And I still cannot believe I have signed up to do a walking tour tomorrow morning. I also cannot even believe tomorrow is my last day!! 

Sicily Day 14 - Palermo & Monreale 5/25/17

Pictures HERE.

5:45pm: at the b&b for a little snack and rest before dinner. I feel like I didn't accomplish much today although that probably is not really true. I took it easy in the morning and had breakfast. Then I went over to the Ballaro market, the last of the three markets I had not yet been to. It is like the Capo but I think contains more junk in addition to all the food and goes on for longer. These markets seriously just ramble on and on through little alleys and streets.

Made my way back near the opera house and went into the Archaeological museum. Only the ground floor was open due to renovations and it was free, but it was still impressive. And finally a museum where there were other people inside!! They had some really intact statues and other artifacts, including a lot from Selinunte, one of the major sites I was not able to fit in unfortunately. There were a bunch of students there asking if you wanted additional explanation. 

Then I went to nearby Focacceria Massimo for lunch. It was already starting to get full with local worker types just after noon. It was surprisingly non-touristy considering you can see the opera house from their streetside tables. I had another pane e panelle and this time also added potato croquettes. Carbs on carbs on carbs. Yes please. The filling sandwich and bottle of water totaled only 2.30. 

Then meandered back towards the cathedral area as I had reserved a spot on the 2pm bus to Monreale. I decided to go the tourist bus route again rather than try to navigate and deal with the city buses. Also the stop was closer. I had a lemon and strawberry granita on the way. I am going to miss these refreshing fruit slushes on warm days!

Caught the bus, which took 20 minutes to get out of central Palermo alone - their traffic makes LA look not that bad! Got there and they give an hour and 20 minutes to see this important church complex. Again, it is all gold mosaics from the 1100s and various times after that and is truly stunning. There was some idiotic tour guide using a green laser pointer to explain the mosaics to her group. I mean, REALLY? Speaking of tour groups and how much I hate them, earlier in the day a German man paying too much attention to his whisper rather than where he was walking on the street literally walked into a school-aged girl. Come on. 

Anyway, after wandering around the church several times I took a quick peek at the surrounding town, which did not seem too special, and the bus left at 4pm and then I just walked back to the b&b for a break before dinner. After what I saw last night I made an 8pm reservation somewhere - at least I think I did!

10:15pm: back at the b&b after a delicious pizza dinner at PerciaSacchi, where I did in fact succeed in making a reservation. It is an upscale slow food type place that uses special flours for its pizza dough and things like that. I had a "Trapani" style pizza, which was like the pesto from the traditional pasta dish deconstructed so it was pesto, tomatoes, a cheese called tuma, and toasted breadcrumbs. Yes they put breadcrumbs on a pizza that has a bread crust. I also had chocolate cake for dessert and I just realized I did not have gelato today! That is OK, the three from yesterday make up for it? I think my pants are tighter despite all the walking....

Tomorrow I have an ambitious day planned and restaurant reservations for lunch at one of the most famous restaurants on Sicily. We shall see what happens!

Today: 26,404 steps and 10.5 miles and I am starting to really second-guess signing up for a walking tour on my last day Saturday.....

Sicily Day 13 - Palermo pictures

All the pictures and a couple videos odd the Palatine chapel HERE! Also I done know how last night's blog text got black, but it should be fixed now.

Sicily Day 12 - Segesta, Erice, & Trapani 5/23/17

Loads of pictures and a video from the cable car ride HERE.

8:15pm: sitting at the lovely osteria la bettolacia, which comes highly recommended basically everywhere. After a long day. And it's a good thing I reserved because they're sending everyone away.

Took it easy this morning and had no breakfast mishaps. The owner said he'd do breakfast early for me tomorrow so I can catch my bus, which luckily leaves from only a couple blocks away rather than from the main terminal. Anyway after Belfast, I wandered a bit and figured out the bus situation to the ruins of Segesta. The bus left at 10:20 and took about 40 min. Most of these people on the bus were from a school in Iowa making a trip in southern Italy for a class. 

