Walking the Cotswold Way Trail - Great Britain

This area is flowered, green and beautiful--and full of history, as well. We are drinking it all in with our eyes and loving it.

The Cotswold Way Trail
Our walk: 7 nights/5 walking days

Day 1: Sun 18th, Arrive Chipping Campden from Palermo, Sicily

Day 2: Mon 19th, Visit Chipping Campden

Day 3: Tues 20th, Chipping Campden to Wood Stanway - 12.5 miles

Day 4: Weds 21st, Wood Stanway to Cleeve Hill - 11 miles

Day 5: Thur 22nd, Cleeve Hill to Leckhampton Hill - 11.5 miles

Day 6: Fri 23rd, Leckhampton Hill to Painswick - 12.9 miles

Day 7: Sat 24th, Painswick to Leonard Stanley - 10.2 miles

Day 8: Sun 25th, Depart Leonard Stanley after breakfast for Aberdeen, Scotland.

Sicily's Best Asset: The Sicilians Themselves

The sun is shining, all is well. We leave Villa Farli tomorrow.

Sicily's greatest asset is its people. Sicilians are a delight. They are direct and assertive in their communication style, and at the same time they are pleasant and go to great lengths to be helpful. None of us have encountered any rough edges in our interaction.

Service personnel seem happy with life and their jobs, which contrasts sharply with the sullen attititude encountered in many places, which certainly includes the United States.

'Where can I find an ATM, please?' The waiter tells the owner he is leaving for a moment and takes one of our group in his own car to an ATM and brings him back.

'Where is X restaurant?' The person will most likely lead you there in their car.

A restaurant bill is incorrect. It is discussed assertively, in detail, but without any sign of defensiveness or irritation.

The people's attitude: Italy is nice, but Sicily is BELLO. 'I had the good fortune to be born here, live here and I hope to die here.'

There is, of course, high unemployment and economic hardship. Many smaller towns are closed up with houses and business locales abandoned--drab and sad, falling into ruin. Young people leave for better opportunity. Nonetheless, with all of the archeological sites, fine art and history here, our group of ten friends agree that the Sicilian people themselves have been our best and most enjoyable discovery.

18 May 2008 - P.S. Ubiquitous Sicilian charm does not seem to radiate into Palermo and vicinity. This may be a general characteristic of populous urban areas.

Southern Sicily

Yesterday we visited the Greek ruins at Agrigento; today we are in the golden city of Noto. It is very windy--and chilly. All is well.

Villa Farli, Sicily

Villa Farli is an 18th Century farmhouse just a few minutes’ drive from the beautiful Baroque town of Scicli and a stone’s throw away from a series of sandy beaches. We have rented the Villa and are spending the week of May 10-17 here with our amigos from Austin.

Siracusa, Sicily

We are visiting Siracusa today. Tomorrow we will go for a few hours to Di Vendicari nature reserve nearby to see waterbirds. Saturday we meet our amigos from Austin here in Siracusa.

Located near the southeastern corner of Sicily on the Ionian coast, Siracusa (Syracuse) is built on an ancient Greek settlement founded by Corinthians in 734 BC. More than any other modern city in Sicily, Syracuse manifests a visible continuity from its ancient Greek past. It was the most important city in Magna Graecia, with a population of around 300,000, and for a time rivaled Athens as the most important city of the Greek world.

Di Vendicari Nature Reserve

Just south of Siracusa on the east coast of Sicily, Di Vendicari is an excellent place to observe wading birds, shorebirds, songbirds and hawks, especially during this time of Spring migration of birds from Africa to Europe and Asia. Over 250 species of birds have been observed at Di Vendicari, which includes a wetland area. The photo is of a secluded cove by the sea.

Mt. Etna

Mount Etna is located on the east coast of Sicily, close to Messina and Catania. It is the largest active volcano in Europe, currently standing about 3,326 m (10,910 ft) high. Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is in an almost constant state of eruption. The fertile volcanic soils support extensive agriculture, with vineyards and orchards spread across the lower slopes of the mountain and the broad Plain of Catania to the south. Today we drove around the volcano through forests and up to the bare, black lava fields. Last night it snowed on the summit.