'Luzzu' traditional fishing boat

 Mdina is the old capital of Malta, it’s origins trace back to 1500BC. It’s an ancient walled city with an extraordinary mix of Medieval & Baroque architecture. We met one of our friends here who is a regular visitor on our travels. You can purchase a whole days bus ticket for 2.60 Euros where you can hop on & off as you wish, we explored the beautiful promenades between the picturesque bays.

Marsaxlokk is a traditional small fishing village where you can admire the memorable ‘Luzzu’ fishing boats bobbing up & down in the harbour. On the bow of the boats are painted with a pair of eyes which are believed to protect the boats from danger.

Gozo is a small island off Malta which has been inhabited since 5000BC, rich in historical locations with 22 churches dotted around the island. It also has some amazing beaches with brilliant orange-red sand & clear turquoise waters. We caught the ferry over again using the amazing bus service for 2.60 Euros for the whole day.

Dwerja what a find a true gem of the Maltese islands, absolutely stunning place. Guarded by a coastal tower (1652), has a chapel St Anne’s (1960) & some amazing rock formations ( see the pics).

We rushed to complete this blog & check out of the hotel to get to the ferry only to be told it had been cancelled!!!!  All part of the adventure!!

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We set sail from Pozzallo,   after 14 months travelling we left our treasured motor home ‘Snuggly Wuggly’  in a secured car park which we had a really good deal with helpful staff & very close to the ferry port. The journey across took 1 ¾ hours just over 90KM in distance.

We have booked ourselves into a 3* hotel for the unbelievable price of £10 per night which includes breakfast & dinner, with an indoor & outside pool, no slopping out for a week, but we’re missing our Snuggly Wuggly!!! (www.TravelRepublic.com )

Malta  has a unique 7,000 years of turbulent history, from the early settlers of the Temple period, the Arabs & Roman occupation, the Knights of St John (1530) & the Great Siege (1565), Napoleon & Nelson, also the destruction of the two World Wars. The determinations of the people to survive & succeed the war were all honoured with the George Cross in 1942. The island was the most bombed country in the Second World War.

We took an open top bus tour with a cruise for 13 Euros another great deal which we were able to use over 2 days, fab. We ventured down its 10 creeks & into the unforgettable Grand Canal with stunning architecture & scenery. Valletta  is the capital city (UNESCO) it has narrow streets with an abundance of historical buildings, churches & gardens very beautiful not to be missed.

Typical Maltese cuisine definitely surrounds itself around Rabbit which is normally fried in garlic, or cooked in stews & pasta sauces. ‘Pastizzi’ is hot cheese & pea stuffed into pastry & ‘Imqaret’ deep fried pastry parcels filled with dates which we had with ice cream scrummy!!!

Catania  is the second largest city in Sicily & it’s also known for its seismic history, having been destroyed by a catastrophic earthquake in 1169 & 1693, also several volcanic eruptions from the neighboring Mount Etna volcano, the most violent of which was in 1669. It has an eventful history, having been founded in the 8^th century BC. Under the city runs the river Amenano  which is visible in just one point south of the Piazza Duomo where the famous fish & general market is located, this was the best one we’ve visited in our whole journey.

It was wonderful to see 2 of my sisters & Mum who made the effort to come out to see us, they brought some wonderful, delicious & thoughtful gifts out & Tony was extremely happy with his Pork Pies, Black Pudding & Bacon!!!!! We had a fabulous time sampling the local food & drink, & visiting the tourist sites.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ddN1VXcO1Q

At last i’ve persuaded Tony to get the mullet cut yippee! It was like going to bed with Ken Dodd & waking up with George Clooney!! (i’ve got a good imagination!)

We had a great walk to a small fishing village ‘Spoglitti’ which was around  a 9 mile walk where Tony promised me that we could return to the site by bus, guess what NO BUSES!!!! The track back was along soft, wet sand with little conversation!!!

 A few days later we had a 2 hour round  bike ride to Marina di Ragusa which has some beautiful beaches, explored the small town where Tony had his haircut & his friend gave me a Cucumber why?!  When we returned to the site our motorhome along with everybody elses was covered with black volcanic ash, Mount Etna had erupted with 5,000 metre high column of volcanic ash, busy clean up.

We’ve only got a few days left on the site so catching up on a few jobies etc.

Christmas Day, nice touch

We’ve settled into life at the campsite, there’s a mix of nationalities & our fellow campers  all seem very friendly.

Bread gets delivered daily, Fruit & Veg 3 times a week & fish if he’s caught any!!

Campsite had organised a get together for the ladies last thing I expected was a Tupperware Party!!!! Free herbal tea & cake though which was lovely & got to take a festive mug home happy days!!

We’ve had some lovely gifts off the site for Christmas, Cake, Tomatoes, Aubergines & Poinsettia plant very generous.

One of our friends VanManDan who we met  in Finikounda  last year is staying in the campsite next door Camping Scarabeo, he invited us around for Cheese & Wine very nice but fuzzy heads the next day!  

We walked into one of the local villages today Punta Secca  around trip of 8.5 miles,  had a picnic  on the beach, nice & sunny so made the most of it.

