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| Judi on the Ferry |
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| View from Hotel Antichi Catoi |
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| Sitting Area of Our Rooms |
March 29, 2014
Not Again!
We found the ferry! It only took us a half hour of creeping down virtually empty roads clinging to the shoreline. We arrived at 3:30AM for a 5 AM departure. But we celebrated too soon. When our documents were checked, my ticket was missing. Somehow, when we boarded, they omitted mine. Since everything is on computer & we had the reservation number, I wasn't worried. The ferry agent took my passport, confirmed my legitimacy, & brought me a replacement ticket. It wasn't until we were on board that David noticed they'd listed my country of origin as Great Britain, the time I arrived in Malta as different from David's & Judi's, & my sex as male. That was a far easier sex change than my son-in-law's.
We were among the first to board & the crowd wasn't as big as I expected. Judi settled in with her blow up neck & back pillows & eyeshades. David plugged into his MP3 player, & I slept in spite of the announcements & the kid behind us playing audio enhanced video games.
Our instructions were to call the B&B in Agrigento when we exited the ferry to give the owner an idea of when we'd arrive. Judi called the number on our itinerary & left a message with our names & the name of the B&B & our contact there. We got an immediate text back in Italian. We didn't understand it so I called back thinking I'd get a person. A woman answered, said "pronto," I began to speak, & she hung up. It was only 7 AM & a Saturday. Poor woman. What to do? Judi checked the phone number on our voucher & it was different. I called that number &, sure enough, Giuliana answered. Her English was rough but she knew who we were & would be there to greet us.
We tooled along keeping the sea on our left with Our Lady of the GPS chattering away & encouraging us to stay on her highlighted route. It was comforting to have her guidance once more. That is, until she died. We pulled over & checked the adaptor, plugged & unplugged her, turned the car off & on, tried her on battery only, then prepared to say "Kaddish," a prayer for mourners.
We were now on our own. It was as if we were transported back in time to when we traveled by our wit & cartographical skills. Signage wasn't too bad towards bigger towns. We started looking for a place to stop for breakfast & found a roadside B&B. The cafeteria side (counter service) was open & several locals were lined up for their morning espresso. When it was our turn it was clear the owner knew no English. There were only sweet rolls on display, so I asked for bread in French. He understood, went to the back, & brought out rolls. Perfect. Next, we pointed to the formaggio & even knew that word. He understood what to do, made us cheese sandwiches, warmed them, took our cafe orders, & ushered us outside to the patio. He wiped off tables & chairs, brought us gratis hard candy, & left us to savor our meal. Such a nice man.
We decided not to be upset about Our Lady & continued from town to town passing old war bunkers (a defense against us, the Brits, & their ominous enemy, Malta), greenhouses galore, & industrial zones. Not the most scenic route we've been on.
We found the ferry! It only took us a half hour of creeping down virtually empty roads clinging to the shoreline. We arrived at 3:30AM for a 5 AM departure. But we celebrated too soon. When our documents were checked, my ticket was missing. Somehow, when we boarded, they omitted mine. Since everything is on computer & we had the reservation number, I wasn't worried. The ferry agent took my passport, confirmed my legitimacy, & brought me a replacement ticket. It wasn't until we were on board that David noticed they'd listed my country of origin as Great Britain, the time I arrived in Malta as different from David's & Judi's, & my sex as male. That was a far easier sex change than my son-in-law's.
We were among the first to board & the crowd wasn't as big as I expected. Judi settled in with her blow up neck & back pillows & eyeshades. David plugged into his MP3 player, & I slept in spite of the announcements & the kid behind us playing audio enhanced video games.
Our instructions were to call the B&B in Agrigento when we exited the ferry to give the owner an idea of when we'd arrive. Judi called the number on our itinerary & left a message with our names & the name of the B&B & our contact there. We got an immediate text back in Italian. We didn't understand it so I called back thinking I'd get a person. A woman answered, said "pronto," I began to speak, & she hung up. It was only 7 AM & a Saturday. Poor woman. What to do? Judi checked the phone number on our voucher & it was different. I called that number &, sure enough, Giuliana answered. Her English was rough but she knew who we were & would be there to greet us.
