15th October - Syracuse Archaeological Park, Boat Trip and a Swim

As it was going to be a hot day yet again we headed off to breakfast at an earlyish hour, then walked through Ortigia and some of Syracuse to get to the archaeological park. Ortigia is very old, dense and historical. Syracuse is much more modern and with far less to recommend it. The park wasn't far away, so we got there by 10am before the day heated up in earnest. 

The area was initially Greek, morphing into Roman over the centuries before being abandoned and used as a source of easy building stones. First up on our visit was a Roman amphitheatre, cut directly out of the natural rock on three sides. It's the 2nd biggest Roman amphitheatre anywhere after the Colosseum in Rome. The fourth side was missing as it was was plundered by the Spanish for the fort we visited yesterday!

Roman amphitheatre

Next up were the quarries where the rock had been cut from for the entire site and no doubt much of Ortigia and Syracuse. They were fascinating, and enormous. At one place, the rock had been cut back in a spiral like a human ear interior, but at 23m high and 65m deep, on a rather larger scale. It had very strange acoustics.

Quarried area now a garden

The quarries also reached back very deep into the hillside in places

The third site was the Greek theatre built from the 5th to 3rd centuries BC, and capable of holding 14,000 spectators. At the back of this was a lovely gushing fountain spouting water carried by an aqueduct from miles away. Fresh abundant water like that must have been a marvel in a climate like Sicily's.

Greek theatre

Finally was the Altar of Hieron, at 21m wide and 196m long, being the largest known altar of the ancient world. Unfortunately the Spanish had looted so much stone that there is very little left, and not enough to give an idea of what it might once have been.

On returning from the park we booked a 1-hour boat trip out to some caves off Syracuse and then around the island of Ortigia. We thought we'd leave lunch until after the boat trip, just in case! After half an hour's rest we were off on the boat trip with an Italian family, 4 Italian lads and a Bulgarian couple. The trip took us past a rather controversial but powerful sculpture commissioned by Mussolini pre-WWII to commemorate the Italian fallen in their Ethiopian campaign. 

Mussolini's memorial sculpture

Caves and rock stacks along the coast

We then went into some natural caves cut by the sea into the cliffs of Syracuse before heading back and around the island's point. There was an option to jump in and swim, but only the Italian lads did so - we intended to swim later. The views back onto Ortigia were lovely, and the trip emphasised how important the fort must have been to protect Syracuse.

Fort on the extreme end of the peninsula at Ortigia

Ortigia waterfront

Lunch was another arancini as we thought yesterday's was both delicious and ideal as a lunch snack. Back out on foot for our swim which was almost too late, as the sun was getting low and the town was beginning to shade our chosen spot. Nevertheless the swim was delicious. The water was warm to get into, though not quite so warm further out.

Our swim spot

Back home for a shower to wash the salt off, and out again to the square to people-watch with our Aperol and treats.

It's so different to where we are in France. There were huge numbers of people just out strolling, talking and generally seeing and being seen. Youths, families, couples, oldies, kids and dogs. Spain does much the same. There's a casualness in Italy that we don't see in France, and we like it. We also thought about New Zealand, and how foreign this is to the NZ lifestyle (and probably all UK-based colonies too). It's a pity. We all go home to our little separated boxes, turn on the TV and close the doors and windows. I wonder how the mental health of Italians compares to New Zealanders. All that socialising must be very good for people.

Piazza de Archimedes - people out strolling and socialising

14th October - Walking around Ortigia

Our little apartment is comfortable and in the perfect location, though to be honest Ortigia is very small and it would be hard to be located anywhere distant from the historic quarter. Our accommodation included breakfast, which turned out to be available from a cafe just down the road in the central Piazza de Archimede. There were three options including coffee, juice, granita, a sweet or savoury pastry or a brioche. We opted for the option with the granita, which our host explained is a traditional Sicilian breakfast!

