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The Ancient History Tour

May - June 2019
A trip to Egypt, Greece, Italy, Crete, Malta and Turkey. Read more
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  • Beth VogelzangThe Ancient History Tour
    1
    Day 15

    Capri to Palermo

    May 22, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    We checked out of our lovely hotel, parked our bags and went exploring. We caught one of the tiny buses to Anacapri. The buses are necessarily small because of the road being so narrow and windy, but more people stand than can sit. Not a pleasant experience!

    From Anacapri, we wandered through gorgeous little alleyways filled with very ritzy stores. We decided as the day was lovely, we’d walk to the Grotto Azzura. 5 km later, through gorgeous laneways and lovely properties, we reached the grotto, but regrettably due to high seas, we couldn’t see in. Normally, boats nose in to the cavern, and the colours are amazing.

    We had beautifully fresh squeezed lemonade, and caught a bus back up the hill to Anacapri. Another wander up top, we caught the bus back to Capri, and caught a ferry to Naples. We had to wait a while on arrival to board our ferry to Palermo, Sicily.

    It was a large ferry, taking about a dozen semi trailers as well as other trucks and many cars.

    We met a young French man, a nurse, who had taken a year sabbatical to cycle Europe. He’d left his home, north of Paris in March, and was heading to Sicily. He had a long way to go. Once aboard, we stowed our gear in our stateroom, and went and found our young friend and bought him a couple of beers. He was sleeping on a couch in the bar, so was very appreciative of the chat and the beers. We bade farewell, and we went to dinner.

    We had a fitful nights sleep (the beds were hard), but sleep we did. The ship left at 8.15 pm, and arrived about 7.30 am to the Port of Palermo. Our hotel was not far away, so we left our bags and went exploring.

    Palermo is very interesting, with lots of small alleyways and interesting old building around every corner. The Cathedral dates to the 1100’s, and inside is quite beautiful. The royal palace was huge, and the gardens and fountains beautiful.

    I bought a new pair of Skechers, as my old ones were giving me grief after 25,000 steps a day, and Paul got a new cap. Palermo is a city of roses, and in the three market areas we went to, thousands of beautiful long stemmed roses were for sale. The aroma was sensational.    Read more

  • Beth VogelzangThe Ancient History Tour
    11
    Day 16

    Palermo to Marsala

    May 23, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    This morning was a slower start, after a great breakfast at our hotel, Paul headed off to collect our rental car for the next ew days. He was one for a while, but the problem was a great queue at the rental agency. There was some sort of political rally at the dock below where we dined this morning, thousands of people were crowded on the dock around a large ship...

    Paul arrived with the car, and off we went. First stop was to the Temple of Segresto - a Greek temple that was almost complete. For some reason we could not find out, we were diverted fr the entry gates, but w we ignored that and managed to park. However, the place we were instructed to park was perhaps 2km uphill walk to the site. No one was going in. Very strange. However, I did manage to get some shots...Italians! Who knows!?! The gloves life, but a lot about them

    Back on the road, we headed for Marsala - famous for Greek ruins and Marsala wine, my mum's fave for trifles! What a cute town this was! It was a walled city,with great gates with side. Inside, there were marbled pathways and wonderful alleyways. There was an amazing gnarly tree next to a huge fountain. We wandered here for while, and jumped back in the car. We found the Penny Market, and felt obligated to buy supplies for lunch - beautiful fresh baguettes, ham, cheese and amazing tomatoes. We had to drive about 30km trying to find somewhere to stop for lunch. Peevee eventually used that spidey-sense and took this side road that deteriorated to a rutted track, which we prayed no vehicle came up the other way, when it opened up to this amazing view,and the side I f a mount, overlooking a golf course and the Mediterranean. We knew it was the one when it had a lone bench, with a sign saying "viewing spot" in English... Sensational lunch with an equally amazing view...