We tooled along keeping the sea on our left with Our Lady of the GPS chattering away & encouraging us to stay on her highlighted route. It was comforting to have her guidance once more. That is, until she died. We pulled over & checked the adaptor, plugged & unplugged her, turned the car off & on, tried her on battery only, then prepared to say "Kaddish," a prayer for mourners.
We were now on our own. It was as if we were transported back in time to when we traveled by our wit & cartographical skills. Signage wasn't too bad towards bigger towns. We started looking for a place to stop for breakfast & found a roadside B&B. The cafeteria side (counter service) was open & several locals were lined up for their morning espresso. When it was our turn it was clear the owner knew no English. There were only sweet rolls on display, so I asked for bread in French. He understood, went to the back, & brought out rolls. Perfect. Next, we pointed to the formaggio & even knew that word. He understood what to do, made us cheese sandwiches, warmed them, took our cafe orders, & ushered us outside to the patio. He wiped off tables & chairs, brought us gratis hard candy, & left us to savor our meal. Such a nice man.
We decided not to be upset about Our Lady & continued from town to town passing old war bunkers (a defense against us, the Brits, & their ominous enemy, Malta), greenhouses galore, & industrial zones. Not the most scenic route we've been on.
Re-Birth
We made it all the way to a piazza on a hillside in Agrigento. We did have city
maps in our guidebooks where I could see the streets leading to our B&B.
The problem was that none of the streets had easily read signs. Judi saw an
information office, we pulled to the side of the road, & she disappeared
into the rather large building. She was gone a very long time & we worried
she'd exited by another door & was lost. We had to stay with the car. We
wrung our hands & David glanced longingly at the GPS. It was on! We
re-entered the B&B information, but it was unable to locate the satellite.
In fact, it showed that we were not getting a signal at all. Since we were
parked next to a tall building under a tree, I suggested that David get out of
the car & walk to a clearing. Success! He got back into the car with Our
Lady awakened from her siesta & raring to go. Judi came back laden with
maps & information, none of it correct. The lady at the information center
had never heard of the B&B or the street.
We put our faith in the GPS & followed her around some twists & turns right into the arms of waiting carabiniere. They are the armed police. There was what looked like a SWAT team wearing flak jackets, a paddy wagon, & many, many unhappy cops. We showed our voucher & with grand gestures & much Italian they explained, & we understood, that no cars were allowed on the street where the B&B was located. We had to turn around & park in a public garage. Piece of cake. David was getting really good at doing u-turns. We later learned there was a government minister coming & the police were his security.
Judi & I got out as David waited at the entrance to the garage. We went on foot to find the B&B. The street we wanted was about a block away & the "street" where the B&B "lived" was up a hill of stairs. We confirmed with Giuliana that we'd arrived & she was charming. She told us she pays for parking & not to worry. That was easy for her to say, but Judi hadn't packed to shlep her luggage up a hill of steps. Fortunately, we were OK for the night with just our carry-ons.
Judi repacked street side, David parked, & we rolled our bags to the base of the steps. Giuliana appeared, helped us, & showed us to our rooms. She is the niece of the new owner, an architect, who bought the place in September. It is a 1060 year old building (Antichi Catoi). Our rooms were up exterior steps & through thick, ornate doors. Floors are terra cotta, the bathrooms are modern, we have kitchenettes, & our room has a sitting room. Absolutely charming. Worth the climb & logistics now that we're here.
This was to be our first attempt to do laundry & Giuliana was eager to help. She offered to take our clothes to a place that did laundry by the kilo & pick it up when it was done. She called first to see if it was open. It's Saturday. It closed at 1PM & would be closed Sunday. Rats! We'll try again in Marsala, our next town.
We walked up the main street of this old, old hilltop city enjoying the views of the seas around every bend. Most places were closed until 4PM; many were vacant. Hardly anyone was on the streets. We did find a counter service place that specialized in rotisserie chicken & ate there. Yum! David had chicken with roasted potatoes that was to die for. We shared a spinach fritatta, omelet, caponata, zucchini, & eggplant. The cost, E$15 including water.
