Italy
Minoriti Palace

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    • Day 18

      Cinque Fotagrafie-Catania Day 1

      May 1, 2022 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

      Today we bid hasta luego to Spain and headed to our first stop in Italy: Catania, Sicily. Our transport and check-in to Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport was quite simple. We made it though check-in and security in about fifteen minutes with plenty of time to relax in the airport lounge.

      Jim C found a direct flight to Cantania via Ryan Airlines. It's a no-frills flight, and everything is extra ( ex. bottle of water- 3 Euros). One interesting experience on the flight was when flight attendants were selling lottery tickets for a youth fundraiser. The flight was smooth and we landed in the Catania Airport a little early.

      Catania is the second largest city in Sicily. It sits at the base of Mt. Etna. At 11,000 feet it's the highest volcano in Europe and one of the most active ones in the world.

      We picked up our luggage and secured a rental car. That's when the transportation adventure was kicked up several notches. I have two images that come to mind when reliving the drive to our B&B. The more benign one was my 1975 high school recollection of being in a driver's education simulation car where just about every obstacle is put in your way. I remember trying to make a right in a busy urban street and I wound up running into an imaginary motorcyclist. I can still hear my Driver's Ed teacher calling out "You got him #9!"
      I think my second image is the opening scenes of one of the Indiana Jones sequels. The streets really are chaotic. The merging seems to be driven by relative testosterone levels, stop signs mean nothing and scooters and pedestrians alike seem to have an inherent death wish.

      When we were close to our B&B, I called the innkeeper because it appeared that the street was limited to pedestrians. He replied, "Oh, yes, it is but it's the only way that you can get to the courtyard. Ignore the restriction signs and proceed through the crowd. Call me when you arrive and I will open the gate." Jim C finally mustered the courage, we found the address, I called the proprietor and the slowest garage door opener ever opened the gates while we tried to drive in without a manslaughter charge.

      Once in the courtyard, we followed the instructions to get to our room and settled in. While the rooms are modest, the term "location, location, location" definitely fits. We are about 100 meters from the fish market and the Duomo. The streets were festive in celebration of International Workers Day and we had a wonderful time wandering the neighborhood.

      We are looking forward to sampling Sicilian food. This evening we stopped at a little Cafe and Jim C tried the caponata, a flavorful eggplant/vegetable dish and I had the octopus salad. We shared an order of Arancini de Rici (fried rice balls). They were very flavorful, and one incorporated black squid ink.

      After getting this light dinner we wandered some more in the adjacent neighborhood and we stopped for dessert and cappuccino. Jim has chocolate and pistachio gelato, and I had the most amazing cannolo that I have ever tasted. The ricotta was sweet and creamy, it was garnished with pistachios and the shell was crisp. I learned that the Sicilian secret is that they don't fill the shell until just before serving.

      We are very excited about our visit here, and we look forward to exploring this beautiful island.
      Ciao, Buona notte!
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    • Day 19

      Cinque Fotografie-Catania Day 2

      May 2, 2022 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

      When we were first planning the destinations for our European trip, Sicily was not on the list. I had been wanting to travel to Greece to see the ruins, and Jim C was concerned about the economic and political instability there. When we talking about possible destinations with friends, our friend Jerry recommended that we consider traveling to Sicily. He shared with us that Sicily was home to one of the most significant intact ancient architecture, and we decided to follow his advice. We are so grateful that we did.

      We launched the day by going out for a cappuccino and a croissant stuffed with pistachio cream. It was really very decadent, and tasty.

      Once we returned to the courtyard of the B&B, we had to navigate getting cars moved around so that we can exit on the street. The game of "musical cars" finally resulted in success when we located the driver who had boxed us in.

      As we headed out of Catania, we got our first glimpse of the snow-capped Mount Etna which dominated the landscape about the beautiful fields of green that were dotted with a multitude of red poppies.

      We had two planned visits to ancient ruins on our day trip today. Our first stop was to see the Villa Roma del Casale, just outside of the town of Piazza Armerina. This site houses one of the largest collections of intact Roman mosaics inlaid in the excavated flooring and walls. The superb preservation of these artifacts is attributed to flooding and landslides that covered the palace grounds. The detail and colors were really quite remarkable given that this dates back to about 400 A.D.

      After leaving this site, we headed to our next stop: Valle dei Templi outside the city of Aggrigento. This archeological park is estimated to date back to between 51O and 430 B.C. The structures were quite colossal as well as the location on top of a cliff as opposed to the misnomer valley.

      It was also quite remarkable to see the modern city of Aggrigento on a rise about the ruins and bearing witness to its past.

