Paris, France

One can only stay away from Paris for so long. It had been 5 years since Erin and I had visited Paris, and with Erin's increasing love of all things French and Jenna's interest in visiting the city, we booked last minute cheap flights to visit for the weekend to see the sights.

We arrived pretty late on Friday night, but luckily booked our hotel in Marais, a mere 30 yards from a great Bistro that Tanya recommended (http://parisianspring.blogspot.com/2009/10/best-brasserie-in-paris.html). 

It was a great little spot that had everything you need; the steak frites was nicely complimented by a couple bottles of cheap, but delicious Rhone red. The restaurant, Bouquet Saint Paul, is a must for reasonably-priced bistro food with a good vibe; a great place to relax the feet after a long day of power-touring!

The next morning, inspired by the movie Marie Antoinette, we made the quick trek out to Versailles to see perhaps the most amazing palace and garden combination in the world. We purchased the Paris Museum pass which is EUR30 for two days and worth the money in terms of skipping long ticket lines and getting access to over 60 museums and sights. 

The crappiest part about it was at Versailles, in what is blatantly a ploy to make tourists that have came from afar pay extra, charged an additional 8 euro to get access to the gardens because of two daily water fountain shows. So you not only have to pay the 8 euro to see the museum, but an additional 8, not covered by the museum pass to see the gardens, even if it isn't close to the time of the fountain show. Due to principle, we choose against seeing the gardens; which is a pity because the gardens are perhaps the best part about the estate. The museum pass does however, cover Marie Antoinette's hamlet and mini-palace, which was really nice and provided a great setting for our picnic lunch, picked up at the great market in Versailles village. We opted for a whole rotisserie chicken on a baguette!

After the morning and early afternoon in Versailles, we headed back to the city and went to the Louve. What a great museum. One of my favorite parts is the old fortress, which the Louve is built directly on top of, but the foundations and old moat are part of an exhibit in the museum. 

Following the Louvre we went to a little bistro by Centre Pompidou called the Hanger, which had excellent home-made raviolis and good steaks, of course washed down with some nice house wine.  We hustled back to Pont Neuf after dinner (after learning nobody else was being let into the Notre Dame towers). Regardless, we had a nice sunset on the pont. 

The following day consisted of breakfast crepes, a nice coffee then it was off to the Eiffel Tower. If I would give any advice to visitors going to the tower, it would be to purchase advance tickets and avoid a lengthy wait (at least 90 minutes) to try and buy tickets the day of. I imagine Rick Steves says the same thing!

We were smart to get tickets in advance and got to the top in about 30 minutes (i.e. there is even a small wait when you already have tickets). 

After the Eiffel Tower, we wandered towards Luxembourg gardens and had a nice lunch, before hitting up Saint Chapelle before making our way back to the airport. It was too quick of a weekend and we all wished for a few more days to truly appreciate Paris!

Palermo, Sicily, Italy

Palermo...not a lot to say about it. I would advise to skip it all together when in Sicily. Get a rental car and head to Scopello or other coastal beach towns or to wine country. If you really want to go to Palermo, I suggest spending one night there maximum as there aren't a plethora of tourist sights, and it isn't the most pleasant city to walk around. However, the grit has some appeal, with cool streets, a nice Marina, and perhaps the most bizarre tourist experience in the world.

When we arrived we went to the old market area, the Vucciria, which is the oldest market in the city. There are some great winding roads, but the locals would confess the market is unfortunately not what it was even five years ago. There is tons of character so hopefully it will get turned around in due time. One of the cool spots that is there is this great bar that was serving the local workers (and me). 

We then continued to walk around by this historic square (Pretoria) near the four corners area that, due to people defacing it, is blocked off from public access. It is sad and would be like the Spanish steps in Rome being closed off from the public. 

We then went to the Capuchin catacombs, probably the craziest thing I have ever seen! Holding a couple hundred bodies that were placed there during the late 1800s, it is quite a collection. They bodies were placed there by loved ones and several scientific methods were used to try and preserve the bodies. Some still had hair and eyeballs! If you click on the link above, you can see the best preserved body, a small girl who died at the age of two who looks like she could have died yesterday! We were expecting a few bodies, not hundreds!

