What's That Amazing Smell? Italië!

Advanced warning: There are lots of pictures of food and beautiful landscapes. I apologize in advance if it seems a bit repetitive. You've been warned. Also, this is the longest post I've done yet. But hey, it was a 12 day trip, of course I have more to share in comparison to my weekend getaways!

Wednesday evening Rachel and I arrived in Catania, Sicily, a bit exhausted from work and travel but still rearing to enjoy our first Italian meal—even if it did mean eating around 11 at night. A time of the evening that we enjoyed some grand dinners many times during the trip.

We dumped off the bags at the hostel and headed to Trattoria Casalinga to enjoy some amazing pasta and wine. When Rachel tried to tell the owner that the meal was "delicious," his response was, "No! No! Neno!" (His name). And this sentence soon became a centerpiece of our trip exclaimed many many times. As well as the sentence "what's that amazing smell?!"

Thursday we woke up to some lovely sun off our balcony room. The hostel we stayed in, C.C.Ly, was located in a beautiful old building with the largest front door I've ever had the pleasure of opening in my life. The hostel was nice. Our room was great. Only complaint would be the group of drunk people that came in around 3am and proceeded to talk loudly in the hall for about 45 minutes even after Rachel requested they be quiet 3 times. But what do you do? Maybe we're getting too picky about our hostel neighbors.

We had some time before we needed to catch the train to Syracuse, so we tried to make the most of our morning. We headed to Duomo Piazza and enjoyed a cappuccino while watching all the old Italian men meet at the monument. Sitting on the steps, Rachel and I tried to guess what affairs they were discussing. I also wonder what the conversation is like when they leave the house in the morning. "Oh, I'm running late! I need to be on those piazza monument steps by 9 sharp or I might miss something important! Where's my hat!?" I'm sure there is some explanation for it.

Just an art class:

After enjoying the sites of the city center, we wondered over the the market to feast our eyes and bellies on a fair share of fresh fruits, veggies, and fish. Oh the fish. Swordfish seems to be the theme. Cutting hunks of meat straight off the animal with a massive meat cleaver? Even better. Still fresh bloodiness oozing out of that massive swordfish head? Fantastic!

Oh sure, we better shoot some oysters. And what's this? Mussels? Okay, I guess I'll have a couple of those as well.

Leaving Catania proved to be a bit of a challenge. We rushed from the market back the the Hostel, grabbed the bags and tromped down to the train station. Bought our tickets. A few minutes later we get on the train. A few minutes after that, everyone is getting off the train. From tiny bits of English and my pathetic use of Spanish we learn the train is broken and no one has any idea when it'll be running. Ok. So we check out our bus options. Next bus leaves later in the day than the next train, so we decide to wait for the next train. Time for the next train...oh it's running 50 minutes late. Fine. We'll get the bus. It took us close to 3 hours of waiting to make our 1 hour journey south. Rachel says this is typical of Italian public transit.

We make it to Syracuse in the early evening and are pleasantly surprised by the amazing-ness of our new B&B digs. We manage to enjoy some rays and a beer on the roof terrace before hitting the town.

We wandered into Duomo di Syracuse square and drank wine while discussing the "you caught me in the act" pose of one of the sculptures.

Next we went to the other side of our little island to watch the sunset and chat a little with some locals.

That night we had dinner at Osteria Da Mariano in this tiny little ally way. The food was delicious. The owner decided we were incapable of ordering our own meals and just brought us plates of delicious food when he saw fit. I have no complaints.

On Friday we checked out the archeological park of Syracuse. My favorite part of the park was this massive ear-shaped cave, Ear of Dionysius, carved out of the limestone as part of the old quarry.

After the park we hopped a bus out to the charming little town of Noto. I admit, we mainly stuck to the main strip, which also means the tourist strip, but the architecture was so beautiful that it was difficult to wander elsewhere.

We did manage to go for a little hike up the hill and away from the main strip to enjoy a delicious lunch at Trattoria Del Crocifisso.

Another giant door.

We also got our first Granita experience. A creamy crushed ice thing. We ordered the amaretto flavor. It was amazing.

Working some things out. Ciao Noto!

Just a cool building in Syracuse:

Back in Syracuse we got to work planning our road trip for the next day. And then we grabbed a bottle of wine and spent some time discovering the back ally's of Ortigia.

In our wanderings we stumbled upon Dioniso, a lovely little restaurant in a small ally, and decided to stop for a glass of wine and appetizer. The glass of wine and appetizer turned into a all evening meal hanging out in the ally way shuffling between our table on one side, and some cushions in a doorway on the other side. And enjoying the good company of the restaurant owners and dog. And the food? Fantastic! I definitely recommend it if you find yourself in the neighborhood.

Perro!

Saturday morning we woke up early, said ciao to our lovely terrace and hosts and got our 'lil Punto rental car by 9:30. Looking fine Rachel!

