Heritage network for Roseto Valfortore-Italy and it's sister city Roseto-PA
Rome to Sicily - Meeting Sandy & Joe
It’s May of 2001 and once again Craig and I, along with our friends Al and Louise are heading for Italy. This time we will be touring Rome down to Sicily and back. We are by this time becoming old hats at Rome, as it will be my third visit and their second, so we feel no ambivalence at all while we make our way around the familiar sights. As has become a tradition for us, our first stop is Piazza Navona . We are in no hurry with just the welcome dinner awaiting us in a couple of hours time, so we simply relax at a café, with a glass of wine, and watch the activity all around us.
The next day Craig has only one request. He wants to find the Roman Aquaduct that he came across three years ago in the Roman ruins, and have a drink from it. So here we are in the ancient city looking for a water fountain. Well of course this aquaduct is twenty five hundred years old - so it is no ordinary fountain. After wandering around for a bit, find it we did, and happily Craig had a drink from it. After all when we were in Scotland he had to sit on Hadrians Wall - where most likely a Roman had sat, he thinks. So its only fitting that he should drink from a water fountain that a Roman drank from ages ago.
After a day and a half in Rome we are excited to be heading out, and south, with our destination being Sicily. I can’t do justice in this blog piece with regards to the Southern part of Italy, because after all this story is intended ultimately to be about a “Villa in Tuscany”. Plus the whole Southern trip definitely deserves a telling of its own. My intention is to cover this trip at a later date, in its own blog. But I can say that once again we were thrilled with the wonderful sights we took in over the next several days. From Rome, down to Naples where we boarded a boat taking us to beautiful Capri, and back again to Sorrento; to the Gardens and Palace at Caserta and then finishing off this area with a visit to Pompei - nothing disappointed. This night will be spent on the ferry, Vincenzo Florio,* taking us down to Palermo. I’m a little apprehensive as my aunt had told me their experience was not very good on this trip. They’d apparently had a very turbulent voyage affected by the Scirocco winds that come up from the Sahara into the Southern parts of Europe. But luck was with us on our journey. The overnight trip was as smooth as a kitty and we all slept soundly in our small, but surprisingly nicely appointed cabins.
The next morning we arise, have breakfast and head to the deck just in time to watch our docking in Palermo. It is in this city that we finally make our acquaintance with Sandy and Joe from Oregon. Of course they have been with us all along on this journey; we may have even passed a word or two in the previous four or five days, but with so many people on tour it isn’t until Palermo that we find ourselves sitting at the same dinner table with them. And something just clicked. We had more laughs and drank more wine that night and by the time we were done we had invited them to join the four of us for dinner the next night. As we did on the last trip we had decided that we would not do “extras” - when dinners were not included as part of our trip, but instead would find a restaurant on our own and experience the local citizenry. I had checked a few out on the internet before leaving and had my eye on one that advertised a fellow who had spent some time in New Orleans and was now back in Sicily to run a restaurant again. That night’s dinner was again a success in that we six had a very good time, except we were just a bit surprised that they did not have a pasta on the menu with red sauce - none! But the vino was flowing and needless to say we were all happy to be there.
The next couple of days were a whirlwind of activity in which we took in Palermo, the Greek ruins at Syracuse, Agrigento, the volcano at Mount Etna and on to Taormina - a breathtaking jewell on the Ionian Sea. After two gorgeous days here we crossed the Straits of Messina and headed back north stopping at Alberobello in Apuglia to tour the Trulli houses before ending our tour once again in Rome. Two more nights and we would be flying out once again and heading back to Canada. Sandy and Joe on the other hand were heading off to another two week tour elsewhere. In the meantime having spent several more nights together at dinner, we’d had many discussions about Italy in general, and in particular we all expressed a desire to one day rent a villa in Tuscany. And there a dream was born.
On our return to Canada, and Sandy & Joe’s subsequent return to the States, we three ladies immediately made the effort to keep in touch with both letters and emails. Through this, two years later in 2003 a trip was planned to Spain and Portugal where Sandy and Joe joined us on the same tour. Once again the six of us hit it off and had a wonderful time, still talking and dreaming about Tuscany through it all. Much had happened on and since this trip! I had fallen in Spain and broken my foot ending up with a cast and crutches for the remaining six days, but more importantly than that and not too long after the trip, Sandy had started to face some serious health issues. Letters flew back and forth for that year and the following year. And on the heels of that our friend Al was faced with a health issue of his own. Would the dream of Tuscany be possible for all of us, or was it going to be just that - “a dream”?