After taking a nap at our hotel (which was very very nice), Puerta Felice, we headed out to dinner, cursing by the marina that is being refurbished at the moment but nonetheless was really nice with the sun setting on it. 

This is the restaurant we ate at on one of the small roads in the old town. It was a very romantic ambiance and the food was great too. I don't remember the name unfortunately, but it was tiny and just down a side-road north quattro canti (four corners). 

As we had exhausted our love of Palermo, the next day we went to Mondello, the beach suburb of Palermo. The beach was incredibly crowded but the water was really great and sand was fine and soft. The pic doesn't capture how crowded it was, but it was really relaxing and only a 12 euro cab from the old town! 

Below are the storage huts that I imagine a lot of local families keep their paddles and inflatable ducks!

The day at Mondello was a relaxing and fitting end to the weekend full of beaches, sun, pasta, wine and dead people! Scopello being one of the most beautiful places on earth, and Palermo being one of the dirtiest! Next time I'll head back to the airport directly from Scopello!

Scopello, Sicily, Italy

After a somewhat dreary Madrid trip with no access to the water, and continuously stressful workweeks, myself, Jenna and Erin were in the mood for a relaxing long weekend on the beach. Sicily was a great choice for such activities. Upon landing, we hopped into our rental car and headed up the Northwest coast to Castellammare del Golfo to wander around before continuing up to Scopello, our base for two nights. Castellammare is a very quaint town, with an old Church and castle surrounding a beautiful harbor with lots of characteristic fishing boats. Surprisingly, the town was, not too many years ago, the most infiltrated mafia town, where a high percentage of the men were involved in organised crime.

We walked around the city for an hour and then grabbed a pretty good spaghetti meal at a spot on the harbor before heading up the mountain along the coast in a quick Big Suresque drive to Scopello. We stopped on a cliff side vista where a couple was selling tons of great olive wood products that are about a tenth of what the likes of William Sonoma would sell them for. Naturally we picked up a few things!

The landscape of Castellammare del Golfo is terrific.

We arrived in Scopello to find that our reservation for three people at Bed and Breakfast Maria, was mistakenly made for two, meaning we weren't able to stay there. This ended up being a blessing as the Maria's place wasn't exactly nice, it was pretty crappy actually and wouldn't be recommended in the summer as there is no AC and tiny windows. We instead stayed at a nice apartment rented by a local with views of the med and AC. We were happy for the mistake! But it took away 30 minutes of beach time at the tonnara (above), one of the most stunning beaches we've been to....crystal clear waters, caves, sun, and the rock formations were like those in Thailand! It was a great start to the weekend!

We had dinner that night at la Terraza, where it if weren't for the views, would be a complete bust as the food didn't meet the high expectations for Italian cuisine. At least the wine was cheap and good!

The next day we set off to Zingaro Nature reserve, a beautiful and unspoilt reserve with great hikes and beaches. We packed a big picnic and were off. You could walk from Scopello if you don't have a car as well. We walked to the third beach from the Scopello entrance to begin our day. We were warned immediately of a jellyfish presence on the beach, where we saw a couple but our snorkel gear was helpful to spot them before they got too close. The water was so clear and the snorkeling was amazing. The sun wasn't too shabby either, good thing we had lots of sunscreen!

The next beach was our favorite of the weekend, Cala Della Disa, complete relaxation in an amazing setting. See for yourself...

The snorkeling was also amazing at this place, we went for a while along the coastline, seeing cool coral, colorful fish, and not many jellyfish. We gave hot and cold stone massages to each other which amplified relaxation time and then did a little more snorkeling near the beach, when Jenna randomly was the recipient of a jellyfish sting. Luckily it was just a little guy so the sting wasn't too bad.

After a few hours of R&R at the second beach, we made one last stop at the closest beach to the park where the waves were crashing and there were hundreds of fish at our feet playing in the water with us.

Following the beach we had a nice pizza dinner and some wine on the balcony of our apartment enjoying thesunset. 

 

We then had the most local experience of the trip, joining the entire village in the main square to watch the Ghana-Uruguay world cup match on a projection on one of the old buildings. I think it was the best atmosphere I could ever imagine to take in a world cup match, apart from being at the match itself. If only it was a US-Italy match it really would've been intense. It was great as the road through the village was completely blocked off by the spectators so cars just had to stop their journey at the square and watch the game until it was done!

