Sunday, October 23, 2011
Audley End Christmas
This year, like last year, we drove off from Mildenhall with our friends in search of an English backdrop for annual Christmas photos. That we're thinking of Christmas photos in mid-October would make my Mom feel jealousy with a sprinkle of pride. Just so you know Mom, I still send thank-you's too. Anyway, about 30 minutes away is a large English estate called the Audley End House complete with a mansion, working stables, and an organic vegetable garden. It's beautiful inside and out, and it made this year's Christmas card. Here are pictures of us and a few of our friends. I (Mark) am slowly attempting to break into the photography market with my new camera and photo-editing software. Enjoy the pictures!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Sicily
We just got back from a miserable three day vacation to Sicily. Is that possible you may ask? We've asked ourselves that several times throughout the trip and since we've been home and our answer is yes. But you can decide for yourself.
Day 1
We arrived in Sicily around noon, picked up our rental car and headed into Trapani to find our bed and breakfast. Our GPS was a great help throughout the trip, however it's idea of roads and ours were a little different! After making about four circles around where our B&B was supposed to be we figured out it was down a little alleyway that was not drivable and parked the car. However we had not gotten any Euros yet and all parking in Sicily is paid. We managed to talk the parking officer into giving us five minutes to check in. (Our first indication that parking is taken very seriously in Sicily!) The B&B was cute and we got checked in without a problem and headed out to Mark's planned lunch restaurant.
Unfortunately, the restaurant was not open. In all of Mark's research for the trip no one had mentioned that everything in Sicily closes from about 1:30-4:30 in the afternoon.(or really whenever they feel like it) We managed to find a little shop with sandwiches and then walked through the town for about an hour. After which we went back to our B&B and took a nap until everything opened again. That evening we went back out and walked through the now open town and ate dinner at the planned lunch spot- Pizzeria de Stefy. We went to the restaurant around 5:15pm to see if they were open and were told to come back at six. When we came back at six we were told they wouldn't be ready to serve pizza until seven. (maybe the language difference???) Needless to say we were very hungry by the time our pizza arrived but it was delicious! My pizza had tuna on it, which I'd never had before but loved. We will definitely try that on our next homemade pizza! This concluded the first day, not too bad.
Day 2
We woke up and headed across the street for croissants and cappucinos. On our way we stopped at our car and noticed a parking ticket. Not good. Our B&B manager had told us parking was free overnight, but failed to mention that you need to start paying at 8am. Also, to add to the confusion we set our alarm an hour later than intended because we hadn't changed the time on our phones when we changed times. Ugh! Lesson #1 ALWAYS change your phone/watch to the current time upon arrival! Not a great way to start the day. The ticket was written 4 minutes before we came outside. We tried to find the parking officer but could not so went into the B&B and they said that we needed to go to the police station and pay the ticket. We spent the rest of the morning finding the police station (went to the wrong one first and were told to learn to speak Italian before coming to visit. Yikes!) and then standing in line to pay the 40 Euro ticket. Determined to not let it ruin our time we set off for Erice, a town built on the hill overlooking Trapani.
On our way we picked up some clementines from a roadside stand, two pounds for a little over a dollar. They helped sustain us, along with a bag of trail mix we had brought, through our continued search for food/open restaurants.
If the weather is clear, you can see Africa from Erice. Of course, that day it was cloudy and rainy so we did not have much of a view. We did enjoy walking all through the town though! When we got in the car to leave, the clouds broke and the sun came out. We looked at each other and laughed, it was just that kind of trip. Next on our list was a two hour drive to Selinunte where we would see ancient ruins. We were trying to be strategic here and drive while everything was closed and arrive right around four when everything re-opened. Our plan backfired. We arrived at Selinunte around four only to be told they had closed five minutes earlier. (our guide book said that they would be open another hour) What can you do? We decided to head back and stop in one of the other port cities we had passed on our way. Our GPS couldn't always find the exact locations so I would try and put in something close. This was one of the times that I forgot we weren't going to the exact GPS location and made my poor husband drive through the narrowest of roads.Often having to turn around or back out of them. LESSON #2 Don't forget what location you have entered into your GPS. I will say that he is an AMAZING driver! Love you honey! We eventually found our way to a parking area and began to walk through the city. Again, we are hungry and it is about 5:30pm and nothing is open. So we continue exploring in hopes that by the time we get back to the restaurants they will be open. Around 6:30 we check again but nothing is open, so we decide to make the drive back to Trapani and eat there. As we drive by the restaurants on our way out of town they have all turned on their lights and are open. Timing is everything.
Arriving back in Trapani we went to one of Mark's planned restaurants, Cantina Siciliana, where the chef has won multiple awards and the food was wonderful! With our stomachs full we headed back to our B&B, paid for parking through the morning and went to bed.
