Blog – Happy Helena

June 3, 2025

Day Five, June 3 – Syracusa and Ortigia

I have had difficulty adding some of the many photos I took in Noto and Marzamemi, but will try to create another entry just with the photos… Fingers crossed.

In the meantime, after breakfast, we met Giovanni, our guide the first days in Taormina, this morning and went to Ortigia. There, we wandered the market a bit to see the incredible display of fruit, vegetables, fish, spices, clothing, hats, and jewelry. We then got an in-depth tour of the important areas of the town.

First, we saw the Greek Theatre, which was fairly small compared to the one in Taormina, but dates from the 6th century B.C. We walked to Via Cavour, the heart of the island and then to the Archimede Fountain, where there is an amazing sculpture of Santa Lucia. We got there before a horde of tourists crowded around.

We walked the Duomo Square, with its impressive Byzantine and Norman architecture, and ended at the enchanting Arethusa Fountain, a papyrus-fringed natural spring replete with several species of huge ducks, a nest filled with duck eggs that will yield a dozen or more babies pretty soon, and several species of fish. It is a serene spot and overlooks the sea.

Time for lunch. We took our guide’s suggestion and ate at a popular spot in the market where the locals eat. Sad to say, but the food was mainly sandwiches or charcuterie boards and not what we enjoyed. Oh well…

We returned to our hotel for a siesta and then walked back to Ortigia to visit the ancient mikvah located in the former Jewish Quarter. There is no Jewish presence in Sicily any longer when, after 1492, the Jews were all expelled by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain during their reign over Italy. From the guide at the mikvah, we learned that it was discovered about 39 years ago by a woman who bought the building. During excavation for renovations, they found an underground natural spring bath used by Jewish women to purify the body after she had her period or got married.

Fifty-six steps take you down to the underground cave where five baths are located. They were hidden by over a meter of mud, which took 100 truckloads to remove. Although not used any longer, they date back to between 500-600 A.D. and still have spring water that feeds them. The 56 steps down from the main floor take you to a very different time and place.

After our less than delightful lunch, we walked the narrow, curved streets and alleys and found an amazing place for a light dinner. We would definitely recommend Cortile Verga on Via della Maestranza 33, a hidden gem of a restaurant in a courtyard. They don’t offer pasta, since everywhere else already does, but instead have a variety of tapas, edamame, a huge selection of drinks, beer, and wines, and excellent service.

We had three kinds of tapas, a bowl of steamed edamame, and then a dessert that will live in our brains (and probably elsewhere on the body) for a long time. It was a great end to a fun day.

Tomorrow, we leave here and head to Agrigento and the Temple Valley to visit archeological sites, have lunch, and then wend our way to our final destination in Sicily, Palermo.

June 3, 2025

Day Four, June 2 – Noto, Marzamemi, and Syracusa

Today turned out to be quite momentous. As we left Taormina and were passing Mt. Etna, we noticed that there was a huge plume of black dust and ash. The volcano was ERUPTING! This was not uncommon, but since we were there yesterday and were able to go up the mountain, we felt fortunate that we had done it because the visitors there today had to run for their lives. We didn’t see any lava, but we were told that there was a lava flow and ultimately a collapse of the east crater. The towns below must have had a dusting of ash to remind them of the power of the volcano.

Further information came from many news outlets of the eruption. We took some pictures from the van as we passed by and then saw the photos online. We could have been there to see it in person. Happily, we were not there today.

Our travels today took us to Noto, one of the venues for the filming of The White Lotus. The town is blindingly white because all the buildings are made of white limestone. The Baroque style and detail on most of the buildings is quite unique. We just missed the annual flower festival held about a week ago, where one of the streets is covered in various flowers to create paintings for the three days of the festival. I believe this is the 70th year and every year it gets more spectacular. Ajijic friends were there to witness the creativity and confirmed that it was wonderful to see.

