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We experienced a first time event (for us) this morning. Due into the port of Portimao by 8AM we, instead, found ourselves stranded offshore in a dense fog!  It was so foggy that the pilot guide was unwilling to come to our ship to guide us into the harbor!  The captain apologized and said he would keep us posted. Guests were due to meet in the lounge to get their morning tour tickets, as many tours were slated to leave around that time, including our 7 hour tour of some of the villages in the Algarve region of Portugal. Needless to say the fog would change all those plans, or so I thought. Surprisingly about 45 minutes later the fog lifted enough to be escorted into the harbor and by 9AM we were instructed to come retrieve our tickets for the morning tours.

The seas last night were a bit rough and the ship did bounce around a bit. I found it soothing and slept soundly but Yvonne had trouble sleeping because of all the creaking and groaning of the ship so she begged off our scheduled tour and decided to simply rest for the day.

My tour was slated to explore some of the small towns on the interior of the Algarve region of Portugal. The Algarve province lies in the southern portion of Portugal, boardering the Atlantic Ocean. It is noted for its numerous beautiful sandy beaches, it’s golf courses and tourism in general. Although I later learned it is famous for some other things also. As is typical in this part of the world, it was first settled by the Phoenicians and later by the Romans. In the 8th century the moors arrived and ruled until 1189 when the Portuguese took over.

Our first stop was the small town of Silves, which was the capital of the Algarve region from 1249-1910. The reason for the stop was to visit the castle/ fortress of Silves, which is considered to be one of the best preserved Moorish fortifications in the area. Thought to have been built by the Romans, it was further developed by the Moors between the 8th and 13th centuries. As was common it is located at the top of the tallest hill in the area and involves an uphill walk on cobble stoned streets. A local guide led the way, periodically stopping to give us more information (and allowing us to catch our breath)!

From there we continued driving north to the highest part of the area -an elevation of 900 meters. Along the way we first passed an area where carob trees grow and then later an area dominated by cork trees, which require a certain elevation to prosper, leading me to your lesson for the day-everything you wanted (or not) to know about cork trees!  Cork comes from the bark of the cork tree. The bark is periodically cut from the tree and if done correctly will not kill the tree. A cork tree must be at least 25 years old before cork can be harvested. The cork bark is then cut from the lower portion of the tree, but it cannot be harvested again from the same tree for 9 years, and every 9 years thereafter. The first cutting of cork is not the greatest and is used for lesser products. The second and third cuttings (after 18 and 27 years) produces the best cork. After the third cutting the tree is “retired”. Obviously you need to be very patient to be a cork producer. Portugal claims to be the largest producer of cork in the world. We did have an opportunity to visit a local shop that sold cork products which ranged from trivets, to handbags, hats, shoes, belts and every product imaginable. I ended up buying a cork bookmark decorated with a hand painted fish that was made by a local artist.

The tour included a lunch and we stopped at a small local place that featured peri peri barbecued chicken which I learned was a popular dish in the area. And, of course, there were ample bottles of wine (red and white) to accompany the meal so naps on the bus ride back were common.

On the return trip we stopped  and walked through a famous resort town known for its thermal baths, Caldas de Monchique. The baths date back to Roman days and still attracts people who come to “take the cure” offered by the foul smelling (because of sulfur) waters. There is even a plant that treats the water to eliminate the smell, bottles it and sells the resultant water (probably at elevated prices) to the populace. We were told a lot of it gets exported to China!

Even though we left an hour late we returned to the ship at the designated time for its departure.

I met Yvonne who had a relaxing day and was reinvigorated. We dressed for dinner and headed to the cocktail lounge where we met and chatted with a couple from Florida who were on the same quest as me – collecting countries. They were also at 94 countries and counting.  But in some respects they were way ahead of us in seeing and experiencing the world. They have sought out and experienced 6 total solar eclipses, visited all 50 states, and visited most of the national parks! Wow!

On  the way to the dining room we ran into the young couple from Indiana we had met the evening before and we ended up sharing a table and conversation with them. In “it’s a small world category” as we were eating and talking about Indiana a couple sitting next to our table said they were also from Indiana. This led to a further conversation where Tom, at our table, ended up knowing common people from the area. This seems to happen more often than we think, as we have had similar experiences.

