Trafton’s European Tour 2024-2025

Greetings from beautiful, but wet and a little chilly 58 degrees, Catania, Sicily. Yes, we have returned to Sicily! We visited here in 2013, and were both intrigued and curious about Sicily so we decided to return🫣

I know you’re thinking, where the heck is Catania, Sicily?🤔

A very easy two hour drive from Paola to Villa San Giovanni, (the very tip of the toe of Italy), then on to the ferry to Sicily😬

Catania has a history as long as Western civilization! Founded by Greeks in 800 BC, it became one of Romes first outposts in 300 BC.

Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Muslims, Christians, Vikings and the US Air Force, when we bombed Sicily in WW11, all have a hand in Catania’s history!

We are staying in Old Town, it’s quite fun. Catania has a wonderful newer shopping district right next door!

The city has been destroyed many times by lava flows from Mt. Etna and rebuilt over and over. (We are currently in a Yellow warning 🤔)

Catania is the main hub of Sicily and it has every ethnicity from around the world. It’s quite the urban adventure.

The usual southern Italy directions get us lost several time before we figure out how to get on the ferry 🫣

Ferries run every few minutes and the crossing is only 20 minutes.

Lots of people around the world drive crazy, but we think Sicilians take crazy driving to the next level!

The drive to Catania is uneventful, but the drive to our Airbnb, then the parking garage to park the car is truly crazy! Driving is a full contact sport in Sicily. Throw in the motor scooters, the hand jesters, and the Italian cursing, it’s quite the adventure😉

After all that, an easy check in to the Airbnb, a wonderful space.

Ok, early check in…let’s go for a walk and get some dinner!

Easy first day, getting used to the city again 🫣

Up bright and early, off to the market!

Ok, the world famous, A’Piscaria Mercato del Pesce, the fish market of Catania.

Walking tour time, let’s go says TGC!

It’s started to pour rain, let’s call it a good first day! 16,000 wet steps!

Day Two starts cloudy with pouring rain!

After running some errands (and visiting the bakery), I joined TGC for mass at the basilica.

Rain is letting up so walking tour time!

TGC is pounding the sidewalk and streets now!

Up and over the only hill in Catania, we need lunch!

That’s it for day two! 20,000 steps and even a little sunshine at the end!

You know we’ve been looking for the best cannolis in Sicily. This is the current leader!

We were planning on a couple of driving trips to neighboring city’s, (Siracusa and Taormina) but with the driving conditions here, that might not work 🫣

Arrivederci for now!

Greetings from beautiful and partly sunny Paola, Italy.

Yes, we’ve made it to the top of the toe of Italy.

Paola is a smallish town, 16,000 residents on the Tyrrhenian Sea (part of the Mediterranean Sea).

It’s a vey isolated and mountainous region, very high unemployment and very little opportunities for folks. We’re just here on the way to Sicily, where we’ll travel to tomorrow.

Our drive across the bottom of Italy was uneventful, four hours in total, but across some large mountain ranges. It was raining and snowing at higher elevations. The land is very, very green here. The drought in Europe is over✔️

History here is the history of Western civilization, everyone including the Vikings have ruled this area.

Easy check in and safe parking at the Airbnb!

It’s very hilly here and everything, and I mean everything, is by stairs and very, very steep. 😬

The Santuario is a very important pilgrimage sight.

Paola is an important pilgrimage sight and has over 20 churches in the city.

Only 14,000 steps, but brutal steps and hills.

Headed to Sicily tomorrow, which involves a ferry ride and driving in Sicily. Wish us luck👊

Arrivederci! Ciao! Ciao!

That’s Mt. Stromboli in the foreground, it’s an active volcano off the coast of Sicily.

Greetings from beautiful and sunny, a warm 65 degrees Lecce, Italy, known as the Florence of southern Italy.

We made the easy drive (if driving in Italy is ever easy) to Lecce from Bari. We are staying in the Old town section of Lecce and got hopelessly lost driving in to the old city, so our Airbnb host had to save the Americans 😬

Every part of Italy is different, the north, with manufacturing, banking, and lots of money. The middle, Tuscany, Rome, wine and tourism. The further south you go the lower the income. Unemployment is very high in southern Italy. It’s a very different feeling here than in other parts of Italy.