We enjoyed the crowds of Italians on holiday and were told that tomorrow, things will return to normal and be much quieter. There were rainbow flags on most balconies, which I thought meant that they were celebrating Pride Month. However, rainbow flags also represent Peace, which made sense. The two hours there were sufficient, and we moved on to the coastal town of Marzamemi. This village was a hub of activity for tuna fisherman, but not so much now. However, the restaurants still focus on seafood and we had our fill for our lunch.

After lunch, we made our way to Syracusa (Syracuse), a town on the Mediterranean, whose history is newer than Ortigia, the island connected by three bridges that dates back to 500 A.D. or possibly earlier. The island, although small, is the southern-most part of Italy and was conquered by the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Normans, Spanish, and Arabs. There are influences of each of the cultures everywhere. There is a unique doric Greek temple, unique in that the simple columns are made of one piece of stone, rather than layers of stone you see elsewhere.

Everywhere, there is renovation. At one time, the island was not the safest place to be, but once tourists found it, everything changed. It is now a magnet for tourists from all over Europe and beyond. There are restaurants and cafes on every street, and in hidden courtyards. It is difficult not to be drawn in to sit and have a coffee, a drink (think Aperol Sprintz, the national drink I believe), a local beer, or a gelato.

However, we made it to our hotel just across from Ortigia in Syracusa, and fell blissfully asleep. Tomorrow, a tour of Ortigia in the morning and an afternoon to explore on our own.

June 3, 2025

Day Three, June 1 – Mt. Etna

Today, we are looking forward to going to Mt. Etna, the most active volcano in Europe. It has erupted every year, but the worst time was in 1669, when the lava covered villages all around it and even reached Catania, many kilometers away. It always emits steam and is ever-present in the landscape of eastern Sicily.

Denise, our driver and guide, took us there to get as close to the summit as we could. It is remarkable to see hundreds of hikers, climbers, runners, and ordinary folk work their way up the mountain. Most people take the cable car up to the 3,000 meter level, then go on a four-wheel drive bus another 500 meters. From there, well above the tree line, the landscape looks like the moon, with no vegetation, and patches of ash-covered snow. It isn’t horribly cold, but very windy. Even if you know you will be climbing Mt. Etna, visitors rarely bring heavy jackets or hats, so they can rent all they need, including shoes and socks, at the cable car entrance.

The other diehards who run marathons on the side of the mountain, have to navigate running up and down on ash, which is treacherous. Supposedly, people even “ski” down the ash, which is very steep. The climbers wear helmets, just in case they fall, and go in groups that tied to one another. The bikers ride up the switchback roads to the base. This is all above my pay grade.

We took the cable car to the next level, then the bus to the highest point. From there, we had to walk uphill about a kilometer or two to the actual summit. The line of humanity doing this was endless and not easy. We started the walk, but decided that although we are in relatively good shape, this was not for us. The other couple traveling with us on this tour did climb the last leg and Caroline, in particular, regretted it. Jim and I took the bus down to the coffee shop and waited for them to return. It was the smartest thing to do.

Just going up to the 3,000 meter level (about 11,000 feet) was something we will not easily forget. Now, it was time to return to the bottom to go on our Etna wine-tasting at a local winery. It has been said that the soil around Mt. Etna is full of minerals and other nutrients for the wine grapes, giving the wines a unique, complex, flavor. The winery, Barron Villagrande, is situated just outside of Taormina and is a beautiful property. They served us, as well as many other visitors, a beautiful lunch, paired with different wines.

We started with a tomato bruschetta, which had the tastiest tomatoes you have ever had. The bruschetta bread was crusty and homemade, making this simple first course very special. It was served with a Etna Rossata, or rose. The next course was a tiny ground beef tartar sandwich, topped with a locally grown hazelnut, and accompanied by a light, fruity white wine. Our next course was a chickpea pie, topped with sauteed chickory on a bit of tomato paste and a bread cracker. This was served with an Etna Bianco. The spinach ravioli that followed was filled with cheese and served on a red wine reduction, with an Etna Rosso.