The evening entertainment was Lindsay Hamilton, a singer from the UK. She turned out to be a delightful entertainer; she had a great voice and interacted with the audience with humor and banter. One of the questions for the audience was finding out who was married the longest. She started at 40 years (since this is NOT a young crowd) and quickly moved up to 50 years and beyond. It turns out that the longest married couple in the audience was 63 years!  There was another at 61…..and we came in third…at 59 years!  Time will tell if we can someday win the competition!

It was a fairly busy day and we are looking forward to our first day at sea tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We both slept a good 12 hours last night so all is well from a sleep standpoint. Sunny and cool this morning in Lisbon. A fairly elegant breakfast buffet was included in our hotel package and we started to meet some fellow passengers. In “it’s a small world” category we entered the elevator with another couple who happened to be born and raised in Indiana, went to Indiana University and currently living in Bloomington, IN.

Breakfast chatter around the table indicated fellow passengers are experienced travelers, many of whom had also signed up for the 2020 cruise that had been canceled. They also are fond of sailing with Regent.

The breakfast buffet did NOT include the famous Portuguese pastry called “pastel de nata”, an egg custard tart topped with cinnamon. These desserts were created by monks before the 18th century. It turns out the monks and  nuns used egg whites to starch religious habit clothing, leaving a lot of unused egg yolks, and so the egg custard was born!  I was first exposed to these marvelous pastries on earlier trips to Portugal and now I will go out of the way to make sure I get one whenever we are in Portugal. After breakfast I went to the front desk to ask if there was a nearby location where I could get my “fix”. I was in luck as there was a pastry/coffee shop about a block from the hotel. Yvonne joined me for the walk and I happily walked back to the hotel with a couple of these tasty tarts to have later as a mid-morning snack.

We are scheduled to leave for the ship at 1:15 PM so I am using the time to work on this blog.

Regent did a nice job of organizing the transfer to our ship. We were given color coded ribbons (to match our bus departure) to tie on our luggage.  When called we pointed out our assembled bags which were promptly loaded on the bus with us. It was about a 20 minute ride to the harbor but a local guide was on the bus who told us what we were seeing along the way. At the pier we answered questions regarding Covid, then proceeded to the ship where we received our room keys. Cruise ships have eliminated the mandatory safely drill but we were asked to go to our assigned “muster stations” to learn where it was. One of the staff was there to check us off the list. Everyone is required to do so. We were then escorted to our rooms where we dropped off our hand luggage before heading to the pool deck where food was still being served to grab a quick snack. By the time we returned to our room our luggage was there and we quickly unpacked and hung clothes in our spacious closet. There were also plenty of drawers to store other clothing items.

By this time it was cocktail hour and we proceeded to the observation lounge where we had agreed to meet the young Indiana couple that we had met earlier. The ship left promptly at 6PM as the sun set over Lisbon. The Indiana couple agreed to have dinner with us and we chose the main dining room, the Compass Rose, for our first meal aboard. Dinner conversation revolved around discussions about our lives in Indiana and beyond. They retired to Bloomington, IN, home of Indiana University but both had been born and spent their adult lives in Indiana.

We attended the 9:30 short evening performance that highlighted some of the entertainment that would be featured during this cruise. After that we were ready for bed as the bodies were still adjusting to the local time zone.

Tomorrow we will be in the southern city of Portimao in the popular Algarve region of Portugal.

 

 

 

 

 

Spoiler Alert:  I just learned that our stop in Togo has been canceled (Due to a late notice change in local Visa requirements we were told), so I will only get credit for 7 new countries on this cruise rather than the original planned 8. Still waiting to hear what Regent might due in lieu of that stop. There is not much else in the area so my guess we might end up spending another day or sea or hopefully maybe spend a 2nd day in Namibia. Time will tell.

Spoiler Alert Update:  Togo changed its mind and we will be allowed to land as the officials decided to grant the passengers on the Regent ship a special visa “exception”.  Could it be   they really would like our tourist dollars? Either way I am happy we will be able to visit the country as originally planned.

