Sicilia!

Last stop on this whirlwind adventure of Italy is Sicily!!

I love traveling by train, so I will be taking a train from Naples into Sicily. Traveling by train helps me get a better feel of the area and a grasp on where all of these places are in relation to each other. Not to mention I get to enjoy the scenery along the way! It is an eight-ten hour train ride, but I'm used to traveling long distances and am willing to take the extra trip to see the countryside. From what I've read, the train rolls onto a ferry to get to Sicily/Palermo ...is it true?!

Because this is the final leg of my journey, I am splurging and staying in a villa. The specific place I've chosen to stay is called Hotel Villa Carlotta in Taormina, Sicily. It is beautiful, has wonderful reviews, and is only 467 dollars a night! (Ha). But hey, we can pretend I can afford this and will call this the fantasy portion of my Italian blogs. It basically has everything a traveler could ever need, all the way from basic accomodations down to slippers and climate control in the bedrooms. I could get used to this...

I'm going all over the place for this section of the trip with little to no regard for expense - there is so much to see in Sicily and only five days to do it! Because there is SO much to do in Sicily, I will use each day as a day trip for specific locations and attractions. For much of the activities I wanted to do while in Sicily, the websites did not list specific prices, only contact information. I have included links to websites within my blog in place of those specific numbers.

Day One:

I will spend my first day in Sicily exploring its archalogical sites. From what I've read, there are several ruin sites to explore. There is a Greek amphitheater in Taormina (actually closeby my villa) that I would love to see. Something I thought was odd - it costs 3 euros to get in if you're under 25 and 6 euros if you're older than that! I wonder why that is?! Oh well, at least I can get in for the cheaper price! This theatre dates back to the Hellenistic period and was originally built to hold over 10,000 spectators!

Day Two:

Scuba diving!!

Ive chosen to dive with La Gorgonia Diving Center. I chose the Scoglio Quaglietto dive on the island of Vulcano. This particular dive is supposedly one of the prettiest the area has to offer, and inside the grotto is a statue of the Madonna. The difficulty of the dive is easy, so that will be perfect for a beginner like me. Cost was not specified on the website, but there were a variety of dives to choose from, along with difficulty level.

Day Three:

Sicily's mountainous terrain makes it the perfect area for hiking and biking. I'm not much of a biker, but being from Colorado I do love to hike! I've chosen to do a day tour of the Mount Etna volcano. Despite being one of the world's most active volcanoes, visitors to Sicily flock to this site! The particular company I found (Through the above link) offers several different exercusions centered around Mt Etna. Some of them are a little more relaxing and include a wine tour after the hike, while others include further activities such as fishing. A hike and a little wine afterwards sounds pretty good to me ...

Day Four:

I will spend today exploring the capuchin catacombs, which I hear is a very interesting spectacle to see in Sicily. (Capuchin like the capuchin monks, where the term 'capuccino' comes from!') The catacombs is basically a library of human mummies! The museum is decided into several sections, such as women, men, and even a "virgin" section. Strange. The museum is open from 9 am-noon, and 3 pm-7 pm (during summers). The cost is only 1.50 euros! Sort of a bizarre destination ...but where else can you see something like this?

Day Five:

For my last day in Sicily, I will explore the Old Palermo region. This lies in the ancient quarter, and is definitely highly recommended by travelers as a must see. This area houses some of Sicily's most ancient and famous monuments, along with charming piazzas. Other than the travel to this region, I will probably save a little money and just sightsee if the weather permits!

Ciao, Italia!