Although access to the Roman Forum was free when Blue Guide Rome was published (p61), this appears to be no longer the case: you have to buy a ticket covering the Roman Forum, the Palatine Hill and the Colosseum for around €12 (I say around, there seem to be differences depending on where you come from, and there is a charge included which you don’t seem to be able not to pay for the special “exhibition” whatever and wherever that is).

To avoid the long lines for the Colosseum, buy your ticket at the Forum and do that first; anyway it is a nicer walk through the Forum to the Colosseum if you’re coming from the Capitoline Hill direction than along the street and it costs no more. The advantage is that when you get to the Colosseum you’ve already got the ticket and can go straight in.

I am surprised you do not mention Peristeria, a few miles north of Cyparissia, where are 3 tholos tombs, one immense one in astonishing condition. We visited it on Tuesday September 23; it was closed, though only supposed to be closed on Mondays. The usual hole in the fence is not hard to find (walk around to the left), and this stunning site is well worth seeing. But nobody seems to mention it - maps only show the antiquities symbol at Raches, the nearest village.

The chapter concerning Athens and the Piraeus is genuinely outstanding and provides quite a lot of information valuable to the interested tourist and the more advanced visitor alike. I have noted no shortcomings here, except for two slight discrepancies. Firstly, the opening hours of Schliemann’s House, which nowadays houses the Numismatic Museum, are on page 109 given to be “Tues-Sun 8-2.30 (sic)” This information is probably merely outdated, and therefore not really a mistake. The current opening hours are: Tuesday to Sunday, from 8.30h. to 15.00h. Secondly, at the risk of being a nag, a
reference to Lord Byron in the Index, which lists him on page 68, is incorrect: this should be page 67.

The section on modern-day Elefsina (p.145-151), which is better known by its ancient name of Eleusis, has been somewhat surpassed by recent developments. For instance, the remark that “[s]igns for the ancient site are conspicuous only by their absence” (p. 145) is simply untrue. By staying on the main roads of Elefsina one is bound to come across the many signs giving directions to the sanctuary. A little further, on page 151, caution is given to the reader that the museum on the site is only intermittently open to visitors, as a result of earthquake damage. Perhaps this is so, but during my last visits to the sanctuary (in May last year and the first week of this month) the museum was open and showed no signs of work being in progress. Furthermore, I have noted quite an important omission: on page 152 no information is given to the reader on how to reach Elefsina. I was able to take a train from Larissa Station in Athens (bound for Kalampaka) and got off at Magoula Station (Stathmos Magoulas). From there I took a bus, line 864 which runs only once an hour, to the town centre of Elefsina. All in all, my travelling time was little over an hour and a half (an attestation to the advice given on p. 145: “some may prefer to take a taxi”).

Finally, I would like to remark that the information provided about the Mysteries which were held at the sanctuary, and the myths attached to these celebrations, is perhaps somewhat terse, though basically correct. I admit a professional interest here and at the same time I understand the editors’ and authors’ wish to supply the reader with a concise description of these proceedings, yet it seems to me that a few words on the climax of the Mysteries are merited. This climax is in ancient Greek called epopteia, which literally translates as ‘the seeing’. What was seen exactly remains unknown, but scholars
speculate that the mystai, the initiates, saw Persephone rising up from the Underworld. Thus the initiates had an unique opportunity to establish some form of a relationship with her, which could prove to be useful when they died and passed to the Underworld, where Persephone and her husband Hades would decide what kind of afterlife would be fitting for a particular soul. This is why the Roman orator Cicero (1st century B.C.) could write the following:

Cic. Leg. 2.36:
(…) ita re vera principia vitae cognovimus; neque solum cum laetitia vivendi rationem accepimus, sed etiam cum spe meliore moriendi.
‘(…) so indeed [i.e. by participating in the Mysteries] do we learn the principle matters of life; and not only do we acquire a way of living with joy, but also a way of dying with greater hope.’

Compare also the following statement, taken from the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, the oldest account (c. 6th century B.C.) of the Mysteries we possess:

Hymn. Hom. Dem. v. 480-483:
‘Happy is he of the people living on earth who has seen these things; and he who is not initiated in these sacred rites and who does not participate in them, has no part in the same things [i.e. as the people who do participate] in the shadowy Underworld, after he has died.’

