Blogs from Sicily, Italy, Europe - page 32

I woke up early! I was warned that several rooms would be leaving at 6 am, and they were noisy but it was ok, just part of a B & B! I got up and walked along the waterfront. Mt. Etna was postcard perfect, so I have some nice shots. What a surprise to see a huge cruise ship pulling up to the pier!!! Ugh. Buses lined up, tour boats ready, all the restaurants and bars open, and a very friendly talkative guy cleaning up the street messes from the night before. He pointed out Etna, Castelmola, Taormina, etc. etc. in Italian, but I understood perfectly! I returned to my "villa." Breakfast this morning was the same as yesterday except fresh mozzerella was substituted for the spinach. I decided I would picnic on the beach today, ... read more

5 am: awoke to catch the 6:45 am ferry to Sicily. My internet contact Kyle said I was to be at the port promptly at 5:45, so I WAS! I got a primo seat at the front of the observation deck, with a round table and 2 club chairs, 5 feet from the glass windows. What a beautiful boat, only 15 months old, felt like a cruise ship… 2 decks, one a club section with a center staircase worthy of a bride, the other full of regular passengers like me, 2 deli bars, and a deck for cars. I got a ham and cheese baguette, grilled, and a diet coke for breakfast. 70 euro for the trip from Malta to Catania. We arrived on time, at 8:30 am. I continued the trip on the (ferry) bus ... read more

Geo: 38.0395, 14.0219Last night we enjoyed dinner on a seaside balcony with the waves washing in below us. A very picturesque setting. A relaxing day today. Had a late breakfast and a short walk into the old town.Then we rented a couple of lounges and umbrella and soaked up some sunshine and had a chance to float around in the Tyrrhenian Sea which is a part of the Mediterranean. Water is not that warm yet but it was a fun experience. Tomorrow we will sight see on the way to Palermo to catch the evening ferry. Likely will not have a chance to post until Monday night unless there is WiFi aboard the ship. ... read more

Geo: 38.0395, 14.0219This morning at breakfast we met a group of young people from the US who were travelling in Italy studying architecture. Also a couple from Britain who were travelling our route in reverse order.The valley of the temples was close to the hotel so that was out first stop. It was quite impressive since some of the structures still standing were 2500 years old. However, some of the other structures were rubble likely a result of an earthquake at some point. Despite a large amount of roadwork near Agrigento we were able to travel our route without deviation following both he GPS and the road signs. The only difficulty was when the automatic dispenser let us onto the autostrades without a ticket so we had to explain at the exit booth but it was ... read more

Geo: 37.0665, 15.2843Started the morning with a great a la carte breakfast served on the terrace of the Villa Schuler. We had a great view of Mount Etna which is an active volcano and we could see the vapor rising from the summit. We considered visiting it but it involves a grueling 3 hour walk so we decided to skip that form of exercise.Our car was retrieved from an underground garage and we headed down the coast to Siracuse which was settled in 734 by Greek colonists in 734 BC. In its time it was considered to be the most beautiful city if the ancient world rivalling Athens. We walked across the bridge to the island of Ortygia where there were many restaurants, shops and tourists (buses of them). Then we walked in the other direction ... read more