Camillo and I live in the vacation wonderland of the world. From the Christ to the Sugar Loaf, from the laying on the beach and playing in the surf to hiking in the forests that run through Rio and rock climbing, From eating Churrasco to drinking caiprinhas in the open air, you can’t beat this city for a great vacation. But within my definition of a great vacation are several elements missing in Rio. Primarily a vacation needs to take you away from your routine and give you a long break from what you know and are familiar with. That means that for me I need to go anyplace other than someplace in Brasil to really have a vacation.
Camillo and I talked several times this week about which vacation place, outside of Brasil, has been our best vacation. This was a VERY hard choice. We have been so many places, eaten to much great food, seen such beauty that to say ‘that’ is number one – for both of us – took some real negotiations. Since 2007 when I started writing for ‘Flowers’ I have shown you our vacations virtually as they have happened. Not only did I have to look through my digital archives looking at those I’ve already shown you, trying to make the choice, but also the 14 albums from my 35 mm days. I can tell you I really enjoyed reviewing all the photos.
Maybe the win for Taormina was because this city was a first visit for both of us; in 2002 – not so long ago – we flew from Houston to Rome to Sicily and spent a week or so in Taormina, across a valley from Etna and flowing to the edge of the sea, this little city is beautiful. Taormina has romance, adventure, Greek and Roman ruins, texture and color to make you and your camera happy; it is small enough that you can walk from one side to the other holding hands, and large enough to have a variety of hotels and restaurants to meet your budget. We dubbed it the city of balconies.
I got my first digital camera for Christmas of 2002, too late to give you digital photos of Taormina. I spent the better part of yesterday scanning about 1/2 of my photos of the trip into the computer. I don’t think this gives you really good photos but good enough for you to get the idea. At the end of this post will be several slide shows if you want to see more.
Villa Romana, in the mid-central part of Sicily. The tour takes you through hills full of lemon trees. The villa was discovered by a farmer turning over a new field. It was once a vacation home for a Roman General out of north Africa. All the wall and floors were decorated with detailed mosaic …. During restoration each area was painstakingly cleaned, sorted and re-laid. An art not lost
Another tour took us up onto the sides of The Etna – still hot from the last eruption, we were
instructed not to leave the designated trail…. to make his point the tour guide threw a piece of paper onto the lava stone and it caught on fire….. we were careful where we put our feet.
Absolutely beautiful, Ginger. I would love to travel outside of the U.S. but for now, I am happy to just be getting away from my usual hum-drum existence.
ReplyDeleteWow! Taormina is breathtaking. It's easy to see why it would be a favourite destination. Yes, I'm visiting Brazil next year! Will make plans at Christmas when my son will be home for a visit. I'm beyond excited already :)
ReplyDeletewhoopie, maybe it will work out and I can take you to dinner in Rio (in the least) the best would be a dinner in Friburgo.... I cook.
DeleteSuch gorgeous view! I love visiting around the world through photography.
ReplyDeleteHistorical cities are so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteTaormina look lovely!
ReplyDeleteInteresting that last week Ken & I were talking about visiting Europe. We can't go this year, but just to get an idea of costs, I looked up the airfare to several major cities and the best deals seemed to be to Rome. So, we were trying to decide what we would want to see in Italy besides Rome ---Florence was my first pick, but I mentioned Sicily, too ---or where else we would go either by Eurail or renting a car. Then I saw a place that rents campers, and that looked kind of interesting. Apparently Europe is full of camp sites, or with a camper, one can pull over in any legal parking spot to sleep. At one place renting an equipped camper is less expensive than Eurail for two of us with the advantage of being able to go when and where without worrying if a train goes there or sticking to a railway schedule. Of course that didn't include gas which is expensive in Europe, but we'd probably save enough on hotels to make up for it.
Right now it is just a spark of an idea, but we will keep Taormina in mind, on your recommendation. And then there is the problem of getting Ken to go anywhere. He hates to fly and is quite the homebody ---but I don't think he liked being home alone for a month when I was in Brazil last year.
just some small notes. the trains have 5 day ten day one month passes....that is days of travel not calendar days. if you buy a first class and a senior there is almost a 50 % discount.... check that out. we've never bought a pass but Camillo is considering this time..... and that may be a Europass not at train italia pass.... and there is a difference.
Deletesometimes you can get good deals if you take for example KLM by way of amsterdam or through paris on air france.... and mutiple cities are sometimes cheaper. coming out of Washington DC or not JFK but the small one in New york -
Rome you can stay in the historic center - and can be cold but sunny - in Jan /. Feb is the best time and prices. if you stay close to the train station you can catch trains to almost anywhere - is really wonderful. there are B&Bs and private apartments for rent that beat the hotel prices. (Transtevere and the Vaticano are good locations - If you don't stay in the center there is a trolley that goes into the Piazza Popolo - google it. - Marissa and I walked the whole center one time in less than 5 days.....it was July though and we waiting in long lines - never travel in Europe in July or August. read (http://gingersflowers.blogspot.com.br/search/label/Italy) and just in case I didn't label everything (http://gingersflowers.blogspot.com.br/search/label/Italy)
Sicily is also an option that can be done by train. Ken maybe would love the train travel.... take only one small suitcase - their is no help getting on and off the trains and laundry is a major issue - costing sometimes more than the hotel room.
from rome we have done train to Venus then Florence and back to rome. you could fly into rome and out of milan and cut a wide swatch right up the center..... would be a great trip.
sorry the second link above did post correctly it should be - http://gingersflowers.blogspot.com.br/search/label/Italia%20Profunda -
DeleteBrilliant vacation suggestions. I do love fine wine. Do you have any suggestions for some good vineyards in Sicily?
ReplyDeleteAudrey Harrison
I don't think we visited a vineyard in Sicily. right now I don't remember visiting a vineyard in all of italy or France for that matter... just drink the wines. see also http://gingersflowers.blogspot.com.br/2012/08/early-vacations.html or
Deletehttp://gingersflowers.blogspot.com.br/search/label/travel%20in%20Italy or
just look through the labels ITALY there is some duplications in my labels.
for vineyards look at Montalcino or montepulcino - great vineyard country.
enjoy you trip.
For me one of the most amazing trips I had was the trip to Italy and an amazing Tuscany villa that I took a few summers ago. It really was quite the experience. The perfect getaway from the hustle and bustle of every day life. I was really able to experience the culture there, not just being shuttled from location to location.
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