Sicily Day 11 - Trapani, Egadi Islands, and Marsala 5/22/17

Tons of pics HERE.

2:30pm: sitting waiting for the 2:50 boat from Favignana to Marsala after a quick yet relaxing morning. Instead of rushing for the 8:20am boat from Trapani, I took it easier this morning. But when I went to have breakfast shortly after 8:30, the two tables were both occupied and the guy was like, wait a few minutes. Ok.... So I waited till almost 9 and then basically snuck out and got a coffee and croissant around the corner because I wasn't going to miss my 9:40 boat waiting for other people to finish their breakfast. And it's a good thing because they boarded the boat early. I planned out my day and got all the boat tickets at once, so that made it easy. All three together were about 24€.

Sicily Day 10 - Agrigento, Scala Dei Turchi, and Trapani 5/21/17

Lots of pictures and a couple of videos HERE.

1:45pm: at the bus terminal ridiculously early. Not sure why so early but of all the connections I'm making this trip, this one makes me nervous because there's one bus on Sunday and the ticket booth is closed. However, getting here over an hour early won't really help. Except that I checked out of the b&b and don't really have anything else to do.

Sicily Day 9 - (lots of) Agrigento pics!

Flicks and the WiFi cooperated overnight so you can find over 150 pics from yesterday here! It's mostly of the temples so if old pretty things aren't your speed, these may not be the pics for you. Everyone else, enjoy!

Sicily Day 9 - Agrigento 5/20/17

10:00pm: at my b&b in Agrigento after a day so long I can't remember how it started! Oh right I woke up early and grabbed a taxi around 7 to the bus terminal in Catania. Luckily the driver knew I needed to be down the street from the train station. I was early so I got a cappuccino and nutella croissant at a nearby bar and then found my bus. It was a fancy double-decker thing so I went up top to see the scenery better. It took a little over 3 hours total. There was lots of random road work and several times the bus got stuck behind a slow farm vehicle. The scenery was beautiful especially right outside Catania where Mt. Etna loomed large over the countryside.

Sicily Day 8 - Catania 5/19/17

Pictures HERE 

4:15pm: back at the b&b for a little rest since I had a full morning and afternoon. After breakfast I went over to the Bellini opera house. It is beautiful but kind of strangely built into its surroundings. Unfortunately it looks like it is not open for public tours or visits, despite conflicting information out there. Then I went over to another Benedictine church that was closed yesterday. They gave you a little tablet with headphones for a free walking tour. Pretty neat but I do not have the patience to listen to five minutes about each part of the fresco, sorry. If I had listened to the whole thing I might have been in that fairly small church for almost an hour! Also went over to the Castle, which now houses the city's museum. 

Walked back through the fish market again a little, because it is just so cool, and got a couple of cookies at a pastry shop by the Duomo. It is funny, I would never eat a meal from a place on a main square but that seems to be the best place sometimes for a gelato or pastry. Anyway, one was an almond paste cookie covered in pistachios and the other was a chocolate shortbread filled with pistachio cream. There are either almonds or pistachios in everything here, I feel really badly for someone allergic to tree nuts in Sicily!

Then I started walking up the main shopping street, Via Etna - called that because at the end you can see the Volcano. I meandered and found another market, La Fiera, this one is just as chaotic as the fish market and is half produce, half crap like clothes. What great fun! I had read about this trendy sandwich/burger place called FUD and it was near up where I was, so I went there for lunch. They have funny Italian-english transliterations of everything, like "Stil Ouater" for the water bottles and "cis" for cheese. I had a "classic" - prosciutto, mozzarella, tomato, olive oil, and oregano on a homemade roll. Classic indeed except everything was sicilian. With a glass of rose sparkling wine. Great place and not horribly expensive given its trendiness! They have a tapas restaurant too but I am not going to trek back up there later to go to it.