Day 3
January 6 is a holiday in Sicily- Epiphany, or as they told us "the day of the witch". We were assured that things would still be open but woke up to find our B&B manager telling us that the breakfast cafe was closed and he would just give us some money to find food ourselves. Also, that parking we paid for wasn't necessary because parking is free on holidays. Good to know. We did find one shop open (seriously everything else was closed again) and ate our breakfast and then bought extra sandwiches and pastries as we were tired of being hungry and never knowing when we would find food. (We had finished our bag of trail mix the previous day so needed our snacks replenished) We set off to Segesta, only an hour away, where with more luck than the previous day we would see ancient ruins. After once again not finding the exact location I had Mark driving unnecessarily through this little village. We had to turn around multiple times and the roads were so steep and narrow we could hardly make the turns. Sorry honey! I then remembered that I needed to change the location and we soon found Segesta. Finally success!
The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed hiking around the ruins and beautiful views of the Sicilian countryside. We ate our lunch below the ancient Greek theater and decided that maybe today would be the day to redeem the rest of the trip! The last thing we wanted to do before leaving Sicily was take a ferry to some islands right off the coast of Trapani. So we headed back to town to catch the next ferry.
Our timing was perfect, we got back to Trapani in time to fill up our car with gas and make the ferry. As we pulled up to the port and began to turn into our parking spot you'll never guess what happened....
YES!!! We could not believe it! (that's me quickly snapping pictures in the left hand corner) Apparently he didn't see our blinker and when we slowed down he decided to pass on the left and into Mark's door. :( He got out and started yelling at us that we can't turn over double white lines, and our response was to ask why he was passing over double white lines. Before we knew it there were about 15 people surrounding us, speaking Italian and shaking their heads. Kind of intimidating, I won't lie. They kept telling us to take the blame before the police got there or it was going to be very bad for us. We said that we would take out chances as we did not think it was our fault. On top of that our phones wouldn't work. I was able to make a single call to customer service, explain the situation and was assured that minutes would be added immediately. I hung up and no minutes. Then I tried to call customer service back but had no more credit on my phone. Not fun! We waited for the police for almost an hour. All I could think of was the friendly officer from the day before who told us we should speak Italian if we wanted to come to Sicily. Thankfully when the police arrived they spoke English and didn't seem upset at all. They just took both of our information and traded it. They said that we were wrong to turn over double white lines but he was also wrong to pass. So now we are just waiting to hear what the insurance companies decide. LESSON #3 Don't get into a car accident in a foreign country.
By the time we made it back to our room we were both so exhausted and discouraged. Mark was able to add more minutes online and then made calls to the insurance company and rental car company. Then at 6:30pm we went to sleep hoping that we would sleep until 3am and then go to the airport and HOME! We woke up at 8pm and Mark insisted we go find more food so we went back to the pizza place, they were the friendliest people we encountered on our trip. Then back to our room to pack and sleep.
Day 4
We woke up around 4am and left for the airport. Made it without incident, dropped off the now damaged rental car and flew home. I'm pretty sure we have never been so excited to leave a vacation!
So, what do you think? Want to go to Sicily? :) I'll leave you with some pictures of the better moments of the trip!
Day 1
We arrived in Sicily around noon, picked up our rental car and headed into Trapani to find our bed and breakfast. Our GPS was a great help throughout the trip, however it's idea of roads and ours were a little different! After making about four circles around where our B&B was supposed to be we figured out it was down a little alleyway that was not drivable and parked the car. However we had not gotten any Euros yet and all parking in Sicily is paid. We managed to talk the parking officer into giving us five minutes to check in. (Our first indication that parking is taken very seriously in Sicily!) The B&B was cute and we got checked in without a problem and headed out to Mark's planned lunch restaurant.
Unfortunately, the restaurant was not open. In all of Mark's research for the trip no one had mentioned that everything in Sicily closes from about 1:30-4:30 in the afternoon.(or really whenever they feel like it) We managed to find a little shop with sandwiches and then walked through the town for about an hour. After which we went back to our B&B and took a nap until everything opened again. That evening we went back out and walked through the now open town and ate dinner at the planned lunch spot- Pizzeria de Stefy. We went to the restaurant around 5:15pm to see if they were open and were told to come back at six. When we came back at six we were told they wouldn't be ready to serve pizza until seven. (maybe the language difference???) Needless to say we were very hungry by the time our pizza arrived but it was delicious! My pizza had tuna on it, which I'd never had before but loved. We will definitely try that on our next homemade pizza! This concluded the first day, not too bad.
Day 2
We woke up and headed across the street for croissants and cappucinos. On our way we stopped at our car and noticed a parking ticket. Not good. Our B&B manager had told us parking was free overnight, but failed to mention that you need to start paying at 8am. Also, to add to the confusion we set our alarm an hour later than intended because we hadn't changed the time on our phones when we changed times. Ugh! Lesson #1 ALWAYS change your phone/watch to the current time upon arrival! Not a great way to start the day. The ticket was written 4 minutes before we came outside. We tried to find the parking officer but could not so went into the B&B and they said that we needed to go to the police station and pay the ticket. We spent the rest of the morning finding the police station (went to the wrong one first and were told to learn to speak Italian before coming to visit. Yikes!) and then standing in line to pay the 40 Euro ticket. Determined to not let it ruin our time we set off for Erice, a town built on the hill overlooking Trapani.
