Day 15 - Mt. Etna and Taormina

Mt. Etna...it erupted the last time on October 27, 2002. It is one of the largest active volcanoes in the world (10,902 feet) and we climbed it...hiked to the newest crater.

We saw evidence of a ski lift and a hotel that WAS there before the eruption. The destruction covered such a large area. As we hiked, we had to be in single file behind our guide because he was basically making the trail as we went. He does this every day! He certainly had to be in good shape...it was definitely a hike!


In the photo on the left, can you see us in single file? Right photo: When we were up by the crater, our guide got down and dug into the ground and pulled out rocks SO HOT we couldn't hold them...and the eruption has been nearly 4 years ago!
In the photo on the right, you can see some of us hiking around the crater. It was a wider area to walk on than this picture appears!
After the hike, we went down to Rifugio Ragabo to have lunch. This was a restaurant that I assume was used as a ski lodge when you could ski there. After lunch we had an educational meeting on Mt. Etna and volcanoes in general. Most of us heard the entire presentation...but a few of us had been in the restroom at the restaurant when everyone left. We came out and it was eerily quiet...we could NOT find the group for quite a while. Finally we talked to a group camping nearby and they told us which way everyone had walked. We found them and heard the last half of the presentation.

From there we went to Taormina. This is said to be one of the most magnificent and popular towns in Sicily. It is set on a steep hill overlooking the Mediterranean and has great views of Mt. Etna.

The gelato is something I haven't talked about. Ask about any of the delegates and they will tell you how delicious it was! It's the Italian ice cream...and...well, we ate a LOT of gelato!...especially Stephen.

We did some shopping in Taormina. 'Big Andy' was looking for an apron for his dad. You can again see the narrow streets of these small towns and their hanging of the Italian flag. Remember the World Cup had just ended and the Italians were HAPPY!

Chad and I went and explored the ruins of an ancient theater in the town. We had to pay to get in, but it was well worth it. There was one price if you were European...and a higher price if you weren't!

Back in Catania, I tried to take a photo of the crazy Italian drivers. This photo doesn't really do it justice. The center line in a street? Well, it probably means that if you're on one side you should go one direction, but it's OK if you want to cross over. Just be sure and scoot over before someone hits you head on...but then again, they'll stop. Oh, and you want to get into traffic from the side? No problem, just head on in anytime you want. Even the police do! It was WILD! Watermelon was everywhere on the street corners...actually all sorts of produce was being sold out on the streets.

Riding on the bus back to our hotel in Catania, some of the girls made plans to get together and paint fingernails, do hair, and put on make-up...sort of a 'Girl's (and Stephen) Night Out!'

This was the end of our time on the island of Sicily and the country of Italia. It was hard to believe that it was already the end of day 15!

Day 14 - Cefalu and Caltagirone

Cefalu is another small, seaside town...absolutely beautiful. How can it not be gorgeous when it rings the Mediterranean? The water is spectacular...it's not even blue, it's turquoise.

We had some time, maybe an hour and a half??, to stroll around and look at Cefalu on our own. Some of us went down and at least put our feet in the water. Even though we're on Day 14 and we've been all around the Mediterranean, we had yet to swim in it. Jason, Felicia, Lindsey, and I had all talked at one time or another how we just wanted to dive in the water. We really wouldn't have the chance until we were in Malta...and then it was the ultimate.
The streets of Cefalu!
After lunch in Cefalu, we left for another small town, Caltagirone. This is home to a Sicilian pottery shop. They only have 10 potters but they ship all over the world. The shop is run by a family...brothers, sisters, inlaws, cousins...definitely a family affair. They would ship to the United States, which encouraged some of us to buy this beautiful pottery! Josh was one of us who got to try his hand and throwing a pot on the wheel. He later asked them if he could buy what he bought. (He couldn't take it because it needed to dry, be fired, painted, fired again...) They said OK. I'd love to see it when it's finished!


Every person got a souvenir, compliments of the pottery company, of a little turtle painted in their traditional colors.

I have to add this last photo of Stephen. He amazed me and I think everyone else with how much he could eat! It was common to see anyone who didn't finish their food to bring their plate to Stephen to see if he wanted it. I'm sure he said no some...but I didn't see it. Here he is on...I think it was his 5th plate, of mushroom fettucini...which truly was delicious!

I know Stephen must have been full by the end of Day 14!

Day 13 - Small towns in Sicily

We started our day in the little town of Erice. My leader's guide called it "a medieval mountain fortress...tiny cobblestone streets wind through the town, with numerous shops and pastry stores." Perfect description. There is also a castle, actually there were 2, although we only went to one - Pepoli Castle, built in the 12th or 13th century. It was built as a fortress to protect Trapani Harbour.







Next stop was Trapani...home of the saltmines. We climbed up in the windmill to get a good view of the salt fields. These fields produce 100 million tons of salt each year...that's what Karina was told! That's a lot of salt!

Segesta was our next stop. Here are the ruins of a HUGE Greek temple...said to be one of the most impressive Greek ruins outside of Greece.

We were back at the hotel by 5 p.m. A lot of us went to the pool and some of us went on a long walk looking for an ATM machine and cards for digital cameras. After three tries we got an ATM to work...I found...no, Chad found a card for me...but poor Chad, we struck out for his camera. He said he TOLD HIS DAD he needed another 2Gig card before he left! Maybe Fathers don't always know best, but usually!

It is the end of Day 13.

