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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 expelled by Queen Isabella and King of Spain during their reign over Italy. From the guide at the mikveh, 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.

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. The two hours there were sufficient, so 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 Spritz, 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.

We had a leisurely day, getting up later, enjoying breakfast, then going into town. The downtown isn’t large but has lots of interesting shops. There were a lot of outdoor sports stores, like Patagonia and North Face, as well as upscale clothing stores. Cashmere and Merino wool items were everywhere and they weren’t cheap. A typical sweater can run between $300-500 NZD (approximately 30or more. Even at the current exchange rate between the NZ dollar and the US dollar (30% more), we weren’t that interested. Besides, we wouldn’t be wearing them much in Mexico and having room in our suitcases is always a challenge.

We did wander over to the famous Fergburger restaurant, where there usually are 50 or more people waiting in line to get a burger. In the same block, they have Mrs. Ferg’s the gelato store and Fergbaker, the shop that makes the buns for the burgers and a large variety of meat pies. The pastry was very good and the choices were interesting.

Rather than waiting in the line, we opted for one of the savory pies and a milkshake. Both were delicious but, as it turned out, they didn’t like me and I had to be near a bathroom for the rest of the day. I can’t be sure.

We decided to walk back from town, about a 3 km walk, which wouldn’t have been bad except for the wind and chill. After relaxing a bit, we had plans to take the steamship, the TSS Earnslaw, to Walter Peak, a boat ride of about 30 minutes from the Queenstown wharf. This boat is an old-fashioned, coal-fired boat and the poor fellow below was shoveling coal as fast as he could. Interestingly, New Zealand is a VERY environmentally conscious country, with trash-sorting everywhere. To have this anacronism of a boat using coal was a unique experience.

Walter Peak is actually a huge farm, where they raise sheep (duh!) and grow many of their own produce. The building is very pretty and the grounds, especially the flowers, were absolutely beautiful. The boat-load of folks (probably around 200) went up to the house that was more of a giant dining room to partake of the enormous buffet (again). There was lamb, free-range chicken and pork, fish, lots of seafood, veggies, salad, and many desserts.

However, lunch was starting to kick in for me and I found that the two bathrooms had only two stalls each for women. I couldn’t believe that this was the case, considering the number of people there. And, you know that the women’s room always has a line, while the men’s room never has a line! You can imagine the bottleneck after the dinner for the women to make a pitstop!

After dinner, there was the ubiquitous sheep shearing and border collie demo. The poor sheep wasn’t having any of this and kept squirming to get away. But the young sheep shearer prevailed!. The border collies here are very different from those we are accustomed to seeing. They are short-haired and almost look like a Labrador Retriever, but with a longer snout. This dog was very good at his job, always look back to his handler to make sure that he was doing it correctly. It was actually pretty cute.

Finally, back onto the boat for the ride home. The steamy warmth of the boat instantly put me to sleep but once in the bus back to the hotel, we fell into bed. At least, we had a relaxing day to catch up with life.

Tomorrow is another travel day. We take a 3.5 hour flight to Melbourne for three days of enjoying our first visit to Australia.