@If you click each of the photos they will become full sized😎
Greetings from the Great White North! We had a couple more things to accomplish on our Canadian adventure, so back into the trusty Hyundai we go😜
Quick, easy 30 minute drive to the Lake Louise Park and Ride then onto one of a huge fleet of mass transit shuttles that move you to Lake Louise.
Visiting the area is a little different. Unless you are staying in Lake Louise itself, you have to buy a timed entry pass to take the shuttle in😬 These passes are purchased on line and go very very quickly. The site sells out the passes in a matter of minutes!
So, we arrived at our destination on time, parked in a HUGE parking lot and boarded our bus with no issues 🫣
First stop, Lake Louise, beautiful, beautiful place, just lots, and I mean lots, of people 🫣 Some pictures from the lake.
Pano shotCanoeing anyone?The water is beautiful.Happy, happy 😎
Ok, the shuttle took us to Lake Moraine. It’s a 20 minute shuttle with lots of bus traffic 🫣
Wow, staggeringly beautiful!Trail around one side of the lake, quick hike!Walking towards the far end of the lake.Wow! Look at the sun on that water!
Ok, back to the shuttle and parking lot. Wow, that’s a lot of beauty, but one heck of a lot of people 😬
Bow River Valley
That’s a wrap from Canada as we head to Helena, Montana tomorrow. It’s an eight hour drive and then on to Yellowstone the next day!
Little snow in the Yellowstone forecast, we’ll see!
Greetings from beautiful Alberta, Canada and the Canadian Rockies.
Leaving Valemount, BC we drive up the Rockies, it’s partly cloudy and easy driving! First stop, Rearguard Falls, the highest spot Chinook salmon make it upriver!
Rearguard FallsDriving into the Rockies, beautiful!Jasper
The areas around Jasper had a terrible fire two years ago and about 1/2 the city burned 🤨 Jasper is rebuilding 👍
The fire burned a very large amount of land.Go Jasper, it’s on the rebound 👊Driving again, up up!Athabasca Falls
Next stop, Athabasca Falls, quite lovely!
Wow!Back on the road, gaining elevation and entering glacier areas, lots of avalanche warnings signs🫣Getting a little misty😬Ice fields, it’s raining pretty hard now, no hike for us😜Our Airbnb cabin This is as close to camping as I get ✔️But the view from the back door is stunning!
Ok, bright and early, touring the Banff area. Man the tour bus crowds are massive, large buses, small buses, medium buses they are here by the hundreds 🫣
Beautiful morning 👍Johnston Canyon and it’s Falls!TGC wants to power walk the canyon and it’s four mile trail, ok says I!Beautiful!They cut the trail into the canyon!😀TGC is on fire 🔥Ok let’s head into Banff
Banff is a very trendy city with lots of Hotels, Condos and Airbnb’s. It’s a very high end shopping district.
Glad we’re in the country 👊
The Famous Banff gondola, every gondola is full and they don’t stop.Bow falls, right in Banff.Bow FallsFairmont Banff Springs Hotel.Ok, let’s drive home. We’re located about halfway between Banff and Lake Louise.Wow!
Fun couple of days, weather is cooperating and we are enjoying ourselves immensely!
Tomorrow, Lake Louise and Lake Moraine, hopefully the crowds are Ok🫣
Greetings from the Great White North! TGC is taking me on a trip across the Canadian mountains and I thought I’d share a few photos and updates!
Our Airbnb, Wenatchee, Wa
TGC and I met in Wenatchee in 1978 and were married here in 1980! It’s her hometown, so we stopped by to see the changes in 50 years, there’s a lot!
Washington’s Cascade mountains
Up and over the Cascades we go, beautiful fall day!
Beautiful!😎Out of the Cascades and into Canada!
Easy border crossing, no wait at all😎
After a couple hours, we arrived in Whistler, BC! Quite the happening place!