      As we were walking back to the car, I sampled my first granita, an ice slush drink with pomegranate juice. It was quite refreshing and tasty after all of our walking on the grounds of the Templi.

      While we were in the ridge, we were allured by the views of the Mediterranean Sea and the town below. We ventured down for a drink and Sicilian pizza. I had the margherita pizza and Jim C. chose spinach. This pizza was characteric of Sicili, as it is quite spongy compared to the thin crust associated with Napoli. I think I'll be likely to prefer the latter.

      In choosing the route home, we opted for the slower, but scenic roads that traversed along the coastline before heading inland.

      I really want to give kudos to Jim C who did all of the diving. Sicilian drivers are very aggressive, and Jim responded in kind today. He attributes his time driving in New Jersey when he was younger as great preparation for the trip.

      We concluded the evening went our first late- night Sicilian dinner. It was really quite fabulous. We particularly enjoyed an appetizer of grilled abalone and an interesting blood orange, anchovy and onion salad. The pasta and fish were fresh and delicious. We wrapped up with a spice cake with ricotta cheese. So good!

      It's time for bed. I believe that we're going to check out the fish market and ancient ruins of Siracusa tomorrow. Ciao! 💞
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    • Day 20

      Cinque Fotagrafie-Catania Day 3

      May 3, 2022 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

      After stopping at a nearby café for a light breakfast and a cappuccino, we walked over to the fish market which is only two blocks away from our B&B. I had watched a few videos about this market and it really is remarkable to see it in person. When we lived in Seattle, we frequently brought guests to see Pike Place Market and the one area where the workers famously toss fish back and forth and are quite boisterous.

      In this space all of the vendors are trying to catch your attention. They call out in singing voices about their catch of the day. I don't think I've ever seen so many fish varieties in one place. At times, it was a little unnerving to see snails trying to move out of their bins and shrimp that were still moving around. It was a little reminiscent of the "Les Poissons" song from "The Little Mermaid" when Sebastian, the Jamaican-accented crab is trying to avoid being an ingredient in the chef's meal.

      On the perimeter of the fish booths many other vendors offered beautiful fresh produce, spices and nuts. Pistachios are grown here and they are a popular ingredient in croissants, cannoli and gelato. The produce vendors were much more sedate in comparison to the fishmongers. It really was fun to watch the interaction of the vendors and customers.

      After we returned to our hotel, we prepared for a trip to Siracusa, a coastal town located about 40 minutes south of Catania. The first part of our trip was to visit another ancient Greek ruins site: Parco Archeologico della Neapolis.

      This archeological site is a sprawling natural park featuring an ancient Greek theater, church, caves & other Roman relics. In addition to the ruins, it was also inspiring to walk through tranquil green spaces filled with the sweet scents of nearby blooms. The birds were quite vocal, and it really did add to the multi-sensory experience.

      We walked into a deep cavern where the acoustics were incredible. When we reached the theater, the song "Everything Old is New Again" came to mind as we watched the integration of the ancient Greek Theater with contemporary seating, sound, lighting and staging. It must be quite remarkable to see a performance here on an ancient theater with the Mediterranean Sea as a not very distant backdrop for those in the "balcony" seats.

      We enjoyed the walk around the amphitheater and admired the arches and tunnels in the last part of our walk on the grounds. After a short gelato break, we ventured to the lovely Isola dei Ortigia, a bifurcated section separated only by a narrow channel of water from the rest of Siracusa. One could see why this would have been the desired port of other nations and how central Siciliy is in the Mediterranean.

      An online acquaintance recommended Ortigia as a romantic area for a walk. Initially, I tried to find suggested walking guides online, but I kept getting directed to paid tours. We decided instead to just "get lost in this area without an agenda.

      It really was a very rewarding lesson that you don't always need a destination to benefit from the journey. Our wandering took us through very narrow alleys where we were the sole pedestrians. We walked past decaying buildings that evoked memories of what must have been, yet still demonstrated a great deal of grace in their aging. It's a good model for my own aging process.

      We had a tasty lunch adjacent to a massive cruise ship preparing to leave port. And there were feral cats everywhere. We saw evidence that the local townspeople cared for these beings and it was really quite touching to see a local woman call out to them as they scurried to greet her in anticipation of her care.

