Month: September 2022

We have driven, or been driven around in, many cities around the world that are famous for their traffic bedlam. But none beats Napoli in my mind. We had very wisely decided NOT to drive into the city, but took the train instead.

After a leisurely start to the morning with Suzanne doing their laundry, some playing with Mowgli, and being served espressos by our host, we were figuring out how to best get into Napoli. Vera’s husband was more than generous and offered to drive us to the train station. Turns out that the tracks were out between here (Pompeii), and the next village until November, so he saved us the complications of car/bus/train by taking us to the train station at the next village. He is a supplier of beauty products for hair dressing salons and he picked up decent English skills from his son Ricardo whom he had sent to private school.

We walked from the train station through the colourful streetscapes of Napoli, first to the Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta. The Cathedral is lavish with works of art from the 14th, 15th through 18th centuries. The Cathedral famously houses two ampoules of the blood of Napolis patron saint, San Gennaro which are normally in a solid state. The main ampoule is brought out 3 times a year and miraculously liquifies after prayers. If it does so quickly, it is a good omen. It has on occasion failed to liquify and several of those instances were followed by disastrous events including 1939, 1940 and 1943. The people of Naples still have strong faith in the miracle and track the outcome closely.

Next we passed the Chiesa di Santa Maria del Rosario alle Pigne; actually we passed many churches but this one is photo’d below! And then on to the Naples National Archaeological Museum where the relics from Pompeii and Herculaneum were housed. Everything from statues from the gardens to everyday items were on display. The statues with painted or gem filled eyes were surprising but apparently accurate. The glasswork was amazing in its detail -although given the proximity of Murano with its infamous glassmaking I should not have been so surprised. The jewelry could easily pass as high end haute couture today.

Of special interest was the area with the mosaic floors which had been recreated from the actual pieces recovered from the sites. Entrance had to be specially booked to limit the number of people and you had to wear protective covering on your shoes. But you actually were allowed to walk on the same floor which had existed when Pompeii was buried. While the mosaics on site in Pompeii and Herculaneum were impressive, the recovered relics here were amazing. Some consisted of tiny fragments and covered entire walls with detailed images. Also on display were rooms full of frescos – each a work of art. It seemed everything was a work of art – even the massive amphoras were ornately decorated.

We also checked out the ‘Secret Room’ which turned out to be a collection of erotic and sexual relics from Pompeii and Herculaneum. Apparently they were quite popular!

Exiting the museum we were quickly reminded that we were in Naples. Absolutely insane drivers everywhere. The entire time we were in the city streets the sounds of ambulances and horns honking were persistent. I have seen greater chaos on the streets of Dar es Salaam, Thailand and Bali, but in those places there seemed to be some semblance of a common understanding of the unique rules of the roads. Here they just got into accidents!

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Having previously cased out the parking at Herculaneum Dan knew perfectly where to park and all was smooth sailing. Several busloads of grey-hairs were arriving at the site just as we entered. At first we were held up like Mr Bean on the stairs. Eventually we managed to dance around them as we could traverse the grounds at our own discretion, once again between intermittent rain showers.

Herculaneum is a lesser known town buried during the same eruption as Pompeii. It was a popular seaside destination for the wealthy, and due to it’s particular distance from Vesuvius ended up better preserved, with even some multi-story homes surviving. The ash buried much of the town before the scorching lava arrived so in some cases wooden structures were protected and survived. Surprisingly a huge set of wooden doors remained, as well as carbonized wood railings and in the lintels of several buildings.

Many of the homes here were spectacular with detailed mosaic tile floors and walls. The frescos in numerous instances were well preserved. Although there was no coliseum in Herculaneum, and the theatre was as yet unexcavated, there were many shops. The lunch counters and bars even had their marble counter tops intact. Typically establishments were multi-story buildings with the owner living in the stories above the shop.

The gender specific public baths here were very ornate also, again with modern day style change rooms with cubicles, and 3 temperature options of bath – cool, warm and hot. The heating system was most impressive with ‘boiler rooms’ and multi-layered floors for heating.

As a stark reminder of the tragedy, the seaside port warehouses were full of skeletons. Families huddled together having collected their valuables in hopes of escaping the disaster. The caves, only discovered in 1982, are now mass graves where approx. 300 people, both rich and poor together, had unsuccessfully tried to shelter from the eruption only to be overcome by the extreme heat and toxic fumes.