Olympic Park greeting center!Whistler Olympic areas.Bear alert! Lots of bears in the area 😬Area where the Olympic ceremony’s were held!Whistler is quite an upscale area…bring your wallet!Beautiful fall day!Bullwinkels brother 🧑 Ok, next day, up over the Canadian Cascades.Frazier River valley, quite beautiful!Airbnb, Kamloops!Kamloops, from our Airbnb Canadian Rockies!
Up and into the Rockies we go. Really not that high compared to Idahos Sawtooths, but very beautiful!
Mt RobsonWow!
TGC wanted to do some power hiking in the Rockies so I hung out and guarded Lunch😎
TGC hikes to Lake KinneyLake Kinney
TGC poured out the 8k walk in 90 minutes…me, I’m happy to report lunch was delicious Alfresco😎
Leaving for the Baniff / Lake Louise areas, it’s a 6 hour drive!
Ha, fooled ya, one last blog, as Roma is so special 👍
Greetings one last time from beautiful Roma! Fantastic weather here again, sunny and mid 60’s.😎
Roman ForumOur Airbnb, spectacular!
TGC says tie on those walking shoes one last time😅 We’ve got more to see in the Eternal City of Roma!
On to the subway we go for the short ride to the Trevi Fountain area.
Before we start the tour, I have to comment on Roma. We first came here 12 years ago and the city was kind of shabby and gritty, even the tourist areas. Now, it’s very clean, police officers everywhere and even the subway, which is notorious for theft was safe. A great experience in Roma!
Ok, walking now, first stop, the World famous, Trevi fountain!
They have closed the fountain seats as the crowd was out of control!It’s 7:30 AM and it’s getting packed already!
Guess you can’t throw coins anymore. Here’s TGC back in the day!
Younger than ever👍
Ok, walking now, I feel 24,000 steps again 😬
Monumento o Vittorio Emanuele II, our old photo.
This area is under construction because of a subway expansion to add another line, so pictures are difficult.
Walking now, along the Roman Forum.
The ruins here were built in many different centuries, from Greeks to Romans and hard to believe, lost for hundreds of years as the area became agricultural and the ruins overgrown 😬
Ok, let’s hit the big one, The Roman Colosseum😎
Wow!
Pictures from our previous visit also.
The Colosseum is actually a church and is owned by the church in Rome.Wow!I know it’s hard to believe, but the Colosseum was “lost” for hundreds of years as it was heavily looted in the Middle Ages and left abandoned.Underground of the colosseum.
They’ve booted the Gladiator impersonators out, it’s clean and safe👍
Arch of Constantine, our old picture. The Arch is currently under restoration.Ruins of Ludus Magus! This is where the Gladiators trained and lived in 80AD.
Walking again 😅
Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, the House and Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome. Battistero di San Giovanni in Laterano
Just like that we’re in our Hood. You know what that means!
Gelato, chocolate and pistachio is our favorite!You know the last dinner is focaccia ✔️😜
Yes, another 24,000 steps needs to be rewarded ✔️
Fun, fun trip to Rome! Now, back to the airport as we have a 6:00 AM flight on Saturday 😬
One last night before we fly home…darn, that’s a great pasta!Buongiorno, Ciao, Ciao😎
Final Stats
Miles driven-7,500
Miles walked, per TGC’s Fitbit- 637 or 6.5 miles per day, every day😜
Greetings from beautiful and sunny Rome. Yes, it’s 65 degrees and the shorts are back😎
Two day drive from Palermo to Rome with an overnight stay in beautiful Pizzo, Italy.
Our Airbnb in Pizzo.It’s was Carnival (Mardi Gras) in Italy.Beautiful little village, wouldn’t mind staying here again 🤔
Same story with the ferry crossing from Sicily into Italy. We got lost, (signage on the freeway was terrible), a couple of older Italian men tried to scam us, but finally we found the ferry terminal!✔️
Snow on the Lucanian Apennines.
Safe and still somewhat sound, we drove into Rome’s Fiumicino Airport, dropped off the car and checked in to a Hilton. Overnight stay to reorganize and then train and metro into Roma!
Ok, we’re all checked in, let’s go! Roma is one of my favorite city’s in the world! It’s a historic city AND a fantastic food city. Let’s get started!
