Besides the yummy food, the trip was great - we saw so many beautiful ancient sites, walked and climbed many museums, towns, cities, castles and Mount Etna in the snow - GREAT FUN :-) :-)
We started by flying to Lamezia and drove to Scilla, walked around the fort and I think I tried my first rum cake :-(. We then took the ferry from Calabria region across the Strait to Messina. In Messina the cathedral was beautiful with a tower and the largest astrological clock in Europe. I had my first pizza (and last Hawaii pizza - not popular in Sicily?). We then went on along the coast to Cape of Milazzo where we walked through the massive cacti to see the islands of Eolie including Stromboli. Mamã remembers the ferraro roche type chocolate ice cream :-). We drove onto Cefalū for the night. We talked straight into the old town, busy, beautiful and yummy pizza :-) In the morning we walked up the hill 250 metres and had a great view of the city. Later we drove onto Palermo and visited 2 days the capital, as well as the amazing Monreale cathedral out in the hills - amazing mosaics 1 MM pieces. We saw the Pristine Chapel, cathedral, 2 amazing oratories, puppet museum, churches, ancient history museum etc...After we visited the ancient greek 5th Century BC temple and theatre, what a view and so quiet at the theatre. On we drove to Erice which was not on our original plan but it did look so cute, it was very cute...castle to climb, views over the coast and 'reliving' a Lord of the Rings fairytale. We then went south, stopping at the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento at 5pm for a wonderful tour of 2 hours along a road of temples - in such good condition and we could get so close. The temples were beautiful in the evening light. After dinner in Agrigento we drove onto Piazza Armerina and stayed in a private mansion B&B. We had a great breakfast :-) We were one of the first tourists at the Villa del Casale - the roman mansion where are the best preserved mosaics in the world - what amazing scenes telling us the life of sports, hunting, animals captured from north Africa like Rhinos, Elephants (animals no longer in the north today). We visited another castle in Enna - and a street of church after church. We ate lunch in a great local restaurant with such a friendly owner/chef. Then we drove onto Catania in our mansion chateau for 2 nights. We visited the city at night, ate in a fish restaurant by the fish market and outer walls. There was a music marathon, we walked around the downtown seeing magnificent large churches although dark from buildings made from the volcanic rock of Mount Etna. In the morning we drove 40 km and arrived at 1500 metres and walked in the snow on the mountainside. I and papá climbed to 2000 metres :-). Then we went to Syracuse to see ancient greek/roman theatre and also Ear of Dion and the archaeological museum. I loved the museum, so many wonderful pieces and you could see so close-up. Then we drove to the old part of the town on an island connected by a bridge from 6th century BC but also 1700s called Ortygia. It had small streets like many of the other lovely towns we had visited. We had a fantastic ice cream :-) We ate dinner back in Catania pizza where I had American pizza with hot dog/chips, papá had pistachio and mamã had 4 cheeses. It was time to move back to Messina and we stopped in Taormina - ancient greek site, with it's beautiful theatre and setting looking at Mount Etna...on the way we went back up to Mount Etna to drive along the other side of the mountain and stopped for a nice lunch in view of the mountain. Taormina was swarming with tourists and after walking down the main street and stopping for a yummy very unhealthy tiramisu, we climbed steps and got a fantastic view over the city.
It was then time to keep driving to Messina, catch the boat across and perfect timing, we immediately boarded, set sail and ate dinner on the 20 minutes journey. We stayed in a hotel near the airport to end a beautiful trip.
We started by flying to Lamezia and drove to Scilla, walked around the fort and I think I tried my first rum cake :-(. We then took the ferry from Calabria region across the Strait to Messina. In Messina the cathedral was beautiful with a tower and the largest astrological clock in Europe. I had my first pizza (and last Hawaii pizza - not popular in Sicily?). We then went on along the coast to Cape of Milazzo where we walked through the massive cacti to see the islands of Eolie including Stromboli. Mamã remembers the ferraro roche type chocolate ice cream :-). We drove onto Cefalū for the night. We talked straight into the old town, busy, beautiful and yummy pizza :-) In the morning we walked up the hill 250 metres and had a great view of the city. Later we drove onto Palermo and visited 2 days the capital, as well as the amazing Monreale cathedral out in the hills - amazing mosaics 1 MM pieces. We saw the Pristine Chapel, cathedral, 2 amazing oratories, puppet museum, churches, ancient history museum etc...After we visited the ancient greek 5th Century BC temple and theatre, what a view and so quiet at the theatre. On we drove to Erice which was not on our original plan but it did look so cute, it was very cute...castle to climb, views over the coast and 'reliving' a Lord of the Rings fairytale. We then went south, stopping at the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento at 5pm for a wonderful tour of 2 hours along a road of temples - in such good condition and we could get so close. The temples were beautiful in the evening light. After dinner in Agrigento we drove onto Piazza Armerina and stayed in a private mansion B&B. We had a great breakfast :-) We were one of the first tourists at the Villa del Casale - the roman mansion where are the best preserved mosaics in the world - what amazing scenes telling us the life of sports, hunting, animals captured from north Africa like Rhinos, Elephants (animals no longer in the north today). We visited another castle in Enna - and a street of church after church. We ate lunch in a great local restaurant with such a friendly owner/chef. Then we drove onto Catania in our mansion chateau for 2 nights. We visited the city at night, ate in a fish restaurant by the fish market and outer walls. There was a music marathon, we walked around the downtown seeing magnificent large churches although dark from buildings made from the volcanic rock of Mount Etna. In the morning we drove 40 km and arrived at 1500 metres and walked in the snow on the mountainside. I and papá climbed to 2000 metres :-). Then we went to Syracuse to see ancient greek/roman theatre and also Ear of Dion and the archaeological museum. I loved the museum, so many wonderful pieces and you could see so close-up. Then we drove to the old part of the town on an island connected by a bridge from 6th century BC but also 1700s called Ortygia. It had small streets like many of the other lovely towns we had visited. We had a fantastic ice cream :-) We ate dinner back in Catania pizza where I had American pizza with hot dog/chips, papá had pistachio and mamã had 4 cheeses. It was time to move back to Messina and we stopped in Taormina - ancient greek site, with it's beautiful theatre and setting looking at Mount Etna...on the way we went back up to Mount Etna to drive along the other side of the mountain and stopped for a nice lunch in view of the mountain. Taormina was swarming with tourists and after walking down the main street and stopping for a yummy very unhealthy tiramisu, we climbed steps and got a fantastic view over the city.
It was then time to keep driving to Messina, catch the boat across and perfect timing, we immediately boarded, set sail and ate dinner on the 20 minutes journey. We stayed in a hotel near the airport to end a beautiful trip.
