italy holiday

Summer Camps .

This month we had another first here at Pippa's Paddock - camping. The idea came about last year when a good friend of ours, who is a teacher and a camping enthusiast came over for a short break and fell in love with the place. He suggested we organise a kids' summer camp. As a result around a 100 kids came over for 5-day action-packed stints. We planned a good balance of "educational" and "fun" activities and believe we succeeded in this with visits to the volcano Mount Etna, natural waterfalls, castles, water parks, beaches as well as the Capuchin Monks catacombs. The kids' stamina was incredible and they all had immense fun, so much so that they have already booked for next year - roll on summer 2010... (Andrea)

Great BBq with Rock Band

Alia, despite being a remote mountain village, has some incredible singing talent - the picture here shows Rosa, one of Pippa's friends, and her rock band. They gave us a lovely performance on our terrace under a star studded sky. Typical in our small comunity, many people got to know of the event and happened to "turn up" to partake in some food, wine and music. Rosa's voice and the band's music, reverberating around the entire valley, made for a very specail and unforgettable experience. (Andrea)

We visit Mount Etna

Everybody in the world connects Mount Etna to Sicily and it seemed inevitable, when the camping group was here, that we should visit the volcano that erupts so regularly. At the time, the volcano was dormant, but it has already erupted twice this year, one time being a fairly heavy eruption with steps having to be taken to protect properties and houses in the upper reaches of the mountain.
We went up about half way to a level of around 5000 of its 10,000 feet height. At that altitude, the weather was quite pleasant. It can get very cold indeed further up.
The kids clambered down one of the recently (past 10 years or so) formed craters, and had a first hand look at the geological properties of volcanoes – although the educational side seemed to miss them at times !!
We also saw a local sculptor at work using the Etna lava rock as his prime material. His statues were being sold and exported to many countries around the globe. (Mark)

Al Cantara Gorges - a place poems have been written about...

Deep inside central Sicily, amidst its many mountain ranges, lies a beautiful gorge about which many a traditional song and poetry have been written. The gorge is called “Le Gole di Al Cantara”. It is formed by the cold mountain ice tips melting in the spring and summer months and flowing down the steep valleys cutting deep crevices in the rocky parts.
People visit to simply walk along the beautiful valley and the braver take dips and short swims in the freezing waters flowing swiftly down the valley, forming lakes at places whilst moving treacherously fast over the narrower stretches.
I hadn't been to this little paradise for some time and was pleased to find that facilities have been set up, such as bars and restaurants as well as parking, which luckily gave the comforts of modern day life without spoiling the natural beauty of the place at all.
Definitely worth a visit when in Sicily.... (Mark)