Focaccia, sure!Gelato? When in Roma😜
Ok, we walk around the Hood, very, very upscale. We’re staying in the San Giovanni neighborhood, very nice!
Next morning, It’s bright and early, out the door at 7:00 AM as the crowds in Rome are huge😜
On to the subway, hang on to your bag🫣
The Vatican’s Swiss Guard will check you in😜
Don’t be fooled by the costumes which were designed by Leonardo himself! These are top level military guards 😬
St Peters Square, unbelievable 😎
You must remember, the Vatican is a separate country from Italy. No checking of passports though 😜
St Peters Basilica
St Peters Basilica took over 120 years to build. It was completed in the early 1600’s and is truly one of THE most spectacular places to visit in the world! It’s jaw dropping ✔️
This is a very, very holy place so, we tried to respect the thousands who come here on pilgrimage.
Holy Door Pilgrimage was happening as we visited!People on the last steps of their pilgrimage to St Peters, very moving.
Ok, so there’s no way our iPhone does St. Peters Basilica justice. It’s far, far more beautiful than these pictures show.
Entryway, it’s massive.Unbelievable, look at that ceiling!Exit door from the crypts below St Peters Basilica, wow!We attended Mass at the Basilica. It goes on and on, fantastic!Again, no justice from our phone Wow, just Wow.St Peters Square from the steps of St Peters Basilica.The Pontifical Swiss Guards say, Pass through 😜Tiber River bridge
Ok, we’re walking now, I’ve done this walk before, tie the shoes tight😅
Castel Sant’AngeloOk, we need cappuccino, we’re addicted😬
TGC is caffeinated and ready to go😬
Chiesa di Sant’Agnese in Agone in Piazza Navona
Walking!
Pantheon, crowds are getting bigger 😬Inside the Pantheon.
Greetings from beautiful but cloudy 65 degree Palermo, Sicily!
TGC says one more walking tour 😬 so here we go!
Walking along the waterfront, it’s 45 minutes to the first stop says TGC!
Palermo is quite the sailboat spot as you can imagine!
Ok, let’s move inland through the alleys
Beautiful neighborhoods.Piazzas and small cafes everywhere!Teatro Massimo
First stop, Teatro Massimo.
The theater of Palermo, quite huge and stunning!
Up the hill to the next stop, Capo Street Market.
Much smaller market and has a more neighborhood feel!
SeafoodGreen grocer Lots of restaurants getting ready for Saturday lunch. These restaurants are only open until 3:00.It’s the scooter boys, full speed, right through the market.Fresh seafood salads.Octopus anyone?TGC is rolling now!Perfect market shot…bbq, vegetables, souvenirs and craziness ✔️
Ok, back to the Airbnb, another 20,000 step day 😅and time to pack for the trip back to Italys mainland on the way to Rome! And then, home👍
We’ve been in southern Italy and Sicily for three weeks. We’ve had a wonderful time in Bari, Lecce, Paola, into Sicily to Catania, Agrigento, Trapani and finally Palermo.
We were surprised at the beauty we saw and the wonderful people we met! Were parts a little crazy, yes, but that’s part of the adventure, isn’t it?
You know we like the road less traveled, well, this is it. We were shocked by the amount of Italian tourists that filled the city’s!
I most likely will not blog for five days or so as we move to Rome and position ourselves to fly home! So until then!
Greetings from beautiful, sunny and 65 degree Palermo, Sicily!
We made the short two hour drive from Trapani to Palermo without any major problems. Of course the roads were “under construction”, but we even managed to navigate to our Airbnb without any major issues.
Our new Airbnb in Palermo.
We had an issue with the Airbnb we had reserved months ago, and were lucky enough to find this one just days out!
