Making Memories on the Mediterranean

We have arrived at the final post about my recent trip to Italy - although as I post this, I can't believe it's about a week shy of being a month in the past! Isn't it funny how time just seems to fly by?

We got up EARLY on Friday morning and made our way to the airport to catch our flight from Rome to Catania - a city central to the island of Sicily. If Italy is shaped like a boot, the island of Sicily is the football that is being "kicked" at the toe of the boot...and it's also where my younger sister has been stationed for the past four months. Our flight was uneventful and we arrived in Catania around lunch time, picked up our rental car and then ran errands on the Naval base where my sister has been stationed...

Just a shepherd taking his sheep home @ the end of the day...as you do...

The errands at the base took up most of the afternoon and then we drove toward the appointed meeting spot we'd set up for our final AirBnB location - we followed the host to her apartment, which had the most incredible views of the Mediterranean...SO incredible... but the area was also SO deserted that it seemed almost like something out of an apocalyptic scenario. Eek! Please hear me when I say the apartment itself was beautiful and lovely, comfy beds and impeccable views - but everything around it looked like it hadn't seen human contact in years and years... It was a little eerie.

Despite the slightly eerie tone - the views from the balcony of the apartment were stunning and there was also a staircase that led right out to the Mediterranean Ocean - and that was beautiful. 

Mount Etna glimpsed across the ocean from our balcony. 

My toes at the edge of the Mediterranean...

The Mediterranean Ocean & Mount Etna.

Views of the ocean...

Taking it all in...

Striking a pose alongside the Mediterranean...

Cheese!

I don't have many pictures from our Friday night - it didn't quite play out the way we'd hoped. We found a restaurant online in the nearby town of Ragusa and made our way to the town with the intent of having a nice dinner. After walking up and down the street the restaurant was supposed to be on, we asked a local gentleman and he pointed us in the direction of the restaurant. We'd walked by it twice but only this time noticed that it had a sign that it would be closed on the 23rd. *sigh* Everywhere else was closed or closing...so we ended up getting microwave pizzas from a grocery store! You have to look back and laugh now - but we weren't on that Friday night.

A chapel in downtown Ragusa.

Lindsey has explored the island of Sicily from one end to another and found tons of absolutely gorgeous little spots - but we only had Saturday and so we decided that we'd explore the towns of Taormina and Ortigia, and so we set out. After some road detours, we arrived at the parking garage, parked the car and then proceeded to climb the set of stairs leading up the hillside to the little town of Taormina.

Foliage on the walk up the stairs..

The view from the parking garage - my sister said "oh - it will get better".

I call this one - parking lot through the flowers...

A violet blooming along the side of the staircase...

Once we arrived in the midst of the little town, we made our way to a small cafe and settled ourselves into a table to have a late breakfast. I had the most delicious coffee; the best of the entire trip, sitting at this little cafe - it was Caffe Freddo, which is cold coffee with cream - and it was divine! Along with my wonderful croissant and more divine freshly squeezed orange juice, it was a perfect breakfast! Once we'd finished, we set out to explore the town and some of the shops.

Caffe Freddo with a croissant!

I'll never have orange juice this good again... *sigh*

A more idyllic street scene I've never seen...

Gorgeous ceramics were everywhere - I purchased an ornament & wee scooter.

The emblem of Sicily - the head of the gorgon atop the triskelion. Yea...I have no clue.

Lindsey led us along the street and up to her main destination - a Greco-Roman amphitheater that provided sweeping 360 degree views of the town of Taormina, the Mediterranean below and the island of Sicily stretching into the distance. It would be an understatement to say the view was breathtaking - the pictures don't do it justice, but I'll share them nonetheless, ha-ha!

The view before entering the amphitheater & climbing all it's steps...

Gorgeous - isn't it?

The Mediterranean Ocean!

The amphitheater is built of brick - which means it likely dates from the Roman occupation but is laid out according to the Grecian style, hence the name of the theater: the Teatro Greco. The theater is remarkably well preserved and work was ongoing while we were there visiting - it is still used today for performances and wooden bleachers have been installed above the worn down original brick seating. The views from the floor of the theater are impressive...and when you climb to the higher seating levels, they just become more stunning. 

