Things to do

Good Morning Corfu

/ brisbanefrannie / 2 Comments

We woke up in Corfu today.


It was a super smooth trip. You can barely feel the movement of the ship at all.

Last night we had aperitifs in Berti and Fabios little apartment. Fabio had organised some wonderful nibbles.

Then it was off to the Crooners Bar and the Princess Show


Today we are doing the first and only organised tour. To the Achilleion Palace. Built during the 1880’s by Empress Sissie (or Elizabeth) of Austria as a summer Palace.

It has beautiful gardens with an array of statues and light airy rooms.

Once again I realised why we don’t like group tours!  They move so slowly.

But the drive in the bus out of Corfu town was a  good way to check out the countryside.

Rome I ❤️you. A day in Rome

/ brisbanefrannie / 7 Comments

We arrived at 10.30 and made the trip via train to Termini. It’s fast and efficient and costs about 12e each. Then a taxi to our hotel the Hotel Navona Via Dei Sediari. It’s a pleasant surprise.

The room wasn’t ready so we left our bags and headed off. Piazza Navona was out first stop. How beautiful it is there with its playful fountains and people posing for photos. The weather is spectacular.

Then it was to Via Coronari a favourite street of art , jewellery and glass shops before a siren sounded and people started gathering in a little Piazza. Smoke was streaming out of an upstairs window and people were pointing and exclaiming and a fire engine made its way along the narrow cobblestone Via. We stayed and watched the action. Police  – the Carabinari arrived , two fire trucks and an ambulance.

Then the crowd stood as one and smoked and chatted whilst waiting for some action. It took on a community feeling. But taking far too long. So we headed to cafe de Theatro.

This little cafe sits in a lovely little Piazza and was buzzing. The waiter considered his job a performance so entertained the customers- to the amusement of some but definitely not all.

The fire 🔥 spectacle had finished so it was safe to continue walking.

What I love about wandering in Rome is that around every corner sits a surprise so wonderful it takes your breath away.


We rounded a corner and looked towards the river and there was Castello St Angelo. Such a beauty sitting with its history so imposing.

I also love Paris but Rome has a different effect on me. It’s more casual about its place in history. It’s there for all to enjoy. Paris is more formal – very beautiful but more controlled. Rome and its people want you involved in having fun.

We had to return to possibly my favourite place – the Pantheon. I love the feeling it gives me.


So we walked and observed the history and the people having fun. The business men looking impossibly glamorous with one hand in a pocket the other nursing a cigarette. With their navy suits and their tan shoes and such well fitting trousers!

The women wear either ballet flats ( I bought a red pair) or heels as they manoeuvre the cobblestones with confidence. Also the scarf tied casually at the neck sets off any outfit.

It’s a pity the hordes of tourists get in the way of this street fashion catwalk.

Naturally we had a gelato. Apart from the tourists the locals also enjoy a gelato in the afternoon. We bought ours at that cathedral of gelato, Giotto – where the act of buying is a theatre.


Shopping is another delight in Rome. There are the usual chain stores and high end shops but the smaller boutiques are fabulous. I bought some beautiful ballet flats, red, pointed toe tiny heel (they came in all colours and either v. flat or tiny heel)

By now the crowds were out,  the armed guards standing on most street corners and the Aperol Spritz drinkers taking up key positions in the sidewalk bars. We joined them at Piazza Popolo. Such a great way to people watch. .

Back to our room which turned into an apartment – lovely but turning on lights is like organising a Vivid Festival!

Dinner was gorgeous. Baked fish served by Mr Rome. A young handsome man who in the olden days would have been a gladiator!


I enjoyed a baked fish with potatoes sliced so fine you could see through them. A Sicilian dish. Steve had Veal lemoni a Roman tradition.

A quiet walk back to our apartment where a tribe of young girls were yahooing in our hotel courtyard and clomping up and down the staircase. Rome in all its glory!

