From Vesuvius to Etna, another volcano looms large.
A taxi from Catania to Taormina took about an hour so it was quite late when we got to the hotel. As the taxi wound up through the hills of Taormina the driver pointed out our hotel near the top overlooking the bay with stunning views of Mt. Etna across the valley. We checked into the beautiful Villa Angela, owned by Jim Kerr of Simple Minds, where we had a large two bed suite, home for next four nights.
The aim of this part of our trip was to relax. We had no list of things to do here. We enjoyed breakfast each morning on the outdoor terrace with the spectacular views. Days were spent catching up on school work and reading and then spending time by the pool. Shea even went for a cold swim.
In the evenings we took the hotel shuttle down the hill to get dinner. It was a pretty town with lots of tourists and lots of locals walking around, there was a conference centre there too which added to the bustle. The old Roman amphitheater pictured on all the postcards closed too early for us to visit. We saw lots of old churches but the boys are a taking a break from ruins this week so we just walked by!
The highlight here was definitely the hotel. While we didn’t meet Jim Kerr, we did meet his nephew Sam. We listened to the new acoustic album by Simple Minds and saw the guitar from the album cover hanging in the lobby.
And the presence of Mt Etna, the highest volcano in Europe and one of the most active in the world, was always there. We watched smoke rise from the crater in the morning, then clouds appeared and obscured it during the day and then at night we saw red ash shooting into the night sky. An amazing spectacle.
Catania is an ancient port city on Sicily’s east coast. It sits at the foot of Mt. Etna, about an hour from Taormina. We spent two nights there in a nice apt near the cathedral square. The city’s wide central square, Piazza del Duomo, features the whimsical Fontana dell’Elefante statue and richly decorated Catania Cathedral. La Pescheria a weekday fish market is a block away. We visited the church and the views from the top over the city were excellent.
Just another order of spaghetti vongole!
A train from Catania to Palermo took about three hours. The scenery along the way was spectacular as we passed the volcanic hills.
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