The modern city is now built right on top of the ruins and there are certainly more buildings under the houses adjacent to the site. Only a small portion of the site has been excavated due to budgetary restrictions. As you leave the excavated area, you can look back from elevation and see the modern city abutting and overlaying the ancient town. A small museum adjacent to Herculaneum had some of the on display, but the majority had been moved to Napoli – tomorrows destination.

After the visit we were hoping for some pizza back at the ’emergency stop’ spot we had found previously on our parking spot hunt. After a very lengthy walk we discovered it closed! So we headed back to Pompeii and had pizza there. Afterwards we ventured into the Pompeii chapel. It was a very lovely surprise and much more elaborate than its exterior revealed.

Back home we had time for some traditional euchre and laundry – even the mundane routines must continue!

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Wednesday Sept 28 had us leaving beautiful Teggiano headed for our next BnB in Pompeii. As we left Teggiano early enough, we planned on heading straight to the Herculaneum sites before checking in.

It turned into a crazy driving day as we tried to get parking near the site. It was very confusing as the main parking was closed and we drove in multiple concentric circles through sketchy streets full of maniac drivers. We eventually had to stop for a toilet break and we found a fast food pizza joint where we picked up a wonderful 6Euro pizza to share as a snack. Upon returning again to the main parking area we discovered that the entire Herculaneum site was closed on Wednesdays! So much for planning…

At our BnB we were met by Mowgli, their adorable dog. It was a fantastic spot and the hosts, Vera and family, were extremely helpful. We quickly checked in and headed out to visit Pompeii. The parking recommendation was easy and cheap and we managed to visit from 3:30pm to 7pm when we closed the venue. The MyPompeii app supplied a helpful audio tour of the city.

The expanse and detail of the city was overwhelming. It was such an advanced society, complete with one-way streets, crosswalks, public water sources, bath houses for men and women with change rooms, public toilets, and every type of shop you could think of. The ornate floor mosaics and wall frescos were intricate and beautiful. It is amazing to see the civility that existed during the 6-4 B.C. timeframe. But then again, there were the bath houses for the slaves, coliseum, and sacrificial alters as a reminder that it was also a violent era. A few of the countless slaves were even found in the ruins still shackled at the ankle.

Our visit was interrupted by several downpours, intermittently followed by blaring sun. It did help keep the crowds away however and we were able to see a good variety of the buildings before being pushed out. I had dropped my reading glasses earlier in the day at one of our sheltering spots, and despite searching for them had considered them lost. But as we were leaving, one last check at the spot by Michael proved successful and they had made it through several hours without being trampled on!

By 8pm the skies opened and it poured, but we had found our dinner spot at Osteria and we enjoyed a fantastic meal nice and dry indoors. We shared a cheese platter with blue buffalo, 2 sheep, and the local speciality ‘horseback’ cheese. I found the local cheese very sharp, with a parmesan like texture but more of a cheddar taste – very good, but it made my mouth itch. I had grilled white fish with grilled veg and potato puree served cold with lemon and herbs. The rest had various pasta dishes. It was all topped off with a Falanghina wine as recommended by our waiter. A great meal, and we even avoided any tickets on our vehicle with the broken parking meter.

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We started the day off by heading to the local patisserie as recommended by our host for wonderful cappucinos and pastries. The plan was to start off with a hike to Sorgenti Sammaro, but my directions took us not to the river deep in a valley, but to the bridge high above it. Very very high above it – on one of the tallest bridges in Europe. There was a small roadside memorial in the very middle of the bridge, sadly a suicide spot we expected.

Even though we did not get the hike, the drive there through the mountains and valleys was incredible. With views on every turn we pulled over for photo ops regularly. The skies were in motion constantly with clouds at various elevations moving at different speeds which made for dramatic scenery.

Next we headed to the tiny mountainside town of Teggiano whose origins date back as far as the 4th century BC. Although very small, 13 churches were within its boundaries. By chance we arrived on September 27, the day of San Cono, the patron saint of Teggiano. As we arrived the procession through town was just starting. The statue of San Cono was carried through the streets to the cathedral with the clergy followed by the local marching band and townfolks. The town square was all decked out with decorative lights, arcade booths, candy stands and more in preparation for the evening festival.

