Blogfather

On our last day full day in Sicily we grabbed an early morning taxi and rushed to Marina Lunga to catch the ferry to Palermo. The only problem was all ferries to Naples and Palermo were grounded due to bad (windy) weather. We exchanged our tickets for a hydrofoil ride to Milazzo, which is a straight (short) shot back to the mainland. From there we boarded a train to Palermo and enjoyed the 2.5 hour train ride along the coast. It allowed us to see a bit of the countryside paticularly between Cefalu and Porticello. Sabrina gratiously picked us up at Stazione Centrale and we were wisked off to our hotel. Later that afternoon as a farewell tribute to Sicily we visited Museo Archaelogica Regionale and the Ars Siciliae exhibition held in the Palazzo dei Normanni ... read more

We reluctantly left Siracusa and drove north to Taormina. The 45 minute drive skirted Catania through bumper-to-bumper traffic. We thought the worse was over once we exited the highway and began to drive the steep approach to Taormina. After making three failed attempts to penetrate the hilltop (more like cliff top) defenses of Taormina we parked the car and set out by foot to find Grand Hotel Timeo . The problem was that the main porta had been closed off to traffic making it very difficult to navigate to the front entrance of the hotel which was located near the base of the Roman-Greek amphitheatre (with or without the TomTom). At one point we took a wrong turn into a steep descending winding street so narrow that we had to fold back both side view mirrors.....Unfortunately ... read more

This morning we checked out of Gigliotto and backtracked north to Piazza Armerina and then west about 2 or 3 miles to Villa Romana Del Casale. The remains of this roman villa contain over 3,500 square meters of mosaics, many of which were preserved by a landslide that occurred in the 12th century. The villa is of uncertain origin, i.e. the owner has not been identified, but one thing is clear, the owner(s) led the high life of a typical Roman mogul. The mosaics give a glimpse into Roman life in the 2nd to 4th centuries AD, particularly the privileged class. In additions to baths, public latrines, scenes of the hunt and mythological struggles, there were glimpses of Roman erotic art. We completed our tour, and headed back past Piazza Armerina and Gigliotto south about 20 ... read more

We zigzagged back down the mountain from Erice back over to A29 and drove southeast towards Agrigento via SS118. We ate our salami and cheese panini (prepared in Erice), fresh almonds, and cherries . Along the way we watched the cars passing on blind curves (with many near collisions) and many more wildfires. The countryside was similiar to California, golden hills with patches of small farms that included vineyards, olive orchards and a host of other fruit/nut crops. It reminded me of the old California Central Valley i.e. long before the strip malls, roadside motels and surburban sprawl. We traveled out of the Trapani district into the Agrigento region and reached Raffadali in about two hours. From there, we wound our way north into the countryside first passing the small town of Sant'Elisabetta as we headed ... read more

With six water bottles in hand we left Mondello and set off for the Capuchin Catacombs and then on to the seaside villages of Porticello and Sant'Elia which are about 20 Km east of downtown Palermo. The weather was broiling, apparently it reached 42 C (108 F) but what was most striking were the number of wildfires around the freeways, in the moutains and well, pretty much everywhere. It appeared that a single "amphibious bomber" was dispatched to drop water on these hundreds of fires (kinda like spitting on a bonfire). The plane would land briefly on the ocean to take-in water then rush off to drop it's load. The Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo were as billed; grotesque and eerie. As we descended into the Catacombs the temperature dropped about 10 degrees. The location of corpses ... read more