September 30, 2010: Mondello-icious

Today we took another day off and went to the beach. Vacation can be exhausting!

We slept in a little this morning - we've been getting up early most days and since restaurants around here don't even open until around 8 PM, we haven't been getting to bed until midnight or later, so we've been needing some extra sleep. We had breakfast at our hotel and chatted with Tanner (or Turner) and learned about some Italian politics and Sicilian ways of life, particularly in Palermo. One example: when we were walking home yesterday we noticed there were guys on every street directing people where to park. Once a car pulled into a spot, they told the guy how long they'd be there and then paid him a small fee. Turns out each guy has "his" block, and basically he knows when cars are coming and going and can therefore pack in as many cars as possible (therefore making as much money from the fees he collects), but it also results in really efficient parking management. We agreed that at first we would be very hesitant to give a stranger money, but its also a way to have your car "protected". Its an interesting idea, but takes some getting used to.

After breakfast we caught a bus that took us 20 minutes out of the city to a mini-paradise known as Mondello. Its a small city with a beautiful bay of water surrounded on both sides by mountains - Monte Pellegrino and Monte Gallo, and its completely impossible to understand how this place can exist so close to Palermo. Understandably though, its where Palermo residents go during the summer, but today it was pretty empty and almost no one was in the water. This was one of the few sandy beaches we've seen on this trip (and we agree that pebbly beaches have a lot going for them - sand gets everywhere!) - but this was not your regular sandy beach. The sand was actually really tiny pieces of shells, which made it really stick to you, unlike sand which you can usually wipe off pretty easily.

Anyway, that was an easy issue to write-off because the water was incredible. The temperature was perfect, the colors were amazing, it was crystal clear, there were no jellyfish (well, I saw one), and it was basically a huge sand bar. You could go out about 100 feet from shore and the water was still only four feet deep. There weren't many fish to see, and all the fish that were there were white, just like the sandy bottom. I went out and swam laps for about 30 minutes while Mike relaxed, and then we both took a nap. We left the beach for a while to grab lunch, and then went back to repeat the morning. I swam for another 45 minutes, and then we just relaxed until about 5:30 PM. It was just perfect.

We walked around to find a map of the city so that we could find a restaurant that came highly recommended (thanks Michael and Sylvie!). We walked along the beach promenade as we waited for our reservation time to arrive, and its really the first time we've seen so many people out doing exercise - mostly runners, but also some cyclists. We also saw a couple of bats flying around.

Tucked away in a residential neighborhood we had dinner at the classiest place of our trip, Bye Bye Blues. For the foodies out there: we both tried the starter that the restaurant provides to all customers - a small piece of octopus, a fish ball, and a mini pizza. Then we had a cheese flan appetizer plate with an assortment of jams and honeys, two home-made spaghetti dishes - one with fried zucchinis and another with tuna tartare and lime peels, and then an amazing chocolate dessert with an assortment of other chocolaty goodies.

We took the bus home and worked on the only low-point of an otherwise perfect day: for some reason our camera lens has decided to also go on vacation and no longer wants to auto-focus (it works with our telephoto lens so pretty sure it isn't the camera, just the lens that came with it). Which is why there are so few pictures for today. Hopefully we can get things up and running by tomorrow!

Gelato Gusti per il Giorno:

Mike - Pistacchio e Cooky

Aviva - Anguria e Melone (watermelon and cantaloupe)

To view pictures of our day, click here.

September 29, 2010: It's a bird, it's a plane, its...

We took a day off from Palermo and went to visit two cities on the western coast of Sicily - Trapani and Erice. We took a bus from Palermo to Trapani and were able to see some of inland Sicily on the way - lots of vineyards, orchards, and melon groves. One interesting observation we made: even though we were traveling in the midst of rush hour, the freeways were practically empty. Traffic in the city was horrific, but once we got on the on-ramp, it was smooth sailing.

Once we arrived in Trapani, we walked through town to get to a funicular that took us up a mountain (750 m) where Erice is located. Erice is an old medieval city with narrow windy streets, castle ruins, and a great duomo. We walked around for a while, soaking in the amazing views from all sides and visiting some of the major sites. The rock outcrops and sheer cliffs were incredible, and on our way down to Trapani via the funicular we saw a herd of sheep hanging out on the hillside.

Back in Trapani, which is located at sea level, we walked through the new part of the city to reach the historical center. On the way I am pretty sure we saw some medjoul date palms. The historical center of the city is a maze of narrow streets filled with churches and impressive palaces. Unlike most places we've visited, the streets of Trapani were pretty empty and there were not many places to visit. We spent much of time here enjoying the sea walls, which embrace the city, since the city is essentially a peninsula. From the perimeter of the city there were, naturally, beautiful views of the sea and also the Egadi Islands, just off shore.

We then took the bus back to Palermo and both napped most of the way. We got off the bus about a mile from our hotel and walked back through the new city, stopping off in Giardino Inglese, a public park. On the way back to the hotel, we saw none other than Superman wandering the streets. You just never know who you're going to run into in this town!

We had dinner tonight at a vegetarian restaurant recommended by our guidebook, and it was a great meal. Since Sicily is relatively close to Africa (Tunisia), some places do offer food with African influences. Mike had some really tasty couscous and we finally had a meal with a healthy portion of vegetables.

Gelato Gusti per il Giorno:

Mike - Amarena e Mandorla Tostada (cherry and toasted almond) and Banane e Stracciatella

Aviva - Cocco e Banane (coconut and banana)

To view pictures of our day, click here.