After the procession we went for lunch. The town was so small there wasn’t much choice but we found a nice little restaurant across from the castle with a very gracious hostess/owner who craved tourist customers. We agreed to just let her pick our menu. Although we had indicated we wanted a smaller meal, we were served the whole shebang. First a generous anti-pasto plate each, followed by a fresh homemade pasta (they use eggs in their pasta here) with sweet tomato and meat (pork & beef) served with mixed cheese (not just parmesan), hot pepper oil (very yummy even for my tender taste), and an actual hot pepper with scissors to cut straight onto your pasta. We were able to abide by our ‘pasta doesn’t wait!’ maxim from cooking school and along with a litre of house red polished it off in no time.

We didn’t get into all 13 churches, but there seemed to be one at every turn. As they are not all actively maintained, some were nicely refurbished but several were in ruins. For me, the most fantastic and unique was the inconsipicuous church on the main square. The ceiling looked like tapestry but was in fact painted wood. And the frescos on the back wall were medieval.

The rain came and went again today, but mostly we lucked out. The shops and festival booths were still closed (afternoon shutdown), so we waited out the rain at the local pub and had a beer while we waited for the candy booth to open. We were entertained by the locals playing animated games of briscola and then skopa.

Stocked up with gummies and nougat and nuts, we also picked up some fresh cheese (made daily), and olives for dinner. We resisted the 1200Euro bottle of wine but we were enticed to buy a bottle of the local digestivo liquour Amaro Teggiano made from 13 herbs for the 13 churches. It is to be drunk at 4C with no ice, no mix. It was very nice – but sadly we could never find another bottle of it.

Back ‘home’ we got some fresh bread from the bakery across the street and along with some leftover pizza, sausage and breadsticks we had a very satiating snack dinner. Too much food AGAIN!

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Well it was….. just as loud, and just as late with table dragging to clear the square at 4am and single loud voices piercing the dark all night long, even after the pounding beat music ended. But that wasn’t the biggest issue of the morning. We loaded up the car about 9:30am to discover that ‘under the house’ was not to be taken literally – it actually meant for us to park ‘in front of the house’. Another tenant was very upset that we had parked there. And although he had a key to the locked courtyard where my underwear lay after they had inadvertently dropped from the balcony clothesline, he would not let me get them! When I contacted Lorus to explain what had transpired with the parking, he seemed to think it was not a big deal. I’m not so sure the other owner was going to be quite as forgiving to Lorus. But he does have my underwear, so I guess he was compensated :-).

With the car fully loaded and a meticulous backing out job done by Dan we drove. And drove, and ferried, and drove, and drove, having to fill up the small hybrid gas tank twice, all in the rain and fog. Dan is our hero!

After a bit of a futile search for our BnB we contacted Vincenzina who seemed used to the confusion of the address provided and came to meet us and lead us to the house. It was a very nice house with 2 bedrooms and a bath up and a full bath, kitchen and living down. The artwork was all by a relative of hers.

We were quite remote but managed to find a nice, local pizza spot. Most pizzerias have gluten free options and they are generally quite good. Once again I ate too much!

Back at the house we were all tired, so euchre didn’t last long. Not sure how we were more tired after a day of sitting in a car than we were on days of hiking!

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After taking the train out to the airport to collect our rental car; which was the exact vehicle reserved for a change, we headed to Syracuse to check out the Greek, Roman, Moorish, and earlier ruins. The highway stop for coffee was surprisingly good, which we later discovered to be true throughout Italy. We picked up the requisite gummies for Dan as well as a gigantic tin of potato chips which crowded the back seat between Suz and I for days.

As we arrived in Syracuse it started to rain, and we had failed to bring along any of our rain gear that day. To add to the confusion, I managed to purchase 2 parking tickets in error. Luckily for me I found an English couple who were just arriving and they took the surplus off my hands and restored my wallet! From the parking we walked over to the island of Ortygia in Syracuse. We visited several sites including The Temple of Apollo, Arethusa Spring, Castello Maniace, Duomo di Syracusa (Cathedral of Syracuse) and the Church of Santa Lucia alla Badia (Church with the burial of St. Lucia, the patron saint of Syracuse). All were amazing, especially the castello with it’s art exhibit, In a Perfect World. Sculptor Davide Dall’Osso created exhibits showing the strength and fragility of women by using ballet to depict a world where gender equality is finally possible. The castle itself was a fortress shaped to follow the contours of the outcrop it was built on. The angles and arches made for intriguing shapes, and the skies above added to the ambiance.