The back wall of the theater - and Mount Etna in the distance.

The Greco Roman Amphitheater of Taormina!

Arches perfectly framing Mount Etna.

I've said it before...I'll say it again - you can't take her anywhere!

In case it's not obvious - the bulk of my pictures from our time in Sicily came from not just our visit to Taormina but from the Greco-Roman amphitheater. It was located on one of the uppermost portions of the little city, which is built along the hillside - and the views were too wonderful, so I just kept snapping pictures.

Mount Etna - still an active volcano; it's erupted while my little sister has been in Sicily. 

Once we'd made our way around the amphitheater, we walked back down into town and wound our way through the small cobble streets, turning this way and that as my little led us to the botanical gardens, another spot she'd discovered with beautiful blooms and views. The charm of the little city; streets that wound and turned on one another, stores crowding the streets and cafes with seats alongside the little alleyways, it certainly had personality. 

The beautiful little city - in bloom!

Orange trees everywhere!

Vespas were everywhere...

Perfectly idyllic little streets...that cars squeeze down at high speeds!

The view from the entrance to the Botanical Gardens.

Seriously - how cute are these streets?

We made our way to a restaurant Lindsey had frequented in previous visits for our lunch and I had tomato soup (delicious) and one final Margharita Pizza before we made our way back through town, picked up some pastries at a shop and headed down the stairs and back to our car.

Pizza Margharita

Look at all the wonderful goodies!

The pastry shop - yum!

Our final stop of the day was in the town of Ortigia - a small island connected via channel and bridges to the larger town of Syracusa. The town is known for it's shopping and tourism and in mythology is where the goddess Leto stopped to give birth to Artemis. The mathematician Archimedes hails from Ortigia as well... and here I was thinking Archimedes was just Merlin's wee owl sidekick in The Sword in the Stone!

Temple ruins in the town of Ortigia.

"Happy Holidays" in Italian!

I'm completely kidding about Archimedes - I know he was a real person, ha-ha! There was a piazza in Ortigia that may be one of the prettiest places we'd been the whole trip - the Cathedral of Saint Lucia took up a large portion of the piazza and is built on the foundations of the original Temple of Athena, which dates back to the 5th century BC. We had some desserts at a cafe in the Piazza before taking a quick tour of the church - which was filled with religious emblems and relics of Saint Lucia.

The Cathedral of Syracusa..

Do I look over it here? Ha-ha!

Smile! I'd had coffee when I took this picture, ha-ha!

One of the alcoves of the Cathedral of Syracuse.

The vaulted & arched ceilings of the cathedral. 

The altar & dome of the cathedral. 

The columns on the left & right of the gate are original to the Temple of Athena (from 5th century BC)

We meandered our way back through the streets of Ortigia, stopping for my Mom to get a clementine fruit Popsicle along the way and to snap a few pictures here and there, before returning to our apartment for the evening!

Delicious fruit pops - so tasty!

A fountain in Ortigia.

We packed up our things that evening and all tried to get a good night's sleep and on Sunday morning we set out for the last few hours of our time in Italy. We had breakfast at The London Cafe in the wee town of Misterbianco (which I sadly have no pictures of...) before Lindsey dropped us off at the airport in Catania to catch our flight to Frankfurt. I can't say the experience of checking in and getting on the flight in Catania was anything less than completely nerve-wracking and our flight from Frankfurt to DC clocked in at almost 9 hours and with far more turbulence than I liked - but we made it home safe and sound on Sunday night around 10 PM.

Morning views of the Mediterranean...

A final selfie in Italy!

The trip to Italy was a once in a lifetime trip and sometimes I still can't believe that I spent a week riding along the canals of Venice, walking the streets of ancient Rome and Pompeii and exploring the island of Sicily. I will treasure the memories we made for the rest of my life and I'll look back on the pictures and these posts with love!