When you thought you couldn’t eat any more, we were served incredible locally grown mushrooms with thinly sliced tuna belly and a yellow tomato sauce. This came with a second red wine that was more full-bodied red wine. And, finally, we had a unique dessert of a peppered chocolate mousse on a chocolate biscuit with red fruits. This was served with a delicious Malbec. We were totally satiated but still enjoyed seeing the wine casks made of chestnut wood in the wine cellar. Chestnuts are grown everywhere in this part of Sicily, and the wood gives the wines a uniqueness to make the wines very special.

Well, that was our day. We passed on dinner and instead went to the restaurant in the hotel and had a beer to celebrate our day. Tomorrow, we leave Taormina and head to Noto, Marzamemi, and finally to Syracusa for a couple of days.

June 2, 2025

Day Two – Taormina and Beyond

We met Giovanni at the Messina Arch again and walked to the Greek Theatre not far from our hotel. It was built in the1400’s, but after WWII, parts of it were rebuilt in 1955. It overlooks the valley, and the Ionian Sea, crowned by Mt. Etna. It was used for Greek dramas and Roman gladiators. Now, it hosts many cultural events including concerts, opera and ballet.

Afterwards, we took a short walk to see a small amphitheater, Odeon, uncovered in the middle of town. Two years ago, my daughter and I ate at a small restaurant overlooking the theatre. It was a unique juxtaposition of old and current times.

While Giovanni retrieved the van we were using for the rest of the day, we enjoyed a visit to the public gardens. The garden was left to the town by an English woman to honor her love of the city. The trees and flowers were very similar to those we have in Mexico, giving us a comfortable feeling of home.

It was now time to take the many hairpin turns, past the beach area, on to the town of Forza d’Agro to start our Mafia/Godfather tour. While Taormina became famous from the second season of The White Lotus, the third Godfather movie was filmed in Sicily, and more specifically, in the small towns near Taormina, including Forza d’Agro. The churches were the stars of the film, looking much larger than they actually are.

It was time to take a break and have lunch at a small, charming restaurant. We started with a tomato bruschetta, followed by fresh pasta called “norma,” topped with dried and baked ricotta cheese in a fresh tomato-eggplant sauce. The brown cheese looked like mushrooms, but it was the ricotta. Finally, we enjoyed a delicious cannoli filled with a sweet cream.

Time to move on to the Santa Lucia church to see another location from the Godfather movie. The church was simple and mainly unadorned, but in a side room, they had a repeating video of the segment filmed in the church.

As we walked up to the church, there were remnants of an old synagogue, with a small plaque in the stone road just outside honoring Anne Frank. It was quite odd, I thought. In Amsterdam, plaques of those who died in the concentration camps, were everywhere. I didn’t expect this in Sicily.

Time to return to the hotel to rest a bit before heading out for a light dinner, hopefully pizza and a caprese salad. We said goodbye to Giovanni and will be going with Denice, our next guide, to go up to Mt. Etna tomorrow.

I will make another blog entry with photos apart from this entry. Figuring out how to add it here is a pain! Sorry about that…

May 30, 2025

Arriving in Taormina, Sicily

After a grueling day and a half getting to Sicily, we went to our hotel, the same one I stayed in two years ago. Taormina is about 40 minutes from the Catania Airport. It was dark when we arrived, so Jim couldn’t see the scenery awaiting him. We managed to go to the hotel restaurant for a sandwich (really yummy) and a beer. The kitchen closed at 10:30, so eating more at that hour would have not worked.

Jim crashed immediately, while I stayed awake for hours. Italy is eight hours later than Ajijic, so sleeping in the middle of the day wasn’t easy for me. Ultimately, I got about five hours of sleep and welcomed a lovely shower and a delicious breakfast this morning.

We hung around our room to allow more de-compressing and even had a video call with Ajijic friends who are also in Sicily. They were going to join us for our cooking class starting on June 8, but it was full. Instead, they are going a week earlier, starting June 1. Once they get to the villa for the six-day class, we will connect again to get their impression of the location.

We started our tour at 6:00 PM today with a food frenzy! I will endeavor to upload lots of photos of Taormina. More challenges!

