Hotel Romano Palace Luxury Catania

... condizionata, tutte le comodità 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 ospitalità,
dove pulizia e accuratezza permettono una piacevole permanenza, ed è
questo a renderci tra i migliori B&B di questa stupenda città.

... and hopped on the next one going to Taormina. This town feels like it should be perched on a cliff near Napoli on the Amalfi coast. It has just as many tourist but still holds its charm. Once the Byzantine capitol of Sicily it is now a thriving town unlike many others in this region.
We could see the rain clouds blowing in across the face of Mount Etna and decided to call it a day.

Tomorrow we will be in Rome. (Catania to Rome €43.50 each)

... The town of Taormina sits up on the mountain side. We took an elevator up from a nondescript bus station and arrived in an adorable medieval Italian town. We wandered the cobblestone streets and admired the buildings. It was once again hot , hot,  hot by mid afternoon. (Easily 95 degrees) so we frequently ducked in air conditioned stores to shop and get out of the heat. I fell in love with all of the ceramics and the ...

Wir flogen von lissabon nach mailand malpensa, wo wir im flughafen-hotel übernachteten. Wau! Tolle ausstattung mit allem drum und dran und hygienisch wie in einer klinik....war auch mal schön nach den hostals und so.

Am nächsten morgen dann wieder aufs easyjet-flugi nach catania auf sizilien. Dort angekommen auf den bus in die innenstadt spätabends und dann mit dem schweren gepäck auf die suche nach dem gut versteckten hostal, dessen strassenname in keinem ...

A lovely quaint very old area. Stayed in a lovely hotel with great attentive staff would recommend it to any couple looking for a romantic break or second honeymoon. Just off the main shopping street of Corso Umberto but found that the shopping was over priced so don't go expecting any bargains.

... an emotional bunch. In fact, they pride themselves on their emotions, their passion.

This emotional bent is also apparent by the many idols – statues of Mary, churches, looming dominance of God, crosses nearly everywhere you look. A sign of devotion as part of the Italian Culture.

Refugio

We stayed at a Refuge on Mount Etna – menu scant.

The beauty of this town was breathtaking. My wife, sons, sisters and brother-in-law strolled around town, ate with the locals and admired the Greek Roman Theater. We got a peek of the town from the cruise ship on our way back from Crete to Rome. It was just as stunning from afar as it was within the town.

... so pretty!  And pretty small compared to horses I've seen before.  Then we walked farther down the beach the opposite way of Taormina and along the pier where people were fishing.  There were more good vies from that side of the beach, but the beach was all rocky; lava rocks that is.  That night we found another good restaurant and Zack and I had more pizza J  

... didn't seem to understand why I was upset. I finally tracked down the director of the kids club who was very apologetic and admitted that there had been a huge scheduling screw up, but by this point, I was so frustrated, I literally burst into tears in front of her. After a minute or two, I realized that I was coming across like an irrational idiot and pulled myself together. My concern remained the same, but I let the ...

... awesome even if a little uncomfortable. Next stop was some caves created by lava flows and with remnants of molten lava that had dripped off the roof or popped air bubbles along the walls. Interesting but let's get up there hey buddy! Which we eventually did. Two of the most accessible craters are at the 2000 metre mark so after lunch we walked to the ...