September 28, 2010: A Brighter Shade of Pale-rmo

We arrived in Palermo yesterday, as you know. In our short post, we left out a couple of details. Once we arrived at the train station, we had about a 20-minute walk to get to our hotel. After all the things we've read and heard about Palermo, we were naturally overly-precautious. While there are definitely some sketchy areas and many dark, narrow alleys in this town, my first impression coming from the train station was that this was a regular big city, like Paris or New York. Its the most diverse city we've seen so far on this trip, with tons of clothing shops and some international chain stores.

However, as we got closer to our hotel we were both getting a little more worried. Turns out there is a big open-air market right on our block and our hotel is very non-descript - no sign, no nothing. We walked into a regular apartment building and some residents pointed us to our hotel, on the 4th floor. The elevator is so small that only one of us fit in it at a time, given the size of our backpacks. Finally, we walked into our hotel. It is impossible to describe.

Vito, the owner, has the hotel in his house. He is on vacation, so Tanner (or Turner) helped us get settled in. We're in the "Tango" room, next to the "Sultan" room. Look at the pictures to see the murals on our walls (and from the Sultan room). Look at the pictures to see the "breakfast room". The first thing I thought of is how crazy it would be to have a Passover Seder in this place. Next to the breakfast room is what I can only describe as the fortune-tellers room (I still need to get a picture of this room). We weren't checked in for five minutes before Mike was recruited to set up the WiFi for the hotel. Its just crazy here! But I really like it and its just a great retreat from a different kind of crazyness on the streets below.

Ok. Finally I can get to the details from our first real day in Palermo. In planning out this day, I was very worried - our guidebooks give the impression that there are 1,000 things to do here. So we got an early start to get as much under our belts as possible (since there are several areas of the city we were warned to stay away from after dark, especially since Mike oozes "I'm an American"). We started at the archeological museum, where there were a lot of interesting artifacts, including what is basically another Rosetta Stone that didn't make it into the British Museum. Of course, we were also quite interested in watching the turtles in the courtyard fountain climb out of the water and sun themselves.

From there, we visited several churches and oratoriums (this may sound ignorant of us, but we're not quite sure what oratoriums are, except that they are built with incredible detail). We walked through a large open-air market on our way to visit a very well maintained palace. Across the street there was nice public park where we had lunch and saw some amazing Banyan trees, with aerial roots. They come down from the branches and basically form new trunks. They were amazing!

After lunch we walked through one of the "bad" neighborhoods - La Kelsa (which was fine during the day), and then down a major street to cross through the city. On the way, we stopped at the "Four Corners" - a major intersection that bisects the mideval part of town into four distinct neighborhoods. Apparently, one was born into one of the neighborhoods, grew up there, married there, had kids there, and died there. And it was big-time taboo to marry someone from another neighborhood.

We had to stop when we saw an amazing catheral ("The Duomo"). Just a few blocks down, we saw the Nuovo Porta - the door that separates the new city from the old, and continued on to visit the Palazzo dei Normanni, where the government seat is now. We couldn't see much of this palace since parliment was in session, but we did get to see the Cappella Palatina (Palatine Chapel). That was worth the entry fee just on its own. I think the entire room was mosiac except for the ceiling, which took things to a whole-'notha-level (thats for you Becky). Our book says you can't see anything like this except in Istanbul or Ravenna. It was amazing.

From here, we walked quite a way from the city center to visit another catacomb. This one was way creepier than any other I've ever seen - all the skeletons (about 8,000) were still there and wearing their burial clothes. And propped up against the walls. Turns out there is something about where these catacombs are located - it seems to help preseve the bodies in such a way that they are in "great" condition. The last person buried here was a young child in 1920, and the locals call her "Sleeping Beauty", since she still looks life-like. We weren't allowed to take pictures down there, but if you want to see what it looked like click here (may not be appropriate for the little ones).

We walked back to our hotel to relax for a bit before heading out to dinner in the new part of Palermo. I am not sure what "new" is, but this part of town is really beautiful, with wide boulevards and very nice aparments lining the street. We had dinner at a great restaurant, and even got dessert at the restaurant, since the food was so good. We had our first semi-freddo (sort of like a fluffy ice-cream, made with whipping cream and eggs) and it was delicious.

We accomplished more than what we thought we would today, and our feet are tired. But Palermo is a great city, so far! Tomorrow we're off on a day-trip, so we'll get some rest on the bus ride there and back.

Gelato Gusti per il Giorno:

Mike - Vaniglia e Stracciatella

Aviva - Stracciatella con panne (with fresh made whipped cream!)

To view pictures of our day in Palermo, click here.

September 27, 2010: Arrived in Palermo

We arri ved in Palermo today and our apartment has WiFi (which Mike had the honor of setting up for the whole building), so we have uploaded a week's worth of posts about our stay in Taormina. You can scroll down to read the posts or click on one of the links below to choose a specific day:

September 19, 2010: Swap Seven Small Islands for One Big One

September 20, 2010: Mount Etna

September 21, 2010: A Day at the Beach

September 22, 2010: A Day in Taormina

September 23, 2010: A Gorges Day

September 24, 2010: Something is Fishy in Catania

September 25, 2010: Don't You Syracuse Me

September 26, 2010: Just Another Lazy Sunday

September 26, 2010: Just Another Lazy Sunday

After taking day trips for the last three days, we took a day off and went back to the beach at Isola Bella. Instead of taking the funicular down the hill, we took the stairs. On the way down, we saw part of a Greek necropolis and stopped at a great lookout for some pictures. After the amazing clouds yesterday, the sky was clear today and we had pretty good views of Mt. Etna.

