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March 31 & April 1 

AKA: Happy Birthday Kari & Sherine!

First day of my 57th year and we’re winding down the hill from La Pietra O’Munti for the last time.  As we get closer to the autostrada, we have a beautiful view of Mt. Etna (that’s the picture I posted on the Up, Up & Away post).  We couldn’t believe it was still smoking after 3 weeks and now, I was SURE it was the rumble of the volcano that I’ve been hearing the past few nights!

We drive south towards Catania and the GPS puts us onto the A19 heading west towards Palermo.  I have to admit, the roads in this part of Sicily are pretty darn good: well maintained (many new), wide with multiple lanes, and great rest stops (they call them servicio – and they’re pretty swanky)!  You can get coffee drinks – in ceramic cups (not Styrofoam or paper) and tons of good food (you should see the selection of sandwiches (panini) at these places – they put our 7-Elevens to shame!!!  They’re also the best place to find a reliable bathroom (and they usually don’t charge you for them).

So, we’re on this superstrada for about an hour and we’ve stopped a couple of times to use the bathroom and have a nice, civilized cup of hot tea.  At this last one, I see a beautiful hill town in the distance and I start taking pictures.  There’s actually two towns across from each other and they are both spectacular.  We get back on the road and start to see signs for Enna.  Now, I’ve heard & read about Enna and it’s supposed to be pretty awesome – but we’re headed for Greek Temples people and they’re supposed to be pretty spectacular themselves – so we wave bye-bye to Enna and keep heading west to Agrigento. (Quick side story – Mom & Dad went to Enna when they came to Sicily in 2002.  Mom warned me about these chocolate pastry balls they bought that ended up being filled with rum.  They ate them & got so drunk, that they had to stay longer & walk them off before getting back in the car.  I was warned – but since we didn’t stop – problem overted!!)

Now – you can forget what I said about great superstrada’s in Italy – because as soon as we pass the offramp for Enna, the roads turn to hell!  We continue for the next 90 minutes through multiple construction zones . . suffice to say, I was pretty tired of driving by the time we arrived in Agrigento.  Couple that with the fact that Sherine just didn’t feel herself today – and we were pretty spent.  I did however see my first road sign for Sciacca as we came into Agrigento and that was pretty thrilling for me (we were only about 45 miles away at this point). 

We arrive early and plan to park at our hotel and use their private entrance to the Temple grounds.  Instead, they say, “your room is ready if you’d like to check in early” and we of course, jump at the chance.  Now, this is just the beginning of a wonderful stay at Hotel Villa Athena which is labeled as one of the best small luxury hotels in Europe.  I knew when I chose it that it was swanky, but I didn’t expect this charming, 27-room, first class villa in the middle of some ancient ruins.  Noted – best find on booking.com to date! 

Once we saw the room, the views, and heard they had a spa (that had availability) all our plans went out the window! 

So, we decide THIS will be our day to celebrate our joint birthdays (mine was the day before, Sherine’s would be 2 days from now).   First, we go to sit by the pool.  The picture above was taken by ME, while I was sitting at the pool (no it is NOT a postcard!).  A waiter promptly arrives and I start my afternoon with an Aperol Spritz (for my husband, his favorite drink in Italy) and we just relax in the sun.  Then we move to the terrace for a wonderful lunch.  I order an amazing seafood salad (the calamari & octopus were to die for – actually – it was ALL to die for!).  We of course, order wine & dessert too.

We relax for another hour and then prepare for our 2 hours at the spa (Sherine actually had 2 ½ hours!).  To start, they put us in the private “bathing” room with three types of treatments.  The attendant says she’s going to turn down the lights and when they come back up, she will come to get us.  OK – we’re cool with that!  I start with the first treatment – which is a series of hot & cold showers that are on timers.  You move to the next when the little light comes on and it changes to a new temperature (I have to say the cold ones were a bit shocking!!).  Next, I move to the Turkish bath – kind of like a sauna, but with some steam – come to think of it, it’s more like a sauna & Swiss shower hybrid (if you’re a spa junky like me, you’ll get that reference – if not, suffice to say, it felt pretty nice!).  Sherine had already moved to the third step – a gigantic jacuzzi with these cool metal chaise loungers that were placed under the water, but over dozens of jets.  You had to kind of hold on for dear life is you didn’t want to get too jostled around!  No matter – felt wonderful.  I return to the Turkish bath for a while and come back out to lounge on the white leather chaise (did I mention this place was really slick & modern?). 