Our granita/brioche/coffee option for breakfast

In one word, the granita was sublime. We both chose a almond one and I'm now very keen to try and make some during summer when we get back to Nelson. The flavour was so almondy, which we both like. So breakfast was great, if rather on the lightweight sweet side. 

Our B&B is housed in a building dated 1696. Plazas are tucked within the maze, as are a number of sites of Greek ruins, churches and large public buildings. We spent a very enjoyable few hours wandering around about and soaking up the atmosphere and trying to learn a little about the history of the place. Ortigia is the historical centre of Syracuse. It's on an island which could hold a large population in ancient times and includes the refurbished remains on a large fort on its eastern peninsula. Civilisation here dates back 2700 years. It started life as Greek but was later taken over by the Romans, Vandals, Goths, Arabs, Normans and Byzantines! Evidence of these cultures are everywhere. 

Lintel of our building, showing it to be constructed in 1696

A highlight of the morning was visiting the Jewish baths (mikveh). The Jews dug 18m down to capture spring water and sculpt out small individual baths in which to ritually purify themselves. The last Jews were forced to leave by the Spanish in 1492, and there are still none living in Syracuse. The baths had been concealed at the time, in the hope they would return one day, but they never did. They were only found by accident in 1986 when a woman began converting the old building into a hotel above the baths. 156 truckloads of spoil had to be removed! A long staircase hewn out of rock leads below to the bathing room.

The large fort, Castello Maniace, was constructed in 1232 on the end of the island. We did a quick tour but it was very hot so we bailed relatively quickly and set off again to see the Arethusa Pool, a very old freshwater spring full of fish, ducks and papyrus.

Next priority was a search for somewhere to have a bite for lunch in the shade. Walking the streets here is very obvious that the Ortigians, and probably Sicilians in general, have a very sweet tooth. The offers of sweet food abound, be it in the form of a wide range of pastries, cannolis (filled with sweetened ricotta cheese and all its variations), and marzipan. We tried a different traditional food for lunch - arancini. These are balls made from rice, filled with a savoury of choice, rolled in breadcrumbs and deep fried. They can be filled with spinach, pistachio, tomato, ragu, mozzarella and so on. They cost just a few euros and are very tasty to munch on. 

Shop window displaying all manner of candies and sweet treats

The hot sun was testing our limits so we retreated to our room for a few hours R&R, and a wee nana nap to make sure we didn't fall asleep during the World Rugby Cup quarter final.

We'd been following a bit of a tour around the island to see everything and had missed out on the main cathedral and square, so headed that way as the sun was getting low around 5:30pm. The square was beautiful in the low sun, and there was a cannoli shop at the far end of it that seems to be a favourite. Indeed they were good, but not as good as my memory of one in 2011 in Taormina!

Cannoli - candied fruit, and pistacchio

We tend to avoid churches, as we have seen more than enough over the years, and also find the opulence of most to be excessive. However the one here had a fascinating history. It was once the 6th C BC Greek temple of Athena. The exterior Doric columns can be seen on both sides of the exterior walls.

Greek temple columns inside the Ortigia cathedral

By now it was passeggiata time, so we stopped off at our breakfast cafe-bar for an hour to watch the world go by. We ordered a couple of Aperol sodas, and they came with not half a dozen potato chips, but half a meal's worth of free food. A lovely surprise and very pleasant at the end of a hot day.

Dinner was at a similar place, with similar food and again very good.

13th October - Ceret to Syracuse/Ortigia, Sicily

Today was a big travelling day. Kicking off with a 6am wake-up, we were aboard the 6.40am bus from Ceret to Perpignan. There was time to grab a pastry for breakfast before climbing aboard the Flixbus from Perpignan to Barcelona. Two hours later we rolled into Estacio del Nord bus station. We know this area well, and also the route to walk to Place de Catalunya, where we pick up the bus to the airport. After three bus trips plus two walks, we arrived at Barcelona airport around midday, in good time for our Vueling flight to Sicily at 2.40pm. It had been quite a long day already!