Day 12 - Palermo, Sicily

After getting off the ferry, we went to an Italian bar for breakfast. The pastries, the breads, they are SO delicious. By now I'm thinking coffee back in the states will taste extremely weak. Another plus with Italian coffee, they serve warm milk to go with it. Delicious!

We finished our breakfast and were joined by our wonderful guide...Jucy...Juzy...not sure. (Ok, this is much later and I just heard from Michelle! Her name is Giusi! Thank you, Michelle!) She could talk SO FAST and she obviously LOVED telling us all about the sites. I think everyone thoroughly enjoyed her. Our first stop was a little town, Monreale. It has a population of about 28,000 and is on the outskirts of Palermo. We went into an absolutely gorgeous church. Chad said he would never look at his own church the same again. You cannot imagine all the mosaic work. There were no lights on in the church and if you wanted light on an area, you had to put in some money. I guess they paid their electric bill that way? Chad, hopefully, got some great photos....even with a little light, mine didn't come out great. Here's a mosaic of Jesus over the altar. Fruit, vegetable, and also fish stands were on many streets. As we left Monreale, we headed into Palermo (through the city gate) - which was once regarded as the greatest and most beautiful city in Europe! I can't remember the name of this church, but Giusi had our bus driver stop just so we could get out and take pictures of it! If any of you remember the name, please let me know. Plus, this tree...think it's called a banyan tree???...is another time Giusi had the bus driver pull over just so we could get out and take a picture. Like I said, Giusi obviously loved what she did!

For lunch, we went to a pizzeria where we each made our own pizza. It took a long time - like 3 hours! - because 8 of us would make our pizzas, then 8 more would make theirs while the first 8 cooked...in a brick oven. Our chefs name was Paolo! (Thank you again to Michelle for that name!)
Richele and Sharleen make their pizzas...and here is one of the chefs.

From the pizzeria, we went to an educational meeting with an Italian "professore" to hear some of the similarities and differences between the Italian and American educational systems. One of the biggest differences I could tell was the amount of testing. The Italians have more, although he said most kids always pass??? As a teacher that makes me think - well, are the tests easy or do they prime the kids for the tests? Another difference is their school day which on average runs from 8:45 - 1:30. Would that be from unairconditioned schools and intense heat? I don't think he said.

Dinner came too soon since most of us were still full from the pizza. Our hotel was the Jolly Hotel Palermo which had a really nice pool, so free time at the hotel was refreshing at the end of Day 12.

Day 11 - The day of the World Cup final

Kyle...oh Kyle...What was he thinking? Well, he told me he was French. OK. But we were in Italy and that night was the final World Cup game between France and Italy. Kyle wore a French jersey...not a good idea. We warned him!

Our first stop of the day was Pompeii! We met our guide and he began to tell us the basic history of Pompeii. Then he told us there was one problem with our tour...and he pointed to Kyle and said the tour could not happen with THAT jersey! Well, I think most of us thought he was kidding. After a few minutes of NO TOUR...we realized this guy was serious. Kyle didn't have another shirt handy, so the guy told him to go behind a tree, take it off and turn it wrong side out. Well, that's what happened and our tour started. This is a city that was preserved under the ash that fell from Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D. It was amazing to see the paved streets, luxury living, wall paintings, ovens, graffiti, and even a street you wouldn't want your children to visit!







The first photo is a 'house' you wouldn't want your kids to visit. The 2nd photo is a nice house in 79 A.D.


I asked our guide before we left about the "Kyle incident." He told me that the Italians hated the French and then to top it off, 3 or 4 years ago, the two countries played for the national title in soccer and Italy lost on penalties. So he said tonights game was also REVENGE!

After Pompeii, we boarded the bus and headed to Naples. We didn't see much of Naples except for their harbour and a restaurant where we had another "Kyle incident."
Claudio parked the bus and we saw our first glimpse of the "ferry" that would take us on an overnight journey to Sicily. It was quite impressive. I'm not sure what we were expecting, but that wasn't it. Somehow the word "ferry" is small and quaint. This was nice.

So here we go into the restaurant. We are sitting upstairs and one of the waiters starts to pass out the first course...and then he sees Kyle in a FRENCH jersey. Oh no. He points to him with not a very happy look. Down the stairs he goes. A few minutes later we hear a whistle, a LOUD whistle from a whistle...and up the stairs run multiple waiters. Our waiter points to Kyle...they come over and TAKE OFF HIS SHIRT! Yep, they just ripped it right off. Now here sits poor Kyle, no shirt at all. I think he was scared, mad, and embarrassed all at the same time. I was stunned. The waiters run back down the stairs, swinging Kyle's jersey wrong side out, and run out of the restaurant with it. So, there we sit...stunned...none more so than Kyle. Now what? Well, Cody to the rescue. Luckily, Cody had on an undershirt under his ITALIA jersey...so Cody took off his ITALIA jersey and gave it to Kyle. Ahhhh, relief. Well, the meal is continuing to be served...Kyle served last, of course. At the end of our meal when it was time to leave, here came the waiters...this time with a smile on their faces and Kyle's jersey - still wrong side out! I think the Italians are pretty passionate about soccer!

We sadly said good-bye to Claudio, boarded the 'ferry', and set sail for Sicily. THE game was on that night and it was a wild time on the ferry. Italy won...and even though there were some excited people on the boat, I would have loved to have been in a place like Rome after they won. I bet it was party time in the streets!

We slept while we sailed at the end of Day 11.