After lunch I made it up to the Bellini garden, which is a big public park, and then past that a little there is the university's botanical garden, which has a large section dedicated to preserving Sicilian plants. The entrance is free and I was talking to the guy at the info desk and he seemed impressed by my Italian. One thing I have noticed in Sicily more than other parts of Italy is that they respect more here if you try to speak Italian. In Venice or Rome or Milan one you mis-pronounce the Italian they just respodn in English and here they usually do not. I love that! 

Anyway, meandered back down the mile or so on Via Etna and stopped for another cup at Cioccolato & Gelato, this time coffee plus their pistachio ottoveli. Still not sure what ottoveli is but I googled it and the only real matches are this shop so maybe they made it up? Then I came back to the b&b to rest up before going back out later. Which is good because by 4pm I had already walked well over 20,000 steps. Yikes!

9:45pm: back at the b&b after dinner. Set out around 6pm and wandered the area around the opera house a bit. Found a cool glass shop where the owner makes everything and bought a necklace and bowl. There was also a cool little square that had been decorated with art. In fact there are a lot of bars and weed places and hipster things in general in Catania it seems. 

Had dinner at De Fiore, run by an old lady who cooks everything whom you can hear yelling in the kitchen from the dining area. I had read the service was slow but there was only one poor waiter for everyone and you could tell it was going to be a long night for him. Anyway, I had a quarter liter of wine and the famous pasta alla norma, which was apparently invented in Catania. It is pasta with tomato sauce and fried eggplant. I do not even normally like eggplant, but in Italy it doesn't bother me at all, I wonder why! I also tried to order her famous zeppole for dessert but they were apparently out of pretty much everything. So I paid my little 9 euros and went back to the square of the opera house and got a gelato. They had setteveli, not ottoveli. And setteveli is apparently a well-known multilayer dessert and the other place must add one more thing to make theirs 8 instead of 7! Anyway, I had that with an extra dark chocolate and ate it overlooking the beautiful opera house. 

And then it was a quick walk back to the b&b to pack up since I have to get out early tomorrow to make another 8am bus, this time to Agrigento for a night to see the Greek temples!

Side comment - all the sights I paid to go into today were literally basically empty. It really baffles me why no one is going into these museums? 

Walked a ton today and my feet are starting to feel it. 29,324 steps; 11.66 miles. 

Sicily Day 7 - Catania 5/18/17

Lots of pictures and a couple videos of the market insanity HERE.

3:15pm: sitting enjoying a Lemon Soda waiting for my 4pm of a monastery in Catania. Woke up crazy early and packed up. The sweet lady at my b&b in Ragusa has prepared breakfast for me early and called the driver who had originally picked me up. Then on my way out she gave me a hug and the double cheek kiss. Where else in the world would someone do you a favor then hug and kiss you and thank you?! Italy, that is where. As an aside I think I forgot to mention seeing a LOT of properties for sale in Ragusa.... just saying.... 

Sicily Day 5 pictures

All pictures from yesterday are here!

Day 17 Lisbon 5/28/16 pictures - last day

All pictures from final day in Lisbon (mostly of the tile museum and aquarium) HERE

Portugal Day 17 - Lisbon 5/28/16 and all Day 15 & 16 pictures and videos!

OK, all pictures and a couple videos from day 15 are HERE and from day 16 are HERE. Pics from today to come as soon as possible but not likely until I'm home.

9:30pm - at my guesthouse after another long day. It was pouring rain in Evora so instead of walking to the square I was lazy and had my hotel call a taxi. The station is quite small but I was able to get breakfast. There I saw a girl Maddie from Australia who was on my walking tour. we ended up having seats in the same carriage and were both going to Lisbon! We ended up chatting the hour and a half bus ride. She is quite a traveler and backpacks for many weeks at a time. lucky! She was staying at a hostel not far from me so we took the subway from Sete Rios station together and then decided to meet up for lunch at the Time Out market.