We got a spot on the beach and relaxed and went swimming in the beautiful water. We're not exactly sure how we're going to ever go swimming where the water isn't crystal clear and you can watch the fish swimming below you. We're also not sure how the day can pass so quickly when you're laying on the beach (especially compared to how much we did yesterday). It is the ultimate sense of relaxation.

Late in the afternoon the water currents must have shifted because our friends the jellyfish were back. One woman on the beach was stung three times, and that was pretty much the end of our time in the water. Once the sun started to disappear behind the hills we packed up and went to climb the steps back to our apartment. Before starting our climb, we stopped to get a granite - this time we diverged from our typical lemon, orange, or strawberry choices, and tried a prickly-pear (fico d'india) flavored granite. There are prickly-pear growning just about everywhere you look around here, so we decided to try a local flavor. I think we decided it wasn't horrible, but we wouldn't order it again. It tasted oddly like iced-tea.

The climb back up the hill wasn't nearly as bad as we thought it would be, and on the way we ran into to older women who were lost. Turns out one of them had a son who went to Berkeley for a graduate degree in Engineering. Small world, eh? For our last night in Taormina we had dinner out and of course, some gelato. We walked through the town since the weather was perfect.

Back at the ranch we played some cards and packed up - tomorrow we leave for Palermo.

Gelato Gusti per il Giorno:

Mike - Mandorla e Don Vito (vanilla, raspberry and chocolate)

Aviva - Menthe e Caffe

To see some pictures of our last day in Taormina, click here.

September 25, 2010: Don't You Syracuse Me

We took another day trip today - this time even further south than Catania - to visit the city of Syracuse, or Siracusa. Syracuse was a major city in ancient Greek times and was a competitor to Athens, so there is a lot to see here. The city is also divided into two parts - the mainland and a small island called Ortygia. Its about a 2.5 hour train ride from Taormina, and we arrived around 10 AM. Our train back to Taormina left at 5:30 PM, and we tried to cram it all into a few hours.

We started out visiting the sites on the mainland. Of course, given our short time frame, the first we thing we did was go the wrong way out of the train station - but it turned out to work in our favor, since we got the chance to see a small ruins that we probably wouldn't have seen otherwise. The site was the Ginnasio Romano, or Roman Gymnasium (which was actually a small amphitheater. Our guidebook says not many people visit the site, and they weren't kidding - it barely looks "discovered", as its covered in deep weeds.

Next, we went back in the right direction to visit the Catacombs of St. John. Here, we had a tour of a church from the 6th century, which was destroyed and rebuilt by many different groups over time. Under the church we saw the catacombs, about 10,000 square meters in size, with over 20,000 tombs. The Chrisitans actually used underground aqueducts dug by the Greeks, so these catacombs were much more spacious (wider aisles and large areas where the sisterns were located) than those we had seen before when we were in Rome a few years ago.

From here we went to visit what was probably the most impressive site - the Parco Archeologico della Neapolis - the archeological park which contains several sites. The first one we saw was a Roman Amphitheater, the third largest in Italy after Rome and Verona. Just like the Colloseum, this amphitheater was used for gladiator fights and other similar events. The second site was the Ara di Lerone, or the the Altar of Heron. This is an older site (from the Greeks) and was not as well preserved as the amphitheater, but likely saw some bloodier events - the Greeks could sacrifice up to 450 oxen at once here. The altar was 643' x 75' (it was huge).

Just down the road from the altar, we saw the Teatro Greco, a Greek Theater. This theater is definitely not in mint condition anymore - it saw the work of Sophocles and Euripides - but for a theater from the 5th century BC, it is in amazing shape. It is also surprisingly large - it could seat 16,000 people.

The last site we saw here is called the Latomia del Paradiso - the Garden of Paradise - which is a limestone quarry from the times of the Greeks. There are many caves left behind from the quarries, and the one we were able to go into is called the Orecchio di Dioniso (the Ear of Dionysius). Its just crazy to walk inside - its about 70 feet high and 190 feet deep, and they haven't installed any lights so its pretty dark. The exciting feature are the really loud echos that you hear when you make noises inside the cave. We tried to capture it on video.

From here, we walked over the check out the sites on the island of Ortygia. As we crossed over the bridge to get there, it does give a sense of being in Venice - the small canal, the limestone bridge, and the palazzos of the same design you would find in Venice. Once on the island, the first thing we saw were the ruins of a Greek Temple - the Temple of Apollo. From there, we walked through some narrow streets to get to the perimeter road. We walked along here until we reached the southern tip of the island, where there is a large castle that turned Ortygia into an island fortress, and is still used as a barracks.

We continued around the island until we arrived at a fountain where fresh water still bubbles up from an artesian well. Papyrus plants were growing here! Next, we went into the center of the island where we found a large piazza that houses the main duomo and other large palazzo (palaces). The duomo had an ornate facade, but pretty simple interior. The interesting part of the cathedral was that it started off as a Greek Temple, and the original columns are still used as a the support columns for the current cathedral.

Our last stop in Ortygia was the Jewish Quarter - the first signs of Judaism in 25 days! We walked into the small Alla Giudecca Hotel, where an amazing discovery was found only 20 years ago during renovations. Apparently, there used to be a synangogue here that Jews were using during the 6th century BC (not sure about the date). When the Jews were expelled in 1492 with the Spanish Inquisition, they blocked up the entrace to a mikvah (ritual baths) that were located 60 feet below the synangogue, three feet above sea level. During the hotel renovations, they found the wall that blocked the entrance to the mikvah, and down a long flight of stairs they found three rooms - one with three baths, and two with single baths. The baths are still naturally filled with fresh water and have to be pumped out or they flood the room overnight. It was only a 10 minute tour, but it was pretty neat to see.

