My little jubilee, the 50th country visited was Liechtenstein. And boy what a ceremony happened. The Principality of Liechtenstein and the Swiss Confederation were celebrating the 100 years of their common Dounae contract. We were about to cross the bridge that was built over the river Rhine, but we were stopped as the celebration was just…
Krapina is my hometown. Zagorje runs through veins. Kajkavian dialect is spoken out loud by my core. So please, allow me to show you a portion of heaven given to us people from Zagorje to enjoy, nourish, and remain proud. Krapina Krapina was first mentioned in 1193. It has always been a favorite site for…
This is a post of a lovely, walkable city that will charm all wine, gastronomy and history lovers. From Markets to Mustard! This capital of Burgundie is calling you to get all its tastes. And you will not know all of these existed! The province was home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until…
Avignon is a city on the Rhône river in the south of France. It is surrounded by walls of Avignon (French: Les Remparts d’Avignon) – a series of defensive stone walls that were originally built in the 14th century during the Avignon papacy and have been continually rebuilt and repaired throughout their subsequent history. We entered through Porte Saint-Michel. The…
This historical province of southeastern France, extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south. It largely corresponds with the modern administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur . The largest city of the region and its modern-day capital is Marseille. Known for its diverse landscapes, miles of…
Michel de Notre-Dame, as we all know as Nostradamus, was an apothecary by profession, and published in the year 1555 a book called Les Prophéties (The Prophecies). In his collection of 942 poetic quatrains, he predicted various future events that experts, and many amateurs, find a way of interpreting into related events occurring in the present day. Some historical evidence suggests…
This is going to be a short post. Sanremo is a city on the west coast of Italy, in the province of Liguria. It is the capital of the Riviera dei Fiori or Riviera of Flowers. Its casino also makes it a sort of Italian version of Monte Carlo. This large building in Art Nouveau…
Vivid green pesto, great wine and fabulous walks … Genoa is a city of indulgence. Driving in the city, noticing it’s fabulous big secession buildings it reminded me of the importance of Italy: banks, trades, imports of goods and businesses… Genoa was a medieval rival to Venice. It’s not been primped for tourists like Venice, though.…
Rapallo was never on my list. I never thought there could actually be something about this city. It lies on the Ligurian Sea coast, just between Cinque Terre and Genoa. As a girl from Croatia, I know it from the history books as the Treaty of Rapallo was signed there, in Villa Pagana, formerly known as Villa Spinola. A treaty…
The five Cinque Terre villages are situated in northern Italy on the Mediterranean Sea, just 3 hours by train from Milan, Pisa and Florence. I have arrived by car and totally enjoyed the national park that spreads across the five villages. La Spezia My journey started in La Spezia. This was the very first stop as I…
Tintine was slowly climbing up the hills of San Marino. Not much pressure should have been put on this car as she had enough of the shocks in the last year or two. The hills around us were rising and soon we found ourselves surrounded by an amazing view. It was San Marino surrounded by…
My Life in Sicily finished after a year spent on this island. It was time to turn on my Tintine (a beautiful red car), hop on a ferry and say goodbye. I was nostalgic as a was driving through Reggio Calabria. But soon I was in Puglia – the region with the best Italian cheeses.…
An Ionian seaside town, Avola is a mix of old and new. The town focuses heavily on the sea, with its history as a tuna fishing port. Today, the remains […]
An Ionian seaside town, Avola is a mix of old and new. The town focuses heavily on the sea, with its history as a tuna fishing port. Today, the remains of the Vecchia Tonnara at the wharf are a stone backdrop to the sandy beaches.
Avola dates back to a pre-Greek people called the Sicani. The Greek colony here was established in the 8th century BC, then the Romans arrived in 227 BC.
Modern Avola retains some characteristic corners and hopping palm-lined piazzas. Restaurants, cafes, and pastry shops provide regional treats, and there is no lack of shops and services. I ended up here on a sunny afternoon, in the winter time. The city was dead – not even a restaurant to be open.
My phone battery died on my way so I was driving following the sign from the motorway to the city center. My plan was to sit somewhere to eat and charge the phone, get into the history of the city, and observe and connect my missing dots about Sicily. Except that there was no bar open, I mean almost not open. A few of them were closing because it was the afternoon time, some of them couldn’t charge my phone and some of them didn’t have small Sicilian bites – I was super hungry. I skipped my lunch that day counting on the fact I will eat in Avola, somewhere nice, with a view of the sea. Nothing of that happened.
Instead, I entered some small random lottery bar – typical Italian. Salvatore was happy to have me. I have sat on a bar chair and ordered espresso and prosecco, explaining to him in what kind of situation I found myself. I felt sheltered. Then the local men started to arrive in a typical Italian style. They come, one by one, most of the times they know each other. They great each other, have a quick coffee, chit chat using hand gestures and loud voice expressions. They buy a lottery ticket and then they leave. I was observing, trying to understand this hard core sicilian dialect. I can say I pushed my boundaries for that day. However, Salvatore was keeping an eye on me, understanding that I do not always feel comfortable. Especially without the phone to hide behind it.
The town’s name is famous because of the wine dubbed after it – Nero d’Avola, a hearty red variety exported around the world. Many people think this wine belongs to pinot noir. In fact, Nero d’Avola is made in two very different styles. The first is fragrant and crunchy, light to medium bodied, almost like Pinot Noir – except that it is not.
I couldn’t miss the Antico Borgo, the old town, with its charming streets and stone buildings. It is the typical sicilian baroque style but it did the charm for the day.
Cathedral of Saint Nicola
The Teatro Comunale is a point of pride for the people, an opulent opera house bedecked with boxes and lined with velvet, its construction signaled a rise in the city’s prosperity and cultural status.
The VecchioMercato is where the daily fresh market was held, in a beautiful colonnaded cloister of what had been a Benedictine monastery.
But of course, much of the lure of Avola is the sea and the wide beaches. The Ionian coast here is transparent and the long sandy expanses are great for kids. Along the waterfront is a long pier that juts out into the sea, a preferred spot for a romantic stroll. Discover attractions in Avola 🙂