Dear all,

We have made it back home to California and I must say it feels great to be back home. No matter how fun the trip, it is always nice to be back in familiar surroundings.

On our final two days in Italy, we visited Mount Etna, the old village of Taormina, and the city of Catania, which is the second largest city in Sicily, after Palermo.

After breakfast at our hotel in Ortigia, we were picked up by our driver Cristian, who took us to Mt. Etna, which is an 11,000 foot volcanic mountain on the east coast of Sicily, whose lava flow over the centuries has been responsible for the formation of much of eastern Sicily. We were able to drive up to a ski lodge at about 6,000 feet of elevation. From there, the plan was for us to hike further up the mountain on foot to see one of the older dormant craters on the mountain, from which there is an excellent view over much of Sicily. Our mountain guide, Paolo, accompanied us on our ascent to the craters, which took about 30 minutes or so on a trail of volcanic pebbles. It was pretty cold (around 40F) and very foggy so we really couldn't see very much. At one point it got brighter and looked like it would clear up enough for us to look down on the island, but then the fog came back so we ended up not being able to see much of the island below us.

Lava craters on Mt. Etna

It was cold up on Mt. Etna

With our mountain guide, Paolo

So we descended back to the ski lodge and then it was off to lunch at the Barone Di Villagrande Vineyard and Winery, founded in 1850. We had a really delicious lunch in the winery dining room with a beautiful view of the vineyards and lands below:

After lunch we stopped to see the beautiful old city of Taormina that caters to the jet set. Set on the side of a large mountain above the coast, there is a long main walking street lined with beautiful old hotels, churches, and stores selling everything from inexpensive souvenirs to Patek Philippe watches. It's quite a scene. We did get a gelato (pistachio for me, coffee for Cath) and sat on a bench watching the world go by, which is one of my favorite things to do on vacation. As we finished our lap around this beautiful place, we had a chance meeting with our fellow Wooden Floor board member, Brian Green and his wife, Adele. What a small world it is!

Archway in Taormina

Town sqare in Taormina

The view from Taormina

Gelato!

From Taormina, Cristian whisked us off to the Hotel Palazzo Marletta in Catania, the second largest city in Sicily. The hotel is located in the heart of the oldest part of the city, very close to the main square and Saint Agatha's Cathedral. The hotel's setting was reminiscent of our accommodations in Rome. Just a small sign outside indicating that this is the place, and a second floor entry (1st in Sicilian counting). Our room was very large, with a very elaborate carved ceiling and huge doors. We guess that it was originally a sitting room or a library of the original home that occupied this space. Here is a photo of the ceiling:

The room featured had a nice balcony that looked out on the street and the main square. When we arrived in the late afternoon we noticed there were a couple of guitarists with amplifiers setting up to play music. We went out for a walk around the central square and then to dinner at the Trattoria Giglio Rosso, (the "Red Lilly") where we had a delicious roasted fish for dinner. When we returned to our room from dinner, the guitarists were playing some Italian popular music to no one in particular. Pretty soon a group of six or so women passed by and stopped to listen to the music. Before long they were dancing, and then more people came to listen, sing and dance. So we had quite a fun shown of Catanian merriment in the street right below our room. It was really fun to see. When we remarked on this to our host at the hotel he said that Catania is a very lively city so that kind of thing wasn't unusual. Here's a few photos from Catania:

St. Agatha's Cathedral in Catania

Elephant Statute in Catania

Trattoria Giglio Rosso

Roasted whole fish at Giglio Rosso

Dancing in the streets in Catania

Colorful umbrellas provide shade on a Catanian street

Our hotel had us check off anything we wanted for breakfast and then served it to us on a rolling table in our room. One of the selections was granita (Italian ice) with brioche. We had read that this was a common combination in Sicily so I decide to order some almond ice with brioche for breakfast. A bit odd for us but really tasty as a vacation treat! And yes, I did order a canollo, but only because it was about my last breakfast in Italy!
Breakfast is served!

We departed Sicily from Catania airport on a flight to Rome, where we stayed overnight at the Hilton hotel located right at the airport. The next morning we flew from Rome to London. We were treated to wonderful views of the Alps as we flew over Switzerland and France on our way to London. I believe that is the Matterhorn near the center of the photo.

By the time we arrived in Los Angeles I calculated that I'd been awake for about 24 hours. While we were gone, Jane and Alex took great care of our two dogs, Winnie and Bean, and they also ran and finished the Catalina Island Marathon.

To sum up, it was a great trip. My main takeaway would be that traveling in the "shoulder season" of March is probably a good idea for southern Italy, since summer temperatures can be very high, making a lot of tourist activities pretty uncomfortable. We also were told that Naples and Sicily get really crowded in the summer time whereas in March it isn't crowded at all. Of course the downside is that the temperatures are in the 60's, so it's not great for going to the beach or swimming. But just fine for walking around the cities and archeological sites.

It seems that many Americans are reluctant to visit Naples on account of fears of crime, but based on what we learned when we visited, there is very little crime in Naples that has any effect on tourists. It seemed very safe to us. It is a really beautiful city with a fabulous natural setting that kind of reminded me of Rio de Janeiro. There are many sites to see, especially if you are interested in the ancient Greek and Roman cultures. And, as we've reported here extensively, the food is about as good as you can find anywhere. So that's a real bonus. We also confirmed that the best meals are in less fancy restaurants.

Thanks to everyone who followed along on our Italy 2024 blog. We really enjoyed writing up some of our adventures and reading your comments.

Arrivederci from Jim and Cath!

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