In conclusion, I would like to state that the aforementioned points are but quibbles which do not in any way detract from the usefulness and the value of this Blue Guide. I shall therefore reiterate what I wrote in opening: this Mainland Greece guide covers all areas of interest and does this in a way unparalleled by any other travel guide, succinctly and precisely. By this modest contribution I hope to further the justly attained reputation of the Blue Guide-series as a work of excellence. I look forward to using the forthcoming guides to the Aegean islands and Crete.

On page 78, there is reference to the communal cemetery at Arquata Scrivia containing 94 Second World War British Graves.

Actually the graves all relate to the First World War, and the dates range from 1918 to 1920. (Strictly speaking, there is a separate Commonwealth Cemetery immediately adjacent to the local municipal cemetery, with 93 British graves and 1 West Indian.) Many of the deaths are recorded as being due to influenza or pneumonia. I discovered from reading a book “With British Guns in Italy” by Hugh Dalton, that Arquata Scrivia was an HQ for the British Army in Italy during the First World War, and later discovered that there were two British Military Hospitals there, which probably accounts for the number of graves.

Incidentally, Serravalle Scrivia, which is mentioned in the same paragraph, is the locus of a very large Italian Designer Outlet complex (McArthur Glen, I think). It is very close to the Roman remains of Libarna which lie a little to the south, which in turn are close to the cemetery at Arquata a little further south. I mention this as it can help to justify (from a “family perspective”!) a trip to the area.

Certainly worth considering for inclusion in the next edition of the SW France Blue Guide

Regards

James Christie

One of the highlights was most certainly our stay at La Finestra sul Sale. It way far beyond anything I had imagined or even what was described below. La Finestra is truly unique. It is also one of the most evocative, romantic, friendly, beautiful, isolated and tranquil places I have ever stayed or even imagined staying. Well almost. Unfortunately, and they did not tell us this until after we checked in, they have loud DJ or live music at the cafe downstairs Thursday through Sunday nights! As you know, they only have 4 beautifully-restored rooms, all of which are directly upstairs from the cafe.

The 2 women who work at the reception desk at the salt museum in the windmill out on the jetty were incredibly hospitable and welcoming. After checking in there, we went to settle into our 2 rooms back on the mainland (we were the only guests!) After unloading our bags, Antonino, who seems to run the bar, at least at night, apologetically told me that the women forgot to tell us when we checked in that there would be music tonight. “Very nice music,” he said, “so people can dance. It ill be over by 12:45am. Will that be ok?” because, of course, he noticed that one of my traveling partners is 6 months pregnant and was staying in the room directly above the speakers.

So, we decided to go out to dinner and stay out as late as pregnancy would allow, so as to miss as much of the noise, er…music, as possible. For dinner, we paid €8 round-trip per person for Diego to take us by boat directly from our front door to Isola Lunga where the defunct Ecoresort Sola Mare Vento has become the Isola Longa Ecoresort, containing an excellent, expensive all-seafood restaurant and 3 gorgeously restored, mosquito-netted guest rooms. (Isola Lunga, Marsala (TP). Fax: 0923 966036. Claudia Marino, Reception, cell: 320 482 4168. Antonino Parrinello (our waiter) cell: 328 873 7690 - 340 886 8806, email: isolalongaecoresort@libero.it. This is all from their business card., including the 2 different spellings of Lunga and Longa.) We had a fantastic meal (I would certainly highly recommend the restaurant for a splurge) and befriended our waiter, Antonino, who gave us a proud tour of the 3 guest rooms, then joined us all for the last boat back to the mainland.

You could hear the blaring music halfway across the shallow lagoon as we approached through the otherwise-silent, otherwise-idyllic full-moon-lit night. It as already nearly 1am, so I asked Antonino when it would be finished and this time he “promised” me it would be done by 1:30! Did I mention that it was blaringly loud, and glaringly bad American pop (”YMCA” by the Village People!?!?) and that nobody was dancing or seemingly even paying any attention to the music? We tried to ignore it, only to find upon entering our rooms that the air conditioning had stopped working. And it was hot! Antonino messed around with it and finally got it working, but it proceeded to shut off every hour or 2 throughout the rest of our stay, requiring us to repeatedly mess with the fuse box outside in the hallway…

The music went on until just after 1:30am, and I finally fell asleep to the sounds of the young crowd chatting away into the wee hours long after the music ended. Upon arising the next morning, we noticed the poster announcing live music tonight! Oh boy. I went and spoke with the women at reception and they seemed perturbed that the music had gone on longer it was “supposed” to and vowed to speak with Antonino about it.

