Pau

We thought we would add a quick blog before we return to Canada. Our finishing days in Italy were great. We were fortunate to get pretty high up on Mt. Etna and feel the hot, venting rocks. We were at about 2500 metres, and there were rocks that were too hot to touch...can't imagine how hot they would be close to the primary craters.
Our days in Pau are winding down and so far we like what we see. The town is much larger than we had expected; probably 200,000+ when you include the surrounding communities. We have had plenty of opportunity to speak French, and it is quite a struggle at times. We drove to Spain yesterday, and as soon as we saw yet another language on the signs, our heads hurt. We had tried hard to learn as much Italian as possible, and with now trying to speak French, just thinking about trying Spanish was a bad idea! And these crazy French computer keyboards! Thankfully, Gilles will be able to use an English keyboard at work.
It is hot and lush here. Incredibly green. The temperature has reached 30 degrees every day that we have been here, and we've been sweating like crazy! We drove to the coast on Saturday to escape the heat and had a great beach day. The beaches near Biaritz get a lot of waves, and are a surfers' dream. It made for fun playing in the water, waiting for the next big waves to come.
We have had a fantastic trip, and assuming we have not developed lung cancer due to copious amounts of second-hand smoke (Europeans don't seem to have received the cancer memo...or they don't care), it has been a huge success. Off to Paris for an overnighter tomorrow, then off to Halifax. See everyone soon!!

Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli

Yesterday we visited two hill towns, Savoca and Forza D'Agro, where scenes from the Godfather movies were filmed. It is amazing how many Italian villages are built on top of a mini mountain! It is a real challenge getting our Fiat Punto up to them! In Savoca, the Bar Vitelli looks exactly as it did when a scene was filmed there 35 years ago. The waiter dresses up like Michael Corleone's bodyguards and plays the film's soundtrack...it was hilarious!
While in Savoca, we got a brief view of the top of Mt Etna, it's north side full of snow. It's amazing looking at this mountain, 3320 m high, from sea level. It takes up a huge part of Eastern Sicily. Unfortunately, we have not been able to get close to it yet as it is cloudy and rainy here. Hopefully it will clear up so that we can get onto the mountain tomorrow. It is still a very active volcano, so the areas around the main craters are inaccessible, but one can get on aspects of the lunar'like top and roam around areas of old lava.
This will be our last posting from Italy. We fly to Paris Wednesday, then down to Pau to see our future home. We'll be back in Canada before we know it!

Fertile Sicily

We've driven Sicily from Palermo to Syracusa so far. We've been surprised by how green and lush the island is. There are crops planted in every conceivable place, and in great quantities: olives, vines, lemons, almonds, pistachios,.... Sicilians consider their products to be the best, and so far we cannot argue this. Gilles' favourite wine grape, Nero d'Avola, is native to Sicily and relatively hard to find in Canada and most are not familiar with it. But in Sicily, it is considered King. If you ask for red wine, you get Nero d'Avola or Nero d'Avola. Gilles is in heaven! They are serious about their nuts also. There are two town that are famous for their nuts...it has somewhat of a cult-like status here. Noto has almonds, and Bronte has pistachios. We have eaten this in every possible dish, from gelato to cornetto spread to seafood pasta dishes. We bought types of nuts from the market today and they are like no other we have tasted! The seafood here is amazing! We have never seen it so fresh. It's displayed in the restaurant's entrance on ice and most is still squirming. And how will we return to a life without arancinis? These balls of fried rice, the size of an orange, stuffed with ragu, prosciutto and cheese or spinach and cheese are to die for!
The culture in Sicily is very different than that of mainland Italy. The people we have met here are incredibly friendly, perhaps because they have no rush in life. It has been an interesting experience driving. Picture roads with no rules, traffic lights that do not work, and polizia that can't be bothered to pursue anything. The horn is a communication tool that we have not totally grasped yet. We checked on our vehicle this morning to ensure that it was safe to find that we were blocked in by three cars! It's a good thing we had no plans of leaving.
We're staying on Syracusa's little island called Ortygia. Unfortunately, it is raining today so our views are limited. Tomorrow we head for the resort town of Taormina with some side trips to Godfather scene locations and Mt Etna. The volcano has been active recently, so we may not be able to approach it very closely. Hopefully the weather turns, as we're looking forward to another beach day. We spent the afternoon at a beautiful sandy beach near Agrigento last Thursday. We were the only ones who entered the water, and pretty much the only ones on the beach. I guess what Canadians and Italians consider hot weather are two different things!