    Backing the car we drove another75 km toAgrigento, and the Valley of the Temples. This is a huge area of multiple reek Temples in the Doric style. The Temples date from 5th & 6th century BC, and attributed to the peoples of Rhodes...

    It was interesting, but not well signposted, and they did not give you a map. But we wandered among the ruins for a couple of hours.

    Following this, we headed for our hotel, in the Village of Kaos. It was beautiful, with a massive pool. Regrettably,a little cool or swimming...    Read more

  • Beth VogelzangThe Ancient History Tour
    1
    Day 16

    Agrigento, Sicily

    May 23, 2019 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    First, a shot of our Ford Focus rental. It's large by Italian standards, and Paul tell me it drives very well. It has all mod cons, and is actually built for Android!) Like the ruins the background?!

    Agrigento is quite a big city on the coast of the Mediterranean,famous for The Valley of the Temples. We arrived at about 5pm,and the crowds had mostly dispersed, and the light wa great. We have really had sensational weather in Italy, just one quick thunderstorm that really didn't affect us, and brilliant sun shine with temps in the mid-twenties.

    The Temples were very interesting, and over a huge land area, which meant a lot of walking again. Side note: in the last 6 days, I have walked over 129,000 steps!!! Despite lovely carb laden Italian food,I have actually managed lose weight!)

    The ruins explored, we drove towards the coast to our hotel Kaos. This is a luxury resort, and if you can see on the satellite photo above, the swimming pool is enormous! Paul was sorely tempted to swim, but it was a mite too cool or me!

    Had a great risotto with shrimp and lemon for dinner, and we are currently enjoying the buffet breakfast.

    Today, we are tackling Mount Etna, so hopefully she keeps her grumbles down!    Read more

  • Beth VogelzangThe Ancient History Tour
    Day 17

    Piazza Armerina

    May 24, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Leaving Agrigento, we headed towards Piazza Armerina. We found the ruins of Villa Romana del Casale, a nobleman’s home (the Dominus).

    The mosaics where very complete, and in one room, about 20 metres long told the tale of the Romans rounding up exotic animals in places like India and Africa, and transporting them back to the Circuses of Rome.

    Quite stunning.

    From there, we headed toward Mount Etna. Pics in next post!    Read more

  • Beth VogelzangThe Ancient History Tour
    Day 18

    Chasing Volcanoes!

    May 25, 2019 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 14 °C

    This afternoon, we had a bit of a hike up mountains, which proved more difficult than it should have...our GPS decided to ditch the fast strand as, and take us on tiny back roads...anyone who follows us regularly know this seems to be a bit of a habit! Anyway, by late afternoon, we found ourselves at the base of Mount Etna, but unfortunately, our diversions meant it was too late to head up on the cable car. Possibly just as well, as it remains snow-capped, and it was cloud bound.

    It is a very interesting area though, as there are lava fields surrounding the place! We spent a little while here, walking through the volcanic rock, that crunched underfoot. Etna is a very active volcano, with the last eruption in February, followed by an 4.9 earthquake. There was rain today, and all the cars were covered in dirt, likely as a result of dirt spewed by steam from the volcano.

    Leaving Etna, we had a quick 50km drive to Messina - we figured we had better look at the home of the Gelato, but sadly we were disappointed. This is a very large city, a port, and nothing quaint about it. Couldn’t even find the Nirvana of gelato here...haha.

    Across the straits, we could see Calabria, on the toe of Italy’s boot. Another big, but famous city.

    We then headed back towards Taormina. This is a hill-top town, with a Greco-Roman theatre that is still in use. Our hotel is below the cliff set on a tiny private beach, of volcanic sand. The view from our room, sensational, and the sound of the lapping waves through the French doors will lull us both to sleep very well. We are just about to head to dinner, and I am sure we will sleep very well! Tomorrow, we catch the cable care up to the town proper and explore!    Read more

  • Beth VogelzangThe Ancient History Tour
    Day 19

    Syracuse, Sicily to Catania

    May 26, 2019 in Italy ⋅ 🌬 19 °C

    We checked it of our lovely hotel in Taormina, an walked to the cable car, which takes you to the upper township. It was tourist central, so incredibly busy. We headed for the main attraction,a Greek theatre,still in operation. At least, they’ve set up a plywood stage and do some shows or other. Completely detracts from the historical value, in my opinion, but whatever. The view from the theatre was fabulous.

