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Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Sydney with Mum
I have been having a lovely time here in Sydney with Mum. She arrived on Tuesday (it is now Sunday) . Reece was here and cooked some lovely fish for dinner.he then left early Wednesday morning to meet up with Ray and the caravan and have a few days travelling. They headed west and visited Lee , Rays son who works out at Cubbie Station. Reece found it very interesting to see the workings of the huge irrigation property.
Meantime, here in Sydney Mum and I have seen Jo and kids each day, either at a park, or there place or they have visited here. It has been gorgeous to be around them more and to see them with their Gigi. However, Emily is taking a bit longer to warm to her, and of course if Jo is around she is the only one who is special.....Lucas has been lovely and given her kisses.
We have done something each day. I have the little faded red 13 year old Barina to drive and feel pretty confident now getting about. we had a long drive around the beaches, Watson bay etc. which was nice. We babysat on Wednesday night. Emily very good and went off to sleep,li
Ke a gem. Lucas on the other hand decided to stay up till all hours. Normally he would go to bed like a treat, but he was so sweet and we read stories and lots of special cuddles on the couch. Jo and Rich went out eating and boozing....good on them. Thurs was Anzac Day. I watched a lot of the Sydney march on the TV. It was a huge march. Then we had lunch at The Spot in Randwick,and went to a movie, The Company You Keep with ageing Robert Redford. It was actually really good. Then we met up in the park with the Ryan's for a short time, then home and bed.
Friday we babysat as Jo had a first aid course at Newington College where she has a full time job in third semester teaching year 1. So I went over early then came and picked up,Mum later the off to the park for a big run and play. Fri night Jo and I went to see Warhorse at the Lyric theatre at Star City. Fantastic production and amazing how they had three people to operate the horses . Mum gave me the tickets for my birthday which is next week.......61....
Saturday we went to Camperdown antique shop. Mum had been very keen to find a replacement glass light shade for a bronze lamp she has. We had a lovely time looking at the beautiful bits and bobs and of course Mum always the shopper managed to find some treasures. AND very excited we found a shade. So she is very happy. Early dinner last at jo's last night. She cooked really yummy corned beef which she had never done before. Rich had gone off to Black Sabbath concert. Now it is Sunday morning and I better get up as we are off to brekkie at the cafe in Centennial Park. Auntie Diney is coming too.
Weather has been beautiful, sunshine, ocean flat and gorgeous. The apartment is fab as we have two bedrooms and two bathrooms, and plenty of space, nice balcony, very secure and parking.
Better get going.
Love Penelope
Meantime, here in Sydney Mum and I have seen Jo and kids each day, either at a park, or there place or they have visited here. It has been gorgeous to be around them more and to see them with their Gigi. However, Emily is taking a bit longer to warm to her, and of course if Jo is around she is the only one who is special.....Lucas has been lovely and given her kisses.
We have done something each day. I have the little faded red 13 year old Barina to drive and feel pretty confident now getting about. we had a long drive around the beaches, Watson bay etc. which was nice. We babysat on Wednesday night. Emily very good and went off to sleep,li
Ke a gem. Lucas on the other hand decided to stay up till all hours. Normally he would go to bed like a treat, but he was so sweet and we read stories and lots of special cuddles on the couch. Jo and Rich went out eating and boozing....good on them. Thurs was Anzac Day. I watched a lot of the Sydney march on the TV. It was a huge march. Then we had lunch at The Spot in Randwick,and went to a movie, The Company You Keep with ageing Robert Redford. It was actually really good. Then we met up in the park with the Ryan's for a short time, then home and bed.
Friday we babysat as Jo had a first aid course at Newington College where she has a full time job in third semester teaching year 1. So I went over early then came and picked up,Mum later the off to the park for a big run and play. Fri night Jo and I went to see Warhorse at the Lyric theatre at Star City. Fantastic production and amazing how they had three people to operate the horses . Mum gave me the tickets for my birthday which is next week.......61....
Saturday we went to Camperdown antique shop. Mum had been very keen to find a replacement glass light shade for a bronze lamp she has. We had a lovely time looking at the beautiful bits and bobs and of course Mum always the shopper managed to find some treasures. AND very excited we found a shade. So she is very happy. Early dinner last at jo's last night. She cooked really yummy corned beef which she had never done before. Rich had gone off to Black Sabbath concert. Now it is Sunday morning and I better get up as we are off to brekkie at the cafe in Centennial Park. Auntie Diney is coming too.
Weather has been beautiful, sunshine, ocean flat and gorgeous. The apartment is fab as we have two bedrooms and two bathrooms, and plenty of space, nice balcony, very secure and parking.
Better get going.
