We always enjoy food tours, because in addition to trying foods we wouldn’t otherwise, we get a walking tour with a knowledgeable local guide who tells us about local culture and history. Saturday started with a food tour with Streaty. A great way to start our Sicilian adventure. Doug did a great job finding us a wonderful hotel – beautiful, central, friendly and super helpful hosts. A midnight to bed for us on this first night with no complaints. Arriving late on Friday we ventured out from our hotel at 10pm, and came across a “city that never sleeps” street filled with restaurants, wine bars and people strolling. During trip planning, some people told us “get out of there as quickly as you can”. But that’s ok- as always we made the most of the time we had. So excited be here! We arrived late, having lost a chunk of Palermo time to a cancelled flight from Naples. Melanie here! Giving Doug a break from writing. Tomorrow is our last day in Sicicly, then on to Rome! Author zipster Posted on NovemNovem1 Comment on Etna From All Sides We’re in Sicily! We got a tour of the operation, a walk through the vineyards and a chance to sample several of their delicious and pricey wines. Their ultra-modern winery was constructed in 2009, but built in the middle of 50-100 year old vineyards. Our afternoon destination was a wine tasting at Pietrodolce, a very fine winery on the north slope. Clouds surrounded the top and there was thunder and lightning in the distance, but we only had 1/2 hour of rain and used that time to grab some lunch. Two days later, we returned to Etna for a drive through the wine growing regions on the east and northern slopes. There’s still enough heat there to create steam from warm-to-the-touch rocks – 21 years later! We hiked to several viewpoints and circumnavigated a small crater from a 2001 eruption. The landscape from the Rifugio is mix of volcanic ash, lava flows, craters and a few bits of vegetation taking hold. From there, you can walk or take a 4×4 up to 2900 meters – that’s the current limit for visitors due to volcanic activity. The Rifugio is the access point for a cable car ride up to 2500 meters. For most of the drive, the mountain was filling our front windshield, at least till we started our hill climb to Rifugio Sapienza (1900 meters).Īs we wound up the side of the mountain, we passed vinyards, orchards and farms as well as lava flows from past eruptions. Rain showers were forecast for the weekend, so we adjusted our schedule and drove 1-1/2 hours north from Syracusa along the eastern coast of Sicily to get some great views. A GREAT day for us! Author zipster Posted on NovemNovem1 Comment on A Day in Florence Two Wheeling the Appian Way And 6 cafes….and the Uffuzi gallery we visited many years ago.Īfter one of our best meals of the trip (ask Melanie about Nobile Soup!) it was back to the train station for our trip to Rome. Just a block off the river, is the town square with the famous statue of David by Michelangelo (ok, its a copy…) and some other important artworks. Even then, the Medici’s still had a passage built on top of all the shops so they didn’t have to mingle with the regular folks! This bridge is lined with jewelry shops – the Medici family that ruled Florence and lived on the other side of the river decided that was an acceptable trade and displaced the butchers that were originally there. There are multiple bridges across the river, the most famous is the Ponte Vecchio.
#Nasty zipster free#
The blocks between the Duomo and the Arno river are (mostly) car free and devoted to shopping, fun, dining and of course gelato. The building is capped by Brunelleschi’s famous dome – the largest brick dome ever built. Florence was the birthplace of the Renaissance and this building is a major symbol of that era. Begun in 1296, this catherdral is the 3rd largest in the world. We headed to the Duomo, the main cathedral in Florence. Lots of meats, cheeses, dried mushrooms, veggies and wine – we chose a spinach and cheese calzone and some cantucci. Our first stop was the central market for some energy.
It’s 170 miles from Rome to Florence, but thanks to Italy’s generally great train system, we got there in 90 minutes.
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