Spinach and Tomatoes...Sicily/Catalina, Italy

I have difficulty understanding how one area of the world can make cheese, spinach and tomatoes taste so much better than everywhere else.



Solidified lava and small volcanic cones, reminders of the 1983 and 2001 lava flows. ..which apparently deters no one from living here. I’m told there is a roughly 2 year warning whenever Mt. Etna becomes active.


Hopefully this guy got the message.


Views from the drive to Taormina. Sicily in the background.


Looking up at a courtyard in Taormina...a city situated on Sicily's eastern coast high over the Ionian Sea and made out of local red marble.


People talk of the seductive city alleyways that hide between buildings in Italian cities; little stone nooks you don’t see until you’re upon them. This one’s no more than 2 feet. Moretti LIGHT, per favore.


I realize I have yet to visit the Colosseum and such, but I have been to the Great Pyramids. This Greco-Roman theatre atop Taormina still remains one of the most breath-taking sites I’ve ever seen. Imagine viewing a new play in this arena (or Gladiator fight once the Romans took over). Mt. Etna and Sicily in the distance.




Traveling around Italy, especially here in the Med, I’ve somehow gained an understanding of why these people take time to relax and enjoy. An understanding of the importance of relaxation is just engrained in the land and culture here.