Our flights were flawless and the service and food on the Lufthansa flight from Seattle to Frankfurt was way above average! I wish US based airlines were as staff friendly and helpful! We had about  a 4 hour layover in Frankfurt but it took awhile to change terminals  (one bus ride involved) plus a 20 minute delay getting through passport control ate up part of the time. We also had access to the business lounge so it is an easy wait. The Lufthansa lounge in the A terminal was very unique. Instead of the usual one big room this lounge is broken up into many smaller rooms that had couches and comfortable chairs. It resulted in a quieter space with more comfortable seating. I liked the concept!

A funny thing happened on the flight to Lisbon. We were bussed to the plane which I swear took 10-15 minutes. Once on board there was a slight delay to finish loading food. However, once that happened and we were ready to leave the captain announced we had missed our departure window and would now have to wait, which he said was scheduled for one hour from now!  Luckily it turned out to be only 30 minutes and we made up most of the time once in the air, arriving in Lisbon only about 10 minutes late.

I had to laugh as the conversation in the “business class” section (3 seats in a row but middle seat left empty) of the plane seem to imply that many, if not most, of the people on board were headed to the Regent cruise. The “meet & greet” at the Lisbon airport went smoothly. There were Regent representatives with signs who helped us with luggage and took us to the waiting bus for transport to the hotel. I counted about 30 people on the bus who obviously were on the same plane as us.

As I mentioned before when you pick a concierge level room on the ship as an added perk you get a hotel room stay prior to boarding the ship, and transportation to the hotel, then to the ship. More often than not the hotel is a higher class hotel, in our case we would be staying at the Four Seasons Ritz in downtown Lisbon. It is elegant but I was not impressed with their check-in process. We started to queue up at the front desk where there was only one person.  Then another person showed up to say they had arranged for us to check in in a special room which a few of us were led to. Once there we again found only one person handling the process until finally two others showed up to help. Not my idea of how a hotel that charges $800/night should be run! Luckily I was early in the line and got our room key quickly. I must say the rooms are top cabin, with real orchids, high end toiletries and more electronic light switches to control everything in the room than I have ever seen. Yes, there are robes and slippers but the latter are cheaper versions, unlike ones I have received in the past when I had the opportunity to stay at a Four Seasons hotel.

 

We were not terribly hungry so simply went to the bar area for a quick salad and sandwich before calling it a day. Drinks were surprisingly priced similar to Seattle, however, meal dishes were typically higher than you would expect in an equivalent Seattle restaurant.

We board our ship tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

As most of you know since retiring in 2007 I have been on a quest to “collect countries”. And I like to joke it was the fault of my wife, Yvonne, who stated emphatically that I needed to have a hobby once I retired! She regrets that challenge to this day. In the last 15 years I have gradually added new countries to my list which now stands at 94, because of our recent visit to Malta. In 2019 I saw a cruise that traveled from Lisbon, Portugal to Cape Town, South Africa on a route that followed the west coast of the African continent, visiting various African countries along the way. It turned out there would be 8 countries that I have not visited (and not likely to because they are not on the normal list of countries that people want to travel to). Although the cruise was 24 days in length (our longest has been 21 days) Yvonne knew how excited I was about it and agreed we should take it, so we booked the cruise for November 2020 (the itinerary is rarely offered and only by a couple of cruise lines as they reposition a ship to another part of the world).

Well, we all know what happened next!  2020 brought the Covid outbreak and the cruise industry pretty much shut down, so the itinerary was not offered. It is now 2022 and I am happy to report we leave today on the rescheduled November departure on the Regent Seven Seas Voyager!

One of the perks when sailing with Regent is that they include business class air on the international portion of your trip. We are flying on Lufthansa from Seattle to Frankfurt with a connection to Lisbon. For this trip we chose a concierge level room on the ship which includes a one night hotel stay in Lisbon prior to boarding our ship. We always plan to arrive a day early for any cruise (in case there are any travel glitches) so this works out nicely for us.

Hopefully, because of the many days at sea and with a decent internet connection on the ship I will be more timely with reporting our travels as we go! Time will tell.