Yes, we are in the “heel” of the boot of Italy!

Old town is a great walking tour time, The Florence of the south!

Lecce is very, very old. History can be traced to 3,000 BC here! Everyone has been through here, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Crusaders, but the city as we see today was mainly constructed in the 1200-1400 AD time frame.

Ok, walking tour time says TGC. It’s flat here (except climbing to our Airbnb) so away we go.🫣

You know we’re finding the local market ✔️

Ok, enough food, on to walking!

Old town is a traffic restricted area, only locals can drive here. It’s safe walking, unlike Italian streets. 😬

There must be over 20 churches in old town, they are all in great condition.

Unfortunately, lots of the major sites are “under renovation”, so scaffolding blocks lots of views!

Beautiful city, we can see why it’s the “Florence of Southern Italy”.

23,000 steps and three trips up the stairs, I’m bushed!

Arrivederci from Lecce. We’re heading to Paola, Italy (on the Mediterranean coast) tomorrow. That’s on our way to the toe of Italy’s boot😉

Greetings from beautiful and sunny Bari, Italy. TGC says driving and walking tours the next couple of days, as we explore the southern Adriatic coast of Italy.

We drove about 1 1/2 hours outside Bari. Believe us, driving in southern Italy is not for the faint of heart😬 Interesting area, very flat and the millions of limestone rocks have been stacked to create walls and basically everything!

The area was developed in the 1500’s to give peasants land, (of course the king kept 10% of the goods produced).

The original structures were built as “Dry stacks” or without any mortar so they could be quickly destroyed if the King was unhappy!

Now the buildings have been updated with concrete mortar.

Ok, short drive to the next stop, Locorotando.

Ok, that’s day one of this tour, talk tomorrow! I got off easy, 14,000 steps and gentle hills😜

Day two! A little overcast today as TGC says, one hour drive to Matera and walking tour time😜

After one hour of crazy Italian driving 🫣 We arrived safely in Matera, parked the Trusty Citroen in an underground car park 😉 and away we go on the walking tour!

Matera is a very interesting city. It’s current population is about 60,000 but the interesting part is the old city, which started in Neanderthal times.

As the city above and below continued to grow, the rock buildings were starting to collapse.

I’m sure it’s quite the happening place on the weekends and summers!

Wonderful time here in Puglia, lots to do and see!

Only 16,000 steps, but hundreds of stars and cobblestones 😬

We’re off to Lecce on the heel of the Italian boot! Until next time!

Arrivederci 😎

Greetings from sunny, but chilly 44-58 degree Bari Italy!

We left Tuscany early on Saturday to make the long drive down the middle of Italy and then over to the Adriatic Sea side of Italy to Bari.

It is an eight hour drive on Toll roads to get to Bari (€60) from Tuscany! As we discussed earlier, Italian roads are “Under Construction” so quite a long journey!

You’re wondering “Where the heck is Bari”?

Bari is the chief economic center of Southern Italy. It’s metro population is 380,000 and is a huge port city. 1.5 million in the region.

Bari has a long, long history, with history going back 5,000 years. It was a longtime Greek colony before the Romans and played a large role for the Allies in WW11.

After parking the Trusty Citroen in a parking garage, because street parking is crazy here.

Very few motor scooters here, but it is the Smart car capital of Italy!

Ok, bright and early, walking tour time says TGC!

Bari is very flat and mostly concrete stones, so I think I’m in trouble 😬

Fantastic bakery’s in town, most of them are Bars ( coffee shops) bakeries and what are called Focaccerias, where they sell various food from the region! Fantastic food scene!

Moving on says TGC…

TGC was brutal, 22,000 steps on day one😅

Day Two!

Ok, says TGC, easy day yesterday, driving, walking, picnicking in the park as we toured Alberobello and Trulli. More on that later. Time to walk! Here we go!

We’re staying right down next to Old Town Bari, so off we go to see if we’ve missed anything on our previous tours!

Bari is a great food city, very, very good food at restaurants and local food stores, no procrastinating says TGC, walk🙄

Walking along the waterfront now, not the most spectacular waterfront we’ve ever seen!

