Hotel Tritone Giardini Naxos

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 ...

Sometimes I let myself wonder, not always a good thing but regardless an effort I must make. I wonder if things are going to feel different when I get home, if I will view things in a different way. I have already made some discoveries about the differences between Italy and Canada that I love, and like, and don't feel all that warm and fuzzy about, and no matter what it leads me towards, I always seem to come back to the same ...

... 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 ...

La nostra struttura, si trova nella via più
centrale di Catania, la sempre affollata e vivissima Via Etnea, da
alcune delle nostre stanze infatti, è possibile affacciarsi
direttamente sulla tipica movida Catanese, questa posizione rende
facile raggiungere ogni punto di interesse della città, dagli uffici
amministrativi ai locali di maggiore attrazione, alle università ecc ...

... 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 ...

... 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)

... probably have shortened stays at a couple of them. I loved the look of this port but we were only there for one hour and weren't allowed off the ship. You will have to look on the map to find out where we have just been. Weather is absolutely fabulous, sea is calm and the drinks are still flowing. Keep the emails and messages coming, we love them. Bye for now.

... aan de kust de uitstromende lava is gestold, grote bonken steken uit het water en op sommige plaatsen lijkt het wel of ze er iets van gemaakt hebben. Weg witte stranden de kleur is zwart. Dan zien we dat twee reusachtige cruise schepen zomaar aan de kust hebben geankerd, dat moet Naxos zijn. We zien hoe passagiers via een deurtje uit het schip de taxibootjes ingaan en naar de kust worden ...

After a relaxing day at sea we arrived in the port of Messina, Sicily at 1pm. We sailed past the famous statue that was the last image Tim's grandparents saw as they immigrated to America. This town was double hit during WW ll. Both sides bombed it to make the port unusable by the other.

Our guide, Giacomo, met us and we drove to ...