We were slated to be picked up at 9:30AM and taken to the airport for our flights home. Gerry & Sue were able to make their connection to Chicago but because of the timing we would be again spending the night at the Frankfurt airport amd flying to Seattle tomorrow.

The transportation arrived on time,  BUT it was a Mercedes sedan, not a larger vehicle that could hold 4 people and luggage. The driver tried to fit the luggage in the trunk, but no way. He suggested we hold the luggage on our laps and we said “no way” . He said he would take two people and call for a second cab. We told Gerry & Sue to go first because of their connection. We would wait. By this time the street in front of the hotel was now closed to traffic so we would have to walk the one block to an area where traffic was allowed.  Luckily the lady from the hotel front desk offered to go with us to make sure we got our needed ride. We waited 5 minutes,10 minutes, maybe even 15 minutes, but no cab. The hotel lady then said she would call for a cab for the hotel which she did and it promptly arrived. I did not know what it would cost but at this point I could care less. We were on our way to the airport, and in the end it only cost me 20 Euros! All’s well that ended well!

We made our flight to Frankfurt and bid goodby to Gerry & Sue as they winged their way to Chicago. We again stayed at the Marriott/Sheraton hotel complex right at the terminal, had dinner at their restaurant, got a good nights sleep and completed our trip the next day (September 29th) to Seattle with no further glitches.

Home, sweet home!

Steps for the day:  Sept 28:  5,806.   Sept 29:  7,484

EPILOGUE

The trip was delightful. It was a bit too warm for us who are used to the mild summer weather of Seattle. Going earlier or later in the year would be preferable unless you are a fan of warm weather. Sicily is really part of Italy, yet it is so different in so many ways. It is worth an extended visit the next time you are in the area.

Our experience with Secret Italia Tours was very positive; I would travel with them again.

And finally, Malta was simply amazing and certainly worth a visit in its own right. Yvonne now says it is on her “one of my favorite countries” list!

And a final word:  “We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.” – Unknown

Today we are to explore several of the ancient temple sites of Malta, located outside of Valletta. Our initial stop was at the Tarxien temple complex located about 7 km from Valletta. The complex was “rediscovered” by farmers in 1914 and restoration of the site began in the 1950s. This site, dating from 3600 to 2500 BC, is the most complex of all temple sites in Malta and consists of four megalithic structures. The temples are renowned for the detail of their carvings, which include domestic animals carved in relief, altars, and screens decorated with spiral designs and other patterns.The site seems to have been used extensively for rituals, which probably only involved animal sacrifice as there was evidence of animal bones in the area, but no human remains.

I was amazed at how large the temple structure was and the fact there were multiple rooms in the building. The fact that these structures existed 1,000 years before the pyramids of Egypt blew me away. I had never heard of this piece of history before this day.

From here we drove to the other major site in the area, known as Hagar Qim, but we first made a stop at the Blue Grotto which is on the way to Hagar Qim. Normally we would be able to take a small boat ride to the grotto but the sea conditions on this day prevented the boats from operating. However, we did have an opportunity to interact with a real Maltese falcon and his trainer at the viewpoint overlooking the grotto. Never one to pass up a unique photo opportunity I had my picture taken while holding the falcon! I was amazed at how light it was and the falcon pretty much ignored me while sitting on my arm.

After a quick view of the grotto from afar and a stop for some refreshments, we went to see the remains of the megalithic temple at Hagar Qim. There is a main building dating from the era of 2600-3200BC, with several smaller buildings nearby that may be even older. We got to see a short 3D movie about the site before walking to the site itself. There is evidence of animal sacrifice being held here but no evidence of any human sacrifice. As is often common in many ancient structures there is a hole in a wall that allows the sun to shine on a particular location during the summer solstice. Like the Tarxien complex the temple contains adjoining rooms and some of the stone pieces are huge! Excavations and restoration of the temple started back as early as 1839. It would take significantly more time spent at these temple sites to fully understand their meaning; we only got a glimpse and quick overview of their history and meaning.