We’ve had a really nice Christmas, Christmas Eve we were invited to join Hans & Suzi for Gluwein which was very potent! to the sounds of a mouth organ & squeeze box playing ‘Silent Night’, magical. Christmas Day joined our friend Dan for a few drinks, then back to the camp where we were greeted by local children playing festive tunes, a nice touch by the campsite. Boxing Day VanManDan made us Cottage Pie the best I’ve ever tasted, even better than mine!!!! We’ll need plenty of walks & bike rides to work off all the lovely goodies we’ve devoured!! 

What a freebie!

  Brucoli  is a seaside resort in the province of Siracusa,  standing a few kilometres from Augusta.  The road leading there is particularly charming as it makes its way through a series of olive-groves. The presence of the harbour area contributes to the charm of this lovely town, it also has a 15th century castle. We’ve had 3 fabulous free nights overlooking the bay.

Had a couple of wonderful free nights at Thapos  on the ‘Magnisi’ peninsula, with a beautiful scenic 8 mile walk around the Nature Reserve, loads of mozzies though!!

Siracusa is in the South East corner of the island, it was once a mighty Greek colony  founded in 733 BC. It has an Medieval historical centre on the small island of ‘Ortigia’ which you can easily access by the new bridge. The patron saint is Saint Lucy (San Lucia) who was martyred near the site of the church in Piazza San Lucia in 304. We were fortunate to witness one of the many processions of San Lucia which is the church feast dedicated to her. The town has temples, squares, & plenty of quaint shops & cafes to wonder & relax in.

We’ve arrived at our winter campsite which is just outside of Punta Braccetto ‘Camping Luminoso’ www.campingluminoso.com It’s a really nice site with a friendly owner & immaculate facilities, the day we arrived the site had organised a feast of samples of typical Sicilian food & drink which we throughly enjoyed especially the homemade 95% Lemoncello!!!!

We’ve travelled from Acireale  on a very steep & winding road up to the car park where the cable cars are situated at Mount Etna  which is 1923 metres. Parked up for the night & went on this very steep walk up to ‘Silvestri’ crater, it was really misty but thankfully it dispersed a little once we got to the top.

Mount Etna  is the highest volcano in Europe, it extends for approximately 1250 square km & reaches the height of 3350 metres. It’s considered to be one of the most active volcanoes in the world. It erupted last in 2002 which was characterized by 2 craters one in the south & the other in the north.

We had a very cold  free night stay which was interrupted at 4am by a bus load of drunken ravers!! Following day caught the first chair lift which reaches 2500 metres in 15 minutes with some amazing views. Then into a special off road vehicle which takes you to the central craters at 2900 metres, with the top of Mount Etna so close at 3345 metres at the moment!  We had a guided walk along the lava pathways which were still smouldering, how incredible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24OHQ2exVf8

Tindari

Made our way to Tindari   for a nights stay at a campsite,  Snuggly Wuggly needed re-charging etc! Met a German camper on the site who pointed out to Tony that you shouldn’t be washing your motorhome, Tony politely said that for 11 Euros a night he could do what he wanted! no invites that night!!! Had a great steep walk up the hill on which the city formerly stood, it’s 180 metres above sea level, visited the stunning Sanctuary of Tindari. Met a local artist Nino who made Tony a bracelet off Lumachella (Fire Marble) on a leather strap very unique. bucolodeliarte@yahoo.it

Following day had an eventful journey around the base of Mount Etna lots of rain, flooding rivers, quickly made our way to Riposto where we stayed on the harbour safe & sound thank goodness!

Onto Mazzaro & Taormina which is nestled on the hillside of Monte Tauro a vast 200 metres above sea level, has breathtaking views which ever way you look, with the backdrop of Europe’s highest & most active Volcano Mount Etna.

Made our way to our campsite in Santa Maria La Scala www.campinglatimpa.it we’re surrounded with orange,cachi, lemon & banana trees where you can help yourself which of course we are!! it’s located just outside the town off Acireale  where we’re spending a week catching up on a few jobies & doing a bit of sightseeing. Walked into Acireale  yesterday a lovely town, stocked up on a few provisions sampled the fruit Cachi  I’d describe the taste close to a Mango dipped in sugar naughty but nice! Had a very tasty pizza with roasted vegetables,egg & spinach on Magnifico! It started to rain very heavily so headed back, a lot of volcanic black ash about, Tony very busy washing it off!

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We drove around this beautiful scenic peninsula looking for a campsite but they were all closed! Arrived in Milazzo which is like an emerged tongue that stretches 7km in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The castle dominates Milazzo’s landscape at the top of the ancient “Borgo”, a lovely town where we’ve had 5 fabulous free nights overlooking the glistening sea, weather has been really good creeping into the 70′s, bliss! Came across Cuttone Billard Club  where the owner let us use his internet, he was very interested in our travels & kindly presented us with signed copies of his Billards books which  he had written, one of the original stars of the game ‘Giuseppe Cuttone’. In return we gave him a Welsh  flag sticker which he proudly put on his cue! Had a great day sightseeing with an excellent fish market where we purchased some lovely big prawns, making a risotto later yum yum!

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