Fires still burning

The bush fires are still burning throughout the state of Victoria with the strong winds not letting up. A report states "...that as many as 200 new fires were started yesterday and 31 blazes are still active across the state." The weather has cooled down (from the top of 47 degrees reached on Saturday) to temperatures being in the low to mid 20s these past few days but the wind is so strong that it is pushing fires along at such a tremendous speed that people are not getting out in time.

On Saturday the fire was moving at about 120kms per hour and now there is fear that many of the fires will merge to make a huge fire wall. Each day more towns are being warned that they may be the next in the firing line, and are all on alert.



Onto brighter things (if that is possible) you have probably all seen this photo of Sam the poor little koala who was rescued by a firefighter called David Tree. Koalas are not the most social of creatures, and with their two thumbs (yes they have not one but two thumbs on their paws) they will normally scratch anyone close enough to touch them. Another interesting fact is that koalas very rarely drink water...so you can just imagine how scared and dehydrated little Sam was to gently hold the firefighters hand while drinking from his water bottle.

Sam has suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns to her paws and today she was reunited with the firefighter who saved her life.

Love affair turned sour

Finally autumn it seems has come to Rome. Only the other week I thought I could not go on with this heat and humidity. It had been so hot for so very long. The other day however the rain started and since then it has been so very pleasant in Rome! Yesterday I feared summer would be back as the sun was shining a little too brightly for my liking, but today mother nature has done me proud and has made the skies grey and overcast.

Don't get me wrong. I love summer. I do not however love summer in a big city such as Rome. Or maybe it is that I no longer love Rome.

Rome was the first place I lived in Italy when I moved here in 2006 and it was like a dream come true. I had always wanted to live in Rome, and here I was - a 27 year old girl living in Rome, Italy! I had a great job, the job supplied the apartment and I met the bel ragazzo a few months after arriving. Life was great. I would happily wander the streets day and night and never got sick of seeing the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain and other such sites. Rome was simply the most beautiful city I had ever seen and I wanted to stay for ever...

The next year although I loved Rome I asked work to transfer me to Sicily. Deep inside of me there had always been this 'pull' towards Sicily but I don't know why...I have no Sicilian blood, I had briefly visited Taormina, Palermo and Lipari a few years before but although impressed they were no more beautiful then other cities and towns I had visited. I cannot explain it, but I just felt that I had to live in Sicily and it was as if fate was leading the way.

As you may know from reading past blog entries we have to request 3 places we wish to be placed and then wait and see if we get our choices. I had requested Sicily as my number one spot with South Sardinia as number two. My manger called and told me I had been given South Sarinidia and would I accept? I did not want to go to South Sardinia but I could not say no as I had written that as my second request. So I accepted.

To cut a long story short I was given Sardinia but ended up getting Sicly in the end.

Speaking your mind comes in handy sometimes. I always speak my mind, to such an extent that sometimes it may not always work in my favour but in this instance fate was on my side.

Once I set foot in the picturesque Taormina, poor little Rome was left behind like an unwanted lover. Rome was no longer the most beautiful place I had seen, Rome no longer even entered my thoughts as now I had found my new love - Sicily.

Due to circumstances beyond my control (a.k.a wanting to be with the bel ragazzo) I turned down the offer to return to Sicily this year. Bel ragazzo had left his job to be with me, so I left Sicily to be with him and we thought of making a new life together in Rome... Fate once again stepped in and got him a job working with my company so hopefully, fingers crossed we can return to Sicily together this time.

Finally the skies have opened

Finally, after months and months and a few more months rain has come to Rome! I cannot remember the last time it rained. I think it was back in May when my parents were here. We had a hint of rain here and there, days where the sky was heavily overcast and you felt a cool change in the air... but that was only mother nature teasing us as she soon took the cool change away and let heat and humidity set back in.

The summer has been long, and I am sure it is far from over, but I am so happy that at least last night I heard and saw some rain, and today I not only used my umbrella but I noticed a definite change in the air. The cool change may not last for long, but it's here and I am could not be happier!

Parts of Italy such as North Sardinia have been hard hit by storms with roads flooded, luxury yachts being over turned and people being evacuated from their homes but luckily here there were no such issues.

Earthquake in Rome

This morning I was woken from my slumber by a strange sound and sensation. I felt the room shake a little, and heard a strange noise. 'Hai sentito?' I said shaking my bel ragazzo to see if he had heard or felt anything.

