Blogs from Sicily, Italy, Europe
April 25th 2012
Our first port in Italy was Livorno. This is the gateway to Florence, Pisa and Lucca. All of the tours to Florence were of the 8-10 hour variety so we opted for a ride to Lucca instead. This lovely Tuscan town, birthplace of the famous composer Puccini, is just the right size to be able to cover in a day. Lucca is surrounded by a wall which is as wide as a road. Visitors can walk the wall or ride bikes on it. We opted to walk so that we could go up and down into the town. We really lucked out since it was market day in Lucca. The market is set up along the city wall and runs for blocks and blocks. We circled the whole city and then went back to the market ... read more
April 16th 2012
It’s gotten to be a steady pattern of me being a week late for each blog I’ve been posting. Weeks are much busier so when I have some free time on the weekends I add a new one…a week late. This blog is about my Easter Break “vacation” in Sicily from April 6-9. I went with my roommates Carrie, Abby and our friend Marie. We had a flight on April 6 at 7am. The only way to get there on time (Iguess) was to take a train late Thursday night to FCO and sit in there until our flight. So..that’s what we did. We got to the airport and set up camp on the floor. There was no way I could sleep like that so I finished a paper and just laid there, miserable, listening to ... read more
April 1st 2012
One of the highlights of our week in Sicily was visiting Mt Etna – Europe’s largest volcano and one of the world’s most active! It’s so big that it is visible from the moon!! We got picked up from our hotel in a 4WD jeep required to get to the summit and embarked on the hour-long bumpy ride to get there. I think both Nick and I are still suffering from the whiplash! It was worth it though; it was fascinating to see all the craters and dried up black lava on the way up. We saw a house that was completely covered up to its roof in lava from the eruption in the 1669 eruption that lasted 122 days! When we got to the top we got to walk around one of the cones. On ... read more
March 28th 2012
Wednesday – Mt Etna and the Murgo Winery We headed out for our trip to Mt. Etna at 9:00. At this time of day the mountain is clearly viewed from our terrace. Shortly, the mist from the sea will roll in and cover the summit. Since the road to our hotel is so narrow, we have to take a van to a parking lot where we meet the bus. Soon we are on the highway heading to the south slope of the volcano. The landscape is kind of barren and the soil light and chalky. The island here is mainly limestone but shortly we entered the volcanic zone where the soil was dark and rich. Here flowers bloomed, lemon groves were laden with fruit and the vines were beginning their spring growth. Etna wine is now ... read more
March 25th 2012
Sunday - Agrigento and Enno We left Palermo and headed south to the Valley of Temples overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Driving south we followed the route Patten took when he was heading North with “recognizance in force”. He was ordered by Eisenhower to allow Montgomery to reach Messina first but Patten could do recognizance. Patten followed orders, sort of. He took his entire army north, doing “recognizance” on the way, met little resistance, reached Palermo and liberated the city. Another order reached him from Eisenhower. “Do not take Palermo”. Patten replied, “Should I give it back?” The landscape is dry and though it is green now, soon it will be brown. Now it resembles Ireland with emerald green grasses. Groves of flowering almonds and olive trees line the road. It is quite lovely. WE drove through ... read more
March 23rd 2012
New York to Palermo –Thursday and Friday Alitalia provided a great flight, really! We left on time, the plain was new, and the wine and food were fine and the flight smooth. Even got a few hours sleep. We had a long layover in Rome for our flight to Palermo but only ½ hour late in leaving. Was able to get a ½ hours nap. My first glimpse of Sicily was surprising. High jagged cliffs meeting the Tyrranean Sea resembled the Na Pali coast but were grey instead of green. The volcanic foundation of the island is apparent. We boarded our bus and planned to do a quick panoramic tour and then check in at our hotel. On the Autobahn from the airport we passed two obelisks that memorialized the murder of a judge who was ... read more
March 20th 2012
On Sunday we arrived in Sicily to a beautiful sunny day and Mt Etna had just erupted so we could see the steam! Very cool. A handsome Italian man was waiting to take us to our hotel ... Villa Diodoro ... situated on the cliff with a magnificent view from each of our balconies! Everyone went off to spend the day walking around the city. We all went different ways for dinner and shopping! Monday morning we met our tour guide, Maria Rosa, for our half day walking tour of Taormina. What an adorable city with the little streets and alleys, who much history! In the afternoon we all went for a walk down the very steep hills to make our way to the beach where we had a picnic with fabulous sandwiches and of course ... read more
March 20th 2012
Our group left this morning for our tour of Mt Etna, the largest active volcano in Europe which just erupted the day we arrived. It was an amazing drive all the way ... Well as far as we could go ... There was a ski area there that was open and we were abLe to climb a crater. SOOO COOL! We had shots from a shop owner of this red fire stuff that took your breath away! We were then off to our wine tour and vintners lunch. Our lunch started out with an amazing Antipasto then there were plates of pasta for us. We thought that was it ... But no ... We were then given plates full of meat with a fresh salad. Topped off with a bowl of fresh fruit which thankfully was ... read more
March 18th 2012
Had a great day skiing in Cortina to end our ski time. I threw a party for everyone on my trip to celebrate. A bunch of folks from Buck Ridhe Ski Ckub joined us which was lots of fun. I gave our green beads and stickers for all. A large group of us headed out to party after dinner. And what a party it was. I guess when only one person is down at 3:30 am for the bus to Venice that tells you it was a blast. What happens in Cortina stays in Cortina. But that would mean you remember the evening. It was a very quiet ride to Venice airport and thankfully no problems with our flights. Some went home and a larger group went to Sicily.... read more
February 21st 2012
Leaving Andorra after a secure 5 weeks was slightly daunting. Although only a short time, Andorra had become my home, I had my flat, my boyfriend, my routine, my friends. I was a local. Arriving in Venice, I had none of these things, and checking into the backpackers and looking at the bunk bed in the room I was to share with 3 others, I longed for my familiar large bed with my own private bathroom. Andy was meeting me in Venice and would join me for the first four nights, after which I would have the next four nights to myself before meeting Nelly in Rome for the final 7. I was starting in Venice and would train and fly south to finish in Sicily. All the places chosen were obvious tourist reasons with a ... read more
