Here are a few select scenes from a recent trek we took with two of our dearest friends, Katherine and Colleen. They will appear in a follow up segment to this blog but we so wanted to get some of these pics uprightaway for a Taste Of Sicily. We have taken the immense liberty of using a couple of photographs from Colleen as well as ourself. We loaned her our trusty G-9 and she turned like a caterpillar into a butterfly right before our eyes, discovering that the G-9 was just tons more fun than the disposable point and shoot. We were thrilled and very impressed!
We began in Palermo viewing roof-tops, close-ups of godly statues and the amazing sky. We are leaving out the tribute to gelato which is not suitable for photography once one gets all slurpped up in the stuff...heavenly though it is!
Above is Palermo's City Hall. Cool, eh?
Then we went on to Agrigento...home of the oldest Greek and Italian temples and other ruins. Colleen absolutely nailed the sunlight coming through the broken columns!
Then we went on to Agrigento...home of the oldest Greek and Italian temples and other ruins. Colleen absolutely nailed the sunlight coming through the broken columns!
Almost forgot! (In other words, we are backtracking for a moment.) Following Palermo and before heading to Agrigento we went to Monreale, home of the golden church...well, it's not what THEY call it, but it was constructed using more than 4000 lbs of gold! So, we feel confident that no one will argue too much about our title.
We then sped on (oh, laugh about that...ever try reading road signs in Sicily?! The GPS needed some psychiatric re-adjustment by the time we returned, though it did prove to be invaluable in a number of circumstances) to Siracusa where we spent one night and a day exploring the sights of that coastal town. We, for one, were impressed with the immense Banyan trees like the one below even though there were churches, too. I think we found gelato here as well...we were not totally looking for it ... all the time anyway.
From Siracusa we went on to Taormina which was absolutely magical and where we left a lot of real money in small ceramic stores and jewelry shops. We do not regret a THING! Below is a view from out hotel - the Viilla Carlotta - a true gem of a place and to which we'd all return in a heartbeat.
This is another of Colleen's wonderful photos, and shows the infamous cafe where Tennesee Williams would spend many hours. He is known to have ordered a drink and then sit for hours, refilling his glass with less expensive stuff from a bottle he kept 'hidden' in his coat. We think he probably wrote here, too, but we're sure of the drinking part.
So for now, all ye amigos: have a Merry Christmas and plan on having a healthy, happy New Year!
Ciao!