At first I thought I may have had a bad hangover - but then remembered that the strongest this that I drank was water as I had an early night last night (I am not the most 'with it' person in the morning.) Then I thought maybe I was unwell and my head was spinning a little and it just felt like the world was spinning. Once I crossed out those two options, I thought it was my housemate coming home (he is a night owl)which would explain this noise, but not the shake.

Turns out that there was an earth tremor in Rome! When I found out that it was not my mind playing tricks on me, I must admit that I was filled with a child like excitement. I know earthquakes are dangerous, and many people have been killed by the horrific wrath of mother nature...however I have never felt an earthquake before and I have to be truthful that sadly I was very excited that I had felt it.

A city built on rock...or lava to be precise.

A few days ago when bel ragazzo was in town we made a trip into the city of Catania.

"Catania is the second largest province in Sicily, with Palermo the capital being the first. Catania's history is full of transformation as the city had the misfortune of being partly destroyed 9 times. In 1669 Mt Etna erupted on an enormous scale and destroyed much of Catania. It killed about 12,000 people and the lava flowed out to sea for about 1km. You can see on either side of the autostrada the lava from this eruption and you can also see statues of Madonne at the top of old lava which generally signifies that there was once a church in its place."  This is my weekly airport bus spiel as we transport clients to Taormina every Saturday. 

We set off for a pleasant albeit hot day of site seeing. Here are some pictures of what we think is a beautiful city, however not everyone agrees. In parts it is pristine, and off the main streets it is often run down. After historic eruptions, the majority of the city was rebuilt with lava stones giving Catania a dark, secretive feeling, which makes you want to get off the tourist track and delve deeper into the residential heart.












Does the photo of the castle above look strange at all? From this angle it is hard to see anything out of the ordinary, however the castle is on ground level. One would imagine that all castles are built on hill tops, with a perfect vantage point to spot incoming attacks? The odd thing about this castle is that it is built on ground level...Che pazzo! I hear you say. Yes. However it is not a crazy design, it did not use to be this way. Look closely at the photo again and maybe you can see big black lava stones by the base of the castle. Yes. You guessed it. This castle used to be on a hill top and when Etna erupted, lava came and covered everything in her path, covering the villages below which makes today's city on level with the once elevated castle.

Fashion police in Taormina

Is it wrong to despise tourists if that is my job? I should clarify, I do not dislike all tourist, just that Taormina is so busy at the moment that it is hard to find nice tourists. One amazing thing that I saw a few days ago was the 'fashion police' on the main pedestrian street.

My common complaint is why must some tourists walk around Taormina wear just their bikinis? No t-shirts, too tight speedos and I'm talking about the ancient hilltop medieval town, not down by the sea!  Firstly, it is disrespectful and secondly, the medieval town is 700m above sea level, meaning that from the beach to the hill top town you have 700m worth of time to get dressed before walking into shops and even restaurants dressed (or should I say not dressed) like this.

The other day I felt like cheering aloud as I saw a polizia on the Corso Umberto, our main street, stopping these fashion offenders and asking them to cover up. Not content with a 'yes' the police man stood there and watched while the many embarrassed people put on t-shirts, shorts, shoes - you name it.

I have so many entertaining stories about the customers I work with...I had a complaint the other day that Stromboli (one of the Aeolian Islands, which is also an active volcano) did not erupt. We sell excursions to this island and tell people most of the time they should see some form of eruption or explosion from the volcano. Obviously not being mother nature I cannot guarantee the eruptions. These guests made an official complaint, asking for a full refund as they saw no activity from the volcano that night.

The other night a customer complained that the antipasto is always cold, there were no potatoes on the menu and that at many of the restaurant staff cannot speak English. Sorry - but what country are you visiting again? 

Back in Sicily...and Mount Etna still erupting

I'm back on the island, and returned to two beautiful things: the spectacular  Mount Etna volcano erupting, to top it off, after what felt like eternity, the scirocco has gone back to Africa! 

I popped over to visit my bel ragazzo in Calabria, which is the 'toe' of the Italian boot. He lives and works in the province of Cosenza and I had to cross the sea, in a train to get there. Sounds strange taking a train over the sea doesn't it? It is quite simple really and you don't even have to exit the train if you don't want. I take the train to Messina, where the carriages are separated as they go onto the ferry.  It is the same ferry the cars and foot passengers use, the trains are left on the lowest level with the cars above. You are free to climb the stairs to the top deck and sit outside, have something to eat etc... or you can stay in the train carriages which are parked side by side underneath. Once you reach the other side the trains reattach and move on once more.