Love Penelope
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Friday, April 26, 2013
Monday, April 22, 2013
Last day in Italy
We did the ref bus tour in Rome . Lots of towns have Orange if lemon trees as street freed. Do sensible and do pretty.
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Saturday, April 20, 2013
Long trip home
Today is Saturday 20 th April. I am sitting here at Luxe salon in Randwick having an overhaul on my hair. My head is covered in tin foil and waiting for the colour to take. Well overdue for the colour and it is quite long. Soo we will wait and see how beautiful Deago can make me.
Huge downpour of rain as I was coming here in the red Barina and the day is overcast. Reece has gone off to meet Trish Cocks who has been here with Phoebe. They are meeting at the Paddington Markets .
Long trip home. We trained to Rome then had a night at hotel very close to the station. Did the bus tour the next day then went out to the Hilton Hotel at the airport as we had an early flight much ,ore convenient . Plane late leaving Rome and very ordinary BA business lass still it was only 2.5 hours. Fabulous flight fromLondon to KL in Malaysian new 380 aircraft. Heaps of space and the 14 hours was OK. Quick connection in KL and as we were about to board Reece realised he had left his iPad on the plane.....oops ...they couldn't get it and he was disappointed as they didn't hold out high hopes to retrieve it.so no iPad. KL to Sydney 7.5 flying hours and not the smart 380, however, very comfy. Watched many movies one of which was Jack Reacher ( Tom cruise) sorry cant come to grips with him ESP playing jack as he is over six foot in the books.
Arrived Sydney to find our luggage diet come with us. Oh dear. Thank goodness I had packed those nickers and t shirt as I was going to shower in KL but no time. So a night at Coogee Bay Hotel. Such a treat to have a decent big shower, ie regular size for Australia but Italians have extremely small shower areas..
Fri am thrilled to see Jo, Lucas and Emily. Emily walking like a champ and Lucas a bundle of joy. Kisses and hugs all round. Then we got settled into the apartment. It is extremely comfy and well appointed. Mum you will really like it. Red Barina has a parking spot. Very close to Jo. She is looking great. Her hair quite short now. Will see Rich tonight when we go for dinner to Luke Nguyen restaurant the red lantern. Really good to be home .....fabulous holiday....
Hoping everyone is OK
Lots of love
Penelope
Huge downpour of rain as I was coming here in the red Barina and the day is overcast. Reece has gone off to meet Trish Cocks who has been here with Phoebe. They are meeting at the Paddington Markets .
Long trip home. We trained to Rome then had a night at hotel very close to the station. Did the bus tour the next day then went out to the Hilton Hotel at the airport as we had an early flight much ,ore convenient . Plane late leaving Rome and very ordinary BA business lass still it was only 2.5 hours. Fabulous flight fromLondon to KL in Malaysian new 380 aircraft. Heaps of space and the 14 hours was OK. Quick connection in KL and as we were about to board Reece realised he had left his iPad on the plane.....oops ...they couldn't get it and he was disappointed as they didn't hold out high hopes to retrieve it.so no iPad. KL to Sydney 7.5 flying hours and not the smart 380, however, very comfy. Watched many movies one of which was Jack Reacher ( Tom cruise) sorry cant come to grips with him ESP playing jack as he is over six foot in the books.
Arrived Sydney to find our luggage diet come with us. Oh dear. Thank goodness I had packed those nickers and t shirt as I was going to shower in KL but no time. So a night at Coogee Bay Hotel. Such a treat to have a decent big shower, ie regular size for Australia but Italians have extremely small shower areas..
Fri am thrilled to see Jo, Lucas and Emily. Emily walking like a champ and Lucas a bundle of joy. Kisses and hugs all round. Then we got settled into the apartment. It is extremely comfy and well appointed. Mum you will really like it. Red Barina has a parking spot. Very close to Jo. She is looking great. Her hair quite short now. Will see Rich tonight when we go for dinner to Luke Nguyen restaurant the red lantern. Really good to be home .....fabulous holiday....
Hoping everyone is OK
Lots of love
Penelope
Monday, April 15, 2013
Leaving Italy
Hi all. Sorry the blog has been a bit disjointed recently.
