What We Found On Lipari Island, Italy.

I met Sam's mum not long after I started dating him. He's the kind of guy that takes you into his warm heart and so is his mum. I hadn't known her long before she started sharing her memories of growing up on Lipari before she emigrated to Australia. She loved the outdoor life on Lipari, playing sport and swimming were her loves. Family was very important to her and she would embark on a long walk from where she lived on the coast up into the hills to visit her grandmother.

Sadly we lost her three years ago and it hit Sam very hard. He had always wanted to see the place that held such a special place in his mother's heart but it wasn't until we married that he decided the right time was right.

The hydrofoil took us from Sicily to Lipari and we were met by our hotel pickup. We'd opted to stay in Cannetto the town Sam's mum is from. We drove along the coast from the port of Lipari passing the beach where Sam's mum would have swum as a girl. Past houses and shops buildings that look as if they've been there for decades.

 Our B&B was a short walk from the street up this pretty laneway.

Having just finished a 13day Trafalgar tour of Italy we were pretty tired so opted for a rest but the next day we had a tour of the Island booked. We woke to a beautiful sunrise. This is the view from our balcony. 

The views of the neighboring islands were breathtaking. Sam and I had no idea how very beautiful Lipari would be. Our tour guide introduced us to some locals who said they would be related in someway having the same last name as Sam.

 We decided to see if the local council would be able to help us find where Sam's mum's house would have been.  

Our taxi dropped us in front of the council building which is attached to a church. With hope but no expectations we went inside.

In Italian, Sam told the clerk what he hoped to discover. He asked Sam for his mother's birthdate and her parent's names. Sam provided the necessary details and the clerk asked us to wait. He went into another room and quickly returned holding a very old, large book. He opened it and began to read the handwritten record of Sam's mum's birth. It was a very emotional moment that took us both back. 

We had expected to be told to fill out a form or that it would take a week to find. But here was this man reading out the time Sam's mum was born and where her parents lived. There was no street number in the record but we were staying just off the street where Sam's mum grew up. We'd been walking up and down that street for a couple of days.

We were so happy, Sam was beaming, and I had to wipe my eyes. We couldn't believe it had been so easy. The clerk created an official council excerpt for Sam and wouldn't take any money. We left with the precious document and kept looking at it over and over again.

We did lots of sightseeing on Lipari, visiting the Fort and Museum and took a hydrofoil to nearby Salina Island but nothing can beat the moment we stood in the council building listening to Sam's mum's birth record. The connection between the place we visited and the dear lady we loved became concrete. This was the land that shaped who she grew up to be. Sam had discovered something new about his mum and brought her close to him again.

It was a joy to share this special event with him.

Fantasy Thai Holiday by Dora Bramden

Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to go to Thailand. Documentaries I’d seen on TV made it seem like an enchanted fairyland. Pretty Thai dancers and the buildings with their upturned pointy eave decorations enthralled me. About ten years ago, I got the opportunity to have an overseas holiday in Thailand, but I’d have to go alone. It took two minutes to decide I was going. I felt scared to travel alone, but I had a motto, 'feel the fear and do it anyway'. With time enough for a few days in Bangkok and a little over a week on the Island of Koh Samui, I set off with high hopes of enjoying myself.

I landed at Bangkok international airport at night time, and after initial anxiety over finding my driver, my fellow minibus tourists and I were taxied through unnervingly dark streets where I saw an elephant being groomed. This let me know I wasn’t in KANSAS ANYMORE. (Or Melbourne in my case.) At last, we emerged in the middle of a colorful shopping precinct on Grand Sukhumvit road. I had just started to relax when we shot off down a narrow laneway lined to the road edge with street stalls. Pausing for traffic we stopped briefly next to a stand with rather scary looking deep-fried scorpions, hanging at my eye level. So far I wasn’t enchanted.

We turned a corner, and the street stalls disappeared as we drove into the forecourt of a grand hotel. It was five stars and not somewhere I’d usually stay, but I’d got it at half price. So my humble travel suitcase and I didn’t really fit in, but I didn’t care, all I wanted was to find my room and have a nice cup of tea.

The hotel staff were so friendly, and my room turned out to be a suite. I had everything I needed. The next day I began exploring Bangkok with a city tour company. I went in a banana boat and visited the Wat Arun (Temple of the morning) I couldn’t get over how beautiful the mosaic that covered it was. The next day I went shopping on Sukhumvit road and bought a bag and visited the king's palace. The gardens were gorgeous, and the architecture was so beautiful. Domes covered in gold and tiled roofs with dragons and upturned flames on the rooves.

In the evening I went to a Thai banquet with many dishes. The entertainment music was played on traditional instruments, and there were the much looked forward to Thai dancers. I took heaps of photos and thoroughly enjoyed seeing the gorgeous women and their costumes in real life.

Then It was time for me to fly to Koh Samui. Here I stayed at a resort on the beach. There were two swimming pools and a restaurant on site. I didn’t hardly leave the resort because I was so happy just relaxing and writing. Yes, I took a laptop. Well, I am a writer, and I thought I might get inspired. Which I most certainly did. I didn’t have to make a bed or cook a meal, just write and go for walks or swims at the resort. Traveling alone, I might have been lonely, but each morning at breakfast, the staff greeted me as a friend. Anywhere I went a staff member would wish me ‘Sawasdee ka if a woman or Sawasdee krab if a man’ (friendly Thai greeting).

After a couple of days, I booked a tour of the island. The highlights included visiting a market town full of handcrafted items, a waterfall in the jungle, the big budda ( a giant statue of Buddha at a temple), and to an elephant show, with rides and a monkey display. I was terrified of the elephants but remembering my mantra, ‘feel the fear and do it anyway.’ I made myself have a ride. I was nervous most of the time, but it was a huge adventure, and I love the photo I have of me sitting on the elephant.

I love being able to look back on my time in Thailand. A bucket list item that didn't disappoint. Despite uncertain beginnings, my Thai fantasy holiday surpassed all expectations.



You can learn more about Dora Bramden and find her social media links on her website