My Middle Eastern Adventure!: Sightseeing in Sicily

We departed from the port town of Civitavecchia, just outside Rome and our first stop was the island of Sicily. Sicily was a much bigger island than I realized! We came into port early in the morning and from there disembarked the ship and went on an all day tour of Mount Etna and the village of Taormina. Very beautiful even though it was really hazy that day. :)

Here's a picture of the port.

The Italian Coast Guard.

Guardia Costiera

Some pretty cathedral we could see from the ship.

We drove quite awhile along the coast to get to the base of Mount Etna. We tried to snap some pics, but the bus windows were tinted too dark so they didn't really turn out. The road snaked slowly up the mountain and was full of switchbacks!

The terrain was much more rough the further we climbed and the rocks were definitely volcanic!

Our first clear siting of the peak of Mount Etna!

A little closer...

That cloud of white steam is this active volcano venting!

We continued driving right up to the base of the cone. We stopped at the Sylvestri Crater and explored a little. Because the volcano was active, we weren't able to get any closer to it. The volcanic rock was really cool.....was surprised to see such red rock!

Sylvestri Crater

Walking around inside the crater.....the people look like ants!

Dad and I standing on the edge of the crater......it was SUPER windy and freezing for me who just flew in from Kuwait where the temperature was +52 Celsius the day I flew out!

From Mount Etna we drove back along the coast and up into a village called Taormina. What a beautiful place! :)

There were so many pics begging to be taken in this town. We probably stopped at every side street to take one.....here are some. Every side street that branched off the main one, had steps that led up.

There were some REALLY old churches that have been a part of this town's history for a very long time.

This is the Church of San Giuseppe in the Piazza Novo Aprile. If you look very

carefully you'll notice the first flag on the left is a Canadian flag. :)

Church of Santa Caterina

The Duomo Cathedral also known as the Church of St. Nicola was built around 1400AD.

Some random shots from around the town! :)

The Torre dell'Orologio - an old medieval clock tower.....

We got caught in a downpour and narrowly missed getting drenched by ducking into this little cafe. Sidenote........Dad and I ordered a tomato/mozza/salami sandwich and shared it . It was quite possibly the best sandwich we had both ever eaten! :)

The view from our little table while the rain came down....

Walking down the main street - Corso Umberto

Looking down on the lower part of Taormina

Our tour guide was incredibly boring, so Dad and I snuck away from the group and went to find the ancient Teatro Greco (Greek Theatre) that Taormina is well-known for. The town actually still uses it for live theatrical performances....too bad there wasn't one playing while we there.