The last exploration of the day was a visit (and lunch) at the nearby fishing village (population 3,660) of Marsaxlokk. We were not overly hungry so we simply opted for pasties served by a vendor located at the waterfront. They were quite tasty and something different.

Returning to Valletta we bid farewell to our tour guide and prepared to go to our final dinner in Malta, as tomorrow we leave. The original restaurant picked by Secret Italia was changed at the last minute and we were picked up and transported to the nearby town of Sliema. We were a bit surprised that the tour company would transport us to the distant town when there were so many restaurants near our hotel in Valletta. As it turned out, the tiny (14 tables), out of the way ( down a very narrow street) place is a favorite of the owner of Secret Italia (the restaurant owner told us ) and we assumed he simply wanted us to sample a very non-tourist restaurant for our final meal. It was a nice gesture and it turned out to be a delightful evening. I even opted for the very traditional Maltese dish of rabbit stew for my entree (tastes like chicken). Again we ordered what we wished on the menu in the way of food and drink and the bill was never presented to us for payment.  A cab was ordered for us and delivered us back to our hotel, again without a charge to us. I was impressed.

Tomorrow we all head home.

Steps for the day: 5,903. More riding than walking!

This morning we were met by a different local guide, a gentleman (none of us can recall his name) who turned out to be a wealth of knowledge about Malta and its history! Today is meant to be a walking tour of the many sights in the city of Valletta.

We walked a few blocks to the edge of Valletta to overlook the water and the fortifications that had protected this city/country for hundreds of years. After learning more about the history of Malta we made our way back into the city to tour the small archeological museum which turned out to be pretty fascinating and I wish we had had more time to explore it. The most fascinating new information we received was that there is evidence on Malta of civilizations that dated back to 3600BC, a thousand years before the Egyptians. Holy smokes! Tomorrow we will be visiting the ruins of these early civilizations.

After the too short walk through of the museum we went to tour the Manoel theater, built in 1731 by the, then, Grand Master of St.John, as a source of entertainment for his knights and the local townspeople. It still exits today and is in amazing.

From there we proceeded to an OMG visit to the St. John’s Co-Cathedral, probably the most visited attraction in Valletta as there are timed entrances and when we were there it was very crowded. But, oh what a church!  It was built from 1572-1577, again, by the order of the current Grand Master of the Knights of Malta. I thought the church we had seen in Sicily was the most elaborate I had ever seen. I was wrong as this church is simply amazing. I cannot post most of the pictures I took while there; I suggest you go to the church website to get a fuller appreciation of the grandeur of the facility. The interior of the church is considered to be one of the finest examples of high Baroque architecture in Europe. I believe it!

The entire ornate marble floor consists of 400 tombs of knights of the order. It is a work of art in its own right.

Besides the main church there are nine chapels dedicated to the knights of various countries who are members of the Knights of Malta; each chapel seems more elegant than the last.

Another reason why people are interested in visiting this church is because there are several original paintings by Caravaggio including the famous “Beheading of St. John the Baptist 1608” located there. A second Caravaggio painting “Saint Jerome Writing” is also in the church. They are both impressive works of art.

An aside: the name “co-cathedral” was new to me. It is so called because it shares the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Malta together with the much older Cathedral of St. Paul in Mdina.

Our tour company, Secret Italia, had made reservations for an included lunch at a local outdoor cafe and our guide left us there to order whatever we wanted from the menu and to have the rest of the afternoon free to explore the city further.

After lunch we decided that we wanted to take a harbor cruise to gain a different perspective of the city. Sue’s knee was acting up and she begged off so the three of us grabbed a cab to head over to another part of the city to catch the 2 PM tour. Malta had a neat system for catching a cab. You went to a central kiosk where you bought a prepaid fare (based on a city zone) and simply walked over to a line of waiting cabs. No hassle, no arguing over fares; it was a welcome change to cab travel! The 1.5 hr tour was delightful and we got to see more mega-yachts, and other fortifications that protected the city through the centuries.

Dinner was on our own and after the big lunch we had we did what we often do when in a foreign country-visit the local McDonalds for a burger and fries (and to see if there were any special menu items that cater to tastes of the local clientele). The only difference we saw here was you could get a beer with your burger!

