Stormy Liguria

Finale Ligure

Varigotti

In May we went to Liguria for the 1st of May holiday to find this horrible weather. Oh but the pics were great : D

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Favignana

Beautiful tall agave, my obsession for the holiday

Cala Azzurra

Favignana’s countryside

Cala Rossa

Exploring the island by bicycle with Elena

Me and Elena by K.

At Lido Burrone

At the Punta Sottile lighthouse

Watching the sunset

A quick holiday album of our 5 days in the magnificent Favignana island in Sicily. I guess explaining the beauty of this place just with words is too reductive for such an incredible location, so small and yet so eclectic with its ever changing shorelines, its white little roads to sweep by bicycle, its food, smells, sounds and everlasting peace.

It was the perfect June getaway and we’re already thinking about going back in October when, the islanders tell us, the water is warmer and the tourists are long gone.

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Up there

Some time ago near Courmayeur.

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When in Sicily

 

Riserva di Vendicari

 

Siracusa

 

Etna Volcano

 

Isle of Vulcano

 

Isle of Lipari

 

Isle of Salina

 

Cefalù

 

Palermo

Favignana – Cala Rossa

 

Favignana – Cala Azzurra

Favignana

 

Saline di Trapani

 

Segesta

 

Beach near Siculiana Marina

Macalube di Aragona

Scala dei Turchi

Siculiana Marina

Agrigento – Valle dei Templi

Our holidays in Sicily were so great that I don’t know where to start describing them. First of all  you have to know me and my husband has a very personal way of  visiting cities and countries that we call “quick tourism” because we are, as a matter of fact, running all the time to see the most of a place and to see the more that we can in the small amount of time that we have. We get bored very easily so we really love our holidays to be this way. That’s how in eleven days we had the chance to visit a lot of Sicily and its islands, a region that has SO much to offer in terms of views, beaches, sea, history and food that I couldn’t believe my eyes. And I’m Italian, so, I guess, I was supposed to know, or, at least, to imagine.

We left Milan heading to Catania the first day and as soon as we hit the airport we had the first cannolo in our hands. A mystic experience I’d say. We took the car we rented and started our journey from there. Catania is a majestic, beautiful city with big streets and charming gardens and its location is just perfect, between some of the most beautiful beaches and cities (Siracusa, Taormina) and with Mount Etna always in sight, watching over the city. The second day we left for an afternoon dedicated to discover the Riserva di Vendicari, an amazing beach with white sand sorrounded by rocks, then we went down to the South to the beautiful San Lorenzo Beach, we stopped in Noto to try their wonderful gelato and then we had a magical dinner in Siracusa.

Day three we left Catania, headed to Mount Etna. The day wasn’t the best one to go up, so we didn’t take the funicular, that was closed, but opted for a ride in the big Etna vans. The experience is kinda tough (and scary!) when there is a strong wind like we experienced, but it’s really worth it. From Mount Etna we decided to pass by the Gole Dell’Alcantara, a river coming through high walls of rocks where you can have a freezing bath, and from there arrived safely in Taormina. I though Taormina was incredibly stylish, a little jewel, sorrounded by the most beautiful sea at Isola Bella. If you visit Taormina be sure not to miss the view from the Teatro Antico, really breathtaking.

Day four we left Taormina for a three day tour in the Isole Eolie. Our hotel was based in Lipari and from there we visited the enchanting Isle of Volcano and the Isle of Salina. Little advice: take a boat and go have a tour around the islands, you’ll see secret spots like the Piscina di Venere in Volcano, which are really incredible and impossible to visit without a boat. After our mini-tour of the Eolie, we left for Palermo, passing through Cefalù where we had the best Pasta Alla Norma ever at the Tivitti Restaurant. Strongly recommended.

Palermo is as chaotic as you can imagine, but charming nonetheless. You can just walk around and meet markets of fish and fruit, incredible monuments, churches with hidden porches, gardens with palms and of course a lot of people just hanging around in the small streets. We stayed there two days then left for the beautiful beaches of Scopello and San Vito Lo Capo to arrive in Erice, a very small town on the top of Mount Erice from which you can see the North-West coast and the city of Trapani with its Saline. In Erice we fell in love with the bakery of Mrs Maria Grammatico, an old woman who learnt from the nuns a lot of secret recipes to bake small cakes with almonds and custard. One evening we had dinner just with her sweet sweet delicacies because we wanted to taste everything she cooked!

The next day we left for a one day trip to Favignana, which is the place that maybe conquered my heart the most in this beautiful region. We rented a bike and just went around from shore to shore, discovering the cleanest, bluest water in Cala Rossa and Cala Azzurra. A real paradise where I’d like to go back for a couple days more. From Favignana we headed to Agrigento passing through the temple of Segesta and the little volcanoes of the Macalube Park in Aragona (so weird and funny) to arrive to the amazing Scala Dei Turchi near Realmonte. This white rock looks like cotton candy while it’s washed by high waves and the seaside is charming with little natural pools. It’s really a great emotion to be there at sunset and follow the shadows grow longer and longer and the white rock shine like gold.

The last morning we wake up early to visit the famous Valle dei Templi which is just inside the city of Agrigento. This was our last stop-over before heading back to Palermo’s airport and then back to Milan.

In the pics above you can have just a little hint of what we saw with the vintage filter generously offered by my analogic Minolta. But seriously, if you have the chance, just GO to Sicily, you won’t regret it!

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Summer memories

 

Blackhair’s analog pics

Alice on the countryside around Manerba del Garda this Summer. So cute.

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A house in Liguria

Blackhair’s analog pics

Details of my husband’s family house at Finale Ligure. Sweet.

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Ice Ice Baby

Back from Iceland my talented husband edited an amazing video of our even more amazing holiday in Iceland. What a place! Words are useless sometimes and in the case images can easily do all the talking.

So, enjoy this magical video with a special soundtrack by our beloved Emiliana Torrini.

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Afternoon at the museum

Blackhair’s analog pics

View from the Museo del Novecento in Milan.

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Welcome to Hobbiton

 

Hobbiton, Matamata, New Zealand

These are my most presciooousssss memories of New Zealand: Hobbiton’s holes! When we arrived on the set Peter Jackson and his crew had left not long ago so everything was just perfect, the flowers, the trees (can you believe some of them are fake?), the Hobbits’ holes all painted and real. We were SO lucky. But then they made us sign a paper saying we were not gonna show our pics to anyone or on the Internet until after The Hobbit movie was released. And we actually respected that.

But now that the movie is out…well there’s no need to wait anymore so, here they are with the usual suggestion: go, go, go to New Zealand if you can, it’s the best place in the world AND Middle Earth, for real.

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New York we love you

 

Just a few shots I took in New York, on our October holiday just before Sandy arrived.

I love this city, can’t say much more.

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