playing catch-up

So my dear Uncle Phil pointed out (via my mother) that I haven’t blogged for FOREVER…so I thought I’d take some time to catch everyone up on my LIFE. Basically, I haven’t blogged because I’ve been BUSY! It’s been quite a whirlwind since Sicily (my last substantial post…YIKES). So here goes…an update…which will probably take FOREVER…(to read AND write).

Sicilia, part 2.

The morning after our HUGE accidental dinner, we were, of course, still stuffed. However, we managed to drink the homemade persimmon juice and enjoy all the homemade jams with our typical carb-ful breakfast. We headed into Siracusa, having decided to go to Siracusa but return to Noto to sleep (because it was a small town and a really great hotel). Before going into the city, we went to Cava d’Ispica, This turned out to be a slight letdown, with a few minorly cool sights. We mostly enjoyed the huge canyon, but we know we had bigger and better things ahead, so moved on. We had read that there were tombs here, but were disappointed by the lack of creepiness, to be honest. Heading into Siracusa, we decided to drive straight to Ortigia, a little island which is the historic part of the city. We got lost (of course, we were in a city) but shortly afterwards figured ourselves out, parked, and started to walk. We enjoyed the Temple of Apollo, the oldest known temple in the world (!) and then checked out the duomo. This was really cool because it had been converted from the old Temple of Athena. Within the church, the original Doric columns are still part of the construction of the church. That was really neat because we actually got a sense of what those temples may have been like whole, with the air of spirituality within. It was really excellent. We checked out the Fontana Aretusa (a lovely pool with papyrus plants) and had a coffee by the shore. Then, we hopped back in the car and headed out to the Archeological park, just outside the city. This was really excellent, with a HUUUGE theatre (one of the biggest in the ancient world), a crazy man-made cavern called the Ear of Dionysus, an alter big enough to slaughter like 450 oxen at once (it was huge) and then the remains of a Roman amphitheatre. Eric and I were, of course, totally enthralled. We decided to take it easy that night and headed back to our hotel for some quality relaxation. We both watched the sunset on our balcony (I can’t remember the last time I watched a sunset…it was very relaxing) and read for awhile. Dinner was easy, we just decided a pizzeria was fine enough, and got our daily cannoli, of course (mine was lemon inside instead of ricotta, kinda interesting). It was an early bedtime.

The next day, we got another great breakfast – this time with fresh ricotta and honey and then cut up prickley pear (it was REALLY good). It was Etna day! We drove up to the volcano (not too bad of a drive) but it was SOO foggy…we were totally bummed. The landscape driving up the side of the volcano was really incredible – Eric commented that it’s just like Mordor in the Lord of the Rings…totally true, Etna is Mount Doom! We even saw a half-buried house on the mountainside. Crazy! It was REALLY cold at the top, we bundled up and decided to take the lift up even though we couldn’t really see anything. From this point, many people were taking huge SUVs up to the highest point people are allowed to go to. Eric and I started walking without real hope of seeing anything (the book said the hike to this point was 4 hours so we weren’t sure we were down) but then we saw a couple who said the fog cleared and the view was great a bit higher up. So we kept going…it was true, 10 minutes later the fog cleared and the view of the summit and the main crater was fantastic. It was REALLY windy and cold, but Eric and I hiked all the way up, got our picture taken, and headed back. It was a really excellent walk and amazing to realize we were hiking on Etna. Wow.

When we got down from the summit, we decided to take a little drive around the volcano to see the hill towns…it turned into a VERY long drive, but pleasant – we saw some churches made of entirely volcanic rock, very cool. We got into Taormina a bit late but found a pensione owned by a verrrrrry ooooooooold woooooooman, Diana. I was pretty amazed she was alive, to be honest, but she was charming. After checking in, we found a nice ristorante and shared gnocchi and cannelloni. The couple sitting beside us apparently thought it looked good, because they ordered the same thing after asking us what we were eating! For dessert, we got a casata, apparently a Sicilian specialty, it was basically an ice cream cake with fruit pieces. I was not overly impressed. We wandered the town a bit (it was beautiful and charming) and then decided to hit the hay. The next day was designated as a day of RELAXATION. We’d been on the move so much that it was time to take it down a notch. We got breakfast (cappucini and croissants) in a very cute place decorated in a garden theme…then checked our email (the first and only time all week!) before heading out to the Greek theatre. It was really stunning – poised right over the ocean with an amazing view of Etna (which we sadly did not get to enjoy, as it was foggy again, GRR). Eric declared it his favorite theatre (and that’s saying something, as he’s seen a lot of ‘em). We wandered town a bit, got some latte di mandorla (almond milk, it was good, really sweet) checked out the Piazza IX Aprile and the duomo. We got caprese sandwiches at a cute little store and carried them to the botanical gardens to eat them…what a spot! Gorgeous gardens, right overlooking the ocean. Taormina is built on a cliff, so it’s pretty hard to find a bad view there. Eric headed back to the hotel for a little nap and I took a lift down to the beach and hung out there for awhile. On my way back to the hotel, I decided I should get a brioche con gelato – a pastry with gelato, a Southern Italian specialty. Well, it was quite a shock…the thing turned out to be the size of my HEAD. Panicked, I carried it back to Eric and forced him to help me eat it, much to his chagrin. Then we went on some missions – to a bookstore to buy me a book (I ended up getting The Godfather) and back to the little place we had gotten lunch to buy some giftys – many many bottles of olive oil! Eric was a little hungry so we got a little snack of bruschetta and then went to see The Legend of Zorro. It was in Italian, so Eric couldn’t’ understand any of it – I explained certain intricacies of the plot, but he insisted (and was right, I’m sure) that this wasn’t really the type of movie that required serious plot help. It was your basic action movie…terrible! But definitely a good time. We found a dinner place and split dishes again – this time, gnocchi with pesto and speghetti with garlic, oil, and hot peppers. The restaurant gave us little aperitifs after our meal, kind of almond wine or something. Eric, of course, didn’t want his, so I had to double fist it – all for Grandpa, of course. Then, we headed back to our room to eat the previously purchased cannoli (we had bought them before before because they looked SPECTACULAR and didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity).

The next day was a designated driving day – we had to get back to Palermo, which was a ways off. We got breakfast in the same place and then hit the road. The drive actually didn’t turn out to be so bad, I read to Eric basically the whole way (mmm LOVE the Godfather!!!!) We stopped off in Monreale first, hoping to check out the cathedral, but it was closed til 3 and we didn’t feel like hanging out. After a somewhat ho-hum visit to the cloister, we headed into the din of Palermo. Dropped off our stuff – dropped off the car – and we were stuck in Palermo. I really hate that city. We checked out the Palatine chapel again, got some gelato…but basically just killed time til dinner (pizza, mm) and then headed to the hotel really early. I read some more Godfather out loud and we hit the sack by 9 – we had to get up at 5! Ewww. The early morning wake up call came, well, early, after a fairly restless night, and the bus ride to the airport was uneventful. Eric checked in, we got breakfast, and Eric was off – I read the Godfather until my flight time arrived, and got to Rome. Well, my flight from Rome to Florence was apparently cancelled, so instead they put us on a BUS to Florence…what a nightmare! I made a little posse of friends (basically to complain about the situation) and we got through the bus ride. 5 hours later…I got to Florence and hightailed it back to Antella.

What a great trip! It was really excellent to be at home again, of course, but the trip was fabulous. Thanks, Eric!