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Sicily, Malta & Tunisia
  • Sean Plamondon
  • Soni Bhojwani
  • Sean Plamondon
  • Soni Bhojwani

Sicily, Malta & Tunisia

A 13-day adventure by Sean & Soni Read more
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  • Trip start
    May 8, 2024
    Sicily, Malta & Tunisia
    Despite all odds, made our flight to Rome from DC
    Flight to SicilyRoman amphitheater. Apparently sat 15,000 people back in the dayAmazing seafood pasta by the basilicaNew friends Jody and Tania from New Zealand1Soni doesn't approve of this pic hahaBest artisinal white beer i have hadSuper nice staff at the last place close to our apartment

    Catania

    May 9, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Back exploring the world. And this trip will be with my lovely friend Soni. Plus meeting up with Kris and Devon too for a couple of days.

    The start to this trip was very awkward. Had a one hour connection in Washington but unfortunately the flight out of ottawa was delayed by one hour as well. Missing our flight to Rome from Washington seemed depressingly guaranteed. Bummer. And really gonna mess up some critical plans.

    But on arrival in Washington, ran a few kilometers across two terminals plus a train in-between and super fortunately they were waiting for us at the gate. Soooo happy.

    Over 8 hours later arrived in Rome and a few hours after that, finally in Catania, Sicily.

    Soni and i walked around the quaint streets and beautiful buildings until finally arriving at the piazza with the main basilica. Sat down shortly after for dinner on a nearby busy street. Started to rain and a couple next to us were getting rained on so we invited them to join us at our table with total canopy coverage. Super nice couple (Jody and Tania) from New Zealand. Spent about 2 hours with them before they had to go to their dinner reservation.

    Wandered back towards our apartment rental and stopped in at a really nice old school place with beautiful stone and brick arches throughout and super nice staff. And a wonderful craft white beer that was sweet as a cocktail.

    Super great day despite getting about 2 hours sleep :) The future is looking extra bright 🌞    Read more

  • Sicily, Malta & Tunisia

    Cefalu

    May 10, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    In the morning, the plaza outside our hotel had been transformed into a massive sprawling market. Unfortunately we didn't have time to explore the market because we had to pick up our rental car and then also pick up Kris and Devon at the airport.

    Drove about an hour part way up the north side of mt Etna for a tour we booked on the volcano. Shortly after starting the hike, Soni had to abort because she was having an issue with her diabetic sugar levels or something like that and she returned to the restaurant where we started. And the rest of us continued to the crater rim.

    After that, drove a bit over 3 hours high up through the mountains and eventually by the sea to cefalu, a very picture perfect seaside town. Had dinner by the water and watched the sunset and eventually finished the evening at a nice rooftop spot.    Read more

  • Sicily, Malta & Tunisia

    Palermo

    May 11, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Started the morning with a relaxing, and grueling uphill hike to the top of the giant cliff above cefalu :) Incredible views from the top. And amazing they were able to build such fortifications in such a dramatic location.

    After a quick meal next to the cathedral, drove up the coast to palermo. Intentionally chose the winding coastal road which took longer but so gorgeous with the mountains and ocean colliding.

    Wandered around to a lot of nice churches and admired the beautiful architecture. Found some crazy streets with endless terraces completely filled with Italians enjoying the life. Extremely lively city and very friendly too.

    Devon was exhausted and went to bed early. Kris found a restaurant that had a 7 course fish foodie experience for an amount incredibly cheaper than anything you could ever dream of in canada. Even the ice cream dessert had fishy flavors but still surprisingly good. Who knew!?

    We tried to find a craft beer place i found via google but on the way traversed a parking lot that was converted into a crazy block party. We never reached the craft beer place cuz it was just so hilarious fun at the parking lot party. Really fun place and super easy to meet people at. Amazing night all around    Read more

  • Sicily, Malta & Tunisia

    Sciacca

    May 12, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Very pretty drive along the northern coast to the small town Trapina. Walked around the narrow streets and had a really nice lunch by the water.

