Sunday 23 October 2011

Sicily - Hire car

When we arrived at Catania airport late at night, it took us a wee while to find the car hire desk, but we eventually got to it and went through all the paperwork etc. The girl on the desk said that the car had no damage but we should check it before we left. As it was around 11 at night and dark it wasn't easy to see any potential damage however after a quick look round we saw a few scratches and this on the wing mirror:



Drove the car over to the car hire desk and pointed out the wing mirror - apparently, that sort of damage "is nothing". I began to get afraid of driving in Italy - and this was before I had to follow a police car at speed through the countryside, but thats another story.

Monday 17 October 2011

Day 1 October 2011 - Sicily

Pictures from our holiday in Ragusa in Sicily. Stayed at the Donnafugata Golf Resort & Spa which was lovely.

View of the pool area.

Sunday 16 October 2011

15 October 2011 - Sicily

Views of the resort gardens and grounds.



View from our terrace.



Those Porsches get everywhere!!



Games room at the resort. Played pool there some evenings.









More views of the resort.



The pool area.












Our room and terrace on the ground floor.



It's a hard life but someone has to do the sunbathing!!!



Amber has a great way of ensuring factor 50 sun protection!



Andew found time to relax too by the pool.

14 October 2011 - Sicily

Our lovely room in the Donnafugatta resort.






The hallway leading to our room.

13 October 2011 - Sicily

Porsche were hosting a golfing tournament at our resort and some of the guests had nice cars.



Headed out to Ragusa Ibla, which is the older part of Ragusa. Much of it was destroyed in the earthquake of 1683 but some of the buildings have been restored.



The old town has a very good ice cream parlour.



Balconies with strange gargoyles feature in Ragusa Ibla too.



Love the gargoyle wearing the specs in this picture!



Lovely homes and apartments in the narrow cobbled streets of Ragusa Ibla. Could have happily lived here and just watched the world go by.






View of Ragusa Ibla.



Restaurant Rusticana in Ragusa Ibla. Fab pasta dishes!



Road heading into Ragusa Ibla.



Just time for a goofy photo of Amber as we headed out of Ragusa Ibla.



Leaving Ragusa Ibla.



Our hire car, parked in Marina di Ragusa.



My Sicilian sunset :-) One of my favourite photos from our holiday.

12 October 2011 - Sicily

Sunbathing my tootsies!

Day 3 October 2011 - Sicily

The swimming pool at the Donnafugatta resort was not heated!

Day 2 October 2011 - Sicily

The town of Modica, not far from Ragusa. The town is famous for it's chocolate and baroque architecture.

They drive very small cars in Sicily; I know why. The following pictures are of the entrance to a Sicilian Avoccato [solicitor]. This car was driven through a set of double doors and literally parked inside.



and these are the double doors the car was driven through.



Churches feature heavily amongst the baroque architecture in Modica. This was the Chiesa de San Giorgiano.



The main street through Modica.



Chiesa san Giorgiana again.



Views of Modica.





Inside Chiesa san giorgiano.



Crest inside the church. Not sure of the significance of what looks like the George Cross.



Amber and I sitting on the steps outside.



Nice feature of the baroque architecture is the gargoyles under many of the balconies.



The old theatre in Modica.



Little car in Modica!



The town of Scicli, to the south of Ragusa. Filming of the TV series Inspector Montalbano takes place here.



Scicli's municipal building. As you know I will talk to anyone....in any language!!! But this very nice lady was telling us scenes from Montalbano are filmed inside the mayor's office. Not normally opened to the public but hey........ guess who gets a tour of the place? Poor woman was just on her lunch hour I think; she worked in the building.



Now before you all "tut" she told me to sit in the mayor's chair!



Ceiling inside the major's office.



Painting behind the desk.



Drove south to the coastal town of Punta Secca. This villa overlooking the beach is Montalbano's house shown at the start of the programme.



Headed north to Chiaramonte Gulfi where I wanted to visit the embroidery museum there but it wasn't open. Sicily is famous for it's sifilata lace and threadwork. Very expensive to buy as I later found out.



Main street in the town.