Venice

Venice is one of my three favourite cities in the world.

Trust me here, we’ve lived in and/or visited a fair few in the last several decades!

Despite our sadness ... always picture perfect!

What are the other two you may ask? London and Modica. London because I consider it to be the greatest city in the world. And you didn’t expect me not to include my home city in my list, now did you? I love Modica, why else would I be here?
I only mention Venice because, although we always want to go, and have been many times, this time we just had to.
For the very saddest of reasons. Alice’s first cousin, Sandro, died in that beautiful city after a short illness on the 6th October, and so we flew out from Catania on Thursday the 8th. No hesitation, and very little discussion. We just had to, of course.
I first met Sandro while honeymooning in Venice back in 1988. He couldn’t have been more welcoming to this Kiwi “fish-out-of-water” on his very first trip to Europe. What I remember most is (was) his wicked sense of humour, his deep and abiding love for his home city, and his willingness to go out of his way to make us both feel uber-welcome.
He never once asked why we’d chosen Venice as our destination. It was simply a given to him: Why wouldn’t you?
Others f’sure felt the same way about him, too. His funeral was well-attended.
No hesitation again: We miss you, Sandro!

Steppin' Out

Going for my early morning walks has reinvigorated me.
As it’s getting colder here, at least in the mornings, I’ve found these walks warm you up. With the added bonus of actually helpin’ to wake you up, too!
Now, before you ask, I’m not walking all over creation here. For instance, this morning’s walk was only 2,043 steps, or about 1.3 kilometres. It takes around 20 to 25 minutes, depending if’n I’m sauntering or striding.
But I’ve found it does set you up for the day. More energy and better mental activity. Trust me: I need the latter!

Speaking of mental, an added bonus is challenging myself to come up with a decent photo at the same time. To both ‘commemorate’ the event ... and boast that I’ve been walking at the same time. Of course! Who don’t love a good(-ish) reason to brag about a non-life-changing event on social media?
Anyways, one of the reasons why is also because I’m up way before Alice is. We’re (often) talking several hours here.
Now, while I’m f’sure insanely jealous of the fact she can actually sleep, I started my daily jaunts because otherwise I’d just be sittin’ in front of my PC … doing “stuff”. Important stuff, to be sure: Like family trees, playing games, sorting photographs, watching YouTube, etc. And I thought to myself, several years ago now, that I should be doing some exercise, too!
So, here we are today! My advice to you?
You should, too…!

"Shanks’s Pony"

Speaking of walking, we do a lot of that here.
F’sure Modica was built around just that. Although perhaps also for riding your horse or donkey about the place. And carts. Mustn’t forget the carts!

Them narrow streets...

Anyways, the city’s essentially an 18th century one, of course, having been extensively rebuilt thanks to the massive 1693 Sicilian earthquake. There were no cars then, naturally, so many of the streets are narrow. Let’s not forget the many, many stairs here, too.
So ... except for the main thoroughfares of both the lower city (Corso Umberto I, Via Marchesa Tedeschi) and Alta (Corso Regina Margherita, Corso Principessa Maria del Belgio), it all about the ‘narrow’!
One of the many reasons why we settled here was that we could walk. Our ‘kiwi4everhome’ was essentially chosen so we could (and always) do just that! We can easily, with no stairs at all, simply walk to one of the two local supermarkets, three pharmacies (very important!), butchers’ shops, bakeries, DIY shops, and so on. But in case you were thinking it’s all about the ‘practical’ … can’t forget about the many bars, cafes and restaurants, too!
I reckon we’ve explored, on foot anyway, more of our adopted city than most locals have. Regularly making our way all the way up to the likes of Alta, Sorda, Dente or Santa Margherita.
Why so? Because we still can, of course! And we’ll continue to do so as long as we’re fit and able.
Free cardio? Yes please!

More Soon...