While it poured rain off and on during the day, we managed to avoid most of it. We enjoyed a very tasty poke bowl sitting sheltered in a restaurant canopy during one downpour. On another we sheltered in the vestibule of a church while a street seller tried to convince us that we needed an umberella.

Again on this trip, Dan was our dedicated driver. And driving in Italy is hairy – they love to pass and cut right back in, inches in front of you. We were very fortunate to have Driver Dan and Sherpa Doug (his carrying feats are unmatched, particularly on behalf of Lucy!) on the trip. Parking back at the BnB proved a challenge as the public parking was closed, and the rental agency had highly recommended NOT to use street parking due to theft and vandalism. So we parked ‘under’ the apartment as suggested – in the entranceway of the condo building which was more like a tight garage.

Dinner hit the spot with the sought after arancini (rice balls). Michael found us Arancini Manu which was highly recommended and despite the sketchy walk to get there it was well worth it. I had potato puree, cheese and ham, Michael had spicy veg. For dessert we had perfect, freshly filled, cannoli. I had ricotta, Mike pistachio; both trimmed with fresh ground pistachio. Dan & Suz skipped the canolli and opted instead for….. you guessed it…. gelato!

Back at the BnB our car was still safely stored and the hukkah bar had once again taken over the plaza in front of our condo building with their tables and the pounding music had resumed. Our biggest hope being that the tables would be cleared by morning when we wanted to get our car out….

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On Saturday September 24 we all went our separate ways. The week together had flown by as it always does. For the last few days of the trek we all mused over where to venture next. Top contenders included Scotland/England/Ireland, Japan, and Canada/US, with several of us tasked with doing research. But for now we enjoyed each others company for one last amazing breakfast together. The Riva del Sole served a classic high end buffet and we all enjoyed the Sicilian pastries one last time.

After tearful good-byes we split; Paul & Lucy headed back to Palermo for their flight to Milan, Mick & Sue to Palermo then on to Naples and Cinque Terre – with hopeful plans for us to see them again on their cycling tour in Tuscany, Doug & Kaylon were headed to the mainland and off to Pompeii, and our gang of 4 (Dan & Suz, Mike and I) were off to Catania on the east side of Sicily.

So on to Catania by train where we 4 had our first game of Italian cards, briscola, having Mike & Dan soundly dominating Suz & I. Perhaps it was just our desire to see Paul & Lucy again, but we had to do a double, even triple take as their dopplegangers were on board our train! We were headed to our first BnB with plans of doing some much needed laundry. After some initial confusion on how to enter our accommodation, we managed to enter as the cleaner (?) was leaving. It wasn’t the best BnB I’ve ever rented as the neighbourhood seemed quite noisy. Despite the strange layout the place was very roomy and the laundry worked just fine.

Our place was near the university and our exploration of the neighbourhood provided several street performers including a religious rock/folk band spreading the word, a characiature artist and a spray painter using a blow torch. Catania did not disappoint with its architecture and of special interest was the abandoned facist era Casa del Mutilato (House of the Mutilated) di Catania across from the Massimo Bellini Theater. It was built in 1939 and includes sculptures and paintings (although boarded up so could not see them) by many great artists. There has been much turmoil around it’s ownership and its future, but it may soon be resurrected as a museum. In addition to the architecture, the many stray cats and gelatarias were enjoyed also! Suz and I continued the hunt for our ceramics, pasta platter and basil heads, to no avail.

We had decided on one of the recommended restaurants and made our reservations for the earlybird timeslot of 7:30. Dinner at Sikulo was disappointing as the waiter provided the $$ wine without asking for clarification on which of the 2 wines of the varietal we ordered (his English was impecable, so not a language issue). My tuna dish was very fishy in parts, and when I complained to the waitress, whose English was not as impeccable, she thanked me! When we tried to have the 107Euro bill split in two, she tried to charge us each 57Euro and she was convinced we were trying to scam her when we complained. So not impressed with the food nor the service. But we managed to find gelato to return to our happy places!

Luckily we were not in need of a solid night of sleep as the bar below our accommodation was party central until 5am. As I stated, not the best BnB I’ve ever found 🙁

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Our gang of 10 had only one more night remaining together, and for the most part the hiking was complete. But not before another day of shared adventure. After breakfast the girls all jammed into the tiny shuttle car offered by the Agritourismo to head back into Castelbuono for some shopping and lunch. We walked around town and had a bite at a nice, tucked away, hamburger joint – with not a burger ordered! The boys had hung back to play cards and were shuttled to town in multiple trips of the tiny car with the luggage in time for us all to catch the bus to Cefalu – our final stop on the trek.

