Scotland & Italy – 2023 Girls’ Trips

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Two girls’ trips in Europe with two different groups of friends. First I will be joining C who is celebrating her 60th birthday in style in Scotland. They have been in Scotland for over a week and I will join them in Edinburgh. I have lots of fun stuff planned for the capitol of Scotland. Then I fly to Italy to meet a group of girls I’ve sailed and traveled with for many years. We will hike in the Dolomites in Northern Italy, then we will make our way to Sicilily where we will explore the Aeolian Island chain, based in Salina. I’ll finish up in Sicily mainland for one day in the touristy Taoromina before heading home via a night in Amsterdam.

September 14, 2023

Edinburgh – Arrival and HOHO tour

September 15 2023 – Friday I was originally supposed to travel around Scotland for 12 days in September and then go to Italy for another week or so. When we learned that our son was opening his first restaurant in New Orleans (www.platesnola.com) the day I was scheduled to fly to Edinburgh, I changed my...
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September 17, 2023

Edinburgh – Food, Museums & Walks

We had three days over a weekend to explore Edinburg before my Pensacola friends returned home. We covered a lot of ground. We had a couple of special meals at posh restaurants booked in celebration of a 60th birthday. On Saturday we ate at The Witchery by The Castle in their secret garden. Located on...
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September 20, 2023

Edinburgh- Day Tours

Rabbies is one of the go to tour companies for small group tours all over Scotland. I signed up for two of their day trips from Edinburgh for my last few days in Scotland after my Pensacola friends’ departure. On Tuesday Sept 18th, I took the West Highlands, Lochs & Castles tour. It rained quite...
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September 23, 2023

The Dolomites, Italy

My stay in the Dolomites was short, just 3 nights but it is just as beautiful as I remember from a quick visit with my sister in law in 2016. From Edinburgh I flew to Venice and caught an express bus at the airport that went to Cortena de Ampezo. We stayed at Bellevue Hotel...
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September 24, 2023

Dolomites to Salina – a long travel day

Linda’s birthday was spent on the move. We left Bolzano by train at 5:12am headed for Bologna airport (www.trenitalia.com). From the Bolzano Centrale train station, there are signs for the Marconi Express which goes direct to the airport. Bolzano is another very busy Italian airport with long security lines, long lines for coffee and food...
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September 25, 2023

Cooking in Salina, Sicily

The main event on our first day in Salina was a cooking class (an Airbnb experience) with host Maria and her husband “Chicho”. We learned how to make her family recipe for caponata. Caponata is a salad or appetizer eaten as a starter dish. It is savory, sweet, and sour, comprised of sauted vegetables combined...
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September 26, 2023

Salina – Hiking in Pollara

Today we set out for Pollara by cab to hike the northern part of Salina Island. The tiny town of Pollara was made famous by the movie Il Postino (The Postman), a beautiful Italian love story set on Salina with an amazing backdrop of Pollara Beach. There is not much of a beach at Pollara built...
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September 27, 2023

Salina – Lingua Walk & Boat Excursion

I woke up early to see the beautiful sunrise and it did not disappoint. Sunrise from our rental Linda and Lorrie took the ferry to Vulcano island to climb the volcano. I opted out and instead walked from Santa Marina to village of Lingua, about 2 miles along road overlooking the sea. It was a...
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September 28, 2023

Salina – Full moon and Stromboli Volcano

Another balmy day on Salina Island. It was 76 degrees and sunny all day. I got up early to see the sunrise from our veranda. The three of us walked to the village of Lingua for something to do. There isn’t much to do in this little village but we met some Swedes who were...
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October 1, 2023

The Long Road Home via Taormina

The last 3 days of my trip were traveling from Salina to Pensacola. I left Salina at sunrise on the 29th by ferry to Milazzo Port on Sicily mainland. It was a 15 euro cab ride to the Milazzo train station. I had to wait a while for the train to Taormina which required changing...
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