The flight was pretty smooth, although the seating was pretty tight, as you'd expect on a budget plane. Travelling with just a cabin bag each has been so easy. They weigh only 4kg. Maybe we'll try and travel this way more often, though it wouldn't be possible when you need winter clothes. We both dozed quite a bit on the two hour flight to Catania airport. Because of a strike of French air traffic controllers (again) the pilot had to take a slightly different and longer flight path than usual, but he made up for the extra time and late departure, meaning we were only 10 minutes late arriving. With a quick sprint off the plane and through the terminal, we caught the 5.10pm bus from Catania Airport to Syracuse.

We were wearing trousers for the first time in a month, and the weather was fine and not overly hot when we arrived. However, the temperatures are still predicted to be in the high 20s for the next week. The sky was unfortunately was very hazy, probably because there has been no rain in months, so we could barely make out the lower outline of Mt Etna, lying just on the outer edge of Catania. The bus route southwards bordered the coast to Syracuse, going past a surprising number of heavy industrial plants and even an oil refinery.

Barren landscape on the coast between Catania and Syracuse

The sun set just after 6pm, about half an hour before we arrived in Syracuse. It was very nice to be able to stretch our legs and walk the final 20 minutes to our accommodation. Our bags are the Ryanair/Vueling minimum i.e. 25x20x40cm, and thus very small and light - only 4kg each. We had booked a small B&B on the island of Ortigia. It was immediately obvious the buildings on the island are completely different to the far more modern ones on the mainland in Syracuse. The latter area was severely bombed during the war. In complete contrast, the island of Ortigia is a labyrinth of very old dwellings and commercial enterprises intertwined. 

Walking across the bridge between Syracuse and Ortigia island

The Temple of Apollo at the entrance to Ortigia island, built by the Greeks in 565BC

Typical alleyway

We ate dinner at the restaurant immediately next door to our accommodation. It came highly recommended by our host, presumably they are mates of his. A short walk afterwards confirmed a wealth of small eateries and interesting shops in the narrow streets of the neighbourhood. We're looking forward to exploring tomorrow but are ready for a good sleep right now. Before that though, John was very keen to try a cannolo. He has very sweet memories of eating one when we were in Palermo in 2011.

A window display of canolo cones, with the ends often dipped in chocolate or pistachio

10th-12th October - Ceret

After yesterday's drama, we thought a very quiet day was in order. A short walk for groceries, a coffee, and then the afternoon was spent sitting down and organising our trip to Sicily. We'd booked the Ryanair flights and bus connections last Sunday, but had 10 night's accommodation to sort, plus booking the car. The prices are very cheap, with the hire-car costing just 74 Euro for 4 days which included a fee for different pick-up and drop-off points - it would have been a ridiculous 35E without that.

A few days ago also saw us doing some admin at the local tax office. A housing declaration had shown an incorrect date of birth for John. Not wanting to come to grief further down the track with problems we thought we should get it corrected while we are here in Ceret. Armed with our passports and appropriate documents we successfully negotiated the interview procedure at the local tax office. It only took an hour to change a 9 to a 7, so we got off lightly.

This morning, Wednesday, we finished off sprucing up the apartment in readiness for our local friendly real estate agent to come and view it. We are not intending to sell, for a year at least, but want to get a ballpark figure for it. Didier duly arrived at 11am and did his measurements and so on. We have an appointment to see him tomorrow afternoon to discuss his assessment. 

As soon as Didier left we jumped in the car to head to Figures, 50 minutes to the south and over the Spanish border. John had discovered that 60+ year olds can get a discount pass for the Spanish rail network, but only direct from a Spanish railway station. Savings are between 25% and 40%, so we thought it was well worth the 6E each in case we want to take a Spanish train later this year, or perhaps early next. The very cheery Spanish woman on the ticket desk was most helpful and with a quick noting of passport details and handing over 12E, we were back out in the carpark in under 10 minutes!