Cefalu is a lovely seaside town and the weather was perfect. We walked the short distance to our amazing hotel, Riva del Sole, which was right on the main strip facing the beach. Dan & Suz finally got a decent room with a balcony & ocean view. Michael and I were not so lucky with an inside room facing roof construction – but after all, we really only slept there so no worries!

Mike, Dan, Suz and Mick chose to hike up to the castle – and the views were apparently spectacular as you can see from the photos. They hiked up past the 12th century Cathedral to the ruins at Rocca di Cefalu with it’s ancient megalithic Byzantine temple of Diana. Lucy, Su, Kaylon and I chose to check out the town shops and find a dinner spot, and Paul & Doug toured around the sights of the town. We girls had a hard time finding a dinner spot for 10 on a Friday evening, but finally succeeded. We did manage to find a very cute grotto carved into the hillside overlooking the sea with 3 tiny tables to have a drink. Our table was in blazing sun, but a lovely Aussie girl kindly traded tables with us. Turns out she has cousins in Grafton – and of course Paul & Mick know the ‘Leonards’ from their teaching days!

While Michael was out hiking, one of his cameras died. Seems to be a known problem that when too much video is shot (which he did during our cooking lesson), the motherboard overheats and dies. Luckily he carries 2 camera bodies, and no photos were lost. Michael now had a possible theme for his next FujiLove article!

Dinner Tyrrhenian Sea-side was quite good; Michaels fish platter was exceptional, unfortunately though Doug and Kaylons meal did not arrive until the rest of us had finished. Afterwards we all took leisurely strolls along the promenade back to our hotel for our final night as a group.

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We managed to escape the rain! We woke to a cloudy day with a weather forecast of significant rain. Most of our trek was on trails that were not to be hiked when wet due to treacherous path conditions. We were sent off with a fantastic breakfast full of fresh baked cakes and all the cafe leche we could consume. Our supplied lunches were more than generous including a litre of water and juice for each. Apart from the lack of beer and poor quality wine, this place at Rocca di Gonato was certainly a 5***** for the food. So we loaded up our daypacks with our lunch provisions, water rations and rain gear and headed off keeping a quick pace to try to stay ahead of the predicted rains. And we succeeded!

Todays trek took us from parkland into farmland and the scenery reflected it. The paths were now lined with cork trees, caper trees, yucca, cacti and very old olive groves. This time the trail rating of ‘easy’ was more accurate as the path, although still rocky, was much easier to traverse. I was very pleased with my knees being so cooperative on this trip.

We successfully followed the trail with no anomalies with one exception…. we had failed to realize that the lovely complex we passed, Agriculturo Bergi, was our accommodation for the evening. So we continued the additional 6.8km into Castelbuono where we searched for our lodgings only to realize what we had done. No problem as we had a chance to check out the ancient town with it’s dominating castle. We had time for a drink in the square and for some quick shopping before the shops shut for their midday break. Suzanne was on the hunt for a Sicilian pasta platter, as the ceramics here are sublime. No luck here unfortunately, but we found many ceramic ‘Basil Heads’. We had seen them on occasion throughout Sicily, and there were some lovely ones here. Although I was hopeful of bringing one home, the logistics of it proved too complex and expensive, so alas I will have to continue to grow my basil in my garden. But here is the story of the Moorish merchant from Sicily Inside and Out

The original folk tale behind the ceramic heads comes from Palermo and tells of a Saracen merchant who falls in love with a beautiful local girl. Together they start a passionate love affair until the girl discovers her lover has a wife and children waiting for him in his homeland.

In a fit of jealously and rage, she murders him in his sleep, cutting off his head so that her lover would stay with her forever. The girl uses the head as a vase to grow a beautiful basil plant. Others seeing her flourishing plant, forge themselves the colourful clay head pots in an attempt to recreate the bountiful fertility.

After shopping we thought we would taxi back. But alas, no taxis are allowed in the town of Castelbuono. So one more drink and this time we walked the 4.8 km road route back rather than retrace the trail.

