Prob fine. Never been down that end but some woeful shit holes the other direction
So where should be avoided pal?? Is it expensive there?
Fuck. It may have been last week.
Don’t tell @Bandage. He’s only codding us all anyway looking for recommendations. I’m sure his life partner has it all covered
A good friend has recommended Seville. Am looking forward to my trip there in late September
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Barring you are going there on the piss avoid the bigger resorts. Hersonnisis is full of Kids, reasonably ok ‘town’ next to that called stalos or something but next town on is called Malia and is close to being the worst shit hole on earth. Full of absolute chavs from england. few years since I was there but we went down there for a look one day and loads of bars had signs up saying no Irish.
Not that expensive no.
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Try this one to keep you going until yer man works it out
@Bandage - here’s a stop gap until yer man finds the other one
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Yes
Avoid Malia.
Great idea. Lovely city. Good time of year to visit.
Was a few miles from it in a place called Sissi. Was grand for us with the kids. Nice over by Agios Nikolas as well. Definitely rent a car and head for the hills.
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Malia is one of the biggest shitholes you will ever see. Worse than Tipp town or Athy.
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Now we are thinking is it better to just save up and head to Cuba early next year altogether! 
Here you from Sunday’s paper. I don’t think it is what you have in mind.
TRAVEL
Cook like a don on the island of plenty
A 17th-century villa in Sicily is the idyllic setting for an Italian food course
It’s Monday and we’ll probably be having pasta later — sounds boring, doesn’t it? OK, how about it’s Monday and we’ll be having pasta in the stunning 17th-century Villa Aragonese near Modica on the south coast of Sicily? By then we will have learnt how to make it expertly from scratch, refreshing ourselves with lovely local prosecco along the way.
The week-long Sicilian cookery course in Modica, an hour’s drive from the airport at Catania, is a world away from the the usual weekly kitchen routine where pasta comes from a plastic packet and is served slathered in a sauce that takes about 10 minutes to prepare.
On arrival the previous evening, my husband and I were greeted with the first of many glasses of local fizz by our cooking maestro, Carla Zanardi, and our bubbly host, Rosa Calvo, in a setting that was both luxurious (almost decadent) and homely.
Dinner was fried sea bream with aubergine caponata, and a Sicilian fruit cake with lemon cream for dessert. This was followed by homemade limoncello liqueur in the lounge.
Tuition kicked off the next morning after breakfast at a vast wooden table. Our first lesson involved making fresh ravioli, with Rosa translating Carla’s rapid-fire instructions.
We pummelled and pounded our dough, hoping to earn a fantastico from the watchful Carla and her expert fingers. Once the pasta was pummelled to perfection and rested, we rolled it out until it was almost translucent and cut it into strips. Small dollops of freshly made ricotta cheese and marjoram were placed at equal intervals along the pasta, then it was gently folded over to make the ravioli pockets. The offcuts were recycled into tagliatelle for lunch.
Arlene in a market in Siracusa
Next up was ragu, which proved trickier to master. This pork and tomato sauce needed a fair bit of preparation, but by the time it was simmering in a pan its mouth-watering aroma filled the villa. Carla then pronounced it prosecco time. I’m usually not one to indulge during the day — but when in Rome.
We had the afternoons free so took the opportunity to find a secluded spot in the grounds of the villa, which also has an its own outdoor pool.
Cooking for seven mornings straight can be hard work, especially when you have Sicily outside the door, but the afternoons also featured local foodie excursions.
On day two we were driven to Syracuse, in the southeast corner of Sicily, with Rosa providing a running commentary on the sights along the route.
Arlene and Rosa Calvo sample the local produce together
When we arrived in the ancient Greek city, birthplace of mathematician Archimedes, our guide took us through the throng of tourists and locals, past many tempting market stalls where the smells, sights and sounds were enough to drive us to distraction. Visiting a market with someone in the know is always better than trying to gauge which stall has the tastiest fried fish or which vendor can be trusted to offer the best prices on local cheese — and, crucially, they can point you in the direction of the best sandwich in town.
At the end of the street, we stopped at Caseificio Borderi (caseificioborderi.eu), a tiny delicatessen that had a queue of people snaking out of the door. Some were there simply to witness the theatrics of the sandwich makers assembling the simple lunchtime meal.
In an elaborate choreography worthy of a fringe theatre performance, they chopped and sliced salad leaves and vegetables, tenderly preparing pieces of marinated cheese and meats, drizzled with local oil and sprinkled with fresh herbs.
Fish on sale in the Siracusa market
It was a mouth-watering performance and, as a reward for our patience while queueing, the deli’s owners gave us tasty morsels of mozzarella, spicy pepperoni, bread with dipping oil, and even samples of local wine.
Later, Rosa took us on a guided tour of the town. It even has a Caravaggio, The Burial of St Lucy, which is on display in the church of Santa Lucia, on the Piazza Duomo. But we were here for the food culture, not the fine art, so we headed to lunch in ristorante Il Veliero (www.ristoranteveliero.it).
We devoured swordfish croquettes, followed by a selection of fried fish and caponata plus steaming bowls of yet more fresh tagliatelle with shellfish. This was topped off by some bracing espressos before we headed to Noto, a baroque town built in the wake of a 17th-century earthquake, to try its gelato.
The next days followed a similar educational — if calorific — pattern with excursions to a vineyard and a couple of other beautiful villages and towns.
Back at the villa, we were shown how to make cavatelli (small pasta shells), Sicilian meatballs, caponata (the ubiquitous aubergine-based salad), scacce (a foccacia-like stuffed bread), and several meat and fish dishes, as well as a few more desserts.
Fountain of Artemis in Archimedes Square
Emphasis is placed on using good local ingredients, treating each dish with respect and, crucially, enjoying the end result.
You don’t have to be great in the kitchen to enjoy a Sicily cookery class, but you do need to love your food and be happy to spend several hours every day preparing, eating and relaxing — just like a true Italian. Mangiare e vivere.
Seven-night Italian cooking holidays in Sicily are priced at €1,890 per person (with no single supplement). This includes en-suite accommodation, meals and wine, lessons, visits to local towns as per the itinerary and transport throughout; flavoursholidays.co.uk
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100 % . A dump .
Thank you @Arseboxin and @ciarancareyshurlingarmy - I’m really looking forward to the Sicily leg of my vacation now. Malta, not so much.
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Lisbon lads. Talk to me.
Fantastic city. Beautiful.
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Looking at a resort roughly 30mins away by train.
Go for it, pal. You won’t regret it.