TGC says take the afternoon off, we need to get caught up on paperwork and laundry and I might Nap😉

Bari is a beautiful city, we heard very little English! If you want the real Italy, it’s here in Bari✔️

Day two of some driving trips tomorrow, stay tuned! Ciao!

Greetings from beautiful and sunny, but a little chilly (34-58 degrees), Panzano in Chianti, Italy.

We made the four hour drive from Bergeggi, Italy to Panzano without any major issues. The Toll road through northern Italy to Tuscany goes through over 100 tunnels, and to say it nicely, Italian roads are always “Under Construction”.

We are staying in a large renovated farmhouse. It’s quite large, very Tuscan, and lovely.

We’ve been to Tuscany a few times and stayed in different locations. We stayed in Panzano in 2013. It’s very remote and has a nice, country feeling.

As we have visited the major tourist spots in Tuscany (Florence, Siena, San Gimignano) before, we’re going to stay low key, relax and visit some smaller places.

First up, Montepulciano! We stayed here for almost three weeks in 2023. It’s one of our favorite city’s, small, with an authentic feel!

Obviously, this is Chianti wine region! Hundreds to choose from! As always, we did our best to help the local economy.

The roads in rural Tuscany are narrow and winding! But it’s the best way to see the out of the way places.

Pecorino Pienza is a sheep cheese made only in Pienza. We always buy some from the caseificio (cheese factory). Funny thing is, in the 12 years of visiting Tuscany, we’ve never seen a sheep 🤔

All the fancy restaurants serve huge T bone steaks as Tuscan Beef. Funny, we’ve never seen a cow in Tuscany either 🤔

Quick trip down the road, Greve in Chianti! A beautiful village that I’m sure hums in the spring, summer and fall, now it’s very quiet!

The black rooster is the symbol of Chianti. The Knights of Chianti wore it on their armor during the Crusades! Now it’s the symbol of the Chianti region of Italy. Also on every bottle of Chianti Classico 😜

Wine tasting in Italy involves Enotecas, wine tasting shops that can also be restaurants. This one featured Wild Boar products!

Continue reading “2/7/2025 Tuscany, Italy”

Greetings from the beautiful and sunny, but chilly 58 degree Italian Riviera!

Firing up the trusty Citroen, we drove the six hours across France and back to Italy and the Mediterranean Sea.

FYI, tolls are brutal on Frances freeways, over $50 in tolls on the trip and fuel is $8 a gallon 😬

We are staying outside Genoa, Italy a place we’ve driven through before but have never visited! Let’s visit says TGC!

Genoa (Genova) is a very large city, the sixth largest in Italy! Over 1.5 million people live in the area. As it’s a very, very old city, the roads are difficult, but we decided to drive into the old town and park😬

Genoa is a huge shipping port, with Italian sailors exploring and trading around the world from the city! Christopher Columbus was born here.

Genoa also worked with Spain as a port and so it became a very wealthy city in the Middle Ages. The city’s architecture is quite beautiful and the old town, a little gritty as you can imagine in a seafarers city🤔

With the Citroen safely parked in a parking lot away we go!

Walking tour time says TGC😜

Genoa Old Town (Molo) is very compact, so we can’t be walking that much can we? Of course it’s hilly and cobblestones 🫣

It’s still early and the crowds are light. Big cruise ship port in Genoa, I bet it can get really crowded 😬

Focaccia is very, very popular in Genoa. There’s a Focaccia shop every couple of blocks.

Time to walk off the dough!

Walking now, quickly!

Genoa, like lots of Northern Italian city’s has beautiful Porticos to walk under. All I know is you give TGC a smooth walking path like that, you better tighten the shoe laces😜

You know we love the central markets and Genoa’s is first rate!

Different Focaccia, not par baked long fermentation like other city’s in Italy. Fresh dough, cover with ingredients than bakes. It’s a little softer than we like. TGC says 6.8, Mike 7.2 🫣

Ok, back to walking. This is Via Giuseppe Garibaldi Street, where Genoas rich and famous lived.

Ok, that’s enough, 20,000 steps, lots of cobblestones and hills!

Fun time here, heading to Tuscany and Panzano in Chianti next!

Until than, Ciao, Caio, Ciao from Italy!