Once again we had another lovely place to lay our heads – Paul did a great job finding this package! As it was end of season, the pool was too cool for most of us, but Dan and Suz partook. The Agritourismo Bergi was an active tourist farm with figs, grapes, plums, pomegranates and more surrounding us. Our dinner was centred around their produce. We had another multi course Siciliano dinner. Again the starter was a highlight, this time pasta with white sauce, a very bony buy yummy lamb dish, and a semi-fredo, sliced ice cream roll for dessert. The improved wine and availability of after dinner coffee here were much appreciated. Thank goodness we did those extra kilometers!

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Wednesday Sept 21 was another perfect day for hiking. After clearing our hotel debts we packed ourselves and all our bags into the vans for our transfer to start our trek, bags to carry on to our next accommodation.

But today’s trek started off ominously. Our shuttle dropped us off at our starting point – 2 vans for the 10 of us. After much confusion interpreting the paper map and GPS readings as to which side of the road we actually were to hike from, we finally realized what had happened – they had dropped us at the wrong trail! With no phone signal due to our remoteness, we were stranded. Fortunately GPS was functioning and we realized that our trail was just a couple of km’s down the road (fortunately downhill!). Once we got that sorted, we were off!

We had options today and we elected for the 5km hike followed by a 9km hike. Again we were on a riverbed path, this time with a couple of slips but no injuries. With the scree and larger rocks on the path walking was tough on the feet and shoes. Although uphill was more difficult cardio-wise, downhill was so much more difficult and hard on the feet and knees due to the footing.

The scenery was once again spectacular and pausing to look back on the view it was surprising how steep our climb actually was! The 2nd walk this day retraced a section of the previous days hike. Again we traversed through a herd of cattle protected by many verbose dogs. We were sufficiently concerned that we all banded together as we passed through the herd and pack. The dogs had several adorable pups in their midst – balls of fluff, and despite the extensive barking no serious aggression resulted on either side.

Half way through the hills of the second hike, we started to spot deer and heard ‘weird’ noises. What we realized were deer snorts and grunts got louder as more and more stags appeared. We were surrounded by hundreds of them spread all across the hillsides. Many stopped in silhouette on hill tops making for incredible sights (Monty had no photos, so the one below is from my camera – apologies for the quality!). Turns out it was rutting season and the males were butting antlers, many grunting in low, loud groans. It was an experience of a lifetime walking into the middle of rutting season with so many majestic beasts.

In the midst of all the action, we were met by a guide with a group of young Belgians coming from the opposite direction. She was quite concerned about this bunch of seniors who appeared lost in the middle of nowhere! We had to prove to her that we were in fact in control of our faculties and not lost, and that we knew where we were going. Despite the unintended insult it was quite cute and touching!

On past treks we have strayed from the path on the odd occasion and this hike was no exception. The technology this trip made a huge difference though. Twice the trail totally dissolved in front of us and the GPS saved us from substantial trouble. Even getting started on the trail would not have been possible were it not for the GPS. The written directions and trail markers are great and very much needed, but the GPS was the big saviour.

We ended the trek on the edge of the park with an impressive steep lengthy cobblestone walled road. It must have cost 100’s of thousands. Several spots were in need of repair but it was unbelievable and must have taken years to build, all on private property. Unfortunately the language barrier inhibited us from learning any more about it, so we just used our imaginations to consider where such wealth could possibly come from in Italy 😉

Our accommodation this evening were highly suspect. It was an impressive complex in the middle of nowhere and apart from us was totally barren. They were ill prepared for our gang of 10 with only 5 beers on site and the house red wine was undrinkable. We polished off the white wine we had brought but that was it for drinks other than water. So when they called us down for dinner at 7:15 we got a fantastic surprise. We were served a 5 course meal starting with a beautiful antipasto plate with several cold cuts, ricotta, and sundried tomatoes followed by a salad with fig confit. Next was the pasta dish with eggplant. Then our primo of beef, potatoes, carrots in a wonderfully rich stew. Finally panna cotta for dessert. Only good wine and coffee were missing!

The boys returned to playing 500 while the ladies retired to our rooms – except for Sue who had a malfunctioning key and was locked out! With all the staff gone for the evening, Mick had to rescue the day by climbing through the window! And so ended another fantastic day for the group of 10.

Oh – one more mention – today Lucy and I found 3 single shoes at various points along the trek. Can’t imagine what those people did for the rest of their hike…

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