Since we were in Figures, and it was 1pm, we figured we'd have lunch there. Google had revealed a restaurant very near the rail office with great reviews. Unfortunately, when we rolled up, a notice on the door declared it was closed for a holiday break. No matter, we drove the 20 minutes north again to La Jonquera and enjoyed lunch at the restaurant we ate at a month ago. The whole trip was based around hair appointments in La Jonquera at 3.30pm. We discovered our hairdresser last year, after our previous one a block further away didn't reopen after Covid. Carmen does a wonderful job, is lots of fun and chats away very fast in Spanish, French and Catalan. The total cost for both haircuts is 25E (NZ$44). 

Just down the road was a large plant nursery. We've been looking for some new plants for our window plant holders, and also one new holder since one had clearly gone adrift somehow during last year and our last tenant must have replaced it with a silly undersized one. We found both a new holder and some new plants, so were well pleased with our day's efforts. A bag of planter mix at the supermarket in Ceret and we were all set to refill our planters.

Arriving home in a rush at 5pm, we immediately tried messaging with Alastair because it was 8am on 11th Oct in San Francisco, his birthday. He'd just walked in the door from a workout so it was lovely to have a catch-up before he went to work. Sophie was just laying the breakfast table with some French toast and other delights. 

We spent the next wee while planting up our planter boxes and are very happy with the result. Hopefully the plants will last for a reasonable number of months (hopefully the whole year), and the pigeons find somewhere else to hang out. The bright flowers look really lovely when you look upwards from the square downstairs. 

Our three planter boxes complete with new flowers

Today we were up earlyish for a walk to the dental clinic a few km away. For a number of years we have been going to the dentist here for an annual or biannual check-up rather than in Nelson. It is substantially cheaper. However, Lionel is often booked out months ahead and he now seems to be winding down and working only part-time. When we arrived we were told we could only book a rendezvous by telephoning. On our return walk we stopped off at the new coffee roaster for a true flat white. 

Home to finish choosing what we will take to Sicily. We had bought regulation Ryanair-sized bags, which perhaps equate to two shoeboxes in size. We've found they seem totally big enough, and I think it will be really fun travelling which such minimal luggage. 

We had a lunch date with an Aussie couple (ex-Zimbabwe) who bought in Ceret the same year we bought our second place here (2012). We catch up each year. They are in win the process of selling up, principally because they've received a private offer that is too good to refuse. It was a lovely lunch, which rolled through until mid-afternoon. 

Entree of lime-cured fish with coriander and Asian flavours

Not much later we had our appointment with our real estate agent to hear his deliberations about the saleability of our place. From there it was straight to Le Comptoir for a final drink with friends before we leave for Sicily at 6.30am tomorrow morning. Some good friends (Swedish and Norwegian) were sitting at a table and we'd been hoping to catch up with them. They now live here permanently, but by-the-by are also in the process of selling up so they can spend more time with family back home. More and more Scandinavians turned up for an evening drink and we ended up at a long table with them. We made clear to all present that John has 5% Norwegian heritage and I have 3% Swedish, so hoped they'd be happy for us to claim a place at the table, though our language was not up to scratch. They all speak English and it was a lot of fun to be conversing with a new group of people. 

Back home for a scratch salad for dinner and we made sure we lodged our votes for the election in NZ this weekend. It was an easy process doing it online. It will be very interesting hearing the result - I guess we will find out on Saturday morning our time. Prior to that, it is the All Blacks vs Ireland quarter final in the rugby world cup on Friday night (Sat morning NZ time). We will be in Syracuse but have made sure that our room has a flatscreen TV. We hope to be able to Chromecast to it from our phone. John is very dubious that we'll find a sports bar in Sicily that will be covering our rugby match.

9th October - ECG

Not such a fun day today. When I woke in the morning I felt my heart go bumpity-bump. Not entirely unusual, I've noticed it before on odd occasions but my doctor had always said that's not uncommon, and nothing to be concerned about. I thought I'd try out the ECG app on my Samsung smartwatch, and to my surprise it came back with an alert that it had detected atrial fibrillation. I tried it again and got the same message, but it was normal after that. I decided it was a one-off as I felt 100%, but at lunchtime felt another heart bump, and got another alert.

