Our Week in Sicily...

Hello again! Jason and I returned from our week in Sigonella, Sicily, and I must say I was sad to go! Sicily is absolutely beautiful...countryside landscapes, stunning views of Mount Etna, and the hottest weather you could ever imagine. We left last Friday and took an 8 hour train and ferry ride over to the island. As you can see in the photos below, we saw many amazing sites. Since we still don't have a car over in Naples, Jason and I wasted no time in hopping into our sporty little Alfa Romeo rental car and hit the road! With maps in hand, we set off on our 1st official Italian road trip. We got on the "tangenziale," which in Italian means "crazy highway," and drove an hour north to the town of Taormina (just kidding about the crazy highway, the "tang" is actually a 2 lane highway that can be pretty scary at times to drive on). Taormina was as beautiful as any town can get, and it's where the rich and famous hang out while in Sicily. My husband and I , neither rich nor famous, still managed to do a little window shopping and get some fabulous Italian food. We then drove for what seemed like forever to the top of the mountain and took some wonderful pictures of the scenery below. The next day we drove south to the towns of Siracusa and Ortygia, where again we saw some pretty amazing sites. For anyone wanting to visit Italy, I must say two things. If you have the time, try to head over to Sicily, because it truly has some amazing sites and stunning beaches. With that bit of advice, I highly recommend you never ever go in the dead of summertime! Southern Italy is hot. Not like Florida hot or Arizona hot, but like I-can't-breathe-and-I-can't-stop-sweating hot. Sightseeing in 104 degree heat just wasn't as fun as I'd hoped, so when visiting the South of Italy again, I will make sure to go in cooler weather (if that even exists down there!). All in all, we had a wonderful time and I must give my hubby credit for his great driving skills while visiting Sicily. He managed to get us where we needed to be safely and didn't run over any people on motorino's. Or sheep (see below). And I finally, after 13 years of driving, learned how to read a map! Anyways, we had tons of fun driving around the island and can't wait to go back. Hope you all enjoy the pictures! Ciao!!!

Looking down over Taormina from the top

How beautiful is this!

This ancient theater is still used today for concerts and plays...We just missed Liza Minelli!

Taormina's Duomo (Cathedral)

Me and a fruit stand

Amazing ruins of an ancient Greek theater in Siracusa

Ancient funeral temples

"Orrechio di Dionisio"-Ear of Dionysius
This is the cave where the ancient ruler Dionysius kept his political dissidents imprisoned and listened in on their conversations. It is legend that this artificial limestone cave was carved in the shape of an ear so it could amplify the screams of tortured prisoners. Don't you just love ancient history!

Beautiful Ortygia

Ortygia's Piazza

Ortygia's Duomo

A typical Italian sidestreet

Who's that hottie? Oh yeah, that's my hubby!

HOLY SHEEP!

Italian traffic jam

We were driving along the highway when a massive herd of sheep and goats decided to cross over to the other side of the road! They were so close to our car they could have climbed right in the passenger side!