Tomorrow we will be visiting several of the ancient temples found on the island.

Steps for the day: 8,765. Not bad. Good enough to justify an after dinner gelato again!

We were met promptly at 9AM by our local tour guide (Agnes, if memory serves me) and a driver who would be taking us to see several small ancient cities outside of Valletta. Our first stop was in Naxxar, where we would be visiting a palace (Palazzo Parisio) now open to the public. There was originally a hunting lodge at this site built in 1733 for the Grand Master of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly know as the Knights Hospitallers, an organization dating back to the first crusade when it was established to provide care for the sick and poor people going on pilgrimages to Jerusalem. In 1898 Marquis Giuseppe Scicluna bought the property and built the home that is there today. Needless to say it is elegant!

From there we made a quick stop at the Dingli cliffs, at 250 meters above sea level, to take in the views of the coastline of Malta before driving on to the town of Rabat (Population 11,470) to see the famed catacombs of St. Paul located there and then used as burial grounds during Roman times. According to the bible, St. Paul was shipwrecked in Malta for three months. I was rather amazed at how extensive the caves and burial sites are. It took a lot of digging and carving to create this labyrinth of tunnels and tombs.

Before leaving Rabat we were treated to a local popular pastry called “pastizzi”, which is usually eaten warm. We could not get seating in the local shop selling them so Agnes purchased them along with a popular local soda called “Kinnie” and we retired to the nearby park to leisurely eat our snack before moving on. The pastizzi are made from thin, flaky dough (like phyllo) and typically stuffed with ricotta cheese. Kinnie is a popular Maltese carbonated soft drink made from bitter orange and extracts of wormwood. In my opinion it is an acquired taste.

We next went to the ancient city of Mdina (population 243). This fortified city dates back to the 8th century BC and was the early capital of the island until 1530 when the Order of St. John arrived. It was a cool place to wander around and we were given ample time to do so. Like most of the buildings on Malta the buildings are made of ivory colored stone.

Our last stop of the day was to see and experience St. Mary’s Church in Mosta. The design of the church is based on the Pantheon in Rome. It sports the third largest unsupported dome in the world and is Malta’s largest and most famous church. The church narrowly avoided destruction during WWII when on 9 April 1942 a  German aerial bomb pierced the dome and fell into the church during Mass, but failed to explode. Obviously parishioners considered it a miracle. There is a special display in the church showing pictures of the damage caused by the bomb.

It was then back to Valletta where we wandered the busy streets in the late afternoon, stopping for a drink and some people watching. Dinner was on our own this evening and we all wanted meat so off we went for a delightful dinner in a second story, outdoor restaurant overlooking one of the squares of Valletta.

Tomorrow we will be doing a walking tour of the major sights of Valletta.

Steps for the day:  11,641 which justified my gelato after dinner!

Malta is 187 km southwest of Sicily, and a short 45 minute flight away from Sicily. And, perhaps more important, it is a new country for the Bishops! Gerry & Sue had once visited it for a day while on a cruise but they agreed it would be fun to spend more time there and explore it a bit.  Secret Italia offers tours there so we simply added on a five day tour of the country to our Sicily trip. We had a 3:30 PM flight from Catania to Valletta, the capital city of Malta so it was a leisurely morning as we were scheduled to be picked up at noon and taken to the airport which happens to be in Catania, about 45 minutes away.

The pickup (another tour couple went with the four of us) and the drive to the airport  went smoothly, but when we got to the Catania airport the driver unloaded another suitcase & briefcase that did not belong to any of us, or anyone in our tour group! Someone was going to be very unhappy when he/she discovered their suitcase had disappeared. We do not know what happened next. The airport was very crowded but we managed to grab sandwiches as there would be no food on our Ryanair flight to Malta.

All went well with the flight and we were met by a driver in Valletta when we landed. I give Secret Italia a lot of credit for arranging for personal driver/transportation. It is a very nice perk.

The old town part of Valletta is also a walking city for most of it. In fact, our driver had to leave us off about one block from our hotel. The good news is it was downhill and we managed to roll our suitcases there without much effort. Our wives did note, however, that it was uphill when we leave! We”ll cross that bridge later!