    After lunch continued on toward Sciacca (pronounced sh-ocka). At one point during the drive on the highway, i accidentally cut off another driver who was in my blind spot. He honked of course but then everything after that was wildly insane. He would get alongside me and inch my way over and over trying to run us off the highway. I had to brake hard to let him fly by and continue on. But he kept coming back and doing the same thing. Eventually came across a police car waving traffic through so i pulled over. But that guy pulled over too and got out of his car and charged toward me wanting to fight. I drove away but he got back in his car and harrassed us for a really long time. Crazy stressful. Until he finally sped up and left. Super unstable person. And he had a baby in his backseat too!

    Arrived in Sciatta and walked around to see the sights in this very hilly town. I admit, it was a bit underwhelming compared to everything we had seen in other cities and we especially had a hard time finding an open restaurant.

    After a ton of exploring and a lot of uphill climbs we finally found an outdoor cafe and then a tiny pub to settle in to. Ended up getting to know the bartender and wife and parents who were all there too. Plus a few other locals. Nice finish to a strange day.    Read more

  • Sicily, Malta & Tunisia

    Caltanisetta

    May 13, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    After about 20 minutes walking up and down narrow hilly streets, finally found our car and headed off to Agrigento. Once we arrived, got really stuck in a series of insanely narrow streets. I had to reverse a lot plus a lot of inching back and forth to get the angle just right on turns. Its a minor miracle we still have all the paint on the sides of our car :)

    After a nice lunch in town, drove to the valley of the temples. Its an ancient greek city dating back to 450 BC ! I was shocked to see so many ancient structures still standing. Really spectacular. And hot!

    After that, drove another hour to a smaller town in the middle of the island called caltanisetta where we found a few places to eat and get some much needed rest. One younger guy near us at a cafe came over and asked if we were tourists. He was amazed any tourists would come to this town haha. It was cute, but ya pretty small and sleepy.    Read more

  • Sicily, Malta & Tunisia

    Valletta

    May 14, 2024 in Malta ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Flight to Malta wasn't until 3pm, and still over an hour drive away from where we were. With a lot of time remaining, decided to maximize our time and drive to the town of Enna perched high up on a mountain. Managed to walk the cute streets to some pretty piazzas and cathedrals. But didn't linger very long and got back on the road to return our rental car and get to the airport.

    Landed in Valletta, Malta a while later and immediately could tell malta was going to be something special. All the buildings are beautifully ornate and grand. And all are the same sandstone color too. Incredibly striking. Every turn and block offered something beautiful. And extremely lively place with endless restaurants and shops throughout.

    Found a place for a quick bite on a really cool vertical street filled with tables and chairs on every stair going down the steep hill. Then found a craft beer specialty spot and settled in. Alice the bartender shocked me with her beer knowledge and was super sweet to chat with too.    Read more

  • Sicily, Malta & Tunisia

    Mdina / Rabat

    May 15, 2024 in Malta ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Malta was controlled by the british for over 100 years, which i didn't know. Ergo, I also didn't realize my rental car would be driven on the left side of the road. Which i have never done before!!!

    But there's a first time for everything, right? 😁

    Holy crap that was challenging to adjust to. If cars were in front of me, it was a bit less on the brain.. follow the crowd. But all the roundabouts were clockwise instead of counter clockwise, and left hand turns did awful things to my brain. Always looking behind me for a car coming up on my right instead of a car coming in front on my right.

    But otherwise i think i did really well!! I could hear Soni pounding her shoes against her imaginary brakes in the passenger seat haha. But she kept telling me i was doing really well and it was her that was forgetting we were exactly where we should be haha. Oh boy, what a hilarious experience and on crazy roads and crazy busy roundabouts with cars going every direction.

    Ok back to where we went. Drove to the northern tip of the island and took the ferry to the island of Gozo and got ourselves to Victoria in the middle of the island. Beautiful fortress and maze of narrow streets below to yet another gorgeous cathedral.