* While checking on Google with regards to the Vincenzo Florio ferry, I see that they recently had a fire on board.
Next: A Villa in Tuscany
The next day Craig has only one request. He wants to find the Roman Aquaduct that he came across three years ago in the Roman ruins, and have a drink from it. So here we are in the ancient city looking for a water fountain. Well of course this aquaduct is twenty five hundred years old - so it is no ordinary fountain. After wandering around for a bit, find it we did, and happily Craig had a drink from it. After all when we were in Scotland he had to sit on Hadrians Wall - where most likely a Roman had sat, he thinks. So its only fitting that he should drink from a water fountain that a Roman drank from ages ago.
After a day and a half in Rome we are excited to be heading out, and south, with our destination being Sicily. I can’t do justice in this blog piece with regards to the Southern part of Italy, because after all this story is intended ultimately to be about a “Villa in Tuscany”. Plus the whole Southern trip definitely deserves a telling of its own. My intention is to cover this trip at a later date, in its own blog. But I can say that once again we were thrilled with the wonderful sights we took in over the next several days. From Rome, down to Naples where we boarded a boat taking us to beautiful Capri, and back again to Sorrento; to the Gardens and Palace at Caserta and then finishing off this area with a visit to Pompei - nothing disappointed. This night will be spent on the ferry, Vincenzo Florio,* taking us down to Palermo. I’m a little apprehensive as my aunt had told me their experience was not very good on this trip. They’d apparently had a very turbulent voyage affected by the Scirocco winds that come up from the Sahara into the Southern parts of Europe. But luck was with us on our journey. The overnight trip was as smooth as a kitty and we all slept soundly in our small, but surprisingly nicely appointed cabins.
The next morning we arise, have breakfast and head to the deck just in time to watch our docking in Palermo. It is in this city that we finally make our acquaintance with Sandy and Joe from Oregon. Of course they have been with us all along on this journey; we may have even passed a word or two in the previous four or five days, but with so many people on tour it isn’t until Palermo that we find ourselves sitting at the same dinner table with them. And something just clicked. We had more laughs and drank more wine that night and by the time we were done we had invited them to join the four of us for dinner the next night. As we did on the last trip we had decided that we would not do “extras” - when dinners were not included as part of our trip, but instead would find a restaurant on our own and experience the local citizenry. I had checked a few out on the internet before leaving and had my eye on one that advertised a fellow who had spent some time in New Orleans and was now back in Sicily to run a restaurant again. That night’s dinner was again a success in that we six had a very good time, except we were just a bit surprised that they did not have a pasta on the menu with red sauce - none! But the vino was flowing and needless to say we were all happy to be there.
The next couple of days were a whirlwind of activity in which we took in Palermo, the Greek ruins at Syracuse, Agrigento, the volcano at Mount Etna and on to Taormina - a breathtaking jewell on the Ionian Sea. After two gorgeous days here we crossed the Straits of Messina and headed back north stopping at Alberobello in Apuglia to tour the Trulli houses before ending our tour once again in Rome. Two more nights and we would be flying out once again and heading back to Canada. Sandy and Joe on the other hand were heading off to another two week tour elsewhere. In the meantime having spent several more nights together at dinner, we’d had many discussions about Italy in general, and in particular we all expressed a desire to one day rent a villa in Tuscany. And there a dream was born.
On our return to Canada, and Sandy & Joe’s subsequent return to the States, we three ladies immediately made the effort to keep in touch with both letters and emails. Through this, two years later in 2003 a trip was planned to Spain and Portugal where Sandy and Joe joined us on the same tour. Once again the six of us hit it off and had a wonderful time, still talking and dreaming about Tuscany through it all. Much had happened on and since this trip! I had fallen in Spain and broken my foot ending up with a cast and crutches for the remaining six days, but more importantly than that and not too long after the trip, Sandy had started to face some serious health issues. Letters flew back and forth for that year and the following year. And on the heels of that our friend Al was faced with a health issue of his own. Would the dream of Tuscany be possible for all of us, or was it going to be just that - “a dream”?
* While checking on Google with regards to the Vincenzo Florio ferry, I see that they recently had a fire on board.
Next: A Villa in Tuscany
Add a Comment - Aggiunga un commento
-
Comment by Phil Falcone - Site Admin on July 2, 2009 at 10:49am - Nice job Lynda,,, keep plunking those keys.
About
Badge
© 2009 Created by Phil Falcone - Site Admin on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
You need to be a member of Two Rosetos to add comments!
Join this Ning Network