We thought seeing the doctor might be advisable just in case, but on going there they said I should go to the local public clinic which would be able to do a proper ECG. And thus disappeared our afternoon. Three hours later I had seen a nurse practitioner, had a full ECG and blood test and got the blood results back. I then saw a doctor who assured me that all was showing completely normal, with no signs of any heart problems or damage, but it might be wise to see a cardiologue on our return to NZ. No need for me to do anything different, which was a bit of a relief as yesterday we had booked flights to Sicily!

Overall a long and not unpleasant experience. The staff were all lovely, though somewhat overworked. Just as well my French held up, as there was no sign that anybody could speak English.

On leaving we headed straight to Le Comptoir for a good drink! I feel totally fine, though it was a bit of a reminder that all of us have a limited lifespan, and should get on with life while we can.

From my side of things it was a stressful and rather scary day. This was compounded when, after waiting 1.5 hours at the clinic to find out the results of John's blood test (instead of the 15 minutes they said it would take), John was escorted through the emergency doors and I wasn't allowed to follow. Ten minutes later my brain was imagining all sorts of horrible things - more tests, he'd be staying overnight, bad news was coming... However, when he finally came back out he said he'd had a proper consultation with a doctor to discuss the results, and they do not allow any other person to be present. What a relief when he emerged with a big smile on his face!

4th Oct to 8th Oct - Ceret

While the daytime peak temperatures are remaining hot, typically 28-30 deg and are forecast to continue so for at least another 10 days, it's definitely getting cooler in the evenings and early mornings. The apartment got down to 16 last night, which makes it much more pleasant for sleeping and allows us to cool it for the next day. We're still only using a sheet and have the fans going during the night to move the cooler air about.

With a cool 19 deg when we woke up we decided to get out and do our walk/run reps before breakfast. It's crazy how hot it has been, with cloudless skies and no rain. We're now into October. The locals are desperate to feel some rain because, apart from the odd short storm, there hasn't been any since about May.

Apart from market day, the town is pretty quiet. Some of our friends/acquaintances are departing for their home countries - especially the English who now have to ration their 90 days per year in France due to Brexit.

We've had a fairly quiet week. John has replaced the skirting board that was damaged from the leak in the ceiling. I've cleaned and mopped the stairwell. The latter only gets done when we are here because the single guy who lives in the first level apartment (who works as a chef in the ground floor restaurant) never does any cleaning, nor does the English couple who periodically reside in the second floor apartment. We know that because the stairs are layered in fur that has been shed from the two dogs they bring with them. 

On Thursday we drove the 30 minutes to Collioure on the coast. It's an incredibly picturesque seaside town, and one that is dominated by multiple castles both within the town and on the hills surrounding. Throughout history it has been a strategic location for both the French and Spanish, and is currently within French borders. The sea temperature is still easily warm enough for swimming and we had a lovely swim off one of the small beaches. Wearing swim goggles it was easy to see the variety of fish life in the waters below.

Collioure waterfront

One of Collioure's little lanes

We're keeping up our walking and whatever exercise we can. The market on Saturday morning is always fun, though there were noticeably fewer people that this week than last. Things seem to definitely getting quieter now we are into October. 

Lunch with friends at one of the restaurants in our square

Cheese counter at the local supermarket

We've been following the Rugby World Cup games. The All Blacks are doing well, but are going to face a big test in the quarter finals against Ireland. 

30th Sept to 3 Oct - Ceret and Palamos

The Saturday morning market was busy as usual. Even though we are well into autumn, people are still  out in force, wearing light summer clothes, drawn to the laden produce stalls, often followed by a seat at a cafe for coffee. This week we couldn't find an empty table at any of the normal cafes for our own cuppa. Typically you have to hang around the edges and be ready to pounce when you spy someone vacating a table. 