Then we walked back to the train station and arrived back in Taormina around 8:15 PM. While we were waiting for the bus to take us up the hill, we saw two separate "just married" couples stop to take wedding pictures at the train station, which is really gorgeous. We finally got home (the bus never came so we split a cab with two Swedes), and we had dinner out at a restaurant with some live music, ranging from Bosa Nova, Sting, Beatles, Stevie Wonder, the Eagles and more which he all sang in italian. It was a nice relaxing evening after a really long day.

Gelato Gusti per il giorno:

Mike - Cannoli e Kinder (Canoli flavor and a type of candy bar here) and Banana e Mandorino

Aviva - Ricotta e Pera and Stracciatella e After Eight (mint)

To see our pictures from Syracuse, click here.

September 24, 2010: Something is Fishy in Catania

We took a bus this morning down to Catania, one of the two major cities in Sicily, where we spent the day. The bus dropped us off in what seemed like a random part of town (which was actually a couple of blocks from the main train station), and it was a good thing we had two guidebooks with us to help us navigate.

Our first stop was the famous fish market, which was pretty amazing. There were many stands selling fish, fruit, vegetables, bulk dried goods, meat, eggs - nearly everything you could think of. The variety of fish ranged from small anchovies to squid, crawfish, and huge swordfish. Then there were the octopus, sting rays, live clams (still spitting), and sea urchins with their orange flesh. There were long zucchini (about 3 feet long), carob, purple cauliflower, and melons. There were tons of people there doing their shopping, all the vendors yelling and holding up the fish for sale. The best part for me was the 10-15 older men standing at a railing above the market watching everything happen below.

After the market, we went to visit an old castle which is now a museum. The amazing thing about the castle is that it used to be located at the coast, but after volcanic eruptions, lava extended where the coastline was and now the castle is inland. From the castle, we visited the main piazza, where there is a fountain that used to be the only source of fresh water for the city, a municipal building where Mussolini used to give speeches from, and the main duomo of Catania. While in the main piazza, we stopped in one of the cafes for a "typical" drink - granite with seltzer. I'm still not sure if it is really a typical drink or an easy way to tell who is a tourist...

From there, we went to visit one of the best sites in Catania - ruins of an old roman theater. It seems from photographs that people were building over the ruins as late as the 1920's - there was a whole neighborhood located there. Now that those things are gone, the theater that is left behind is pretty remarkable. Almost the entire archway behind the theater and the semi-circle theater are intact, and there is a smaller theater located just behind. For me, one of the highlights of this highlight were the banana (plantain?) tree and date palm located on the site.

We visited several other sites in town, including a church that has been under construction since 1693 when there was a large earthquake. The church has yet to be completed - it is still in scaffolding and seems to be a never ending project here. We also walked down a street that is actually the crater of a dormant volcano. On our way back to the train station we found another Roman theater ruins (which was not mentioned in either of our books) and a nice little cafe/bar where were got some tasty pastries and played some Briscolla before catching our bus back to Taormina.

We're not really sure if it is a good or bad thing, but we visited Catania on a gray, dreary day - just like the day we were in Naples. The lack of sunshine made both of these cities seem much grittier than they might be, but it definitely helped keep it cooler. While Catania was a somewhat gritty city, the historical areas had some great buildings and monuments, and Mike's summary is that Catania is a city that works with what it is given: a sea with lots of fish, have a fish market; volcanic eruptions, use the volcanic rock as a building material.

Tomorrow, we're off for another day trip to Syracuse, so we'll see how that city compares.

Gelato Gusti per il giorno:

Mike - Mars (Mars candy bar in gelato form)

Aviva - Stracciatella

To view our pictures from Catania, click here.

September 23, 2010: A Gorges Day

We had quite a busy day today. We started off at the Greek Theater, or Teatro Greco, which you might have seen in some of the pictures from yesterday. The Greeks built this theater in the 3rd century BC. The Romans built over the theater, and then later on in the 12th century, someone built their house on the same site. Time has swept away many of the alternations other have made to the site, and we are now left with things almost as the Greeks had intended. Its actually still used as a theater to this day (Elton John is going to be here tomorrow night, but at 69 euros a ticket its a bit out of our price range). One of the best features of the theater is the view of Mt. Etna, which was actually visible today.

After leaving the theater, we took a walk through the main street of Taormina (as we did yesterday), but today we enjoyed blue skies and perfect weather. Then we walked down to the bus station to catch a bus to the Gola dell'Alcantra. It was a beautiful bus ride - surprisingly, it was somewhat reminiscent of Tuscany - rolling hills, vineyards, farms, etc.

Finally we arrived at the gola, or gorge. The Gola dell'Alcantara is a series of weirdly shaped rock formations created when lava flow hit the water and caused the rock to form prism shapes which are really cool. The water here is also really cool - rather, very cold. We rented some waders and joined a group for a short hike through the river.

The water (up to our waists at some points) was moving really fast and it was difficult to walk - so much that the gorge is closed during the winter months when it is very unsafe due to the water levels.

Of course, 10 minutes after we started our hike it started to pour. This changed the course of our hike a little and we spent more time out of the water than in it - but it was still a great experience. Pretty much as soon as our tour was over, the rain stopped. This gave us a chance to take a short hike on a path adjacent to the gorge that had some great views.

On the way back to Taormina, we got off the bus in the adjacent town of Giardini-Naxos. This town is at the bottom of the hill from Taormina, and therefore has easy beach access. Since we arrived after the main attraction had closed (ruins from the first Greek settlement in Sicily), we instead walked along the nice promenade and the first sandy beach we've found during our trip. Then we walked back to the train station to catch the bus back to our apartment for dinner. Another great day!

