April 8, 2023 – Sicily, Italy

We docked in Catania, Sicily.  We opened the curtains at 6:30 am and there is a grain silo looking at us.  There is a huge mural that crosses 8 silo’s and greets all ships coming into this port.  Right above it was the full moon.  Beautiful.  On the other side of the ship is Mt Etna, Europe’s tallest and one of the most active volcano’s.  It has erupted 130 times in recorded history.  And, she’s smoking…

Catania is located on the east coast of Sicily and overlooks the Ionian Sea.  It enjoys a lovely Mediterranean climate and is the second largest city in Sicily.  

We booked a tour this morning to take us to another UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We boarded a bus with our guide, Giovanni and traveled about 90 minutes to central Sicily.  We traveled across beautiful farm land and rolling hills that remind me of home.  Acres of citrus trees, olive trees and for the first time I’ve ever seen, fields of cactus planted in rows to harvest their prickly pears.  Apparently, they have a value of double the oranges and less maintenance.  

Today we are visiting the Villa Romana del Casale just outside the town of Piazza Armerina.  It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its Roman villa embellished with mosaics.  Apparently, this Roman Villa was rediscovered in the 1950’s.  It was buried by many feet of mud.  There is no recorded history of this villa, but believe it belonged to a Roman Emperor.  More like a palace than a villa, this 37,000 square foot complex is in the picturesque valley of the River Gela on the slopes of Mount Mangone.  Here lies one of the most prestigious monumental relics of the late antique period of the Mediterranean, believed to have been built in the 4th century AD and decorated with enchanting mosaics considered to be the most beautiful and best preserved of their kind.  The extremely luxurious villa is divided into sections and when you enter its horseshoe shaped courtyard, it’s overlooked by the refined spa complex, complete with thermal bath, sauna and gym.  The central part of the villa is dominated by a fountain and surrounded by rooms with colorful mosaics.  Many public and private areas, including a basilica.  Of course, the structure itself had been destroyed.  Only some walls but vast floors of mosaics were left.   We walked through vast covered areas where Giovanni told us the stories the mosaics were telling.  There were stories about hunting and fishing.  Many, many pictures of animals in detail.  Stories of going to Africa by ship and capturing exotic animals, thought to be used by gladiators.  Sexy scenes in the bedroom and girls in bikini’s.  As Giovanni put it, the French always took credit for the bikini but once you see this ancient mosaic, you know better.

What a marvelous tour!  We stopped at a little vendor on our way out and bought some hazelnut Sicilian Cookies.  Delicious.  We boarded the bus and traveled back up the hill to the town of Piazza Armenia.  The streets are so narrow, we were not sure the bus would fit through.  Lol.  When we got to the top of the hill, we pulled over for a photo op of the town.  It’s famous for its historical and archaeological heritage and medieval layout.  

Agricultural tourism is very popular so next we visited a winery, farmhouse, hotel that use to be an ancient monastery.  Gigliotto’s Vineyards had a spectacular setting.  We entered a courtyard and then wandered around to take some pictures before lunch.  We came inside for lunch.  They started bringing food to our table, dish after dish of fresh olives, cheeses, meats, fresh ricotta like I’ve never tasted, grain salads, fresh greens, homemade breads, artichoke, eggplant, pasta’s, meat rolls, fresh fruit salad and homemade dessert.  Every time we thought we were done, more food arrived.  The staff was flawless and the food, Bob and I both agree, this was the best meal we have had on this trip.

Giovanni, our sweet Sicilian tour guide, called the owner and asked if we could have a quick tour of the winery.  Soon we were met by the owner.  He unlocked the winery and we were able to see the large presses and vats of wine.  It was beautifully decorated with antiques and I noticed some antique, foot pedal sewing machines that said “Singer”.  Friends from home will recognize these machines.  Next, we went into the area that had all the bottles of wine.  Bob asked Giovanni to translate and ask if there was any Moscato?  The owner had 1 bottle left.  Bob asked if he would sell it and he said yes.  I gave the man a big hug and a kiss on each cheek.  I gave one to Bob later 😉

It was time to head back to the ship so we boarded the bus and enjoyed the scenery on the way back to Catania.  We aren’t far from Siracusa and I can see how Syracuse, NY got its name.  The landscape looks very similar and many Italian’s moved to Syracuse and also our local town of Endicott.  I miss our good Italian restaurants back home and our friends with Italian heritage.  

We’re back to the port.  We said our good-bye’s and boarded the ship.  The captain announced that we would be going through the strait later this evening (strait between Sicily and mainland Italy) and then he would take us close to the island of Stromboli so we could see an active volcano after dark.  Stromboli is off the north coast of Sicily and has 300 residents.  We would not be arriving until 10:30 or 11 pm.  My friend, Bev and I took our binoculars and went upstairs.  It started pouring rain, but we were not going to miss this.  Many people had the same thought.  I did not realize Mt. Stromboli erupts every single day and has continuously for several thousand years.  We waited inside until someone said they spotted lava.  We ran outside to see.  Someone said it bursts lava once every 15-20 minutes so we weren’t sure if we’d see it.  Suddenly, a big burst and up in the air flow molten lava!!  Exciting to see in person.  It’s pouring rain and chilly and soon we couldn’t see anything so we called it a night.  

(Picture above is 3 images from various passengers compiled by our friend Peter. Thank you Peter!)

Not many hours to sleep because we have any early tour, but I’m so glad I did not miss this.  What a spectacular day that we will never forget!

Grazie Sicily for a fabulous day! Good scenery, good food & wine and good friends 🙂