We met Giovanni, along with a couple from Los Angeles, to begin our evening tour. Giovanni lives in Catania and has worked as a tour guide for many years. He is charming and very sweet. The other couple, Caroline and Dennis are very nice and with only the four of us, the tour will be great fun.

Our first stop was a nearby restaurant, Pirandello 2.0, where we were wined and dined starting with a delicious glass of Prosecco, and then a very good white wine. We enjoyed crusty bread with an excellent olive oil for dipping. We started with a mini appetizer of arancino (a fried rice ball that can have a filling of cheese or ragú), a brioche, and a savory chip with a pistachio cream.

This was followed by a wonderful marinated fresh tuna and a fresh grouper appetizer to enjoy with the sparkling wine. Next was sautéed octopus on a bed of potato puree and breaded and fried calamari (squid) (which I tasted but passed on). Giovanni was very knowledgeable about the food and the wines. The white wine was an Etna Bianco and was excellent. We were also serenaded by lovely music with songs that were very familiar. Everyone sang Volare with them.

Our next stop was another restaurant, Porto Messina, (which was where my daughter and I had an amazing cooking class two years ago), where we had two red wines, an Etna Rossi and a Luna Nero D’Avola. The first wine was a light, flavorful red, while the second was a full-bodied red, matched with the food we were eating. At 7:30, the restaurants were full and lively.

We were served a variety of breads, along with a pickled onion and a roasted red pepper spread. Next, we had an eggplant caponata, two local cheeses and a small serving of eggplant Parmesan. All the portions were small but satisfying. Dennis and Caroline, our tour mates, were fun and we enjoyed getting to know them.

Finally, our last stop was a pastry shop where we tasted a sampling of an almond wine, a moscato wine, and limoncello. We had a small canolli, a pistachio-filled cream puff-like treat, and another nut-filled treat. My head was reeling from all the alcohol because I don’t drink very much. Still, it was a treat to try all of these unique flavors.

We returned to our hotel to relax and enjoy a quiet rest of the evening. Tomorrow, we begin at 9:30 with Giovanni to see the Greek ruins, visit a couple of interesting towns and do the Godfather Mafia tour! As a group of four people, this is as close to a private tour as one can get!

May 29, 2025

We made it to Rome

The flight through Mexico City was uneventful. Eleven hours later, we arrived in Rome. The airport is a shopper’s paradise. The brands and number of shops is mind-boggling. If I have to (haha), I may shop and see if I can squeeze it into my carry-on bag.

I sent a couple of videos and a photo of the amazing performance at the public piano with not only students from Belgium on an Italian holiday, but many other travelers enjoying their enthusiasm and singing along, including me!

Our flight to Catania, Sicily leaves soon, where we will have a good night’s sleep and almost a full day to explore Taormina (made famous from Season 2 of The White Lotus). We start our tour tomorrow with a dinner to meet the others in our group of eight.

Sorry that I haven’t mastered the idiosyncrasies of enlarging the print. Obviously, WordPress has a mind of its own on my iPad! I am just grateful that I didn’t have to bring my laptop!

Until tomorrow…

May 27, 2025

The day has been saved!

Not to be overly dramatic, I am OVER THE MOON! I have been trying to use my iPad Mini to write future entries rather than taking my laptop, and it FINALLY worked! I was just about to give up. Many YouTube videos later, which were useless, somehow I figured it out. I even contacted my tech guru and she was going to walk me through it later today, just in the knick of time before we leave tomorrow for Italy. I guess this old brain is still working! There is nothing more to report for now but I thought I would share my triumph. I will write soon.

May 22, 2025

Almost ready to leave on our next adventure…

The time has flown by and we are excited to be embarking on another grand trip.

In the meantime, we went to Baja California Sur for a week in May to visit Denver friends (for over 40 years) who have a home in San Jose del Cabo for a few days with mutual friends who live in Ajijic. I worked with the husband of the couple here about 45 years ago and lo and behold, they live 10 minutes from us. In any case, we had three fun days with our Denver friends before Jim and I drove to a small town north of Cabo San Lucas, Los Cerritos, to meet my son and his family. It is a well-known surfing town on the Pacific with dusty dirt roads. It could have been plucked from old hippy days (surprise!).