That night we went into Marsala for another fine dinner, this time at Trattoria Garibaldi., again hoping to avoid the bulk of the “music”. (One thing we learned here; unlike everywhere else we’d been in Sicilia so far, Catania, Siracusa, Noto, Enna, Cefalu’ where nobody goes out to eat until 10pm or later [in Ortygia I witnessed a family of 4 first sitting down to order dinner at a pizzeria in the Piazza Duomo at 11:30 pm!] Marsala is an early town. People eat at 8 and the waitress was none too happy to have us seated and just beginning to slowly peruse the menu at 9:30. Their kitchen closes at 10!) (I must also put in a plug here for the fantastically delicious E&N pasticceria at Via XI Maggio, 130, 91025 Marsala, Tel/Fax: 0923 951 969 http://www.pasticceriaen.com. The pasta al forno we had was perfect. And when the boss noticed me photographing their ridiculously realistic looking marzipan fruits, he called one of his bakers over to pull a cassatta out of the cooler and pose for a photograph. GREAT place!)

Returning late after a nice passeggiata around deserted Marsala, we came upon an even more horrendous scene than the night before. Two live performers, a singer and drummer, playing along to recorded backing tracks. Loudly. The Village People’s “YMCA” yet again! This time I expressed my disappointment and upset to Antonino who apologized and said once again that it would be finished by 1:20. At 1:20am, when there was no sign of the music subsiding, I went down to speak with him again. This time Antonino was not so nice; clearly he’d been drinking and had had enough of this American party-pooper. He exclaimed, “Enough! I told you about the music when you checked in yesterday!” I calmly said, yes you did, but what the hell were we supposed to do at that point? Go somewhere else? Look, I do not want to ruin anybody’s good time, but this is just not right. He agreed, but still became visibly irate, if not threatening (he’s a big guy) and said he’s turn it down a bit and that it would be over by 1:30. He did not turn it down and it did not end by 1:30, but rather much closer to 2am. And the air conditioner continued to zonk out every couple of hours throughout the night…

The next day we were all rather upset and needlessly exhausted, especially my pregnant sister-in-law. So, I went to talk with the reception women before checking out. The salt museum shop was crowded with tourists, so I asked her to step outside so I could speak with her. I explained everything that had happened, adding that also, my sister-in-law’s room had clearly not been cleaned in a while. She listened and seemed quite upset about it herself. I mainly complained that we had not been told about this beforehand. In fact, I had decided against staying at another recommended hotel, Delfino Beach Hotel, because I had read on TripAdvisor that they have a very loud nightclub there. It as clear to me that the people running the hotel (office) by day, have no idea what really goes on there at night when they have gone. My other main complaint was that nobody had even remotely apologized. Antonino could have at least offered me a drink or something, for crying out loud. It was not as though we were paying €5 for a hostel room; my single room cost €100 per night. She called her boss, and while she was on the phone in walked her true boss, the creator/restorer of the windmill itself, octogenarian Signore Infersa or Ettore, I don’t know which.

She relayed the story to him, and boy did he seem upset. (Finally!) When it got the the bit about Antonino, he really got upset, saying, “That guy is inconsiderate of everyone! Even the way he drives!” I also told them both what an incredibly beautiful, romantic, unique and perfect place they have there, and how eager I am to recommend it to everyone I know personally and online, but alas… This, of course, really got to them. And I meant it, obviously. She also pointed out to the old-world gentleman that we are in fact young, and probably like loud music; imagine if it were someone else. Yes, I added, I had been thinking of this too. I cannot even imagine if my 72 year-old father were with us. Or some older married Italian couple. And thank God I speak Italian!

In the end, they completely ignored the issue of the room not having been cleaned, made excuses for the intermittent air conditioning, blaming it on the electric company/grid (except it was only the A/C that went out, no lights,nothing else…), and gave us a 20% discount on our rooms (€80 and €104 instead of €100 and €130 for a single and double, respectively. Which included breakfast and free admission to the salt museum and windmill.). And we did not let it ruin our vacation.

Bottom line, La Finestra sul Sale is the perfect place to stay for a romantic western Sicilian getaway…as long as you stay only Monday through Wednesday! Thurs- Sun…head somewhere else or prepare not to sleep.