The next morning it was off to Palermo, saying one last goodbye to the great village of Scopello and its amazing beaches!

Toledo & Madrid, Spain

A couple weeks back, the three legged monster (Jenna, Erin and I) along with Stu and Kate, headed to Madrid for a weekend of tapas and sightseeing. Jenna and I set out a day early to sneak a day trip to Toledo. Toledo is a quick 30 minute train ride from Madrid's Atocha train station (located by the Prado and Retro Park) and costs about €8 each way per person. If in Madrid for more than 2 days, Toledo is a must.

Toledo, a UNESCO world heritage site, was a former capital of the Spanish empire and is known as an unusual city for its history of religious tolerance between Jews, Muslims and Christians. Much of the existing town is several hundred years old and walking through the streets is great, with lots of small winding roads where there is something new at every corner (at least a different souvenir shop selling the same products at every corner).

The arrival from the train station is great, a 10 minute walk crossing an old and imposing stone bridge before breaching the castle walls (as Jenna did with easy below). The town is perched on top of a hill along a river, so it undoubtedly provided great protection against the uninvited in the past.

We wandered around the town and went into the Gothic Cathedral of St. Mary, which was actually a really pleasant surprise. Many times these churches charge and arm and a kneecap for an average experience, but this was definitely worth it. Reminiscent of the church we visited in Seville, it was full of surprises. The Cathedral, built in the 1400's, was very impressive and its unbelievable it has been standing for so long and in such great condition. The choir was remarkable, as was the altar (retable). My favourite part was the wall/ceiling behind the altar (or part of the altar), called El Transparente, several stories high, with fantastic figures of stucco, painting, bronze castings, and multiple colors of marble, enhanced by the sunlight giving the impression that the whole altar is rising to heaven. It was really really cool. I love the churches where you can't exactly tell if the painting or the actual building has an angle in it.

After the church we were determined to find a church to climb up to check a view of the city, which Iglesia San Roman provided (see first photo). We had lunch and watched the first match of the world cup (South Africa v. Mexico) over some tapas, then walked it off and had a pre-trainride home beer atop the bridge before returning for Madrid. You really only need 3-4 hours in Toledo and can easily manage as a day trip....a very worthwhile day trip.

When we returned we cleaned up and headed out to Calle Baja near Plaza Mayor for some eats before the rest of the gang made it in....the photo below at a great wine bar (whose name escapes me), sums up the night pre-Stu, Kate, Erin arrival; ham and wine. However that's not fully true as the place below served up some of the best squid I've ever had.

Once the others arrived, we went for some more Jamon, nicely partnered with Sangria and Manchego.Stu was hungry. After dinner Jenna and I showed the others our elaborate hand shake we created, which really consists of dancing aimlessly and isn't much of a hand shake...let's just say its a work in progress.

The next day, much to our dismay and disbelief, it was pouring all day long:-(. Everyone warned us about going to Madrid in June when it was supposed to be so dry and hot....let's just say we wished that was the case. Thankfully we spent the morning in the Prado and the rest of the day eating and drinking!! We made it to a bar and watched the US and England draw, which as many media outlet's proclaim as a US victory. If only we could've scored one more against Ghana. The beers, though small, were really refreshing...I soon transitioned to Spanish Douro, which never fails to satisfy.

Following the match, we went to El Mollete, a great little spot that is operated by a lovely couple. The wife cooks up some amazing food and it was a great cap to the night, although a couple of us had too much to drink so we had to cut the infamous 5am night short. You can see how excited Kate is to indulge!

The next day was much much better, so we were up fairly early to see the city. It was a pretty uneventful day, but we enjoyed walking around the likes of Plaza Mayor, Palacio Real, Park Retro and down the Gran Via.

Park Retro had some pretty crazy trees that allowed for some needed shade for the whitey below!

All in all, it was a successful weekend and fun to get away with Stu, Kate and equally as fun to continue to show Jenna Europa! If only easyJet wasn't four hours delay and there was no rain; but every weekend away can't be perfect!