Portugal Day 16 - Evora 5/27/16 and Day 14 pictures!

Day 14 pictures mostly from Nazare HERE. Naturally the initially-fast internet here has slowed down, and therefore so have my efforts to catch up.

7:15pm - back at the hotel for a quick rest before dinner. Had a delicious pastry for breakfast at the Arcada Cafe and then went to the market, which was still mostly closed. Followed that with the cathedral, which also has a cloister (if I don't see a cloister for a while, I think I'll be ok with that), view terrace on the roof, and a museum. Then met up with the walking tour led by local guide Sophia. There were only six people on the tour so that was nice! She explained all of the important history of the city, from the 1st to 19th Centuries. She called the main square the Facebook for old people in town and I love it.

Portugal Day 15 - Evora, Plus day 12 & 13 Pictures!

First things first, all Day 12 pictures are HERE. AND all day 13 pictures are HERE! Good wifi where I'm staying now, optimistic I'll catch up soon!

7:45: sitting in Momentos for an early dinner. No one else is here whoops, but I didn't really eat  lunch and I was hungry. I think it'll be good I ate real cheap the last few days because this isn't a cheap town. Anyway....and here comes some food so I will finish this later!

Portugal Day 14 - Nazare, Caldas da Rainha, Leiria AND Day 11 CoimbraPictures!

First - pictures from day 11 in Coimbra are HERE. I still feel like Flickr is messing up and some pictures seem duplicated and a few may be missing but I can't be bothered to figure it out right now. Still trying to catch up... slowly, slowly. If only the Internet would cooperate.

Portugal Day 10 - Porto including pictures!

Pictures from today HERE

2:50pm - taking a brief rest before my pastry walking tour. Set out a little before 9, grabbed a quick breakfast, and went to the Palacio da Bolsa, the old stock exchange. Got a ticket for 12:30 as that was the first English tour available. with my newfound free morning, I walked across the lower bridge to Gaia, where all the port houses are. it's technically a separate city. wandered a bit and decided I had nothing better to do than take a Douro river boat cruise. It lasted about 45 minutes and was nice if chilly. After the boat, I tried to go into one of the port houses - they offer tours - but they had nothing until the afternoon and I didn't feel like trying another one so I meandered back and wandered a bit. For a quick lunch before my palace tour, I had a quick two euro chicken filet sandwich.

The Bolsa palace is quite incredible, especially the Arabian room, which was decorated in that style because it was popular in the late 1800s. Then came back here to rest a little before the pastry tour!

9:00pm - back for an early night, which is good because I move on tomorrow and have packing and whatnot to do tonight, plus it started raining. Met up with the pastry tour at 3:30. It was actually two lovely guides, a pastry chef named Rafaella (i think and hope), who's Brasilian and lived in Florida and Madrid, and Ana who's from Porto. We went to five different bakeries all over town and tried ten different things overall. There were only four people on the tour, so that was nice! Tried everything from the nata from Lisbon to the queijada from Sintra to a meat pastry that was basically the Portuguese version of a kreplach, a Portuguese eclair, almond pastry, and everything in between. So delicious! Learned that they use so much egg yolks in the pastries here because the nuns would use egg whites to iron clothes with, so they had all these egg yolks left and thankfully for us made pastries with them! And unbelievablly this tour was only 15 euros! Amazingly, the last stop was a place I randomly choose for breakfast the other day. Apparently it's one of the best bakeries in town!

Came back to the apartment for a quick second and wandered a bit to the shopping area by the market. Peeked in majestic cafe, which was apparently visited by jk Rowling when she lived here. She apparently married a man from Porto for less than two years. While here, it seems she drew much inspiration for Harry potter, like the stairs in the Lello bookstore and the black costumes/capes students wear. I guess this would mean more to me if I ever read Harry potter. It was starting to train lightly, so I decided to go to the little wine bar at the end of the street for a very light snack, since dinner was obviously unnecessary. Had a glass of vinho verde and five little pie snacks - chicken, cheese, veggie, ham, sausage, for 6 euros. Interestingly, all these meat things here are served room temperature. I feel like that'd never happen in the US?

