recent blogs

favignana : aegadian islands : sicily

favignana : aegadian islands : sicily

Trapani (or Birgi Airport, located about 19 km south of the city) is accessible by Ryanair from the UK. Once in Trapani, the Egadi Islands – Favignana, Marettimo and Levanzo – to the west, are as easily accessible by ferry. We chose to spend six days on Favignana –...

tropea : calabria : italy

tropea : calabria : italy

On our travels in Italy last year, we were so lucky to find some real off-the-beaten-track places. We’d hired a car and had no real plan, apart from having a couple of weeks to get from Rome to Ortigia in Sicily on the first part of the trip. So, with trusty road map...

castellabate : campania : italy

castellabate : campania : italy

In my book, a “cool” place to stay doesn’t need to be hip and trendy and cutting edge. It just needs to be somewhere that isn’t bog-standard. And this place we stumbled upon – quite literally – in Castellabate, Campania is very cool, if like us, you like things that...

venice : italy : 2013

venice : italy : 2013

Of all of the places we visited recently, Venice has to be one of the most memorable. We arrived on a cold, misty afternoon and were prepared for the weather to stay this way as we’d been under thick cloud all the way from Rimini. The lagoon, on either side of the...

rimini : emilia-romagna : italy

rimini : emilia-romagna : italy

Rimini – Hotel DuoMo… a pretty spectacular find of a hotel, right in the heart of Rimini. Surrounded by historical buildings and vaulted, arched walkways, sits the very striking Hotel DuoMo – almost brash compared to its neighbours, but somehow it fits. Bold, cherry...

hotel basiliani : matera : basilicata : italy

hotel basiliani : matera : basilicata : italy

The amazing Matera, in the region of Basilicata, in southern Italy, is going to have a blog post all of its own because it is quite simply, one the most incredible places we visited recently. This blog however, is all about Hotel Basiliani – a real modern jaw dropper,...

ragusa ibla buskers’ festival : sicily

ragusa ibla buskers’ festival : sicily

We hit lucky when we were staying in Ortigia, Siciliy – a friend tipped us off about a Buskers’ Festival which was happening in the inland town of Ragusa, and so with very little knowledge about it, other than it was happening, we hit the road. The journey over to...

tuscany : italy

tuscany : italy

Tuscany is an area of Italy I’ve never really discovered -I’ve visited & stayed in Florence and Pisa, but have never before experienced the rolling hills and fields full of sunflowers, which seem to be so associated with this part of Italy. But, in the first week...

ortigia market : syracuse : sicily

ortigia market : syracuse : sicily

The early morning market in Ortigia, Siracusa (Siciliy), is a sight to behold. Whilst we do have some excellent fresh produce markets here in the UK, this Sicilian one blew us away… Every kind of fresh vegetable and fruit seemed to be available, along with fish caught...