The hotel was a very small boutique hotel with maybe 20 rooms and a tiny lobby. The rooms were very modern but ours was very small with only a couple of windows which looked out to the building walls next door! We had no idea of what the weather would be.

Dinner was provided this evening but no one met us in the lobby so we assumed we had to walk to the selected restaurant and hope that all had been prearranged. There was no real bar at the hotel so we wandered down the street to find some pre-dinner refreshment, stopping at a “funky” tiny bar that looked like a 1940s living room, run by a couple of guys. It/they were friendly and we had our first cocktail in Malta, and, no, it was not a Manhattan. Gin & tonic seemed more appropriate for some reason. We walked a few blocks further on pedestrian-only streets to our restaurant hoping there was a table waiting for us. There was, and we had an absolutely delightful meal, complete with wine. In fact, in my opinion, it was one of the better meals we had on the trip. The decor in the small restaurant was elegant and the food was great. It was a  wonderful way to start our visit to Malta. Walking back to the hotel we again were met with a tremendous energy level and vibe of the city, brought about by all the people eating and drinking in the outdoor cafes and restaurants.

Steps for the day: 5,439, mostly once we got to Malta. Tomorrow we hopefully are met by a guide who will show us Malta.

 

 

Today is our last day in Taormina and our Sicily tour. But before we leave Giusi arranged for us to participate in a cooking class where we would make, then eat, a pasta and a pizza.

We walked over to a local restaurant that also offers cooking classes in the morning before they open for lunch. We were issued aprons and then instructed by one of the staff how to start with flour and water and make the dough we would need for the pasta. Once the dough is made we were to wrap small pieces around a stick to create a pasta with a hole in it. It was not as easy as our teacher made it look! The resultant pasta were not uniform in size or diameter; it was not a proud moment for the students.

 

Next came the flour, water and yeast to make pizza dough. The resultant mounds of dough were not pretty but they would serve their purpose. Once the dough was stretched into the appropriate circle we were marched into the kitchen where we could add whatever condiments we wished to our creation! I was a traditionalist, selecting sausage and mushrooms. They restaurant uses a wood fired stove to bake the pizzas so they were done in the blink of an eye. And most importantly, they actually tasted quite good!  The pasta was served with a simple tomatoes sauce on it and I thought it was rather bland. And, of course, there was wine and cannoli to finish our luncheon.

We had the rest of the afternoon as free time and Yvonne and Sue decided to spend the time packing for our departure tomorrow.  Gerry and I decided to take the Rick Steve’s walking tour of Taormina, using his guide book to explain what we were seeing as we walked through the city. You do learn a lot about the area and its features by using such guides. We did quite a few “I didn’t know that” as we walked past areas we had walked past in previous days and not knowing what we were seeing. These walking tours add to the overall enjoyment of a city and culture. We did make a stop at a highly recommended coffee shop called the “Bam Bar” specifically to have one of their specialty granitas that contain two flavors AND whipped cream. We had to laugh when we tried to pick two random granita flavors the waiter said no-obviously he felt they would not complement each other. He then offered a second flavor to blend with our first choice. Boy, we’re we impressed with the result, especially with that addition of a marvelous whipped cream!  No wonder this place is always packed.

Tonight was our farewell dinner at a nearby restaurant and, of course, it was served outdoors. I do not know what they would do here if it ever rained as most dining is done outdoors. We ate, drank and laughed reflecting our 12 days with Giusi as our leader. There were then hugs and farewells as we all were headed our separate ways in the morning. I was impressed that Secret Italia (our tour company) had arranged for us all to travel separately to the Catania airport, leaving Taormina at times based on our flight departure times. It was a nice touch as more often tour companies will simply load everyone on a bus for a single departure and you might get stuck waiting hours at the airport for your flight.

Most people were healed home but some, like us, were moving on for more adventure. In our case we four were headed to Malta for a 5 day tour. The vacation continues……

Steps for the day: 6,592- almost the recommended amount now said should be the goal for those of us older folks!