On our way we picked up some clementines from a roadside stand, two pounds for a little over a dollar. They helped sustain us, along with a bag of trail mix we had brought, through our continued search for food/open restaurants.
If the weather is clear, you can see Africa from Erice. Of course, that day it was cloudy and rainy so we did not have much of a view. We did enjoy walking all through the town though! When we got in the car to leave, the clouds broke and the sun came out. We looked at each other and laughed, it was just that kind of trip. Next on our list was a two hour drive to Selinunte where we would see ancient ruins. We were trying to be strategic here and drive while everything was closed and arrive right around four when everything re-opened. Our plan backfired. We arrived at Selinunte around four only to be told they had closed five minutes earlier. (our guide book said that they would be open another hour) What can you do? We decided to head back and stop in one of the other port cities we had passed on our way. Our GPS couldn't always find the exact locations so I would try and put in something close. This was one of the times that I forgot we weren't going to the exact GPS location and made my poor husband drive through the narrowest of roads.Often having to turn around or back out of them. LESSON #2 Don't forget what location you have entered into your GPS. I will say that he is an AMAZING driver! Love you honey! We eventually found our way to a parking area and began to walk through the city. Again, we are hungry and it is about 5:30pm and nothing is open. So we continue exploring in hopes that by the time we get back to the restaurants they will be open. Around 6:30 we check again but nothing is open, so we decide to make the drive back to Trapani and eat there. As we drive by the restaurants on our way out of town they have all turned on their lights and are open. Timing is everything.
Arriving back in Trapani we went to one of Mark's planned restaurants, Cantina Siciliana, where the chef has won multiple awards and the food was wonderful! With our stomachs full we headed back to our B&B, paid for parking through the morning and went to bed.
Day 3
January 6 is a holiday in Sicily- Epiphany, or as they told us "the day of the witch". We were assured that things would still be open but woke up to find our B&B manager telling us that the breakfast cafe was closed and he would just give us some money to find food ourselves. Also, that parking we paid for wasn't necessary because parking is free on holidays. Good to know. We did find one shop open (seriously everything else was closed again) and ate our breakfast and then bought extra sandwiches and pastries as we were tired of being hungry and never knowing when we would find food. (We had finished our bag of trail mix the previous day so needed our snacks replenished) We set off to Segesta, only an hour away, where with more luck than the previous day we would see ancient ruins. After once again not finding the exact location I had Mark driving unnecessarily through this little village. We had to turn around multiple times and the roads were so steep and narrow we could hardly make the turns. Sorry honey! I then remembered that I needed to change the location and we soon found Segesta. Finally success!
The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed hiking around the ruins and beautiful views of the Sicilian countryside. We ate our lunch below the ancient Greek theater and decided that maybe today would be the day to redeem the rest of the trip! The last thing we wanted to do before leaving Sicily was take a ferry to some islands right off the coast of Trapani. So we headed back to town to catch the next ferry.
Our timing was perfect, we got back to Trapani in time to fill up our car with gas and make the ferry. As we pulled up to the port and began to turn into our parking spot you'll never guess what happened....
YES!!! We could not believe it! (that's me quickly snapping pictures in the left hand corner) Apparently he didn't see our blinker and when we slowed down he decided to pass on the left and into Mark's door. :( He got out and started yelling at us that we can't turn over double white lines, and our response was to ask why he was passing over double white lines. Before we knew it there were about 15 people surrounding us, speaking Italian and shaking their heads. Kind of intimidating, I won't lie. They kept telling us to take the blame before the police got there or it was going to be very bad for us. We said that we would take out chances as we did not think it was our fault. On top of that our phones wouldn't work. I was able to make a single call to customer service, explain the situation and was assured that minutes would be added immediately. I hung up and no minutes. Then I tried to call customer service back but had no more credit on my phone. Not fun! We waited for the police for almost an hour. All I could think of was the friendly officer from the day before who told us we should speak Italian if we wanted to come to Sicily. Thankfully when the police arrived they spoke English and didn't seem upset at all. They just took both of our information and traded it. They said that we were wrong to turn over double white lines but he was also wrong to pass. So now we are just waiting to hear what the insurance companies decide. LESSON #3 Don't get into a car accident in a foreign country.
By the time we made it back to our room we were both so exhausted and discouraged. Mark was able to add more minutes online and then made calls to the insurance company and rental car company. Then at 6:30pm we went to sleep hoping that we would sleep until 3am and then go to the airport and HOME! We woke up at 8pm and Mark insisted we go find more food so we went back to the pizza place, they were the friendliest people we encountered on our trip. Then back to our room to pack and sleep.
Day 4
We woke up around 4am and left for the airport. Made it without incident, dropped off the now damaged rental car and flew home. I'm pretty sure we have never been so excited to leave a vacation!
So, what do you think? Want to go to Sicily? :) I'll leave you with some pictures of the better moments of the trip!
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