Hotel Mediterranee Taormina

Catania photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album. php?aid=168080&id=613699523&l=b 66c2b2ea1

We were debating whether to do a Mt Etna tour but in the end decided to give it a miss as it was expensive and we weren't guaranteed on seeing much depending on the conditions up the mountain.
Instead we caught a train ...

... are from Nicaragua. The cooks are Indonesian as are the stewards, also Haitian. The bar staff are Phillipinos. Our headwaiter last night was Jamaican, the previous night, Indian.
I had a pedicure yesterday. It was the 'Fire and Ice'. Massage, hot stones, and cooling gel were part of it. What a joy! After, I went into the ladies spa areas. They have tropical rain showers where the water comes from the ceiling just like rain, then the whirlpool tub ...

... suppose to go next. Did that somehow damage my experience where I was? Did it prevent me from truly enjoying what I was surrounded by?

There have been many unexpected moments too, things that I don’t believe I would pass up even if they were difficult or induced loneliness.
I worked, and complained about it, but I wouldn’t take it back, I had a lot of fun those two weeks, more then I had anticipated.
I ...

... guess is the old time tourists would say any is too many. But take away the cruise ships and you would still have a lot of Brits and French.

Kusadasi
You know I really liked it so good.

Haifa
An industrial city that tries but really doesn't have a lot to recommend it other than some beaches. You make the best of it by trying to find interesting things to do but that mostly involves going somewhere ...

... images section on their homepage. I'm stoked!

But here's the thing I think is coolest. (See photo to the left.) I assumed most of these countries were highlighted because I've been meeting fellow travelers, but then I realized there are some countries here where I haven't met people from. Which means random people in random parts of the ...

... for me. But then I rang and rang and rang and rang and nothing. A little bakery backs up to the alley of the building. Two guys came out on their balcony and said (or at least I think they said, in Italian) "Bang on the door! Ring all the bells! Knock louder!" I told them that I had and then repeated my actions for them to see. They grabbed a cordless phone and the younger regazzo came down to dial the phone number of Gianni. (I was staying at Gianni House.) Anyway, apparently because ...

... condizionata, tutte le comoditā per
trascorrere durante la permanenza gradevoli e rilassanti momenti,
all'interno del cuore di Catania, le nostre stanze, curate nei minimi
particolari, rendono perfettamente il nostro concetto di ospitalitā,
dove pulizia e accuratezza permettono una piacevole permanenza, ed č
questo a renderci tra i migliori B&B di questa stupenda cittā.

... s a nice change from the hustle and bustle buffet in Horizon Cafe. Although we're not big buffet patrons, it seemed that most people in the buffet line believed their last meal would be this particular lunch. Thus, nothing would stand in their way, not even manners! So, it was best to stay at least two meters away from those people.

After a nice quiet lunch we caught the last half of the ...

... A small village perched high above the Mediterranean sea. It's church tower was spotted by Francis Ford Coppola from below and that was how he picked this for the movie the Godfather. It is the village where Michael spots his bride to be and the wedding party winds through the small streets. Very beautiful.

We then went to Taormina ...

... walking. Precision driving by Jonathan! Whoops! On our last day, we drove down to the seaside below Taormina to Isola Bella Bay and Grotta Azzurra. They absolutely sparkled in the sunlight and the water was stunning and clear. You could walk out into the water on a sandbank to a small island and the water was full of lots of little jellyfish. Anyway, it's off to the mainland. Next stop, Matera. Bye for noe, C, J and E :)