After a little while, the lights are turned back up.  10 minutes go by and still no attendant.  I say to Sherine, “I bet I know why it’s taking so long for her to come in”.  Her response, “really, why”?  My mind is working overtime now . . “I bet this room is mostly used by couples & the attendant is used to giving them plenty of time to finish whatever they are doing . . and you can imagine what they might be doing in this room!!”  She laughs and agrees!

We both enjoy our massages and great showers in the swanky bathrooms in the spa complex (keep in mind, the bathroom in our room is pretty swanky too).  We dress & get ready for dinner.  It’s pretty upscale too.  Unfortunately, it’s pretty early in the season, so they’ve moved food service inside.  The wait staff recognizes us from lunch – and we get plenty of attention (probably had a little to do with the fact that we might have been the only non-senior citizens in there – except one family with young kids).  I order another Aperol Spritz (he makes it huge this time) and Sherine orders a lemon drop (I had to sort of tell the guy how to make it – but he decided to make a vodka sour and put it in a martini glass – Sherine liked it nevertheless!). 

I have a big green salad and this killer tuna dish and finish with a dessert with – you guessed it – pistachios & ricotta (fancy canoli’s with a twist)!  More wine and we’re both ready for bed.

I wake up at 7am – throw on some sweats (a big no-no in Italy – but heck, I’m an American) and go down to the pool to meditate.  Yes, I meditated to the sunrise, with the Concordia Temple like 1000 yards from me, and it was AMAZING!!!!!

We head down for our “breakfast included” meal and we’re blown away.  This is like a really good Sunday brunch selection anywhere in the States – but the ingredients are better . . and the food tastes even better.  We fortify for the day, as we’re planning to hit the Temple Grounds this morning and the sun is starting to heat up already.

The Temples did not disappoint.  I took a ton of pictures for all of you – but like everything else in Sicily – you just have to come see them for yourself.  Until you are up close to these 2500+ year old ancient cities & buildings, you cannot really imagine what they are like.  After a few hours, we went back to the hotel to check out.  We had planned to drive up to the museum, but the desk clerk told us to leave the car where it was and hike up the hill about 300 meters.  It felt like 1000 meters – but we made it and found the entrance after winding through a labyrinth of signs & foot bridges.  We had to scrounge our change, as they didn’t take credit cards and we mostly had big bills (no one seems to like to make change in this country).  This museum was a real find and did not disappoint.   Again, enjoy the pictures – but plan to go there yourself one day.

We return to the hotel and are starving, tired & hot.  We have our 4th meal at Hotel Villa Athena on the terrace overlooking the temples.  I have the Italian version of a nicoise salad with more fresh tuna and a really yummy strawberry dessert . . I had to skip the wine on this one, as I would be driving to Palermo in a little while.  I think I drank about a liter of water to replenish the salt I lost that morning stomping around the grounds in the sun!

Sadly, we say good-bye to our new friends and thank them for their wonderful hospitality.  By this point, they know that I’m coming back to Sciacca for a week and they’re pressing hard for me to come back to the Villa for a visit.   As I’m writing this – I’m only about 40 minutes away.  Too bad, but I think it will have to wait until my next trip to Sicily, as I’m heading west in a couple of days and won’t be back this way again . . . at least on this trip.

Taormina – yes, they really do call it the jewel of Sicily.  It’s one of the most popular resort towns in Sicily and gets very crowded in the Summer.  We heard the G7 summit will be there next month – glad we missed that – don’t want to run into Trump in Italy and ruin this trip!!

Gorgeous little town and yes, “Zia Em-meh” – the hotel room was small, but so beautiful & well appointed.   We go to the “bar” to have breakfast (B&B has arranged it) and the waiter loves us so much, he charges us ZERO for the extras.  I get brioche and granita for breakfast . . first of many while I’m here, I AM CERTAIN!! (**Note, see other post!)

This town boasts the most unbelievable Greek Theatre.  The pictures don’t even begin to do it justice – but they will have to suffice!  I must say, this new phone that Scott bought for me before I left is taking really nice pictures, so I’m pretty proud of this shot that I took of the coastline framed by the arch.  This theatre must have been incredible in it’s heyday – as it’s pretty spectacular even in its run down state.  Magnificent!!!

