Sicily = Total Chaos

Hello once again...

Well, as usual, I am terrible at this whole blogging thing and it seems impossible that I can relay all of our adventures to you without missing out on all of the best details but, I will try to do my best. I know, it would have been better had I been able to tell you of my trip as it was happening but we were just having too much fun. I hope you will enjoy these next few posts nonetheless.

April left this morning and it seems strange to be on my own again however, I definitely feel better prepared for being on my own after having had the past 9 or 10weeks of experience behind me. I did however, change my train ticket weeks ago so that I will now be coming home on August 27th! I am really looking forward to being home and seeing all of you. This trip has been incredible but, it definitely seems right that it is just about home time.

Now, back to telling you of our adventures :) Our train ride from Rome to Catania was highly entertaining as I described in my Roma post. Upon first impressions of Catania and our new surroundings, we thought it would be a pretty good place to be...we were wrong! Sicily is VERY different from mainland Italy and if you think it is a bit chaotic in the North, well, chaos reigns supreme in Sicily...utter chaos. Catania lives by the motto "Carpe Diem" meaning "Seize the day" and it is apparent in everything they do. Mount Etna plays a very central role in the city of Catania. Because the residents of the area do not know if "Mama" which is what they call Etna will allow them to live to see tomorrow they live each day as though it were their last. The city is full of passion and crazy driving. Our hostel was situated right in the center of the local fish market and was probably the smelliest place in the world! It was also the local hotspot for all-night parties so we lay awake all night (dripping in sweat) as the parties went on until 3am. Then were awoken by 5am by the the vendors setting up the fish market. We woke up in the morning (if you can call it "waking up" if you have barely slept) and walked out of our hostel to thousands of pigeons feasting on the dozens of fish heads and chicken feet littered all over the ground. We somehow did not realize that drinking the water here (as we had done in our two previous locations) would be at all disgusting and well, April paid the terrible price and was sick for a good 4 days. Poor thing...luckily though, she didn't get sick until our last day in Catania. This was a good thing because our next destination was a very nice hotel on the Aeolian Island of Lipari and it is much nicer to be ill in a place that is clean and fresh and was cleaned for us daily. I am very happy to report though that after some rest she made a full recovery and was feeling nearly 100% better by the time we left Lipari.

We decided rather quickly while in Catania that we didn't want to spend much time (or any at all!) in the actual city of Catania so our first full day we set off for the town of Taoromina. It was probably one of the most beautiful places we went to on our whole trip. We spent the whole day on Isola Bella snorkelling and sunbathing and it was absolutely a perfect day. However, on our way to Taoromina we got a tad bit lost due to our poor translation of instructions. We ended up having to walk 2 kilometers on a very narrow windy road with two lanes of crazy Sicilian driving on a road that, in Canada, would have been a wide sidewalk! It was a bit dangerous and we, both, are very happy to be alive to tell the tale. Although the views from the walk which ran along the coast was absolutely breathtaking if you were brave enough to take your eyes off the road!

On our second full day in Catania we signed up for a Mt. Etna and Alcantra Gorge daytrip and it was such an unbelievable day! We were picked up at our disgusting hostel at 9am and taken in an off-roading type of jeep to Mt. Etna. We walked around the lower craters of Etna and then drove up Etna (I am sure we just about died in that jeep about 10 times!) to a higher point and then trekked for about 2 hours. I cannot really describe how impressive it was to be atop Etna while it was actually erupting! The eruption was nearing it's end however so, there wasn't much lava left to see but, the smoke, the craters, and the lava bombs were something I never imagined I would experience. The way that the lizards, trees, plants, butterflies, grasshoppers, and everything else that lives on the volcano, have evolved to survive in such conditions was astounding and utterly impressive. I cannot wait to post pictures when I get home so that you can all see what I saw. After our trekk up Etna, we were all pretty hot and tired so we went to a picnic spot and had the traditional Sicilian lunch that was prepared for us by women in Catania. It was absolutely delicious and much to April's dismay, I have been taking pictures of most of the food we have been eating and I will devote an entire blog entry, at some point, to the food we have tried in Italy. It has been so absolutely incredible. They have been all about quality, not quantity and we love it. Somehow, we are losing weight despite our mandatory 1-2 gelati's each day along with our almost daily espresso's and paninis! Catania is more about food such as anchovies which is not my most favourite dish however, we have been trying to taste as much of the local cuisine as possible. Following lunch we drove through some beautiful countryside mostly, full of vineyards and found ourselves at the Alcantra Gorge. The water was absolutely freezing as it is the melted snow from the mountains but I could not allow that to deter me from taking a dip in such beautiful surroundings. There were caves with sparkling clear water and many people were canyoning which, had I not been on a tour, I would have been doing as well. It was so very, very beautiful. We were then taken back to our hostel where we had a late dinner and an early bedtime, hoping to get some rest before the partying began!

I know I am probably forgetting many of the details that, at the time, were crucial to the story but, hopefully this will give you all at least a small glimpse into our adventure.

I am currently in Frankfurt and think I will go and check out the Old Town Quarter following posting this blog entry, then tonight I have signed up for seeing a Sneak Preview of an english movie which is organized by the hostel I am staying at. It should be fun. Tomorrow, I am going to go on a day tour of the Rhine River and the surrounding castles and villages. I am looking forward to it. I depart for Berlin the next morning where I will board my flight for Toronto later that afternoon!

Hope this blog finds you all enjoying your last few daya of summer! Can you believe it is almost over?!!! However, I find myself beginning to look forward to winter and lacing up my skates to show off my hockey skills (or lack thereof!).

Missing you and looking forward to seeing you all in just a few days!!!

Love,
Jenn(ifer)