A bit of a dilemma day!!!! We are flying to Rome tomorrow and according to our Alitalia flight info we needed to check in online today. Said it was necessary that we check in online. The check in was only open for 24 hours before the flight. So today was the day to do it! We have no wifi here at the apartment so we need to go down to Taormina to check in. We decided to drive down there rather than walk all the steps as we will drive to another beach later. So ...

Day at the beach!! Drove along the beach past Giardini Naxos ( which was very busy), and down to the beach at San Marcos. Another local beach rather than a tourist beach. It was lovely there. Pebbled beach, and miles long, but the water was so clear. Unlike the water at home. No sand thrown up in it, no seaweed. Lots and lots of families on the beach- the Italians are very family oriented and we have noticed how they are all so good with the little ones and th...

Up and up and up to Castelmola and then down and down and down to Taormina!!! This morning we decided to walk to the village high up above us...Castelmola. There is a path which winds its way up the mountain. It is very steep, the village is on a cliff top above the apartment. When we arrived up there we looked around the village and then had lunch at one of the restaurants. After lunch we walked back down to the apartment and sat on the balcony with a glass ...

Back to where it all began for Lauri.....Vizzini....his parent's home town..... This morning we drove down to Vizzini, the town where Lauri's family came from. It is a farming town, surrounded by fields and some market gardens. And very, very old! So much like a lot of the lovely old towns and villages we have seen so far. With cobblestone roads and tiny terraced houses built on the side of the hills. Just gorgeous! There are many many steps as you wind your ...

Three weeks ago we were on our flight from Australia.....in three weeks time we will be arriving back in Australia....it is our half way point already!!!! We had a very relaxing day at the beach yesterday. We went for a drive north of Scopello and stopped at a couple of beaches for a look, then just north of Castellamare del Golfo we stopped for the rest of the afternoon. Lovely beach, so put up our umbrella, (supplied by the hotel), and swam and lazed about. W...