Now it's back to the adjustment to take a hair dryer to my clothes, which are still damp because it's been so chilly and humid here. Tomorrow it's off to Coimbra for a night! 

Today's totals: 26,199 steps, 10.42 miles, 74 floors.... So much for a lighter walking day!!

All of day 9 pictures!

Was able to catch up a bit because there was good internet on the boat I was on today (yeah not words I ever thought I'd write!), so all of yesterday's pictures are HERE

Portugal Day 9 - Guimaraes, Braga, Porto 5/20/16 and all day 8 pictures!

All of yesterday's pictures HERE. WARNING: lots of sunset pictures!!!

8:00pm - sitting in Brasao restaurant, literally right below the apartment, after a long fun day. Early morning calm before the storm in the city was eerie. Got breakfast at a cafe next to the station. They warmed my chocolate croissant! 

Caught the 8:20am train to Guimaraes, one of the oldest cities in Portugal and where the first king was born. It has a UNESCO protected medieval historical center, a palace, a castle, and a thousand churches. When I arrived I went to the info center and not only did he print me a timetable for the bus to Braga I'd need later but he showed me exactly where the station is and ask the important things to see in town! That's how you be tourist-friendly. I went to the two main museums, the archaeological museum, which was a little disappointing with only about ten cases of fragments of old stuff, and a museum of religious art, which was small. The palace was more medieval than the opulent palaces in Sintra. I didn't feel like hiking around the castle.

Wandered back through the old town and found the bus station, which was underneath a shopping mall that had a food court. Grabbed a chorizo roll from a bakery rather than McDonald's or pizza hut (not euphemisms, actual McDonald's and Pizza Hut....) and caught my 1:35 bus to Braga. It took a little less then an hour. 

For some reason I kept getting disoriented in Braga. It's technically the third biggest city in Portugal and it felt rather small but the streets wound around all over. It also has a protected historical center and a fantastic cathedral that's older than Portugal. To tour the choir and chapels you go with a guide. It only costs one euro more than just going into the church but I basically had a private guide for a little while. 

Kept wandering and got a delicious gelato at Spirito of mocha, dark chocolate, and sesame (which was delicious but I'm still not sure what it exactly was). I pondered taking a bus a few miles to thud important church but ultimately decided I didn't feel like the effort. That's where being on the tour would've been nice. Instead I wandered through a supermarket and got some strawberries. I was eating them and using the town's free Wi-Fi when I heard music. A couple student groups were performing on the street and they were SO GOOD! watched them for a while and wandered a but before making it to the train station and barely jumping on the 6:21 train back to Porto. What's normally a five minute walk took about 40 because of the rally car thing. People are hanging out of windows and standing on phone booths! To see cars weaving around obstacles on old city streets. OK! 

After making it back to the apartment I decided there was no way I was going far for dinner, so I literally went downstairs. Enjoying bread with Iberian ham in the butter and mushrooms and asparagus sauteed in the ham fat. Oh my! And I got here just in time because people are now being turned away! And then I got a "half" pica-pau, which is beef and it looks like a couple types of sausage in a tomato type sauce with melty cheese and maybe some other stuff too.  It was served with homemade potato chips and toast points and I have no idea what the correct way is to eat it so I ate it with a fork. I could barely eat half of it and i'd hate to see what a full size order looks like.

Sitting here for over an hour and watching them turn what has to be a hundred people away. And that's the difference between restaurants in the US and in Europe.

11:00pm - now time to go to bed after coming back and doing some laundry. The car race seems to be over but there are still tv trucks I can hear downstairs.

Today's totals: 30,570 steps, 12.6 miles, and 37 floors, yikes! Need to make tomorrow a lighter walking day!