We overlook the waterfront, with safe parking right below us!Our new neighborhood from our balcony. See the trusty Citroen! 🫣
We visited Palermo in 2013 and frankly weren’t impressed. But a guy we follow, Rick Stein, (a British Chef, restaurant entrepreneur and travel enthusiast) said we’re missing the boat, so here we are again🫣
Palermo has the same, very old history as the rest of Sicily, but with a couple of additions. One, in WWll, the US Air Force bombed Palermo relentlessly for two years, with very high civilian casualties and major destruction to the city. Second, is the Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian Mafia😬
Yes, the Cosa Nostra is very real and still functioning in Palermo. You need to watch your step here🫣
Ok, safely checked in and a short walk in the Hood😬
Right across the street…a focacceria!Stop it…not a Pasticccria?!Best cannoli in Sicily says TGC, and it’s right across the street! €3.50😜Cruise ship from our balcony.
Whenever you see that big of a cruise ship, you know the city generally is safe, as no city wants tourists hurt! I think we’ll be ok👍
Ok, bright and early, 8:30 is early in Palermo 👍 away we go, walking tour say TGC😅
Entry into Villa Giulia.Villa Giulia (city park)Alleys of Palermo. It’s about a 45 minute walk to start the tour!Mercato di Ballaro
One of Italy’s largest markets, Mercato di Ballaro is everything…meat, fish, green grocer, flea market, restaurants, street food, grocery. You name it, it’s got it all with a mass of people…singing, yelling and swearing at everyone! It’s Sicily! Talk about sensory overload, again!
Dozens of seafood vendors ✔️Dozens and dozens of produce vendors.Look at those colors, that’s a fresh!I bet you knew Italians love artichokes 😎Yes, that’s a tripe stand, BBQ on the spot 😬Lots of butcher shops!Pani Ca’ Meusa Porta Carbone, google it if you dare😜Moving into the food section now, great looking assortment!Beautiful!Huge masses of people and motor scooters driving through about every three minutes at fast speeds, Sicily ✔️Cappuccino says TGC? Sure!😜
Ok says TGC, let’s walk! Up the hill to the Norman Palace and Villa Bonanno.
Villa Bonanno overlooking the Cattedrale di Palermo. Teatro Marmoreo in front of the Norman Palazzo.
Next stop, the beautiful Cattedrale of Palermo!
Wow, our camera doesn’t do it justice, spectacular!Inside the beautiful Cattedrale, stunning!Truly worth the trip!Walking down, Via Vittorio Emanuele, pedestrians only.The avenue is lined with Piazzas and cafes!One of the corners of the Quattro Canti.Late Italian lunch, focaccia pizza, and beer 😜
Ok, long walk home, over two miles 😅
Fontana della Vergogna in the Piazza Pretoria.Beautiful!
Wow, what a fantastic beautiful day, great weather, breathtaking sights and didn’t feel unsafe once. What a difference 12 years makes!
That’s the end of day one, 20,000 mostly flat steps and beautiful sunshine 😜
Castello di Mare o Torre della Colombian di Trapani
Greetings from beautiful, but a little cloudy and rainy, 60 degrees Trapani, Sicily! Yes, the Sicilians are freezing!
Where the heck is Trapani you might be asking? Well it’s on the far western coast of Sicily.
Yes, we’re a long way from Eagle, Idaho.
Easy three hour drive across Sicily to Trapani, and the scenery was spectacular!
We past numerous small city’s built into the hillsides.Note the ruins on top!
The scenery was unbelievably beautiful!
Drove past lush farms, with olives, oranges, grapes, sheep and cattle!
Everything is very, very green. It’s been a wet winter in Sicily.
We arrived in Trapani and checking in to our Airbnb was a little chaotic…not much English spoken here😜 However, we were able to check in with some help from our host.
Our Airbnb.View from our Airbnb balcony!
Cute place, pedestrian only area, and with the trusty Citroen safely in a parking garage 😉 TGC says walking tour time.
The following pictures are taken over a couple of days.
Trapani is a huge ferry port of Sicily.Passenger and vehicle ferries.That’s salt! Trapani is a large salt producing area. Salt flats right outside town.Bird of Paradise, one of my favorite plants.
Ok, next morning little cloudy!