    Checked out the sights and then headed back to the ferry to the malta main island and to the elevated fortress city of Mdina. Yes that's spelled correctly. Which is a twin city to Rabat. Amazing walled city on a hilltop. Felt like a prince walking through such amazing grand buildings and cobbled passageways. And outside the fortifications, Rabat was wonderful too. Narrow maze like streets filled with beautiful churches and restaurants

    We found a cave restaurant that offered a somewhat expensive 5 course meal maltese foodie experience and we went for it. Sooooo good. I'm such a spoiled person wow.    Read more

  • Sicily, Malta & Tunisia

    Valletta again

    May 16, 2024 in Malta ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Started the day driving about an hour to the really pretty fishing village of Marsaxlokk which is especially famous for multi coloured painted boats everywhere. Also a wonderful place to sit by the water for lunch and shopping in the seaside market. Had an awesome raw fish platter for lunch and got back on the road.

    Drove to gorgeous St Peter's Pool, which is a natural swimming area along carved out sandstone rocks. Then headed to The Three Cities which right across the grand harbour from Valletta and has tons of gorgeous cathedrals and fortifications plus the usual cool narrow streets everywhere. You really can't go wrong in this country any direction to opt to head.

    And finally finished the rest of the day back in Valletta. Soni was super happy to have a free shopping evening. I had ambitious ideas to explore valletta's fortifications and waterfront but instead found myself back at an awesome vertical street full of restaurants. Had my favorite pasta (truffles) of the trip and thats saying a lot considering the first 5 days were in italy.

    Soni eventually caught up with me and we headed back to the Kapitale bar and luckily enough both Alice and Neggy were working again. Big hugs all around and they both sat down with us for quite a while. That place closed pretty early again but this time Neggy took us to another bar with more of their friends. Really fun last night in amazing Malta. I can't recommend this country enough.    Read more

  • Sicily, Malta & Tunisia
    Commercial plane with zero markings

    Tunis

    May 17, 2024 in Tunisia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    One last time driving on the left side of the road to get the car back to the airport. Despite doing pretty good in my opinion, i have never been so happy to hand over the keys to a car haha.

    Flight to Tunisia was supposed to be at 4pm but delays pushed it back to 6pm unfortunately. So spend most of the day in the airport, catching up on seth meyers and colbert at the Hard Rock cafe.

    Our plane to Tunisia was really old and it wasn't even painted. An all white commercial airplane. Very weird haha. On landing, exchanged some dollars for dinars and got a taxi to the medina to our hotel. Taxi driver left us about 300 meters from the hotel because the streets in the medina are extremely narrow and only pedestrian.

    Started walking into the medina and the hotel staff was kind enough to come meet us half way. Super nice. Checked into our super authentic Tunisian hotel and ended up eating at the hotel's restaurant. We both got fantastic couscous meals (one chicken, one fish), each of which could have fed a small family.

    Soni was happy to relax in the room to cap the night. Whereas i wanted to find a place for a beer to write my blog, as i usually do. Asked the hotel staff where i could go and they said the medina is too religious to sell beer but there's a place 20 minute walk away. I wasn't gonna go but Aziz said no problem, he'd be super happy to walk me there. I didn't really feel like going that far but i also felt it was great luck to have a temporary tour guide to show me through the medina.

    So off we went and it was really cool. Mostly covered narrow cobblestone streets winding through the medina maze. I feel like i got into yet another time machine. Eventually ended up at a crazy busy spot and I was set up nicely at quick makeshift table where there wasn't one minute ago. I bought Aziz a beer before he had to go. He protested but he eventually relented and accepted my thanks for his efforts. Then Aziz gave me his number and told me to contact him and he would come back to get me and bring me back to the hotel.

    An hour later, i paid up and was ready to go. I felt bad asking Aziz to come all the way back to get me so was debating finding my own way back. Chatted a bit with some locals behind me who were really nice. I asked them if it was dangerous to walk through the medina now and they both assured me it was not dangerous at all. The girl asked me if i wanted to go to a nightclub with her, but i had to be up early, so i politely declined. And the guy Dali also gave me his phone number and told me to contact him for any questions etc. Super nice.

