Week two on the Canary Islands was in Santa Cruz de Tenerife - the second of the Canaries' “shared” capital cities. The hour-long ferry ride was pretty choppy but otherwise comfortable. We had sandwiches and drinks at Comics Food&Drinks just after getting off to set us up for the short walk to our AirBnB apartment - “Casa Chica” - where our host Cathrina met us for the check-in. (She greeted us with kisses on both cheeks and explained that there was an “h” in her name because her mother was Irish.) The place was definitely “chica”...spacious and airy. Around us were parks, hills, blue skies, and fresh air - perfect for vacation!
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We approached the 4-month mark in our "home free" adventure and decided on a couple of "kicked-back" weeks on the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago in the Atlantic, 100 km (62 mi) off the west coast of Morocco. Weather on the Canaries is described as the "Eternal Spring", with high temperatures averaging between 61° in February to 73° in August - not at all a tropical paradise, but pleasant shirt-sleeves / jacket temperatures and very rare rain. First stop is Las Palmas ("The Palms") de Gran Canaria, the largest Canarian city and one of the two "shared" capitals.
In just 20 years Barcelona has gone from hosting fewer than 2 million tourists per year to over 9 million. It has become Europe's third most visited city, behind London and Paris, and is nowhere near as large as either of them. Every one of the important sites now requires a time-slot ticket and Barcelona's mayor recently began a plan to limit the volume of tourists.
We timed our visit for the first few days of February and, while it was still teeming with visitors, we were able to enjoy Barcelona and came away eager to return, armed with some knowledge of how to beat the bustle and enjoy this great city. Sandwiched between our excursions to Etna, Malta, and Ragusa, we managed to squeeze a bit more fun out of the tiny island of Ortigia. What makes the the Duomo a Frankenstein's monster of a building? What's that nondescript door in the wall to the right of the Duomo? And where can you go to hear eclectic live music in Ortigia?
Our third and final excursion out of Siracusa was a loop around the Val di Noto. This area was destroyed in 1693 by Italy's largest ever earthquake and was rebuilt, as UNESCO would say, to represent "the culmination and final flowering of Baroque art in Europe". We added a second loop to visit some of the filming locations of our favorite Italian TV series - "Inspector Montalbano".
Our second excursion from Siracusa was inspired when we met a couple at a seaside cafe in Ortigia over an evening aperitivo. They couldn't say enough about their home, Malta: "the safest country in the world...lots of beautiful architecture...great food that blends the best of the Mediterranean cuisines...everyone speaks English!". When we found round-trip Ryan Air flights for less than $45 each, the decision was easy! We booked two nights at the Point de Vue Hotel - recommended by a NY Times article - and we packed our backpacks for a short "vacation" from our chilly Siracusa apartment. One benefit of opting for the monthly rental discount AirBnB is that we feel justified heading out on excursions out of Siracusa for a couple of nights at a time. Our first “vacation” was to visit Mount Etna - especially to sample some wine. On a bright Tuesday morning we packed into our rented FIAT Panda with Etna in our sights. Our first stop was Oro D’Etna in the town of Zafferana Etnea, where honey is the main source of income for 2/3 of the population. This family-run business featured free tastings of their wines, olives & olive oil, pestos, and - most importantly - their honey. The wines were just OK, their olives (especially the delectable large green ones) and their pestos and flavored oils were first rate, but the honey was the star of the show. For weeks Nancy has been saying to Richard that when they get to Sicily he's going to play in a bar or restaurant. Since Nancy has a talent of merely willing things into fruition, on the first day in Siracusa Richard stumbled upon a vegan restaurant called "MOON - Move Ortigia Out of Normality" that featured live music. This weekend's artist? "Come In & Play". So that's what we did - twice! The food was great, the staff was as sweet as can be, and the piano was a vintage Steinway. Here's a snippet of Richard performing. More about Siracusa Sicily in a separate post. With the festivities of Christmas behind us, the thought of staying in Northern Europe through the winter was just not going to work. We found an AirBnB in Siracusa, in the southeast corner of Sicily, with a generous discount because we booked for the whole month. More about how that's working out later... New Year's Day was "Adventure Day" - formerly known as the "Dreaded Travel Day". We drove from Baden Baden to Zürich to catch an Edelweiss Air flight to Catania. Holidays are a great travel option - there was absolutely no line at security - and having the Chase Sapphire Reserve VISA got us into a very comfortable airport lounge while we waited for our flight - the couple of glasses of Tempranillo didn't hurt. |
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