We have the morning to wander before heading for the cruise ship in Civitavecchio.

Mamma Mia. Last day in Trani

/ brisbanefrannie / 6 Comments

We survived party night inTrani!  Almost as good a party as in Tarifa last year. The crowds below our apartment kept the chatting up until at least 3am. Not loud screams or obscenities or ever drunkenness. Just lots of talking and laughing.

We woke to golden sunlight, looking out across the port providing the best wake-me-up there is.


A fairly leisurely start with coffee in a nearby cafe before heading off to find Santa Maria di Siponto.

On our way to the car I did my good deed of the day. We were crossing a small street and a little old lady called to me. I went over to her and she asked me to help her across the road. I gave her my arm and we walked along chatting. I had to bend over to hear her she was so little.


She told me she was 92! Her daughter lived in Milan and she had lived in Trani for 30 years. She talked on and on in Italian and I was tested!  We walked another block together before we thanked me and turned into her apartment. She’d been out shopping – in the heat. What a sweetie.

So we arrived ( finally – as we got  a little lost). Signs here are almost non existent except for signs to the beach or Lido or the buffo mozzarella factory!  This Basilica, Santa Maria, was built in 1117 and had many changes  in fortune over the years. It had been abandoned for many years. Until ……

Recently,  Edoardo Tresoldi created a wire mesh impression of the church  – an artistic interpretation of the Basilica, which was abandoned following a 13th-century earthquake and currently sits on what has become the Archaeological Park of Siponto.

It’s an amazing sight.



He has even created some mesh people,who of course we befriended.



We drove back along the coast and explored the seaside villages and enjoyed the names of the ‘Lido’ (“Lidi?”) scattered along the coast. Everything from Bikini Lido to Ipanema, Fanta, Torre, African. Variety is the key! And the deck chairs and umbrellas, as far as the eye can see.

We arrived back at siesta time and decided to pack! Yes, sadly we go tomorrow. To Bari, then by train to Rome. We have a night there and then poor Steve flies home. Board meetings in Melbourne on Tuesday. I’m going off to Cotignac to visit our friends the Brannocks. Lucky me!

So the travel tales continue.

So this afternoon, after a little shopping, we had our last Trani, Aperol Spritz for me and beer for the boy.


We observed the locals. I feel we are getting to know them! We went to the same bar and saw the same people walking. The Nonno with his grandson. The fisher monger who today was able to get his cart through the little lane. The man with the turned up collar being driven to his restaurant on a Vespa by one of his waiters. The handsome man on a pink bike who stops at the corner to observe and make a call (who to I wonder?). The mamma in the cute Smart Car who drops her daughter to work in the cafe. The teenager who rides the littlest, noisiest bike imaginable. And doesn’t he love the attention! The mother and daughter jogging together. All the nonno and nanna’s walking and sitting along the promenade.

I feel we know them already.

We had our passeggiata and talked about the things we would like to bring home.
I’d love the long paved promenade with all its wooden benches at our beach. Also the stepped stone fence available for people to sit on and watch the world go by.

I’d love for people to turn off the TV and go out walking after dinner. But I wonder where we would walk? To the beach?  But there aren’t many places to sit and see and be seen. We need to embrace the sociable side like the Italians do.

As you can hear in my voice, I love the Italians. Yes,  they can be thoughtless – they throw rubbish out their car window! They push in, in traffic! But they love children. They love eating and they love a chat.

After dinner we strolled and I felt like a piccolo gelato. So we stopped in and I ordered mine. Panecotta. Steve thought he’d have the Cafe Speciale. It was advertised on the board outside. So in his best Italian lubicated with wine and after dinner limoncello he ordered ‘Cafe Speciale’. And got a coffee.

So as I’m writing this I’m listening to the church bells and watching the crowds gather for another night that isn’t a party night. It’s just the usual – people sharing a common space.

IMG_2361.jpgOur apartment on the corner – top floor with a balcony over both streets!

So for now – arrivederci!