The day's road trip was splendid. We cruised along windy road enjoying vast landscapes with wildflowers, tiny villages with narrow cobbled streets, and of course—grand views of Mt. Etna. Our general route: Syracuse > Catania > Centuripe > Regalbuto > Agira > Nicosia > Mistretta > Pettineo.

In one of the villages we stopped for some lunch items. We found a good parking spot a little while later down the road and scrambled up the hill to have ourselves a very delicious picnic among tall grasses, wildflowers, ants, and the distant song of cow bells. 

Mt. Etna and Pozillo lake:

"Rachel, our highway seems to have more and more weeds growing out of it." #wrongturn.

Our final destination for the day: Casa Migliaca. Or, as we like to call it, "A Small Slice of Heaven."

I'm not really sure where to start when talking about this place. Its a very old house (from the 1600's) set among lemon trees. Originally the building was used for oil production and living quarters. It has been family owned since forever. And the big round stone table you eat dinner at is actually part of the old donkey-run mill. Then there is the help-yourself-to-breakfast amazing kitchen with a bounty of fruits, vegetables, meat and cheese. Fantastic jams. And a massive stone sink. And to top it all off you have Sabastiano, Teresa, and Luca — some of the best hosts you could hope for.

It is not surprising that we decided to stay two nights instead of just one. And two was clearly not enough.

Sabastiano setting the table:

Sabastiano, Teresa, and Luca:

Looking at old maps with Uta and Heins:

Oh what's that? Washing socks? So civilized.

On Sunday Luca helped us pick out a hike to go on in the neighboring Parco Regionale delle Madonie. It was a beautiful hike with fantastic flowers and views.

Just some rocks.

After the hike we decided to check out Cefalù, a little coastal town. It was beautiful, but proved to be quite touristy. So after checking out the church, treating ourselves to some gelato, and an espresso on the beach, we scrambled out of there and hurried back to our little casa in the hills.

Casa Migliaca:

Another grand dinner at the round table, and another breakfast of planning with Luca.

Every photo with Rachel's old Cannon becomes a production. An entertaining production with some great end results. A reluctant Luca is directed for his portrait:

Ciao Casa Migliaca!

Sunday while on the road we decided at the last minute to make a trip up to the island Salina. With the intension of camping. We arrive to the island quite late in the day and discover that the campground was closed. And that the public transit to where we wanted to head is done for the day. So we decide to grab a scooter. At the scooter shop the owner offered their rental for us to stay in. It proved to be a very charming place with a view of the water perched on the outskirts of Santa Marina Salina.

We dropped out bags and cruised over towards Malfa to check out the schmanzy Capo Faro.

Late that evening we enjoyed a dinner in S. Marina Salina at Cucinotta.

The next morning we packed out bags with the intension of hiking the volcano in the morning, and catching the mid-day ferry back to Milazzo.

The hike was lovely. But it proved to be the trail that took us along the coast rather than up the volcano. We still enjoyed our accidental hike and treated ourselves to some granita afterwards.

We return to our place ready to hit the ferry and discover that due to bad weather the ferry will not be running the rest of the day. At this point my phone battery stopped holding a charge so for the next few days my pictures are a little scarce. Here's a general run-down:

We went to 'Nni Lausta to discuss our stranded-on-a-island plan-of-action. Decide to make our second attempt hiking the volcano, but Mercedes (our new friend at 'Nni Lausta) has warned us against it saying it was a bad idea with the bad weather. We decide to instead check out the spa in Malfa.

This proves to be a bit of a freezing cold mistake. The wellness center at the spa has a series of cool pools and relies on hot days. Since it wasn't a hot day, it wasn't the best idea.

So, back to 'Nni Lausta to enjoy some drinks and dinner.

We did manage to get the ferry out the next morning with some friends we met at 'Nni Lausta. The white wine, red wine, and lemon cello left me in a bit of a poor state to say the least. Not exactly my favorite ferry ride ever, but I was very happy to get off the stormy little island.

We were excited to see our dear little Punto still parked on the street where we left her, no tickets, no boot, no break-in. We grabbed some food and decided to hit the ferry out of Messina to start the main-land leg of our journey.

Ciao Sicilia! Ciao Neno! Ciao Lele and Roberto. Ciao Sabastiano, Teresa, and Luca. Ciao Fabio, Mercedes, Bruce and Suzanna. Ciao Uta and Heins. Ciao Henry. Ciao deli boy in tiny village!

The plan was to go to Tropea for dinner and then continue north, getting as many miles behind us as possible. What actually happened was a little different. We got to Tropea, wandered around a little bit, ate dinner…and that changed everything. Food coma set in. Coupled with the lack of sleep from the evening before, and the day of battling toxins (aka massive hangover), we determined falling asleep was the best option. So we watched the extraordinary Tropea sunset, pitched our tent in the campground by/below the city, and promptly passed out after about 10 minutes of reading our books.