Gelato Gusti per il giorno:

Mike - Stracciatella e Cioccalato Bianco and Mandorla e Panna Cotta

Aviva - Menta e Busso cioccolato

To see pictures of the Greek Theater and the Gorge, click here.

September 22, 2010: A Day in Taormina

Since we really haven't explored Taormina yet, we set aside this day to check out the town. We started early this morning since there were forecasts for rain this afternoon and because we had some serious hills to climb before it got too hot.

First, we climbed up the steep stairway to reach the Santuario Madonna della Rocca - a viewpoint above the city where there is a large cross. This week they have been setting off fireworks here nearly every night which are viewable from the main streets below. Its amazing how deceivingly steep the climb was. It only took 30 minutes to reach the top from our apartment, but we were both dripping with sweat by the end of the climb. The Saracen Castle is nearby, but it was closed today (we did get a birdseye view later in the day).

From here, we climbed even further up a very steep path to get to the small town of Castelmola. Its a cute town with several shops, ruins of another castle, and a duomo, but mostly people go for the views. Even though it wasn't the clearest of days, the views were still great. The only thing missing from the vista was Etna, which you can see on clear days. At the top, we had well deserved granites and played some Briscolla to relax for a while before making the descent.

Back in the heart of Taormina, we strolled down the main street which used to be the ancient road that connected Catania to Messina. We started from the western entry to the city, Porta Catania, and walked down to the eastern entry, Porta Messina. Mostly, there are upscale clothing and jewelry shops, but we did check out several churches, piazzas, fountains, and randomly found an art exhibit with photographs of Taormina from after WWII to the early 1970's.

After lunch we decided to postpone our visit to the Greek Theater which was overrun by tourists, and instead went to visit the Parco Duca di Cesaro - a small garden ("the most beautiful park in Sicily"), which is filled with flowers, brick/stone pavilions, and some random things like a cage with two parrots, a cage of doves, and a small pond with fish and ducks. At this point, we started to hear thunder, so we picked up a few things for dinner and returned to the apartment. The storm tonight started promptly at five, which was when the news report predicted. More than four hours later, there is still lightening lighting up the entire sky, and the power has flickered on and off several times. Its been an exciting storm to watch from our window, and we're glad to be inside.

Gelato Gusti per il Giorno:

Mike - Banane e Stracciatella

Aviva - Anguria

To view our pictures from today, click here.

September 21, 2010: A Day at the Beach

Today we decided to take it easy and head down to the water. We walked over to the funivia (funicular) that can take you down to the beach - Taormina is built on a very steep hill, so while we are staying close to the downtown, we are a ways up from the water. The "cute" funivia (there are 8 little pods to carry people, four at each end, and they switch places every 15-minutes) brought us down near the water and we walked about 10 minutes over to the beach.

We spent the day at a small beach resort next to Isola Bella, which is a small "island" that is actually connected to the main land by a small sandy strip. The island really is beautiful - a tree-covered oasis in the middle of the cove. It was already so hot when we arrived (around 10:30 am), that we quicky got into the water. We were finally rewarded for suffering through all the jellyfish infested water. This place was absolutely amazing. The water never got deeper than six-feet and we just swam around with our goggles on looking at the thousands of beautiful fish swimming below us. The fish ranged from about 12 inches long to tiny schools of fish, and we were jellyfish free the whole day. This place is in a close competition to Capri...

Unfortunately, that short description covers most of our day - in the water exploring, out of the water relaxing in the sun, back in the water exploring, etc. We did have a small lunch on the beach and then went back up to our apartment around 5 pm.

Shortly after, our friends Michael and Sylvie stopped by for a drink before dinner and they taught us a Sicilian card game - Briscolla. Its a quick game that many old men play around here, and we appreciate having something new to play - we have spent a lot of time playing Casino and Rummy. Briscolla is a good addition to our reperitore. Afterwards, we all went out for dinner (Bronte pizza, lasagne, cannaloni, spagghetti alla vongole, ravioli) and gelato and called it a night!

Gelato Gusti per il Giorno:

Mike - Pistaccio e Cookie

Aviva - Banana

To check out our pictures from a day at the beach, click here.

September 20, 2010: Mount Etna

Today we visited our fourth volcano in 20 days. Every volcano we've visited has been different, and Etna was no exception.

We had this adventure with our friends from Brooklyn, Michael and Sylvie, who we met at the major bus station early this morning. We took a bus to 1,900 meters with a somewhat informative guide who was very repetative - in other words, he said a lot of the same things twice. He also had to say everything in German, so I guess you could say he said things at least four times.

The bus climbed up the volcano, which has had several major eruptions since 2000. The quantity of lava (magma) is somewhat mind boggling - Mike and I agreed that Etna felt like the biggest and most expansive volcano we'd seen so far, which shouldn't come as a surprise, since it is the largest one in Europe. The bus finally reached the 1,900 meter mark, where we caught a funicular up to about 2,900 meters. Etna is actually more than 3,300 meters tall, but access has been limited since the last eruption. At the top of the funicular ride (which made the whole place seem very peaceful), we all climbed into big Jeep buses and took a ride a bit further up to where we could walk around and see some of the craters formed in the last eruptions.

It was really windy and pretty cold when we got off the Jeep bus. We took some time to check out some of the craters and admire the view - at this point, we were above the clouds, which was a cool perspective to have. We also saw a house that was located here that was 95% covered with lava during the last eruption - only a small part of the roof was sticking out. However, one of the most surpring things about Etna was the number of ladybugs. We must have seen 30-50 ladybugs while we were there - they really stood out next to the black rocks and seemed out of place given the lack of wildlife.

