Cinque Terre to Sicily

Finally we have found some internet after a serious drought of such facilities in Naples and power cuts in La Spezia. After dropping the rental car in Nice we ended our French sojourn exploring this old city before catching a train to La Spezia.

On our last day in France it started pouring and it did not stop until 48 hours later when we woke to fresh blue skies and sunshine the morning of our Cinque Terre walk. After a serious overnight thunder storm and accompanying deluge most of the track, apart from 'lover's lane', was closed, so we did some sections by train and others (inc. the steepest part) on foot along the road. The coastline was beautiful and the villages full of character, preserved thanks to their seclusion and limited access from the outside world over the centuries. Our accommodation in La Spezia was a treat on the fifth floor with nice views over the town and a short walk to a restaurant recommended by the owner of the accomm., where we had the most beautiful seafood pasta dish and tried some of the Ligurian wine.

The next morning we caught a 5.30 am train all the way to Naples. On first impression this is a rough city, particularly the area we first saw walking out of the train station, we could have been in Cairo what for all the illegal street trading, people of all colours and tooting traffic. After dropping off our gear we headed straight out to Pompeii where we spent about four hours exploring this vast and once magnificent city which is still remarably intact.

The next day we discovered some of Napolis hidden charms - the duomo, monte santo and the narrow side streets running through the old town. It just so happened that the saturday was the Festivali di San Gennaro - celebrating the city's patron saint. Two vials of his blood, when reunited with fragments of his skull, apparently liquify on two days each year and this 'miracle' is considered to protect Napoli from volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and plagues etc. We watched the beginning of the ceremony in the duomo before venturing on to the National Archaeological Musem where we saw more stuff recovered from Pompeii - coins, mosaics, jewelery, glassware and so on. Then we toook the ferniculare up the hill to Monte Santo where there were awesome views over the city and the harbour with Mount Vesuvius towering in the background.

Due to ferries no longer running daily now that the peak season is over we had to abandon our plans to head out to Stromboli volcano, although this has given us more time for Sicily.

Yesterday was another long train ride (thankfully we both have patience on our ipods, warning - it's v. addictive!) down to Messina in Sicily and then on to Syracuse, 12 hours all up. Syracuse is a lovely town and we are about to head off to explore the greek ruins and the old town down by the harbour. Plan to come back here tonight and upload some photos from the last two weeks...