We had a fabulous time in Sicily . We really saw the north east part. Which was Palermo, Cefalu, Taormina and the island of Liparu where we stayed. All beautiful and interesting and difficult to say which one i loved the best. We were very keen to see Capo de lando as it is the sister city to Fremantle but we were all very disappointed as it doesn't have the old world charm. But as always there is a good coffee. On the way home from sorrento we stopped at Herculanium at Naples. It was destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 ad as was Pompeii. It was so interesting and can recommend a visit, I believe it is more intact and easier to see than Pompeii. It was soo good to return to Paciano to see the wheat crops had grown, canola all gorgeous and yellow, birds singing, beautiful sunset, no traffic.... Just divine,...we had dinner at one of the local restaurant which we call the burnt goose. A family run place simple meals and if course limoncello to finish. Today my last day in Paciano...... So I went on a stroll that I have done on my own a few times. It takes me up behind the village and next to the woods. So beautiful views fab. I have picked wildflowers from the roadside. Can you believe I was picking wild violets.....so pretty. Reecie has a shitty, filthy cough....yuckkkkkkk so he didn't come today to the tulip festival at Castiglione del Lago. I had imagined there would be buckets of tulips for sale. They had lots of tulips decorated around the shops,and a lot of hanging around. There were some marching girls,,,,,,and five floats decorated with tulips .. a lot of fun.but nothing runs on time in Italy ( except the trains ) so we left before the parade,. After that we had drinks at the "bottom" bar with lovely couple and. .4 kids from who are overseas for one year with their four kids from age ten to two.they are teachers and home schooling. Great couple. Then home for some spag bog and now in bed... Reece snoring ... We get the train tomorrow at 1100 for Rome. Two nights in Rome then home to Sydney arriving Thursday night...
We have had a fabulous time. Keith and Chris have been great company. I will miss the serenity of Paciano, and would love to have gotten to know more of the locals.. Tonight on the way home from the bottom bar Keith and I popped into Pats bar..which is so tiny, but i met up with the young kids from. Two weeks ago... They were so sweet and greeted me with kisses both cheeks and hugs and happy to see me. I would be very happy to see more of them but alas no.
Looking forward to seeing dearest Lucas Emily Jo and Richard this coming weekend.
Bye for now. Be in touch from Sydney in a few days. Love Penelope
We had a fabulous time in Sicily . We really saw the north east part. Which was Palermo, Cefalu, Taormina and the island of Liparu where we stayed. All beautiful and interesting and difficult to say which one i loved the best. We were very keen to see Capo de lando as it is the sister city to Fremantle but we were all very disappointed as it doesn't have the old world charm. But as always there is a good coffee. On the way home from sorrento we stopped at Herculanium at Naples. It was destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 ad as was Pompeii. It was so interesting and can recommend a visit, I believe it is more intact and easier to see than Pompeii. It was soo good to return to Paciano to see the wheat crops had grown, canola all gorgeous and yellow, birds singing, beautiful sunset, no traffic.... Just divine,...we had dinner at one of the local restaurant which we call the burnt goose. A family run place simple meals and if course limoncello to finish. Today my last day in Paciano...... So I went on a stroll that I have done on my own a few times. It takes me up behind the village and next to the woods. So beautiful views fab. I have picked wildflowers from the roadside. Can you believe I was picking wild violets.....so pretty. Reecie has a shitty, filthy cough....yuckkkkkkk so he didn't come today to the tulip festival at Castiglione del Lago. I had imagined there would be buckets of tulips for sale. They had lots of tulips decorated around the shops,and a lot of hanging around. There were some marching girls,,,,,,and five floats decorated with tulips .. a lot of fun.but nothing runs on time in Italy ( except the trains ) so we left before the parade,. After that we had drinks at the "bottom" bar with lovely couple and. .4 kids from who are overseas for one year with their four kids from age ten to two.they are teachers and home schooling. Great couple. Then home for some spag bog and now in bed... Reece snoring ... We get the train tomorrow at 1100 for Rome. Two nights in Rome then home to Sydney arriving Thursday night...
We have had a fabulous time. Keith and Chris have been great company. I will miss the serenity of Paciano, and would love to have gotten to know more of the locals.. Tonight on the way home from the bottom bar Keith and I popped into Pats bar..which is so tiny, but i met up with the young kids from. Two weeks ago... They were so sweet and greeted me with kisses both cheeks and hugs and happy to see me. I would be very happy to see more of them but alas no.
Looking forward to seeing dearest Lucas Emily Jo and Richard this coming weekend.
