The Voyage Home

A week ago Sunday, it was time to head home.  We were being picked up around 8:30, which isn't terribly early.  I got up and took in the scenery.  

Bye house!

The streets were so quiet!

A glimpse of Mt Etna.  

Everyone was sad to leave.  

Wow, nice shot if I do say so.  This is the White Lotus Hotel.  

We had an hour drive to the airport.  This guy was so full of information.  He really loves Sicily and told us so much about it.  We went there thinking it was small and would be a good place for a quick trip.  He said you need a lot of time to really explore Sicily.  Every town is so different from the next one.  

They call Mt Etna their mother.  

Our flight was delayed.  We had an extra hour at the airport so we of course we pigged out.  

Arancini everywhere!

It was a quick hour flight to Rome.  

Pretty too.  Italy has so many mountains.  

The airport in Rome is by the water.  

We were supposed to have like 2 hours in Rome but we didn't and had to run.  Our plane was boarding by the time we landed.  Wish we had time to eat and shop.  

Luckily I grabbed some pizza for the boys and we were pretty much last on the plane.  

It was a really long 10 hour flight.  I sat in between the twins and had to entertain them the whole time.  We played games, drew, talked.  It was exhausting.  We got to JFK around 10.  It was pretty quick through customs and to get our bags back.  The guy picked us up and we were home around midnight!

 

Playing with Dolphins

A week ago Saturday was our last full day in Italy.  It was the warmest and nicest.  

It took me days, but I finally figured out what trash to put out.  They are very serious about separating trash and putting it out the right nights.  

We wandered around the town.  

People eating granita for breakfast.  Basically water ice and a piece of bread!

We walked through looking for the cable car.  

There it is!

Taormina is up on a hill so one way down to the beach is by cable car.  

Here we go!

Right over a soccer field.  

A little bar at the bottom!

We walked around the area a little.  

Ariel found her first strawberries of the week.  

We then went to check out the beach.  There were steps down then through a tunnel.  

Our first view of the beach.  The setting was pretty but the beach itself was not quite Margate.  Very rocky.  

There were a few people out there.  

Ariel went to touch the water.  

There wasn't much reason to hang out there so we headed back.  

Back up the steps.  

Back up the cable car.  

Amy took the twins to lunch.  

I took Aden and Ariel shopping.  This place had fun designer stuff.  

Lots of people off cruise ships.  I heard a lot of Russian being spoken.  

They watched me trying on clothes.  

I think Ariel did the best this trip with shopping.  

Aden was still posing for shots.  

A quick lunch.  

I met up with Amy and the twins.  

The volcano was looking cool.  

Can't believe we were up there. 

I grabbed a snack.  So many fun foods to try.  

I brought all kinds of art supplies thinking we could sit outside and draw but it had been too rainy.  But not this day!  Ariel, Eli and I sat on the roof deck and sketched the scenery.  

We then headed out for our next adventure.  

We waited for a taxi and took in the scene.    

We saw a Tesla charging station!

The taxi picked us up and we headed down the hill to the port.  

We found our boat and got on with about 20 other people.  

Here we go!

We drove along the coast.  

We could see Taormina up on the hill.  

There were caves.  

I see a volcano!

It was pretty along the coast.  

Lots of hotels along the water.  

Here's a beach we didn't see before.  

There is a museum on a little island.  To get there, you have to walk through the water.  

Another cave!  Look at the pretty blue water.  

Another little town.  

Another shot of Mt Etna.  

Aden taking a rest.  

Then we headed out deeper into the water.  

They played loud music and blew whistles and all the sudden, we were surrounded by dolphins!

I got a few good pics.  It was amazing!  The dolphins were playing with us!  

They were definitely giving us a show.  

Such an amazing experience.  

Then we headed back.  

I love this shot.  The boats with the volcano.  

It took a while to get a taxi to get back to town.  

We ate a little but spent the rest of the night packing.