The town’s main strada (street) has entry arches at each end and is filled with shops & restaurants that are picture perfect.  I especially love the “pop up” restaurants that have tables positioned on the stairs.  This is a hill town after all and they have to make use of every inch of available space.  They are enchanting!  I think I might have to revise my Pompeii restaurant idea and pick up one of the little gems indeed!!  We opted for one with pretty, plaid tablecloths and I have my first plate of ‘Pasta con de Sardine’.  Fillets of fresh sardines melted (for the most part – there were some chunks) into sauce of fresh tomatoes, saffron & golden raisins – covered with breadcrumbs . . VERY Sicilian indeed and quite delicious!

Siracusa is the oldest settlement / city in Sicily – founded in the 8th century BC.  Situated on the southeastern coast, it is beautiful!  We never did make down to the port, but we had a phenomenal day exploring the Teatro Greco & the Roman Amphitheater.

We drove down from our agritourism perch on the side of Mt. Etna to Catania and then on to Siracusa for the day.  The autostrada was actually pretty modern & WIDE, but we still had to contend with toll booths and speeding Italian drivers.  We finally mastered the toll booths by hoarding change at every opportunity, but still wondered why the Italians were speeding when there were TONS of speed limit signs that indicated a decrease in speed was required.  It seemed that they were looking at these signs as “suggestions” – we however, obeyed, as we’re trying really hard not to come home with a ton of speeding tickets!

We found the “Paradise Parking” lot pretty easily and another really nice 70-something Italian man who asked for a mere 3 Euro to park for the whole day.  In Italian, I asked where the biglietteria (ticket booth) was and he answered in Italian – AND – I understood him!!  WE buy our tickets and are told to start with the Teatro Greco and then go to the Amphitheater.  Of course, we get a little off track and end up at Dionysus’ Ear.  Acoustics in this place are amazing . . and the whole thing was carved out of the mountain.  The gardens around here are amazing and full of citrus trees heavy with fruit.  The pics below are a sampling – but again, they don’t do the beauty justice.

**Pictures are here – click on the button at bottom of post to view!

Next . . the Teatro Greco – AMAZING is an understatement.  This entire place was CARVED out of stone!  No blocks of stone moved to it, no bricks, no mortar, no wood  . . . NOTHING but solid marble mountain carved by amazing craftsman into a huge theater – and I mean HUGE (again, pictures don’t even begin to demonstrate the size of this place).  Sadly, there are construction crews all over it reinforcing some of the stands (seats) and building a stage. Apparently, they will use it for concerts this summer.  Modern always seems to find a way to exploit the antiquities!!

We exit & go to the next gate and find the prettiest setting with the Roman Amphitheater.  I wish I could have seen this place in its prime . . there was so much beauty & lovely architecture “left”.  I can only imagine what it would have been like to stroll through the park on the way to this venue on a Spring night.  Strangely, there were a lot of sarcophagus-looking blocks of marble lining the pathways into this place – so we’re not sure if they held the bodies of gladiators that died there OR noble men who wanted to be remembered when people attended events here.  Did I mention, we forgot to rent the audio guides on this day – so we just sort of improvised!

We decide to walk about 1/2 mile to the Archaeological Museum and find something to eat. We cross a busy street and see a few restaurants that might be options.  And then, we meet Fabrizio!  What a nice guy!!  He comes out of the restaurant and greets us with a big, old smile and pretty good English and says he has delicious fresh food for lunch.  We ask if we can sit outside and he says “of course” – but some inside and select your food first.  What we find is really nice looking food.  Fresh grilled fish, pasta with vegetables, lots of grain dishes (couscous & lentils are big down here), and tons of fresh veggies prepared in all different ways.  It’s all SO colorful & fresh looking,.  He says we can mix & match to get whatever we want – so I select swordfish, sauteed spinach, caramelized onions and a really nice spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce.  All delicious!  

All through lunch, Fabrizio keeps checking on us to make sure we are happy.  We start to tell him why we’re here visiting Sicily and get into the whole great grandparents from Sciacca thing.  He’s so excited that I am Sicilian he decides we must be cousins.  We talk about the Graffeo name and I try to explain to him that it was changed when Antonino immigrated – but I think we’re losing him in the translation.  No matter – we’re still cousins – we both have beautiful blue eyes (he says)!!  Now, about this point, I decide he really must be a cousin because he is reminding me of my cousin Nick Rafello – and Fabrizio is his clone!!  Seriously Nick, you’d love this guy – it was like hanging with you.  Laughing, joking and I got a BIG, old bear hug when we left.  I love this guy!!!

Next up – the museum.  Suffice to say, we spent 2 hours looking at artifacts from all over Sicily – from as early as 30000 BC to about 1000 AD . . yes, that’s apparently how long humans (of some kind or another) have inhabited this island (and some pretty interesting animals too – can you believe, there were once hippopotamus in Sicily?!?!?).