Judd and his wife, Elizabeth, along with my two granddaughters, Arlo and Sanelle, frolicked in the water and everyone, except us and Elizabeth got to surf or boogie board. The water was about 65F, which is waaaay to cold for my tender toes. Good thing they had wet suits! It was a short but fun visit with them.

We leave for Italy on May 28, but Jim is taking a few days to go to the Denver area to celebrate the high school graduation of his youngest grandson and his granddaughter, who graduated from Colorado State University last December. Going to Colorado in the winter was not a big draw, so he will enjoy celebrating with them this weekend. After a one day turnaround, we will leave for Rome, via Mexico City, and then on to Sicily for a week, starting in Catania and ending in Palermo. This is a similar trip I took with my daughter two years ago that Jim didn’t get to go. We are using the same tour company and we will be traveling with a group of no more than 8 others. That is the ideal number of people!

From Sicily, we have a short break and will go to the Amalfi Coast, where I have not been before but Jim has visited. Then, on to a villa between Rome and Naples for a week-long cooking class. This will also be with a small group, where we shop together, plan meals together, cook together, and, of course, eat together. We just hope that they will be a fun group!

And, finally, we will fly from Rome to Brindisi for an eight-day self-drive tour of Puglia, in the heel of the boot of Italy. The hotels are booked by the tour company, as well as the car with all the insurance needed. We, then, drive to all the towns in the area, enjoying visits to Lecce, Bari, and more, depending on how we feel. We also stay in an Alberollo trulli (look it up), rather than just driving past them.

I was hoping to write about all of this on my iPad Mini but it is being very cranky and won’t let me into the blog site. I may have to take my MacBook Air instead, which I was hoping to avoid. Maybe between now and next Wednesday, I will figure this out and write often with my little device. I think that WordPress is the problem, not my mini!

I will send an email or WhatsApp to let you know that there is a new entry on happyhelena.com. When you have a few minutes, check it out. It is more for me, than for you guys, because I review what I have written and marvel at the details of where we have been without having to rack my steadily shrinking brain!

I hope you enjoy it…

March 27, 2025

Upcoming Travel in 2025

We enjoy traveling while we can, because there may come a day when it may not be possible. That will be a sad day…

Coming up soon, we have a short trip in April 2025 to Baja Sur to visit Denver friends who have a home near San Jose del Cabo for a few days. Then, we go to a beachside town north of Cabo san Lucas to spend time with my son, daughter in law and their wonderful family for spring break. We are excited to have the opportunity to go there, even if only for a week.

Coming next is a trip to Italy. Fortunately, flying from Guadalajara, Mexico to Europe has become easier, with excellent flights directly to Madrid or through Mexico City to Rome. We do all the planning and booking because we keep changing our minds about various aspects of our trips. Also, there are some websites that offer unique tours and adventures that most travel agents may not know.

One of our favorite sites is Tourradar.com. They are like the Expedia of tours, working with tour companies that most of us have never heard of. And, because we do not like traveling with a herd of 30 or 40 people, we are almost always able to find a tour for 8-15 people, allowing us to enjoy the company of a smaller group.

Why take a tour? In the past, we traveled by the seat of our pants, flying somewhere, booking hotels, researching the places to visit, etc. The first time I traveled in Europe with my college roommate, we took “Europe on $5 a Day,” and tore out the pages of places we visited as we traveled. The book was about 400 pages long and too heavy to lug around for a ten week trip without removing pages. It was very helpful but that was in 1969 and, as a college graduate, hopping on and off trains (using a $200 Eurail pass for two months) and staying at youth hostels or out of the way hotels in a four-story walkup was an adventure. As a “mature” adult, that would be more work and discomfort than we are willing to endure.

We have always said that we are not cruise people, sharing a voyage with thousands of others, waddling from meal to meal. However, this fall, we are embarking on two cruises, so never say never… I will talk about that trip later.

Our next big trip starts at the end of May for about three weeks. That is usually our limit but when we travel a far distance, we may extend the time to one month. On this trip, we will concentrate on seeing southern Italy.