Bye for now. Be in touch from Sydney in a few days. Love Penelope
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Amalfie
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Saturday, April 13, 2013
Home to Paciano
Hi All, just a quickie... Leaving Sorrento this morning for home Paciano. Via Herculanium which is like Pompeii near Naples. Fab drive to Positano and Amalfie yesterday. Very glad we didn't stay there just so busy and and so many tourists. Love pen
Friday, April 12, 2013
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Liparu again
Sooo to continue we drove on to Taormino town. Amazing as it is on the steepest hill you have ever seen and we went winding winding up very narrow roads to find our hotel called Villa Greta. I could hardly look out the window. I used to think devils elbow on the river was scary as a child.... That was pathetic . Any way sorry cant send any pics of this amazing place until I get to Paciano as they are on my phone. It is a beautiful town and I thought very romantic. I can see the old sports car , handsome man and beautiful girls driving about. Or scarves flying on the Vespas. Fantastic lookout and promenade area just next to the Metropol Hotel. S nice to see everyone just enjoying the scenery and sunshine. W had a very comfy room and we looked straight over to Mt Etna. Fantastic . So steep we walked down to the restaurant for dinner but got a taxi back... We had a very nice boat ride around the coast with fabulous Italian music playing we couldn't help but sing. Interestingly the words to Old Napoli had been changed to Old Sicily . It was a smallish open wooden boat just tonked along nicely. Two nights there then on to Lipari yesterday. We left the car on Sicily and now really enjoying this pretty island famous for Malvasian dessert wine pumice and capers. Lots of fishing boats, small shops. We have just returned from our drive with Gianfranco who took us around the island in his beautiful white taxi. We have seen more volcano. W are at a lovely hotel called Resdence la Giara. Today the sun is shining, not a cloud in the sky, birds singing and I am on the terrace at the reception. Caffe latte 1 euro 50. That's about $2. Coffee and grog a ridiculous cheap price.
I'll send some pics I took with my iPad.
Hope you are all OK?
Lots of love
Penelope
I'll send some pics I took with my iPad.
Hope you are all OK?
Lots of love
Penelope
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Liparu, Sicily
Hi Al, we are on the delightful island of Liparu one hour (fast) ferry ride from Sicily mainland ar the residence la giara, which was recommended by a German family who we met in Taormino.
We have had a great trip to Sicily. We drove to the wonderful city of Naples from Paciano about 4 hours. Boy oh boy what a dump Naples is. Filthy dirty grotty black Africans hassling you very nasty place. However we did hav a nice lunc at the harbour while waiting to get the car ferry to Palermo, Sicily . We had a fun while in the care queue watching the big trucks boarding the ferry. It was quite exciting to drive on in the car then head up to our cabins for the overnight trip to Pelermo. We eagerly watched the lights of Naples disappear and all agreed we will never go there again. The trip was pretty rough and poor old Keith had to leave the dinner table to get some air. He was decidedly pale, however he was a fin in the mornings, bur. Our deluxe first class cabin had a twin beds, adequate bathroom except I was too early for the shower and mine was cold. Quite comfy but neither of us sept very well. Terrific to come into Palermo early in the morning, and Sicily looked must as I had imagined, very rugged steep rocky hills. We then took off to go to Taormino just next to Mt Etna along the coast. It was early morning peak hour and my goodness the drivers make up the rules as they want. Keith has done an amazing job with the driving....oops gotta go the taxi is coming to take us on tour of the island . We didn't bring the car here. Only get wifi at the reception so will be back soon...
We have had a great trip to Sicily. We drove to the wonderful city of Naples from Paciano about 4 hours. Boy oh boy what a dump Naples is. Filthy dirty grotty black Africans hassling you very nasty place. However we did hav a nice lunc at the harbour while waiting to get the car ferry to Palermo, Sicily . We had a fun while in the care queue watching the big trucks boarding the ferry. It was quite exciting to drive on in the car then head up to our cabins for the overnight trip to Pelermo. We eagerly watched the lights of Naples disappear and all agreed we will never go there again. The trip was pretty rough and poor old Keith had to leave the dinner table to get some air. He was decidedly pale, however he was a fin in the mornings, bur. Our deluxe first class cabin had a twin beds, adequate bathroom except I was too early for the shower and mine was cold. Quite comfy but neither of us sept very well. Terrific to come into Palermo early in the morning, and Sicily looked must as I had imagined, very rugged steep rocky hills. We then took off to go to Taormino just next to Mt Etna along the coast. It was early morning peak hour and my goodness the drivers make up the rules as they want. Keith has done an amazing job with the driving....oops gotta go the taxi is coming to take us on tour of the island . We didn't bring the car here. Only get wifi at the reception so will be back soon...
Monday, April 8, 2013
Cefalu
Hi,everybody,sorry to have sent the same pic thru twice. Seem the dialogue I had written didn't come through,.. Any way just quickly we are in Cefalu on the north coast of Sicily between Palermo and Messina. It is really lovely to be by the coast. The pic is taken from our bedroom window at the Riva Del Sole, I haven't had wifi connection. We leave here tomorrow for the island of Liparu for two nights then back to the mainland and to Sorrento. Sicily as expected is very rugged, steep hills, rocky. Very spectacular . We even had snow in the hills yesterday. It is now late after 2200 hrs, I will write again soon. Love Penelope
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Sicily
FYI we will be away in Sicily for a week or ten days. Not sure of phone or Internet connection. Take care . Lots of love Penelope
Cheese rolling at Panicale
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