**Lots of great pics coming on this one – once that damn WiFi re-engages!

I remember Mom telling me how much she loved the Amalfi Coast.  So, when I told her we would be visiting the Amalfi Coast for a few days on this trip, she said “you have to stay in Positano”.  Well Mom – you DID NOT steer us wrong!  To top it off, we ended up at the “top of the world” (or top of Positano anyway) in the little hamlet of Nocelle (it’s one of the 10 principalities that make up Positano).  Check it out – it’s an UNESCO world heritage site and is right on the Walk of the Gods trail that spans the high mountains of the Amalfi Coast.  BEAUTIFUL is an understatement.  (Note: I’ve tried to include as many pictures of the views, but it was a little foggy so they are not as clear as they could be.)

Well . . getting there was interesting.  So quickly after leaving Pompeii, we find ourselves in a small town with VERY small, narrow streets.  Thank God the drivers weren’t as crazy as Napoli – but they do drive fast & don’t really follow any traffic laws that we could tell.  We later found out that we were in Sorrento and once we got to the top of Sorrento – we started to “hug” the coast on even narrower, winding roads filled with hairpin curves AND tour buses (and mind you, we’re in off season here). 

We have to WIND on those roads for about 35 minutes until we reach this sharp left hand curve to turn off to reach Nocelle.  And then, the real fun begins.  I truly don’t know how we made it up this narrow road that must have truly been built for donkeys – NOT cars!  At one point, we come around this very blind & sharp curve and I have to slam on the breaks to avoid side-swiping a car coming down the mountain.  I have to do about a “5 point curve” to back up & then a nice guy on the side of the road came over & directed me to a safe spot.  The other car passed and we were on our way again!  6 km total and we finally arrive at the Nocelle parking lot where our host is waiting for us with a donkey.  This is the last point that cars are allowed in the village and she was not going to have us carry our own luggage – good thing, cause it was about ¼ of a mile to the B&B, up & down so many steps I stopped counting – and if you remember, I still have ALL THAT LUGGAGE!!!  (Note:  On the way in, I have my first meeting with Agnello {aka Boyfriend #1}– the cutest blue-eyed, somewhat toothless “70 or 80 something” year old man – who reminded me of my grandfather.  We fell in love instantly and he kept telling me how beautiful I was & kissing my hand.)

We arrive at this lovely 2 bedroom villa with a balcony that looks at the sea & Capri.  It is stunning and Sherine says I’ve done really well in picking the spot and that she’s fine if we stay here for the rest of the trip.  Of course, our host Amolia (who I started calling the “hostess with the mostest”) had left us SO MUCH food in the fridge, including a bottle of Prosecco and wonderful hors d’oeuvres, which we gobble right up.  Amolia made us a reservation at the local restaurant up there in Nocelle and we had a huge dinner with a full bottle of wine and limoncello (on the house) – and we stumbled home to get some much needed sleep.

**Note to my “Zia Em-Meh” (that’s Auntie M) – the rooms were HUGE and gorgeous.  I took some pictures for you.  When we come back together we will stay here and you will feel like the queen you are!  No worries about the steps – we have the donkeys!!

The next morning, Amolia suggests that we walk down the hill to Positano.  It’s 1800 steps!  It’s OK – after the last 2 days of driving, I’m perfectly OK to leave the car right where it is!!

It takes us about 45 minutes – as we keep stopping to snap pictures and talk to people (locals, Americans, Germans, even a few Chinese . . and Agnello!).  This picture of me & Agnello was taken after he told me I was a model who belongs in the movies – and kept giving me endless hugs!!!  We also come down to this gorgeous villa that has a magnificent swimming pool built into the steep hillside (these Italian men are superior & amazing craftsmen).  As we sweep around the bend, we come to the front of the house with magnificent gates and a gorgeous entry garden – and Boyfriend #2.  He had the same bright blue eyes (these Southern Italians all have gorgeous blue eyes), was charming and while he was OK to have me take pictures of his hard work – really didn’t want to be in the pictures – too bad, he was very handsome.  He told me I was beautiful too and gave me those great Italian air kisses!