Although we have visited many parts of Italy over the years, mostly separately, this time we will enjoy areas we have not explored extensively. This trip includes Sicily, the Amalfi coast, a six-day cooking class in a villa between Rome and Naples, and a self-drive trip in Pulgia. More information will follow with the specifics of where we are going. And, all this with only a carry-on bag! We love not being burdened with big bags and checked luggage.

By the way, I found a lightweight, small Bluetooth keyboard and mouse to use with my iPad Mini. I am hoping it will be a game-changer when writing updates along the way. Another great item to have is a mobile hotspot to have WiFi wherever we go. You buy the small device online, purchase the MB you will need through your mobile phone, and then you have access to the internet for your trip. It provides amazing freedom. If you need to purchase more MB, no problem. These are some travel tips we have learned over the years.

December 15, 2024

Day 19 – Time to go home – Dec 2, 2024

We got up early for our pickup to the airport. I know that there must be some private homes somewhere in the BA area but so far all we have seen is high-rise apartment/condo buildings, even on the way to the airport.

We have a nine-hour flight to Mexico City and a three-and-a-half hour layover before departing to Guadalajara. We love going away and but always look forward to getting home, seeing our puppy and enjoying our house.

The Duty-Free store has a fabulous tuk-tuk that I would love to have in Ajijic. Of course, it is designed by Dolce & Gabbana!

On our flight, we reviewed the highlights and lower lights of the trip. First of all, we were the only ones on this tour. That was unexpected. This trip to the South America Wine Triangle was unique, providing us with an opportunity to see some fabulous wineries, enjoy different foods, and experience cultures that we did not know previously.

Our first destination, Santiago, Chile, was a very special city. Close to the Maipo Valley wineries, we tasted some incredible wines that we have enjoyed or will now enjoy in Ajijic. Flying to Calama and then driving to the beginning of the Atacama Dessert provided some interesting scenery. The town of San Pedro de Atacama was kind of a throwback to the 60’s when everyone was looking for an adventure. in hiking garb.

Crossing the border from Chile to Bolivia was daunting and expensive. However, our new guide and driver were waiting for us and provided some much-needed assistance getting through the paperwork. What we didn’t expect was a four-hour drive on terrible sand/dirt roads to get to our first destination. The dessert is unforgiving and we were reaching higher and higher altitudes. We started at 3,800 meters (almost 12,500 feet) and went up from there.

We saw lots of animals, lagoons, and mountains. It was a unique experience. Going to the Salt Flats was something we could never have imagined. Driving another four hours on narrow dirt roads, looking at rock slides on one side and deep valleys on the other side was horrible. We cannot lie! Finally arriving in Tarija was good, though. We stayed in a beautiful hotel and enjoyed the wineries and other things the area had to offer.

Finally, we were looking forward to going to the border with Argentina. However, we had yet another four-hour drive on red dirt washboard roads that hung on the side of very high mountains (up to almost 5,000 meters, 16,000 feet) with more hairpin turns to get to the border. With the positive aspects of Bolivia, the three long drives on scary roads was something we could have missed. Hello, Argentina!

Our driver in Argentina was a kick. We enjoyed the small towns but found Salta and Mendoza great. The wineries at Maipu were especially good. Our day trip to Calafate was a bust. We asked for this side trip but we could have missed it easily. In the end, Buenos Aires was as fascinating as we thought it would be. We will not be returning to South American any time soon, so we made the most of this tour. If anyone wants more specifics, do not hesitate to contact us.

Our next “not yet finalized” trip will be in May/June to Italy. We have both been there many times but we are going to see parts of the country we missed and will be spending a week in a villa at a class, planning, shopping, and cooking all our meals. We will also have a quick trip to another destination in the middle that I have wanted to visit. We will reveal the details once we make the final decisions.

I hope that you have enjoyed hearing about our travels. I really do this to remind us where we have been and what we saw. You know that we “old people” don’t remember what we ate for breakfast, let alone where we were for almost three weeks. Thanks for supporting us!