      We made it back to our B&B in the early evening. I do report with some pride and appreciation, that our daily adventures have increased my walking endurance, We walked about 7 miles today, and it really felt easy. I'm grateful for that benefit and to share it with the man I love at my side. He's a remarkable travel companion, and thank God he's willing to be the confident driver to get us places. My only contribution to the drive has been to use my internal voice when I want to shout "Holy Shit! Watch Out!" It was another lovely day in the island that has been conquered by many nations and yet internalized all of those cultures that we are able to relish in our experience here. Ciao!
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    • Day 21

      Cinque Fotografie-Catania Day 4

      May 4, 2022 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

      This morning we decided to experience part of the climb to Mt Etna, the 11,000 ft. volcano that dominates the landscape just north of Catania. Mt Etna is an active volcano that has erupted over 200 times since 1500 B.C. according to best estimates. The local airport in Catania was closed as recently as February due to Etna's spewing of ash and smoke.

      We traveled up as far as the base of the tram where we reached an elevation of nearly 6200 ft. As I recall, that elevation is about the same as Rock Springs, WY, where I went to high school and returned to teach.

      During our trip up the mountain, we saw considerable evidence of previous eruptions, and the sea of rock reminded us of our previous trip to the Big Island of Hawaii on the Kona side where you feel like you've landed on the moon.

      The aerial tram takes visitors another 2000 ft up the volcano, but we opted to skip that due to its hefty price (50€) and the hazy sky. Visitors who want to travel beyond the upper tram stop to the summit must also have an experienced guide to lead them for that final steep climb on foot.

      We departed Mt. Etna and tried to find some wineries nearby in Nicolosi. We were unsuccessful in locating open establishments, but we did enjoy driving through the communities and noticed how the residents incorporated retaining walls from volcanic rock.

      We then made our way to Taormina, a beautiful hillside city that looms over the spectacular coast. Similar to our trip to Etna we traversed several switchbacks to arrive at the area where we found parking. My tongue-in-cheek English translation for Taormina is "beautiful hillside town where pedestrians will likely die". There are very few sidewalks on several of the main roads and it's important to be quite vigilant avoiding speeding cars, busses and motorbikes who seem to enjoy high-speed street slalom racing.

      A light lunch of shrimp and tuna ceviche, some raw oysters and a few glasses of Vino Blanco calmed our nerves while we enjoyed the spectacular views of the bay.

      We meandered through a street peppered with restaurants and souvenir shores and we noticed signs for a public park, Villa Comunale di Taormina. The park was quite lush with several intriguing sections and many beautiful views to the coast below. We first noticed an area with several exercise machines stationed in a circuit. Next we discovered military artillery and a monument honoring fallen soldiers from World Wars I & II.

      Throughout the park several unusual buildings caught our attention. Upon further research, I learned that the structures were designed by a Scottish woman, Florence Trevelyan, who constructed these buildings with stones, wood and bricks and they are called “the beehives” or Victorian follies.

      After we left the park, we decided to get cappuccinos and an early dinner. We found a lovely restaurant nestled high above the bay and Isola Bella, a small island that can be reached by a sandbar during low tide. We noticed that several sunbathers were wandering there, and we also observed that they none were wading or swimming in the sea.

      We concluded our journey back to Catania, and dodged the ever chaotic traffic to our lodging house. We are grateful for yet another beautiful day of beautiful sights, great food and wine and a chance to enjoy our time together.

      Late-night addendum:
      I will just call this last thought as "Adventures in Ordering Food When You Don't Speak the Language and Google Translate Isn't Opening"

      We took a fairly long nap after our return from the day's travels and we thought we'd grab a drink and a small snack. We passed an establishment labeled Oyster Bar and we thought red wine and some oysters might be the perfect ending of the day. It turns out that no one spoke more than a few words of English. Our attempt to order oysters and fried gnocchi morphed into the delivery of a pile of sliced bologna style meat, a basket filled with sopapillas or beignet-like fried dough pillows, a basket of bread, two whole grain croissants, and, as an extra bonus, the cook fried up whole artichokes.

      We had to laugh at ourselves at our goof, but the most powerful part of the exchange was the opportunity to stumble through a conversation with Amal, the cook, . We learned that he is originally from Bangladesh, that he had a wife and two daughters aged five and ten. He described life in Sicily as very difficult, and despite living here for eighteen years, he still wasn't able to get the documents together to become a citizen.

      He showed us photos of his daughters who were back home in Bangladesh to observe Ramadan. His daughters were dressed in festive traditional clothing to celebrate EID. We showed him a photo of Olive.

      We talked about different foods and the names. Displayed on the counter was a baked good that he referred to as American Chocolate Cheesecake. He said that it was a lot more popular and less cumbersome to make than the cheesecake from his country. I showed Amal a photo of a chocolate cheesecake that I baked for a family gathering right before we left for our trip.

      After we paid the bill, we left him a tip and thanked him for our dialogue and meal.

      Our food ordering mishap became a very powerful exchange between strangers trying to find common ground despite different language, culture and experience. It was a beautiful experience.
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    Minoriti Palace

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