Wednesday, 12 August 2009

Ancient ruins and ampitheather near Palazzo Acreide, Sicily

Near the city were extensive ruins from an ancient greek ampitheater and caves used by the greeks. The ampitheater was perfectly placed with Mt. Etna looming smack dab in the middle of the spot where the stage must have been...








Very cool underground water and grain storage spaces and maybe even sleeping quarters. It was like having a/c in there!

Ancient rock carvings with holes possibly for lights or storage...


All the green grass was a visible testament to a very wet spring, which brought more than average rainfall all over Sicily.

Lizard peeking over the wall!


It was amazing to see anything still blooming in this dry climate!
The poppies were hanging on for dear life...

One last picture and we were on our way to Modica...

Palazzo Acreide, Sicily Roadtrip

On our roadtrip to the baroque cities of southern Sicily and southern tip of the island, we stopped in a number of little towns that were bursting with history and charm.
At high noon we stopped in Palazzo Acreide and visited a few churches and marveled at the old, rustic balconies in the little streets...



Proud moment: My husband asking for directions! :-)



The main church was magnificent inside and out....


There were at least 4 chandeliers just like this one on each side of the nave... beautifully crafted glass!



High noon: Carlo talking to little old man in town square...
(left side of frame)...I love this shot!

Siesta time....



The peach granita we had in the little bar with the white awning was scrumptious and soooo refreshing!

We came across an ancient linen shop, which seemed to not have changed in at least 100 years. It was filled to the painted ceiling with linens, tablecloths, aprons, napkins, etc. The owner actually waved us inside and showed us proudly the original artwork on the ceiling.



One more beautifully restored church and a row of lovely colored houses.
The purple one being part of the local museum.


And we were off to the next town...

Monday, 10 August 2009

Snapshots, Sicily

I couldn't help but post some of these snapshots from our roadtrip...

The best is the Fiat perched lopsided on the back of the truck!!!

Interior of Sicily in late July: HOT, HOT, HOT


Hay bales, barren fields and olive trees... for hours at end... :)


Accident waiting to happen.... OMG!!

Gotta love those melons!


Siracusa: Swordfish, tuna, sardines, shrimp, sepia... it's all there!


Siracusa: The variety and quality of the veggies you can't beat!



Siracusa: I really wished I could have set this little guy free...

Marzamemi: Dinner guest at outdoor restaurant in town square.
She liked the bread we inadvertently "dropped" while eating.

Future dinner at fish restaurant in Messina... (not ours though!)

Poor little guy...


Tuesday, 4 August 2009

Noto...

More of Noto!





Shadow games in front of the church!

Noto, Sicily

The city of Noto is one of the premier examples of the beautiful sicilian baroque building style. We arrived at sunset and our first glimpse of the city was through a large gate, where the sun made the pavers look like gold! The light was beautiful and we could not have timed it better.



Gorgeous light on mainstreet!





This saxophone player added the right musical background...




Cute gelateria stand..


Sicily step by step...

O.k. since this was my 7th visit to Sicily, (I think), Carlo promised to show me a new part of this beautiful island! Yay...So off we went on a three day, two night road trip to the baroque cities in the southeast of the island. We braved the hot temps (in the upper 90's that is almost 40degrees C!)
We started our tour in the city of Noto, where we also spent the night in a hotel in the mountains. "Masseria degli ulivi" which was an extended and converted farmhouse with many new additions and luxurious things like an infinity pool, new bathrooms, a/c and a delicious menu... unfortunately we were left with no a/c during the night and Carlo even set off to find someone of the hotel to assist us at 2:30 AM in the morning! To no avail, we were roasting in our room, even though the cool mountain air was lovely. As we had no window, but only two large french doors, which we did not feel comfortable to leave open, as any mouse other other small critter could have taken up shelter in our room, we opted for leaving the bathroom window open. During the night a small bird must have used the towel holder as its night time roosting spot and we found its marks in the morning!
The owner of the hotel was quite unapologetic for the non-funtioning air conditioning unit and only gave us a 10 Euro discount. Tired and a bit frustrated we set off for a long day of driving through the sicilian country side with two more cities on our radar...

On our first afternoon we visited a natural reserve with an old Tuna cannery....and spent a few relaxing hours at the beach.







All the seagrass was rolled into these little turds! It was funny!



Monday, 3 August 2009

Back from Sicily!

Dear Friends!

Carlo and I just returned to Munich last night. For two weeks we've been again basking in the mediterranean sunshine in Sicily, enjoying a trip to the most southern tip of the island and of course eating many, many wonderful meals... It's time to hit the treadmill again...

Pics and more stories to come soon!

Hope all of you are having a happy summer!