Piazza Mercato del PesceTrapani’s World War I memorial.Of course we stopped by the local bakery 😜Lungomare Dante Alighieri with the Bastione Conca in the distance. Don’t ya just love the blue water of the Mediterranean 😎Trapani has a large and active fishing fleet.What’s fresh today?A little of everything 😬Anchovies are the big sellers in this part of Italy 😜Green grocer, the oranges are fantastic!Chiesa Anime Sainte del PurgatorioWalking the streets, TGC is saying “rain on the way”.Cattedrale di San LorenzoBeautiful cathedral! Again, I can’t stress the fantastic condition of the churches, perfect!Chiesa Colleggio e Convento D.E.I. GesuitiOne of the many churches lining the streets of Trapani.The old Post Office and Telegraph Office.Late Italian lunch, Sicilian style pizza! Deep crust, delicious!
Ok, it’s raining now. Beautiful, beautiful city! Clean, safe and they are working hard on renovating! Glad we stopped by.
Only 16,000 steps, flat as a pancake no cobblestones or steps! and the afternoon off because it’s raining? Wow!
A short drive to Palermo tomorrow, Sicily’s most notorious city😉
Greetings from beautiful and sunny, 60 degree Agrigento, Sicily!
We successfully navigated through the streets of Catania, with only minor stress attacks 😬 and made our way to the freeway that will take us across Sicily to our next adventure location, Agrigento!
Agrigento, Sicily
We had an easy two hour drive across Sicily to reach our new Airbnb.
Our new home!
Super easy check in, fantastic hosts!
Agrigento from our balcony.
We didn’t know what to expect when driving across Sicily. It was spectacular, even though the highway was “under construction”😬
Sicilian countryside.
Its spring in Sicily and the flowers are in full bloom!
Beautiful!The towns all seem to be built on hilltops, I wonder why🤔Yes, my friends, the stairs are back!
Old town Agrigento is built, you guessed it, on a huge hill! TGC says walking tour time! It’s Sunday afternoon so everything is closed, but that doesn’t mean we can’t see the Old town sights! Up we go!
Beautifully maintained churches every few streets!Cattedrale di San Gerlando at the very top of the hill.View from the top of Agrigento, beautiful clean old town. Quite the change from Catania😜You can see how high old town Agrigento is! That’s the Mediterranean Sea way below.Sunrise over the Valley of Temples from our balcony.
Ok, bright and early, 8:00 AM, (that’s early in Sicily), make the short walk to the local bus stop, buy your ticket from the Tobacco store😜
Easy 15 minute ride to the Valley of the Temples.
Agrigento from the Valley of the Temples, we’re that close.Tempio di Giunone
Ok, it’s a walking tour, it’s going to be a long day 😅
Construction by the Greeks in 600-300 BC, it’s in remarkable condition, considering how long it was abandoned!
Looking down the Valley of the Temples.The Temples/ Fort was constructed out of Sandstone, which is what this part of Sicily is constructed from!These are tombs, carved into the Fortress walls!Lookout windows carved into the walls.Tempio di Concordia
Walking down the Valley now.
Statue from 2000, AD ✔️Greeks brought goats from Iran to the area, here’s the descendants.Beautiful views and a bench 😜Villa Aurea
In the 1920’s, Sir Alexander Hardcastle bought the area encompassing the Temples, and when he passed, his trust gave the Temples back to the area.
Tempio di ErcoleCentury plant, (notice the ruins behind it)!One of the many Viaducts the Greeks built to supply water for the village. They even built a lake next to the Temples In 300BC🤔What remains of the Tempio di Zeus.
The Tempio di Zeus covers a huge area, including the Olympics area and a sacrifice tomb. Unfortunately most of this has collapsed.
Telamone, a reconstruction of a giant statue from the Temple of Olympian Zeus.Tempio di Giove OlimpicoFantastic weather, unbelievable history and no crowds! We are lucky 👍Ok, short hike through the olive and nut trees surrounding the Temples and back to the bus! Easy ride home and a short uphill walk to our Airbnb!
22,000 steps, hills, off road, uneven trails, stairs…what should we do?
What else, Gelato!
Travel day today, three hour drive to Trapani for a couple of nights!