We took the Jeep bus back to the funicular, where they had a shop with a lot of photos and videos documenting past eruptions. While the eruptions are really intense and destructive, they are quite beautiful. We rode the funicular back down to 1,900 meters, where we hiked around for a bit to visit another crater, and then we were back on the bus to Taormina.

Back in town we ran some errands, had dinner, and wrapped up the night with some gelato. Since we're in town for several more days, we haven't felt the sense of urgency to get pictures of Taormina itself. Those are forthcoming.

And lastly, in case any of you are wondering, Mike is still working on getting rid of the sulpher smell from Vulcano. We think his hair has trapped/absorbed the smell so he is having a harder time getting rid of it than I am.

Gelato Gusti per il Giorno:

Mike - Baccissimo

Aviva - Menthe

To see all of our pictures from Mount Etna, click here.

September 19, 2010: Swap Seven Small Islands for One Big One

We woke up early this morning to catch a hydrofoil from Lipari to Taormina, a small city on the much bigger island of Sicilia. While its never fun to get up at 5:30 AM, we did get a treat and were able to see the sun rise over the water. We took a 90 minute boat ride to the city of Messina, a major port city in Sicilia that is very close to the mainland of Italy. In fact, we traveled through Messina on our way to the aeolian islands - this is where the train got off the boat and took us to Milazzo.

We had a couple of hours in Messina before our train to Taormina arrived, so we checked our luggage at the train station, and went to explore the city. We've been making somewhat of a bad choice and traveling mostly on Sundays, when most everything is shut down. Even the train station was very quiet and the employees there were eager to strike up conversations with us - the guy at the baggage drop and the custodian for the restrooms. It was good to get some more practice speaking Italian, but I still haven't heard a lot of the Sicilian dialect I've heard so much about...

With four hours to explore, we went our our way to see the main catheral - the only thing our guidebook recommended. (short aside: we're becoming increasingly frustrated with our Lonely Planet "Sicily" book - the information is very limited, and in most cases, not very helpful). On the way to the cathedral, I caught a glimpse of 30 or so bicyclists whizzing by - it seems from my limited knowledge of bike racing (thanks, Erica), that this was a time trial. There was about a 20-block stretch on which the cyclists were doing a loop over and over and over again. We watched for a while and checked out the snazzy bikes (and I thought about how much I miss mine), and then we head over to the cathedral.

It was quite a remarkable building, and apparently has been rebuilt several times after being destroyed during wars and earthquakes. There was a mass going on since it was Sunday, so I took a few quick shots and stepped out. Adjacent to the cathedral is a 180' tall campanile with the largest astronomical clock in the world. The clock includes a map of the solor system with the accurate alignment of planets, the day and month of the year, and the sign of the zodiac. There are also many moving parts on the front side of the tower and every day at noon there is a huge performance - a lion roars and waves a flag, a rooster crows and flaps its wings, prophets circle and bow to Mary, and a castle raises up through the clouds - all while Ave Maria is blasted at full volume on several speakers (this sets off car alarms all througout the neighborhood). If you've seen the astronomical clock in Prague, its quite similar - minus hundreds of people, and with more theatrics.

We went to see another cathedral and a fountain, and happened upon another great galleria. It was so hot out that we each had two granites and walked back to the train station.

It was a quick ride to Taormina, where the woman we're renting an apartment from picked us up. We couldn't have been happier! Taormina is a very hilly place and if we have schleped our bags all the way to the apartment, we would have melted halfway up. This aparment is also great - a nice open space, great kitchen area, a washing machine, and a great view of the sea (though no internet connection so unsure about how often we will be able to make posts). We got settled in and then head uphill even futher to go meet our friends Michael and Sylvie who are staying in Taormina as well. From our quick observations, Taormina has a mideviel feel to it, and is very touristy like Sorrento, but with a much more upscale feel to it. The four of us had dinner together and worked out the details for yet another volcano climb - Mount Etna, which we'll be doing tomorrow.

Gelato Gusti per il Giorno:

Mike - Banane e Mandorino

Aviva - Melone e Mela Verde

To see photos from today, click here.

September 19 to 27, 2010: No internet

Hi everyone.

This week we're in Taormina and have no internet access (just paying for some at a small internet cafe). We'll post everything about our time here once we get to Palermo on September 28th, so check back then!

So far, Taormina has been great and we've climbed* our fourth volcano in 20 days. Etna is quite a beast, but its a pretty amazing place.

*We took a funicular and a jeep up to the highest point that is allowed, and just did a short climb at that point to see one of the craters created during the last major eruption.

September 18, 2010: Hindscent is Stinky/Stinky

Quick editor's note: We are not sure if we will have an internet connection or not at our next apartment in Taormina. So there may be a gap in time between posts and pictures (about a week). So if you don't see any posts for awhile don't worry (talking to you, parents).

Today we took a trip to visit the seventh aeolian island - Vulcano.

Before heading to the island, we made another attempt to send a package back home so we could lighten our load. We started this saga two days ago. Since we didn't have a box, I asked in three stores on the way to the post office and somehow no one had a box from all the souvenirs that they could give us - even the bookstore. We gave up and went to the post office. Luckily, the post office sells boxes, so we purchased one and then needed to fill out the address forms. Of course, there are no pens for anyone to use and we didn't have one with us. At this point we just said forget it - we took the box home to fill out the paperwork and decided to come back another day.

When we returned today, the same guy helped us. He helped us get all the paperwork done and taped up the box for us (you can not imagine how pathetic a job he did...) and when he finished, he said it would cost more than 40 Euros to send the package - more than double what he had told us two days ago. There is no way we were going to pay that much to send a box home, so I asked him if I could just take some things out to get the box below the weight threshold so we'd only have to pay 16 Euros. He was so stressed about this request (because he'd already printed out the label, taped the box, etc.), that he put his head in his hands for a while, then got up and went into the back room twice, and then talked with three other employees about what to do. Did I forget to mention that he didn't speak any English?