We arrive in town and head to the beach for lunch; Amolia says we must go to Tre Sorella and have seafood.  I am to ask for Salvatore or Guare and tell them “I am the granddaughter of a fisherman, so I know fresh fish. . . none of this tourist seafood for me”!  We order wine (it’s hot, so we go for Pinot Grigio) and a wonderful seafood pasta.  They bring us limoncello on the house and I ask if Salvatore is here.  The waiter says, “yes, that’s him over there”.  Salvatore comes over and we find out that Guare has been serving us all along.  Then Fabio comes over too (women traveling without men get a lot of attention you know?).  We all start talking and I tell them about Amolia’s comment and they just laugh and say, “you got the best”.  I wouldn’t disagree!

We wander through town and find “THE” bakery!  Of course, it’s got gelato too – so finally, my first gelato of the trip.  I order a bunch of pastries to take home from Boyfriend #3 – Pepino!  Now, Pepino could have been a model for a Roman statute.  He’s probably mid-60s and really handsome and really charming!  I find out later he’s the boss.  He packages it all up so pretty with a gold tray, paper & string and comes out from behind the counter to deliver it (as I’ve now moved on to the gelato counter for my cioccolotto & pistacchio gelato – DELICIOSO!!!).  I give Pepino a big “grazie” and we do a double European kiss to say goodbye . . he tells me to be sure and come back again!!!

We take the bus back up (we are full & a little tired) and decide to have light dinner at the villa with our pastries and all the food we have left over from breakfast.  I guess I forgot to mention that Amolia & her staff come into our room each morning and COOK us breakfast.  Whatever we want and believe me, the choices are endless (cause she’s stocked our fridge with even more treats while we were traversing the steps of Positano . . this time, it’s fresh strawberries & tomatoes from her garden and more meats & cheeses . .  I love this woman . . really, a woman after my own heart!).

Next day – we’re going to take the bus to Amalfi town, walk around there, take another bus to hill town of Ravello, take bus back to Amalfi, transfer to another bus and go to Bocalinga (the head of the Walk of the Gods) and walk back to Positano.  Now, despite really planning & looking at bus schedules, Italian buses are sort of on their own time schedule, so it’s Sunday and by the time we go to the Tabbachi to buy our bus tickets for last leg of this journey, the clerk tells us it’s too late to do the walk but we can do it tomorrow (we can’t, we’re driving to Sicily tomorrow).  He was right, we wouldn’t have gotten to trail head until 3:45 and it takes 3 hours and we didn’t have flashlights or trekking gear – so while disappointed, we opt instead to drink Aperol Spritzes and sit overlooking the harbor to wait for the next bus back to Positano.  Aperol was refreshing until we boarded the most over-crowded, HOT bus and it was standing room only (would NOT have been prudent to wait for next one – as it was the last bus of the day).   I end up sitting on the back step area with an English couple from Cambridge and Sherine (who gets worse seasick than I) stands with a German gal and they are leaning on each other for support.  We’re all getting sick and anxiously waiting for each stop so the driver will open the doors and let in some fresh air.  By the time we get to Positano – we’re all wanting to puke.  It took about an hour and some lemon soda to “sober up” – because remember, we have to get on another bus to Nocelle (6km up that winding, narrow road!).

We arrive in Nocelle to find Amolia excited to see us.  She said she’d been worried all day that we wouldn’t make it back and kept telling her husband to watch out for us (of course, we hadn’t met him at this point).  We lay down for a bit and then join Amolia & her husband, as well as some other guests (Russian couple) for dinner at Amolia’s.  Her husband, Natale (no he wasn’t born at Christmas, but his father was, and after all, he’s a junior) made this stuffed “tart thing” with fresh tuna (he caught) and escarole encased in really good “pie-like” dough and she made pasta with fresh mussels.  Of course, the limoncello came out again and we drank that after the prosecco the Russians had brought and wine that Amoila served.  Our contribution was a big tray of Martorana Reale (marzipan candy shaped & painted like fruits & vegetables) but everyone was full, so Amolia sent them home with us for our travels.  I kiss & cuddle Big Jim (Amolia’s cat who I’ve fallen in love with – and he with me) and we have an early night so we’re fresh for the drive to Sicily in the morning.  We tell Amolia not to worry about cooking breakfast, as we’ll just have leftovers.

The next morning, she knocks on the door to deliver fresh, buffalo mozzarella and croissants and checks to see that we really DON’T want breakfast (it’s killing her) but she agrees that we can go “light”.  The donkey arrives at 8am for our luggage and we pack up our stuff to hit the road.  The drive down is a bit easier as most of Nocelle is still sleeping or preparing for a late start at work.  We head back to Sorrento on an easier route that the GPS arbitrarily decides to select and we’re on the autostrada in about an hour headed to Sicily. 

Three Days Close to Paradise . . . undeniable & amazing!