The end of the adventure is getting closer as we travel up Sicily, then to Rome and home.
Wow! This is Mt. Etna three nights ago! Unfortunately, our wet weather is sticking with us and with our desire to not drive in Catania we were unable to visit Siracusa and Taormina. (We visited Taormina in 2013.) The public transport was too Sicilian for us this late in the adventure. So, we spent a couple more days in Catania and recharged our batteries for the final two weeks of our adventure!
A quick couple of words on Italy before we start the adventure.
Before we started traveling, I always thought of Italy as a very old country, you know the Romans and everything!
But in reality, the Italy we know today was only formed in the late 1800’s! The country was united by General Garibaldi. He was from northern Italy. Up until then, every area of Italy had different leadership. In many cases, still lead by Royalty. With the passion of the Italian people you can imagine the Italian parliament in action!
Sicily was the last region conquered and still retains its Sicilian identity!
Ok, TGC says no sitting around reading books! Walking tour time!
We took the bus to explore the waterfront, not much to see!
Let’s walk back says TGC!
Allies of Catania😜
Sure says I, what could possibly happen?🫣
After a brisk walk, we are at the Teatro Massimo Bellini.
Teatro Massimo Bellini
The photo above is not ours. (There were moving vans setting up for a show blocking the entrance.)
Casa del MutilatoTGC says, Cappuccino time!
The Italians take coffee to the next level. Delicious coffee…we’re wrecked 🤨
Up the only hill in Catania again 😬Chiesa Di San Nicola l’ArenaInside, beautiful. Benedictine Monastery of San Nicola l’ArenaBack down the hill😎Basilica CollegiataLate Italian lunch!
Sicilian style, little heavier crust than Napoleon, and much more preferred by the T’s.
Ok, walking around neighborhoods now, 20,000 steps again, I’m done!
Promises of partly sunny skies tomorrow…to be continued!
Day five, last full day in Catania!
Partly sunny and 60 degrees today!
One last walking tour says TGC! But first, my bro in the bakery 😜
Cipolline
This delicious savory dish is a flaky yeast dough (not sure exactly what it is) that’s wrapped around ham, cheese and shallots. It’s fantastic and costs €1.89 at the local bakery 😉
Basilica Catedrale Sant’AgataA’Piscaria Mercato del PesceChiesa di San Michele Arcangelo ai Minoriti The churches in Catania are spectacular! They’re in fantastic shape and there are hundreds of them!Via Etnea, the 5th avenue of Catania. Every major brand is represented here.Ok, let’s visit Market Fera O’Luni.The market is both a flea market and a fresh food market, it’s huge and crazy! Hang on to your wallet, pickpockets at work 😜TGC checking it out!Need those new pants altered, right on the spot!Time for a quick snack 😉It’s fresh artichoke season, they are delicious!Seafood, dozens and dozens of vendors.
I wish you could feel the passion, thousands of people, hundreds of vendors, people yelling in Italian. It’s truly amazing! Talk about sensory overload!
Cheese and specialty foods.All of this in a Plaza, that’s lined by churches🤔Mushroom man!Fennel is incredibly popular in Italy, us not so much!Even salted cod, that’s old school!Look…they have Husky cauliflower in Italy 😎
Wow, just wow! We’ve been to a lot of markets across the world, this one is truly a sensory overload! I get a little claustrophobic in tight spaces, that was wild!
Ok, that’s enough for today. Back to the Airbnb to pack for tomorrows move to Agrigento, it’s two hours straight across Sicily to the southwestern coastline!
Catania was wild! Beautiful and filthy at the same time, unbelievable food, and with that Sicilian attitude! Surprised by the huge number of tourists here. Especially a large number of Scandinavia tourists with kids.
While we didn’t get to do everything we wanted to, and the weather was iffy, we had a true experience. That’s what we love.
If you are ready for an adventure, come to Catania and Sicily, it’s all of that!
P.S. Only 14,000 steps today, TGC was nice to me😎
Arrivederci!
What’s it going to be, chocolate or pistachio cannoli 😜