Greetings from beautiful, but cold, wet and windy Uzes, France!

We’ve visited Uzes many times previously, it’s one of our favorite places! The weather is a little spotty, so some of the pictures are from previous visits😉

We’ve talked about the Duche of Uzes, and why it’s powerful, but to Cindy and I, it’s the perfect French village. Small, fantastic setting and the weather in the south of France, the Gard/Provence is Mediterranean.

We love this area for many, many reasons…

You know I love French bakeries, and Uzes has some of the best in the world. Simple, local bakeries that bake wonderful and delicious baked goods. Also the Patisseries (desserts) are awesome here.

We also love to visit Chateauneuf-du-Pape, one of the premier wine areas of the world!

View of the valley from above the Chateau. Beautiful!

Bring your own Jug!

Don’t think all French wine is stuffy, the majority of French people drink box or “House wine”. It’s €2 a liter, fresh from the Tap✔️

Uzes hosts a world famous Saturday market all year round, rain or shine. Today it’s cold, windy and rain on the way, but the market goes on! Because of the weather, some pictures are from previous years🫣

Easy to see why people love The South of France, the lifestyle here is wonderful!

By the way, that villa that you dream of, here in Province, 4 bedrooms, remodeled and updated, pool, 4 acres of land $1.5 million 🤔

I got off easy in Uzes, only 16,000 steps per day! Another reason to love Uzes 😉

Headed to Bergeggi, Italy tomorrow, that’s by Genova!

Greetings from beautiful, but a bit chilly, 52 degrees Toulouse, France!

We made the easy, three hour drive from Collioure, France to Toulouse and paid the €21 tolls. Fresh snow the previous night left the Pyrenees even more beautiful.

We visited Toulouse once previously and loved it so much we decided to return.

Toulouse is an interesting city. It’s quite large, over 1.5 million inhabitants and the home of Europes airline and space manufacturing. Airbus is Headquartered here.

Us, we’re just there for the sights and the food😎

First stop after a quick metro ride, the Canal du Midi.

Built in the 1600’s the canal runs over 240km from outside Toulouse to the Mediterranean Sea. It was once a super waterway for cargo, now it’s used for pleasure boating and Barge lifestyles.

OK, we’re in France, home to, in my opinion, the country with the world’s best food! First stop, the world famous Victor Hugo Market, a fresh food market.

Of course the first stop is at one of many Boulangeries, the French are the worlds best bakers 👍

Possibly, the only thing better than a French Boulangerie? A French Fromagerie, or cheese shop!

Don’t know about you, but I need a little coffee after all that drooling.

Ok, walking tour says TGC. Toulouse is very pedestrian friendly, except for bicycles, they fly around everywhere! Be careful ✔️

Started in the 800’s and has had many lives as a monastery and gardens of Toulouse. Current version built in the 1600’s. Unbelievably beautiful, my pictures don’t do it justice.

Started in the mid 1500’s and completed in 1640 this bridge is still used today. The construction was very difficult because of the swiftness of the Garonne River and the shifting sandy bottom.

TGC is pounding me now, more steps!

A convent created in 1550. It’s spectacular!

The regional specialty of the area is Cassoulet, a hearty dish of beans, broth and meats. We love the Duck and sausage version made with rendered duck.

The main plaza of the city! And Toulouses city hall.

Ok, TGC has worn me out, 23,000 steps again. But no hills or stairs, a win in my book. Back on the Metro for a quick ride home!

On to Uzes, France tomorrow, until then,

Av revoir 🥐

Greetings from beautiful and sunny France! It’s a little chilly though! High 60,I think the shorts might go in the suitcase for a while!

After a six hour drive up the coast of Spain, we returned to France.

We discovered this area of France on our last adventure when we were detoured because of a tunnel closure. We hoped to come back and now we are. Let’s explore👍

Collioure has a long history of going back and forth from France to Spain. It was famous for its anchovy fishing, but now it’s a French and Spanish tourist destination. You do not hear any English here😉

Our Airbnb is right over the harbor so TGC is ready to go, it could be a long day😬

First started in 1200, remember the crusaders, the chateau has had many lives and is now a huge tourist attraction.

Continue reading “1/28/2025 Collioure, France”