Bel ragazzo's village only 26 kilometres from Cosenza and is surrounded by lush mountains. The town itself is very beautiful and quite small with a current population of about 900. I was very cool, even cold during the night as the town is 728 metres above the sea level. I wore jeans and a cardigan and still I was cold! I have not been cold for a long time, here in Taormina although the scirocco has gone it is still hot in the days and nights. In summertime the days are still hot in his village, but being surrounded by mountains there is a refreshing breeze. I worry about spending winter there, as most years it snows. Not necessarily large amounts, but bel ragazzo has shown me pictures when the whole town has been covered in snow. Pretty to be sure but I've never lived anywhere it snows.

So now I am back in Taormina, and bel ragazzo is working Calabria. He's coming back soon to see a concert in the Teatro Greco.

Isole Eolie - 7 islands off the north coast off Sicily:

Lipari, Vulcano, Salina, Panarea, Stomboli, Filicudi and Alicudi

Lipari is the largest, and considered by many to be the prettiest of the islands, but I think I prefer Panarea. I visited Lipari for the first time 4 years or so ago with my twin, her husband and his sister. We had come over to Italy for a 2 week holiday from London (where we were living) and spent a few nights in Palermo, Taormina and Lipari.

4 years later, on my day off I went back to Lipari, about 2 weeks ago. I was sick of always going to the same beach here so decided to join the day tour with some of my customers, who thankfully don't often recognise me out of uniform. At 6.45am I left Taormina and spent a beautiful day re-exploring Lipari. It is funny how much you think you have forgotten about a place, and then once you are there all the memories come flooding back. 

The second island we visited was Vulcano, which I too had done as a day trip 4 years ago from Lipari. Vulcano is as the name suggests a volcano. It is also famed for its therapeutic mud baths (very popular with the Germans). 

I braced myself as I exited the boat for the smell that I knew was soon to assault my senses. This time 4 years ago I nearly dry-retched as we first arrived, the sulphurous fumes are inescapable... Gripped with this memory I was fine, and actually could not help but laugh at the fellow tourists who were shrieking and blocking their noses.

This time around I opted out of relaxing in the mud baths. As nice as they are, it takes days to get rid of the rotten egg smell.  I opted instead to go and swim and sun bake on the black sandy beaches.

I do love living in Sicily!

Fuoco and Scirocco- the wrath of mother nature...Fires and African winds

It was going to be my day off today however mother nature had different plans for me.

The island of Sicily has been hit by the dreaded scirocco which have in turn done nothing to help the forest fires across the island.

Let me explain what the scirocco is, as before living in Sicily I had never experienced these winds. The scirocco is the south-easterly to south-westerly wind over the Mediterranean Sea originating from North Africa. The winds come from the desert and vary in strength. Often we get mild dust and sand storms - the sand literally being blown over from Africa.

The worst thing about the scirocco is that you know it's coming. It's the calm before the storm when, the sky become hazy, you can no longer see Mt Etna which is normally looming in the background. An oppressive blanket like heat spreads over the town and people start to go a little crazy. It's true! 

I've experienced 2 scirocco periods since arriving. Mostly they last a few days, but last time it was close to a week and was unbearable. It reached 48 degrees at one stage with most of the week was in the mid to high 40s. Part of my job is to greet clients at the Catania airport, and on the 48 degree day I was there. I try to well presented with my uniform on, however who can really look decent when you wake up and it's already 40 degrees?

The poor English guests were horrified when they saw me, sweat dripping off every part of my body, my hair plastered to my face as I tried to smile and call out 'welcome!' Mind you, this was me in the air conditioned airport. We stepped outside into the gale force scirocco winds as I escorted them into our oven like bus.

'Sorry about the heat in the bus,' I said, wiping more sweat and dirt from my brow. 'The bus has been sitting here in 45 degree heat for a few hours, but hopefully it should cool down soon.'

'What do you mean 45 degree heat?' one slightly overweight and terribly white lady asked me.

I attempted a light-hearted laugh, as I had already turned a bit scirocco crazy by then. 'Well it is summer time, in Sicily and at the moment we are experiencing severe weather conditions. It was 43 degrees at 9am this morning, and now it is 45 degrees, and will most probably get a little warmer as the day progresses.' I could not resist saying this last part. And sure enough as these words escaped my lips the customers faces, all pink and sweaty from the heat turned white. 

Back to the present day and the scirocco heat which has returned, along with fires raging across Sicily.  Due to the winds, planes cannot collect water to drop on the fire. The roads are blocked and lots of people have been evacuated from their homes. This morning my colleague Luisa drove to Cefalu as we have many customers in a hotel that has been evacuated. She has reported back that they are all fine, but the fires however are still burning. We are hoping that this scirocco will blow back to Africa soon.