    I got about half way through the medina and i came across Aziz who was coming to get me of his own volition. So nice. Walked me back the rest of the way and emphasized again that i should contact him for anything i might need the rest of my trip. So far, i definitely see why people say Tunisians are so nice and hospitable.    Read more

  • Sicily, Malta & Tunisia

    Mahdia

    May 18, 2024 in Tunisia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Got ourselves to the Tunis airport to pick up the rental car and headed due south through a rainstorm. I thought it was interesting to see highway signs that said 110kph normally but 90kph while raining. Another first.

    2.5 hours later arrived in small El Jem for one huge main purpose. The roman ampitheatre! And it was magnificent. Super similar to the roman coliseum in rome (romans conquered tunisia 2000 years ago, so it checks out haha). But i think its better. Can climb everything, almost no people and camels! Haha.

    I tried to take a picture next to a camel but it didn't approve at all and pushed me 5 feet away with its nose. The camel owner told me to get on for a picture. I didn't expect the camel to stand up and i almost toppled over its head because it stands its hind legs up first. Took me for a walk in front of the amphitheater.. none of which i asked for. But was very amusing.

    Had lunch right across from the amphitheater and the owner was hilariously giddy that i was canadian. Had some chicken kebabs there and back on the road.

    Made our way to Mahdia, which is a coastal town semi nearby. We decided to book an all inclusive resort because it was only 100 cad for the night. Soni was in heaven, while i looked southward down the coast to the old city in the distance and longed for more adventure. So soni basked in the sun and i walked 40 mins along the beach shoreline to the medina and castle in town.

    Took me a while but i finally found a place serving beers outside the medina. I'm seeing a pattern perhaps. Then headed back to the resort to meet up with soni for dinner and planning out our last day in Tunisia tomorrow. Food at the resort was awesome and a bit of luxury wasn't terrible either.    Read more

  • Sicily, Malta & Tunisia
    1Entrance to Mahdia medina
    Sousse medinaSousse medinaEntrance to Hammamet medinaHammamet medinaMy beer spot while soni shoppedSidi Bou SaidSidi Bou SaidSidi Bou SaidSidi Bou SaidSidi Bou SaidSidi Bou Said

    Sidi Bou Said

    May 19, 2024 in Tunisia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Today needed to drive north all the way back towards Tunis because we were flying the next day at noon. But first we went to the Mahdia medina for some shopping for Soni. And apparently for me too cuz i bought a few things as well

    Then drove about 1.5 hours to Sousse which has a huge endless fortification around the medina. We walked into the medina and it was like an indiana jones movie. Narrow cute passageways with market shops throughout with really unique arabic stuff. Found an awesome restaurant in the middle of it and had an awesome lunch before taking off again.

    Drove another 90 minutes to Hammamet and visited their medina too. This medina was like a disney medina. Modern and made to look authentic but definitely contrived. Still, lots of shopping for soni while i relaxed on endless pillows and a beer. Seafronts of both sousse and hammamet were beautiful sandy beaches and resorts all along the coast.

    Drove another 90 minutes south of Tunis to absolutely gorgeous Sidi Bou Said. It was like being on a greek island. All the buildings were white and blue, narrow cobblestone roads, full of restaurants and shops on hills overlooking the Mediterranean sea. So beautiful and quaint.

    Had an amazing traditional fish meal there and some really good tunisian wine. I had no idea tunisia even made wine but we both loved it. Things closed down semi early so got back to the hotel at a good hour to rest up before the long flight home.

    I absolutely loved tunisia. Its beautiful with awesome roman history. There's so much i didn't get to see and i feel this is part 1 and to be continued. Tunisia's biggest treasure are the people though. Soooo incredibly kind and warm. Genuinely sad to leave.    Read more

    Trip end
    May 20, 2024
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