Finally, one of his co-workers walked him through cancelling the transaction, and then we started the game of "how much do I have to take out of the box before its under the threshold". I don't know about the rest of you, but I have no idea what 200, 300, or 500 grams feels like. We played this game three or four times and finally I got the weight to be the right amount. I thought we were in the clear at this point, but for some reason, the most stressful part of the transaction was only just beginning. He started telling me something about the address form, but there were just enough words that I didn't understand, that made it impossible to comprehend the point he was trying to make. He tried three times, and it was an epic fail. He then tried to get all of his four co-workers to help explain it to me in the little English they knew. After getting the entire post office involved, it turns out that all he was trying to say was that because the package weighed less than 2kg, I didn't need to fill out the address form I was holding. You'd think he could have found simple words to make that point so that we didn't have to make a huge scene...I think we ended on a good note with him at the end of it all, but it was quite the trying experience.

Finally - we got on the hydrofoil to Vulcano. After arriving on the island, we walked around a while until we found the start of the trail to climb yet another volcano - the Fossa Di Vulcano (the hole/pit of Vulcano). This is a sleeping volcano that is constantly venting sulphuric gases - at the head of the trail there are signs warning people to be careful of the vents because the temperature is searing, and the gases can make you "intoxicated".

We climbed up to the top of the crater, and there we had the chance to walk down into the crater. The smell of sulfur was so strong that it was hard for me to breathe, so Mike decided to head down into the crater on his own. It was pretty cool to see the inside of the crater (even though there was no molten lava), and there were also great views of all the other islands that we've visited. Once Mike climbed back from the crater floor, we walked along the rim of the crater, and then climbed back down.

Back in the main town, we went to visit the other attraction on the island - the Laghetto di Fanghi - the large natural pool of thick, warm, sulfurous muddy water. People come here to roll around in the water and cover themselves with the mud from the bottom of the pool. We've spent the last few days preparing for this activity - buying cheap bathing suits, towels, and flip flops - because once the mud gets on these things, they smell so bad that you have to throw everything away. The smell is so strong you can smell it down the street from the pools.

Once we arrived at the fanghi, we had a choice - into the mud, or not. Since we were there, we decided to go with it. The pool is pretty warm and there are bubbles coming from the floor where the temperatures are very hot. There are even areas approaching the pool where gases are coming out of the ground. We covered ourselves with the mud and then spent about 15 minutes in the pool. People were going crazy - covering their faces, putting mud in their hair...it was pretty insane. We're not sure if we enjoyed the experience, but it was an experience.

Afterwards, we took a quick shower and tried to go in the water at the adjacent beach where there were more air vents under the water, so the water was very warm. Unfortunately the water was very dirty and there were several jellyfish, so we just changed out of our stinky bathing suits and went to catch the ferry back to Lipari. Once we were back home, we threw out some other clothes that were too stinky and took some serious showers before heading out to dinner.

We still stink, and it seems that we'll be this way for a few days...

Tomorrow we leave the islands and head back to Sicily, where we'll be in Taormina for about a week and then in Palermo for another five days.

Gelato Gusti per il Giorno:

Mike - Banane e Stracciatella and Banane e Pistacchio

Aviva - Lemon Granite and Cioccolato e Caffe.

To see pictures of our day on Vulcano, click here.

September 17, 2010: Filicudi and Alicudi - a day on a boat

This is the second of a back-to-back posts. To see our post about our volcano adventure, scroll down or click here.

Today we took another boat tour to check out the islands of Filicudi and Alicudi. These are two small islands with populations of 300 and 100, respectively. The islands are so small that in order to really see the "sights", its easier to visit by boat since there are no roads that traverse either of the islands.

We started early today (considering when we got back from Stromboli yesterday). The boat left from the smaller port on Lipari at 9:30 AM, and it was a much smaller group - only 20 of us, which meant it was also a much smaller boat. Even though it was somewhat early, it was already hot out, so everyone on board stripped down to bathing suits and hit the decks. Mike and I chose to be on the roof deck and picked out what would be our spot for the whole day.

The tour started by going around Lipari to the west, where we got some good views of Vulcano and the faraglioni (rocks sticking out of the water) that were just off the coast of Lipari. We continued north, sailing by the island of Salina, and then veered to the west towards Filicudi and Alicudi. All throughout the day, the crew on board (just the captain and an assistant), would point things out to us. Since I'm not sure exactly what he said, I don't know for certain where were were at any given point, so my recap of the day may not be totally accurate.

I believe we started by going around the southern coast of Filicudi and making our first stop at the Punta Stimpagnato. Here, the boat anchored and we had our first chance to jump off the boat and go for a swim. It was very clear that the water surrounding Filicudi was much more of an emerald color than the vibrant blues we've been seeing everywhere else on the trip (no idea why the difference in color). The then boat continued on its tour and we were able to see the Grotto del Bue Marino (the Cave of the Monk Seal). The concept here was similar to the Blue Grotto we saw in Capri - however this one was much bigger, both the entry (our boat went almost all the way in), and the inside of the cave itself. It was another cool experience, but since the sun wasn't shining into the cave, we didn't get a chance to see the emerald reflections as we had hoped. The boat traveled a little further around the coast until we saw a large rock arch, the Punta del Perciato. Just past the arch we had our second chance to take a dip. The jellyfish were more numerous at this spot and someone got stung right in the rear end.