    We left Taormina, and with plenty of time on our hands, headed for Syracuse (Siracusa). A beach side town, not very pretty, had lots of ruins, but not very accessible! We did not linger, as we were quite tired... we headed to Catania, where the Mercure Grand Excelsior awaited.

    After check in, we decided that we had had enough Italian food for a while, as Paul scouted a Chinese restaurant with insteps of the hotel. It was cheap, and the novelty of the Chinese speaking Italian was worth it. The food, however, was quite possibly the worst Chinese food ever eaten. Absolutely dreadful, and I paid the price all night, with the worst reflux... lesson learned! Haha

    Today we had a leisurelly start, we wandered around Catania, which is just another city, and found the main square. There was a big cathedral, which was lovely inside. It struck midday as we entered, and the organist started playing, which was quite surreal. St Agatha was laying in a glass coffin, her hands blackened, but her face must not be in such good nick, as it was covered by a mask...she was martyred around 251 AD, so I guess she can be forgiven. Every year they celebrated the Feast of St Agatha, and she is rolled out in two ancient carriages from the 1800s. While in the cathedral, I urged Paul to the Confessional, as it had been a while...then we realised we only had 6 hours till our ferry, so not enough time for Paul to come clean...haha.

    We wandered back to our hotel, and as t was now drizzling with rain, and there was a km t I theft, we caught a taxi (luxury!). We have checked in to the ferry (an I note resting process in itself, as you are driven around the port in a mini van to check in, then a short wait in a bar, then minivan drives you on tothe ship!

    We are heading for Valletta Malta, arriving at about midnight. New country, next adventure! Will check in tomorrow night, kids! Looking forward to this one!    Read more

  • Beth VogelzangThe Ancient History Tour
    Day 20

    Cathedral of St John

    May 27, 2019 in Malta ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    This Cathedral is dedicated to the Order of StJohn. It is quite an amazing Baroque spectacle. The floors are inlaid marble headstones for the Knights of the Order of St John, and are incredibly ornate - I have posted a couple of pics. There was so much to see in here, and really beautiful. The Maltese Cross is very prominent throughout, as well as St John, the healer...

    I climbed up the balcony, which was high above the alter, to get some high shots above the church...it was a stunning building...    Read more

  • Beth VogelzangThe Ancient History Tour
    Day 20

    Catania to Valetta, Malta

    May 27, 2019 in Malta ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    We left Catania Sicily by ferry, arriving at our hotel by 3am, after a 2 hour delay, and being left stranded a the port. Our hotel is fabulous, in a great location. We had a few hour sleep, then had the best breakfast so far on the trip. Time to hit t by we road,and walked to the township. First stop,we went to to was the Royal Palace and Armoury, which was interesting... They made em pretty small those days...

    There are lots of cute alleyways, and heaps of tourists, esp Brits.

    The next stop was the Co-Cathedral of St John. I’ll post this separately,as it was an amazing church inside.    Read more

  • Beth VogelzangThe Ancient History Tour
    Day 21

    Ferry to Sliema, Malta

    May 28, 2019 in Malta ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    In the afternoon, we took a small ferry across the harbour to Sliema, and wandered the streets for a few hours. We were really impressed by Valletta, it is so clean, interesting and very safe. All around the harbour are old forts, and battlements, remnant from Word Wars I & II.

    We had an early dinner, by European standards (at 7 pm), and then headed back to our hotel. Tired after the late night previously, and big day tomorrow. We had a very refreshing swim in the pool, and felt energised.

    Tomorrow, off to the Island of Gozo, before a late night flight to our next destination...    Read more

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