“The rolling limestone hills are
parched. Grass is a wispy, shriveled dried up golden brown, the dominant
colour. On every hillside are small tumbled down stone barns, walls cracked,
stones fallen, roofs sagging. In places prickly pear cacti dominate the rocky
alcoves below the limestone scar outcrops. It is stunning countryside”.
“We've seen plenty of small residential
side roads, gravel tracks, pot holed lanes to nowhere. The satnav has hissy
fits and deliberately takes us into un-drivable areas. The poor car rattles,
rolls, it's wheels get locked in grooves causing it to track its own way. What
I would give for my 4 x 4 at home”!
“Today I have used five public toilets
on our travels and it has cost me €3
in payment to enter the toilets. Middle aged men sit outside them on chairs and
get quite agitated if you fail to proffer at least 50 cents on your entry or
exit. I'm sensing most are privately owned so maybe they are getting some small
income from them? I can't quite decide whether to feel indignation at having to
pay to pee or admiration for the entrepreneurial spirit shown”.
“We sat on a wall under an ancient
olive tree, it's canopy providing welcome relief from the searing afternoon sun
and ate cheese topped bread rolls and freshly picked oranges in the gentle
breeze. Leaves above fluttered and whispered their song to us and cicada
serenaded us with their distinctive chirrups from within the Mediterranean
scrub. We giggled at our adventures in Piazza Armerina, plotted our next route
for the afternoon and slowly relaxed and unwound. And as I glanced at her
indoors sunning her legs and peeling her orange with precision, I remembered
why I am the luckiest man on the planet”.
"So much viticulture. It extends across rolling gentle valley
slopes, even clinging to vertiginous mountainsides. The vines are trained
across wires; each plant lovingly encouraged to stretch its limbs sideways from
its main stalk. Where it is done extensively, the rows of vines are covered
with thin, almost transparent mesh netting, tied off at the edges in large
knots and pulled by cord downwards to stakes in the ground. Such practices give
some hillsides a turquoise shimmering appearance from a distance. It was quite
disconcerting first seeing a translucent shimmering 'sea' on a hillside! Below
these large netted areas which cover several hectares are crumbly light brown,
almost white soils, well drained and arranged in neat, measured low furrows.
Surprisingly, underneath is quite light and bright allowing the vital sunlight
to reach the green leaves thus allowing that most astonishing of processes to
occur, photosynthesis".
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