In the early afternoon we drove half an hour towards the coast to the small town of Laroque-des-Alberes. This is where a good French friend lives. Miquel was widowed earlier this year. Over the last decade we have enjoyed many great times and fabulous meals with him and his wife. Over the next few hours we had a good chat. It was a hot drive back to Ceret afterwards, with the temperature gauge hovering around 29 deg. If only the air-conditioning still worked in the car!

We carried on with another thoroughly social evening with French friends, and again including Miquel. When we dine with Vero and JP, they unfailingly produce great meals, and this was no exception. One of the courses included cooked cepes (mushrooms) which they'd harvested in the forest with Miquel a few days earlier. It was a wonderful evening. The 28 deg temperature on the outdoor terrace slowly lowered, and when an outdoor light was put on we had sporadic visits from three very large hornets. These are not looked upon favourably in any way and were eventually despatched after a lot of waving, flapping and bug-spraying. It was only a five minute drive home, and we tucked up in bed not long before midnight. With the effort of listening to and speaking French for many hours that day we both slept soundly. It was great to be immersed in the language.

On waking on Sunday morning, we immediately checked the weather forecast for Palamos, a town we love visiting in Spain. The  light rain predicted for Monday had vanished from the radar so we quickly organised ourselves and set off to spend a few days on the Costa Brava. Palamos is about 1.5 hours' drive away and lies on the coast not far southeast of Girona, and northeast of Barcelona. Each year we have typically spent  a 2 day/1 night sojourn there. Every time have done at least one walk along the beautiful coastal tracks. The plan this time was to do two 8-10km walks, one to the north of Palamos and the other to the south.

Palamos

A wonderful array of fruit and vegetables

In the event, we did neither. Call us old, but it occurred to us, while we were humming and hah-ing about which track to tackle first, that we are now in our 65th year and could actually start to 'retire' and not rush around trying to maximise what we see and what we do. We decided to give it a go. We'd booked for two nights this time, and so spent an extremely enjoyable time over the next few days alternating between time on the beach (though well outside the heat of the day), swimming in the sea, having a siesta, imbibing a 2E cava or beer here or there and enjoying tapas or a full meal. It rather took us by surprise and we loved it. In fact, we could get used to it..... 

A plate of Padron peppers and a glass of cava at a waterfront bar

Tapas at a very small quirky bar (Can Moni) which is very popular with the locals
and the odd brightly coloured tourist not sure what to make of it all

Beret with the Basque and Catalan flags hanging on the wall in Can Moni

Palamos Beach

In the evening we visited another pintxos place we'd visited once previously - Txoko Donostiarra. As a pintxos place, you sit down and food is brought around on platters, as against tapas bar where you pick your dishes from a menu. You choose as little or as much as you like, and at the end of the evening the sticks from the various dishes are counted up and your bill is made up. It's a really fun way of eating.

We'd inquired about a late checkout on the last day and, given our room was full after us, the receptionist said we could check out in the late afternoon instead of by 11am. Bonus, giving us time for a swim in the morning.

On the drive home we stopped off at Verges, a small and very old village 1/3 of the way home. We had planned it to arrive at 2pm, a good hour for lunch. We'd stumbled across this place last year, and enjoyed a wonderful and very cheap 'menu of the day'. Again it was excellent. The fish dishes are a particular delight to us, and, as it always the case when we venture into Spain, we indulge in fish and all manner of other seafood as much as possible. 

Our lunch restaurant in Verges

Home by 5pm, pretty weary but feeling immensely relaxed and in post-holiday glow. Tomorrow we have some serious exercise on the agenda - perhaps it's time to do a little catch-up?

Today, Wednesday 4th, has indeed seen us do some catch-up. A solid walk, stocking up on groceries, completion of washing and ironing all the sofa and cushion covers, plus a weights session, has got us back on track again. Looking back on yesterday, the swims in the sea were one of the highlights for me - the water was probably around 23 degrees and didn't seem too cold and a few laps out to the bouys and back was a lot of fun. It was definitely warmer than the 18 degrees of Lake Tahoe.