The next day we woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and headed north. I'm lacking some pictures because my phone was dead but we had a great day. We made our way to Corleto Monforte in Vallo di Diano National Park. It's the small town Rachel's great grandparents emigrated from back in the early 1900's. We went to the municipality and were delighted to have a very friendly officer pull out a old book of records from the late 1800's. It listed the births in the village, as well as when they emigrated. The beautiful calligraphy in this book had me drooling. Rachel got an official certificate stating that her great grandfather was indeed from the village, and then the officer and her sister took us to the street Rachel's family lived on for us to see it. Unfortunately the records didn't have a house number, but the street was fairly short and fun to see all the same.

After Corleto we continued north and headed out to see the Amalfi coast. It was lovely. The road was extremely narrow and full of blind-corners. I got a kick out of the giant tour buses that dominated the road. And was even more entertained by watching two of the behemoths pass one another.

We stopped in Amalfi long enough to grab some groceries and continue on our merry way. It was beautiful but too touristy for my taste. I can't imagine what it's like during the peak season.

We continued out to the tip of the peninsula and camped near Marina del Cantone. We ate a picnic dinner on the water near our campsite, and were pleasantly surprised to find we had stumbled upon the land of fireflies. They were blinking much faster than the ones I've seen in New Jersey, but there was no mistaking what they were. And there were hundreds in the trees near the water. I've never seen them so dense. Maybe they blink faster in spring? Maybe they blink faster when it's cooler?

I was able to charge my phone (yay pictures!) and the next morning we went on a hike. It was a nice little loop out to a view point and down to a small secluded beach. Rachel and I were very excited to get in our first dip of the trip. And it was the first hot and sunny day we'd had in quite some time.

The water was beautiful.

Oh, wait, what's that? JELLYFISH EVERYWHERE! Thousands. On all sides of the peninsula. Supposedly the more beautiful the water the higher chance of a jellyfish invasion. I don't know if that's true, but we were largely disappointed.

So we gathered our crushed spirits, enjoyed a beautiful hike back, and hopped in the car making our way up to Pompeii for our pyroclastic fix. Sadly we were in a bit of a rush to get the car back so we only had about an hour and a half to wander the old destroyed city (rather than the 4-5 hours that is recommended—geez!)

"Gladiators." She says:

We rushed to the Naples airport and managed to return our dear little Punto on time. She was loved. She will be missed.

Naples. Wow.

What an amazing city!

First off, our hostel — we stayed at Giovanni's Home. Giovanni is amazing. As you'll hear if you read any of the reviews for his hostel. When we arrived he sat us down, gave us a map of the town, and highlighted a route we could follow to hit up the city's many impressive churches/sights. Then later in the evening he pulled out his guitar and harmonica to play the guests some tunes. He fed us two dinners and a lunch and gave us delicious espresso's for breakfast during our stay. Yeah, it was pretty great. 

Our first day (Saturday) we tromped all around the city, hitting up much of Giovanni's map. 

Le room:

Tourist row, also know as the Christmas Market:

This city is full of massive doors...with tiny little hobbit doors for regular usage.

Spanish Quarter:

Just a shopping center:

Giant old Piazza:

The Palace:

The Castle:

S. Chiara:

Stalking other people's weddings:

Giovanni and parmesan for 14!

Get your wine out of the barrel. It's about €3/bottle. Yea. And it tastes good.

Our street. Our guy.

Sunday we decided to treat is like a proper Sunday and behaved as lazy as possible. We'd been going non-stop for nearly 2 weeks and it was time to have a little stare-at-the-wall-boredom-time before hitting work. So Sunday we managed to grab a tram for the view and then head back to the hostel for some prawn pasta and wine. Some reading. Some more wine. Some more pasta. And then sleep.

The wrong trains. We got on them and after a few minutes realized something wasn't right. I thought this was supposed to be more of a trolly? Going up a hill? To a museum? There don't seem to be any tourists on this train. Why does it look like it's making a trip to hell?

We found the trolly and made it to the view:

Giovanni's door:

The man himself:

Would we like some seafood pasta for lunch? Okay.

Pasta zombie:

Giovanni's terrace:

Pasta!

Our favorite Napoli piazza:

Just a monumental gem covered in graffiti. 

Where are Rachel's legs?

We left Monday from Naples in a downpour with full bellies and utterly spent. Just like my ability to write at this point in the post.

Finally got around to completing my Migliaca sketch in the airport:

 I was happy to sit and read/snooze on the 2.5hr flight home.

What a trip!

And I just need to make a shout out to my Gregory pack. She's been on two backpacking excursions in the North Cascades. Got dusty and smokey for a couple weeks firefighting in Winthrop and Omak. Moved me to New Jersey for a summer. Has been on a 5-week tour of Europe. Has been backpacking in the Eagle cap wilderness. Backcountry skiing in the Wallowas. Helped move me to Europe. On countless car camping trips and journeys home for Christmas. And finally around Sicily and up to Naples. Here she's carrying our tent, my sleeping pad, a sheet, some camping utensils and cutting board, all my clothes, toiletries, and a pair of flip flops. She's about 8 years old and still looks as good as new. All zippers and buckles functioning. Well done Gregory Deva 60. I look forward to you seeing many more adventures to come.