Fantastic Travel: Sicilia 2013

I've been day dreaming of warmer climes again, bad habit of mine during winter! Not sure if it gets me through the cold and wet winters here or if it just makes it harder! Hopefully the former. So to ease the winter blues I've been trawling through our holiday photos from Sicily! I hadn't shared any of these here as yet, simply too disorganised. So I thought I'd share a few favourites to help us all through the darkest days of winter. :) 

First of bougainvillaea, how can it not make you smile? Bright and beautiful. And it was everywhere in Sicily!! 

Breakfasts in Italy magnificent - we found a number of fabulous cafes and cake shops around the Island and the choice is plentiful. Be it cornetti filled with cream or custard with a fiendish shot of espresso or as a special treat a delicious cannoli filled with ricotta and chocolate chips. Either way, pudding for breakfast is always a sure fire way to start my day!

Who can help but LOVE all forms of Italian motor vehicles, be it the cutesy cinquecento or the trusty vespa. They are all scattered all over the island and are certainly not treated as treasured relics, most are still work donkeys for the locals. 

The other man made wonders are the towns and their architecture. Some magnificent and sparkling and others crumbling and wistful, but either way incredibly magical. This is the church in the main square at the heart of the popular town of Taormina and one of the winding streets on the way there.

And last, but most definitely not lest the epic landscape! From the soaring heights and barren summit of Mount Etna to the turquoise mediterranean sea. We undertook the hike to the top of Mt Etna on foot, without the aid of the cable car and it was unbelievable. The volume of lava rocks covering the whole mountain was incredible and the steam and smoke rising from the crater both spooky and exciting! 

These pictures don't do it justice - the steepness of the sides and the depths of those craters made it petrifying to stand at the edge, particularly in high winds with tired legs!! Back down at sea level the coastline was often just as steep, but much more serene and relaxing. The turquoise Med showing off it's best colours along the fringes of the Taormina coast. 

 And on our final passeggiata along the seafront in Cefalu before dinner on our last night! <3 comment-3--="">

Travel Fantastic: Ibiza 2013

To all those of you out there over the pond, hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving! :) Wish we had something to spice up November! As the temperatures plummet here and the days get dark and muted, I am are full on dreaming about the summer just gone. Man I miss those balmy hot summer days!

To keep me going, here are a few highlights from our trip to Ibiza this summer. Strangely, Ibiza is one of the few places I can keep going back to year after year. I never tire of it! I'm usually the designated driver and I love landing and knowing the roads (there aren't that many of them!). It feels like arriving home. Well, just without the rain. But as well as the tarmac (!) I love the colours, the blue of the sky and the vibrant flowers, the chilled out vibes and the beautiful people! :)

Above, lush vibrant flowers! And below, the board walk along Playa Talamanca, our nearest beach this time and a new one for us.

Our typical Spanish looking apartment block, with some beautiful flowers in the garden!

Strolling to the beach and plotting that evening's entertainment!

Typical Ibizan villa along the beach front with a wonderfully lush looking garden.

The most delicious fruit cocktails on the beachfront. We may or may have not spent whole days sitting in the beach front cafe, sipping and gossiping! :)

Moody looking sky, we made a quick exit from the beach this evening!

The best fresh figs ever. Amazing green colour, juicy and sweet. Mmmmmm....

Beautiful girls all set to dance all night long!

Fantastic travels: Switzerland

Ready for a bit of reminiscing from the last days of Summer 2013?! We had a fabulous long weekend in Switzerland with the wonderful Chase-Holzhauers as our hosts. We did ALL things Swiss - ate fondue, hiked in the mountains and swam in rivers. In fact, we swam in a river every day of our visit, result!

First off a visit to the deer park and zoo in Basel where we had a little paddle. Lisa experimented with an impromptu dip in the deeper end (aka slip on the rocks!) and we realised it was a great idea and soon all followed suit in our undies. Thankfully I've spared you photographic evidence of this, not pretty! :p But Lis still managed to keep smiling after her dip. :)

Cute little pig at the zoo. So furry!

The full Swiss Monty welcome dinner - fondue, and more fondue! Out on the terrance as the sun set, bliss. All followed by a competitive games night that went on into the wee hours!

The next day we set out to explore the neighbourhood on foot, taking in lots of the local villages, a river crossing and a couple more dips in the river (I did warn you!).

Such pretty, well kept houses, gorgeous countryside and warm rivers (ish!).

On our last day we hit the big boy - the Rhein through Basel. Here we are armed with our Wickel fish waterproof bags ready for the ride. There were hundreds of bods floating downriver, hopping out towards the end of the town, shaking off, walking back upstream and doing the same thing all over again! This is how the Swiss rock and I loved it! 

Oh and just to prove we saw a teeny bit of culture in the histroic town of Basel:

Fantastic Loft Living

I've always wanted to live in an ex industrial building, be it a warehouse, loft or other converted building. I dream of the high ceilings, airy spaces, giant windows and industrial features! On a recent trip to Sicily we were lucky enough to stay in a converted garage building that was along just these lines. In Giardini Naxos, the down-to-earth neighbour of lofty Taormina, this unique pad was our home from home for a few days. See what you think of my snaps:

Sun streaming in through the high level windows along the side of the garage building. The perfect way to wake up!

I loved the polished concrete floors, which reinforces the fantastic industrial feel. Lots of lovely features were scattered around like this solid looking chest and architectural plant!

Fabulous lighting throughout - but a complete mix. Great combination of exposed brickwork (swoon!) and cabling. Who doesn't love a great big red button that MUST NOT BE TOUCHED, but just screams out to be pressed! And I loved the lime green bathroom with the pendant lights.

Fantastic blocks of colour above and below in the form of the hot pink kitchen and bright sofas and green curtains!

Ingenious little coffee table on rollers fashioned out of a crate and topped with glass to finish it off.

A wicked work bench that looks like it's seen more than one lifetime of hard graft! There must be layers and layers of paint built up on that thing and real piece of living history.

And who doesn't need their own in house gym?! Okay, those didn't get a whole lotta use during our stay!!

So, what do you think? Is industrial chic for you? If so, you can get your little slice of it right here!