We moved along slowly & came to rest at a cafe to enjoy cappuccino & a latte. Further along we came to a bakery/gelateria displaying adorable lamb cakes for Easter. We went in to ask if we could take pictures & bought pistachio filled pastry & gelati. On we went past a 17th century church on Piazza Purgatorio (this was a bad, bad, town) until we came to the information building. We'd come full circle.
We ate dinner at Expanificio, recommended by Giuliana. It's rated 4.5 stars on Trip Advisor & we had a lovely meal. David had cod (a bit salty for me) while Judi & I shared stuffed artichoke & ravioli filled with spinach & cheese. We all shared caponata & had vegetable soup.
Gee, this a long email about a day where we didn't do much. I've always said, "When there is nothing to say, say it in detail."
We meet a guide tomorrow at 9AM for a tour of the Valley of the Temples. It's the start of Daylight Savings Time here. I hope he remembers. After our tour we're off to Marsala, a two-hour drive.
Toby
We put our faith in the GPS & followed her around some twists & turns right into the arms of waiting carabiniere. They are the armed police. There was what looked like a SWAT team wearing flak jackets, a paddy wagon, & many, many unhappy cops. We showed our voucher & with grand gestures & much Italian they explained, & we understood, that no cars were allowed on the street where the B&B was located. We had to turn around & park in a public garage. Piece of cake. David was getting really good at doing u-turns. We later learned there was a government minister coming & the police were his security.
Judi & I got out as David waited at the entrance to the garage. We went on foot to find the B&B. The street we wanted was about a block away & the "street" where the B&B "lived" was up a hill of stairs. We confirmed with Giuliana that we'd arrived & she was charming. She told us she pays for parking & not to worry. That was easy for her to say, but Judi hadn't packed to shlep her luggage up a hill of steps. Fortunately, we were OK for the night with just our carry-ons.
Judi repacked street side, David parked, & we rolled our bags to the base of the steps. Giuliana appeared, helped us, & showed us to our rooms. She is the niece of the new owner, an architect, who bought the place in September. It is a 1060 year old building (Antichi Catoi). Our rooms were up exterior steps & through thick, ornate doors. Floors are terra cotta, the bathrooms are modern, we have kitchenettes, & our room has a sitting room. Absolutely charming. Worth the climb & logistics now that we're here.
This was to be our first attempt to do laundry & Giuliana was eager to help. She offered to take our clothes to a place that did laundry by the kilo & pick it up when it was done. She called first to see if it was open. It's Saturday. It closed at 1PM & would be closed Sunday. Rats! We'll try again in Marsala, our next town.
We walked up the main street of this old, old hilltop city enjoying the views of the seas around every bend. Most places were closed until 4PM; many were vacant. Hardly anyone was on the streets. We did find a counter service place that specialized in rotisserie chicken & ate there. Yum! David had chicken with roasted potatoes that was to die for. We shared a spinach fritatta, omelet, caponata, zucchini, & eggplant. The cost, E$15 including water.
We moved along slowly & came to rest at a cafe to enjoy cappuccino & a latte. Further along we came to a bakery/gelateria displaying adorable lamb cakes for Easter. We went in to ask if we could take pictures & bought pistachio filled pastry & gelati. On we went past a 17th century church on Piazza Purgatorio (this was a bad, bad, town) until we came to the information building. We'd come full circle.
We ate dinner at Expanificio, recommended by Giuliana. It's rated 4.5 stars on Trip Advisor & we had a lovely meal. David had cod (a bit salty for me) while Judi & I shared stuffed artichoke & ravioli filled with spinach & cheese. We all shared caponata & had vegetable soup.
Gee, this a long email about a day where we didn't do much. I've always said, "When there is nothing to say, say it in detail."
We meet a guide tomorrow at 9AM for a tour of the Valley of the Temples. It's the start of Daylight Savings Time here. I hope he remembers. After our tour we're off to Marsala, a two-hour drive.
Toby
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