After a quick flight and semi-eventful rental car pickup we were on the road again on the island of Sicily. This is where Gus' family is from and we were glad to be able to share this experience with them of seeing where his ancestors lived. It also was quite the mystery for me to plan since it seems there is so much to do and see all around the island. I was rather ambitious with our week there and just crossed my fingers it would work out. We drove to the opposite corner of the island to the town of Agrigento and after settling into our apartment then headed to the main attraction the Valley of Temples. We enjoyed Greek ruins from the 5-6th centuries and a fortification wall before heading for a delicious dinner on the harbor. After a traditional breakfast of Sicilian foods we were on the road again the next morning. We drove to Modica for the delicious chocolates still made in the same style the Aztecs used. My secret plan was to enjoy chocolate since my first love wine was out of the question. We got the added bonus of the Broque architecture that fills the town and the neighboring town Ragusa. After our adventurous rustic lunch stop involving horse meatballs and mystery items we were back on the road to Ortigia. After getting settled in our apartment we headed into Ortigia on foot to soak up the lazy weeknight atmosphere. The town filled with historic buildings and quaint fountains did not disappoint us at all. We ended our night with a floor picnic of local meat and cheeses on crackers.
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| Maddy I on the wall boarding the Valley of the Temples which contains some of the largest and best preserved Greek ruins outside of Greece. Most of which are yet to be uncovered. |
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| Remains of the Temple of Zeus, one of the oldest temples left standing |
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| 5th century temple believed to be built to the goddess Concordia, stayed in amazing condition by being repurposed as a Christian church in 597. |
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| View of Agrigento from Valley of Temples |
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| Temple of Hera from afar, the path was 3 miles between entrance and exit and included many partially preserved ruins and temples. Valley of Temples became a World Heritage site in 1997. |
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| Hidden away in an alley of the valley town of Modica is Antica Dolceria Bonajuto, where they still make chocolate using the methods taught by Aztec travelers |
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| Sampling bowls of chocolate, not like Hersheys for sure! |
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| Baroque architecture in Modica and Ragusa was breathtaking |
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| More examples of Sicilian Baroque on a building we had lunch at |
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| Central fountain found on our evening stroll of Ortigia |
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| Beautiful church of Ortigia where a wedding (or possibly a funeral we couldn't decide) was taking place the night we visited |
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| Our picnic of local foods including the Arancini, which is a rice ball filled with meat and covered in bread crumbs (shaped like cones here but traditionally shaped like balls) |
Early the next morning I indulged the foodie in me and headed to the local market which was conveniently right across the street from our apartment. After getting some delicious local fruit and meats I stopped into a shop to grab the infamous "granida" which I had read was like ice cream for breakfast. Thanks to the wonderful language barrier I ended up with a watery cup of cinnamon flavored slush and left my bread on the table because I didn't know it came with my slush cup, overall food fail. We spent the rest of the day wandering around Syracrause exploring the buildings and parks before stopping for some ice cream and lunch. We found this charming local bookstore and I was able to get some great books about Sicilia for Maddy and her cousins.
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| The fish was so fresh some of it was still moving |
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| My loot from the market with my foodie fail of Grantia (bottom left corner) |
The following day we scarficed our wonderful parking space and headed out to Mt. Edna and Taormina. Mt. Edna is the most active volcano in the world and had just erupted three days before our visit, I'd like to go back and trek all the way to the top but this time we settled for just 9500m up. First we walked around some of the craters before taking a gondala up the volcano, you could clearly see the lava formations and the smoke coming out of the active craters. It was a great experience. The rest of the family finished the visit with a 7D thrill ride that was terrifying to maddy but she couldn't wait to do it again, I snuck away and warmed myself with a cup of hot chocolate. Next we headed to Taormina, this was another city that everyone was split about, some said it's a must see while others said it was unnecessary and touristy. I tend to lean towards the latter opinion but it did have a beautiful Roman amphitheater although I'm not sure it justified the horrid amount of stairs we climbed to reach it. We did get quite a good laugh while Gus encountered a pushy salesmen in his quest for the perfect pair of loafers. The two of them arguing in Italian and English while the salesman shoved his feet in too small shoes had us all in stiches. After we made it back down those stairs we were all down in for the day and headed back to our apartment to recover.
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| Silvestri Craters which you can climb and explore at the highest point you can drive to |
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| Cable car that takes you to 2500m on the volcano |
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| The lava formations were not pleasant to sit on! Its sharp! |
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| Ice formations |
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| Maddy and Bonnie enjoying the 7D movie experience which supposedly had rats, bats and spiders! |
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| View from our cable car down the volcano |
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| A random church that Maddy loved at the top of the stairs, I think I transferred my love of churches to her. |
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| The amphitheater at Taormina, not very intact but had beautiful views |
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| View from top of Taormina, almost made the stairs worth it! |
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| Everyday needs a little break dancing! |
We were on the move for the last time in Sicily and headed back to where we started in Palermo. We stopped for a picnic lunch and a visit to a castle in Enna before heading on to Palermo. After getting scammed into paying a random stranger for parking we finally found where we were headed. Checking into our apartment with an all Italian speaking host was an adventure but we survived and got settled. We headed out for an evening street food adventure with our mini-foodie in tow. We tried delicious Palermo street food along with some things like sheep intestines that we've tried before. Overall the tour was amazing and we really enjoyed the atmosphere, it was late when we got back but Maddy was going strong.
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| Lombardy Castle with a fortresses from the 1st century BC |
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| A school group we followed around a bit although everything was in Italian we still learned something like this list of countries who possessed the castle over time |
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| our picnic lunch views from Enna on our way to Palermo |
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| a popular wine bar on our evening food tour, I sipped a bit of delicious wine |
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| Palermo street food at it's finest, liver/lung and spleen sandwiches MMMM! |
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| We found some of the best street food was right next to our apartment, score! |
The next morning started out a bit rainy and we ventured out to enjoy a morning at the market with our same street food guide from the night before. Bonnie joined us this time and despite the rainy weather we enjoyed delicious food and got to see the market in action. We spent the rest of the rainy day relaxing in the apartment then ventured out that early evening for some dinner and ice cream. We got to explore a bit of Palermo but really just enjoyed some down time.
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| Palermo had many beautiful churches |
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| We even got to see a festival during our dinner where the whole church procession took to the streets |
Our time in Sicily was coming to an end so we checked out of our apartment and headed towards the airport. Having a couple of hours to kill (no pun intended) we decided to head to the catacombs and check out what all the fuss is about. Now this was a "I would never" mom moment for me, per life-with-maddy I'm sure if this circumstance came up I would respond with "I would never let my 4 yr old visit catacombs". How funny life is! She visited it and LOVED every second of it, although I did try to avert her from the really freaky ones. Not somewhere I would want to be after dark for sure. Some of them even have their teeth, hair and eyelashes. We headed to Monreale next to see the picturesque church there and get the image of dead folks out of our heads!
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| Beautiful Abbey of Monreale, pictures really don't do it justice! |
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| Monreale as a tricky town with narrow streets and steep climbs |
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| views of Palermo from Monreale |
After our freaky detour we headed to the airport and boarded a plane back to Rome! While everyone headed to the apartment I camped out at the airport waiting for my mom and sister. I was so excited to see them I truly couldn't wait. By the time their flight arrived I was nearly in tears for missing them so much. After some tearful hellos we hopped in our van and got to our apartment. Maddy was already asleep but I stayed up visiting with them a bit before we all crashed into a restful sleep preparing for the busy day tomorrow.
