Day 10: Taormina

Day 10. Wow. Double digits already? Time is going really fast.

Today we got up super early (7:30) and packed the car for a day at the beach and town of Taormina. I don't really remember the morning drive very well because all of the children fell back asleep in the car. It was glorious.

However, we did wake up in time to see the stunning sights of the ocean as we crossed the border to where we were going.









We had to climb down a million stairs to get to the beach (I'm not exaggerating, it was a lot). Since we arrived so early in the morning, we were one of the few people there. It was chilly enough to wear a sweater so we didn't go swimming quite yet, but I took pictures of the gorgeous landscape.















When it got warmer and no one still was swimming, we found out why. Turns out that the water was filled with small jellyfish. Both Quinn and Giancarlo were stung.

We played with the ball and frisbee for a little bit but the wind was too strong and kept messing everything up.

We also waded across the water a bit to get to a small island. The island is home to a museum of sorts and you can hike up it and look at the sights.
























We left the beach earlier than we thought we would because the water wasn't able to be swum in. Driving for just a few minutes, we reached the town and piled out.

It's a quaint "city", a very picturesque Italian town. However, there were too many Americans and tourists there for my liking.

























Our first visit was to a church. Italy obviously has a lot of those.










Then we headed over to the remains from the Greek period of an amphitheater. Nothing in my wildest dreams could have prepared me for what I saw. It was just... I can't even explain.
















I immediately ran to the top to see the scenery. The boys opted to stay at the bottom and didn't even come in. Stupid boys.






(There were a lot of stairs)

























It was surreal standing there. Giancarlo, Mariella, Sofia, and I took out time winding around the top of the theatre to admire the views. There was even a spot where you could see mainland Italy in the distance.

After walking back down to the town, us kids went off to explore. We got gelato (coconut and chocolate for me) and peeked into a couple of shops. Quinn picked up a cactus and got a bunch of needles stuck in his fingers. It was quite amusing.

I found that there was a lack of toilet paper in the bathrooms in this town. It's a good thing that someone is always carrying tissues.

Dinner was an early affair and we went to a pizzeria for the first time.

The first course was a sample platter of bruschetta (mmmmmmmm), onions, olives, tomatoes, eggplant noodle things, and lettuce. The second course was French fries, mozzarella sticks, and bread. This was all in preparation for the real meal.






The pizzas were HUGE. I could only eat half. Doesn't mean I didn't have room for dessert though...



Yum yum yum is all I can say.

After dinner we had a NYC debate. Federico said people only go to the city to see Little Italy. We googled top things to do and that wasn't one of them. That argument was quickly dispelled.

In the car ride home everyone fell asleep again and I stayed up to write this blog. You can tell everyone is exhausted when they pass out at 10pm. That's normally dinner time.

Day 9: Castle

By the end of the day when I sit down to write these either one of two things happen: A) I'm utterly exhausted or B) My Internet connection is sucky. Most of the time these two things happen simultaneously. Therefore I will provably be posting these the morning (or day) after as I am today.

When we woke up this morning after a restful sleep it was 70 degrees. Naturally we would pick the COLDEST portion of the day to visit the neighbors (Mattia's friend Damiano) and take a swim in their pool. It was freezing. To make matters worse it was also windy so we all just kind of huddled and hoped we wouldn't die. Some of Mattia's other friends were at the pool as well and they were very friendly.

We had lunch and then wandered up to the boys room where we snoozed until 4 when we drove into Catania.

We first went to a sports store to pick up shoes suitable for wading into the river (our trip for Monday). The boys were finished after a few seconds and ran outside to play basketball. They even made a new dog friend.






Our next stop was the castle. It was in the middle of the city. How people can walk past it every day without revealing in its history I do not understand. Mattia found it incredibly boring and ugly but I loved it. It is now a museum filled with ancient artwork. Mrs. Hobbs would be proud.







































I have way too many pictures of this and not enough room to put them all so here are a couple.

Back in the car we drove to a section of town where you there a giant pit and inside is an excavated portion of old Catania. This was the city before it was covered in lava and rebuilt.









They uncovered an amphitheater so this is what this is.









It's amazing to see and really puts in perspective just how young America is.



We then walked to a park (equivalent to that of Central Park) and strolled around for a bit.



























Shopping was next where I picked up some very secret presents and then it was dinner. We went to a pretty fancy place and got huge platters full of food. I also tried Sangria for the first time and that was pretty good. Since I was skyping with my mom at the time they ordered food, they ordered for me and I had no idea what I was getting until I got it.









I wound up getting pork, sausage, bacon wrapped onions, French fries, and salad. Everyone else but Mariella (she got what I got) got the same but a horse meat meatball instead of the bacon. Let me repeat... a HORSE meat meatball. I shiver thinking about it.



As we were eating, gypsies wandered up and tried to sell us toys and knick knacks. They wouldn't leave even when we told them to stop multiple times. A highlight was when one of them put a head massager on Federico and he flipped out.






The city at night was absolutely beautiful.










I crave to know what it's like to live here permanently.