With everyone back on board, we went for a much longer sail to get to Alicudi, another 25km to the west. I think we sailed around this island counterclockwise, and the boat sailed all the way around the island until we arrived at "the" town located at the port. Here we had an hour to grab some lunch and then putter around (that is what our tourbook recommends to do...). Given that this island only got electricity and television in the 1990's, it's not hard to imagine how little there is to do here. After lunch, we sailed a bit further around Alicudi and had some time for another swim before heading back towards Filicudi.

Back at the larger island, we saw some more incredible faraglioni and stopped again for a swim. (Whenever the boat was moving, the wind made it very comfortable to sit on the roof of the boat, and the sun was shining the whole day. But when the boat anchored at a swimming spot, we got hot pretty quickly so it was easy to be convinced to jump in the water.) After our fourth and final swim, we all got on board again and the boat made way to the port town on Filicudi. Here we had a bit more time (90 min) to explore. This was useful since there was actually something to do.

We made our way to the end of the town where we found some steep steps that we climbed up the see a prehistoric village. There were ruins of several huts from before the 14th century BC. Its nuts that there is still evidence of people's lives from more than 3,000 years ago! We stayed up on the hill for a while to check out the great views of the bay, and then head down to get some granites before boarding.

Finally, back on board for the last time, the boat made its way back to Lipari. The boat was moving much faster this time and was making huge splashes as it went through the water. We got soaked a couple of times, and it was a fun ride back. However, after crashing through the water for 90 minutes, we're both still feeling the motion of the boat even though we've been back on land for more than six hours...

Gelato Gusti per il Giorno:

Mike - Pistacchio e Stracciatella

Aviva - Caffe e Stracciatella

To see more pictures from our day, click here.

September 16, 2010: Us Versus the Volcano

Sorry for the one-day lapse. Here is the blog for Sept 16th.

Today we finally climbed the volcano.

The day had a late start - the tour we signed up for didn't leave the dock until noon, so we ran some errands earlier in the morning. We met everyone from our tour (and it turns out several other tours) at the boat and started on our way. The first stop was at the island of Panarea where we got a tour of a small bay called Cala Junco. The boat sailed around the bay and anchored, giving everyone a chance to go swimming. It was great to be able to jump off a boat and get right in the water without negotiating the pebbly beaches. There were many people on watch for jellyfish, yelling and pointing in Italian, English, French, Dutch, and German.

After a quick dip, the boat continued to the main town on Panarea, San Pietro. Here we had an hour to explore but ended up spending 30 minutes in line to get some panini for lunch. We got the last two rolls that the deli had...we didn't realize how lucky we were until later - there was no other place to grab dinner before climbing the volcano, so the sandwiches were really the only food we had with us. We did have a little time to visit the port town, but it seems that Panarea is a pretty ritzy destination with a lot of fancy hotels and not much else to see.

Back on the boat, the tour took us through the some of the small islands off of Panarea (it has its own archipelago). The small islands had great shapes, and there was even one that has volcanic activity under the water , so the water is constantly bubbling at the surface. Then the boat made the long haul to Stromboli. Stromboli is basically a live volcano that is an island. There are no roads across the island, so some towns are only accessible by boat, and the main town of Stromboli doesn't have a proper electricity grid, so there are no streetlights (everything is powered off of massive generators).

Once the boat docked, everyone on board separated into two groups - those who were climbing the volcano, and those who were not. Our (much smaller) group head over to meet our guide who quickly laid out the plan, gave us our helmets (mandatory over 800 meters), and we all walked over to the main piazza in town where we could pick up any other gear we needed a local rental shop. Finally, at around 4:30 PM, we started our ascent.

The guide did a great job at setting a reasonable pace, and therefore the climb was not too bad. It was all uphill, and some places were pretty rocky, but not the most challenging hike we've ever done. However, it was like being on another planet. Once we were above the trees, it was just a crazy landscape of volcanic rock and sand, and just a sheer slope straight down to the water. The whole time I was getting more and more nervous about the descent. Which is in the dark...

We finally got to the 800 meter mark about three hours later, where it was a lot colder and windier. We changed into our pants, sweatshirts, jackets, and helmets, and I was still freezing. Everyone ate their dinners and we waited for the sun to set. Then we hiked a bit farther up to get a better view of the volcanic explosions. At this point, it started to smell very strongly of sulphur, and the guide distributed face masks to everyone.

Then we started to see the explosions - the first couple were huge clouds of ash - we would watch them, and then we all had to turn around to avoid having the ash blow right into our eyes. The volcano was smoking a lot, so it was very difficult to see anything, but when the wind was right, we saw the red lava below us. Once, we saw the shower of incandescent lava spew out of the crater (sorry, we didn't get any pictures), and it was just out of this world to see it in real life. Once we were up there for about 40 minutes, the guide told us it was time to start the descent. At this point it was completely dark out, so we all turned on our headlamps and started walking.

Turns out, the way down is not the same path we took on the way up (thank god!). Instead, we walked down what was basically a huge sand dune - as far as I could tell. Every step we took we slid down another two feet. It was like this practically the whole way down, and it turned out to be pretty fun but killer on the tuchus. The sky was so clear that the views of the stars were amazing (when you had a chance to look up). It was also great to look up the volcano and see all the little trails of lights of other tour groups making their descents. 90 minutes later we were back in town and head back to the boat, which took us back to Lipari. We arrived around 11:30 PM, which is why this blog is one day late!

Here is a video of one of the smoke explosions (not quick enough to catch the lava spewing):

Gelato Guisti per il Giorno:

None. Turns out there is no gelateria at the top of Stromboli...

For more pictures of our day, click here.